MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD!

Many anime out there deal with high-stakes survival games that pit people’s brain and brawn against each other. The price of losing these games is usually death.

But what if the price of failure was slavery instead?

That is the risk the players take in DOREIKU The Animation as well as the series’s premise distilled into its purest, darkest form. In this series, characters use retainer-like devices known as Slave Control Method, or SCM, to duel others for dominance.

The nature of these duels varies. They could take the form of a classic battle of wits or even a game of pachinko. What matters is that, upon losing, the SCM will amplify a user’s obligation instinct to the point where they will naturally feel compelled to do anything the winner wants. In other words, if you lose a game, you’ll turn into the victor’s slave until they decide otherwise.

Which brings us to the obvious question you’re no doubt asking yourself right now:

What Even Is This Game?

Seriously: It’s one thing to put your life on the line in a high-stakes death game. If you lose, at least it will be over right then and there. But slavery? That robs us of our very will and our freedom to choose to live how we see fit. It’s a fate we wouldn’t wish on our greatest enemies, and that’s not even getting into the deep societal wounds slavery has left on human culture throughout the entirety of our history.

Heck, the SCM wasn’t even designed for what the series ultimately uses it for. It was initially created to make pets more obedient to their owners. It’s already taking the concept of Pavlov’s dog to its ethically challenged extreme, so the very idea of using it on humans immediately catapults this into “just because we can doesn’t mean we should” territory.

It’s not like you can decide to quit while you’re ahead or try to bypass the consequences of losing, either. Taking the SCM out of your mouth leads to permanent brain damage regardless if a game is in session or not. Once you start, you’re in until the bitter end.

As a result, we’d like to think that most rational, well-adjusted people would see this kind of game and say, “No. Just no.” Likewise, we’d guess that others would weigh the consequences of failure before ultimately deciding that the SCM’s inherent risks just aren’t worth it.

And yet, not only does something like an SCM exist in this series, people are actively using it, too.

Which leads us to our second question:

What Would Drive a Person to Play This Game?

Humans always have a reason for doing what they do, even if it doesn’t make sense to other people. Understanding a person’s motivation goes a long way to explaining who they are.

As it turns out, the players in DOREIKU The Animation all have their reasons for playing. Don’t get us wrong, some of these motivations are extremely depraved and are what you would expect from a dark TV-MA series that deals with mature subject matter. But that doesn’t mean that all the characters don’t have inscrutable motivations. In fact, many characters have empathetic reasons for playing.

Which brings us to Lucie Suginami. She has been wronged in one of the worst ways imaginable, and her vengeance will not be denied. When she realizes that an SCM can help her obtain the justice that is so often lacking in the real world, she doesn’t hesitate to embrace the opportunity given to her by the SCM games.

Then there is Ayaka Toshima, who is in love with a man who doesn't love her back. In fact, he uses her to further his own career, keeping her in the dark about his relationship with another woman. When she finds out, she feels understandably angry and betrayed. Many of us have fantasized at getting back at an ex or someone who played us, so in Ayaka’s mind, payback is completely warranted.

And as for Yuuga Ohta? He has confidence in spades. Like many youths, he believes himself invincible and that he’ll always come out on top, no matter the circumstances. He may be reckless at times, but he’s always looking for that next surge of adrenaline, and who among us has miscalculated and bitten off more than we could chew?

These are a few examples of the dynamics at play in this series. Ultimately, people are driven by different motivations, and understanding why a person is doing something isn’t necessarily the same as condoning that behavior.

Which leads us to our third and final question:

What Kind of Person Would Play This Game?

You might not ever play this game, but the players in DOREIKU The Animation would. Now that we understand the motivations at play here, we realize that the story can’t just boil down to “horrible people doing horrible things.”

Ultimately, the series is a fascinating character study of people making the best of a bad situation. Some of them have made poor choices, but others have not. Others have been tricked and forced to play this game against their will. As a result, they’re trying to navigate their way through the darkness with whatever agency they have left.

This series does not pull any punches in its examination of the darker aspects of humanity, and every character has a reason for playing this game. In the end, all participants are drawn together into a high stakes game where failure comes at the cost of freedom.

The rabbit hole is deep, and as it turns out, it isn’t a matter of “only a certain kind of person would play this game.” The question above is a bit misleading because what matters here is motivation, meaning the answer is actually “all kinds.”

Anyone could end up participating in this game, willingly or not. After all, how did that quote go again? “All it takes is one bad day”?

If you were in the same position as these characters, what would you do, honestly, if you were pushed hard enough? Would you be able to make different choices? We’d all want to believe so.

But would we? Mark April 23, 2019 on your calendars for the Blu-ray release date for this title so you can answer that question for yourself.

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