#unthreaded

For one, I do not care for the mass death aspect of many deathgames. It's great for shock and awe at the start, but imo if you have a set cast of players throughout then the second to last game shouldn't feature nameless fodder. It's clearly something the show does deliberately and it fits with the overarching theme, so I don't really fault it for it I just *shrug* sure whatever.

The thing I keep flip flopping about are the games and how much I like them. First watchthrough I found them kinda boring. Second I recognize how they play into the theme, but still found them meh. Third one now is after I started Hunting Grounds and opinions have gotten complicated!

Game 1+2 are great actually. "Red light/Green Light" is amazing shock and awe and "Dalgona" is really good for character work. No notes, I did not appreciate them enough.

Game 3+ 3.5 are mostly player reduction. There is also setup for some bit players and reinforcing the underdog theme. They are not bad per se (3.5 is pretty needed for other things) just...idk have fewer players to begin with.

Game 4 will rip your heart out. It's the one game I loved from the first time I saw it. Everything I love about this genre compressed into one challenge, it's fucking beautiful! One day I'm gonna figure out how to riff it into Hunting Grounds.

Game 5 is an absolute mess on every level. As a game, on the themes, where it is placed in the story, all of it bad. I get why it's here and why it is the way it is but oof does it not flow. Can't even think of a way of fixing it without doing major rewrites to everything around it.

Game 6. *deep sigh* Ok, rationally it's fine. There is a solid emotional core and it plays out in what I can recognize as devastatingly. Too bad I'm still angry at what happens right before we get here :)

This show is so lucky it's post games finale is pretty good.

[Spoiler]

Sae-byeok gets fridged purely so we can have a two man ex besties finale. There is nothing else to it. It doesn't really play into any themes and doesn't tell us anything about the other charas. She just dies in agony for no good reason. I hate it so much.

[/end Spoiler]

But yeah, if it was just that then this would be another show I would maybe rewatch occasionally but otherwise not think too much about. Alas this is not the context it exists in nowadays.

Tbh, I don't know if this is really a thing orjust another instance of tumblr pseudo philosophy, but: There is this notion of Capitalism co-opting it's critics and then marketing them back to you and Hooo boy is "Squid Game" the posterchild of all that.

That is not the Shows fault! It just happen to come out a the exact right time, with the exact right look to catch on with the right amount of people. After which some of the worst people got their hands on it and fucked it.

And I am not capable enough to not think about all that while watching.

During my first rewatch I kept thinking of all the Dalgona/Ikonography ASMR Slime and challenge videos that flooded Youtube for a while. This time through it was that + all the Beast Game reports. I wish I could enjoy "Squid Game" for what it is but the world is making that really annoying!

Anyway here is where this post would have ended if I hadn't noticed something while writing so instead we are now doing a detour to visit Grandpa! :D

At it's core "Battle Royale" is about the disposability of a vulnerable group in the eyes of society and how those People deal with that.

By attacking fellow victims in desperation. By fighting for what is precious to you. By giving up. By building community. By accepting the game and reveling at the carnage. By building a bomb to attack the people that put you here.

Yeah it's dated and janky in parts (especially the charas), but underneath that is a cause and depth that has aged exceptionally well! It shows that the genre lends itself so easily to systemic critique (to then get boiled down to just the spectacle).

"Squid Game" is about Besties being underdogs and if they're gonna make it through or not. That is what the story is interested in.

Sure there is also a scathing depiction of capitalist society and what it does to it's people....in the first 2 episodes and a bit at the end. It's a framing device. A really good one, but for the most part really just that.

I wish it was woven throughout the rest of the show in a more tangible way. But instead the story leans a lot more on it's characters and imo they aren't stable enough to carry that theme through.

For example Gi-hun has a background as a strike worker and the one time that comes up is a harrowing parallell. And then we go straight back to focusing on besties making it through as if this isn't something that should deeply reflect on the character.

I've seen this show 3 times now and I still can't tell you what Sang-woo's deal is. That's the second most important Player.

Meanwhile, even with all it's datedness, "Battle Royale" still manages to give it's evil Psychopath Stereotype enough Nuance that you get why he's here, doing what he does.

Because it focuses more on it's themes, groundworkand making those cohesive with the charas, "Battle Royale" stands the test of time in a way that I don't see "Squid Game" managing. Even if it weren't getting cannibalized as we speak.

I think that's the conclusion I'm coming to with this. There is a brilliance in "Squid Game" that you can clearly see! In the first 2 episodes, in Game 4, in Game 6 (even if I don't care), in the post games part.

Alice in Borderland

(Manga by Haro Aso, 2010-2016; 2 season Life Action series, 2020-2022;)

Unkown amount of people get isekai'd into an empty Tokyo where they have to keep participating in deathly Game Challenges or get killed via giant laser.

This is the one that REALLY got me into the genre. It also kinda changed me as a person, because it's core themes revolve around suicidality and finding reasons to keep going despite it all. Great games, great characters!

The Netflix adaptation is really good! It smoothes out some of the more disjointed parts of the story, but follows it closely overall. My only note is that if you only watch the show, then please read the very last chapter of the Manga. It's the perfect end point for the themes and it sucks they didn't put it on tape.

The 8 Show

(Single season show based on "Money Game" + "Pie Game" webtoons by Bae Jin-soo, 2024;)

8 Players are locked into a Game Space where they earn money based on their private room and time passed. Time can be earned by being entertaining.

That's it, that's the entire show. It is very blunt with it's theme and it's great! I've tried to read the webtoons this is based on but I can't find them in an accessible way, so idk. Love the show, stole it for Hunting Grounds.

Tomodachi Game

(Manga by Mikoto Yamaguchi + Yuki Sato, 2013-2024;)

Friendgroup gets dragged into participating in a series of challenges to test the trust they have in each other.

This is just such a fun read. Yeah the protag has a bit of a "I'm too smart for this" problem and the twists are twisting into each other, but I don't care I'm having too much fun with these games and how they get through. This is the one that made me start Hunting Grounds. I love watching people lie to each other :)

Kaiji

(Manga by Nobuyuki Fukumoto, 1996-ongoing; 2 season Anime 2007/8 + 2011;)

One mans very bad, terrible, excrutiating long way out of gambling debts.

There are games with the consequences of grave injuries, slavery or death. This is a Deathgame, fight me! At least until Kaiji battles a Pachinko machine for ~100 chapters at which point, hi and welcome to my hell! I'm just so fascinated by the structure of this thing and I need more people to join the madness. Manga and Anime are equal, choose your poison.

Honorary Mentions:

"Gantz!" for great games and yet being so, so weird about everything else

"Death Parade" ....not sure I count it in the genre but it's great, watch it!

"Real Account" for no other reason than it's the one I'm currently reading