You have to play the game of death to have food to eat (from now on Director General) This isn’t the first time stories have been told that the Death Game is a perverse form of entertainment for a mysterious elite who fund it. In fact, this is a major element squid gameOverall, arguably the most famous Death Game story. But while other death game stories have also exploited this idea, and its natural extension, there can be multiple death games, Director General This is the first time I’ve seen it taken to an extreme – not just multiple death games happening, but some death games happening regularly because it’s an entire industry. This is a well-funded industry and a few bold individuals could have done well asshole! Under different circumstances, you can keep playing game after game and, well, put food on the table.
This first volume Director General In particular, our protagonist, an experienced player named Yuki, who wants to clear 99 games, participates in two such death games: the first one, similar to an escape room, in which Yuki is almost completely surrounded by girls who are completely unfamiliar with death games. The second is a flashback in which the inexperienced Yuki and several other experienced players are like rabbits trying to avoid being killed by a group of mostly inexperienced players playing the role of hunters.
Not only is Yuki the protagonist, but she is also the only character to appear in the two Death Games in this volume. So it’s hard to get a feel for general character writing other than Yuki. Still, Yuki herself seems interesting as the main character. Far from Delta Baixian Type-wise, she doesn’t approach the death game with the same bloodthirsty enthusiasm as a serial death game participant, but rather, she’s a calm strategist. While she wants as many people as possible to survive, she recognizes that varying degrees of sacrifice will be necessary. She created rules and traditions for herself to avoid feeling overwhelmed by guilt or stress. To her, the game of death was like a job, and in a way, it was meant for her. Sort of like.
Despite what the title might make you think, Yuki plays the Death Game not because she has to eke out a living – although that’s part of it – but more importantly because her goal is to survive the 99 games. More specifically, it’s not made clear in this volume whether eating was the original reason she started participating in so many death games, but the backstory of how she reached her 99-year survival goal is the latter death game in this volume. A small but forgivable case of expectations not quite matching reality Director Generalbut also, just the tip of the iceberg.
Let’s be honest with ourselves: When we’re addicted to a death-game story, we usually expect gore. Death games are nothing if not quintessential blood sports. It’s not always the bucket of blood like in the story saw or Danganronpa brought to the table, but it is widely expected that we will see at least one person seriously injured. Well, that’s not the case Director General! in the universe Director Generalthe player’s body is filled with a cocktail of chemicals that turn into fuzz when the blood meets air, and any lost limbs are reattached at the end of the game (assuming you survive to the end).
To be fair, if you’re not good with gore, I can see this as a feature rather than a bug. But it also undercuts some very serious scenes. We see this even in this book: there’s a psychological difference between seeing someone covered in fluff and seeing someone covered in blood—both for the characters in the story and for the audience reading this. It just makes the whole thing feel less serious than it originally was. Plus, there are some claims about how it reduces risk. For example, who cares about someone having to chop off their own hand because they know they’ll either die in the game or have it reattached after the game is over as if nothing happened? For example, it’s easier for Yuki to accept the idea of sacrificing limbs here and there because she knows the consequences won’t be long-lasting, and there aren’t even any gruesome visuals to remind her of what she has to do. As a reader, this just makes the game of death less exciting.
If the lowered stakes weren’t enough to ease the tension, the somewhat stilted writing throughout the book did. For better or worse, it’s written in a very active style that rarely allows the reader time to breathe or soak in what’s going on. Even in those few, far-flung moments, one can see that action—rather than reaction—is more true where the author is. Ui Yushi‘s comfort zone is, and can make an entire paragraph unwieldy. The severity of this problem makes it difficult to perceive the quality of the translation.
But even if it has some obvious flaws, it’s easy to see why Director General won The 18th Excellence Award MF libraryJ 2022 Newcomer Award for Young Fiction, and why it will be animated in https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2025-07-25/playing-death-games-to-put-food-on-the-table-tv-anime-reveals-teaser-video-main-cast-more-staff/.227021 “>2026. Director General Unique enough that despite its shortcomings, this book still has a lot of momentum that is sure to keep readers eager to read on.
