Trillion Game

[neflight86]

2122

"Old schoolmates Haru and Gaku will do anything to achieve success. And success to them means earning a trillion dollars! But to do so, they'll need to take full advantage of their own unique skills. Haru is a persuasive and confident speaker who can connect with anyone, while Gaku, although awkward, is an expert programmer. Will their combined talents be enough to make their dream a reality?

Source: Crunchyroll"

Genre(s): Drama, Psychological, Seinen

Research (https://subsplease.org/shows/trillion-game/)

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1-3

Firstly, from what I read in the manga, you can tell the story had a good amount of thought put into it. The workmanlike attention to detail while remaining digestible keeps it in line with author-kun's other major recent work, Dr. Stone (though that improv work out session feels much sillier in anime form). Overall, this is a great 'fake it till you make it' rags to riches story that focuses on the two halves of a business powerhouse: charisma and ability. The story, for its subject matter, really pumps out the hype when it needs to. On the other hand...

As an adaptation... this is rough. the animation is just barely holding together and you can see the corners as they are cut in motion resulting in a 'moving manga' aesthetic. Some truly attractive character designs feel mismatched with the cheap linework. Good thing the story is the real draw here, which is intact, and the music is surprisingly punching above the rest of the production's weight with some good little bits here and there that inspire hopefulness which enhances the core pathos of the story.

Highly recommended if you are looking for a fun adventure and could use a break from fantasy and teen drama.

[MFauli]

This is only for people who like capitalism, right?

[neflight86]

Ugh... Not sure how to answer that.

They essentially borderline swindle money out of investors to create a start up company and make it profitable later. They are squarely operating within a capitalistic system, if that's what you mean? It isn't political as of yet, though you are welcome to view the story through whatever lens you want to.

[MFauli]

Ugh... Not sure how to answer that.

They essentially borderline swindle money out of investors to create a start up company and make it profitable later. They are squarely operating within a capitalistic system, if that's what you mean? It isn't political as of yet, though you are welcome to view the story through whatever lens you want to.

Let me clarify then: Are the "heroes" operating with a "money is great, money is the best, money is the meaning of life"-adjacent mindset? That would be offputting to me.

If there's more to it, I might check out the manga though, since you said it's better than the anime.

[neflight86]

The protagonists do certainly operate with the motivation that 'limitless' money would be the ticket to all of their dreams. That seems like more of a means to and end, though as the story itself is about how to maneuver from nothing into fathomless wealth with a mixture of social networking, charisma, bluffing, and people's perception as of now.

[David75]

Art was a showstopper for me.

[neflight86]

Can't argue with that. It was animated by... Madhouse? Must have called in the C team for this one.

[MFauli]

Watched episode 1. That was actually really entertaining.

I also like the artstyle. Well, I like most anything that's not the generic moe blob shit.

Character motivations are at least varied between the 2 protagonists. So while the one guy might be after money only (although I assume there's a deeper reason here, too), the computer guy had no intention of even going for big money, so I'm not too worried about this being some capitalism fellatio fest.

[MFauli]

Episode 3:

The troll-name for their team was hilarious, had to laugh out loud.

The tournament being this open for cheating feels weird.

And while I enjoy the twists of Haru doing something seemingly unrelated, only for it to end up being something super helpful, I dunno how this can keep up. At this point Haru is basically Scrooge McDuck, lol, doing some crazy schemes that somehow turn a massive profit.

[MFauli]

Episode 4:

Well, I guess you have to suspend your disbelief a bit for this hacking competition to go like that.

I love how Haru keeps fucking with Kirihime (and probably FOR REAL in the near future, lol).

Really fun anime that feels surprisingly close to HXH and its exam arc. Total beginners versus the world. Fun.

[neflight86]

The tricks, ploys, and bluffs are what make this so fun, and it is a delicate balance to not be full eye-rolling yet unpredictable.

[MFauli]

Episode 5:

Ok, that was a dumb episode. They "trick" was to ... commit a crime. Okay?

Also why did the anime spoil us that they WILL be successful? Wouldn't it have been more exciting to keep rooting for the two whether or not they make the trillion?

[MFauli]

Episode 6:

Eh, gotta say I'm struggling with the very infantile tone in such a business setting. It's too much. Everything is too infantile. Childish. Not plausible at all.

The worst part right now is that high schooler that investor guy keeps by his side. Not creepy at all ...

[neflight86]

The investor has already been explained and characterized as a bit of an eccentric, and he obviously is willing to bet on the duo's success. These weren't really negotiations in the first place, as he clearly wanted a part of whatever they were cooking up regardless of how advantageous the terms were. Like he says, even at 15%, he'll be a trillionaire by the time its done.

When you describe 'things going well/smooth' as 'childish', I wonder how many roadblocks you are expecting? The show has an overall positive tone, and they have already had to deal with two disadvantaged events where they 'bet it all'. Continuing to make every interaction 'make or break' their prospects in succession would get boring, and childishly simplistic from a storytelling perspective. Change of pace helps prevent fatigue.

[MFauli]

Episode 8:

I can't believe how funny this show is. It's literally Scrooge McDuck upselling stuff to reach new levels of wealth, lol!

As for this episode, I'm not sure why they didn't build their own AI earlier, lots of startups build their own AI, it's not something THAT taxing.

On another note, I'd never be able to employ someone like Rinrin, would instantly hit on her >_>

[neflight86]

I think this (the manga) was started 4-5 years ago, before the big AI boom.

I'm more of a secretary simp, for the record...

[MFauli]

Episode 23:

This is a somewhat entertaining anime, but holy hell, our "heroes" are despicable really. Literally creating their own news channel to further their own success. It's like Trump creating "Truth Social".

[neflight86]

Represent your side if nobody else will...

[MFauli]

neflight86, join our Gotwoot-discord, you're 1 of 2 regular members missing!

[neflight86]

I may just, thanks for the invite.

[MFauli]

Episode 26 - Finale:

Same what I said before: It was enjoyable enough to watch, but it's thematically so scmmy that I never could connect with the two protagonists. The show tries hard to make them look nice and likeable, but ultimately they're no better than Dragon Bank. Things would be different if Haru had mentioned a different goal in episode 1, something like "we're gonna become trillionairs ... and then use that money to change the whole world for the better!". But he didn't.

Capitalists and neo-liberalists might rate this show higher, for me it was okay.

[neflight86]

Final arc felt a bit rushed, especially with the "years later" timeskip. Swaths of characters had their final interactions and were never seen again. At least it told a complete story, more or less. An okay underdog story, but the animation really let it down considering how little it actually had to do- talking heads mostly, but it still looked cheap most of the time.

Haru is pretty much a sociopath and was ultimately not very likable, but he did have character and charisma. Gaku, on the other hand, wound up being almost a non-player in most of the dealings. Ababababa; ugh.

In spite of it all, still a solid recommend if you are looking for something different.