I don\u2019t like death games, but I do like maids. I don\u2019t like rampant killing, but I do like it when people make anime in interesting ways.<\/p>\n
Mineral eyes<\/a>, you know?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 1 OF <\/strong>SHIBOYUGI<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Many years ago, I watched an anime called Akame ga Kill<\/em>. In that show, there\u2019s a pink-haired character named Chelsea who dies in a pretty horrible, pretty graphic way. In the wake of that episode, I penned what is very likely one of the most na\u00efve pieces I\u2019ve ever written, titled \u201cAkame ga Kill: A Reflection on the Futility of Violence?<\/a><\/em>\u201d You can still go read the article; I basically answer my own question in the first sentence of the third paragraph (the answer was no), but I was younger then.<\/p>\n (Interestingly enough, I referenced that same article much more recently (relatively) in a piece on the Shibuya Incident arc<\/a> of Jujutsu Kaisen<\/em> in the wake of that show killing off a major character. Let me tell you: I was not trying to find some kind of deeper meaning that time around.)<\/p>\n That brings us to today, and the recent premiere of the TV anime adaptation of Yushi Ukai\u2019s Shiboyugi: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table<\/em>, directed by Souta Ueno at Studio Deen. For those who haven\u2019t seen it, Shiboyugi<\/em> is about a girl named Yuki, a veteran of televised death games where the survivors win cash. You can guess from the premise alone that there are more than few horrible deaths to be had, and indeed the premiere offers three such ends.<\/p>\n What\u2019s different about Shiboyugi<\/em>, though, is the delivery. Or at least, that\u2019s one of the differences.<\/p>\n Director Ueno exploded on to the anime scene (at least, if you\u2019re in a the particular turbonerd sphere that cares about things like TV animation directors with arthouse sensibilities) in 2024 with his work on Gimai Seikatsu<\/em><\/a>, and his spacious, desolate yet near-ornamental delivery of a single-episode story about six girls in a death game appears to be continuing along the path that drew so much attention two years back. Shiboyugi<\/em>\u2018s premiere is arresting from the outset; quiet, restrained, and tense. The first head rolls (metaphorically) takes a while to roll, but the combination of protagonist Yuki\u2019s matter-of-fact response and Ueno\u2019s sedate direction keep the impact muted.<\/p>\n The same can\u2019t be said of the second death, as the pressure of rising water and falling saws lead to Aoi\u2019s non-exceedingly-graphic yet nonetheless horrifying exit. Although her screams aren\u2019t quite in the forefront of the sound mix, they\u2019re impossible to ignore. In contrast to Kokutou\u2019s sudden offing, which I imagine had little emotional impact on most viewers, Aoi\u2019s death feels much, much worse to watch. The stress of the set-up, the human complexities of Beniya, Momono, and, ultimately, Kinko\u2019s saving of themselves, the extended time allotted to the sounds of Aoi\u2019s agony, and the juxtaposition of it all against Yuki\u2019s emotionless monologue is genuinely distressing.<\/p>\n At least, it was for me.<\/p>\n When it comes to art, craft is on its own inherently interesting, even if as nothing more than a curiosity. How craft informs and impacts experience is, without question, the more personal and thus more interesting topic to consider. I don\u2019t think this is a particularly fresh conclusion, but some have said that most wisdom is simply saying obvious things in easy-to-understand ways\u2014not that someone doing the watermelon otter<\/a> with a pretty girls death game anime could claim to be wise.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, I can\u2019t help but think that, had Shiboyugi<\/em> been delivered in the tactless manner of Akame ga Kill<\/em> or with the insulting carelessness of Jujutsu Kaisen<\/em>, I would not have found myself quite so unable to look away<\/a>.<\/p>\n In fact, it is the very craft of Shiboyugi<\/em>\u2018s premiere that left me pondering not only the episode itself, but also dissecting my own response to it. For example, let\u2019s return for a moment to the contrasting reactions I had to the first two deaths. My description of Kokutou\u2019s death was probably enough to make clear that I didn\u2019t have anywhere near the same level of upset about a quick, soundless dart through the skull as I did about Aoi\u2019s extended anguish.<\/p>\n I had at one point in the wake of Aoi\u2019s death been thinking something along the lines of, \u201cWell, I\u2019m actually glad to know I don\u2019t feel good about watching a death scene like that.\u201d But is that really the case? Like, actually, what the hell am I talking about? Is a death only bad to watch if the person is desperately screaming while getting ripped apart (off screen, even!) by saws? Am I not just a hypocrite when a quick, sterile death makes barely a ripple? Sure, there was a clear difference in physical and emotional suffering, but even so\u2026!<\/p>\n Or, what about when I allow the (deranged but extremely funny) decision to play \u201cQue Ser\u00e1 Ser\u00e1\u201d in the intermediate aftermath of Yuki\u2019s decision to coldly murder Kinko to interrupt the feelings of misery I might have other dwelt in following a death that destroyed the seemingly redemptive narrative mini-arc that preceded it?<\/p>\n Apparently, I\u2019m not quite as commendably touched by death as I might like to think.<\/p>\n In my defense, I\u2019m only human. Also in my defense, this is, as I\u2019ve said, what craft is all about. The difference in delivery\u2014visually, aurally, and contextually\u2014not only mediates my experience but also impacts (or perhaps you could even say manipulates) my reaction to each event. And the fact that I can sit here and reflect on this, interrogating not only the show itself but also the ways in which I felt it was interrogating me, excites me. Although the material isn\u2019t the kind of thing I\u2019d naturally gravitate toward, this kind of complexity is something I do find myself craving more and more.<\/p>\n So, a word on the content. A part of me wonders just how much different this blog post talking in part about Ueno\u2019s directorial choices would be given a story with different material; that is, a story that didn\u2019t feature quite as much death. In particular, death game anime seem almost inevitably designed to prompt strong reactions. When the deaths aren\u2019t sanitized of their associated physical and emotional suffering, regardless of how graphic they are, when the deaths are bleak and senseless and, in a way, meaningless, what are you left with but the rawness of a life ending? I\u2019ve been told that Shiboyugi<\/em> is likely heading in the direction of even more of that, so we\u2019ll have to see if it\u2019s something I can stomach.<\/p>\n Where this all ended is with me asking myself, both during the episode and afterwards, whether I was enjoying what I was watching and, even if I wasn\u2019t, whether I liked it. The combination of content that I\u2019m not inclined to enjoy (this is the \u201cnothing I want\u201d part of the post title) with craft that I very much did enjoy meant that the answers to those questions were not at all easy. In fact, I still don\u2019t know. The craft of Ueno and his team prevents me from dismissing the material on instinct and engages me in a way I would not otherwise be engaged.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mageinabarrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/shiboyugi-episode-1-8.png?w=1024\")
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