Tomodachi was a fun ride, quite a rollercoaster full of plot twists with many changes of pace, but there is a lot to talk about because this is a really particular anime that, at my advise, got severely downgraded because of the slow first half of the anime, which is understandable because I was about to drop it too but I preferred to continue it.
The premise of Tomodachi Game is really simple : you have to play a game with your friends and if you win it you are good to go with your debts but if you lose it then you are finished, the trick is that everyone has to trust each other because at the end this is a friendship game, right?
What’s the problem here then? The show starts with someone who’s stoles money, a lot of them, and no one knows who it was and the same person made the group of the protagonists join the Tomodachi Game, for some reasons, and so everything starts.

The gem of Tomodachi Game is that you will never know what’s the plan of each character and yet you can literally see it in front of your eyes with every idea and of it gets developed, it’s literally as if you were talking loudly to a deaf person : you are saying everything but the deaf person can’t understand, and so you are forced to patiently wait until the final result, which can be a surprise or no.
This is Tomodachi Game, a game where the insanity is the main character and everything can break at any moment.

The first thing I can think about this anime is the same thing I’ve said before : the watcher can’t understand the plan until its very end, because each game requires a plan to avoid every issue, and you can see it but you will never be able to fully understand it. And in this way I can introduce the first main character of the anime, a true demon, Katagiri Yuuichi.
Yuuichi has to be one of the most impressive characters I’ve seen in a long time because he is simply insane, with no heart and willing to do anything to take the victory, or maybe not? His plans are always created by considering even the smallest detail and the smallest issue that can happen, but the best part is that he is EXTREME and he is the highlight of the show clearly. Yuuichi’s shine comes from how well thought is each plan for each game and how he can even play with the rules in order to win the game, and the best part is that we can even see everything he does just like in the second game because the anime literally slaps on our face everything but we can’t realise yet.
Funny enough not only Yuuichi is the only to pull such great plans and it will be up to the watcher to understand what is going on and how he wants to act, in his most controversial way or not; but Yuuichi cares about who he loves and he shows it.

Tomodachi Game’s overall cast of characters is enough fun with idiotic characters like Shibe and Kokorogi giving some big surprises and certain pieces of scum that can either become good people or the worst of the worst; one of the perks of the anime is how each character dramatically changes and shows the true nature, a normal human who wants to preserve the figure and the money because each human is like this, and completely shatters the idea of friend, or even better becomes who this person truly is. Each “antagonist” of each game is also well written and fun to watch, especially the hide and seek one with the insane final plot twist. A few words will also go to the observers who had funny moments with gambling on the outcome of each game and how someone was so interested to the games that even went a little too close to the players.
Maria best girl btw.

If there’s a thing that made me angry about this anime is that I’ve felt how incredibly slow the episodes of the second game were, insanely slow, and I was almost there to drop the show because out of 12 episodes you can’t give me 3-4 episodes of pure slowness, it’s really hard to live with it. After the slow parts tho, the anime changes into something insanely intense and stressing with near to death moments, literally, and great but really great surprises from all around : characters and story, and especially Yuuichi again because this man is really something insane.
I’ve really liked how extreme the show gets quite often, both for the actions or even the simple words of each character, and how everyone answers to these things by either trying to keep everyone together or to simply break down and destroy the group. The hide and seek game was by far the best of all and its intensity was absolutely fun to watch.

On a less good note I’m not a fan of how certain characters got completely forgotten and put aside, like in the bin, in one of the most interesting moments of the anime but I trust the manga that there is a valid reason for this. It’s quite common to see something like this.

The final episode was also really fun to watch with stressful situations and great suspense, dark environment and a particular setting that changes completely the meaning of the Tomodachi Game, really well done

Tomodachi Game to me is the surprise of the Spring 2022 : a show with a great setting, good development of the plot, lot of talking a lot of actions and most of all an outstanding main character; I extremely loved the insane amount of madness of each character and how insane the ending was. Chef’s kiss

Personal scores :

Story : 7.8/10
Characters : 8/10
Arts and animations : 8/10
Personal Enjoyment : 8/10