Reviews for King's Game: Origin

Before writing a review for this manga, I decided to backtrack and read the original "Ousama Game" story. Here's the thing, "Ousama Game" and "Ousama Game: Kigen" are essentially the same story just with different settings. Now to be fair, "Ousama Game: Kigen" is a far better told version of "Ousama Game". I didn't care much for the original at all, but I was legitimately interested in the story of this one. All the problems with the original were fixed in this story. The cast is smaller and have better character development with their progression towards going insane and murdering each other done much better. Overall,the characters behave more like human beings than they did in the original. The story is set in a remote village rather than a city, which makes the characters feel more isolated and helpless. The Ousama's orders build on each other very well, getting gradually harder to perform and having progressively more gruesome punishments. This story also has the police get involved with the events of the Ousama Game. I liked this because it made the story feel more realistic and, honestly, the detective was one of my favorite characters.

There are still a few problems with this story. While the character development and story flow are far superior to the original, there are still places where they could be done better. The reason for the Ousama Game and "big reveal" at the end are pretty lame. The reasoning behind everything is awfully far-fetched, and unlike some horror stories like Higurashi, there isn't enough background information or hints for a proper build up and reveal. This also makes it impossible for the audience to guess what's going on ahead of time, which can weaken the impact of the twist. In fact, the ending of this story makes the original story make even less sense. This works much better as a stand alone story than as a prequel to "Ousama Game".

Never the less, this one is worth a shot it you have some spare time on your hands. There are points that could have been better, but for the most part it was a decent enough read even if the end was a little disappointing.

It´s not very common that prequels exceeds its original, but this is exactly what happened with Ousama Game. OG: Kigen serves as a prequel and offeres a very unique insight to the times, where the "King" was forced to use letters instead of phone messages and how would a whole village react to the common enemy. According to me, the story was very good and decent. Art was also very pleasurable. This manga contains totally different characters and I dare to say, better characters than Ousama Game. The explanation is given according to the whole "virus" thing and about creation of the "King" and "Kings´sGame" (aka Ousama Game).

I enjoyed this manga very much and definitely will reread it sometimes. For me solid 8/10 and I hope that other mangas in OG series will be just as good as this one.

Woah, it's like the author suddenly gained some IQ points. Really, this is so much better than the original Ousama Game. --Story-- The plot is basically the same as the original Ousama Game, but replace the modern students with villagers from an isolated village in the year 1977. But here, the execution is so much better. A lot of things aren't happening at once, unlike the original manga. It also explains some stuff you might not have understood. BUT, despite all that, it isn't perfect, sadly. It feels quite unfinished and at some points, rushed (Especially at the ending). Some more explanation could've helped, too. --Art-- The Art isREALLY good, sometimes i just looked at some panels for an unexpected long time. Definitely an upgrade and it was a good decision to actually switch mangakas. But i noticed some panels who were a bit off or awkward because of the art style.

--Characters--

The MC was your typical wimpy hero with a good sense of justice, there wasn't too much Character Development on him. But it was the Supporting Cast who stole the show for me, it was really interesting how the villagers' reacted to the King's Game and how their Characters changed over time. Especially mah gurl Michiko.

--Overall--

Read this if you've already read the Original Ousama Game and have been dodging everything related to it like the plague. But trust me, this one won't disappoint, at least as much as the original. And if you haven't read the original, this is definitely a good read. The only connection it really has to the original is at the ending. I enjoyed it.

7/10

Ousama Game: Kigen or King's Game: Origins is way better than Ousama Game(the one set in the school setting) so if you read that one and just because you didn't like it. Please read this one. I gave this manga a 9/10 because in my opinion this manga is so good. Art The art is so beautiful. The first thing I look at before reading a manga is the art so if you're like me you will enjoy this one. Story I don't want to spoil you but the ending is not that good BUT the overall story is better than the Ousama Game(high school setting). Characters The characters inthis one are more human like. They will do anything to survive and when I say anything I mean ANYTHING.

Compared to Ousama Game(high school setting) Kings Game Origins is a real battle royale. Villager against villager the characters will do anything to survive (they will kill, deceive, whore their way to victory, and pretty much sell their soul to the devil just to survive).

I was dissapointed after reading ousama game, it was a great idea and it had so much potential but all of it was wasted, but i stumbled recently on Ousama Game: Kigen. I didn't have high expectation towards it but i got so into it i have read it in few hours. Ousama Game: Kigen is way better presented and it has filled most of the plot holes that Ousama Game left. Although Ousama Game: Kigen isn't perfect i feel like it still didn't use it's full potential like in Ousama Game the writer made again the same mistake he made the characters flat andit felt like it was rushed. In overall the art is good, the story is better excecuted than Ousama Game it showed what people are able to do survive, the characters were pretty flat we didn't get to know them very good.

I give it a 6/10

I don't know how this manga managed to make it seem like people who disagreed with incest were the villains, but that's basically the entire plot. I hated the first manga so I wasn't sure if I should even read this prequel but I'm glad I did because all the criticisms I had for Ousama Game were completely improved in this one. I feel like the author had this prequel in mind when he made Ousama Game because this just makes so much more sense and overall this just had better characters, writing, development, and gore. In this manga, we get a lot more context and introductionto the characters. While again I didn't particularly like any of the characters, they were much more dynamic and developed in this prequel because the relationships were clearly outlined from the very beginning. The structure and rules of the game were executed much better too. Starting off with the younger villagers made sense in delaying the awareness about the game and if you know the ending, it really ties into who the Ousama is and who they could easily target at the start. The challenges were more creative too, but mostly at the beginning. Towards the end, it's the typical 'someone has to kill the other' type of situation which was pretty boring with how often it happened but I appreciate how some twists were added into the mix to make it more interesting. I also appreciate how so many more aspects were added like the police's involvement, researchers actually trying to identify the cause of the game, and the clearer depiction of the more supernatural elements that really drive the game. The explanation in this prequel made more sense than the first manga where they briefly explained that the game is powered by a program that relies on the "power of suggestion".

Looking back at it though, the ending of the first manga doesn't really tie into this prequel aside from the obvious which is that Kazunari, the protagonist, lives on to have Chiemi who is a character in the first manga. The first manga reveals that Chiemi's mom was researching/developing a virus that would use the power of suggestion to stop wars and create peace. But the name of the researcher who is Chiemi's mom was revealed to be "Honda, Natsuko". In this prequel, the end reveals that Kazunari marries a girl named Rie and actually has twin daughters Chiemi, and Natsuko whom he named after his lover/cousin. Maybe the sequel would make things clearer, I hope it does because the two endings don't really add up.

Aside from that, the prequel definitely surpassed the original in all aspects. I kind of wish I read this one first actually because Ousama Game made no sense at all while this prequel was an overall solid read.

An unexpected read! This was not what you would expect from a trashy series like Ousama Game. This story is a prequel to Ousama Game, the first instalment of the series. It goes back in time and explores the story behind the King’s Game in rural Japan. As I’ve said it’s done in a different setting and with a whole set of new characters, it brings light to many of the mysteries that never got solved from the original, arguably developing it to reach the peak of its storytelling. The characters are much more compelling, even the MC, who is arguably one of the “weakest” characters withinthe story.

Even thou you know what’s coming, thanks to the concept from the original Ousama Game, it’s a more cathartic and satisfying read. It doesn’t leave you with the usual “what did I just read?” feeling and a good set of answered questions that we never got from the first instalment.

If you like these Battle Royale stories, this is one to not miss, however I do recommend skimming over the first instalment (which is extremely nonsensical and boring) since it explains a lot of the Ousama Game and gives you a full ride to this fun and really, not serious story.

For the people who love the Battle Royale/Death Games/Mind Games genres.