Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table Episode 5 Review: This episode started slow, but then became great. Let’s see how this episode unfolded.
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Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table Director
Souta Ueno
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Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table Episode 5 Release Date
4 February 2026
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Native Title
Shiboyugi de Meshi o Kū (死亡遊戯で飯を食う)
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Light Novel By
Yūshi Ukai, Nekometaru
Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table Episode 4 Recap

The episode opens on an unsettling note, with Yuki seemingly threatening to abandon Mashiro unless she gives in to her demands. Instead of backing down, Mashiro responds with raw aggression, making it clear she isn’t easily intimidated. It soon becomes evident that Yuki was never serious about leaving her behind and was merely provoking her. However, as Mashiro tries to escape, she stumbles into an even more dangerous predicament.
Just as the situation turns dire, Yuki steps in and confronts the threat head-on, creating an opening for Mashiro to get away. This sudden reversal reveals a surprising side of Yuki. She’s drawn to Mashiro’s stubborn courage and admires her refusal to yield, even when she’s at her weakest. The episode also makes the final game particularly compelling, adding another layer of tension to the story.
From the outset, subtle visual cues hint at how things will unfold. Set in a bleak, dystopian world, the players are dressed in white and face fewer immediate dangers than in previous rounds, signaling that this game carries far greater consequences. It soon becomes clear that this final challenge will decide who survives.
Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table Episode 5 Review

This episode opens with Yuki likely going through a screening before she goes on to play her 27th game. Her handler then tells her how the upcoming death game will be called the haunted house. Following this, we see her having a conversation with a mysterious woman. With her, Yuki discusses that it is a possibility that she might start taking things too lightly because of her winning rate. However, after this, the episode kind of goes into a standstill, where we see very minimal dialogue.
We do not venture into the games in the first half, and we mostly see the mundane life of Yuki. She goes on walks after her games and even thinks about all the bad things she has done to win. She remembers all the girls she had to sacrifice for herself and even cries for them in one scene. But later, we get an interesting turn of events as we see a man calling Yuki, who introduces himself as the father of a girl who lost her life in one of the games Yuki played.

He proposes a bizarre plan to Yuki. Apparently, he wants the evil organisation that is conducting these games to be gone once and for all. But is this actually the truth? What’s even more bizarre is Yuki’s 30th game, which literally starts in a bathroom. The situation surrounding this game is absolutely brutal, and it is apparent that Yuki will have a tough time surviving this one.
Verdict

I like today’s episode a lot, but I also think that it started off very slowly. The way it went, with a massive break in between, was not something that managed to hold my attention for long. However, once it picked up its pace in the middle, the episode became brilliant from then on.
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