The following contains spoilers for Episode 5 of Tomodachi Game, “Yuichi-kun, You’re Pretty Dumb, Aren’t You?” now streaming onCrunchyroll.
The fourth episode ofTomodachi Game, “Seriously? That’s So Cringe,” centered primarily on Mikasa’s plan to manipulate and separate Sawaragi from the others. He tells Sawaragi that perhaps Kokorogi disclosed her secret to others to gain Yuichi’s attention, thus planting a seed of doubt in Sawaragi’s mind.
From then on, the relationship between the Sawaragi and Kokorogi becomes tarnished as they bothdo not trust one another.The episode ends with someone mysteriously revealing that Shibe murdered someone. However, Mikasa admits to the viewers that it was not him.
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Shibe’s Protests
Episode 5 opens with Shibe informing Manabu that the bad-mouth card someone had written was a lie. According to the rules of the game, if someone writes down a lie on a card, they will be revealed as the writer of the card. Manabu asks the ‘gods’ (aka the viewers of the game show within the anime) and claims that he will let this slideif they vote that they believe him. Shibe begs for them to believe him, stating that he hasn’t had a hard life thus far and that his dad has helped him with his problems. Unfortunately for Shibe, 99% of the viewers do not believe him. This prompts him to move five spaces, where he moves into first place.
Still ever so suspicious, Mikasa questions if he had been underestimating Yuichi this entire time. Meanwhile, Yuichi affirms to Shibe that he believes he would never kill someone. He continues to tell the group that one of them is a traitor who is trying to destroy their friendship.Mikasa begins to panicwhen Yuichi reveals that he knows who that person is, but when he realizes Yuichi is only telling his friends this to bring them together again, he decides not to worry about it. As Shibe asks Yuichi about the traitor’s identity, Yuichi tells him that he can’t tell the group yet. However, he also states that he knows how to win the second game, shocking his friends, especially Mikasa.
The Game
Yuichi goes on to tell his friends that Bad-Mouth Sugoroku is an unfair game, explaining why he thinks so. He claims that in order to discourage groups from moving together,the first half of sugorokuis primarily filled with negatives, while the second half is mainly positive. Yuichi informs his friends that the problem with the game is that nobody knows who wrote which secrets, and therefore, he suggests that they make it so they all know who wrote what. As a result, he explains that everyone (except Shibe because he is in the lead) must bad-mouth themselves and reveal their own secrets. If a person decides to bad-mouth Shibe instead, the group will know the traitor’s identity.
Mikasa’s Suspicion
However, all but one agree with Yuichi’s plan:Mikasa. When he rejects the idea, Yuichi asks him why, insinuating that perhaps he is the traitor. Mikasa maintains a demeanor of indifference, pressuring him into telling them who the traitor is. Still, Yuichi refuses to because he does not want the traitor to play the third game by himself.
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The plan is put into play in the next round as the group follows Yuichi’s instructions. However, when Manabu emerges with the cards, he reveals a total of 10 instead of 4. It is quite apparent that Mikasa foiled Yuichi’s plan by adding more cards, even stating that there were numerous holes in his plan. Yuichi’s strategy would have worked if the participants were only allowed towrite a single card. However, one of the rules states that each participant is permitted to write as many bad-mouth cards as they desire. Unfortunately for Yuichi, Mikasa was several steps ahead, having remembered the rules. As a result of this and as per their agreement, Yuichi must tell the group about which person he believes to be the traitor. However, he reveals that he was bluffing the entire time, and he doesn’t know the traitor’s identity, much less if there is a traitor amongst them. Mikasa pulls Sawaragi away, despite her protests. Regardless, Mikasa tells her he will continue to protect her.
The game continues the way Mikasa has planned. By the 19th period, Sawaragi takes her place at the end, one step before the Goal. Even though it seems like Mikasa wants Sawaragi for himself, it also appears that he wants to destroy her life, claiming he has been waiting so long for vengeance, possibly because she had ended their relationship years ago. However, before Mikasa can fully win by receiving his response from Sawaragi, Yuichi steps in for the first time since his mistake, claiming he knows how to make thetraitor expose themselves.
Yuichi Is A Genius
Yuichi explains that if caught lying in a bad-mouth card, the person would face a penalty. This, along with his earlier strategy, will surely reveal the traitor. In the last round, Yuichi tells them that they must write the same thing: “I’m the one who applied to play Tomodachi Game.” This will only be true for the traitor. In the last round, the group follows through with the plan. Once caught, Mikasa intends to claim he was blackmailed into doing it. However, this isTomodachi Gameand nothing is ever what it seems. Rather than five cards with the same statement written on them, there is only one, and it belongs to Mikasa. Finally, the traitor is revealed to be Mikasa, and Yuichi was playing him all along.
The way the fifth episode ends leaves viewers with numerous questions. The cliffhanger isn’t very obvious, but it makes the audience question what will happen next. Is Yuichi a mastermind? How could he have been planning this all along?
