As the Gods Will: The Second Series

Kamisama no Iutoori Ni is a sequel that lacks the thrill of survival of its prequel, and the reason for that is because it turned into a more Shounen battle manga. Focusing on those students that skipped school while the games were occurring, the story begins at the same time as the previous one. It has its highs and lows, but the games here are not that interesting, there is no sense of worry or fear of what's going to happen, as most of it plays out just as you'd expect or it's just unpredictable for the sake of it, with no real purpose. The storywent a bit nuts with the whole Tomfoolery and Cops/ Robbers arc, but the final arc is definitely the high point, having what was missing for the most part in the early arcs, the thrill. The art is just amazing and a great leap in terms of skills compared to the prequel, the last 50 or so chapters are really eye candy. The characters are a hit or miss for the most part, the main character Akashi is just not as interesting as Shun, but the chemistry he has with the rest of the cast is something worth appreciating. My main complaint is that the characters from the prequel, are just forgotten... excluding Shun and Amaya and maybe Akimoto, the rest don't really do anything, maybe it's because the number of characters introduced where huge, but they were wasted, and that's a shame. Overall the series is a fun read, but i did miss for the most part the serious tone of its prequel.

Kamisama no Iutoori Ni, like many other psychological death games, seeks to solve the question of why we are alive. Does it succeed? I honestly have no idea. I don't write many reviews, but after finishing this I felt motivated to type something out. The author, Kaneshiro Muneyuki, is the mind behind several other works I enjoy, including Jagaaaaaan and Bokutachi ga Yarimashita, both of which are pretty messed up and show the raw tendencies of human nature. However, the prologue/prequel to Kamisama no Iutoori Ni, called Kamisama no Iutoori, fell far short of my expectations. I read Kamisama no Iutoori Ni roughly half a yearafter finishing its prequel, and I can say that it far outshines the first installment. We follow our main character, Yasuto Akashi, through a series of games based off of traditional Japanese playground games. The plot doesn't stand out as particularly different among death game stories: survive all of the games and you will be given the ability of the Gods. However, the typical survival game genre is executed not flawlessly, but with great skill. The simplicity of most of the games helps to show this: the rules are basic but there's always a twist which helps the characters to grow and develop. Although the characters are also relatively predictable, the way the plot yanks them around really helps each to shine. Most are given enough time to showcase the dreams and beliefs, before cruelly being shut down. In fact, even when you know they're coming, the character deaths are well-placed, some with dramatic exits, some dying from a simple game of rock-paper-scissors. The fact that anyone can die at any minute is always a given. Of course, this generally excludes our main character who is protected with an incredibly thick layer of plot armor. Akashi is a generic shounen hero: selfless, brave, and trustworthy. He goes through the ranks of the story motivated by his friendship with Senichi Aoyama, a fellow soccer player, Mochida Rui, the first girl he meets in the games, Natsukawa Megu (Nutmeg), a girl he later falls in love with, and Ushimitsu Kiyoshirou, an eccentric guy who takes to our protagonist. Akashi doesn't really stand out in any way or another as exceptionally different from the average hero, but he certainly serves his purpose as the ultimate selfless being. As his friends die, Akashi somehow manages to survive, against almost impossible odds, but carries all of their feelings within them, a trait essential to a truly shounen hero. Until the very last battle, he refuses to give up, and truly believes that he can save everyone and bring them all back to life when he becomes a god. Although this attitude makes him obnoxious to some, it ultimately serves as a shining light that many within the games are drawn to, leading to his large group of friends and consequently the large base of decently important characters. This group of characters is crucial to establishing the many answers to the ultimate question: why do we live? For Akashi, the answer is clear: he lives to carry on the hopes of everyone around him, and to save them all in the end. But the answers vary for everyone. Akashi's foil, Amaya, lives purely for selfish reasons and wants to destroy the world. Ushimitsu lives for the sake of Akashi. Takahata Shun lives to kill the god of the world. While the answers are different, they all aim to portray the idea of doing what you want to do. Whether that means sacrificing yourself or living in fear or just going about causing mass destruction, it is important to follow your own beliefs until the very end. This is shown time and time again: with the tomfoolery powers the characters are given in the middle, or with Akashi's decision to save Natsukawa over killing an enemy. Live for yourself. Or, in Hanna Felix's words, "Just live how you want to live." Does Kamisama no Iutoori Ni succeed in its goal? I don't think I can really say. But it certainly makes a point. In the biggest mess of a world, the most important thing you can do is stay true to yourself. If you're interested in death games, I recommend that you give this one a try. While it may not be perfect, it certainly shows the struggles of man and that hope can arise in the darkest of situations. In true shounen death game fashion.

As I said in my review of Part 1, this is Part 2 and a direct continuation of the previous manga, so go read that first. I also said that if you ever enjoyed Kaiji, Squid Game, Alice in Borderlands, Battle Royale, or anything in that genre, then you should definitely check this out, especially if you enjoyed those but thought to yourself "I wish they would focus less on a coherent plot and characters and just add more games and more supernatural elements", then you will absolutely LOVE this manga. This is a bro version of Survival Game, there is simply no better wayto put it. For one thing, the main character is a fairly average male high school student that for one reason or another (or no reason at all) seems to become universally beloved by everyone they meet. I honestly think that at least five different female characters, and at least one male character, openly declare their love for the MC at various points in the series. Secondly, this manga is really not about the games themselves, but is evidently and quite explicitly about the relationships between the characters. I won't spoil it because it will become apparent over time, but the interplay between these characters, and how much or how little you care about them and the dynamics of the ever-changing cast, will determine how much you enjoy this manga, and probably will determine whether you will care to finish it at all. Unfortunately the plot of this manga just makes no sense. If it does make any sense, then it is from a one-page, two-sentence info dump for the premise of a manga with 186 chapters and two prequels. It's unsatisfying, and it honestly is a bit insulting to the intelligence of anyone that cares about the plot making sense, even a little bit. This manga does a very poor job of pacing out the overall plot, and it is almost completely unclear at any point what the causes of the plot are, and why any of the events of the story are happening. That can be mysterious early on, but later it becomes this huge underlying plot hole which as I said, does not actually get a satisfying resolution, at least not in my opinion. We are essentially told as a reader that the motivations do not have to make sense, we just have to believe in the strong feelings of these characters because that's what they're telling us, but because the cast changes so much by the nature of a survival game manga we are only really convinced of the feelings of the main core cast which is precisely two people, and my point in all this is that if you love those two characters and their dynamics with each other then you will be happy or at least happy enough until the bitter end. So why is this manga a solid 8 (Very Good)? Well for one thing, I happen to love the main cast, I love the dynamics between them, and how they are awkward and uncertain as real people might be. Also, the art and the writing will absolutely compel you to turn the next page, keep reading, and if the ending is unsatisfying it's at least partly because we read so far to get there and didn't get the payoff we were expecting. The art is far from perfect but does serve the purposes of showing us clearly the emotions of the characters, emphasizing dangerous and scary moments, and also keeping things surprisingly light and humorous. Most of the best manga don't have a lot in common, but what they do tend to have in common is a cast of characters that feel like they have real relationships with each other. Characters in this manga show real depth of emotion, they have personalities that change and grow, their relationships with each other evolve, change shape, wither away, and otherwise accomplish things in a difficult genre that many other genres aspire to but do not get there. The character design leaves a bit to be desired, but this cast is truly what makes this manga great. That might not be such a bold statement in a typical shonen manga, but in a survival manga I think it really says a lot, and is what makes As the Gods Will Part 2 a manga worth reading.

Non-spoiler review Story: Similar to Gantz in terms of if being revolved around the death game. Minimal plot armour as most events are left to logical reasoning. Ending may be good or bad depending on how you interpret it. Personally, I felt like the ending was a big middle finger to the face and goes against one of the most important rules in storywriting. (Not gonna elaborate more on that as it would be spoiler worthy) Art: Consistent good art style, but not anything extraordinary Character: Wide variety of character personalities. However, some character tropes were left unexplored, possibly due to the surplus of characters at certainpoints in the manga. So some discretion is required. Enjoyment: If you enjoy thrilling psychological warfare, this is a must go. There is physical fighting in itself, but not on the level of the aforementioned. Overall: A solid 8 as there were few loopholes, consistent pacing, and some epiphanies that I gained from this manga. Tip: DO NOT READ THIS NEAR EXAMS, preferably during holidays as its quite addicting. Managed to read it in 2 days at the expense of my sleep.