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Feeling unsettled about the future, high school student Ryouhei Arisu often escapes the reality of life. After hanging out at a bar, Arisu and his best friends, Daikichi Karube and Chouta Segawa, wait for the first train to arrive in the morning. Suddenly, a colorful array of fireworks set off in the sky, and an enormous blinding firework renders them unconscious. The trio finds themselves back at the bar covered in dust, discovering that the city has become a barren wasteland. But instead of being worried, Arisu feels alive for the very first time in his life and relishes the freedom of this lifeless city. However, his bliss is cut short when the group rashly enters a festival venue. Seeing its delicacies and lively ambiance, they think the place is a dream; unbeknownst to them, it will be the setting for their first deadly game. Together with his friends, Arisu slowly enters the mysterious area known as the Borderland—an unknown country where every game puts their lives at stake, and a single misstep can lead to their demise. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

In the real world, Ryouta Sakamoto is a reprehensible NEET. However, in the online world, he is one of the world's most fearsome players in the bomb-throwing game Btooom! One day, he achieves the game's 10th global rank. Unfortunately, his celebration is cut short when he wakes up to an exotic sight—a remote island far from the comfort of his room. It soon becomes clear that a nefarious party has whisked Ryouta and many other individuals—including the blonde bombshell Himiko and real estate agent Kiyoshi Taira—into a harrowing, real-life game of Btooom! The bombs he wields are no longer virtual; rather, they are capable of sending people to a bloody and terrible doom. With his life now on the line, Ryouta must muster the courage and determination to survive in this hellish free-for-all, where the only way out is to kill seven other players. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ageha Yoshina is a self-confident high school student who helps others for a fee. On his way back from a job, he finds a strange calling card with the word "Psyren" imprinted left behind in a phone booth and decides to keep it, unaware of its purpose. The very next day, Ageha discovers that his classmate Sakurako Amamiya has the exact same calling card in her possession. When he questions her, Sakurako asks him to save her, signaling the day his troubles begin. Confused by the circumstances of this encounter, Ageha realizes something is wrong when Sakurako goes missing. In an attempt to figure out what is happening, he decides to call the number provided on the calling card and is asked a series of questions by a mysterious voice, ending with a final, cryptic question: "Would you like to go to Psyren?" Thus begins two teenagers' participation in a game of life or death within a strange world inhabited by monsters called Taboo. Granted the ability to use psychic powers known as PSI, the duo fight to return to the place they call home. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Rabbit Doubt has taken Tokyo by storm. In this cellphone survival game, players grouped together are "rabbits" tasked with hunting down the "wolf" hidden amongst them. Unless the rabbits can identify their enigmatic predator, the wolf will eliminate one of them every turn until the whole colony has been wiped out. Players of the game often convene in real life, which is exactly what Yuu Aikawa does when he meets Rei Hazama, Haruka Akechi, and Eiji Hoshi. Together with Yuu's longtime friend, Mitsuki Houyama, the group decides to spend their time in a lively karaoke bar. During their revelry, Yuu leaves to check on one of his inebriated friends, but is suddenly knocked out by an unknown figure wearing a misshapen rabbit mask. After regaining consciousness, he finds himself in an abandoned psychiatric hospital, sharing a cell with a mysterious boy. Though the two soon manage to locate the others, their reunion is interrupted by a spine-chilling message in a cellphone: "Rabbit Doubt, Start!" In Doubt, six high school students are thrust into a life-or-death survival game that will test their integrity and trust. With their lives at stake, they must quickly uncover the identity of the wolf that infiltrated their group—or be hunted down like prey. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

After a powerful earthquake nearly destroyed all of Tokyo, a prison known as Deadman Wonderland rose from what was left of the city. Privately-run through the guise and functions of a theme park, Deadman Wonderland takes in prisoners from all over Japan, using them as attractions for tourists. Little do the public know about the true purpose of this "theme park" and the horrors that take place within. Enter Ganta Igarashi, a middle school student who has lived a normal life since the great earthquake occurred. This all changes when a mysterious masked murderer called the Red Man appears and kills his entire class, knocking him unconscious which consequently left him as the sole survivor. When he awakens, he is falsely convicted as the perpetrator behind the massacre, landing him a spot in Deadman Wonderland. What will become of this new inmate whose life depends on the bizarre "games" that this prison holds? And just what does Shiro, Ganta's supposed childhood friend who awaits his arrival, know about the Red Man? [Written by MAL Rewrite]

The reclusive middle school student Yukiteru Amano finds himself whisked into a fierce game of survival by the god of space and time, Deus Ex Machina, in which the victor shall inherit Deus' unlimited power. All 12 contestants, including Amano, are composed of people who regularly keep diaries, but there is a twist: each person's diary has been turned into a "Future Diary," making it capable of telling the future to various degrees. Amano possesses a "Random Diary" on his cellphone, which gives him accurate descriptions of his surroundings. He is reluctant to fight but his desperation to survive leads to him teaming up with fellow classmate and diary holder Yuno Gasai, an attractive girl who has a strange obsession with Amano. But as this bloody battle royale plays out, shocking revelations are brought to light, changing the very nature of this twisted game. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

College student Nao Kanzaki has always adhered to her name's meaning: "foolishly honest." However, after opening an unsolicited package containing one hundred million yen, she inadvertently accepts an invitation for the "Liar Game." In this tournament, contestants are encouraged to betray and deceive their opponents to gain a massive amount of cash; conversely, losing will incur a lifetime debt. With all hopes lost, her only option left is to seek help from a con artist. On that same day, the infamous swindler Shinichi Akiyama is finally released from jail. This former psychology student is known for single-handedly bankrupting an entire company, and Nao believes he is her only chance at escaping her dire situation. At first, Shinichi is hesitant to commit another crime, ignoring Nao and her request. But after seeing her desperation and persistence, he agrees to assist her. In this fraudulent world, Nao and Shinichi have their own motives. Yet, soon they see the true nature of not only the game but also everyone involved. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Lonely high school student Kei Kurono isolates himself out of a growing cynicism toward his fellow man and the cruelty they are capable of enacting. One day, while waiting to take the subway to school, Kei's classmate Masaru Katou leaps onto the tracks in an effort to save a drunk man. Driven by an uncharacteristic desire to rescue someone else, Kei follows Katou down into danger. While successful in saving him, the two boys are killed by the train. Kei wakes up beside Katou in an apartment full of strangers and furnished by a giant black orb with a glass-like outer surface. After finding out that everyone in the room has recently died, words appear on the black ball tasking them with killing a strange creature. The ball equips Kei and the others with power suits and mysterious guns before sending them off to collect this bizarre bounty. Although Kei discovers the mission to be far more deadly than originally suspected, he manages to survive. He is teleported back to the apartment where he and the other survivors are rewarded point values according to their actions in battle by the black sphere, which a fellow survivor says is called "Gantz." Despite his death earlier that day, Kei is granted the ability to return to his daily life with one condition: he can be uprooted from his day at any time and summoned back to the apartment, where Gantz will task him and other recently deceased with the assassination of another target. While Katou dreads the inevitable return to Gantz, Kei finds himself living for the sole purpose of carrying out these missions. Thriving in the heat of battle and learning to care about himself and his comrades, Kei faces escalating monstrous threats that begin to bleed out into his normal life outside of Gantz. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Itou Kaiji is a bum who steals car emblems and slashes tires on what seems to be a regular basis. This routine changes one day when he is paid a visit by a man in a trench-coat. Once the two get talking, it seems that the visitor (Calling himself Endou) is a debt collector. The reason for his visit is an unpaid loan which Kaiji had previously co-signed for a work-mate (Furuhata Takeshi). The original loan was 30000 yen and once Takeshi had disappeared, the loan then fell on Kaiji. Kaiji is then told of a way to clear the interest compounded debt (which stood at 3,850,000 yen), which involved getting on a boat with others in his position. Once on the boat the debtors would then have to gamble with loaned money, which would end with a few winning, and others getting into deeper debt and having to work to pay of their debts. After some coercing kaiji accepts a position on the boat, in order to clear himself and make a bit of money as well... (Source: AniDB)