| Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table | |
 First light novel volume cover, featuring Yuki | |
| 死亡遊戯で飯を食う (Shibō Yūgi de Meshi o Kū) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action[1] |
| Light novel | |
| Written by | Yūshi Ukai |
| Illustrated by | Nekometaru |
| Published by | Media Factory |
| English publisher | |
| Imprint | MF Bunko J |
| Original run | November 25, 2022 – present |
| Volumes | 9 |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Yūshi Ukai |
| Illustrated by | Banzai Kotobuki Daienkai |
| Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
| English publisher |
|
| Imprint | Kadokawa Comics A |
| Magazine | Comp Ace |
| Original run | April 26, 2023 – present |
| Volumes | 5 |
| Anime television series | |
| Shiboyugi: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table | |
| Directed by | Souta Ueno [ja] |
| Written by | Rintarou Ikeda |
| Music by | Junichi Matsumoto [ja] |
| Studio | Studio Deen |
| Licensed by |
|
| Original network | Tokyo MX,BS NTV,TVh,TVA,TVQ,ABC,AT-X,TBC,WOWOW |
| Original run | January 7, 2026 – present |
| Episodes | 6 |
 Anime and manga portal | |
Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table (Japanese:死亡遊戯で飯を食う,Hepburn:Shibō Yūgi de Meshi o Kū) is a Japaneselight novel series written by Yūshi Ukai and illustrated by Nekometaru. It began publication underMedia Factory'sMF Bunko J light novel imprint in November 2022. The series follows Yuki, adeath game player who treats the games like a job, and her journey to break a record by surviving 99 games.
Ukai wrote the series after deciding to create a story focusing around themes of life, death, and associated emotions. The debut volume won an Excellence Award at the 2022MF Bunko J Light Novel Newcomer Awards [ja].
Amanga adaptation illustrated by Banzai Kotobuki Daienkai began serialization inKadokawa Shoten'sseinen manga magazineComp Ace in April 2023. Ananime television series adaptation produced byStudio Deen premiered in January 2026.
The series is set in a society with signs of a dystopia, where the elite create and televisedeath games. Most players willingly participate to win cash prizes, but others are forced to do so. To make games sustainable, only about a third of participants tend to die in each game. Their blood is swapped out temporarily with a fluffy substance, and those who survive have their injuries repaired by the gamemasters.
The story revolves around Yuki, a 17-year-old girl who participates in death games as a career. Finding the rest of society mundane by comparison, Yuki's goal is to set the death game survival record by surviving 99 games. She is assisted in this journey by her mentor and idol, Hakushi, who retires after 96 games. Throughout the series, Yuki takes part in games which require her to escape, survive, or compete against other players. Though kind at heart, using her expertise and natural leadership skills to help as many of the other participants survive, she ruthlessly prioritizes her own survival when the situation calls for it. As she pursues her goal, she sometimes finds herself unsure of why she so desperately wants to achieve it.
The 27th game Yuki plays: an escape from a dollhouse-like mansion before it burns down, with the players dressed as maids.
The 9th game Yuki participates in: players are divided into two groups—“Bunnies” and “Stumps”—with the Bunnies needing to survive in a forest for a week as the Stumps hunt them.
The 10th that Yuki participates in: an escape from a booby-trappedpolling station before time runs out. There is a sixth participant who dies without her identity being revealed.
Yuki's 30th death game: escape a bathhouse by stealing keys from other players.
Yūshi Ukai, the writer of thelight novels, composed the first volume after he had quit his part-time job and was struggling to "make any progress" in his life. He became interested in thedeath game genre because he felt his emotions spilling over into his writing and saw the genre as an outlet for them. After not finding success with his other works, he grew "more and more disturbed until [he] wrote this disturbing story".[12] Ukai usually worked on the novels at night, drinking coffee and writing until he was exhausted.[13]
Ukai wanted to explore the psychological aspects of a world completely focused around life and death. He remarked that the narrative was comparable to other books about working at a job, and that the story was simply a special case of this. He decided to have Yuki, the protagonist, treat the death games like a profession to justify why she continued playing.[14]
Several inspirations for the work were named by Ukai; among them were the light novel seriesIriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu and the game franchiseAce Attorney.[15] He often read classic literature, such asThe Old Man and the Sea, while working on the novels.[14]
According to Ukai, he wanted to use common stylistic conventions of light novels to explore a less popular genre. He felt that the rise of works such asSpy Classroom andThe Detective Is Already Dead indicated that unique stories were becoming a trend. Since he struggled to read books until high school, he tried to make the story accessible with his younger self in mind.[15]
Yuki's character was partly based on Ukai's own personality.[16] He aimed to characterize Yuki as someone who is comfortable with deadly situations and treats the games like a job. For example, Yuki often expresses banal thoughts regarding the food or clothing during a game, which is meant to show how mundane the games are from her perspective. Ukai also portrayed Yuki as having a neutral attitude towards others, and emphasized that one of the work's themes is not judging people as good or evil solely on first appearances.[14]
Ukai took inspiration from the mangaAre You a Werewolf?, itself based on thesocial deduction gameWerewolf, for the characters' costumes. He sought to use the format of a light novel, which includes illustrations, to show the players in various outfits.[16]
Ukai submitted the manuscript to theMF Bunko J Light Novel Awards, but did not expect his work to be recognized, since he felt his story had gone too far. He was surprised when he learned that he had won the Newcomer Prize.[13] Although he called his story highly unusual, he remarked that this uniqueness may have allowed the work to stand out.[14]
Shortly after winning the Newcomer Prize, the first volume was published by MF Bunko J. After publication, Ukai described himself as being in a state of emotional suspense, since he was not sure how long the success of his series would last.[16] Additionally, he had not planned the story beyond the first volume.[15] Nevertheless, he was pleased that his work had been received much more positively than he had anticipated.[16]
The editor for the light novels had worked withStudio Deen producer Takaaki Kayama on theanime adaptation ofDays with My Stepsister, and suggested that Kayama consider adaptingPlaying Death Games to Put Food on the Table as well. Kayama was initially hesitant, as he felt that the story's genre and narrative might not translate well into animation. However, after reading the second volume, he was impressed by the work's portrayal of human nature and relationships under extreme situations, and decided to pursue an anime adaptation.[17]
Kayama noted that the original work contained some lighthearted or comedic elements, which he significantly toned down in the anime, both as a deliberate choice and as a natural consequence of focusing on Yuki's emotions. He described the story as being merciless, with sympathetic characters at risk of elimination at any moment.[17]
Unlike the light novels, the anime does not immediately reveal Yuki's motivation. This was done through both directorial choices, such as the portrayal of Yuki's inner thoughts, and narrative structuring, such as reordering the source material. Furthermore,Souta Ueno [ja], the director of the anime adaptation, added an original scene where Yuki dries Kinko's hair, which was meant to present additional depth in Yuki's character.[18]
The premiere episode was 60 minutes long, roughly twice the length of a typical episode. Kayama chose this format to depict an entire death game in a single episode, allowing viewers to understand what the story was about. By committing to an ending which portrayed Yuki as a morally ambiguous protagonist, Kayama sought to distinguish the anime from traditional works in the genre where the protagonist remains innocent.[18]
Though the story features a varied cast of characters, Ueno tried to have each of them impact Yuki in some way. While giving instructions to the voice actors, he referenced the final scene of the bookFahrenheit 451, where each survivor finds a reason to live; similarly, he wanted every character in the story to have some motivation for living on, which influences Yuki's mindset as she interacts with them. In addition, Ueno sought to portray Yuki as a complex and often contradictory character to emphasize that she has emotional weaknesses and is more than just an unfeeling protagonist.[19]
Regarding the themes of the work, Kayama stated that its extreme setting was designed to allow for portraying the unique emotions that arise under such circumstances.[18] Similarly, Ueno emphasized that the background of a death game was meant to allow for hope. The two also noted that the series was meant to have viewers to interpret many details themselves.[20]
Ueno stated that the light novels' atmosphere reminded him of the ballet dancers inEdgar Degas's paintings, who often lived harsh lives behind their public appearances.[19] In directing the animation, Ueno sought to portray the characters from a removed perspective using distant camera shots, avoiding exclusive focus on direct emotional reactions. While close-up shots were rendered in detail, more distant shots used flatter visuals, creating deliberate contrasts as an aesthetic effect.[17]
The concept artist, Hewa, worked closely with Ueno on the series' visual design, particularly the settings. Hewa constructed the settings as 3D models to simulate camera placement, and the art team then worked on the background. Kayama noted that almost every part of the final production was built from Hewa's initial concept art.[17]
Kayama praisedEri Osada [ja]'s work on the character designs, which were similar in intricacy to the light novels' drawings by Nekometaru.[17] Particular detail was given to the characters' eyes, especially Yuki'sheterochromatic ones.[17] Uenodigitally composited microscopic photographs of minerals to create the animation of the eyes,[20] and their reflects were drawn differently in every cut.[17]
For one scene in a shower room, Ueno had characters be soaked in water so that their clothes clung to their bodies. He explained that their human silhouettes were meant to emphasize them as living people amidst a death game.[20] In contrast, for character deaths, he made the scenes brief, since he wanted them to feel realistic rather than dramatized. He took inspiration from the filmCure, directed byKiyoshi Kurosawa, for the style of those sequences.[19]
The series uses aCinemaScopeaspect ratio, which is rare in modern anime. This aspect ratio leaves black bars near the top and bottom of the screen, which were intended to express the dual feelings of isolation and instability caused by the empty space.[20]
Yuki's monologues were composed in a unique way;Chiyuki Miura, Yuki's Japanese voice actress, recorded the same lines twice, once withfirst-person pronouns ("I") and once withthird-person pronouns ("Yuki"). The recordings were then layered, sometimes with one emphasized more than the other, to convey Yuki's tendency to view the world from a detached perspective.[18]
Kayama had enjoyed the music of composerJunichi Matsumoto [ja] in a previous documentary calledA Holiday in the Ruins [ja], and wanted the soundtrack to naturally blend in with the story. To this end,Noriyoshi Konuma [ja], the anime's sound director, aimed to make the distinction betweenbackground music andsound effects as ambiguous as possible, while Matsumoto would often include footstep sounds within the music tracks.[18]
For a scene where one of the players dies, the song "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" plays. Ueno felt that the cruelty of having the song sung at that moment was central to the themes of the story.[19]
Many voice actors auditioned for Yuki's role. Miura was ultimately selected for her ability to convey a deliberately restrained emotional range, which had a significant influence on Ueno; parts of thestoryboards for the second half of the anime were adjusted in response to her performance.[18] Miura found her role challenging, and used the full recording session for the premiere episode to perfect her lines. She described her approach to her role as trying to be ghost-like.[20]
Miura noted that her voice's expression was subdued because Yuki's lines are close to a whispering level. As a result, she tried to pay attention to her breathing between lines. In addition, scenes were typically recorded in long takes, rather than short excerpts, so Miura had to stay in character for almost the whole recording time.[19]
Ukai explained that the idea for the series came from his despondency. During a period of depression, he fixated on the idea that "every human slowly approaches death". In terms of this shared inevitability, he felt that the only agency available to a hopeless person was the ability to die on their own terms. He concluded that "deciding on how to die is the same as deciding on how to live", which inspired by him to create a story focusing on death games in which players participate voluntarily.[12]
As a result of this premise, several critics have regarded the story as being a subversion of thedeath game genre.Iori Kanzaki [ja], author ofThat Summer is Saturated [ja], argued that it differs from similar works because most characters participate freely, thus offering them a unique form of agency; he wrote that "although their lives are being toyed with [...] they are actually the ones in control".[21] Similarly,Takemachi [ja], author ofSpy Classroom, opined that that the work "completely shuns the common tropes" of the genre by portraying Yuki as having "no earnest reason" to participate beyond her own desires.[22]
Analyzing Yuki's character,Yuuki Shasendou [ja], author ofAn Illness that Leads to Love [ja], described her as an "outlandish protagonist" who "lives according to her own rules". She felt that this characterization allowed Yuki's actions to be easily grasped despite her motivations otherwise possessing little meaning to the reader.[23] Similarly, Takemachi regarded Yuki as having a mindset that he was "unable to understand", yet characterized this "absurdity" as being "extremely appealing".[22] Kanzaki contended that despite Yuki's calm nature, she has a "passionate resolve" for the games themselves.[21]
Ryuichi Taniguchi ofDa Vinci Web opined that because Yuki does not challenge the system of the death games, she cannot be considered a just character. By portraying Yuki as morally ambiguous, Taniguchi felt that the story achieves an unsettling effect.[24] In contrast,Haruki Kuou [ja], author ofLiar, Liar, stated that Yuki was someone the reader can "continuously root for", but only because she is the sole character who can be expected to survive the story.[25]
The story features an unusual visual portrayal of violent imagery by using a plot device (known as "Preservation Treatment") to replace blood with white fluff.Nigojū, author ofThe Detective Is Already Dead, held that this allows the author to "leave shocking scenes to the reader's imagination",[26] while Kanzaki argued that it "tones down the image of 'death'" and even "give[s] death a hint of charm". Kanzaki further suggested that by avoiding a "grotesque" depiction of death despite it being a "selling point" of death games, the work embraces genre conventions without allowing them to overshadow the story itself.[21]
Ghost Mikawa [ja], author ofMy Friend's Little Sister Has It In for Me!, focused on the series's overarching themes. He regarded the work as addressing "familiar topics in everyday life" despite its appearance, and opined that the characters are driven by "commonplace emotions". Comparing the death games to typical games or sports, he identified familiar feelings such as the desire to win and the refusal to lose, as well as carelessness and inexperience. Mikawa concluded that the "most engrossing element" of the story lies not in its exploration of human nature or its entertainment value, but rather its portrayal of relatable themes in an abstract setting.[27]
Taniguchi maintained that the story's themes of competition are relevant to today, particularly regarding the idea of prioritizing profit over emotions to survive in society. He contended that through its genre, the story successfully portrays the mindset needed for survival at all costs.[24]
The work's controversial elements have been widely discussed.Yozora Fuzuno [ja], author ofEven If All Love Fades [ja] noted thatlight novel writers typically make "calculated decisions", such as includingfan service and sympathetic characters, to attract readers' attention. He proclaimed that the story "does away" with those decisions and instead was solely intended to be "consider[ed] entertaining". From this perspective, he suggested that what some critics called the work's "monstrous" nature was simply a natural result of this approach.[28] Nigojū offered a different opinion, asserting that certain elements, such as the restrained depiction of violence, were deliberately designed to appeal to a larger audience, and that the work's divisive nature was therefore inherent to the story itself.[26]
Caitlin Moore ofAnime News Network argued that the story addresses a dual audience, both within the narrative and within the real world. She observed that "by the simple act of viewing, we ourselves become participants", and contended that this framing is either meant to evoke reflection or sadness in the audience.[29]
The light novels ofPlaying Death Games to Put Food on the Table are written by Yūshi Ukai and illustrated by Nekometaru. The series began publication underMedia Factory'sMF Bunko J light novel imprint on November 25, 2022. Nine volumes have been released as of January 23, 2026.[30]
During its panel atAnime Expo 2023,Yen Press announced that it had licensed the series for English-language release.[31]
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | North American release date | North American ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | November 25, 2022[32] | 978-4-04-681937-6 | June 18, 2024[33] | 978-1-9753-9261-1 |
| 2 | January 25, 2023[34] | 978-4-04-682109-6 | October 15, 2024[35] | 979-8-8554-0087-8 |
| 3 | April 25, 2023[36] | 978-4-04-682405-9 | February 18, 2025[37] | 979-8-8554-0089-2 |
| 4 | August 25, 2023[38] | 978-4-04-682765-4 | August 12, 2025[39] | 979-8-8554-0091-5 |
| 5 | December 25, 2023[40] | 978-4-04-683149-1 | February 10, 2026[41] | 979-8-8554-0110-3 |
| 6 | April 25, 2024[42] | 978-4-04-683544-4 | — | — |
| 7 | September 25, 2024[43] | 978-4-04-684006-6 | — | — |
| 8 | February 25, 2025[44] | 978-4-04-684556-6 | — | — |
| 9 | January 23, 2026[30] | 978-4-04-685603-6 | — | — |
Amanga adaptation illustrated by Banzai Kotobuki Daienkai began serialization inKadokawa Shoten'sseinen manga magazineComp Ace on April 26, 2023.[1] The manga's chapters have been collected in fivetankōbon volumes as of January 2026.[45]
In February 2026,Yen Press announced that they had licensed the manga for English publication, with the first volume set to release in August later in the year.[46]
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | December 26, 2023[47] | 978-4-04-114456-5 | August 25, 2026 | 979-8-8554-2088-3 |
| 2 | July 25, 2024[48] | 978-4-04-115036-8 | — | — |
| 3 | February 26, 2025[49] | 978-4-04-115861-6 | — | — |
| 4 | September 24, 2025[50] | 978-4-04-116476-1 | — | — |
| 5 | January 23, 2026[45] | 978-4-04-117080-9 | — | — |
Ananime television series adaptation was announced in September 2024.[51] It is produced byStudio Deen and directed by Souta Ueno, with Rintarou Ikeda handlingseries composition, Eri Osada designing the characters, and Junichi Matsumoto composing the music.[3] The series premiered on January 7, 2026, onTokyo MX and other networks.[52][8] The opening theme song is "¬Ersterbend", performed by Lin fromMadkid [ja], and the ending theme song is "Inori" (祈り;lit. 'Prayer'), performed byChiai Fujikawa.[8][53]Crunchyroll[54] andNetflix are streaming the series globally under the titleShiboyugi: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table.[55]Muse Communication licensed the series in Southeast Asia.[56]
| No. | Title [57][58] | Directed by [57] | Written by [57] | Storyboarded by [57] | Original release date [59] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost House | ||||||||||||
| 1 | "All You Need Is ----" | Yui Kamura, Taro Kubo, Masahiko Watanabe [ja] & Matsuo Asami | Rintarou Ikeda | Souta Ueno | January 7, 2026 (2026-01-07) | |||||||
Twenty-seven death game veteran Yuki must escape a booby-trapped mansion before it burns down alongside five newbie players: Aoi and Kokuto, who want the prize money; Kinko and Beniya, who are in debt; and Momono, who is forced to participate. After a trap kills Kokuto, the remaining girls are forced into a challenge where they take turns undoing restraints before giant saws kill them, resulting in Aoi's death after they waste time fighting over the key. Next, they must use an elevator with a weight limit. Blaming herself for Aoi's death, Kinko offers to stay behind, but Yuki talks her out of it, arguing that the petite girl leaving will not put them below the limit. Instead, Yuki convinces everyone to amputate a leg, which lowers their weight enough for them to reach the exit. However, they find that three players must have died for it to open. Out of options, Yuki kills Kinko and exits the mansion. The next day, after waking up at her apartment with her leg reattached, Yuki reminisces about the victims and reiterates her goal: survive ninety-nine death games. | ||||||||||||
| Scrap Building | ||||||||||||
| 2 | "Chains of ----" | Masahiko Watanabe | Rintarou Ikeda | Noriyuki Abe | January 14, 2026 (2026-01-14) | |||||||
Yuki participates in her tenth death game: escape an abandoned building rigged with mines alongside veteran players Mishiro, Keito, Kotoha, and Chie before time runs out. Unfortunately, she soon finds herself being the odd one out, as the others already know each other from other death games, which Mishiro uses to assume leadership despite Yuki having more experience. Even worse, Mishiro constantly ignores Yuki's suggestions, even when she offers sound reasoning. As time passes and resources dwindle, the group gradually fatigues until Kotoha accidentally triggers a mine, blasting off her legs and knocking her unconscious. Since Kotoha is still alive, Yuki wants to go back for her while Mishiro argues for abandoning her, since she is no longer useful, and the others agree. Fed up with Mishiro's leadership, Yuki promptly splits from the group after claiming none of them truly understands the meaning behind this death game. | ||||||||||||
| 3 | "In the Name of ----" | Naoki Murata | Rintarou Ikeda | Osamu Yamasaki [ja] | January 21, 2026 (2026-01-21) | |||||||
Yuki saves Kotoha, though she admits to only doing so to curry favor. As Yuki carries her around, Kotoha deduces that she is a survivor of "Candle Woods"—the worst death game in history. The two then bond over Kotoha's reason for participating: saving money to become ahikikomori. Meanwhile, having not encountered any mines for a while, Mishiro's group feels something is wrong before being attacked by a wolf, prompting them to flee separately. Back with Yuki and Kotoha, they also run into the wolf, but the former scares it off by standing her ground. They then meet up with Keito and Chie, who quickly switch allegiances. Elsewhere, wounded and in hiding, Mishiro blames Yuki for her misfortunes. Growing up with high expectations, which she never reached, she eventually snapped and killed her sister before being scouted for death games, where she was promised "no one would stand above her". Yuki, who came back for her, then finds her and, tired of her attitude, offers to help her only if she admits that she is the better player. | ||||||||||||
| 4 | "Bad ----" | Shunji Yoshida | Rintarou Ikeda | Shinji Ishihira | January 28, 2026 (2026-01-28) | |||||||
Although Yuki is just teasing Mishiro, the latter snaps at her demand and runs off, only to get ambushed by the wolf. Fortunately for her, Yuki has taken a liking to her and helps her escape by using herself as bait. Mishiro then meets up with the others, who immediately ally with her again after previously abandoning her. However, upon reaching the exit, they learn that Yuki is still alive and must wait for her for one final challenge: a vote in which whoever gets a plurality dies. Kotoha already predicted this from pamphlets among their supplies and secretly allied with Chie, agreeing not to vote for each other. After Yuki arrives, having killed the wolf with a knife, the vote takes place. In the end, Chie lost—Mishiro voted for Chie; Kotoha and Keito voted for each other; Chie's vote is unknown; and Yuki voted for everyone, but only the one for Chie got counted. Exiting the building, before parting ways, Mishiro complies with Yuki's earlier demand by admitting that she is the better player. However, once in private, Mishiro throws a tantrum and vows to beat Yuki. | ||||||||||||
| Golden Bath | ||||||||||||
| 5 | "---- Is All You Need" | Yui Kamura & Matsuo Asami | Rintarou Ikeda | Yui Kamura | February 4, 2026 (2026-02-04) | |||||||
Following her twenty-ninth death game, Yuki is nervous as she prepares to participate in her thirtieth, which is when most veteran players tend to die. She is also silently guilt-ridden over killing Kinko, but keeps telling herself that she is fine. Suffering from side effects of anesthesia, which she takes every game, Yuki leaves her apartment and wanders around aimlessly. Eventually, she is contacted by a man claiming to be Kinko's father, who is part of an organization attempting to end the death games and tries to recruit her. While she turns him down, he nevertheless gives her a pill-shaped tracking device and tells her to swallow it if she changes her mind. Not long after, Yuki is picked up for her thirtieth game and given anesthesia. However, she accidentally consumes the tracker instead, forcing her to take the real anesthesia in secret. She then falls asleep before waking up in a bathhouse where the game will take place. Elsewhere, Mishiro is revealed to be participating as well, leading a group of players to hunt down other participants. | ||||||||||||
| 6 | "Who's ----ing You" | Masahiko Watanabe | Takumi Fukaya | Mitsuki Kobayashi | February 11, 2026 (2026-02-11) | |||||||
Exploring the bathhouse, Yuki is attacked by fellow player Azuma. Fortunately, she stops upon realizing Yuki is not part of Mishiro's group and introduces her to her comrades, who are hiding inside one of the public baths. Azuma then explains the situation: the game's goal is to escape the building by stealing keys from other participants; thus, Mishiro's group is camping at the exit while hunting other participants. Concluding that the opposing team might negotiate if the players and keys match, Yuki and Azuma plot an offensive to reduce the number of participants. Meanwhile, Mishiro learns that Yuki is in this game after her teammates spot her collecting miscellaneous items to craft weapons for her group's planned attack. Back with Yuki, she and Azuma bond by revealing their reasons for participating, in the latter case: struggling with her lack of femininity. However, they then learn that Mishiro's team attacked their hideout by breaking through the walls. In response, the two rush back only to find that most of their teammates are already dead. | ||||||||||||
Starting on October 26, 2022, aspin-off story was serialized over the course of a month in video and text form. The story used anepistolary format of interviewing Yuki about herself and her participation in the games, with Yuki being portrayed by Himari Meimei from thevoice synthesizer softwareVOICEVOX [ja].[60]
Following the release of the first volume, another story was serialized, showing the perspectives of other players on Yuki in an interview-style format. It featured various voice actors.[61]
The following volumes were all associated with media featuring voice actressYuki Nakashima as Yuki. The second volume's publication came with the release of apromotional video for the series.[62][63] The third volume features a scannableQR code that links to a voice drama where Yuki finds herself in a romantic situation.[64] The fourth volume features another code which links to a voice drama in which Yuki visits a summer festival.[2]
Anartbook is set to be released on March 25, 2026.[65]
According toOricon charts, the seventh volume ranked 4th in total sales for the week of October 7, 2024,[66] while the eighth volume ranked 2nd in total sales for the week of March 10, 2025.[67]
By November 2025, the series had over 400,000 copies in circulation. In anticipation of the anime adaptation, the light novels underwent a large-scale reprint.[68]
The debut volume won the Excellence Award at the 18th annualMF Bunko J Light Novel Newcomer Awards [ja] in 2022. Two of the judges gave it the highest possible rating, while two of the judges gave it the lowest. The reviewing judge commented favorably on the story, stating that it was compelling and one of the most polarizing works ever submitted to the contest.[69][13]
In November 2022, the first volume won the Light Novel News Online Awards in both the general and newcomer divisions. Both reviewing judges commended the story's characters, with particular praise for Yuki's portrayal.[70]
The series ranked first in the New Title category and second in theBunkobon category inTakarajimasha'sKono Light Novel ga Sugoi! 2024 guidebook.[71] In the same year, it placed tenth in the Next Light Novel Awards in thebunkobon division.[72]
Adam Symchuk ofAsian Movie Pulse commended the "delectably dark and disturbing" first volume. He opined that the work's strength was in its characters, finding Yuki particularly "intriguing" for her "wonderfully twisted" actions. He also praised the story's second half, writing that it was "hard to understate [its] strength", and appreciated the work's avoidance of gratuitous violence. Despite lamenting some occasional flaws, he considered it "ridiculously fun" and worth continuing.[73]
Kennedy ofAnime News Network rated the first volume a "B", praising it as "fresh and original". He argued that the story distinguished itself by taking death games "to an extreme", and had an "interesting" protagonist in the calm and calculated Yuki. He was more mixed on the writing style, calling it "kinetic" but occasionally "clunky". Although he was less enthused about the deliberate avoidance of violent imagery, which he felt dampened the stakes, he ultimately concluded that the story was one that "instantly commands your attention".[74]
Ota Shoki ofDengeki Online noted that most works in the death game genre typically end after a single game to avoid losing narrative tension. Shoki argued that the story dealt with this problem through portraying Yuki's unusually detached perspective, where she repeatedly enters games and treats them as a job rather than a moral struggle. He opined that this direct approach presented a different form of suspense and concluded that the story was an outstanding entry in the genre.[75]
A panel by Anime News Network gave a generally warm reception to the premiere episode. James Beckett, writing the lead review, awarded the episode a perfect score, with particular praise for the "perfectly atmospheric [and] haunting" presentation in the visuals and soundtrack. He went on to acclaim the "bold, blistering confidence" of the premise, concluding that he "[could] not wait to see what comes next". Caitlin Moore held that the episode had the potential to be an "astounding achievement", though with reservations—she opined that while the show succeeded in evoking emotions from the viewers, its overall message was still ambiguous. Richard Eisenbeis commended the show's production value, contending that its unique aspects, such as unusual cuts and camera angles, were used to provide insight into the characters and their emotions. Rebecca Silverman was the only one to express a more neutral opinion; though she "appreciate[d] what this episode is trying to do", she felt that the detail was sometimes "excessive".[76]
