Tomodachi Game is a psychological drama that sets up a great mystery from the start and greatly uses the aspect of POV. You never know what is true or untrue. As the reader, you’re constantly left in the unknown, making it highly unpredictable and leaving you baffled whenever there’s a plot twist. I watched episode one of Tomodachi Game and instantly began reading the manga, even though the plot was rather generic with entering a “debt game.” as the story progresses the story, it gets deeper and deeper, so I am glad I decided to read the manga. The story sets you into the action right from the beginning and starts exploring how everything happened. From the very beginning, we’re introduced to a group of friends that seems to have a good bond, but that is constantly being put to test throughout the story. They're forced to enter the game called Tomodachi Game, which is basically Friend’s Game. Here they need to play various games, where they’ll repay their debt if they win and if they lose, they’ll gain additional debt and get a game over. If they win, they'll move on to the next game of the Tomodachi Game.

Here’s where the psychology part comes in and it sets a mystery up right from the beginning. Someone stole the 2 million yen, that the class collected for the class trip and used it to enter the game, and apparently they have a debt of 20 million yen, but who's the one with debt, and who’s the one that paid the fee for entering the game? Instantly, doubt surfaces in everyone's head. Is there a traitor? A game of trust and doubt begins. Setting you in for a great ride. It works fantastic, as an underlying plot, where information gets revealed slowly but surely, while you have the main plot of them trying to clear the game. The games in Tomodachi Game keep getting refreshed, with new and more dire games, where there are higher stakes and side characters get introduced, where a battle of wits begins and the plot twists keep delivering.

What caught my interest during the first episode was its main character and his personality. It seemed somewhat split, yet he was not the one who paid the entrance fee, and a split personality is often caused by something, like a dark past and there was the entire thing about them suspecting a traitor, which was quite intriguing from the get-go. It sat it up rather well, right from the beginning. And that’s exactly what I got; A great interesting main character, whose actions you don’t understand until he explains everything, a great underlying plot, and splendid games, where it’s possible to deceive others. I love the psychology aspect of this manga, and I’d heavily recommend it if you do as well.

CHARACTERS
It is rather seemingly generic characters on a surface level, but through the games, their true selves and pasts are revealed, which always connects somehow, making for an interesting story. The actions of the characters are slowly explained as the story progresses, making for exceptional moments, where previous events are placed into a bigger perspective, which makes the plot twists a lot better.

It dives deeper into the mind of the characters in these games, and if they’d betray the others. Nobody would think the others in their group would betray each other, as their relationship is great on a surface level, but slowly things ‌crackle, and the continuing act of doubting each other make for an exceptional story, where the characters are given more and more depth, as the game progresses.

The character development is really great and subtle, without getting into spoilers. Through the games and doubting their friends, or losing to their opponents. They develop as characters and start thinking differently, so they’ll be able to win the games.

Their relationship as friends is constantly being tested through these games. Can they accept the past of the others? Will they trust their friends, or will they doubt them for being the traitor? Or will they choose money over friends? Their bonds are constantly tested, given the names of the game, and it is rather interesting to see it play out, as they’re put in rather dire situations. Sometimes the one they’re saving in exchange for a rather enormous debt might be the traitor, and how far would they go to save them? It sets all these things up right from the start, and with the constantly changing POV. It sets up a great mystery.

ART
I’d say this is really where it shines. The art is absolutely astonishing and some of the best I’ve ever seen and it works so well with its crazy plot twists. It has a monthly release schedule, which gives enough time for such incredible art. The art shows the expression of all the characters perfectly and makes for great psychological battles. Psychology mangas need great art in order to execute great plot twists, when someone, for example, is deceiving the others or whenever someone is executing a malicious scheme, and that’s where Tomodachi Game excels. It perfectly expresses the emotions of the characters and the deceptive parts, whenever those panels are present, and it really makes the dialogue and monologues a lot better.

POV
Here’s a thing I found interesting about Tomodachi Game and that’s its POV. It switches POV constantly from character to character, setting up a great atmosphere of mysteriousness and uncertainty and. It works great for making plot twists more baffling and putting the reader in the unknown. For example, it switches to a third POV or a side character, who’s the enemy, making you uncertain of where the story is heading or who’s going to win.

It makes for interesting side characters, rather than just an interesting main character, and makes the hunt for the traitor a lot more intriguing, as you get the perspective of more characters and their thoughts about a possible traitor. It works really well and keeps you intrigued.

Enjoyment
I enjoyed it a lot and the plot twists were superb. The main character reminded me a bit of Ayanokouji with how devious his plans were from time to time and that he’d do anything to win. It drew me in and did not disappoint the slightest. Honestly, nearly everything was perfect in my opinion and I do not really have any particular dislikes of the series. If I’d mention one, then it is the repetitive dialogue that is present sometimes. Like; Because I’m a genius or As expected of. It is just somewhat annoying and feels wrong, but it happens rarely. All in all, I’d actually say the dialogue is rather strong, same with its monologues. It gives great insight into the characters, and their actions.

Of course, there are differences between Ayanokouji and Yuuchi, but those things I stated are why I like those two characters so much. They are both unpredictable, want to win at any cost, and care little if they have to cut someone off. I felt overall like it was really unpredictable. I never knew where it’d be progressing, and it made it really intriguing. Maybe it's just me, who tends to not try to predict/overthink things and believe the things I see in the panels. For example, sometimes, I really thought Yuuichi was defeated by his enemies, and it made the revelations/plot twists incredible to me and by adding new side characters and making the game more twisted, kept refreshing itself, so it always felt like there were stakes present at play. I’ll give it 10/10. It was really fantastic, and I had a great time reading it.

Now I’ll need to wait a month for each chapter, which is a long waiting time, but everything from the backstories and every game is slowly connecting and it seems like it is in its end-game, and this “last game” is really interesting so far, and I expect it to keep continuing and ending with a proper great conclusion.

I’d recommend giving it a read or watching the anime. The first episode seemed great to me. There was some CG, but I think it was great overall, but I still think the manga is vastly superior with how great its art is, and also that the anime likely won’t be able to adapt all the monologues/dialogue. Also, the manga just kept getting better and better. Especially halfway, the stakes started getting bigger and bigger, new side characters were introduced more often, and overall the story just took a step up.