is a Japanese

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

series written by Kei Sazane and illustrated by Toiro Tomose. It began serialization online in September 2020 on

Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to: *Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publis ...

's user-generated novel publishing website, Kakuyomu. It was later published by

Media Factory , formerly known as , was a Japanese publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing. History The company was founded on December 1, 1986, and was a subsidiary of Recruit (Japanese company), Recruit Co., Ltd., based in Shibuya, Tokyo. ...

, with nine volumes under the

MF Bunko J is a publishing label affiliated with the Japanese publishing company Media Factory. It was established in July 2002 and is a light novel label that is aimed at young men with a focus on visual novel-style plots and harem romantic comedies. Ligh ...

imprint since January 2021. A

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation with art by Kapiko Toriumi has been serialized in Media Factory's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

Monthly Comic Alive is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Media Factory. The first issue was released on June 27, 2006. Serialized titles *'' Absolute Duo'' *'' Alice or Alice'' (until 2015, part of the supplement magazine '' Comic Cune'') *'' Ano Ko ni ...

'' since August 2021. It has been collected five ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volumes. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series adaptation produced by

Liden Films is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise headquartered in Kamiogi, Suginami, Tokyo, and has animation studios in Kyoto and Osaka. Establishment Liden Films was founded on February 22, 2012, and, shortly after, joined joint-holdi ...

aired from April to June 2024.

Premise

"Play of the Gods" is the battle of wits created by gods who grow bored and have too much free time. The people who have received Arise, a special power, are known as Apostles, and they are allowed to compete in the "Play of the Gods", if they can achieve ten victories, they will be granted a wish. However, there has yet to be a victor. Leoleshea, a former Goddess, awakes from a long slumber and declares, "Bring forth the person who is the best in this era!" Fay, a human who is currently undefeated, has achieved three straight victories in the game, and who is expected to be the "best rookie in recent years", is nominated. He decides to team up with Leoleshea and take on the "Play of the Gods". Thus, the battle of wits between Fay and Leoleshea begins.

Characters

; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ;Mysterious Beautiful Girl :

Media

Light novel

Written by Kei Sazane, the series began serialization online in September 2020 on

's user-generated novel publishing website, Kakuyomu. It was later published as a

with illustrations by Toiro Tomose by

under their

imprint from January 25, 2021. As of November 2024, nine volumes have been released. At

Sakura-Con Sakura-Con is an annual three-day anime convention held during March or April at the Seattle Convention Center in Seattle, Washington. The convention, which is traditionally held over Easter weekend, is the largest anime convention in the Northw ...

2022,

Yen Press Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, ...

announced that they licensed the series for English publication.

Manga

adaptation with art by Kapiko Toriumi began serialization in Media Factory's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

'' on August 27, 2021. It has been collected in five ''

'' volumes.

Anime

On January 21, 2022, an

adaptation was announced with a promotional video narrated by

Saki Miyashita is a Japanese voice actress from Kanagawa Prefecture who is currently affiliated with Haikyō. She made her debut in 2016, and in 2018 she played her first main role as Kanata Higa in the anime television series '' Harukana Receive''. She is a ...

. On July 24 of the same year, during the "Natsu no Gakuensai 2022" event for

, it was announced that the anime would be a television series produced by

and directed by Tatsuya Shiraishi, with scripts written by NTL, character designed by Yoshihiro Watanabe, and music composed by Gin from Busted Rose. The series aired from April 1 to June 24, 2024, on AT-X and other networks. The opening theme song is "NewGame", performed by rock band AliA, while the ending theme song is "I'm Game!", performed by

Hina Tachibana is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Nagi Hisakawa in ''The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls'', Maina Ichii in '' If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die'', Rie Maruyama in ''Cue!'', and Shiori Ka ...

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

streamed the series.

Episodes

Reception

In the 2022 edition of

Takarajimasha is a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is known for publishing subculture-oriented fashion magazines aimed at teens, fashion magazines in general, as well as guide books. History The company was founded on September 22, ...

's annual light novel guide book ''

Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! is an annual light novel guide book published by Takarajimasha. The guide book publishes a list of the top ten most popular light novels according to readers polled on the Internet and votes from "collaborators" (critics, influencers, and other p ...

'', the novel series ranked 15th in the ''

bunkobon In Japan, are small-format paperback books, designed to be affordable and space-saving. The great majority of ''bunkobon'' are A6 (105×148mm or 4.1"×5.8") in size. They are sometimes illustrated and like other Japanese paperbacks usually ...

'' category, and 9th in the new work category.

Notes

References

External links

* at Kakuyomu * * * * {{Liden Films 2021 Japanese novels 2024 anime television series debuts Anime and manga based on light novels Adventure anime and manga Crunchyroll anime Fantasy anime and manga Japanese adventure novels Japanese fantasy novels Kadokawa Corporation franchises Liden Films Light novels Light novels first published online Media Factory manga MF Bunko J Seinen manga Yen Press titles