The previous episode of Tomodachi Game left the audience with questions, particularly in the last scene. Before Yuichi could jump into the third game by himself, Mikasa tells Manabu that he also lied, and therefore, he must continue the game with Yuichi.

He admits that Sawaragi was not the one he was obsessed with this entire time. It was Yuichi all along. Mikasa kisses Yuichi to ‘prove’ that he is serious before they both fall into the next game. However, was Mikasa telling the truth? Or did he need a reason to continue the Tomodachi game?

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A Glimpse Into Yuichi’s Childhood

The seventh episode opens with a scene from Yuichi’s childhood, where young Yuichi is already worrying about money. A woman lying in a hospital bed tells Yuichi that friendship (specifically his friends) is more important than money. In response, Yuichi asks her what she means by this, calling her ‘ma’am’ instead of ‘mom.’ She tells him she is his mother now, which implies that perhaps she is his new ‘mother.’ As young Yuichi leaves the hospital, he meets a man he calls ‘sensei,’ who asks him about the most important thing in the world. It’s clear this ‘sensei’ has guided Yuichi because the young boy’s answer is ‘money.’

Mikasa Recounts His Past

The scene fades to black before the episode returns to the present, where Yuichi wakes up in a dark room with Mikasa. This is when Manabu’s voice announces that the two must remain in this cave for three days in order to begin the third game, which gives the two young men a chance to talk. Mikasa recounts that everything could be traced back to junior high. One day, he asked his two best friends if they were interested in joining him in a business venture before explaining that he had saved one million yen for the start-up. Fortunately, his best friends agreed. However, like all good things, this too came to an end. The reason? Sawaragi. According to Mikasa, she had unintentionally seduced his friends. Mikasa’s friends had asked him if he was dating Sawaragi, but he told them he was too focused on their business, and even if he weren’t, he wasn’t interested in dating her (and vice versa).

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The money continued to be managed by them as they started their high school years. However, one of Mikasa’s friends suggests splitting the three million yen so that each person could invest in his own business. When the total becomes 20 million yen, the person who made the most money should become the company’s CEO and earn the right to propose to Sawaragi. This did not bode well for Mikasa, who didn’t want to ruin the relationships he had with his best friends. However, that day, he and his two friends were kidnapped and taken to play the Tomodachi game, where he learned that one of them was 10 million yen in debt. Mikasa lost and gained his friends’ debt of 20 million yen. When he was released into the real world (provided that he did not reveal anything about the Tomodachi game), he confronted one of his (now former) best friends, who told him he spent all the money on Sawaragi. This spurred a new hatred for Sawaragi on Mikasa’s end. He blamed her for the lost money and his new debt. Additionally, Mikasa narrates that he told his father, who was the most important person to him, about the Tomodachi game. Unfortunately, this was prohibited, and Mikasa’s father was murdered.

Is Sawaragi the Traitor?

Mikasa then realized Sawaragi was at the center of it all, and when he began investigating her, he received a message threatening him to stop looking into her. Thus, the reason for his joining the Tomodachi game was to expose her. Mikasa tells Yuichi that Sawaragi had actually told one lie, and he believed she was the real traitor and an excellent manipulator. For example, their combined debt is 10.8 million yen. However, this doesn’t add up, and therefore, someone must be lying. Mikasa believes this liar to be Sawaragi, while Yuichi doesn’t necessarily trust anyone. Yuichi then asks Mikasa about the real reason he joined him in the third game. Like Yuichi, Mikasa wants to destroy the Tomodachi game to avenge his innocent father, and he wants Yuichi to help him. In desperation to make him believe him, Mikasa pulls off his name tag and shows Yuichi his debt, which doubles his amount.

The Third Game

After 72 hours in the cave together, the two are released into the third game. Manabu, who is now dressed as (and calls himself) a Sergeant, emerges from the trees. In the third game, “Friendly Hide-and-Seek,” Mikasa and Yuichi must face a team consisting of five players. Each group must choose one hider to hide in the forest, while the remaining team will be the seekers. The team that finds the other’s hider first wins.

Before the game begins, Manabu asks Yuichi and Mikasa if they would like to add a person from a third group to their team (who made it to the third game alone). When Yuichi asks Manabu if this player is a girl, the latter confirms, causing Yuichi to agree. This information may be helpful to the duo in the next episode, mainly because the other group consists of only boys who are immediately smitten when she’s introduced. The episode ends as the players sprint into the forest.

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