Tomodachi Game Episode 3 is only just released with subs, and we’re now getting a Tomodachi Game English dub! So what would you do if you were asked to play a Friendship Game?
Is Friendship more important than Money? Let’s go over our brave English cast and see how they fare in this “simple” game where all you have to do is trust your friends.
Out of all the anime coming out, Tomodachi Game is the one I’m excited about the most!
Do you want to play the Tomodachi Game? A story summary
The Tomodachi Game English dub release date for Episode 1 was streaming on April 19, 2022, and the first episode is fantastic! Staring the talented voice actors David Matranga as Yuichi, Josh Bangle as Tenshi, Caitlin Glass as Shiho, Dani Chambers as Yutori, and Aaron Campbel as Makoto.
And our villain(?) roles are Kiba Walker as Manabu, Monica Rial as Tsukino, and Sara Ragsdale as Maria. The production crew is ADR Director Jad Saxton, Lead ADR Engineer Rickey Watkins, ADR Script Writer Katelyn Barr, ADR Script Supervisor Emily Neves, ADR Prep James Baker, and ADR Mix Engineer Gino Palencia.
Hirofumi Ogura is directing Tomodachi Game at Okuruto Noboru studio. Kenta Ihara is doing the series composition, and Satomi Miyazaki is doing character designs.
What does a creepy-looking mascot of an old anime have to do with friendship games and debt? How far would you go to keep yourself safe?
I knew this anime would be unique as soon as I saw the announcement. Episodes 1 and 2 cover the first friendship game, which takes 3 chapters in the manga.
And there’s very little difference between them. Yuichi is working hard early in the morning to afford his fee for an upcoming class trip. When he turns the money in, Makoto congratulates Yuichi and says that his father would have loaned Yuichi the money.
This irritates Shiho, and she tells Makoto to stop acting like a big shot, as they should all pay their way and be on equal footing. Fortunately, Tenji comes over with Yutori and calms Shiho down.
The friends laugh it off, but someone has stolen the money the next day. Shiho was supposed to bring the money to their teacher, but she had to leave it in her locker.
This explanation is the first difference between manga and anime. Shiho says she had to leave class for unspecified reasons in the manga, but she says she had to leave class in the anime.
More importantly, though, Shiho locked the money in her locker with a key. Shiho begins crying and begs the thief to step forward, but no one does.
This is the second difference. Yuichi had to head home after school in the manga, so he narrates that no one stepped forward.
The anime takes a slightly darker turn. Yuichi overhears some of his classmates whispering about who needs money the most in their class.
The next day, both Shiho and Makoto were absent from school. And they would continue to be absent for a few days, which brings us to our most significant difference.
Yuichi, Tenji, and Yutori overhear their classmates saying that they think that Shiho or Makoto stole the money. Yuichi and his friends stick to themselves in the anime, but Tenji goes over to the gossipers and gives us vital information in the manga.
Tenji says that Makoto is the son of a politician, and he would have lent Yuichi the money for the trip. Shiho is the daughter of a police officer.
Tenji describes Shiho as an incarnation of justice who would never betray her friends. Later at night, Yuichi makes flowers in his apartment when he hears someone rattle his door.
When he opens the door, Yuichi doesn’t see anyone, but he finds a letter addressed to him from Shiho saying that she has something important to tell him.
Yuichi runs to the meeting place and finds all his friends there. Shiho shows Yuichi four notes identical to the one he has, except theirs are signed by Yuichi?!
Yuichi is tasered in the neck and hits the ground.
Welcome to the Tomodachi Game
Yuichi wakes up and finds they’re in a white room. He starts to ask if everyone else is okay, but that’s when Manabu shows up. The English Dub, Japanese sub, and manga give different information about Manabu.
All of which is provided by Yutori as she is really into anime and manga. Yutori says that Manabu is a character from a late-night anime. He has a cute face, but he teases children and steals their treasures.
We watch Manabu punch a kid until blood is on Manabu’s face. Unfortunately, the show was canceled very quickly due to the graphic content.
Manabu laughs and says he doesn’t need to introduce himself now. He then tells the friends that they will play a simple game with him.
Each round will win the friends 2 million with a chance for more. If they do well, then their debt of 20 million will be paid for quickly. Yuichi grabs Manabu and says they don’t owe him anything, and even if they did, there’s no way it’d be 20 million.
Manabu laughs it off and tells Yuichi that the debt belongs to one of his friends, that they were the ones who wanted to play, and he’d already received the fee for the game.
2 million yen. The Tomodachi Game has begun. Yuichi and the others haven’t realized it yet.
How do you win a Tomodachi Game?
The rules for participation are simple. First, the 20 million will be evenly divided between the group, which means each person will have 4 million in debt.
Each round will give them 2 million, but if the loser will gain everyone else’s debt. The best part to me is that they don’t need to play, and if they were thinking correctly, the friends would see that the game is anything but simple.
However, Manabu says they don’t have to play.
Nothing will happen to them except whoever has the debt will have to pay for it themselves, and Manabu will keep the 2 million. This is fine since 2 million is easier to replace than 20 million.
And no true friend would put their friends through something like this. But the power of friendship and hormones get in the way. As not only do the friends agree to play the game, four out of five don’t try to find out who’s debt it is.
Yutori sums things up very nicely. That’s what friends are for, but Yuichi has doubts that will be confirmed in the first game.
Round 1, Kokkori-San
Kokkori-San is a game where you put your finger on a coin and ask Kokkori-San a yes or no question. The round has five questions, and the group only needs to get one question correct to pass the game.
Manabu also says that only the card reader may talk. Anyone who breaks this rule will have their debt doubled. Winning the game means moving on to the next round.
Getting all five questions wrong means game over. The first three questions are easy. Is 1+1=2? Yet, each question was wrong. And once it’s Yuichi’s turn, he feels like his heart is becoming black.
While Yuichi and his friends are playing, we see two teenage girls watching our leading group in another room. Are they players or mods?
Will they reveal themselves or watch the show? The girls refer to Yuichi and his friends as group C. Does this mean several Tomodochi Games are happening right now?
Yuichi figures out how to win the Kokkuri-San game in one of the most out-there methods. He breaks the no-talking rule and riles up the group.
By asking if the others know what colored underwear is Shiho wearing. I won’t spoil the ending for you since Round 2 starts in the same episode.
The back-stabbing in this anime is all over the place, and I can’t wait to see how it ends.