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mdchan

  • USA
  • Joined Aug 9, 2011
  • 40 / Other

Tomodachi Game

Aug 28, 2022

Warning:  This anime is incomplete despite its "completed" status. 

I don't know what is the matter with anime studios the past few years, but for some reason most of them have gotten it into their heads to release a series in a format of making their viewers not only wait a week between episodes (which isn't strange in the slightest), but also stopping at episode 12 and either making viewers wait months before the final 12 episodes come out or just pausing without a word.

So yes; this anime is 100% incomplete. 

All you'll learn of is the basic plot and a few names in these 12 episodes because the studio thought it'd be a genius move to stop dead halfway through.  Apparently there's even more in the manga, but they couldn't be bothered to at least wrap up their first "arc" (which they had the chance to at episode 11).

Tsk, tsk, tsk...that's going to hurt the overall score greatly.

--

Story

After a large amount of money goes missing from the school trip fund, five friends are called out in front of the school gates where they are captured and knocked out.  Upon waking up, they are told that they have to participate in the "Tomodachi Game" to help one of their friends (who isn't named) pay back a debt of 20 million yen (about $145,417).

Similar to Squid Game but without the death, the high school students play simple children's games where they have to completely trust one another in order to win.  However, that trust is tested with the temptation of lowering their personal debt, and to make matters worse, there not only is a traitor among them but also it seems the behind the scenes of the game itself is far more sinister.

The anime shows a constant theme (very constant) of "money vs friendship".

The premise of this is actually interesting, perhaps even made more interesting in that the penalty for losing isn't death (unlike just about every other high-stakes show/anime).  It instead relies more on the psychological aspect. 
However, the story is often hindered by stereotypical and often flat characters, as well as other characters having to spend nearly an entire episode to explain exactly what strategy went down in the previous one instead of just showing the progression naturally.
The games are often confusing as they toss a list of rules on the screen which even a fast reader would be pressed to read in time to understand (coming from a fast reader, I could only read about three of the multiple rules before the anime moved on).

The story is also hurt by the lack of any sort of conclusion (even for an "arc") as the studio lazily just stopped smack dab in the middle.  If not for that, I'd definitely give the story a 7 or an 8.  Yet, I cannot give an incomplete story a high rating:  6/10

--

Characters

The bread and butter of an anime, though this one seems to be lacking in the butter department due to the amount of stale bread (aka, the characters) it has. 

The only interesting character is Yuichi Katagiri, the protagonist, who is able to read people in a way which would put Moriarty to shame and use that information for his own benefit.  Though he does show some self-sacrifice, he's also not above hurting people for his plans.  There is also something very dark in his past...
...only I couldn't tell you if I wanted to because the details of it haven't even been revealed in the manga (let alone in the anime).

Tenji Mikasa becomes an unusual ally of his, and has his own goals and situation for agreeing to take on the debt.  He shows himself to be very smart and cunning, but not nearly on Yuichi's level.

For the rest of the anime, the other characters just sort of exist.  Shiho Sawaragi, who has a crush on Yuichi, was the one responsible for the money which went missing and has her own secrets...but otherwise does not play a large role past the fourth episode.

The same goes for Makoto Shibe (the rich son of a politician who throws money around but isn't a bad person) and the shy and indecisive Yutori Kokorogi.

I'd be surprised if someone told me their favorite character is someone other than Yuichi, considering that we know little to nothing about any of them (including Yuichi, in fact) by the end of the anime.  In fact, at first it feels like they were a bunch of strangers who just ate together at lunch or something rather than friends. 
The fact that they have zero personality doesn't help, either.  I want to know more about Yuichi, but the others don't interest me.  3/10

--

Overall

First, I have no complaints with the sound and animation.  The opening does a good job of setting the tone as well as showing some of the problems the characters are dealing with, and the voice acting breathes life into the characters.
So, I didn't see a reason to talk about them separately.

Much of my opinion was what I stated from the start:  It's a shame that this anime is not completed, and even more so that it's following the dumb as rocks trend of studios releasing only a portion of their series.

I'm going to be that "back in my day" person; back then, we waited a week (sometimes two weeks if there was a problem or holiday) for a new episode of a show or anime to air.  The show would faithfully air like that every week, with a new episode, until the arc was completed.

Oftentimes, the anime would keep airing even into the next arc; Faithfully, once a week, until the anime was finished.
This is a foreign concept for anyone getting into anime the past couple years, as they will rarely ever encounter studios being diligent about it.

These days, you have one of three situations where the anime is divided into a cour and then:

1.  The anime puts forth a new episode weekly and then pauses/stops in the middle (often leaving a cliffhanger) and then the next "season", aka the conclusion of the arc, isn't seen for months on end...

2.  The anime tosses out 12 episodes to a place like Netflix so people can binge it, then like with #1 it will either stop in the middle (Nanatsu no Taizai did this on Netflix where they released the first 12 episodes of the already completed, released in Japan final 24 episode arc, then didn't release the final 12 episodes for another month or so) or end with a gazillion plotholes...

3.  The anime only airs for the 12 episodes and thus wraps up most of what they started (with many requiring people to go read the manga if they want more information)

Sadly, most anime these days tend to fall into catagory 1 (with a few in 2).  Rarely ever will you sit down to watch a cour and have it actually be completed.

In the case of Tomodachi Game, you'll be scratching your head at the end of episode 12 because there's no conclusion at all; the story is incomplete and they didn't even attempt one of the infamous "anime-only" endings.  There was a preview to the "next episode" at the very end, but there is no "next episode".

Like with many anime, I give this a stamp of "INC"...also known as "incomplete".  Yet, they have the gall to call their anime "complete", so I will rate it as such along with every other anime which tries to pull this crap on its viewers.
Had they completed the series, I have a feeling I would have given this a much higher rating; possibly even a 7, only held back by rather bland supporting characters and some stalling via explanations.

...but that didn't happen.  They ended it without answering a single question (well, alright; they answered which person signed the group up for the Game), and currently there hasn't even been any sort of announcement for a second season.

Still, I won't give it only a 1.  It was interesting and I liked the psychological aspect, but since it can't justify that "ending", combined with flat characters (and way too much math for my personal preference)...plus short snapshots of the game rules...it has a lot which detracts from its score.

Do I regret watching it?  Nah.
Will I watch another season of this?  Absolutely not; I don't trust them to actually complete it.

It's a good watch as a time-killer and if you like psychological stuff, mind games, and strategy...or if you're tired of all shows with "high stakes" tags being bloodbaths.  Otherwise, not so much. 

Would absolutely rate it higher if it was completed; 4/10

6/10 story
9/10 animation
10/10 sound
3/10 characters
4/10 overall

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