Tomodachi Game / Friends Game Season 2

A friend is considered such until the moment he betrays. Anime “Tomodachi Game” makes the viewer look deep into a person and, above all, into himself, and see that our ideological attitudes towards loved ones do not always deserve respect and awe. Each person can be different — a traitor. Even we ourselves…

Genre — psychological thriller.
Season 1 premiered on April 6, 2022 (12 episodes).

“Friends Game ss 2”: release date, announcement

Those who originally read the manga of the same name, which became the basis for the adaptation, note that the anime “Tomodachi Game” is very inferior to the original. It often happens when a book version, immersing the reader into the world of the main characters, gradually, as if enveloping in events, turns into a shortened anime version of the 12-episode format. Unfortunately, the director Hirofumi Ogura failed to fully “pull out” the most interesting and “delicious” from the manga.

And while the anime creators do not give information about the season 2 of “Tomodachi Game”, we can only assume that new episodes will be released no earlier than spring 2023. Since the creation of one season, most often, it takes exactly this amount of time.

Plot

The class was raising money for a school trip. For some, the amount of money turned out to be unbearable and they had to work hard so as not to let their friends down and go on an excursion. For others, the amount did not matter, since parental money flowed into the child’s pocket like a river. Everyone is different, just like in real life.

Yūichi Katagiri belongs to those guys who don’t have a penny to their name. He grows up without parents, and every yen earned clearly has its place in the future. Having accumulated the required amount, the guy gives it to a classmate, and part-time the most beautiful girl in the class, Shiho Sawaragi. But the next day it turns out that the money from the school box has disappeared without a trace. The trip is cancelled. But classmates are waiting for the strangest thing ahead.

Yūichi Katagiri, along with his four best friends, gets into the “Tomodachi Game”, where everything is tied to big money. It’s about a friend’s big debt that can be repaid. The host Manabu-kun, an old anime character, begins to explain the rules and without hesitation announces the first game…

Each game is a test of friendship for strength. But how can you suspect someone you’ve always considered your friend? In an effort to win and reduce the amount of their own debt, everyone should think for themselves, try to recognize the traitor by catching subtle signals. At the same time, each of the friends, whether he wants it or not, shows his true essence. Because money is at stake in this strange Game…

Main characters

• Yūichi Katagiri — grew up in a poor family, was left without parents early; scrupulously collected money to go on an excursion with friends; shows leadership qualities, but in the end it turns out not to be the way his friends used to see him.
• Tenji Mikasa — Yūichi’s friend; pursues one goal — to destroy Shiho, which he considers guilty of the death of his father, as well as of betrayal; smart, fully in control of his actions, communicates well with people; was already a member of the Game.
• Shiho Sawaragi — Tenji’s childhood friend; participant of the Game; popular girl in the class; caused the loss of finances for the trip; in love with Yūichi and confessed it to him.
• Makoto Shibe — grew up in a wealthy family, his dad is a politician; in love with Sawaragi and shared his feelings with a friend; suspected of stealing school money; by nature stubborn, honest, trying with all his might to clear his name.
• Yutori Kokorogi — Initially seems to be a very sweet, shy girl who is jealous of Sawaragi because all the boys have a crush on her; in the Game seemed to be the most vulnerable participant, which is why Yūichi stood up for her; has its own terrible secrets, which she carefully hides.

Interesting Facts

1. The series is based on the manga of the same name, which was first published in December 2013 in Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shōnen magazine. In April 2022, the 20th volume of the manga was released.
2. In April 2017, a TV series based on the manga was released, consisting of 4 episodes, and later 2 full-length films were released: in June and September of the same year.
3. The adaptation was directed by Hirofumi Ogura. He was the main director of such projects as “Hataraku Saibou!!”, “Null & Peta”, “Comical Psychosomatic Medicine”, etc. Hirofumi Ogura has been working in anime since 2000 and now he has a huge experience and an incredible number of serials released.
4. After watching the 1st episode of the anime, the viewers unwittingly compared “Tomodachi Game” with the mega-popular South Korean TV series “Squid Game“, which was released in September 2021 and became the most watched Netflix picture in history. How is it that the plot of a Korean TV show is similar to a manga written in 2017? It is known that the author of “Squid Game” Hwang Dong-hyeok came up with and developed the script back in 2009. He immediately began to look for producers, walking around the studios, offering his work, which for many years went unnoticed. Perhaps it was at that time that someone, having read the script of Hwang Dong-hyeok, told this story to Mikoto Yamaguchi, who took it as the basis of his future manga.

Friends Game Season 2: release date

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