Btooom! – 10

Ryouta fools Oda into thinking he’s closer to the booby trap than he really is, then avoids Oda’s shuriken BIM by diving into the water. Oda runs off with the supplies, but not before asking if he’s Ryouta. Ryouta then realizes his foe is Oda, a former close friend in high school who betrayed him by sleeping with the girl he said he liked. Taira’s wound isn’t healing due to the lizard venom, so Himiko suggests they return to the complex to find medicine. Himiko goes to meet with Murasaki. She races back and implores Ryouta to drop the case he’s carrying, as Date placed a BIM in it to kill him.

The first one to move wins. Stay on the defensive, and you’ll lose your chance.

So says Ryouta’s high school chum Oda, while Ryouta is hesitating to ask out a girl he likes, Aiko. Oda excels at everything: grades, sports, music, th’ladies. Everything seems to come painfully easily for him. That can invite quite a bit of admiration, and Ryouta certainly admired him and trusted him enough to open up to him. But it also invited scorn and envy from those who didn’t like him, so Oda eventually ended up getting voted onto the island where he reunites with Ryouta, his former friend. What’s interesting is that once Oda realizes this guy is Ryouta, he’s in no greater hurry to finish him off.

He said he felt bad about sleeping with Aiko, and he probably still does, to the extent he wouldn’t blame Ryouta for hating him forevermore. But he did warn Ryouta that passively waiting around for things to happen will get him nowhere in life, and believing what anyone says is just as dangerous. Trust is nice and all, but on the island, trusting someone you know as little about as Date could be lethal. Date finally moves first, sick and tired of the admittedly pretty good niceguy act he’s put on. We’d be surprised if his trap actually did Ryouta in, so assuming he’s alive, here’s hoping the experience teaches Ryouta a lesson everyone else on the island has already learned.

Rating: 7 (Very Good)

P.S. The naked evilness of the Tyrannos staff watching the game unfold with relish is rather chilling. Why the hell are these people so evil? We know, because the plot requires it, but we wish there was a more satisfying reason.