I will always love my friends… until I have to doubt them! That’s the premise for Tomodachi Game and it presents a Saw-like premise which I always find a bit entertaining. Even though the formula has been done to death, it’s still an interesting concept each and every time something comes along like this. Japan has embraced this…, especially with a high school setting and Tomodachi Game is no different but can it hold up against other series of a similar nature?
Let’s Go!
First Episode Synopsis
The premise/setup is quite simple. Yuuichi, Yutori, Shiho, Tenji, and Makato are all friends. One day, they are going on a class trip and raised two million yen but that money is stolen. Mysterious letters are sent to everyone, supposedly, by Yuuichi except for Yuuichi’s letter which was sent, supposedly, by Shiho. When they meet up, they are treated to a pleasant tasering and locked in a white room.
Your typical mascot character comes out, and wants to play a game but… this one doesn’t mention death or human destruction. This one talks about money. Someone owes 20 million in debt and if they play the game, that debt will be split five ways. Win a round and your debt decreases… lose, and you accrue more debt. The person at the end of the round who has the most debt will inherit the others and if you lose, you’re stuck with the debt. If you win the game, the debt is cleared. If you refuse to play… you’re free to go but you’re stuck with the debt.
The first game is like an Ouija Board except it’s played with a giant 100 yen coin on a board where you can only move it to Yes or No. Nobody is allowed to speak unless they are asking a question. The question is a simple yes/no answer and yet, even though the questions are so simple, a 1st grader could answer them, someone is deliberately thinking no and the coin favors the minority. This shows right away that someone is trying to cut their debt while dumping it all on the loser of the game, stirring some mistrust among them.
Yuuichi begins to figure it out when it’s his turn to read the question. He discovers that the first four questions read “Reader chooses the question.” The fifth question is rigged to say “Will we always be friends?” This is a process meant to create that deceit and break the group on the very first game. Realizing this, Yuuichi breaks the rules and speaks out of turn which carries a punishment with it! That is how our first episode ends.
Worth Watching?
MAYBE – I’m giving this one a maybe because the synopsis was rather interesting but seeing it in action leaves a lot to be desired. The first game was so simplistic that the mind games that were revealed were easily guessable. Right away, it kind of felt like forced drama which didn’t feel all that natural. Plus, the entire concept revolving around money is a welcome twist but it would have helped a bit had they stated outright how the debt came to be.
I know that this is supposed to be a hook to make the viewer wonder about the debt throughout the series but it just seems a bit out of left field. Money can be solved in numerous ways in the real world and it’s not as threatening as losing your life or having something equally tragic happen. It’s taking a bit of a risk by going a softer route but the fact that I haven’t really seen something like this pulled off before makes it interesting enough to watch for now.
I wasn’t completely off-put by the first episode. I felt it was fine enough but that’s the extent of it. It didn’t do enough to hook me for a second episode. Despite that, I’m going to continue watching simply because it is a bit of a twist on the tried and true formula and I’m genuinely curious as to where they take it.
