Tomodachi Game
Alternate Title
トモダチゲーム
Synopsis
Yuichi Katagiri is a second-year high school student who values his friends more than anything else and lives his high school life to the fullest together with his friends Shiho Sawaragi, Tenji Mikasa, Makoto Shibe, and Yutori Kokorogi. But a certain incident lands all five of them in a game to get out of a 2 million yen debt that they owe. Now, the only way to clear the game is to make it to the end without doubting his friends, which should be easy for Yuichi given his motto of “friends over money.” But that motto will be tested more than ever before, and Yuichi will have to choose which is truly more important: money or friends?
Background
Tomodachi Game began as a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Sato with an original concept by Mikoto Yamaguchi that has been serialized in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shonen Magazine since December 2013. As of November 2021, 19 collected tankobon volumes have been published under the Kodansha Comics Magazine imprint. In June 2021, the series surpassed 3.5 million copies in print.
The series has spawned a TV drama adaptation starring Ryo Yoshizawa that was broadcast in four episodes in April 2017 and two live-action film adaptations: Tomodachi Game the Movie and Tomodachi Game the Movie: Final which were released on June 3 and Sep. 2, 2017, respectively.
A TV anime adaptation was announced in November 2021. It is being produced by Okuruto Noboru (The Helpful Fox Senko-san, The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Omega) and features Hirofumi Ogura (Black Butler II, Cells at Work!!, The Laughing Salesman NEW) as director, with Kenta Ihara (Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious, Saga of Tanya the Evil, Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs) handling series composition and scripts, Satomi Miyazaki (Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU, Luck & Logic, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes) handling character designs, and MICHIRU (Ascendance of a Bookworm, The Executioner and Her Way of Life, Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town) composing the music. The anime’s opening theme song is "Double Shuffle" by Nana Mizuki, and the ending theme song is "Tomoshibi" by saji. The anime will premiere in Japan on April 5, 2022 on Nippon TV and will be streamed in Japan through Hulu and dAnime Store. Crunchyroll will stream the series outside of Asia.
Characters
Yuichi Katagiri (Voiced by: Chiaki Kobayashi)
Yuichi is a second-year high school student who lives alone. He is a poor student who gets by working multiple part-time jobs. He was taught by his mother that friends are more important than money and treasures his friends more than anything. Due to a certain incident, he gets involved in an absurd game to get out of debt.
Tenji Mikasa (Voiced by: Daiki Hamano)
Tenji is one of Yuichi’s classmates and is a gifted student at the top of his class. He looks unsociable at first glance, but he is actually a skilled conversationalist and is popular with his teachers. He always keeps a calm demeanor and acts as the mediator of the group.
Shiho Sawaragi (Voiced by: Yume Miyamoto)
Shiho is one of Yuichi’s classmates and the class’ vice president. She is a serious and matter-of-fact kind of girl. Her father is a police officer, and she has a strong sense of justice and hates crooked behavior. She is highly athletic and can always be relied upon in a fight.
Makoto Shibe (Voiced by: Tomohiro Ono)
Makoto is one of Yuichi’s classmates and the class president. His father works on the city council and he has never had to worry about money. He has handsome looks and excels at sports, but he can also get easily carried away and unintentionally hurt others.
Yutori Kokorogi (Voiced by: Satomi Amano)
Yutori is one of Yuichi’s classmates and is a kind person who is meek and shy. She used to get bullied during her first year of high school but was saved by Shiho and became close friends with Yuichi and the others. She loves anime and manga, and her hobby is drawing manga.
Music
- Opening Theme Song: "Double Shuffle" by Nana Mizuki
- Ending Theme Song: "Tomoshibi" by saji
Official Links
Staff
- Original Concept: Mikoto Yamaguchi
- Original Manga: Yuki Sato
- Director: Hirofumi Ogura
- Series Composition/Script: Kenta Ihara
- Character Design: Satomi Miyazaki
- Art Director: Si Man Wei (Studio Tulip)
- Art Setting: Tsukasa Ohira (Studio Tulip)
- Color Design: Aiko Mizuno
- Director of Photography: Yomogiko Murano (Rare Trick)
- Sound Director: Hiroto Morishita
- Sound Production: Studio Mausu
- Music: MICHIRU
- Animation Production: Okuruto Noboru