Unveiled by the manga Scumbag Loser at Ki-oon, Mikoto Yamaguchi returns to the front of the stage with Friends Games ! At ease as well as a cartoonist and scriptwriter, he had already offered us last year the title Dead Tube published by Tonkam.
Friends Games
Title: Tomodachi Game
Author : Mikoto Yamaguchi (script) Yuki Sato (art)
Publisher : Soleil Manga
Release date : 23/11/2016
Number of volumes : 2 (7 volumes in Japan, current series)
Price : 7,99 €
Synopsis :
Shiho Sawaragi is robbed of the money for the class trip for which she was responsible. The culprit must be one of his classmates! A few days later, five students including Shiho are kidnapped and forced to participate in the "friendship game" in order to pay off the debt of one of them. Then begins a war of nerves against a background of calculations, betrayals and hurtful revelations between friends…
The school trip crate was stolen! For Shiho, the pretty and serious class delegate, it is a real blow since she is responsible for the money raised and it is her responsibility to find it. For Yuichi, our hero, it's also a big loss. He, who is already working to finance his higher education, has decided to work hard to leave with his friends. Following the disappearance of the crate, Shiho, Yuichi and their 3 lifelong friends – Makoto the handsome rich and sporty kid, Tenji, the mediator nerd and Yutori the discreet buxom otaku – are united to find the culprit. Each of them following a track finds themselves at nightfall in front of the school and are forced by one of them to participate in the Friends Games.
Mikoto Yamaguchi takes us into a mix between survival game and gambling. If our participants can stand together to quench their debts, the fact remains that one of them has dragged them here. We forget the shonen nekketsu where "everyone sticks together", because here doubt and suspicion are born. Between the organizers of the game who try to pit the participants against each other through confusing games and the traitor, Yuichi, our fervent defender of friendship has no respite. He tries to bring his comrades together as their friendship falters by the minute. As time passes, the masks fall and some secrets are revealed. If everyone keeps a secret garden in order to live in community, what about when revelations are brought to light and everyone doubts? Unlike his previous titles, here Mikoto Yamaguchi does not use physical violence, but psychological stress is present. For Shiho, he has two choices: reject the friendship that binds him to others, or try to manipulate them to bring them together.
Yuki Sato at the boards of this seinen is known in France for being the author and illustrator of the manga Doctor Yokai published by Pika. He gives us a rather summary drawing in style, but which manages to juggle well with the atmospheres. The landscapes are not very present, and the boards are focused on the characters and their states of mind. These deniers are particularly well described and transport the reader into doubt, worry or fear.
If we exclude the financial side, we will find many similarities between Friends Games, and the manga Jeux d'Enfants published a few years ago by Pika: between the school environment, the mascot of the "friendship game" and the games that are inspired by the hobbies of young Japanese.
Having read the 3 works of Mikoto Yamaguchi published in France, I find that his choice of scenario this time lacks a little originality and pep. His particular style in terms of unhealthy atmosphere is a notch below, even if Friends Games is a work that can be read, thanks to the atmosphere that Yuki Sato manages to transmit through his boards.
