Line #54 Manga/Btooom


1	[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Btooom_Volume_3_Cover_2995.JPG]]
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3	On the surface, Ryouta Sakamoto, aged 22, looks like the very definition of {{NEET}}: unemployed, lazy, unremarkable, and still lives with his mother. In the online gaming world, however, he is famed as one of the best players of "Btooom!", a highly popular game where players throw bombs at enemies and harvest their chips.
4
5	...Until the day he wakes up in a tropical island, with no clue as to how he got there. While wandering around, he finds a man and asks him for help -- only for said man to throw him a bomb. Ryouta saves himself by using his gaming skills, even as he realizes that he was just thrown into a real-life version of his favorite game.
6
7	Together with Himiko, a high-school girl, and Kiyoshi Taira, a real estate agent, Ryouta would have no choice but to try to stay alive -- by hook or crook.
8
9	''Btooom!'' is a manga by "Joker" Creator/JunyaInoue (of Creator/{{Cave}} fame), which was serialized in the {{seinen}} magazine ''Comic Bunch'' from 2009 to 2018 and compiled into 26 volumes. The manga is licensed in English for North America by Creator/YenPress. It also has an anime adaptation directed by Yousuke Kuroda as part of the Fall 2012 lineup.
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11	''Btooom! Online'', a mobile game adaptation of the manga, was developed by Asobimo and released in 2017.
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13	Crunchyroll is streaming the anime. US and Canada viewers may watch it [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/btooom here.]]
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15	----
16	!!This work contains examples of:
17	* AboveTheInfluence: Ryouta, even though Himiko sort of allows him to in episode 12, ultimately does this. Partly because of he didn't want to be like his former friend in high school Oda, and partly because Himiko isn't still entirely comfortable around men due to her earlier rape attempts.
18	* AbusiveParents:
19	** Kousuke's father does a ''lot'' of harsh things in what little screen time he has.
20	** Ryota's mom nominated him for the real life Btooom! Game for being a {{NEET}}. However, in the same scene this was revealed, she was shown to [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regret what she did,]] [[spoiler:[[DrivenToSuicide as she tried to kill herself in repentance.]]]]
21	* AssholeVictim: Kousuke's father and a few of the Btooom! players.
22	* AttemptedRape: Himiko saved herself from two.
23	* AxCrazy
24	** Kousuke, through and through for a young boy.
25	** Natsume, the lawyer, develops that look on his face as well in Episode 7. He starts spouting off a self-defense law so as to avoid being charged for murder and to justify him killing people.
26	* BarbieDollAnatomy: Himiko during the opening credits.
27	* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler: Taira does this to avoid being eaten alive by the komodo dragons, and partly to not slow down Ryouta any longer after he realizes the latter was still trying to help despite attacking them moments earlier.]]
28	* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:In Episode 8, Masahito Date lets Shiki [[TheScapegoat take all the blame]] for a mess he made in a hospital. However, both he and Shiki later get stuck on the island to play the game, and at first he seems willing to work together. But after they acquire six chips, he attempts to kill her to obtain her chip. While he didn't kill her outright, the bomb did dislodge her chip (along with her left hand), which apparently was technically acceptable, as he managed to get off the island.]] [[spoiler:When he appears in Episode 9, he is able to trick Ryota and the group for the most part, but his attempt at killing Himiko has let her catch on to him]].
29	* BitterSweetEnding: The manga ultimately has ''two'' different endings, a "Light" and a "Dark" version, each one being radically different as a result of different decisions made in their respective final volumes. Both fall under this trope however, just to different extents.
30	** The "Light" version of the ending leans more on the ''sweet'' and has an air of TheAdventureContinues. [[spoiler:Ryota, Himiko, Oda, Kira, Uesagi, and Kaguya all survive the game, albeit not without injury, Oda in particular losing his foot. The six of them are taken overseas by Perrier where they get to start new lives, with Ryota reuniting with his parents and reconciling with both them and Oda, Oda's mom is brought over too, Ryota and Himiko are all set to be married, and Perrier is ready to continue the fight even with the game gone. Schwartiz however has the island destroyed as a show of force to those who disobey the shadow government and washes his hands of Btooom before selling it to Nortimer, who takes Ida with it, which could be a FateWorseThanDeath for him if the rumors that Nortimer forces his male workers to get involuntary sex changes and keeps them as {{sex slave}}s is in any way true. The survivors can likely [[YouCantGoHomeAgain never return to Japan again]] either due to it being under the control of the shadow government, and the players tricked into being drone pilots like Xaviera are taken in as P.O.W.s.]]
31	** The "Dark" version of the ending leans more on the ''bitter'' but has a larger sense of finality. [[spoiler:Ryota ultimately [[TheHeroDies dies]] putting a stop to Oda, Perrier's forces fail to put an immediate stop to the game, Kaguya dies in Uesagi's arms, Himiko is forced to go into hiding, and Takahonoshi is still at large with the intent of restarting the game. Himiko manages to kill Schwartiz however, causing the shadow government to fall into chaos, she along with Kira and Uesagi all survive the game, and join Perrier alongside Ida and Hisonobu to fully expose the crimes of the shadow government, and work towards creating a peaceful world just like Ryota wished for, Himiko swearing to do it not just for Ryota, but for ''everyone'' who died because of the game. And while their revolution may never be ''publicly'' credited to them, they are praised as heroes on the internet, in particular the urban legend known only as "Himiko".]]
32	* BlandNameProduct:
33	** For example, the [[Platform/Xbox360 DXBOX 720]]. The volume covers intentionally look like the covers for video games as well, complete with a [[MediaNotes/MediaClassifications CERO rating]] of "Z" for 18+ (the equivalent of ESRB's "M").
34	** One of the characters wears a sweater for [[Series/SexAndTheCity Sex and the Town]]
35	* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:Miyamoto in Episode 7, after Himiko manages to set off a gas bomb he was carrying on a bandoleer. Its not a pretty sight, and it still wasn't enough to get away from him.]]
36	* BoobyTrap: Since the game is based on using various kinds of explosives and ordnance, this tactic is used very frequently.
37	* BreatherEpisode: Episode 8 gives Ryota and Himiko a slight breather, and aside from a major scene in the beginning and a FlashBack, nothing much happens.
38	* BrokenBird: Himiko -- [[spoiler:saw her friends raped, betrayed by them in retaliation, narrowly escaped two attempted rapes...]] probably the best thing that happened to her so far is meeting Ryouta [[spoiler:who happens to play her avatar's "husband"]].
39	* ButtMonkey: Poor Kiyoshi Taira is on his way to become one.
40	** [[spoiler:He twisted his right ankle. Then a Komodo dragon, whose bite is highly infectious, bit him and he spent a few days having a fever. Then he had his fingers sliced off by a knife. All in about 10 chapters.]]
41	** [[spoiler:And then he goes insane from his fever and his homesickness, and tries to kill his companions, only to finally commit suicide instead of mistakenly giving himself over to Sakamoto and Himiko.]]
42	* CaptainErsatz: The game developer that briefs the players on the nature of the real life Btooom looks suspiciously like [[VideoGame/AdventureIsland Takahashi]] [[Creator/HudsonSoft Meijin]]
43	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Several characters are highly suspicious of each other, largely out of paranoia for this trope should they trust someone too much. Some characters prove they can be loyal, [[spoiler:such as Ryouta]], while others revel in this trope, [[spoiler:such as Masahito]].
44	* CliffHanger: The anime had to end with one because it had caught up to the manga's 50 chapters. Even now that the manga is over, the low DVD/Blu-Ray sales would have killed any interest in Madhouse coming back to deliver a second season.
45	* ColdBloodedTorture: When captured by Miyamoto and Natsume in Episode 7, Himiko begs them to kill her quickly, promising not to resist, in exchange for them not raping her. Miyamoto says he has no plans to take away her purity, but rather wants to be entertained. He then tells her about torturing people ForTheEvulz, such as [[FateWorseThanDeath slowly stripping someone's skin off and seeing how long they survive for.]]
46	* CoolShades: One of the players, Nobutaka combines these with a tattoo, fuzzy facial hair, and cavalier attitude for maximum coolness.
47	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The backers of the real-life ''Btooom!'''.
48	* CreepyChild: Kira Kousuke, a 14-year-old boy who [[spoiler: killed ''then'' raped three women]]. [[spoiler: And then, during the game, he just keeps on finding new ways to be creepy.]]
49	* DateMyAvatar: [[spoiler: Ryota and Himiko's Btooom! avatars are married..., then they fight alongside each other in a real-life version of the game.]]
50	* DeadlyGame: Every person on the island has a gem on their left hand, and the only way to get off the island is to grab seven of them from other people, by killing them. Naturally this causes law-abiding people to be hesitant, while those with lower morals find it easier to use the bombs given to them.
51	* DesignatedGirlFight: [[spoiler: Himiko vs. Hidemi Kinoshita]]
52	* DespairEventHorizon: Ryouta's constant leaving Taira eventually causes the latter to lose his sanity and attempt to kill him and Himiko.
53	* DisneyDeath: Ryota suffers one in episode 7, [[spoiler: after getting knocked off a building and falling down the cliffs.]] All of the characters there believe he's dead, [[spoiler: but he was saved by landing on a sturdy tree branch before hitting the rocks below.]]
54	* DisproportionateRetribution: Much like ''Anime/HellGirl'', you have to wonder how many people actually deserved to be "selected" for this game.
55	* DoesNotLikeMen:
56	** Himiko, [[spoiler: before Ryota saved her a few times; then she opened up to him a little]]
57	** [[spoiler:Shiki Murasaki isn't all that fond of men, either. She tells Himiko about it in episode 8, when she was twice betrayed by the same man.]]
58	* DoWithHimAsYouWill: [[spoiler: Date, wounded fairly badly by his own bomb, is at the mercy of Ryouta, and then Shiki says she'll spare him the blood on their hands by killing him. Date then apologizes to her, and despite having a very good reason to kill him, she ultimately chooses to save his life instead.]]
59	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Ryota's mother slits her wrists after nominating her son for the game, though her husband finds her and calls an ambulance.]]
60	* DudeShesLikeInAComa [[spoiler:Though tempted, [[AboveTheInfluence Ryota did not do anything to the unconscious Himiko.]]]]
61	* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:After attacking Ryota and Himiko in episode twelve due to a fit of insanity, Taira comes to his senses and [[DrivenToSuicide kills himself with his last BIM]] rather than be eaten by approaching komodo dragons.]]
62	* DysfunctionalFamily: A few. Ryota's family is among those, due to his laziness and obsession with online gaming.
63	* EvolvingCredits: Once Himiko starts opening up to Sakamoto their hands meet in the OP.
64	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Taira in episode 12, when he goes a bit insane due to Ryouta's constant leaving him to search for other characters or supplies.]]
65	* FanserviceCover: Basically every volume cover containing Himiko.
66	* FatBastard:
67	** The guy in episode 2 who tried to rape Himiko.
68	** Also the guy who explains the rule to the forcibly kidnapped "BTOOOM!" players in a cheerful voice.
69	** Kira's father.
70	* {{Fingore}}: Kiyoshi Taira get his fingers cut off by Miyamoto.
71	* GreaterScopeVillain: Longer Schwartz, the leader of the Schwartz Foundation, who intends world domination through the application of the concept of ''Panem et circenses''; in this, the game functions as a real-life test laboratory for him.
72	* {{GIRL}}: Ryota's friend jokingly assumes this in episode 2 when he talks to Himiko in the game.
73	* HairColorDissonance: It's either this, or Junya is not the one coloring the covers and promotional material. Ryota has a total clear shade for his hair color in the actual manga, and yet in the color portions his hair is black; needless to say, the colors don't match, there's no way Ryota's paste hair can translated into black for full color portions. It could be white, green, blue or any other clear color that becomes null in Black and White, but not black.
74	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Happens quite a few times.
75	** When Himiko attacks Ryouta, he manages to get her to hit herself with her own stun gun.
76	** This also happens to [[spoiler:Masashi Miyamoto]] and [[spoiler:Masahito Date.]]
77	* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame
78	* IKnowMortalKombat: Many characters applied their skill and knowledge in the online game Btooom! when playing its real-life version.
79	* InterfaceSpoiler: The manga appears to wrap itself up once an opportunity to escape the island presents itself after Ryota is taught how to [[spoiler: manually disable the [=BIMs=] to prevent them from being used against Tyrannos staff]]...until you realize that only 20 (roughly half) of the Island Survivors have been revealed so far. This nifty tidbit, is always introduced at the beginning of each manga volume.
80	* IWasQuiteALooker: Shiki Murasaki [[spoiler: She's not even 40 yet, but losing an arm and spending 6 months living alone on the island sure did a number on her.]]
81	* ItsAllAboutMe:
82	** Ryouta at first, until he begins to realize that this trope was hurting many other people in his life, such as his mother when she remarried, and he attacked his stepfather without opening up at all to him.
83	** Played straight with Date Masahito.
84	* KilledOffForReal: People who are killed on the island are really dead, something that takes Ryota and the non-insane characters a while to comprehend and accept.
85	* LeftForDead: [[spoiler: Shiki Murasaki, who was betrayed by Date Masahito once they got six chips. The homing bomb he used wasn't enough to kill her outright, but it did cause her chip to come off, and he figured she wouldn't survive the massive bleeding from her left arm anyway.]]
86	* LetsGetDangerous: Ryota doesn't have too many practical skills outside of games, which hurts him a bit when he runs into opponents who are better trained, such as Miyamoto. However, because he's extremely familiar with the rules of the Btooom game, when he utilizes those skills, he's just as deadly as the person he's fighting.
87	* LikeRealityUnlessNoted: The series is largely realistic, but a few of the [=BIMs=] are beyond modern technology. The Homing BIM is quite advanced, though probably still a decade or two away from becoming real. The BIM that produces flames in an "X" pattern is also something unlikely in real life, though theoretically it could be possible, but the Implosion BIM and the Shield BIM stray right into science fiction territory. The radar chips implanted in each player's hand are also way beyond today's technology. In the manga, the Tyrannos Corporation uses them to gain their accurate video and audio feeds of what's happening on the island.
88	* TheLoad: Himiko at first, then Taira after he gets bitten by a komodo dragon. [[spoiler: The latter ultimately kills himself to prevent this trope from slowing Ryouta down due to his injuries.]]
89	* LudicrousGibs: [[spoiler:Kosuke kills his father Yoshihisa by planting and activating an Implosion BIM on him, which blows up a big chunk of his body.]]
90	* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: Longer Schwartz turns out to be Himiko's father]] in the dark version of the ending of the manga.
91	* LyricalColdOpen: Opening theme, "No pain, No game."
92	* MadBomber: Everyone. No, ''seriously''.
93	* ManipulativeBastard: Masahito Date, who used Shiki Murasaki to save his own hide, ''twice''.
94	* MeaningfulName: NamedAfterSomeoneFamous: Many of the characters are named after famous figures in Japanese history and literature. For example there's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oda_Nobunaga Oda]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_Masamune Date]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murasaki_Shikibu Murasaki Shiki]], Miyamoto Masashi (see below), [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taira_clan Taira]] (who is directly compared to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu "the old tanuki"]]), and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himiko Himiko]].
95	* MegaCorp: Tyrannos, the company that developed Btooom! They have their own private island, kidnap dozens of people around Japan and send them over, recruit a team of PrivateMilitaryContractors to keep them in line on the plane ride, and arrange for daily supply airdrops over the course of each game. Not to mention some of the [=BIMs=] and the IC Chips are very advanced technology: the implosion and shield [=BIMs=] are things we are not even close to being able to develop in real life.
96	* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: [[spoiler: So morally ambiguous that he was sent to the island ''twice''.]]
97	* MrExposition: Taira fills in for this during episode 3, telling Ryota what happened on the plane ride to the island. He tells Ryota about how he was the most adamant against the game, causing the guards on the plane to taser him right in the head, which explains the blood on his head as well as his short term memory loss back in episode 1.
98	* MsFanservice: Himiko, most of her panel time consists of some action (usually bad for her) that will force a suggestive pose on the girl; while grovelling in pain or fainting, Himiko will have her bosoms, legs or bottom in great view for the reader. Then Junya stepped into the next level, by making an Artbook with a bikini-clad Himiko doing all sorts of poses for a fictional photo shot. She even got a bomb bounced off her chest. [[http://www.shincho-shop.jp/shincho/goods/list.html?cid=btooom And look at some of the merch...]]
99	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
100	** Ryota has this reaction at the end of episode 4, [[spoiler: after throwing a bomb at Kira and seeing the aftermath of it.]]
101	** Also his mom tries to slit her wrists because [[spoiler:she sent him to the BTOOOM game.]]
102	** [[spoiler: Taira has one of these moments after he realizes Ryouta was still on his side and wanted to escape together, despite having attacked and injured him moments earlier.]]
103	* MyGreatestFailure: Ryouta begins to realize how selfish he was to other people [[spoiler: after Taira goes insane and attempts to kill them, and then kills himself when he regains his sanity. He sees that Taira was just a normal person pushed to extreme circumstances, and his failure to stay with him ultimately caused his friend to attack them, then kill himself.]]
104	* MythologyGag:
105	** [[spoiler: Himiko]] has the exact same head as [[VideoGame/{{Deathsmiles}} Casper]] and [[VideoGame/DonPachi Piper]] and wears a t-shirt with [[VideoGame/{{Deathsmiles}} Kiki the bat-devil]]. Her game avatar has the head of Sakura.
106	** One of the evil businessmen is [[VideoGame/DonPachi Colonel Longhena]].
107	** One of Himiko's [[spoiler:former]] school friends Miho looks a lot like [[VideoGame/{{Deathsmiles}} Follett]] including the glasses.
108	** Hidemi Kinoshita looks a lot like [[VideoGame/{{Deathsmiles}} Rosa]] except much taller.
109	* {{NEET}}: Ryota was this before being sent to the real-life ''Btooom!''.
110	* NietzscheWannabe: Kousuke
111	* NotSoDifferentRemark: Kousuke tries to invoke this for Ryota, since they are both veteran ''Btooom!'' players.
112	* PleaseDontLeaveMe: Taira begs Ryota not to leave him when the latter goes off to look for a kidnapped Himiko in episode 7. Ryota didn't like it, but he had little choice. If nothing else, to look for some first aid to help Taira.
113	* PlotCoupon: Each player's goal is to collect 7 chips from other players to get off the island. Which makes working with other people more difficult, since you still need eight chips per person to escape, so two people working together would need 14 chips total to escape. Ryota thinks about this during episode 3 when deciding whether working with Taira was going to be worth it.
114	* PragmaticAdaptation: Himiko's name and backstory are revealed in the second episode of the anime adaptation. In the manga, this happened much later, after Masashi was eliminated, and thus she was a much more mysterious character for most of the plot. This was probably done in the anime to keep the interest of viewers who were wondering who the cute blonde in all the ads was.
115	* RapeAsDrama: Himiko's reason for being sent to the island. [[spoiler:She and some friends met with an upperclassman. Turns out they were a bunch of rapists. Himiko barely escapes them. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for her friends. Even though she called the police and got the rapists arrested, they blamed her for running away and nominated her for the game.]]
116	* RescueRomance: Although it takes a while to happen, Himiko begins to fall into this trope after Ryota rescues her time and again, even though he's risking his life in the process.
117	* SensorCharacter: ''Every'' player is one, thanks to a "Chip" - a sensor/ transmitter/ radar combo being built into their hand. Not everyone can use it properly though.
118	* SinisterSurveillance: The Tyrannos Corporation uses the Chips in everyone's hands to monitor everything going on on the island.
119	* TakingYouWithMe:
120	** Himiko tries this by activating one of her bombs before getting raped by the big fat guy in episode 2, but he runs away instead. When she realizes she'd only be killing herself, she throws the bomb away, which conveniently lands in front of the guy and blows him up.
121	** Miyamoto attempts to do this as well in episode 7, after suffering from a gas bomb attack. [[spoiler: Fortunately Ryota grabbed a bomb off Natsume, whom he just killed moments earlier, and dropped that down to distract Miyamoto long enough for him to let go of Himiko.]]
122	* TechnicalPacifist: Ryota doesn't want to kill anyone unless they give him absolutely no other choice.
123	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: After returning from the island, Date tells his colleague that it seems stupid to save people after having participated in the Game (and having become very rich in the process), and that he wants to quit the medical profession. In response, his colleague angrily lets him know what he (and the other doctors) really think about Date:
124	-->'''Date's colleague''': Is that it? You came back to show off your new wealth? We work day and night to save people... and now you make fun of us?
125	-->'''Date''': No... I'm not...
126	-->'''Date's colleague''': I could never stand you before. With a prestigious father in the medical community, how many fucking bribes have you taken!? This world is unfair enough, and you decide to just quit!? What a joke!! Don't look down on doctors!! <Belches> I don't ever... want to see your face again.
127	* TheirFirstTime: {{Subverted}} in episode twelve. [[spoiler:After Taira dies and Himiko confirms to Ryota that she is indeed the girl he fell in love with online, they kiss and start foreplay. However, Ryota realizes that Himiko, while willing, is ''terrified'' because of her PTSD from AttemptedRape, so he stops and just cuddles with her.]]
128	* TheyDiedBecauseOfYou: Ryouta applies this trope to himself when he realizes [[spoiler: Taira's death]] was largely because he seemingly ignored other people's thoughts and feelings, as well as [[ItsAllAboutMe doing whatever he wanted to do.]] As a result, his friend started going insane due to his injuries, which ultimately led him to attack both Ryouta and Himiko when he starts to hallucinate about his family and meeting them again.
129	* ThrowDownTheBomblet: [=BIM=]s. Besides the garden variety [[StuffBlowingUp Cracker & Remote BIMs]], there are quite a variety of [[TrickBomb Trick Bombs]]:
130	** DeadlyGas: Blazing Gas [=BIM=]s
131	** HomingProjectile: Homing [=BIM=]s
132	** KillItWithFire: 1300°C Flammable Oil Splashing Flame [=BIM=]s
133	** StickyBomb: Implosion [=BIM=]s
134	** TimeBomb: Timer [=BIM=]s
135	** BeehiveBarrier: Shield [=BIM=]s (in the manga chapters beyond where the anime ended)
136	* TranquilFury: Ryota seems surprisingly calm most times when he's forced to actively fight against someone. He even comments on this himself.
137	* {{Tykebomb}}: Kousuke.
138	* WrittenSoundEffect[=/=]TitleDrop: "Btooom!" is also the sound that explosions make.
139	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: This trope is used with alarming regularity by some of the Btooom players.

Context Manga / Btooom