Episode 1

**Huh? Yuichi-kun Suspects His Friends?** (あれ? 友一君は友達を疑ってるの?, *Are? Yūichi-kun wa Tomodachi o Utagatteru no?*) is the 1st episode of Tomodachi Game anime series.

## Synopsis

High school student Yuuichi Katagiri was leading a modest but fulfilling life with his friends Tenji Mikasa, Shiho Sawaragi, Makoto Shibe, and Yutori Kokorogi. One day, 2 million yen collected by the class for a school trip is stolen. Amidst various suspicions, the five are suddenly abducted by someone. Yuuichi and his friends wake up in a strange room and are confronted by a mysterious mascot who calls himself "Manabu-kun". They are told that they are in debt of 20 million yen...

## Summary

The school trip is a bit expensive, requiring 70k yen from each student. However, wanting to go with his friends, Yuuichi works harder on his part-time job to earn enough. At school Makoto tell him father could have gave him the money, but Shiho scolds Makoto as saying that is condescending. Tenji calms them all and they end up congratulating Yuuichi for his hard work.

The 2 million for the trip end up being stolen. Standing in front of the class, Shiho explains she put the money in her locker, but they were stolen. The next day, she and Makoto stop coming to school, and other students start rumours that they may have stolen it. That night, Yuuichi receives a letter from Shiho, stating she wants to tell him something important and will be waiting at the school gate at 11PM. Yuuichi rushes to the school gate, only to find all of his friends there. Shiho scolds him for being late after calling all of them there. She shows him the letter "he" send her, stating for a moment she though it was a confession letter. Yuuichi realizes they have been set up, but in that moment, Yuuichi gets knocked out by a taser.

Yuuichi dreams of his father telling him that money are the most important thing in the world, but his mother telling him that friends are more important. Yuuichi and his friends wake up in a white room. A person dressed as mascot enters the room and greets them. Yutori recognizes the mascot to be Manabu-kun from an old late-night anime, who steals children's treasures. Manabu then decides to skip his introduction and tells them they will be playing a simple game with him. Each game they clear, they will be getting 2 million yen and will be able to repay their 20 million yen debt. Yuuichi is shocked, but Manabu explains that one of them owns that debt. Tenji states its a crime to kidnap them, but Manabu states they wished to talk and already paid the 2 million entry fee, making Yuuichi realize that one of them must have stolen the school trip money to pay the fee. Tenji wonders what will happen if they don't play and Manabu explains he will release them, but won't return the entry fee. The person in debt will have to return the money himself, but if they play, they can split the debt of four million each. If they lose, the debt won't increase, but each will be stuck with the remaining on their individual debt. Manabu then gives them five minutes to decide what they want to do.

Shiho states they shouldn't try to figure out who was in debt, as they were likely in serious trouble and were trying to find a way out and wanted help from their friends. Everyone agrees on that, but Yuuichi is still unsure. Manabu confronts him, asking him if he wanted to know what the debt is for to see who he shouldn't trust and if the money are more important for him. Recalling his mother and father, Yuuichi states that his friends are more important. Since they agreed to play, Manabu takes them to the first game. In a classroom, Manabu gives everyone a tag with their names and explaining that on the back, there is the money they own. Each one has negative four million and their goal is to reduce it to zero. They cannot show the number to anyone, otherwise the number will double, but can say the number to others. The first game is Kokkuri-san game, and they will place their fingers on a large ten yen coin, moving it to the answer which they think is right. The first question is Hokkaido Japan's northernmost prefecture. Manabu then asks Kokkuri-san to tell the answer and the coin moves to "yes", causing Kokkuri-san to rise its hands. Manabu tells Yutori to try moving it to "no" and as she tries, the coin moves to "no" with Manabu explaining that even if one person answer is different, Kokkuri-san will favor the minority. They are not allowed to talk to each other and in the end if they fail the game, the one with the biggest debt will take a penalty and take everyone's debt. Manabu gives them a final advice that they should never doubt their friends, otherwise they will never have a happy ending.

The game starts and the first question is read by Makoto, who makes a small grin. He reads the question asking if the tallest mountain in Japan is Mt. Fuji. The group thinks this would be easy, but then the coin moves to "no", making them give wrong answer. Shiho almost loses it, but Tenji and Yuuichi stop her to not break the rules of talking. The second question is read by Shiho, asking if one plus one is equal two. Yuuichi believes this is even easier, but the coin again moves to "no", making them give incorrect answer again. Yuuichi then figures someone is a traitor, but wonders why. Yuuichi recalls recently Makoto had a bruise, explaining he tried to kiss Shiho and she hit him. He asks Yuuichi to talk to Shiho to forgive him. Yuuichi does, but Shiho agrees only if he tells her a secret and Yuuichi agrees to tell her one of his secrets. The third question is read by Tenji, asking if the English word for Nihon is "Japan", but they again answer "no" and fail the question. Yuuichi is next to read, but opening the envelope, he notices there is no question, making him realize he needs to think of a question himself. However, he then notices a small print stating that if the coin moves to "yes", he will clear the game, but if it moves to "no", the reader's debt will be halved. Yuuichi then believes that his friends chose easy answers and gave incorrect answers themselves to halve their debt.

Maria and Tsukino are observing the game. Seeing Yuuichi's face, Maria believes he now doubts his friends. Tsukino states that humans endure difficulties only when they see others enduring the same. Yuuichi wonders if he should choose "yes", but that will only reduce 400k yen from his debt and end the game. Tsukino states no team had cleared the Kokkuri-san game after reaching the fifth question. Yuuichi wonders if he should say "no" and recalls a moment with Yutori, who tells him that the old bullies are still bullying her from time to time. Yuuichi didn't know how to encourage her, but Yutori is fine as while he is good friends with the rest, she considers Yuuichi as her only true friend. He is the only one who calls her "Kokorogi", since he is the only one that close to her. Yuuichi then reads the question asking if there are seven days in a week, thinking that he must think of Yutori who is the fifth reader. He chooses "yes", but the coin still moves to "no". Yuuichi wonders if someone is trying to dump all the debt to Yutori. Yuuichi then realizes that if the fifth question is the same, it will all balance out, but he then suspects the fifth question is different. Maria and Yukino realize that Yuuichi figured it out and that the fifth question doesn't state any conditions for reducing debt and is a "yes" or "no" question.

Yutori then reads the fifth question, asking if they will be friends forever. Tsukino states that if this was the first question, everyone would have said "yes", but they are now doubting each other. Maria gets excited that "Group C" will be eliminated in round one. Before they are able to vote, Yuuichi talks, asking if they all know what color is Shiho's underwear today.

## Characters

* Yuuichi Katagiri
* Makoto Shibe
* Shiho Sawaragi
* Tenji Mikasa
* Yutori Kokorogi
* Manabu
* Maria Mizuse
* Tsukino