The Tomodachi Game Season 2 anime TV series will continue revealing the vicious nature of the supposed friendship game, but this time by putting their friendship on trial and… with an Adult Tomodachi Game!? But when will Tomodachi Game Season 2 come out?
The latest announcement is that a new live-action Tomodachi Game R4 TV show will reboot the drama series with an alternate take on the story with the help of the original creator. But anime fans are probably more interested in Tomodachi Game S2.
READ: How to beat and play Kokkuri-San Game like in Tomodachi Game
The first season of the Tomodachi Game anime was animated by Japanese animation Studio Okuruto Noboru. Founded in 2017, the company is relatively new so Tomodachi Game is their second big project where they’re the lead studio.
Studio Okuruto Noboru is best-known for collaborating with Tezuka Productions on How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2. They’ve also released the Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter anime TV series and the Planetarian: Snow Globe OVA episode.
The anime project was helmed by director Hirofumi Ogura (Cells At Work! Season 2, JoJo anime episode director). Writer Kenta Ihara (Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2, Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy Season 2, Vinland Saga Season 2, Full Dive, Cautious Hero, Trapped in a Dating Sim, Mieruko-chan) handled the scripts and series composition.
Artist Satomi Miyazaki (episode animation director for Attack On Titan, Vinland Saga, Gintama, Higurashi) was the character designer. Composer Michiru (Dance Dance Danseur, Virgin Road: The Executioner and Her Way of Life, Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3) wrote the music.
The Tomodachi Game Season 2 OP (opening) and ED (ending) theme song music hasn’t been announced yet.
For the first season, the Tomodachi Game OP “Double Shuffle” was performed by Nana Mizuki. The ED “Tomoshibi” was performed by saji.
The first season’s finale, Tomodachi Game Episode 12, was released on June 21, 2022. The 12 episodes were released as three Tomodachi Game Blu-Ray volumes that came out on July 27, 2022, August 24, 2022, and September 21, 2022, respectively.
- Updated June 20, 2022: Tomodachi Game R4 announced.
This article provides everything that is known about Tomodachi Game Season 2 and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Tomodachi Game 2 release date predictions
As of the last update, Studio Okuruto Noboru, Kodansha, producer Studio Mausu, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Tomodachi Game Season 2 release date. Nor has the production of a Tomodachi Game sequel been announced.
Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.
In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, the Tomodachi Game Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.
The Tomodachi Game reviews have been good but not great. And reviewers either seem to love or hate the TV show.
Some enjoy the twist on the traditional high-stakes game formula and believe it’s the hidden gem of the Spring 2022 anime season. Others reject the entire premise as unrealistic and note its resemblance to Squid Games since the players all are in heavy debt.
Of course, some put their money where their mouth is. In this case, the anime wasn’t popular enough to boost the Tomodachi Game manga sales into the Oricon Top 20 manga charts for April 2022. By contrast, SPY x FAMILY dominated the sales (no surprise) while Komi Can’t Communicate and Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie received a noticeable boost.
The anime also didn’t typically rise near the top on Crunchyroll’s popular anime list.
Based on this data it’s difficult to predict whether the anime production committee will have Tomodachi Game Season 2 renewed, but it’s definitely not guaranteed.
Additionally, Studio Okuruto Noboru doesn’t have any history of producing anime sequels. Even if a Tomodachi Game sequel is greenlit for the production it’s possible the producers could change studios. But if they wait on the availability of the main staff and studio it’ll be years before the Tomodachi Game Season 2 release date comes.
Tomodachi Game Season 2 English dub release date
The first season of the anime TV series was initially streaming with only English subtitles on Crunchyroll and Netflix Japan (not Netflix USA, Hulu, FUNimation, HIDIVE, VRV, or Amazon Prime Video). Crunchyroll’s Tomodachi Game English dub release date was on April 19, 2022.
Here is Tomodachi Game dub cast:
- David Matranga as Yuichi
- Josh Bangle as Tenshi
- Caitlin Glass as Shiho
- Dani Chambers as Yutori
- Aaron Campbel as Makoto
- Kiba Walker as Manabu
- Monica Rial as Tsukino
- Sara Ragsdale as Maria
Presumably, Crunchyroll’s Tomodachi Game Season 2 English dub release date will be announced in the time frame of the second season’s premiere.
Tomodachi Game R4 TV show rebooted the live-action series in 2022
In Japan, the manga’s story has already been adapted into a four-episode TV drama and a two-part live-action Tomodachi Game movie that ended in 2017 with Tomodachi Game Gekijou-ban Final. The final movie adapted the third game, which was about Team K and the Friendship Hide-And-Seek game.
On June 6, 2022, news leakers Manga Mogura and Sneaky both claimed that the Tomodachi Game franchise would have an important announcement soon. Considering the timing of the big announcement, it seemed like it would either be about Tomodachi Game Season 2 or the Tomodachi Game manga’s ending since a live-action TV show and movie had already happened.
On June 20, 2022, the live-action Tomodachi Game R4 TV show was announced. It began airing in Japan on July 23, 2022.
The new TV series is apparently rebooting the live-action version since the main characters were recast with members from boy bands HiHi Jets and Johnny’s Jr. Bishounen. The cast specifically included members of Team K, but it took the story in a new direction.
“It’s a new take on the original story. The production team sat together with the original writer to decide on an alternate version of the game, fitting these members,” explained Psycho-Drama. “It’s safe to say it won’t follow the manga/anime/LA, but be its own version.”
For more details about the Tomodachi Game R4 live-action TV show please see the Anime Geek article focused on that topic in the link.
Tomodachi Game manga ending soon? Final arc began in 2020
The story of the anime is based on the Tomodachi Game manga series by concept creator Mikoto Yamaguchi and writer/illustrator Yuki Sato. Serialized in Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine since December 2013, it’s up to Tomodachi Game Volume 20 as of April 8, 2022.
In August 2020, it was revealed in the manga magazine that the series had entered its final arc. That means the Tomodachi Game manga’s ending must be coming up relatively soon.
Unfortunately, no North American publisher has announced an official English translation for the manga series. However, there are fan-made scanlation projects that are mostly caught up with the Japanese release.
Fun fact: Yuuichi is written as 友 in Japanese. The characters literally translate as comradery or can imply friendship comes first.
Tomodachi Game manga compared to the anime’s first season
The Tomodachi Game anime managed to capture most of the tension and creepy vibes of the mind games in this psychological thriller. The manic movement of Manabu was fun to watch, especially since the voice actress changed her voice to match the various costumes.
Still, it was the relative strength of the manga’s story that carried the anime forward. The animation itself wasn’t very remarkable and since the anime didn’t adequately depict the exaggerated facial expressions the anime changed the tone of certain character interactions.
Regardless, the timing of certain scenes and the overall pacing got the job done. Most of the timeline rearrangements involved telling the game rules in detail when they became relevant to a major plot revelation. Although some dialogue was skipped, including some humorous moments, it never felt like the anime was rushing through the source material like so many anime.
The chapters are usually around 40 to 50 pages and the first five episodes adapted an average of fewer than two chapters each. At the halfway point, Tomogachi Game Episode 6 started adapting manga Chapter 10 and was named after Chapter 11 based on the big reveal of “murderer” Yuuichi.
(Of course, what really stood out about Episode 6 was the “super-manly kiss” between Yuuichi x Tenji!)
Then Episode 7 through the first half of Episode 11 adapted the long Friendship Hide-And-Seek game story arc, which ended with manga Chapter 20. Did you notice that the genius found weaknesses in the games and exploited them, whereas the “monsters” exploit rules and also exploit weaknesses in other people?
All in all, the ending of the first season’s finale, Tomodachi Game Episode 12, corresponded to the first several pages of manga Volume 6: Chapter 26.
Some manga readers had hoped the first season would end with Volume 8: Chapter 35. Ending in Chapter 35 would have meant finishing with the characters entering the Adult Tomodachi Game.
That climactic moment is definitely the best stopping point even if it’s a cliffhanger ending. The problem is that the second half of the first season would have needed to speedrun through Game 3, (fake) Game 3.5, and Game 4: Friendship Guilt Court by adapting 26 chapters in only 7 episodes.
Therefore, Chapter 26 was always the best stopping point the first season could hope to achieve without sacrificing the story pacing completely. It also allows the first season to end on a high point with Yuuichi’s victory and rescue by the admins. The anime can simply finish by having the admins tease that the game isn’t over quite yet.
On the other hand, ending with the first several pages of Chapter 26 doesn’t quite provide too much plot resolution since there are many plot threads still left hanging when Shibe’s trial starts. Thus, in some ways, it’s an even worse cliffhanger ending than Chapter 35. Really, the anime production committee should have planned out two cours for the first season.
The good news is that there is plenty of source material for making Tomodachi Game Season 2. The bad news is that English-only fans who wish to read ahead of the anime will need to rely on fan translation projects, which are a bit rough to understand in some cases.
Tomodachi Game Season 2 anime TV spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
Note: These spoilers were initially published before the release of Tomodachi Game Episode 12. This story summary is based on the events of manga Volume 7.
With Yuuichi injured and needing time to recover after treatment in a hospital, Tenji Mikasa and Yutori Kokorogi must carry forward Yuuichi’s banner to the next stage without his help. The duo must stand together to face Game 4: Friendship Guilt Court, the so-called Friend-Sin Trial.
Yutori and Tenji can reject this game and jump straight to Game 5, but if they do their friend Makoto Shibe will be left without defense in this mock trial by Judge Manabu. Shibe violated the rules of Tomodachi Game by telling his father about the game, so if Tenji and Yutori abandon Shibe he will “disappear”.
Bound and gagged, Shibe is charged with murdering his own father. And the admins have already “collected the evidence”: fingerprints on the weapon, the father’s blood on Shibe’s clothing, and multiple witnesses who can place Shibe near the time and location of the crime. The argument with his father was so bad that Shibe even declared, “I’ll kill you.”
The goal of Game 4 is to “prove Shibe’s innocence” by convincing the chosen “jury members” by collecting their “not guilty vote”. In this case, the jury members are their 28 other classmates, and their not guilty vote is determined by Tenji and Yutori convincing them to give up 1.96 million yen, which is 70,000 yen each.
Yes, that means convincing each classmate to give up their field trip fee that was stolen when this twisted tale began. The school refunded the classmates their stolen money.
Tenji and Yutori only have one week to gather all the money directly from their classmates. They can’t gather the cash by other means. Sounds easier, right? This game is about saving a friend rather than attacking a friendship.
But the core essence of Game 4 has one other twist: “Is Shibe Makoto worthy enough to give your all to save?” It turns out that the accused, Shibe, is not only suspected of “killing his father”… he stands accused of assaulting Shiho Sawaragi in his bed and he may even be linked to Shiho’s “disappearance”.
And that’s just the warm-up since when Yuuichi gets back they’re going to carry the fight to the admins by taking on the Adult Tomodachi Game.
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the Tomodachi Game Season 2 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!