The only one who can save the world and me from my loneliness is you ------, so come here, and kill me. Until the moment you become God. I'll be waiting.

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Introduction #

Kamisama no iu tōri (As The Gods Will) is a two-part series written by Kaneshiro Muneyuki and illustrated by Fujimura Akeji, it's a Survival Game manga and is categorized as Action/Horror/Supernatural and Psychological thriller.
The first part of the manga was published monthly on the Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in 2011 and finished being published in 2012. The second part was then transferred on the Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 2013 and ended in 2016, the manga is licensed by Kodansha in Japan and America.
Kamisama sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide and was in the Top 50 most sold manga volume in japan between 2013 and 2017 (source: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/)

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Summary#

Part 1 - Kamisama No Iu Toori: On his way to high school Shun Takahata a normal teenager who is bored with life and it's constant humdrum wished to God that this repetitiveness would end. As he is paying attention to his class, the head of his professor suddenly exploded, a daruma doll was projected out of the neck of the deceased professor and landed on his desk, the daruma doll then spoke the words "Daruma-San has come", the students in a rush of pure panic were running for their life, their head was vaporized, those who didn't budge were still alive and concluded that it was a game of "Daruma-san ga koronda" (a game like Red Light/Green Light) that can be won by touching the red button on the back of the doll, as more and more students die, Shun and his class rep were the only ones left alive in the entire classroom, they decided to run for the button, Shun was the one who won at this death game, the class rep then died by being the loser.
It was the start of numerous events that would shape the world and Shun boring life.

Part 2 - Kamisama No Iu Toori Ni: Senichi Aoyama and Yasuto Akashi are high school soccer champions who made a promise to become pros one day, as they are goofing around in their classroom, Aoyama shows to Akashi many pamphlets from various colleges, and brings to the conversation his wish of entering in a school who is suited for their dream of becoming pros, Akashi says to his best friend that he's not going to play soccer anymore, both frustrated by each other words, Akashi then leaves the classroom so he can skip school. On his way home Akashi is regrating what he said to his friend and tries to call him so that he can apologize, but what he doesn't know is that a daruma doll just appeared in their classroom.
The events that Akashi is going to experience are not the same as those that Shun or Aoyama both participated in. Because he skipped school and wasn't here for the "Daruma-san ga koronda" and other death games, it was the beginning of a new school life for Akashi, with other students who just like him skipped high school.

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Analysis#

` /!\ Most of what I'm going to say here is going to spoil the manga in its overall structure, I added a spoiler warning for the story based spoilers, If you want to read the manga in total discovery I recommend you to skip this section /!\`

Story: The story of KamiToori is not complex or profound but it has many aspects to it that are interesting such as the mysteries of "Why the death games are happening ?" "Who created the death games ?"... Those classical mysteries that are a nice leftover when compared to the strong points of that said fiction.
KamiToori has very few plot twists and I think it's one of it's weakest elements, not that some can't be good or that the author doesn't know how to handle that type of storytelling, but they are truly lacking in surprise/on what they can add to the story.

Spoiler, click to view

I like the fact that Kamisama No Iu Toori is acknowledged by Acid Mana as a work of fiction inside her universe, does that mean that Acid is aware of the boundaries of her own existence/fiction ?? It feels like Danganronpa V3 in spirit, "Fiction and fictional characters can shape your life just as much as real living people and events"

World: The world of KamiToori is your typical earth looking environment of the 21st century, Tokyo is the center of the attention, most of the arcs take place in some location that is inside of the capital, but not your typical Shibuya or Shinjuku (except for one arc), those places are shut from any external contact and were fabricated with a hand-made design in mind so that the feeling of claustrophobia is enhanced.
Most of the monsters/creatures presented in the manga come from the Japanese folklore, but at the same time, it feels alien and strange, as if someone from a distant land saw this culture and wanted to create some cryptids out of that.

Characters: One of the best features of the manga are the characters, all of them have a unique type of individuality with bubbly and energetic personalities. The main characters and most of the side characters are pretty well handled, the author cares to add one character arc/one or two flashbacks per main/side character, some will be underdeveloped but even so, they always feel remarkable and new on the surface !!
There is some LGBT representation in the manga, one character is a bisexual teenager who is Arosexual with females and Asexual with males, and another one is a Transexual/Transgender girl who has a crush on of the MCs !! It's always a delight to see LGBT people being represented in fiction that handles the subject but not as his core element.
The most developt characters are the two MCs of each part and their rival/counterpart, they each share a unique philosophy about death/represent a horseman of the apocalypse (I don't think that the author intended of portraying those 4 characters as biblical allegories but I found the similarities prominent):

Spoiler, click to view

Shun Takahata - The Conquest On The White Horse: Death is a concept of victory for Shun, his life is just a tool for winning, "If you can do it, then do it, even if you have to be injured or dead, you can always achieve your goals." Conquest can be interpreted as both the Christ and the Anti Christ, by killing Kamimaro Shun became a killer of God (antichrist) but he is also Christ because God (Kamimaro) gave him a life of non-boredom/being reborn. Pestilence is the second name of this horseman, by inflicting an infectious disease on himself (his obsession with throwing his life away). Takeru Amaya - The War On The Red Horse: "I only live to destroy, I'm truly alive only when I'm faced with adversity and chaos" Amaya doesn't care about the life of others, he is the epitome of war, just like this horseman he loves destroying the lives of others psychologically or physically (but mostly physical), the thrill of fighting strong opponents and breaking them is when his life feels complete. Kiyoushirou Ushimitsu - The Famine On The Black Horse: "Peoples are like stars, they shine brightly when they are about to die. I am also a star who shines with intensity." Ushitsu feels alive when he is between life and death, this also applies when he sees others in the same situation, but only when they confront life and death with passion. Because of his thirst for seeing his life and the life of others shine as first magnitude stars, Ushimitsu represents famine. In the last chapter, Ushimitsu succumbs to envy and reset his universe, this horseman is often seen depicted as holding a pair of balances, since Ushimitsu is now a God it can represent the fact that he now controls the life of others. Yasuto Akashi - The Death On The Green Horse: "Even if there is the possibility of my friends dying, I'm never going to change and keep living on" Akashi represents Death itself, because others relayed on him multiple times they often met their demise. This horsemen also represent Hades (the place or state of departed spirits in Christian mythos) out of the 4 characters he is the only one to have participated in the hell games.

Themes: Death is everywhere in the manga but strangely it's not prominent as a theme, I think it's a missed opportunity for very profound lessons that can be given to us the reader.
"The feeling of knowing and sharing your life with others is what makes you human" is the embodiment of what Akashi is, it's a theme that is very cliche but works wonderfully in the context of the death games, in real life it shouldn't be applicable, but Akashi is the allegory of that struggle if we were put in this situation with the same philosophy in mind.
"You are your own god" is something that the manga does not tell directly but is all over the place if you search with care, what this sentence means is "Even if there is a god out there, you are the only one that can decide for yourself, your life is your own you are your own god."

Spoiler, click to view

The end of the manga and the character of Kaminokouji Kamimaro reinforce this philosophy, Kamimaro didn't choose to be God, this title was pushed on him by Acid Mana, since he's a N.E.E.T it emphasizes the fact that he's not really his own God, by having everything given to him thanks to the monthly income of his uncle. At the end 3 of the main characters become God, it's the pinnacle of this philosophy, they became a "real god" by the numerous trials that they faced as "humans", a God is never human in the first place, it was always a God from the very beginning. The word then lost all his real meaning, in KamiToori a God is a human that has ascended. In the last chapter Ushimitsu says this (see the image), Akashi is not a true God because of his powers, but by his individuality and his state of the true self (Everything he lived on as a human and what he learned about himself in the death games).

Concepts: The concept of flashback in KamiToori is very subversive, what I'm saying by that is that you can't tell when a character is going to die or not, in Death Games a flashback is normally a sign of imminent death, but the manga changes his codes very often, sometimes a character we know will have a flashback and die, a character that has just been introduced is going to have a flashback and die instantly, or even those that are still going be alive have already introduced their flashback to the reader, It truly adds a new twist to the main genre.
The superior (subjectively and objectively) part of the manga is the very flexible arcs/games. They always feel fresh and unique, and I was never bored when a new one was introduced, mostly because many arcs/games are going to add a new genre to the manga, it deconstructs the Survival Game aspect and includes new rules to the table, like a -

Spoiler, click to view

nekketsu genre, gambling and strategy genre, war genre, sports genre...

Structure: The overall structure of the manga is well-paced, there is not an arc who drags for too long or is too short, the flashbacks last at least a chapter and a half or rarely an entire chapter.

Art: At first the art of KamiToori seems bland with a graphical identity that we can see everywhere in this media, but as the chapters go by, the Art is improving itself drastically, the environments and backgrounds feel alive, the character designs are much more detailed, the inking is heavier.
It's when the 100 chapters cap is crossed that the manga is good artistically, we can see how the art style of Fujimura Akeji has evolved over the years and he has grown as a mangaka !! (Images: Kamisama No Iu Toori Vs Kamisama No Iu Toori Ni)

Personnal Thoughts

This is my 2nd favorite manga, and I love everything about it, the characters/Themes/Concepts... all of that is perfect to me, this story has impacted me on a very deep level, and It's been a really long time (1 year/Dorohedoro) since I had the chance to re-experience the satisfaction of reading something that I am obsessed with.
I wish that KamiToori would be much more popular, but those types of manga are a niche to the public eye. Stories about the condition between God and humans are everywhere, and better fictions tackle the subject in more detail and quality, but I don't care If KamiToori is not objectively perfect, because I think that identity and personality are much more important to fiction than a well-tied story and structure.

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Conclusion#

Kamisama no iu tōri is such an underrated gem, it's a unique experience that adds a new twist to the Survival Game genre by subverting your expectations multiple times.
You're going to cry, be frustrated, experience despair, smile of happiness, every emotion that you can display are going to flow naturally, KamiToori is objectively the best manga to have handled the format of Survival Game.
If you just finished reading this review then you absolutely need to read this masterpiece, It's a letter of love for those that adore fiction and an endearing story that can affect you on a very deep level if you accept all its weirdness and madness.

Sidenotes: Hey I hope you enjoyed this review of my 2nd favorite manga !! This was the first review I have ever made, It took me an entire day to make because of my dysorthographia + English is not my mother language. If there are some mistakes I'm going to fix them soon !!