13 Game - And We Killed Each Other. (13ゲーム ―そして、僕たちは殺しあった―)

[Terrence]

https://bookwalker.jp/dee40f9493-f600-400c-bc36-cf51af08d6f7/

What's this?

The rare death game novel where the participants willingly sign up (not kidnapped for once) because the cash prize for surviving is something like 130 million yen split amongst the survivors. Down on their luck teens looking for money enter this game. It's run by a shady group of tycoons known as the 13 Zodiac. A group of 13 teens is split into teams, with two male kings serving as the leaders of each respective team. Each team must try to kill the other's king to win the game.

How do you play the Death Game?

The Death Game is a real, visceral thing in a large facility that houses a decrepit walled in city as a battlefield. In order to kill the king, they'll need to prepare a strategy and weapons to take him out. The game has two preparation opportunities: 1) on the field of play, you can find coins and also cards that grant special one use effects (ranging from the tepid "lowering the cash reward" to the more intense sacrificial card that offs everyone in the game including yourself; there's even a card that ends the game in a draw), and 2) back in your home base, there's a terminal that lets you buy food, armor, and weapons with the gold coins.

Sounds like there's just going to be a draw when you introduce a game ending card in your plot, right?

Well, you find out the history of the game fairly early, and in the last 6 matches before your game, it only ended once in a draw where 12 members lived. I think one ended with 5 survivors, one ended with 3, one ended with 2 survivors, one ended with 1, and there was a game where no one survived. So the odds still aren't great. These games can drag out as long as 40 days, and as short as a few hours.

What are the participants like?

Participants are highschoolers, many from abusive background that requires they get the cash reward from the game to live.

For instance, Keichi, the main character, runs away from his father, a piece of crap that cheated on his wife as she bled out in the hospital after a car accident, all while ignoring phone calls from his son to come to the hospital. Keichi needs the money to pay for an apartment to live on his own. There's also the Hojo sisters who need the money to escape an abusive Uncle they've been living with.

Everybody has their personalities. There's a meathead named Himeko who is a Kendo star. Himeko has friendly back + forth with the more intellect saavy team member Isuzu (a Chess / Shogi club master who is the brains of the team). Then there's calming presences, like the kind Saori and helpful Tsubasa. All of these girls have their awkward moments with the lead early to point to some potential for romance (and presumably heartache). Yurika Kurosaki, the first pick by your opponent, has a history of murderous action towards her brother's bullies that made her famous nationwide + make her a feared opponent you want to avoid.

Because of their desperation for money, many of the participants didn't put as much thought into what they were signing up for, as some of the girls wind up sobbing the whole time the selection process is going on by the Kings. But ultimately, characters like Himeko and Isuzu help carry some of their baggage / dead weight early, and they all become useful in the "preparation" portion of the game to look for coins / cards.

13 participants, and they have two male members taking turns to pick a girl for their club... Won't that mean there's one left over of the eleven girls?

Yes. And you can guess what happens to the leftover girl.

This appears like it's going to be a brutal story.

There's some intelligent stuff in here?

There's some neat info that pulls from the girls' different backgrounds, like Shogi formations as strategies for protecting the king, Kendo techniques, and stories of the Zodiac that help explain the 13 Zodiac name + CG cat motif for the organization running the game. Nothing earthshattering though.

More suspense thriller than mystery focused.

[Raitoiro]

Seems fun plus there's not enough mystery/thriller novels.
Is it a one-shot?

[Terrence]

@Raitoiro said in 13 Game - And We Killed Each Other. (13ゲーム ―そして、僕たちは殺しあった―):

Is it a one-shot?

I think it is. I'll definitely come back here when I'm finished looking through it just to say if it doesn't wrap up in one volume. (You could probably tell if this game wraps up in one volume by looking through the pictures in the volume as each chapter section has an image of participants with the dead participants slowly removed from the image, but I don't want to get spoiled on who or how many live / die).

[shrike_al]

This sounds like an interesting read.

[Terrence]

I finished looking through the volume, so I can say it's definitely a one volume story.

And it's most certainly more on the survival aspect than any sort of mystery now that I'm done, more thriller battle royale.

[shrike_al]

@Terrence Does the story have cheesy elements or is it entirely serious and suspenseful?

[Terrence]

@shrike_al said in 13 Game - And We Killed Each Other. (13ゲーム ―そして、僕たちは殺しあった―):

@Terrence Does the story have cheesy elements or is it entirely serious and suspenseful?

Any particularly cheesy elements you hate in these types of stories?

I'd say it's pretty intense / serious.

Most of the story revolves around planning and strategizing, getting into the head of the opponent (and hoping they didn't get into your head) all whilst searching for the cards + items that will help protect you. And there is that dread of whether someone will die on the next page or not, especially when the group splits up for searches or goes with a plan you think won't work.

Also, the king on the other side's personality was a bit ehhh, and their motivation for trying to win this game was shit, so that was the weakest part (outside of little in the romance or character building department; characters start and end in a pretty face value way, except maybe the lead who has some growth / wisens up over parts of the story).

[shrike_al]

@Terrence said in 13 Game - And We Killed Each Other. (13ゲーム ―そして、僕たちは殺しあった―):

@shrike_al said in 13 Game - And We Killed Each Other. (13ゲーム ―そして、僕たちは殺しあった―):

@Terrence Does the story have cheesy elements or is it entirely serious and suspenseful?

Any particularly cheesy elements you hate in these types of stories?

I'd say it's pretty intense / serious.

Most of the story revolves around planning and strategizing, getting into the head of the opponent (and hoping they didn't get into your head) all whilst searching for the cards + items that will help protect you. And there is that dread of whether someone will die on the next page or not, especially when the group splits up for searches or goes with a plan you think won't work.

Also, the king on the other side's personality was a bit ehhh, and their motivation for trying to win this game was shit, so that was the weakest part (outside of little in the romance or character building department; characters start and end in a pretty face value way, except maybe the lead who has some growth / wisens up over parts of the story).

Yup. Sounds like something I might like.

Nah, I don't hate cheesy elements. I actually find them amusing.