I just finished watching season 1 of Tomodachi Game. I definitely have some thoughts, so I decided I could type them out into a review. I don't state any real spoilers, but I do allude to some turning points and story devices.

First and foremost, I definitely found it entertaining. Sometimes, I like to indulge in the part of me that wants to watch overpowered protagonists decimate their opponents. This anime mostly reminded me of Solo Leveling — no real "clear" plot or storyline, but at least you get to watch the edgy MC go wild and beat everything. If you're looking for well developed characters and thought out timeline, this anime isn't for you.

I do think that they spend way too much time explaining the schemes, and it treats the audience as if they were stupid. You get no chance to come to certain conclusions about things, as every reveal just drops all the information on you at once. All the moments with Kokorogi just felt gross, and it's obvious it was all done for shock value. Multiple times this anime depicts these high school girls in lewd positions, whether it be someone's clothes getting sliced off, or the viewer getting flashed with a girl's underwear in a completely unnecessary moment. Of course, I know fan service is a thing and all that, but I do get disappointed whenever these sorts of things happen.

The first 4 episodes were really boring. There were a few interesting moments with Yuichi, but it does take a while to get truly started. Your characters aren't very interesting, either. Nothing really stands out about them, and the girls all get watered down to weak points of romance. Yuichi is just your typical, edgy guy who just so happens to be a psychological genius. Really, the character I found most interesting was Tenji. His development was definitely one I enjoyed.

All of the games are kind of meh. Yuichi, despite not having much character depth in the first place, does help to make things more interesting. I will admit, Tomodachi Game did have me thinking a bit about different outcomes. I definitely do recognize the appeal of this anime, and I will be looking out for any new seasons, but I can't say that the story was created too well.

That's not to say that an anime needs to have a super complex story and 10 dimensional characters in order to be good, but with this type of anime, some sort of depth is needed in order for it to not be an... edgy mess. I didn't go into this anime expecting much, and well, I wasn't exactly disappointed. A lot of moments make me cringe, and the story and characters are bland.

So, do I recommend? Not really. If you're looking for some mindless entertainment, then go ahead, but I'd imagine this anime to be exactly the kind edgy teenage boys like. If you're an edgy teenage boy, then yeah, I recommend. Otherwise, if you're looking for a good psychological thriller anime, you'd best look in other places.