Btooom!

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Btooom! is a manga by "Joker" Junya Inoue about Ryota Sakamoto, a 22-year-old NEET who plays the online game Btooom!, based on throwing bombs at enemies and harvesting their chips. He suddenly finds himself on an isolated island in a real-life version of the game, fighting for his survival.

The manga ran from June 19, 2009 to March 20, 2018, and has been collected into 26 volumes. A twelve-episode anime covering the first 50 chapters of the manga aired in 2012.


Tropes used in Btooom! include:
  • Abusive Parents: Kousuke's father does a lot of harsh things in what little screen time he has.
  • Asshole Victim: Kousuke's father.
  • Attempted Rape: Himiko saved herself from one.
  • Bland-Name Product: For example, the DXBOX 720. The volume covers intentionally look like the covers for video games as well, complete with CERO ratings (Japanese equivalent of the ESRB).
  • Blinding Bangs: Shiki Murasaki
  • Booby Trap: Since the game is based on using various kinds of explosives and ordnance, this tactic is used very frequently.
  • Broken Bird: The mysterious girl named Himiko
  • Cool Shades: One of the players combines these with a tattoo, fuzzy facial hair, and cavalier attitude for maximum coolness.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: The backers of the real-life Btooom!'.
  • Creepy Child: Kira Kousuke, a 14-year-old boy who killed then raped three women. And then, during the game, he just keeps on finding new ways to be creepy.
  • Date My Avatar: Ryota and Himiko's Btooom! avatars are married..., then they fight alongside each other in a real-life version of the game.
  • Deadly Game
  • Designated Girl Fight: Himiko vs. Hidemi Kinoshita
  • Does Not Like Men: Himiko, before Ryota saved her a few times; then she opened up to him a little
  • Dude, She's Like, in a Coma though Ryota did not do anything.
  • Dysfunctional Family: A few. Ryota's family is among those, due to his laziness and obsession with online gaming.
  • Fanservice Cover: Basically every volume cover containing the mysterious girl.
  • Fingore: Kiyoshi Taira.
  • Hair Color Dissonance: It's either this, or Junya is not the one coloring the covers and promotional material. Ryota has a total clear shade for his hair color in the actual manga, and yet in the color portions his hair is black; needless to say, the colors don't match, there's no way Ryota's paste hair can translated into black for full color portions. It could be white, green, blue or any other clear color that becomes null in Black and White, but not black.
  • Hunting the Most Dangerous Game
  • I Know Mortal Kombat: Many characters applied their skill and knowledge in the online game Btooom! when playing its real-life version.
  • I Was Quite a Looker: Shiki Murasaki She's only in her 20's or early 30's, but losing an arm and spending 6 months living alone on the island sure did a number on her.
  • Knife Nut: One of the players, an ex-soldier who prefer using his knife rather than bombs.
  • Ludicrous Gibs: Averted for the moment.
  • Mad Bomber: Also averted for the moment.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Masahito Date, who used Shiki Murasaki to save his own hide, twice.
  • Mega Corp: Tyrannos, the company that developed Btooom!
  • Miyamoto Musashi: One of the players is a rather less noble fellow named Miyamoto Masashi
  • Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate: So morally ambiguous that he was sent to the island twice.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Himiko, most of her panel time consists of some action (usually bad for her) that will force a suggestive pose on the girl; while grovelling in pain or fainting, Himiko will have her bossom, legs or bottom in great view for the reader. Then Junya stepped into the next level, by making an Artbook with a bikini-clad Himiko doing all sorts of poses for a fictional photo shot. She even got a bomb bounced off her chest. And look at some of the merch...
  • Multiple Endings: According to The Other Wiki, chapter 121 has both a good ending and a bad ending.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • Himiko has the exact same head as Casper and Piper and wears a t-shirt with Kiki the bat-devil.
    • One of the evil businessmen is Colonel Longhena.
    • One of Himiko's school friends Miho looks a lot like Follett including the glasses.
    • Hidemi Kinoshita looks a lot like Rosa except much taller.
  • NEET: Ryota was this before being sent to the real-life Btooom!.
  • Nietzsche Wannabe: Kousuke
  • Not So Different: Kousuke tries to invoke this for Ryota, since they are both veteran Btooom! players.
  • Panty Shot: Lots
  • Plot Coupon: Kind of. Each player's goal is to collect 8 chips from other players to get off the island.
  • Rape as Drama: Himiko's reason for being sent to the island.
  • Sensor Character: Every player is one, thanks to a "Chip" - a sensor/ transmitter/ radar combo being built into their hand. Not everyone can use it properly though.
  • The Chew Toy / Butt Monkey: poor Kiyoshi Taira is on his way to become one He twisted his right ankle. Then a Komodo dragon, whose bite is highly infectious, bit him and he spent a few days having a fever. Then he had his fingers sliced off by a Knife Nut. All in about 10 chapters.
  • Tyke Bomb: Kousuke
  • Written Sound Effect/Title Drop: "Btooom!" is also the sound that explosions make.