Mangas - What to read after seeing Squid Game?

Many manga and anime fans have noticed similarities between Kaiji and Squid Game. Some even recreated the credits of Kaiji with Squid Game sauce:

But, beyond the question of a potential inspiration from Japanese manga for Korean drama, it is clear that the genre of deaths game (deadly games) is legion in the world of manga. Moreover, it is difficult to forget the Japanese wave following the worldwide success of the Battle Royale film in 2000. Find our selection of the best manga of the genre to buy at your bookstores while waiting for the continuation of these series as addictive as they are deadly...

The classics of the genre:

Alice in borderland Retry

BUY ALICE IN BORDERLAND RETRY

This direct sequel to the manga Alice in borderland, whose series on Netflix is ​​a hit, takes place several years after the end of Alice in borderland. Alice, who survived, finds herself once again embroiled in a series of deadly games in Borderland. Even more sadism from the organizers in this manga where the psychological tension is palpable.

Alice in borderland Retry, Delcourt Tonkam edition, €6.99

Link Game

BUY LIAR GAME

No bloodshed in this manga, but all the rest of the ingredients that popularized the genre are there. Each participant receives the sum of 100 million yen (about €770,000), and must face another player to steal his money. Ruse, betrayal, cheating, bluff, the spicy mix of this manga keeps the tension at its peak over the pages. One of the first of its kind on the French market.

Liar Game, Delcourt Tonkam edition, €7.99

Darwin's Game

BUY DARWIN'S GAME

Be careful, games on smartphones can be very dangerous. By accepting an invitation from a friend on his mobile, Sudo Kaname had no idea that he would enter the deadly spiral of Darwin's Game. Each player receives a unique power randomly which he will have to make good use of to defeat the others. The points earned during the game's challenges can be exchanged for cold hard cash in "real life", but the lure of profit reveals the worst baseness of the human soul... Alliances, survival, betrayals, traps , the players seem ready to do anything to win.

Darwin's Game, Ki-oon editions, €7.65

Gantz Perfect Edition

BUY GANTZ PERFECT EDITION

Kei and Masaru have just been run over by a train while trying to save a man on the subway platform. But instead of dying and seeing a possible "afterlife", they wake up in a room where a strange black sphere floats. Other people who escaped death are present. The sphere opens and a certain Gantz gives weapons and a mission to the survivors: eliminate an extraterrestrial leek man... Cult SF series, Gantz marked many generations of manga readers returns in a double edition for the greatest pleasure of the fans chills and science fiction.

Gantz Perfect Edition, Delcourt Tonkam edition, €15

An original twist on a traditional trope:

sky high survival

BUY SKY-HIGH SURVIVAL

Yuri wakes up one day on the roof of an unfamiliar skyscraper, with no memory of the last hours. She doesn't have time to wonder what's happening to her when a man wearing a smiley face mask rushes at her brandishing an axe. This is only the first of a long list of trials that awaits our young heroine who will have to understand what is hidden behind this world filled with skyscrapers harboring killers, each more bloodthirsty than the other. When the cube joins halloween and other B-series slashers.

Sky-high survival, Kana editions, €3

Blue Lock

BUY BLUE LOCK

A Battle Royal in the world of football. Here the players do not die but are eliminated from the drastic selection of the Blue Lock. This cell, set up to find the best striker for the Japan national football team. Contrary to the teamwork that one expects, this manga shows the high level under the specter of hyper competition. The slightest state of mind, the slightest weakness will be exploited by the other players who have only one objective, to become the future number one of the national team. Surprisingly addictive, this manga uses football as a backdrop to develop an almost realistic and devilishly effective psychological drama. Icing on the cake, there is no fear with this manga that children play too dangerous games.

Blue Lock, Pika editions, €7.20

Heroines game

BUY HEROINE GAME

Alice is the lead singer of a hugely popular idol group. So, when one morning she wakes up in the middle of an unknown forest made up like Alice in Wonderland, she doesn't understand what is happening to her. But she doesn't have time to wonder that Little Red Riding Hood, half-woman, half-wolf is trying to devour her...

A battle royale featuring the main heroines of fairy tales in a dark fantasy universe. Short series in three volumes, an irreproachable digest of hemoglobin.

Heroine game, Kana editions, €7.45

Btooom

BUY BTOOOM!

What if one morning you woke up in the world of one of your favorite video games? It would be great to be an elf or even a dragon… But unfortunately for the young Ryota Sakamoto, the game he likes is a game of specialist in explosives of all kinds. Here he is on a desert island, forced to use all his knowledge of bombs to survive... An explosive battle royal, much bloodier than a mine-clearing break at the office...

Btooom! , Glénat editions, €7.60

Talentless Babe

BUY TATENLESS NANA

Humanity, to face a threat that risks decimating it, decides to gather all the children endowed with paranormal powers on an island hidden in the depths of the ocean in order to train them. This prodigy academy is the last bastion of humanity. Until the day one of them mysteriously dies. A relentless assassin hides among the students or teachers. Two years before Among us, the mangaka Looseboy had already imagined an extremely well-crafted remake of the werewolf game. Much more than a simple ersatz of the popular My Hero Academia, this manga offers a dive into the psyche of young people facing the anguish of knowing a murderer among them.

Talentless Nana, Doki Doki editions, €7.50

Battle Game in 5 seconds

BUY BATTLE GAME IN 5 SECONDS

Akira, a gifted high school student, is bored. His only escape is to immerse himself in video games which he ends up dominating too quickly. One day, on the way to school, he is attacked by an individual with Herculean strength. His savvy allows him to get out of this trap, but not to escape an occult organization. Akira finds himself in the middle of a most heterogeneous crowd. All have been erased from civil status registers and have become the guinea pigs of this sordid cartel. Each individual, at the end of a surgical operation, was endowed with superhuman powers. At the mercy of the organization, victims are forced to participate in tests that can prove deadly...

Battle Game in 5 seconds, Doki Doki editions, €7.50

King's Game

BUY KING'S GAME

The king's game is a traditional Japanese game where randomly selected players must obey the king subject to a pledge. The latter gives good-natured orders and ridiculous pledges. So when Nobuaki's entire class receives a text from a self-proclaimed king ordering two classmates to kiss, everyone takes the challenge lightly. But the challenges are more and more daring and above all the guarantee is the death of the participants. How far will high school students go to survive? A thriller worthy of Wes Craven.

King's Game, Ki-oon editions, €7.65

Real Account

BUY REAL ACCOUNT

Real Account or ReA is the new trendy social network in Japan. In this virtual world there are many people who invent a dream 2.0 life and disguise the reality of their daily lives or who troll other users. One day, 10,000 users find themselves transferred to this virtual world by the mascot of Real Account, they will only be released after taking part in a game broadcast live. Their lives and those of their followers are now linked. At zero followers it is certain death. A survival manga 2.0 where vanity and the race for followers are pointed out, but not only... If all the challenges are not the most original, the rhythm of the narration remains very catchy and the very pleasant drawing immerses the reader in this scary thriller.

Real Account, Kurokawa editions, €6.80

Re/member

BUY RE/MEMBER

La Rouge-Sang, a local urban legend, tells that the ghost of an 11-year-old girl haunts the corridors of Ouma High School, soaked in the blood of her victims. One evening, Asuka and five of her comrades find themselves summoned by the Blood Red, who massacres them all one after the other. But when they wake up the next day, they are all safe and sound, yet this dream seemed so real. In the evening, they meet again in high school, hunted down by the Red-Blood. This nightmare will only end if they manage to escape the latter while finding the body parts of a victim. Time is running out because each passing day brings them closer to madness, and solving this puzzle is not easy... A supernatural game where players have nothing to gain but their freedom, and yet this manga has his place in this selection as the screenwriter masters his subject and leads the reader on a thrilling escape and investigation.

Re/member, Ki-oon editions, €7.65