Shiboyugi has a very unorthodox premise: its protagonist, Yuki, wishes to beat 99 death games. The core appeal of the series lies in how fast it mills through the games and its characters, with each volume introducing one or two new games while staying unpredictable. Despite its pace, it establishes its bizarre setting with solid worldbuilding and justifies its premise really well; this is a world where people play death games not just for the prize money, but as a sport for entertainment. And Yuki is a protagonist that works with strengths of this premise really well. This change in the premise is what heavily influencesthe dynamic of the games. It goes from few cowardly individuals struggling to survive to battle of skilled players trying to find a way to best the others, not too dissimilar to what you mind find in other sports stories. This unique dynamic is what gives the relatively simple escape room games or survival games a different colour of paint, because while the story follows a relatively straightforward outline for each game, with some shocking and unexpected (and expected) deaths awaiting on potentially every new page, it's also a fight between Yuki and whoever, stronger opponent has it out for either her or someone else in the setting. The actual games themselves still remain suspenseful, each game bringing a unique premise and set of rules, as well as new outfit for Yuki and other participants to wear. In some cases each game is also a new opportunity for the author to put Yuki into a new costume and that is equally as exciting and it's fun to speculate what the game might be based on the costume's visuals themselves. If you are curious, look up all the LN's volumes. Volume 4 cover is probably my favourite because I really wanted to find out what kind of game would warrant such a cute get-up.

The premise is also what makes Yuki stand out as a protagonist. Her character is a breath of fresh air in the death game genre. It's difficult to go into specifics of why due to spoilers, but the general idea is that Yuki is a loser who doesn't want to admit so. Don't get me wrong, Yuki *is* cool, and she can be even cooler in some parts. She is calm, level headed and skilled enough to earn her wins in these games, but the author also spends enough time to establish her life outside of the games as a lazy and uneducated shut-in. While not a novel idea, the story executes on this premise exceedingly well but depicting Yuki as an immensely flawed individual, both in and out of the game. Even if I described Yuki as cool and skilled earlier, she is far from the strongest and nothing is handed to her on a silver platter. Despite this all, she never feels like an edgelord. She feels like someone you want to root for and see to make it out alive each time she plunges herself into another death game because she is capable of showing compassion and kindness in the few moments when she is not struggling to survive or is kicking major ass.

A story plot that I saw online be deemed as a bit controversial is tied to the novel's lack of real gore. There is an in-universe explanation for this and even though the author went on a record to say it was to make the novel more approachable and accessible to everyone, it's tied to its premise (death games as a sort of sport) pretty well. Despite the lack of blood, the novel does not shy away from gruesome imagery. In this aspect it resembles Danganronpa, where the pink blood was first done for censorship reasons but eventually became a stylistic choice. If you struggle to imagine how it'd look like, I recommend giving the manga adaptation a shot after finishing the first volume. It depicts how gruesome and over the top Shobuyugi gets when it wishes to really well.

Shiboyugi is, genuinely, some of the most fun I had with a book series in a long, long time. You can see the story slowly form a shape as you keep reading and Yuki turns into a protagonist I fell deeply in love with, rivaling even Kaiji for me. I have read/watched my fair share of death games in my life, some good and some really bad. Shiboyugi is belongs among the great ones in my opinion. It is a refreshingly unique take on the genre, its intense pace keeps me turning pages and Yuki as a protagonist makes me excited for the next volume. As of writing this review, I finished the first 4 volumes that are translated right now, and eagerly await the next one.