King's Game The Animation (王様ゲーム ジ・アニメーション) is a Japanese anime television series adaptation of the Ōsama Game cell phone novel and the sequel, Ōsama Game: Extreme. It is animated by Seven.
Plot
The students in Class 2-1 of Kure Academy receive cellphone messages from a person known only as the "King". The messages contain orders that the students must obey, lest they be punished with gruesome deaths. As part of the deadly "King's Game", the orders become more and more extreme as time goes on. One student, Nobuaki Kanazawa, having survived a previous game, is determined to put a stop to the carnage befalling his class.
Characters
Main characters
- Nobuaki Kanazawa (金沢 伸明)
- A student of Tamaoka High School and a participant of the first King's Game. Due to the resultant trauma, Nobuaki transferred to Kure Academy. He was a cheerful student with many friends prior to the first King's Game. At his new school, Nobuaki has difficulty making friends due to his aggressive nature and fear of losing those close to him. During the second King's Game, he tries to get everyone to cooperate to survive, only starting to earn trust after several classmates have died. He dies after his throat is slit during the final battle with Natsuko, and is seen in the afterlife, reunited with his deceased friends.
- Ryou Sugisawa (杉沢 遼)
- One of the last to die in the second King's Game. He has a crush on Teruaki and breaks down mentally after his death. Near the end, he resolves to sacrifice himself like Teruaki did and Nobuaki tried to do, so when the final order to create a doll from the students' limbs is given, he offers his own leg. Natsuko uses a chainsaw on him, causing him to bleed out and die.
- Natsuko Honda (本多 奈津子)
- The main antagonist. She is an athletic and popular girl who initially projects a sweet and cheerful demeanor. It is revealed in the manga adaptations that she is Chiemi Honda's older sister, and that she is the sole survivor of a previous game. As a result, she tries to hide her trauma in hopes of having a normal school life, but reveals her true colors after Nobuaki refuses to cooperate with her during the Kure Academy King's Game. She was the antithesis of Nobuaki, firmly believing there can be only one survivor and that selfishness and betrayal are necessary for survival. During the final battle, she is fatally wounded by Riona, but slits Nobuaki's throat and professes her love for him before dying.
- Chiemi Honda (本多 智恵美)
- The late girlfriend of Nobuaki and the penultimate survivor of the first King's Game. She and Nobuaki were given a final order to kill the person they loved the most. Chiemi killed herself so Nobuaki could survive.
- Naoya Hashimoto (橋本 直也)
- Nobuaki's late best friend and one of the last to die in the first King's Game. An order was issued in which a student needed to roll a die, and name a number of students equal to the number rolled, all of whom (including the roller) would die. Naoya sacrificed himself to roll the die.
- Ria Iwamura (岩村 莉愛)
- The third-from-last survivor of the first King's Game. She was emotionally scarred due to being sexually abused by her father in her youth, resulting in her being quiet and aloof. She initially tried to beat the King's Game through independent research, but became open to cooperation once a few survivors remained. She revealed that the game originates from a virus that kills via suggestion, and tried to stop the game by deleting the virus from her laptop. This turned out to be a trap set by the King, and she was incinerated as punishment.
- Riona Matsumoto (松本 里緒菜)
- The final survivor of the second King's Game. During the game, she does research and shares information with Nobuaki. She initially acts tough and makes Nobuaki use the honorific -san suffix when addressing her, but gradually softens and even develops feelings for him. After the final battle, she uses Nobuaki's body to weigh her down in the ocean, drowning herself in an attempt to stop the games from continuing elsewhere.
- Kenta Akamatsu (赤松 健太)
- A participant of the second King's Game. He is a muscular student who acts as a 'big brother' figure to Nobuaki, defending him against their classmates' hostility. When Mitsuki broke her phone, Kenta, who was ordered by the King to give any classmate an order of his choice, gave himself an order to protect Mitsuki. He and Mitsuki accompany Nobuaki on a trip to Yonaki village to learn about the King's Game. He eventually dies after failing to protect Mitsuki.
- Mitsuki Yukimura (雪村 美月)
- A participant of the second King's Game. She is given an order to text 'DIE' to two other classmates, but resisted and broke her phone. She accompanies Nobuaki and Kenta on a trip to Yonaki Village, where she buys a new phone. At the village, she declares her love for Kenta and intends to text it to herself so they can both die together. Kenta knocks her out and sends the texts to Natsuko and himself in order to protect Mitsuki. However, only texts from her original phone qualify, and she dies with Kenta anyway.
- Teruaki Nagata (永田 輝晃)
- A participant of the second King's Game. He aspires to be a hairstylist. After being assaulted by Natsuko due to an earlier King's order and having his phone stolen, he defied Natsuko and tried to kill her by assigning negative points to her during the finger-breaking game, which was unsuccessful thanks to her convincing of Aimi to save her. Later, Natsuko tampered with Teruaki's phone to block the King's message, resulting in Teruaki de facto breaking the rule of attempting to quit the King's Game, resulting in his death.
Other characters
- Nami Hirano (平野 奈美)
- Nami Hirano is a student in the first King's game. She had an order to give herself an order, so she decided to find and touch the King after being convinced by Nobuaki that the King was a student in the class. It turned out unsuccessful and her punishment was to go blind. The next day, she committed suicide by drowning to help Nobuaki obey his order of losing something important to him.
- Daisuke Tasaki (田崎 大輔)
- Daisuke Tasaki is Nobuaki's late friend in the first King's Game. His family is very rich and he aspires to be a musician. He had sex with classmate Shouta's girlfriend Misaki due to the King's order. As a result, when Shouta was ordered by the King to assign an order to anybody in the class, he ordered Daisuke to die, resulting in his death.
- Shouta Yahiro (八尋 翔太)
- Shouta Yahiro is a participant in the first King's game. He ordered Daisuke to die after Daisuke had sex with his girlfriend Misaki due to the King's order. He later died as punishment for blocking the King's messages.
- Misaki Nakajima (中島 美咲)
- Misaki Nakajima is amongst the first victims of the first King's Game. The girlfriend of Shouta. She was nominated in Order 4, and laughed with Mami about having sex with Daisuke, but when she heard about Hideki and Satomi's suicides, she became frightened, thinking that if she didn't follow the orders, she would die like Hideki and the others, so she called Daisuke by email and obeyed the orders. In the popularity vote in Order 6, she was unsure, saying "I can't choose either," but after being persuaded by Nobuaki, she decided to vote for Naoya. In Order 11, she committed an unnecessary act and was punished by decapitation, resulting in her death. Nobuaki cried when Shouta, who she was dating, died as a result of the punishment, and believed that he had been punished.
- Yousuke Ueda (上田 陽介)
- Yousuke Ueda is a participant in the first King's Game. He was close friends with and secretly in love with Kaori Maruoka. He helped Nobuaki do research about the King's Game and found out that it was originally played in a distant village. He died shortly after when he broke the order do avoid doing an unnecessary action, which was crying.
- Kaori Maruoka (丸岡 香織)
- Kaori Maruoka is a student in the first King's game. She looked up to Yousuke who helped stand up to her in elementary school. When Yousuke died, she thought Nobuaki killed him so she tried to kill him. Eventually she died from breaking the rule to avoid doing the unnecessary action of crying after Nobuaki told her that Yousuke loved her and told Nobuaki to protect her after his death.
- Emi Miyazaki (宮崎 絵美)
- Emi Miyazaki is a student in the first King's game. She is dating Takayuki. Because she committed an unnecessary act under Order 11, she was punished by being torn to pieces and died. Nobuaki sheds tears when Takayuki, who she was dating, is punished and dies, believing that she was punished.
- Kana Ueda (上田 佳奈)
- Kana Ueda is a participant in the first King's Game. She lost a popularity contest ordered by the King and committed suicide by jumping out of the window, before seeing the punishment.
- Satomi Ishii (石井 里美)
- Satomi Ishii is amongst the first victims in the original King's Game. She died as punishment for not letting Hideki Toyoda touch her breasts.
- Hideki Toyoda (豊田 秀樹)
- Hideki Toyoda is amongst the first victims of the first King's Game. He died as punishment for not touching Satomi's breasts.
- Yuusuke Kawakami (河上 勇佑)
- Yuusuke Kawakami is amongst the first victims in the original King's Game. He has a self-centered personality. In Command 7, he begs Akira to punish Nobuaki so that he can be saved. He was talking with Shouta and Takayuki about what would happen if they designated King Mail as a domain, but Yusuke did not reject the email. However, in Command 11, he commits an unnecessary act and is punished by being torn to pieces. When asked what he did on the phone with Nobuaki, he replies that he did nothing, and while calling for help, he is dismembered and dies. Later, when Nobuaki sees the email and learns that his friend has been punished, he sheds tears and believes that he has been punished.
- Minako Nakao (中尾 美奈子)
- Minako Nakao is a student in the first King's Game. She was Chia Kawano's best friend and was a victim in the dice roll order just like Chia.
- Mami Shirokawa (城川 真美)
- Mami Shirokawa is a student in the first King's game. She is a leader among the girls in her class. she is a beautiful woman with blonde-haired.
- Masami Matsumoto (松本 雅美)
- Masami Matsumoto is a student in the first King's game. She slit her wrists on the night of the dice roll order, likely as an attempted suicide. She ended up dying for good when she was named in the dice roll.
- Chia Kawano (川野 千亜)
- Chia Kawano is a student in the first King's game. She vocally despised Abe Owata and was quick to call out his behavior at the dice roll order. She ended up amongst the victims of the order along with Abe.
- Hiroko Yamaguchi (山口 寛子)
- Hiroko Yamaguchi is amongst the first victims in the original King's Game. She has a strong personality. In Command 11, Nobuaki calls her and tells her that the rule violations were to specify King Mail as a domain and to cancel their cell phone contracts, and she bursts into tears, asking "Is that what Yuusuke and his friends were punished for?" After the phone call, she is punished with a heart attack for having done something unnecessary. Nobuaki calls her again, but she replies that she didn't do anything. After her second phone call with Nobuaki, she dies. Later, Nobuaki sheds tears at his friends' punishment and believes that he was punished.
- Keita Yamashita (山下 敬太)
- Keita Yamashita is a participant in the first King's game. He was Naoya's friend, but at the dice roll order, his name was unintentionally called by Naoya, resulting in his death.
- Hirofumi Inoue (井上 浩文)
- Hirofumi Inoue is a student in the first King's game. He died for breaking the order to avoid doing an unnecessary action, which was crying. He is a self-confessed "crybaby".
- Fujioka Toshiyuki (俊之 藤岡)
- Fujioka Toshiyuki is a student in the first King's game. He was Abe Owata's friend who died alongside him in the dice roll order.
- Abe Owata (利幸 阿部)
- Abe Owata is a student in the first King's game. He became crazed at the dice roll order by trying to force others to roll the die, including his best friend Fujioka Toshiyuki. After being called out as a coward by everyone, he threatens everyone by trying to kill Chiemi, which forces Naoya to step up to roll the die. He died for being amongst the ones named by Naoya.
- Akira Oono (大野 明)
- Akira Oono is a student in the first King's game. love with Kana Ueda. he died for breaking an order to avoid doing an unnecessary action, which was crying. This is different than the manga where he died in a paper-drawing game order where all the boys had to take turns choosing to either take 1, 2, or 3 sheets of paper. In the end whoever who had to take the 100th sheet got punished.
- Shingo Adachi (安達 信吾)
- Shingo Adachi is a student in the first King's Game. He was given an order to text 'DIE' to two other classmates. He had a fight with his friends when debating whom to text DIE to, which eventually resulted in him falling down a flight of stairs and dying.
- Akemi Kinoshita (木下 明美)
- Akemi Kinoshita is amongst the first victims in the original King's Game. She was named in Order 10, and in order to protect himself, she was the first to comply, sending an email to Shingo and Maki telling them to "die". At the same time that Order 11 was given, she was punished by drowning for breaking the rules, and died. Nobuaki believes that she was given an order similar to Order 10, and canceled his cell phone contract out of fear that she would be killed. The text of the unsent email is unknown.
- Aimi Murazumi (村角 愛美)
- Aimi Murazami is a student and Natsuko's best friend in Class 2-1 of Kure Academy. At the finger-breaking game, she initially refused to break her fingers to save Natsuko but Natsuko forcefully reminded her of the time they became best friends when Natsuko convinced the initially shy and weak Aimi to come out of her shell and participate in sports, so she ended up saving her. She disliked Nobuaki's aloof nature at first but eventually becomes grateful of his attempts to save everyone, especially at the racing order where Nobuaki tried to carry her. So when either Riona or Nobuaki were destined to die for being furthest away from the mountain, she sacrificed herself by running backwards.
- Yuuna Kobayashi (小林 優奈)
- Yuuna Kobayashi is a student in Class 2-1 in Kure Academy. She initially appeared to be friends with Natsuko and participated in the relay race with her at the sports festival, but soon began distrusting her after she showed her true colors after the King's Game has begun. Natsuko used that to her advantage by using reverse psychology to convince her to go the wrong path up the mountain. She eventually falls off a cliff, and gets punished for failing to reach the summit in 24 hours.
- Haruka Momoki (桃木 遥香)
- Haruka Momoki is a student of Class 2-1 in Kure Academy. Her order was to let Tsubasa touch her chest, but the order was not doable because Tsubasa had already died, so as a result, she died.
- Aya Kuramoto (倉本 綾)
- Aya Kuramoto is a student of Class 2-1 in Kure Academy. Her order was to lose something precious to her. She tried to obey the order by killing her parents but was unsuccessful. In the end she had to kill her dog, which she resisted, resulting in her death.
- Nanami Takumi (宅見 七海)
- Nanami Takumi is a student of Class 2-1 in Kure Academy. In Order 2, she fell asleep before Nobuaki could contact him and was punished by hanging and died. Later, her body is discovered by Aya and her parents who came to pick her up. In a class photo, she and Aimi are posing next to Natsuko with their shoulders touching, so it seems they were good friends.
- Aya Matsuoka (松岡 彩)
- Aya Matsuoka is a student and amongst the last survivors of Class 2-1 of Kure Academy. Facing the final order from the King, after seeing Natsuko maniacally help her friend Ryou sacrifice himself by cutting his leg, tries to stop Natsuko by strangling her. Natsuko immediately kills her by slicing her torso.
- Rina Minami (南 理奈)
- Rina Minami is a student of Class 2-1 of Kure Academy. Under the King's order to race up Mt. Nuegarebi, she encounters her struggling classmates Takuya and Yuuna, but refuses to save Takuya for what he did to Masatoshi and gives up saving Yuuna after struggling to stop her from falling off a cliff. She then encounters Natsuko who provokes her by asking if her classmates' deaths were in vain and asking if she has the willpower to kill all her remaining classmates to win the game. In a guilt-driven panic, she runs back to try to save them but trips over a branch and falls over a cliff.
- Tsubasa Furusawa (古澤 翼)
- Tsubasa Furusawa is a student amongst the first casualties of the King's game in Class 2-1 of Kure Academy. He died for disobeying the order of not falling asleep. Nobuaki tried to save him by barging into his house, but was too late.
- Masatoshi Ooi (大居 勝利)
- Masatoshi Ooi is a student in Class 2-1 of Kure Academy. At the racing order, he got shoved down a flight of stairs by classmate Takuya, resulting in him being close to last place. He tries to sacrifice himself by jumping into the ocean, but Nobuaki follows him and tries to save him, but was unsuccessful. However, Masatoshi turns out to have lived just long enough to get punished at the first 8-hour mark, saving Nobuaki and Riona.
- Takuya Sakamoto (坂本 拓哉)
- Takuya Sakamoto is a student in Class 2-1 of Kure Academy. At the racing order, he shoved Masatoshi down a flight of stairs and ditched the group who tried to take care of him. As he approached the summit, he got stuck in a trap set up by Natsuko, who breaks his legs so he can no longer walk. Later, Rina catches up to him but refuses to save him because of what he did to Masatoshi. He eventually died as punishment for failing to reach the summit after 24 hours.
- Yuuichi Satou (佐藤 勇一)
- Yuuichi Satou is a student in Class 2-1 of Kure Academy. He led the class in confronting Nobuaki for first trying to convince them the King's Game is real, and then for suspecting Nobuaki is the King himself after some classmates had died. While beating up Nobuaki, he died for breaking an unspecified order.
- Toshifumi Sakakibara (榊原 俊文)
- Toshifumi Sakakibara is a student in class 2-1 of Kure Academy. He died for breaking an unspecified order in the second day of the King's Game.
- Tatsuya Jinba (神馬 達也)
- Tatsuya Jinba is a student in class 2-1 of Kure Academy. He died an unspecified death on the second day of the King's Game.
- Daiki Kurosawa (黒澤 大輝)
- Daiki Kurosawa is a student in class 2-1 of Kure Academy. A male student wearing glasses. he is burned to death as punishment for disobeying the King's orders in Order 2. It is likely that he fell asleep before midnight after leaving the park.
- Shin Takada (高田 真)
- Shin Takada is a student in class 2-1 of Kure Academy. in the An original character for the anime. A male student wearing glasses. In Order 2, he fell asleep before Nobuaki could contact him and was punished by hanging and died.
Media
Manga
Anime
On August 1, 2017, an anime television series adaptation by Seven was announced. It aired from October 5 to December 21, 2017.[4] The series is directed by Tokihiro Sasaki and Kenji Konuta is in charge of series composition. Kan Soramoto and Yōsuke Itō are the character designers, and Soramoto is also credited as the chief animation director.[3] The opening theme is "Feed the Fire" by Coldrain[5] and the ending theme is "Lost Paradise" by Pile.[6] It ran for 12 episodes.[7] Crunchyroll streamed the series while Funimation have licensed the series and streamed an English dub.[8] Anime Limited have licensed the series for a UK release.[9]
External links
References
- The Fall 2017 Anime Preview Guide - King's Game Anime News Network, retrieved 2019-05-23^
- FunimationNow Fall 2017 SimulDubs & English Casts Funimation, September 2017, retrieved October 21, 2017^
- King's Game Horror Anime's Staff, Visuals Revealed Anime News Network, August 10, 2017, retrieved August 3, 2017^
- ティザーPV解禁 kingsgame-anime, August 10, 2017, retrieved August 10, 2017^
- King's Game The Animation Horror Anime's Teaser Promo Video, Theme Song Artist Revealed Anime New Network, August 10, 2017, retrieved August 10, 2017^
- King's Game Anime Reveals Ending Theme Artist, October 5 Debut Anime New Network, September 4, 2017^
- King's Game Anime Listed With 12 Episodes Anime News Network, October 10, 2017, retrieved October 10, 2017^
- Crunchyroll, Funimation Add 7 Fall Anime Titles Anime News Network, September 27, 2017, retrieved September 27, 2017^
- Kings Game Confirmed for UK Streaming Anime News Network, October 4, 2017, retrieved October 4, 2017^