Darwin’s Game (Review)

Genres:Action, Mystery, Shounen

What is it about?

High school student Kaname Sudou receives an invitation from a classmate to play Darwin’s Game, a mobile game he has never heard of. However, as soon as he opens the application, a green snake suddenly pops out from his phone screen and bites his neck, leaving him unconscious. Waking up in the infirmary without any signs of a snake bite, he is told by the school to take the rest of the day off. Although he is puzzled by what has happened, he dismisses the surreal experience as a hallucination and boards the train home.

Unfortunately, his curiosity gets the better of him and he uses the application once again. As the application appears to be just like any other battle game, Kaname breathes out a sigh of relief and decides to start his first match. However, the pleasant surprise is short-lived, as his in-game opponent unexpectedly appears right in front of him and attempts to hunt him down with a knife.

As he desperately runs for his life, Kaname puts two and two together and realizes that Darwin’s Game is not an ordinary game, but rather, it’s a brutal fight for survival.

What did I think?

So… This was different, but in a really good way.

The concept of “something on your phone is trying to kill you”, is not completely new. But this was a different take on it and it was very well done.

The characters are likeable and relatable. I definitely like the morals of the main character and how he sticks to it. Plus I just also really like  it when the main character is super smart/powerfull/strong, it always makes them seem more badass.

The pace of the story is excellent! The right amount of just full-on action scenes vs scenes that add to the storyline. The whole story was perfectectly divided over the 11 episodes so you won’t be bored for a second!

Next to that, I like that they stuck to the concept. Sometimes anime get so sidetracked by the characterdevelopment and the drama that they lose track of their original concept halfway through.

That definitely didn’t happen in this anime. Yes there was character development and some side drama, but they never lost track of the main story. Which is “Darwin’s Game”.

So my opinion: a definite watch! And let’s hope for a second season!