SHIBOYUGI: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table

Episode 4

“I haven't felt like this in a while,” is what Yuki remarks near the beginning of this week's “SHIBOYUGI.” On the one hand, she is probably referring to the adrenaline rush of getting her organs crushed by the jaws of a mammoth wolf-thing, but she's also definitely referring to the pitter-patters left over in her heart over that confrontation with Mishiro. Yuki swears she was just teasing the stuck-up (but undeniably cute) Princess who still had stuffing spilling out of her stump of an arm, and I am inclined to believe that she is telling us the truth. Probably. Maybe.

As Yuki reminds herself (and us) as she makes a conscious effort to not go too feral on that nasty old wolf, a lady must always be mindful of her audience. What makes the conceit of SHIBOYUGI so effective is that we can only ever understand these girls and the games that they play through several layers of obfuscating artifice. It is, point of fact, a television show featuring two-dimensional abstractions of human forms and behaviors that are meant to represent real, flesh-and-blood women who take part in a television show where they are re-abstracted into forms that will better suit the rituals being staged for their exacting, ruthless audience. The girls become dolls in the most literally figurative (and figuratively literal) sense, all painted pretty colors and dressed up in thematically appropriate costumes so they can be set to work both as allies and enemies. Whatever will make for the juiciest of stories.

Given how much this “deranged world” has invested in these death games, how ridiculous would it be to suggest that what we're seeing isn't some, I don't know, retrospective documentary being made about the fabled victor of the 99 games, with Yuki herself on hand to provide some conveniently insightful interviews to play over clip-show portions? All of this is to say that, sure, I think Yuki is telling us the truth when she says she was teasing Mishiro, just playing around, maybe making a good show for the cameras, or maybe attempting the closest approximation to flirting that Yuki is capable of. But we can't really be certain, can we? This is Yuki's tenth game. Who's to say what kind of person she was before this? Who is to say what kind of woman she will become when the next round begins again? Well, Mishiro might have some words to share about Yuki. And Kinko, too.

For what it is worth, this is exactly how Yuki wants it to be, this relationship we share. She is, after all, a professional. We shouldn't go crossing any lines and getting too close.

By the way, if I wasn't already keyed up enough to pick up what SHIBOYUGI is putting down, this week we finally get to see one of the hosts of these cruel death games, and the son of a bitch is a goddamned live-action wolf puppet. That one perfect stroke of creative genius is enough for me to forgive “Bad - - - -” for its slight dips in art and animation quality. It's nothing severe, mind you, and I already figured that the show's aggressive stylization would partially serve as a band-aid to cover over any occasionally stiff cut of movement or awkward, off-model medium shot. It's fine, as I said. These aesthetics do work wonders, not to mention the gorgeous music that can make even a still frame of a couple of vague silhouettes seem tense, dreadful, horrifying, achingly sad, or all of the above. Plus, you know. The wolf puppet.

When the girls arrive at the final stage of their game, there is one final ritual to perform, and it is poor Chie who gets ostracized at the ballot box. Ostracised from life, that is. (Don't you dare come crying to me over that pun, either; I just swiped it from the Wolf.) Once again, it's the small details that sell the scene: The way the girls quietly saunter out into the gloomy rain of the real world. The way that they casually but solemnly reveal who they voted to leave to the wolves. Kotoha and Keito voted for each other (or at least that is what they say), and Mishiro voted for Chie, which means Yuki's stunt of shoving a ballot with every girl's name into the box is what sealed the deal. It wasn't that Yuki wanted to relieve herself of the burden of guilt. She didn't care which slip the company counted first. Any of the girls would've done, really.

Maybe that's the only way for a survivor like Yuki to play a game like this and win without losing her head completely. In the end, it all just comes down to bad luck.

Episode Rating:

SHIBOYUGI: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on BlueSky, his blog, and his podcast.