Many fans of manga and animation have noted the similarities between
Kaiji
and
Squid Game
.
Some have even recreated the credits of
Kaiji
in
Squid Game
sauce
:
But, beyond the question of a potential inspiration of the Japanese manga for the Korean drama, it is clear that the genre of
deaths game
(deadly games) is legion in the world of manga.
Moreover, it is difficult to forget the Japanese wave following the worldwide success of the
Battle Royale
film
in 2000. Find our selection of the best manga of the genre to buy from your bookstores while waiting for the continuation of these series as addictive as they are deadly ...
Classics of the genre:
Alice in borderland Retry
The new
Borderland
pays homage to the cinema IMAWA NO KUNi NO ALICE RETRY 2020 Aso HARO / SHOGAKUKAN
SHOP ALICE IN BORDERLAND RETRY
This direct sequel to the manga
Alice in Borderland
, whose series on Netflix is a hit, takes place several years after the end of
Alice in Borderland
.
Alice, who survived, finds herself embroiled again in a series of deadly games in Borderland.
Even more sadism on the part of the organizers in this manga where the psychological tension is palpable.
Alice in borderland Retry
,
Delcourt Tonkam edition, € 6.99
Liar Game
Shinobu Kaitani imagined hyperalambique games for his manga.
LIAR GAME 2005 by Shinobu Kaitani / SHUEISHA Inc.
BUY LIAR GAME
No bloodshed in this manga, but all the rest of the ingredients that popularized the genre are there.
Each participant receives the sum of 100 million yen (approximately € 770,000), and must face another player to steal his money.
Cunning, betrayals, cheating, bluffing, the spicy mixture of this manga keeps the tension at its height throughout the pages.
One of the first of its kind on the French market.
Liar Game
, Delcourt Tonkam edition, € 7.99
Darwin's Game
Kaname is attacked by a player disguised as a bloodthirsty mascot Darwin's game: 2013 FLIPFLOPs (AKITASHOTEN)
BUY DARWIN'S GAME
Be careful, games on smartphones can be very dangerous.
By accepting an invitation from a friend on his cellphone, Sudo Kaname had no idea that he would enter the deadly gear of Darwin's Game.
Each player is randomly assigned a unique power that they will need to put to good use to defeat the others.
The points earned during the game's challenges can be exchanged for hard currency in "real life", but the lure of profit reveals the worst meannesses of the human soul ... Alliances, survival, betrayals, traps , the players seem ready to do anything to win.
Darwin's Game
, Ki-oon editions, € 7.65
Gantz Perfect Edition
SHOP GANTZ PERFECT EDITION
Kei and Masaru have just been run over by a train while trying to save a man on the subway platform.
But instead of dying and seeing a possible “beyond”, they wake up in a room where a strange black sphere floats.
Other people who escaped death are present.
The sphere opens and a certain Gantz gives weapons and a mission to the survivors: to eliminate a leek-man alien… Cult SF series, Gantz has marked many generations of manga readers returns in a double edition to the delight of fans thrills and science fiction.
Gantz Perfect Edition
, Delcourt Tonkam edition, € 15
An original revisit of a traditional trope:
Sky-high survival
Publisher Kana had set up a most impressive booth for the series launch at Japan Expo.
Kana
SHOP SKY-HIGH SURVIVAL
Yuri wakes up one day on the roof of an unknown skyscraper, with no memory of the last hours.
She has no time to wonder what happens to her when a man wearing a smiley face rushes at her, brandishing an ax.
This is only the first of a long list of trials that awaits our young heroine who will have to understand what is hidden behind this world filled with skyscrapers housing killers all more bloodthirsty than the others.
When
the cube
joins
halloween
and other B series slashers.
Sky-high survival
,
Kana editions, € 3
Blue Lock
Finding the best striker is a long process.
Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Yusuke Nomura / Kodansha Ltd.
SHOP BLUE LOCK
A Battle Royal in the world of football.
Here the players do not die but are eliminated from the drastic selection of the Blue Lock.
This cell, set up to find the best striker for the Japanese national football team.
In contrast to the teamwork that one expects, this manga shows the high level under the specter of hyper competition.
The slightest mood, the slightest weakness will be exploited by the other players who have only one goal, to become the future number one of the national team.
Surprisingly addictive, this manga uses football as a backdrop to develop an almost realistic and devilishly effective psychological drama.
The icing on the cake, there is nothing to fear with this manga that children play too dangerous games.
Blue Lock
, Pika editions, € 7.20
Heroines game
BUY HEROINE GAME
Alice is the lead singer of an extremely popular idol group.
So, when one morning she wakes up in the middle of an unknown forest made up like
Alice in Wonderland,
she does not understand what is happening to her.
But she doesn't have time to wonder that Little Red Riding Hood, half-woman, half-wolf, is trying to devour her ...
A battle royale which features the main heroines of fairy tales in a universe of dark fantasy.
Short series in three volumes, a compendium of flawless hemoglobin.
Heroine game
, Kana editions, € 7.45
Btooom
BUY BTOOOM!
What if one morning you wake up in the world of one of your favorite video games?
It would be great to be an elf or even a dragon… But unfortunately for the young Ryota Sakamoto, the game he likes is a specialist game in explosives of all kinds.
Here he is on a desert island, forced to use all his knowledge of bombs to survive ... An explosive battle royal, much bloodier than a mine clearance break at the office ...
Btooom!
, Glénat editions, € 7.60
Talentless Babe
Nana has many secrets ... 2020 Looseboy, Iori Furuya / SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD
BUY TATENLESS NANA
Humanity, to face a threat that risks decimating it, decides to bring together all the children with paranormal powers on an island hidden at the bottom of the ocean in order to train them.
This academy of prodigies is the last bulwark of humanity.
Until the day one of them mysteriously dies.
A relentless assassin hides among the students or teachers.
Two years before
Among us
, the manga artist Looseboy had already imagined an extremely well put together remake of the werewolf game.
Much more than a simple ersatz of the popular
My Hero Academia
, this manga offers a dive into the psyche of young people facing the anguish of knowing a murderer among them.
Talentless Nana
, Doki Doki editions, € 7.50
Battle Game in 5 seconds
BUY BATTLE GAME IN 5 SECONDS
Akira, a gifted high school student, is bored.
His only escape is to immerse himself in video games that he ends up dominating too quickly.
One day, on his way to school, he is attacked by an individual with Herculean strength.
His savvy allows him to get out of this trap, but not to escape an occult organization.
Akira finds himself in the midst of a very diverse crowd.
All were erased from the civil status registers and became the guinea pigs of this sordid cartel.
Each individual, after a surgical operation, has been endowed with superhuman powers.
At the mercy of the organization, the victims are forced to participate in tests that can prove fatal ...
Battle Game in 5 seconds
, Doki Doki editions, € 7.50
King's Game
When one student's vote decides the fate of two others the tension is at its height.
King's game: Hitori Renda, Nobuaki Kanazawa 2010 / Futabasha Publishers Ltd.
BUY KING'S GAME
The king's game is a traditional Japanese game where players drawn at random must obey the king subject to being pledged.
The latter gives good-natured orders and ridiculous wages.
So when Nobuaki's entire class receives a text from a self-proclaimed king ordering two classmates to kiss, everyone takes this challenge lightly.
But the challenges are more and more daring and above all the pledge is the death of the participants.
How far will high school students go to survive?
A thriller worthy of Wes Craven.
King's Game
, Ki-oon editions, € 7.65
Real Account
The mascot of Real Account, a design at odds with its Machiavellian character Real Account Okushou / Shizumu Watanabe / Kodansha Ltd.
BUY REAL ACCOUNT
Real Account or ReA is the new trendy social network in Japan. In this virtual world, many people invent a dream 2.0 life and disguise the reality of their daily life or who troll other users. One day, 10,000 users find themselves transferred to this virtual world by the mascot of Real Account, they will not be released until they have taken part in a game broadcast live. Their lives and that of their followers are now linked. At zero follower, death is assured. A survival manga 2.0 where vanity and the race for followers are pointed out, but not only ... If all the challenges are not the most original, the rhythm of the narration remains very catchy and the very pleasant drawing plunges the reader into this scary thriller.
Real Account
,
Kurokawa editions, € 6.80
Re / member
The Red Blood, one of the most distressing characters ... KARADASAGASHI 2014 by Welzard, Katsutoshi Murase / SHUEISHA Inc.
BUY RE / MEMBER
La Rouge-Sang, a local urban legend, tells us that the ghost of an 11-year-old girl haunts the corridors of Ouma high school, soaked in the blood of her victims. One evening, Asuka and five of her comrades find themselves summoned by the Red Blood, who slaughters them all one after the other. But when they wake up the next day, they are all safe and sound, yet this dream seemed so real. In the evening, they meet again in high school, tracked down by the Rouge-Sang. This nightmare will only end if they manage to escape the latter while finding the pieces of the body of a victim. Time is running out because each day that passes brings them closer to madness, and solving this puzzle is not easy ... A supernatural game where players have nothing to gain but their freedom,and yet this manga has its place in this selection as the screenwriter masters his subject and leads the reader in a flight and a thrilling investigation.
Re / member
, Ki-oon editions, € 7.65