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Live-Action Tomodachi Game Drama Reveals Teaser Visual, April 3 Premiere
posted on by Karen Ressler
This year's April issue of Kodansha's Bessatsu Shonen Champion announced on Thursday that the live-action drama series adaptation of Yuki Sato's Tomodachi Game (Friends Games) manga will premiere on Chiba TV on April 3 at 10:30 p.m., and it will also air on Teletama, Hokkaido TV, tvk, KBC Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting, Sun TV, KBS Kyoto, and Mētele. It will also stream on GYAO! beginning on April 12.
In addition, the magazine unveiled a teaser visual. The text on the visual reads, "Friends < Money?" and "Not doubting your friends... that's the only way to clear the 'Friends Game.'"
Tomodachi Game will have one drama and two film adaptations. All three adaptations are slated for this year.
The cast includes:
Rio Uchida (Kamen Rider Drive) as Shiho Sawaragi, the film's heroine
Yūki Yamada (live-action Wolf Girl & Black Prince) as Tenji Mikasa, a top student with outstanding communication skills
Shimon Okura (live-action Itazura na Kiss) as Makoto Shibe, the class president whose father is a city councilor
Nagi Nemoto as Yutori Kokorogi, a quiet and gentle anime fan
Amatsu as the voice of Manabu-kun, a mysterious puppet who serves as the Tomodachi Game's guide
Yūki Ueno (live-action Shiratori Reiko de Gozaimasu!) as Maria Mizuse, an observer in the Tomodachi Game
Amatsu will also perform the series' theme song "Mr. Fake." Ueno will perform the series' ending theme song "Tomodachi Gokko."
The story, based on Mikoto Yamaguchi's original concept, centers on Yūichi Katagiri, a young man with a perfect student life who has four friends with difficult lives. His peaceful daily life comes to an end when 2 million yen (about US$20,000) in school trip fees goes missing. Riddles unfold as Yūichi gets caught up in a mysterious game for money and must decide whether friendship or money matters more.
Sato (Sherlock Bones, Yokai Doctor) launched the Tomodachi Game manga in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in December 2013. The eighth compiled volume shipped in December.
