Ohhh boy here we go...
*cracks knuckles*
(* = haven't read yet but have heard good things about)
(** = contains some ecchi -but nothing nearly as intense as Gantz-)Well here are all of the death game ones I can think of off the top of my headKami-sama no Iutoori (FUJIMURA Akeji) +
Kami-sama no Iutoori Ni Takahata Shun's day at high school begins just as normal and boring as ever, but it doesn't end that way. After his teacher's head explodes, he and his classmates find themselves forced to play children's games, such as Daruma ga Koronda (a game like Red Light/Green Light), with deadly stakes. With no idea who is behind this mysterious deadly game session, and no way of knowing when it will finally end, the only thing Shun and other students can do is keep trying to win...
the first manga is like a preamble for the second, including a switch in main characters. Its in no way repetative however, Spoiler (mouse over to view)
and the main characters of the first manga return and are very involved later in the second one, so if you're like me and dislike main characters switching around, it's not something you need to worry about too much
.Imawa no Kuni no AliceThis one's a mix between a death game and a post-apocalyptic world that's incredibly interestingAlice Ryouhei will leave high school soon, but he's trying to avoid thinking about his future. Late one night, when he's hanging out with his tough friend Karube and his silly, girl-crazy friend Chota, they see fireworks. After one blindingly bright explosion, they find themselves waking up in a different world. In this 'Borderland,' people are forced to either participate in potentially deadly games or simply die. Will Chota, Karube, and Ryouhei be able to survive this dangerous new world, and is there a way they can get back to their original lives?
Btooom!**
Ryouta Sakamoto is one of the top-ranked players of BTOOOM!, an online battle game. But no amount of simulated warfare could have prepared him for what is to come… Ryouta wakes one evening to find himself dangling from a tree by a parachute with no recollection of how he got there. Before he can orient himself to his unfamiliar surroundings, Ryouta is attacked. As a barrage of explosives rain down on him, Ryouta realizes that he too has a pack of bombs…bombs that look very similar to the ones used in BTOOOM! Ryouta may have mastered the online game, but can he come out on top in this real-life game of survival?!
Cry Eye*
Asahi and her friend Yamato went together to an exclusive event as test players for a new game from the cellphone-game company "Sky Nova." The test players were a diverse lot of all ages, from ordinary teens like Asahi to popular idols. The company took all of them on a cruise to explain the rules of this island-based, treasure-hunting survival game. Suddenly, during the presentation, all of the participants lost consciousness. They woke up on an actual island wearing a strange watch with the words "Game Start." Now they are all stuck in this survival game, which has become all too real and deadly!
Darwin's Game*,**
Sudo Kaname suddenly gets involved in a death game through the mysterious mobile app "Darwin's Game."
Here are some that aren't exactly the type of death games you're looking for but are very unique in their own aspects and the death games all have very interesting conceptsChaosic Rune**
After being the only survivor in a plane crash and losing his parents Ryouga, a young boy, is troubled by nightmares and taunted by other kids at his school. Fed up, he agrees to transfer to another school intrigued by a mysterious offer and the hope they may know why or how he was able to survive the crash. Arriving at the new school, he learns he must play a little card game with three others before being accepted... one card each, one vicious monster each, gruesome deaths for all save one.
In this one only the first part is really like a death game. The rest of it is the main characters trying to adjust to the new section of society that the death game revealed to them.Liar GameThe card reads as follows:
Congratulations! You are one of the 1 in 100,000 people who has been entered in the amazing LIAR GAME TOURNAMENT!
Along with the postcard there is 100 million yen in notes. That's the beginning of the Liar Game. When the game ends, in 30 days, you will have to return your 100 million. If your opponent steals them, he can keep them as a prize, and you will have a debt of 100 million...
The biggest difference between this one and a regular death game is that basically if you lose you are pretty much sold into slavery or for your organs on the black market or somethingPsyrenPSYЯEN follows the adventures of Ageha Yoshina, a high school student who is chosen by Nemesis Q as a participant in the Psyren games.
The games take place in a world known initially as Psyren, which is revealed to be the real world a decade in the future.
Ageha and his friends attempt to alter the future and save the world from becoming Psyren.
if you enjoy gantz you'll definitely want to take a look at this one The rest of these are not death games, but are similar in concept. They are all survival, instead of fighting against the other players or some master manipulator, these characters team up and fight to adapt and survive in their harsh environment. Since you like death games I'm positive several if not all of these will resonate with you.Suicide IslandTreating non-successful suicidal patients requires a lot of money and resources. With low budget and a personal respect argumentation, a doctor will ask a non-successful suicidal patient if he/she still wants to live on or not. If not the government will respect his/her wish. However, the government doesn't just simply kill them.
I am pretty picky about art myself, so the old cover for this one turned me off for quite a while (until I got desperate enough to try it) and it has become one of my favorites. The way the artist draws people seems a little too detailed in some ways and it kind of threw me at first, but the backgrounds are great. The cover art especially might look a little strange, but it only took a chapter or two for me to grow accustomed to it. This manga is the best embodiment of the phrase "don't judge a book by it's cover" that I've come across. If this art is unbearable however I will say that this is the only strange art on this listEden no Ori**
Akira and his classmates are travelling on a plane when it crashes onto an island inhabited by species thought to have been extinct. The situation becomes increasingly desperate as some of Akira's classmates are eaten alive, while some kill others in desperation. Now Akira and a few other survivors are trying to survive what seems to be a horrible nightmare.
this one actually introduced my to the genre. It isnt too heavily laden in the psychological department, and is more about the crash survivors to overcome the environment. There is still psych to it, enough for you not to get bored.Apocalypse no TorideWhat can you do when you get mistaken for murder? Nothing. You go to prison. Lucky for you, your inmates are some of the biggest cutthroats in the prison. Seriously, you are lucky. Especially when zombies attack.
BM: NectarMan is having a hard time finding food and getting rid of their trash, so science comes up with a bio-engineered animal that survives by eating trash, and is then killed to feed humanity. But the self-replicating, endlessly hungry killing machine gets loose in Tokyo...
Dawn - Tsumetai TeRemember that plague you learned about in history class? Well, it's back, ready to infect hordes of people! Follow Nagasawa, a melodramatic student caught in the middle of this horrid epidemic, with absolutely no idea what's going on, trying to get through life with infected people all about. Can you say creepy?
Green WorldzPlants have taken over the planet.
In 2017, the vegetation in Tokyo rose up and toppled human society in moments.
The few survivors are forced to live in the relative safety of a subway network, but supplies are running low.
Join an average high school student named Akira as he challenges the plants in a struggle for survival!
Dragon HeadIn the horror of witnessing so many classmates perish before his eyes in a violent train wreck, Teru discovers two survivors in the tunnel: Ako and Nobuo. But salvation from this bloody carnage is far from their grasp. As they try to dig out from the wreck in order to come up with a plan to stay alive, the lack of light and food, combined with the stench of death and decay, will lead one member of the group down a dark and demented path. And with sudden, violent earthquakes shaking the tunnel, escaping to the outside world may lead them to an even greater danger.
Metro Survive*
Mishima is your average spineless pushover, working as a repairman for the Exopolis Tower, Tokyo's largest and hottest highrise business and entertainment building. He promised to come home in time to celebrate his son's birthday, but when he lets his pushy boss saddle him with overtime, the task takes him all night. On the morning subway train heading home, a massive earthquake strikes and collapses both Exopolis and its underground train lines. Now Mishima is trapped deep underground with the other passengers of the train, some of whom are less than cooperative. Will he be able to take the initiative for once and lead them all to freedom, or will they starve in their underground prison?
I am a Hero*
Hideo Suzuki is a thirty-five year old mangaka assistant struggling to be the hero in his own life by breaking back into the lime light with a new serial all the while juggling his relationship with his girlfriend and his own delusions.
However, as hard as Hideo may try, the world seems to have a different set of plans for him; sinister and dark machinations that completely overturn his reality as he knows it.
I have been obsessed with Game of Death and Survival manga for the past few months so I hope these will be helpful. Even though not all of these are exactly what you asked for, they do have good psych-horror and similar internal, moral, and ethical struggles. I know I'm forgetting at least three more death game manga and probably more but hopefully I'll be able to add them later.
Last edited by Elyzabeth at 5:59 am, Jul 1 2015
