Review of Darwin's Game

Death games are a dime a dozen in anime. In a lot of ways it does little to differentiate itself. Protagonist suddenly thrown into a life or death game? Check. Heavy emphasis on phones? Check. Entirely too young kids with death glares? Check. But the big thing that sets Darwin's Game apart is its protagonist. He doesn't voluntarily opt into the game. He doesn't even know what it's about. This is where the cookie cutter anime script would demand the weak character, overwhelmed by the whole thing. Every possible avenue for personal growth gets stunted by a "noble" refusal to see his reality (ie, you needto play to survive). Not so with Darwin's Game's protagonist. Sure, he starts off that way a bit (although not as annoyingly so as some characters), but he does a good job of grasping the situation and starting to play along. And sure, he's got a bit of a "nobility" streak to him—both in how he plays the game and what his goal ends up being—but not enough to stunt his growth. When bad things happen because of decisions he makes, he doesn't use that as an excuse to stagnate, but rather to get better.

I hope a second season is on the horizon; I'd enjoy spending more time in this death game.