Key takeaways from Manga Recommendation – Tomodachi Game:
- Tomodachi Game offers an engaging and suspenseful plot centered around a twisted “Friendship Game” that reveals the characters’ secrets and true natures.
- The manga features well-developed characters with layers of lies and secrets, creating unpredictable alliances and motivations.
- With its decent art and dramatic close-ups, Tomodachi Game delivers a mind-numbing tone that keeps readers addicted and eager for more after every chapter.
I made an anime recommendation for this same series a while ago. But the thing is, I hadn’t read the Tomodachi Game manga back then. Call me stupid but I completely forgot that the manga was ahead of the anime in terms of the story lol.
Since there is no 2nd season confirmed for this anime, even after a year of release, I gave in and decided to check out the manga out of curiosity. And sure enough, there is some wild stuff in the future arcs. Maybe we will get a 2nd season one day but for now, the manga is all we have.
So welcome back to another edition of our manga recommendation series. This week we are talking about Tomodachi Game. Let’s start.
Introduction
Tomodachi Game is written and illustrated by Yamaguchi Mikoto and Sato Yuuki respectively. It has been serialized in Bessatsu Shounen Magazine since December 2013 and is still ongoing. The anime adaptation came out in the Summer of 2022 season and only has 1 season as of now. At the time of writing this, chapter 114 is the latest.
Plot
The plot is about the titular Tomodachi Game or Friendship Game. There is this group of 5 friends. Two of them were the class representatives. One day, the whole class’s school trip money is stolen and of course, the class representatives are blamed for it. A few days after that, a mysterious letter tricks all 5 friends into meeting one another, all of them are then kidnapped and forced to participate in the friendship game. A series of brutal psychological games that bring out the true nature of everyone.
Our protagonist, Yuuichi must decide who are the real friends and bring out the traitor in the group. It is a messed up premise. Everyone has a secret or two they want to hide, this anime forces the characters to spit out their secretes and accept them. The series does an excellent job of building up suspense and keeping it. Alliances change all the time and you cannot trust anyone in the series. This makes for a very engaging plot.
Characters
As the plot progresses, you’ll learn all kinds of stuff about the main cast. You start to think you know them after a while but no, everyone has layers on layers of lies and secrets. All this defines how they act and why they do the things they do. One example of unique character development in the story is when Yutori gets kidnapped by gangsters. In this situation, she’s forced to toughen up emotionally as Yuuichi tries to rescue her.
Art
The art is decent. Pretty standard Seinen-style art for the most part. But I do appreciate the dramatic close-ups of characters as some revelation strikes them or when they’re deep in thought. This exaggeration really adds to the mind-numbing tone of the series.
Why should you read Tomodachi Game?
Quick pointers on why you should read this manga:
- Awesome plot
- Great characters
- Unique character moments
- Engaging storytelling
Conclusion
That is all for now. Let me know what you guys think in the comments below. Tomodachi Game is really addictive; you will be left asking for more after every chapter and that is one thing I love about this manga. With that said, I will take my leave here. See ya!
Check out my first impressions of Reign of Seven Spellblades here before leaving!
