Episode 1
Starts with a take on life of an unemployed, messy haired man child living in parents house playing video game. His looks matches that of a confused genius and in the subsequent shots it was made clear that his father resented him, which made me think of the usual plotlines. But, as the story progressed, the trio of hairy one and his mates creates chaos in the bustling furry street of Tokyo. While hiding in the washroom to evade police, a knock lands on their door inviting our heroes into a strange bald tokyo stripped of its chatter, busyness and people.
Although I have seen South Korean Squid Games which is quite similar I must say, this one seems to be different(Since tokyo can't go empty right?). There are a lot of questions that they need to answer and a lot many interesting paths the series can take from here on. A note is the lack of character development in this episode. No one strikes my mind post this episode and already one game (yes, the PlayOrDie one) is completed. I hope they won't disappoint. Go J-Dramas
Episode 2
Dull. World building is poor. Can't understand why 2 main characters would go to another game. They could have shown a bit of backstory prior to the game. New characters were also introduced without depth. The coitus scene was bizzare at the very least. However, the violent scenes were immaculately done. Although not impressed, I am eager to see where the story goes
Episode 3
A cathartic episode. All the 3 main characters are no more. The geeky hairy guy is definitely the one to root for. The writers seemed to be wanting to connect the audience with an emotional angle of friendship, loneliness and disenfranchisement. Writing this review makes me realize how uncanny it all appears. While this episode was definitely eventful, I hope they can steer clear of the usual cliches.
Episode 4
Good episode. Tao tsuchiya plays the captivating character of Usagi, the mountaineer. Her backstory and whole persona is a revamp for this cliche of a series(atleas to me). Arisu, the main character is a typical good guy doing good deeds. The episode ends with him venturing to find answers to the questions which we all would like to know. Hope the show only picks it up from here and continue to pique my interest.
Episode 5
The new premise with the introduction of the beach is intriguing. The tension is palpable and something big is round the corner. Thank lord the show is gathering pace.
Episode 6
The episode ended on a cliffhanger with the game happening on the beach with around a thousand people. The game is 10 of hearts which is the most difficult and treacherous one so the next episode is bound to be bloody.
Episode 7 & 8
Episode 8
Episode 8Episode 8
I won't lie I binged this and the last one. Its no surprise that if one watches the penultimate episode, he will carry on glued to the screen. The episode left too many questions unanswered like what happened to rest of contestants, what was the point of having the cards, who were the game controllers, who is mira and many more. Even how the chip got inside people's head is not cleared. The show desperately wanted a season 2 (as is the trend nowadays) and it felt rushed. Yet it was a good J-Drama.