Contrary what the current mean score might make you think, this one actually isn’t bad. Ikenie Touhyou dodges the usual downfall of the “fatal irl game” types of stories that is being all edge with no substance. There isn’t too much of just a shock value content, in fact the manga itself isn’t too graphic – in a good way, as it leans more on the portrayal of unpleasant atmosphere than bodily harm. In this the way the “game” works ties too, as the concept of the punishment is a “social death” rather than actual one. This I consider to be the strength of IkenieTouhyou, as while life or death situations might not be that much relatable, having your most guarded secret leaked onto internet is a threat that hits closer home. After all, most of us have something we suspect would be judged harshly by others should it become known.

The culprits have a motive that aren’t just “I’m evil”. The functionality of the game itself makes sense – while the app seems to have almost magical abilities and the authors seem to overestimate what can be done by programming, it’s certainly better than “it’s actually magic” or “it’s just a mass hypnosis lmao”. Overestimating the possibilities of current technology is quite common in fiction, so I’ll let it slide. While most of the time the progression of panic among the characters makes sense, at some points the descent into extremities seem to be a bit too fast, but as it happens in a Japanese school stricter than what western readers might be used to, it isn’t unimaginable that once a breaking point arrives, the descend is accelerated as the pressured students just snap.

I also appreciate that the story isn’t just grim, and offers shards of positivity for contrast and to make it less one-sided. This also helps to establish characters a reader would actually root for. Frequently in this type of story the cast feels just like slaughter material, but due to mostly non-fatal actions in Ikenie Touhyou the influence of the plot on the characters feel more permanent and less than one-off moments before a character is discarded forever.

Overall I would definitely consider it to be among the better works of this “death game” genre.

Also, the cover of the first volume is a clickbait.