Big Dumb Death Game Anime

A quick look at the Legacy of Mirai Nikki, and the undeniable thrill of Big, Dumb, Battle Royale Anime.
Chapters:
0:00 - BR Beginnings
4:11 - All my Homies Hate Yuki
8:13 - You Know, Yuno
10:38 - The Fodder
13:31 - Power Systems Improve Everything
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In the depths of his Mother's Basement, Geoff Thew creates videos analyzing the storytelling techniques of anime and video games. He has been named the number one Worst KZbin Anime Reviewer by The Top Tens.

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

Ngl Mirai Nikki is one of those guilty pleasure anime that you don't talk about unless someone else brings it up

[@deadshot5007]

I really liked it back in the day and how the ova ended up things.

[@HiddenArchive_]

Its funny how other people can say what im thinking

[@Grorl]

The ending turned me off. Not the ova ( haven't watched it). But yeah, it was a buzzkill for me.

[@beans2252]

I recommended it to quiet literally all of my friends

[@indianflippingart9593]

I loved it

[@dannygrizz4358]

"With the tact and grace of a bear going through garbage cans" is the most Canadian thing i could have heard today

[@griffin6539]

Or American, we are neighbors...

[@miscalotastuff733]

Specifically the north east. We bears in the burbs.

[@jacksondunn3284]

Steering the conversation towards America when the experiences and practices of any other country is mentioned, is the most American thing I’ve seen someone do today.

[@n8pls543]

@@jacksondunn3284 The original post just shoehorns Canada in, so bringing up the US in response was no different. Bears exist and do that in any place that has bears. There are beavers, bears, and moose (The Eurasian elk is the same thing as a moose, but for whatever reason the North American elk is something different) in northern Europe, too.

[@xrrgr]

@@jacksondunn3284 yup.

[@TheVonWeasel]

I'd like a battle royale filmed like a documentary. There's no obvious heroes or villains. Definitely badass' and underdogs. It cuts between each of the contestants based on who's doing anything interesting at the time. All narrated by the dulcet tones of an Attenborough-ish host.

[@o76923]

Next week on Nat Geo, we'll be exploring the suburban high rise-the natural environment of one of the game's deadliest predators the ex-NEET soccer mom.

[@amara560]

Squid Game has some of those components

[@spartanchief1785]

PUBG actually did something akin to that a few months ago as an advertising campaign. They put a lot of backstory through a realistic documentary style, making the Battlegrounds seem almost real

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

I mean, Punishment Park is like that. I enjoy that movie.

[@eattheasslikeitsgrass5113]

This is just total drama island as an anime

[@FishSkeleton-]

I don't miss Mirai Nikki, but I do miss Yuno. Bring her back in a slice of life parody romcom where she's constantly threatening to kill people and everyone just goes "oh, Yuno!" Only Yuki knows she means it.

[@MemesYknow]

Cap you know you miss it

[@hirokokueh3541]

so ... Happy Sugar Life?

[@FishSkeleton-]

@@MemesYknow I don't want it to return though, since I don't want the ending changed. I'd just want a parody spin-off or something. In my dream world her and Yuki would show up as wild cards in Isekai Quartet, but they don't belong to that genre so that won't ever happen, unfortunately.

[@hand.sanitiizer]

@@MemesYknow lmfao

[@lord67606]

@@FishSkeleton- well yuno and yuki technically isekai'ed themselves...

[@boxhead6177]

"The time an alien was reincarnated as an Immortal Scotsman, got amnesia, and now must compete in sword fighting battle royal until there is only one" Highlander (1986) - it was an isekai and a battle royale, before we knew what those terms were.

[@sagecolvard9644]

Hey, they weren't aliens until Highlander 2, so it wasn't an isekai when it was released.

[@AshenVictor]

@@sagecolvard9644 And since there can be only one, the very concept of Highlander sequels is laughable.

[@julian7247]

We dont talk about Highlander 2

[@rossman8919]

@@julian7247 we dont talk about what ?

[@julian7247]

@@rossman8919 exactly

[@AlexTenThousand]

"Bomberman meets Halo game" Oh no, he lives in a world where Bomberman: Act Zero was successful

[@BESM1984]

My goodness my a horrible reality. Could you even imagine what sequels to that abomination would have been? Skin crawls just trying to imagine it.

[@tgiby9062]

We dont talk about that

[@AlexTenThousand]

One thing about Battle Royale: Kitano's (I assume) involuntary comedy. I swear, Kitano's death scene cracks me up every time - he's shot, stands up after a while, makes a philosophical talk, has an argument on the phone, eats a cookie, says the cookie is good, and then dies.

[@vexus8010]

I am sure given Beat Takeshi's other work this scene is entirely intentional and probably has some deeper commentary I am too stupid to understand. XD

[@baldarianagrande]

Exactly. I was saying "bitch???" the entire time.

[@keithricker504]

That scene made me go from "Huh?" to "What?" to "REALLY?!" to "Is he dead NOW?!" to "That was absolutely GENIUS?!" to *Laughing non-stop for 5 minutes* to "Man, I really could go for a cookie right about now." The commentary totally went over my head when I wanted that cookie. Then I think I may have felt "survivor's guilt" when I went to eat the first cookie. I put it away. I still haven't looked at a cookie the same again. That movie really impacted my life. In all seriousness though, Battle Royale was great, and that death scene was extremely well done, fitting in with the movie and Kitano's character quite well.

[@TequilaToothpick]

I think his character is one of the worst changes from the book aside from the stupid "transfer student" idea

[@misterzygarde6431]

You know, could you imagine a Battle Royale-style story involving several villains being forced into a battle royale.

[@timothymclean]

I was scrolling past this and misread "villains" as "waifus". Which is also something you could imagine, but it would be a _very_ different anime.

[@FaTerokiMenra]

@@timothymclean That one is called Magical Girl Raising Project. If you consider them waifus I suppose.

[@michealkackson5819]

so deadman wonderland?

[@misterzygarde6431]

@@michealkackson5819 yeah but with more conventional villains rather than criminals.

[@WilliamTice]

I think it be interesting to have a Battle Royale with pastiches to slasher and monster movies like Nightmare on Elm Street and Alien. Basically, it kinda been a through back to the Vs. era of monster movies, like Freddie vs. Jason or Alien vs. Predator. The main character would be a horror movie fanatic who notices that the serial killings that are happening recently matchup with the killings in the horror movies he watches. He'd stumble in to a fight between two killers and learn that there is a Battle Royale with horror characters appearing in real life to continue there murder sprees and kill each other. So, he uses his meta knowledge of the monsters/slashers to defeat them. Each episode would be titled ______ vs. ______ to show who the main monsters are that are fighting, but once the MC starts participating, his name is put in the episode titles. It would be revealed in the back half of the season that the MC is a horror movie villain. He is a homage of Billy Loomis from Scream. This is why killing is easy to him and how he can participate in the Death Game. He would have become a masked killer if it weren't for the Battle Royale allowing him to feed his blood lust and horror movie obsession. This would of course lead to the MC to do some self reflection.

[@sonnytapman]

I absolutely fucking LOVE Killing Bites. It’s so horrible, but there’s just something about it that’s just so fantastic. There’s just something about the Tier Zoo esque animal battle that turns my brain into goblin goo.

[@henriquecabral4070]

i'm happy to know i'm not alone in this one

[@skyefox]

All it really did was make me think back to the anime intro to Bloody Roar and wish that could've been a real thing.

[@android19willpwn]

it's the epitome of "dumb fun" to me. There are zero thoughts going on in that show, and every thought you have while watching it will detract from your viewing experience. However, if you can refrain from thinking too hard it is a DAMN good time. It's just a shame they never actually told us what killing bites was. I guess they're saving that reveal for the sequel that got teased but will never happen.

[@sonnytapman]

@@android19willpwn I mean there is the manga, which is equally dumb as shit but amazing.

[@chiblast100x]

@@android19willpwn That first sentence pretty much captures it. While watching it when it was seasonal, I described the series to a friend thus: "I can't explain why I like it, considering just about everything about it is the antithesis of what I typically enjoy, but I do. It's just plain hilariously dumb fun." The only real competition it has for me is Kakegurui.

[@thomasraudenbush2074]

Funny thing: Suzanne Collins was accused of plagiarizing Battle Royale when she wrote The Hunger Games. She claimed that she hadn't heard of Battle Royale until she heard that accusation.

[@shadow81818]

Also, the books, as opposed to the movies, are actually very good.

[@diegomorales7290]

...are they really tho

[@jenoc3541]

​@@diegomorales7290they really are, especially if you can get past the idea that it popularized love triangles in YA when... It really didn't. The games almost serve as a backdrop for dealing with an immense amount of trauma, and how the overall arc is a serious mental toll on Katniss. One of the points of the "triangle" is a manipulator and incredibly toxic, and she has to deal with THAT on top of being the face of an uprising that she almost doesn't want to be a part of because she's terrified of who it's getting killed. They're honestly worth a reread with the ideas of trauma and mental anguish in mind, because the subtext is there and I really don't recall the movies having any of it. But, hey, I also totally understand if the writing quality just didn't vibe with you, and if that's the case then fair nuff!

[@connieallen6804]

@@jenoc3541the entire point of hunger games’ love triangle is that it is a fake ploy that the characters are forced into. it is never actually positioned as “team peeta vs team gale” in the text. and the worldbuilding / plot setup is insanely tight and interesting when you get into it.

[@FourthIdentity-gu2zk]

I had never heard of Battle Royale until after Suzanne Collins got accused of ripping it off. But I ended up watching it later and it was pretty much nothing like Hunger Games. Aside from the idea of a death tournament I couldn't see enough similarities. Eragon ripped of Star Wars harder than that

[@timothymclean]

Battle Royale has reached the Kleenex level of fame-so well-known, it stops being a title and starts being a noun. If that's not a sign of ubiquity, I dunno what is.

[@bobbylewis9135]

Yhu know all products are nouns right?

[@timothymclean]

@@bobbylewis9135 Well, _proper_ nouns, yeah. And you know what I mean.

[@Rolling2Much]

@@timothymclean no I actually dont

[@timothymclean]

@@Rolling2Much Alright, so Kleenex was originally just a single brand of tissues. It's a proper noun, a noun that refers to a specific thing (in this case, a brand). But Kleenex became so ubiquitous that people started using it as a common noun to refer to _any_ brand of tissue, rather than just Kleenex. Likewise, "battle royale" went from being the title of one specific movie (a proper noun) to a term used to describe a bunch of people trying to kill each other in a semi-regulated tournamenty fashion (a common noun).

[@samlewis6487]

It already was. The Anne of the film didn't just come out of nowhere. Saying "Battle Royal" is basically saying "free for all" and it always has. Even before the film

[@TheEmolano]

When you just accept the fun, this type of anime is the best. Mirai Nikki for example, the pacing in that anime is GREAT, I never saw any other media close to that quality, even if the history is a swiss cheese.

[@darthplague6173]

Even though I watched lole more than three years ago, I remember the shit that it was. Start and finish was great, along with maybe like 3 or 5 characters. The rest were bland, middle was kind of a mess.( like I am sorry, but your dad killed your mom and you STILL forgive him and live with him? Yuki was figuratively and literally a weak character. Even when he went all edgelord, he did all that only because of Yuno, not because he himself turned badass. Atleast the op from guilty crown was a edge lord to the max when he had his moment)

[@intelligenceparadigm4931]

Mirai Nikki is high octane madness with weirdly better time travel and multidimensional logic than most media that covers it. The characters are mostly not great, but that hardly ruined it for me

[@darthplague6173]

@@intelligenceparadigm4931uhhh..... sure m8. Whatever floats ur boat. I just I will NEVER in my good conscience recommend the show.

[@janisir4529]

@@intelligenceparadigm4931 Some of the side characters are straight up horrible. But that's why Yuno has an ax.

[@AcornPlays]

Mirai Nikki had this weird effect on me where the first time I watched it I COULD NOT STOP, but every rewatch I like it slightly less.

[@PlentyofFodder]

don't know about you guys, I'm pretty upset MB didn't bring up the most iconic battle royale anime, The Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny

[@thirdplanet4471]

Good guys, bad guys and explosions

[@KaryonTheirStory]

As far as the eye can see

[@egor4973]

and only one will surviiiiiiiivee

[@ilyasbasuki3207]

I wonder who it will be

[@ileanabriannemari]

THIS IS THE ULTIMATE SHOWDOWNNNN OF-

[@einfachnurleo7099]

5 Second Battlegame was... convincing the first dude that his quirk was "deadly" and "one of the strongest" and than keeping it that way for a long time probably the entire series. So despite his quirk seeming interesting at first they could have just given him that thing from the start and the story would have probably mostly played out the same.

[@jonathand.t.5051]

He does swap abilities from time to time... But its literally only when he meets a new enemy/person or when he's with one other specific person

[@nabkill0134]

Nah. That just hold true till team battle.

[@mr.unfunny9368]

he might end up trying a different ability though

[@deadspiderjmortal2604]

It’s better though because it keeps avenues open for creativity like the final battles in the series display.

[@eliaskouakou7051]

Nah that's not it. was is the dealiest tho??

[@Nuvizzle]

I love Mirai Nikki. It is exactly my kind of trash. It feels like the tournament arc of a typical shounen, but with all of the restraint removed. I know we've all been watching a shounen at some point and thought "there's no way these kids with fantastical powers they can't fully control don't occasionally end up killing eachother" - well, the battle royale death game trash anime is here to show what that world looks like when the deadly nature of dumbasses with superpowers isn't handwaved away.

[@marcusferro7588]

How can a man be so smart at writing dumb things so well, he holds too much power

[@TheSkaOreo]

It's generally believed that to make dumb, but fun stuff, you need to be smart enough to understand your audience and what they want.

[@BensonChen]

why they copying fortnite 😭😭😭

[@philo2189]

There were battle royales before Fortnite bro lmao

[@godzilla4189]

@@philo2189 r/woooosh

[@lopde1290]

@@godzilla4189 god, whooosh is so over used I actually feel pain

[@adrianruiz1139]

@@philo2189 Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the joke flying over your head!

[@philo2189]

@@adrianruiz1139 you know what's funny? None of ya can tell me the joke.

[@hayden1351]

I saw that bunny guy and immediately, IMMEDIATELY hollered at my ceiling "EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BUNNY OUTFIIIIIIITS"

[@CoronetChris]

"The one with the sharpest fangs win, that's what Killing Bites is!" Oh man I had fun with that one and King's Game was such garbage, it amazing. This video really solidified for me that I love Battle Royale anime because of how genuinely awful/fun they can get.

[@julianmartinez4719]

I hated how they adapted ousama game. I hope the idiot that tought adapting the sequel and the original book at the same time on a 12 episodes anime was fired.

[@alexthebag1709]

I liked king's game origin the manga

[@WiqidBritt]

Sometimes you have to love trashy anime that knows how trashy it is.

[@Kylesb]

Oh my gosh, I watched King’s Game and got so annoyed with the ending. I mean, hey, glad y’all got your kicks; it just left a bitter taste in my mouth.

[@CoronetChris]

@@Kylesb I think at about the point someone set themselves on fire sounding so nonplussed that I gave up on taking it seriously and just accepted the absurdity.

[@user-ic1jd7qs3p]

Darwin's Game's manga is wild, from forming their own organisation, to the protag being isekai'd, to timeskiping, to fighting something that tries to destroy the world.

[@resilientfool7191]

We need s2

[@F1reBeat]

reminds of "the time I was reincarnated into a battle royal secretly with the strongest skill, I will decimate my opponents with ease in another world" . . . . . . ok I may have made that up but it's totally plausible

[@parabox8176]

For a moment there I really thought there is a series like this ｡ﾟ( ﾟ^∀^ﾟ)ﾟ｡

[@F1reBeat]

@@parabox8176 there is a battle royal death battle isekai but I think it's a comedy and I didn't read it

[@9Godslayer]

Too broad. Can you be more specific, please?

[@MyGamerforlife]

What does it say that I was surprised it wasn’t real?

[@groofay]

If you've seen Gigguk's video about making AI-generated light novel titles, you know that any random stream of words that resembles a sentence is totally plausible as a realistic title.

[@KinglyRed]

this video was worth it just for hearing geoff say the word "BTOOOM!"

[@wolfhawk1999]

High Rise Invasion actually got me into anime for the most part. I had seen Death Note, Perfect Blue and Shin Chan, but not much else. Overall didn't like anime. Then I just threw on High Rise Invasion one day and I was hooked. Now I recognize how silly it is, but it's still fun and I appreciate it for what it is.

[@dracovishfan2023]

Underated comment...

[@hunterchaney7197]

Funny you say that, HRI also got me into anime. I had only seen a few snippets of anime here and there but wasn’t too into it. Then bam, HRI got me into it.

[@TwistedFister88]

High rise is fun. I enjoy it

[@Ancarius]

My dream Battle Royale anime/manga would be one without a protagonist. So that you always have to guess who will win this battle. it would bring a different kind of thrill if the outcome of every battle would be not that clear because the protagonist can't lose until the end if they lose.

[@TheRichandmighty]

Weirdly that's kinda how the Battle Royale novel works since almost everyone gets at least one chapter if not more and you could see several characters as protagonist types until they're killed and even near the end you don't know who is going to survive and how they best the game. Of course that only works if you haven't seen the movie.

[@mohamedelhediissa289]

Fate/zero?

[@shazzadhossenshishir3333]

The closest thing to that is Records of ragnarok

[@morgianasartre6709]

Wasn't Juuni Taisen just that? Or was it just me being oblivious? 😅

[@Ancarius]

Records of Ragnarok is great, I love how every fight has me guessing who wins. Just avoid the anime adaptation. I tried Fate a few times but every time I get a flood of anime/manga that all play in different times or settings and I am confused. I heard that Fate/Zero is the best but I also heard that the ending is not finished. So I have patience and wait. Juuni Taisen is something I have seen but I will check it out, thanks for the recommendation. But I heard that you know who dies because it always that one hat gets his backstoy in the episode.

[@animebro14]

Yuki: acts like a normal defenceless 14 year old would Everyone: *Surprised Pikachu face*

[@anzaisekai3416]

Finally someone realized that

[@cidevant002]

Which is so funny coming from people who like Evangelion because the main defense to how useless and annoying Shinki is precisely "well, any other 14 year old would act the same if they were put into that situation! You can't hate him for that!"

[@HellNutcase]

It's easy to act like Rambo, Light Yagami and Rick Sanchez in one person when you are not just a depressed and lonely kid who's been told by his imaginary friend that 12 people in his city randomly decided to hunt and kill him just because your imaginary friend told them to do. Also, everyone who you will try to be nice to will use, betray and try to kill you at a moment's notice. Even your own father.

[@magmaspacer1967]

@@HellNutcaseThe issue though is that trying to apply so much realism to a scenario that is utterly ridiculous may not work for a lot of people. While yeah he’s a defenseless 14 year old and at the start that makes sense, it becomes increasingly aggravating as you continue watching. It may not really provide a compelling or interesting story depending on who’s watching. Meanwhile others may like the different take, especially for a protagonist in a realm of protagonists who are 15 and have to deal with thousands of deaths.

[@damnumonkeyballs]

The way you said BTOOOM told me everything i needed to know about it lol

[@MrSeuchenratte]

The power to have every power your opponent thinks you have sounds fuqing awesome. Maybe not for the one who has it if he is as dumb as I am but the implications for mind games and creative storytelling XD

[@bestaround3323]

Just spread rumors about how much OP shit you can do and the powers will compound from there as exaggeration takes hold.

[@jonathand.t.5051]

Yeah Honestly this is the best power in the whole series, followed by "copy any ability at 1/10th its power", "your bodily fluids are torture devices" and "copy and merge other abilities". Every other ability is uninspired or a knockoff version of another existing shonen power. Like, one person literally has Burning Down The House as a power lol

[@MrSeuchenratte]

@@jonathand.t.5051 would you recommend the show?

[@jonathand.t.5051]

@@MrSeuchenratte I dont watch it, I read it lol. Its alright. Its the media equivalent of eating at a Mickey Ds.

[@joaquimbarbosa896]

Its actually prety easy to use that power as long as the enemy isn't a retard

[@lucasduberger-deret3550]

Looking forward to the king's game roast and the vid about how to make better battle royales!

[@greensnake6943]

I really enjoyed "Alice in borderland". It's a nice Japanese Battle Royale.

[@NevahLose]

Wait, that wasn't Korean?

[@corndog7813]

not anime tho. Some games required teamwork where some actually needed you to pit against your teammates.

[@jonathand.t.5051]

Alice in Borderland is death game, not BR. There were only 2 or 3 games that were actually formatted as a somewhat BR position. Really tho, it really struck me as very similar to The World Ends With You in a lot of ways lol

[@alexandergifford]

The show was great and arguably chose the correct time to end as the manga ending (as I found out having rushed to read after binging the show) is absolute garbage made even more insulting by the main antagonist spouting way more interesting endings before the ultimate f*ck you from the author.

[@wolfrex2721]

@@alexandergifford there's gonna be a season 2

[@lazyyfox7914]

I watched Magical Girl Raising project after this video, and boy was I not ready for an emotional trainwreck. While it's not perfect or revolutionary, it has developed enough characters that each death has weight to it. I'd honestly compare the show more to Danganronpa than other battle royale, because every character's death is important and suspenseful. Leaving you in anticipation for each conflict and often emotionally ruined by the result of each fight; with very few short lived chances to feel happy about a character's end before plunging you right back into despair. So yeah, watch this show. It's very underrated.

[@digitalsloth490]

I agree. There were two deaths in particular that forced me to pause and take a few hours to process and wipe away some tears. I didn't think a battle royal could do that to me.

[@GoldenPincers]

I also agree. My enjoyment of the anime made me curious enough to buy the Light Novels, and oh boy, does it get amazing. It continues the fun battle royales while adding increasingly smart writing and politics, and connecting every arc into a well-thought out network of magical girls connections to each other.

[@jamespryor5967]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one.

[@sonwig5186]

If you liked that watch Magical Girl Spec Ops Asuka. Its the peak of the edgelord post-madoka magical girl anime in my opinion.

[@sighofdismae]

I watched it like 8 years ago and to this day I still remember the characters and plots pretty clearly, I got so attached to them even though I knew they would die TT

[@brokenphantom3g]

Thank you for bringing up Juuni Taisen. I really dug that anime, and I can't help but think it should get more attention.

[@abhraghosh2098]

I liked the animation and action but didn't like the story that much

[@Mirage0]

juuni taisen is such a pearl i don't get how the title is only 6.5 on mal and years ago it was ever lower, it's my favorite anime

[@truellyslothful7405]

It had promise but shot itself in the foot when it stuck to the formula of flashback then death and then that ending... The animation of the action scenes was great though.

[@abhraghosh2098]

@@Mirage0 guess I've to give it another shot

[@Dracinard]

I binged it in like a day, and enjoyed it, but I can't say the rating's undeserved. There's a whole lot of subversion for subversion's sake - by the time the fourth new protagonist gets killed by the end of the episode I kinda checked out, especially as it was a waste of the best character they had. The Dragon/Snake twin two parter was *not* good, and overall the format of "let's introduce a new character and then kill them within 25 minutes, don't get attached!" just ended up feeling needlessly grim. The fights were great, there were some good characters among the corpses and Rat's power reveal was very neat, but eh. Perfectly fine battle royale, not as clever as it thought it was, glad I watched it but I had so much more fun with Darwin's Game.

[@kutami2951]

"I didn't put the King's Game because I plan on giving it it's proper roast in a focused video." Bless you.

[@everyanimereactionever]

I remembered it as Edge: The Anime and that one kid you shot up his doll in the op because of memes.

[@Hyperversum3]

Here me out Geoff 1) I am pretty sure that everyone here wants that in-depth roast of King's Game. Like, right now. It's my lowest rated anime of all time to the point that I couldn't follow my usual adage of "Search for the small bits of good' because it was just so fucking bad I couldn't watch It entirely It without serious effort. 2) Darwin's Game is probably the unironic best BR anime I have seen. No seriously, I rewatched it recently after the season It came out in and I enjoyed It even more. That shit is fun. Dumb as most stories in the subgenre are, but still hella fun. I mean, just look at the cast of characters and how their powers are used. The murder-waifu has the basic shtick of "absurdly sharp, long and tough chains" but she uses them better than spiderman ever used his power. The small-girl-must-protect is an info broker with future reading abilities based on pseudoscientific stuff and snipes people. The plant villain-ally dude Is actually scary and gave me plenty of ideas for DnD enemy druids. The MC has probably the best rip-off of Unlimited Blade Works and one that actually understand how to make guns cool in a show without putting supernatural powers. And then there is the tough big boi whose power is reading people bs. And carrying huge machine guns and ridicolously tough kevlar body armor. C'on, it's several steps above most of the genre

[@authorRisenfromash]

Agree with all of this 100% except I actually watched all of King's Game. No idea what possessed me to do it but the stupid as ending made the whole thing worthwhile because I was just laughing my ass off by the end.

[@morgianasartre6709]

@@authorRisenfromash The ending seems to be the point if everyones criticism, while I did not enjoy it I don't really see how people can give it the super low ratings just because of that considering the state of the anime market at the moment, if it was a 2 then about 50% of the rest is below zero imo. I think it had plenty of redeemable features but idek, maybe that's because I knew of the poor reception in advance and had low expectations.

[@Rybread52]

When he mentioned Fate being better than the other series he had talked about I was a little surprised, because I thought Darwin's Game was just as good as any of the Fate shows. Heck, I personally enjoyed Darwin's Game even more than Fate Zero, even if I agree they are about equal in terms of overall quality. Maybe it's just that Ufotable magic that makes him remember it better lol.

[@milagold2569]

I agree, I had so much fun with Darwin's Game the season it came out!! I was expecting to drop it pretty early on but the show just knew how to keep being entertaining.

[@isdel9474]

I am truly anticipating the King's Game roast. He mentioned it in another roast of another anime two years ago and I truly thought he forgot.

[@takemetoyonk]

1:24 the most well-written run-on sentence I've heard in a while. I'm pretty sure the last one came from this channel x3 I feel productive for holding my unacademic, unemployed brain in focus in that way! That BTOOM title reading was magical!

[@joshuajohnson4431]

Really wish Killing Bites had gotten an English dub/sequel. Was a fun popcorn anime that blue-balled everyone so hard with its cliffhanger of an ending.

[@IceKyuubi]

definitely an awesome watch, closest thing we're ever going to get to a Bloody Roar anime too most likely

[@spartanchief1785]

After finishing the show, I went and read the manga. Unfortunately it’s still in production and iirc (it’s been a couple years at this point) chapter releases are kinda slow. Maybe it’s improved since 2019. Idk. I might reread it at some point in the future

[@tychoderkommentator2989]

Acting as if the mc in "Battle in 5 seconds after meeting" wasn't a complete sociopath who only uses the people around him as chess pieces. I see.

[@michealkackson5819]

thats what makes him so good tho, it gets annoying when every mc in battle royale anime act like shinji

[@1996nick2]

I don't know that he's a sociopath, but I deeply appreciate the way his character takes initiative and has a personality. I'm kinda sick of the "good guy who does good things" protagonist, tbh.

[@tnygma0717]

After watching this I'm just thinking "how fun would it be to mix the death game/battle royale genre with Digimon?"

[@clover9812]

n onono. even better, make a battle royale where everyone has a pokemon, but instead of actual good ones, everyone has garbage like sunkern, magikarp, pidgey, and chikorita. would be hilarious.

[@christopherwebster6354]

@@clover9812 It's called a Nuzlocke.

[@s3studios597]

Pretty sure that already exists, though it's been radio silent for years now.

[@revoe5522]

Just dont let leomon die again

[@tnygma0717]

@@revoe5522 but that's a staple of Digimon, he HAS to die

[@emmettchan5545]

To make Yuki bearable headcannon him as a closeted gay dude. And imagine Yuno as a stand-in for his battle with comphet. It kinda falls apart towards the end but makes most of the show a lot more bearable

[@Cesaryeyo]

I actually liked Mirai Nikki a lot. I enjoyed all the edge. The whole "I have to be nice to the psycho or I'll die, but I see her humanity and that makes me feel for her but she's still a psycho" gave me intense emotions. I think the strategy was interesting and fun. It's not thematically deep or says anything very profound, but I really like it and think it's really good. Then again, I'm a very "no such thing as a guilty pleasure, if you enjoy it it's good" person and I understand why people might not like it and consider it trash. No hard feelings or judgement

[@craftworded]

I feel like mirai nikki is the best battle royale because it takes itself seriously enough with very little unecessary padding and terrible tropes

[@Heidelmann]

It has a real focus on the humanity of it's characters and that is what makes it good.

[@magmaspacer1967]

@@HeidelmannDoes it really though? I’m not so sure about that, but hey it’s been ages since I’ve seen it.

[@tosin_is_hungry]

This guy is a huge inspiration for me. Keep up the good work, man.

[@Hobbles_]

Aaannnddd title's already been changed! XD Used to have "Mirai Nikki's Legacy"

[@Dtctr010]

Kamen Rider Ryuki is a good toku example of battle Royale show. The main protag Shinji is the average joe sucked into this battle, the second rider Ren has his purpose for fighting, and theres even a criminal thrown in to get the other 10 riders to fight it out for a wish. It pretty much hits all the things you mentioned with its own power system and rules, typical tropes, and various motivations

[@SageVallant]

That's the second time I've heard someone bring up Juuni Taisen this week. I didn't know it was a Nisioisin story, but that makes a lot of sense actually.

[@WickedKnightAlbel]

As soon as you know that fact, the eventual winner becomes severely obvious by sheer resemblance to Koyomi from Monogatari

[@evanfelch7689]

I really wish there was a list of the anime mentioned in the description. There are so many thrown out in this I cant remember half of them.

[@gregjayonnaise8314]

I think one reason why Yuno works so well is because she’s the definition of a “well rounded” Yandere. She’s both crazy and sweet, and the contrast makes her more compelling. Like, Yuno’s definitely a bit one note, but part of the horror of Yuno’s existence is that, for all intents and purposes, she IS capable of living a life without Yuki. She’s a good student, pretty, and good at fighting, and she’s the one who wins the game in the end, even with her looking after Yuki at the same time. And yet, despite being so well rounded, she’s so self-hating and starved of genuine affection that one kid offering to marry her drives her to obsess over him and be willing to die for his sake. Not to mention that, for all of her batshit craziness, Yuno’s hobbies and upbeat personality AREN’T facades; she genuinely likes cooking and wants to be Yuki’s wife. It’s cliche, but she does have some long term goals (even if they all involve Yuki). I think a lot of Yanderes don’t reach the same level of fame that Yuno does simply because they aren’t well rounded. Sure, you can have a crazy anime girl who’ll threaten to kill or hurt anyone who touches their main character, but that’s not really a Yandere in the same sense that Yuno is. For example, a lot of the girls from Higarashi are called Yanderes, despite the fact that most of their crazy actions are due to them acting out of character and that they fit into other archetypes anyways. A Yandere can’t just be crazy to be interesting, they need to have some semblance of a life outside of their craziness.

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

Yuno feels like a character that is one healthy relationship away from being just a normal person. That's what makes her the archetypical yandere. The "I can fix her" feeling that she gives off.

[@tsuumee4545]

Yuno was my favourite yandere until I watched Happy Sugar Life and found Satō Matsuzaka. They’re quite different in the sense that Yuno felt love for people (her parents) while Satō had never felt love for anyone until she met Shio.

[@socialistprofessor3206]

Damn it, Geoff. :) I just can't keep up with all of these but keep it coming. Your suggestions have saved me a ton of time and helped me find some great entertainment. Thank you! Edit: Apologies for the earlier misspelling. No disrespect intended.

[@GoldenPincers]

The manga of Darwin's Game is unironically good, imo. I've had fun reading and re-reading it, going through the events and characters, who are actually well-written for this type of story. There's close to no ridiculous nonsensical shit, with every event, plotpoint or arc being competently written, explored, hyped up, and concluded, while making it connect to the previous and future events, making things feel connected. Also, the characters are much smarter than most in other BR shows, while being badass all the same.

[@authorRisenfromash]

I really, really hope that you were not implying with your clips of Gleipnir that you believe that anime to be trash as it has some really trashing elements. There were times my jawdropped over what was happening in it, but I feel it had some really interest subplots and story elements and I think you should have mentioned it in your list of more interesting battle royale-esque shows. Also, yes, please, please roast King's Game that was such a great gorefest to laugh at and so much of it made zero sense but for some reason I couldn't stop watching it. Great video!

[@mothersbasement]

Gleipnir really deserves a full analysis on its own. It encapsulates a lot of the things that make big dumb battle Royale shit fun, but with some real intellectual rigor backing it up

[@authorRisenfromash]

@@mothersbasement I'd love to see you do a video on it almost as much as I'd love a second season but it seemed like the hype for it died down fast... and I don't understand why. Again, thanks for yet another great video.

[@blueeyeswhitemoron4488]

I dont remember anything from ihghrise invasion except for the first introduction of mcs brother because i found it somewhat funny seeing her describe all his good traits and jumping to him slowly cracking open the head of a mask dude with a sledgehammer after every described character trait... also snipernask has a sexy voice

[@LauraLovesHugs]

and now they've finally made the kings game video!

[@Elegiast]

I love the way you say BTOOOOM! with such gusto every time it comes up.

[@colletiquette]

Did not think i'd ever hear Mother's Basement make a "all my homies" joke but boy am I glad it happened

[@Ruskles06]

Future Diary is two chefs kissing perfection, don't change my mind.

[@aztecdubstep189]

I just noticed you started playing Formaggio's theme in the background during Yuno's part. +5 respect

[@crowk5287]

seeing revue starlight casually name dropped in the good battle royale section jump scared me so hard I can't explain. it's one of my favorite anime everrr

[@EpicMan-du9vf]

I am so glad you finally covered Mirai nikki properly it is my first ever proper watch and I still love it years later, btooom is even better and oh my goodness it doesnt get enough coverage

[@zackshannon834]

Future diary not good? Dude this show is such a fun Rollercoaster. Every few years I'll show it to a new buddie and get wrapped up into it again. It single handedly got be back into anime in a time where I had pretty much forgotten about it. I really dig this show.

[@wolfrex2721]

It has some.. Good parts. Most is quite bad. The characters suck, the overall plot is just a big and stupid mess, the ending sucks and Yuki is the worst protagonist of all time. Fight scenes are quite good though.

[@nightnday6675]

I liked this show alot. I didnt know it was perceived as cringe worthy but then again im not a super big anime fan. Maybe is should keep Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya to myself then.

[@Wveth]

I mean, it's a fun, silly teen story. It's just not written with a lot of effort or care. But it's basically competent and has a lot of fun insanity.

[@xcrowx8140]

@@wolfrex2721 There are far worse main characters. Kazuya and jesus kun for example

[@joejoethehff7373]

You got me, Geoff. You put Yuno (🥰🥰🥰🥰) in the thumbnail and I had to click the video right away. Damn you and your marketing experience!

[@hoguesteele]

I really love your analysis on, well everything

[@Elegiast]

Fate/Zero is the best Battle Royale anime, hail Gen Urobuchi!

[@KingsNerdCave]

Future Diary is a guilty pleasure of mine, fun show, interesting battles, entertaining Yandere, weakest part is Yuki for sure. I actually got emotional when 9th dies. I'll say Zodiac War (Juni Taisen) has some great animation and does get to the point, but it left me dissatisfied as the battles are really short and multiple episodes are spent introducing characters with long backstories only for them to die in a short fight the very next episode.

[@Demedich1]

Love how he set up 2 future videos at the very end just to tease us with them

[@nathanmaynes739]

I will never apologize for loving Juni Taisen: Zodiac Wars with all my heart, it is still one of my favorite anime, I rewatch it every year.

[@deltalord6969]

I liked mirai nikki because its one of the first and incidentally few battle royale anime that actually had a pretty satisfactory ending(if you liked yuno).

[@janisir4529]

With or without the OVA?

[@zaynes5094]

@@janisir4529 Yes That is the fork in the road for fans. I think the creators were just trying to appease some of the fans that weren’t happy with the “unhappy” ending, even though Yuki deserved it, by acting like a coward for most of it. I do go back to the manga as that’s really something else.

[@jomama8598]

One of the best plot twists in anime history 🔥👌

[@NathanielJordan85]

Thanks for watching (and summarizing) this whole sub-genre, so that I don't have to. Though I do look forward to the next time someone actually does it well.

[@thecrimsondragon2379]

Oh my god you’re actually talking about this?! Mirai Nikki was my first anime! Thank you so much thank you thank you thank you thank you

[@TheFlinchyDinosaur]

I really like high rise invasion. There's just some braindead fun to be had there

[@TheGiovani012]

How dare you, How dare you not talk about the masterpiece that is SAO Season 2.

[@foggyboy8901]

I was hoping he’d bring up ggo in this. It’s one of my favourites

[@TheOnlyTrueDedicated]

Man, I hope you actually do make a video about this genre can do tings right, because your mention of Eden of the East on that front makes me happy. It’s one of my personal favorites (and one of the few series I own all of, including the movies). I also think it’s one of those stealth series, not coming in under the radar for most people with how good it is, and as a result not getting nearly as much respect as it deserves.

[@Pluveus]

Since you made that video about returning to Manga recently, I highly recommend you read the BTOOM!! manga, the MC totally knows it's real life, and he just rolls with it. It's been a while since I read it, but I think that the head injury is only used as the "I don't know how I got here" framing device and is only brought up when some exposition is needed.

[@tully6648]

An in-depth roast of King's Game? Yes, please! Especially if it includes every other manga that's gone by the title or premise, because there are a surprising number of them out there (and they're all bad).

[@Crisjola]

As far as know, and I've read ahead, Gleipnir's Claire manages to be both compelling, a genuine narcissist but probably not a sociopath, just incredibly ruthless, and also as close to "moe" as Gleipnir can get.

[@authorRisenfromash]

I found Gleipnir's inclusion in this without a more direct mention or clarification of his thoughts on it odd as I don't usually like anime of this genre and love Gleipnir and enjoyed it even more on a rewatch. I heard the anime doesn't follow the manga precisely- do you still feel like it does a decent representation of the manga? If I liked the anime will I enjoy the manga equally if not more or does it have a different feel to it?

[@mihawk702]

@@authorRisenfromash You will enjoy the manga but i reccoment to read from the start because some events play out different, and as you said i find odd using Gleipnir here since is not a battle royal at all, while can have some aspects of a battle royal it's not that.

[@Crisjola]

@@authorRisenfromash it follows it pretty closely. I don't know if you're a fan of HeroAca but the Manga has little humorous asides about All Might ("he's even *drawn* differently") that obviously can't be in the show. Gleipnir's manga moves at almost the same breakneck pace that the show does, covering roughly five volumes in the first season with the season finale episode's set of final scenes drawing from somewhere in the 33rd-35th chapters (iirc). If you love the show as a show itself and not because you're into Battle Royale type death games (like I've enjoyed Darwin's Game but Gleipnir is the first manga I've bought digitally-Bookwalker ftw-ever) you'll have a blast with the manga. There are some things that are better illustrated in the Manga, such as the recurring theme of the dead cat and Shuichi's sense of smell, which is focused on multiple times in the anime but it barely comes up, because there are different ways that is shown don't lend themselves toward animation. I don't know if you're a fan of Jujutsu Kaisen but I know a lot of people aren't reading the manga because "the anime is basically exactly the manga but better because it's VA and animated" which sells JJK's manga incredibly short. It's the same for Gleipnir. There are tiny details on re-reads that you'll pick up that you won't see in any animated work because of the nature of anime animation. Since you've already watched it twice, you're probably like me, and will love the manga. To me it adds a depth to the characters, getting to see the little expressions that can't be just a singular panel flash, and makes you appreciate Shuichi's personal growth (wrong or right.) Also if you subscribe to INKR you get the first 25 chapters of Gleipnir for "free" as well as their massive library, which includes: To Your Eternity, Attack on Titan, The Seven Deadly Sins, Fire Force (which has such Soul Eater vibes and I've enjoyed the anime even with misplaced fan service), and Tokyo Revengers, to name a few. If you're interested in digital manga reading at all and aren't already caught up with things, Viz Media at 1.99$ (maybe it's 2.99$ now but it's dirt cheap), and INKR at the more pricy 4.99$ are a great way to dip your toes in. After all, unless there's a sale or you want to use your one Basement Bookwalker code *trying* out a series, the subs are the way to go. And as someone who read the first 25 chapters of Gleipnir on INKR before moving to Bookwalker, unlike the Viz/Shonen Jump app, INKR is really committed to good quality manga in digital form. The lines are clean, and even at max zoom, you don't see the blur that crops up in Viz's app that has always put me off buying something like Junji Ito's work because of the poor scan quality. So really really long answer: yes you'll love the manga and whether you realize it or not the tiny details of things like Claire's facial shots making her eyes look like an animal's/large cat of some sort while still being human your brain will pick up on it. It's one of the few Anime/Manga I'd say complement each other because of the need to adapt to animation vs what is important in drawn form. I also would argue that Gleipnir isn't *really* a death game. It's Survival Horror, sure, but not a death game (other than people killing off others by the nature of wanting to stop a thing happening.) And I stick by Claire not being a yandere since she doesn't want to kill Shuichi she just thinks he's too weak (mentally) to protect himself.

[@gsgaming6976]

Gleipnir was great. God, now I wanna go back and rewatch episode 7.

[@matthewmeisinger2579]

Was wondering if you were gonna bring up King's Game, but truly a classic such as that stands in a league of its own as you said.

[@sonwig5186]

I love Mirai Nikki so much I'm not even joking. Recently rewatched it for the first time in almost a decade and it was an absolute blast.

[@rajvirmalhans2073]

Killing bites is still going in the manga although slowly. And while I haven’t seen Mirai Nikki, I’m aware of the OVA

[@Triforce_of_Doom]

"[King's Game] really deserves its own in depth roast" Oh my god I need this roast yesterday. It was one of the first "death game" anime as I call the subgenre that I watched once I started getting into said genre & CHRIST

[@1903JPG]

Bruh how is the video so accurate and comprehensive.

[@TheHumanPurpleTape]

BTOOOOOOOM! That's a pretty deep cut & I love it.

[@DRoseAnimate]

This is reminding me that I still need to read the Gleipnir manga.

[@sirrealgaming6913]

I will say though I do like the ending twist in Future Dairies though even if a lot of decisions are super questionable

[@vergil_6707]

High Rise invasion started pretty intense then it lost all tension when a girl with a phone can control a tower that shoots giant lasers

[@magnoknight1242]

Another one so soon! Nice!

[@captasticts8419]

8:44 hard disagree. while she's not an incredibly written character by any standard her most important traits do not stem from her childhood abuse but from (SPOILER i guess??) from her experiences during the first round of battle royale where she got close to and losing the original yuki

[@tbzombi3950]

Future Diary’s a 9/10 with the OVA. I’ll defend that series’ writing till I die

[@dimitrimcintosh8858]

Who lied to u??

[@NBD5]

Been waiting for this one

[@TheBigPotatoQueen]

I'm still waiting for that King's Game roast, I'd love to hear what you have to say about it

[@DrayLoco]

Future Diary is great idc what anyone says It's among my favorites

[@cantrip7]

Would you consider a follow-up for the battle royale's precocious cousin, the death game? Neo TWEWY just came out and you could plug that. 👀 And it's another excuse to talk about Kaiji.

[@mrwhammer]

Can’t wait for mother’s basement to talk about the Star Wars anime when it comes out

[@kingace6186]

Can't wait until you make the "Roast of King's Game"

[@sokumotanaka9271]

I'm gonna sound like a loser. I like battle royale anime cause they have interesting powers. Otherwise all they do is make me depressed. (I know I'm baby) "Oh boy i love these characters in deadman wonderla- and they're all dead or insane now....great.." but looking at the powers and how they're used and who has them are great inspiration for D&D campaigns.

[@emmanuelinfantegonzalez4316]

I cant believe you didnt mention Fate, specially Fate Zero, the best battle royale anime I have ever seen.

[@mohamedelhediissa289]

He had 2 clips of 2 seconds of fate/apocrypha in the entire video Did one fate reference with "unlimited blade works" and said "fate" as an example of a good battle royale Now it's not alot but maybe he is saving it for it's own video

[@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley]

I was wondering if Eden of the East would fit here and happy to have it mentioned!

[@Kelarys]

Death games are absolutely my favourite genre of anime, and I didn't expect you to mention any I hadn't seen, but I hadn't heard of High Rise Invasion, Killing Bites or Eden of the East. Today is a good day, you're the man Geoff

[@Dragonatrix]

Eden of the East is not a death game. It's framed as one, but it's focus is explicitly on character and ways to *improve* life, not end it.

[@Kelarys]

@@Dragonatrix Thanks! Good to know, I'll save it for last if I get to it lol

[@loaf8506]

thank you for justifying my love for mirai nikki, it slaps in the dumbest ways possible

[@ddjsoyenby]

agreed it's so amazing.

[@claytonrios1]

Honestly Killing Bites is the closest thing we'll ever get to a Bloody Roar anime. So I do appreciate it in that sense.

[@yukaiyami]

I’ve been waiting for that in-depth roast of King’s Game for what feels like (thanks to 2020) 30 years.

[@spider-fighterdenoir6266]

Gotta say I love your choice of background music are they all from Golden Wind.