Absolutely brilliant!
One of the best shows I’ve watched in a very long time.
Can’t wait for the next season.
Standing Ovation from me :clap_tone2:
Yeah acting is quite bad, but the show has a neat plot so far
Just one word mind-blowing. 2nd season really outshined the 1st.
It totally escapes me how any one thinks this is a good series. I’ve read the praises but they, like the show, give no content as to why. I can sort of see why it may have worked as a manga but this seems to have no reason to exist beyond the things that gave it a mature rating: language, violence, suicide, sexual violence and smoking. It is basically a blood fest and Netflix feels it is worthy of a second season (!?) when there are some really good series that have so much more to offer if they just had this money. And, to be fair, I watch all of season one hoping to find some hidden gem to merit its existence. I give this series a 2 (terrible) out of 10. [Show Based on Manga]
I enjoyed the premise and gave it a go after people made comparisons to Squid Games. The first three episodes ranged from good to watchable but it fell off a cliff from episode 4 onwards. Massive leaps in logic are required for some scenarios to play out and the acting is way too over-the-top. Highly recommend giving this show a skip and spending your time elsewhere.
Come on man, season 2? I would have been better with the 1000 years in the future, you can continue with that but meteor strike, people dead for a minute and in that minute season 1 and 2 played out? I really liked this series until season 2 episode 8, what happened? Actors didn't want to return, writers block or something else? I really love Asian based movies and series but this had that American feel to it. You know,
Series is good but rushed to finish so they(exec.) Can cancel for no reason? America TV.
After 1st episode my only question is Why!?:
Why am I watching this?
Why them?
Why should I continue to watch?
Waste of time, boring and lack of good characters.
I absolutely love this! Enjoying the 2nd season a bit more than the 1st, great story, and you really grow attached to the characters, so much so that when they die it's pretty sad :pensive: RIP Tata you were my fave.
Great stuff. I went into this with few expectations. The first episode looked good and it just kept on getting better.
Beautifully shot, well acted (use the Japanese audio and English subtitles)... it keeps you guessing. The only criticism I can actually think of is occasionally overdoing the extreme emotional close up (esp the end of the first hearts game)... but this is minor and probably personal taste.
This is a great series and it seems it's been renewed too. Nice.
i actually cannot stop thinking about this fucking show
I really hope they do a well S2 since there are so many plot holes to fill. Otherwise, it's a very original idea, despite its resembling for me with "Squid Game", which is the one I saw first.
My rating is like a NASA launch going down after every episode 10,9,8,7,6.....
I really tried but the acting is really bad.
Between the sensations of a 'The Walking Dead', The frustration, and the intelligence of a 'Death Note' with gambling games worthy of the sublime 'Kaiji' series, this Japanese series is one of the best series that I have been watching for at least 5 years.
I can't wait for season 2!
First season? Thrilling. Exciting. High-stakes. Gut-wrenching character deaths. Second season? Eh.
Starts quite good, but quickly becomes boring.
If you have to give it a try, don't waste your time with season 2...
Plot is kinda interesting but damn, the acting and dialogue is terrible
4 episodes in and this is already hitting incredibly hard.
I've never read the manga, but I knew this was gonna be a survival game kinda thing going into it. It has elements of both Gantz and Squid Game, but the pacing here seems more rapid than both of those, with each episode consisting of a new "game".
The characters are also really well written, and it's easy to connect with many of them, which only heightens the drama that eventually unfolds.
The show is also really nicely filmed, with almost every shot having depth and structure to it, actors being carefully positioned in the frame in order to add to the structure, and some shots even looking like they were ripped directly out of a manga panel. It's honestly impressive how much the look of the show has the vibe of a seinen manga like Gantz or I Am a Hero.
Would certainly recommend it.
It started really well and then went with full speed off the cliff. I would give the first half a 9, the second a 5. So 7 on average.
I was expecting more clever games as they progressed, but it went the other way. The whole tone shifted after the 4th episode and not for the best. And whose idea was there to incorporate flashbacks for characters that were just introduced minutes ago. Nobody cares. You have main characters, how about focusing on them. But no, they were sidelined for the whole second half.
The production and cinematography are quite slick compared to the terrible average of mainstream Japanese shows. I'm watching it in Japanese, and the acting and dialogue are stilted as hell despite involving a relatively famous cast. The overall writing is as contrived as a manga adaptation can get, and it's never to be taken too seriously. Despite the problems, it was fun to see the games messing up the characters' interpersonal relationships and hinting at how their past might be influencing their actions in the present, in a "Lost" kind of way.
The second season goes along with what we’ve witnessed in the first, with the exact same strengths and weaknesses on a bigger scale. Although not a grandpa I might be a little too old for these shows. The first half tries to dig into the psychological impact of the death games, while the last few episodes go for a more conventional, action-packed approach. A more emotional approach comes back for the finale. There are some bombastic action sequences to spice things up, but suspension of disbelief is continuously challenged by plot armor and the same ludicrous writing you would expect from a manga adaptation. The show constantly hints at complexity, but the writers always find convenient and contrived ways out of each struggle.
This season apparently closes the main storyline and answers most of our questions. Although I liked that they kept things vague without trying to find explanations for every little thing, I have a feeling the author had no clue on how to close the story and just improvised on the go, as if he had a compelling premise in mind but never thought about a decent cause for the characters to be in that situation. The ludicrous theories that get explored in the last episode seem to be a hint at that. Then, I would have preferred for the whole thing to remain a mystery without worrying about connections to the real world anymore.
What a complete surprise this show has been. Was excepting a typical live-action manga/anime show with all the typical tropes and cliches. And while those are definitely there this show is just so well done and captivating.
Previously, I wrote a short, but positive review at the end of Season 1, stating how excited I was for Season 2.
I absolutely despise when great shows are cancelled. However, in this instance I truly wish it had been cancelled after Season 1. At least we would have been left with a positive memory and with our imaginations running wild.
It’s difficult to review Season 2, without giving anything away, therefore I will try and keep my words brief…
WTF! The last episode was an absolute joke and a huge cop out. Who on earth came up with it? Someone very lazy or maybe with an axe to grind? I was literally spitting feathers. There were many amazing possibilities to explain the show to date.
Maybe they were told unexpectedly towards the end of Season 2 it was to be cancelled and they had to come up with something very quickly?
In honesty, I did find Season 2 a tad boring even before reaching the worst ever final episode in history. I felt the show wasn’t progressing , even a tad repetitive. But, I wasn’t put off, due to many shows having their boring episodes.
Wrapping things up; I really don’t feel like wasting anymore of my time, especially given the horrendous ending…PLEASE DO NOT WATCH SEASON 2. You will be sorely disappointed and in danger of being furious.
It made me remember an American TV Show from the 80’s I think, who pulled the same stunt. The media had a field day, with nothing nice to say. If I state the name of this well known show, I imagine you’ll guess what fate awaits you, in the final episode. But, my lips are sealed.
Do you dare watch? Or finish on Season 1, with your happiness intact?
Good luck :)
PS. Not related to the show, but thought I’d point out I’m Dyslexic. Please forgive any mistakes I make. I do check my rants before clicking submit, but alas I still miss too many blunders.
I'm particularly disappointed witht this one, I agree with some comments that the series one started with great potential but slowly lost it's mojo. The pace is kinda off, specially in the last two episodes when we not only get an almost 2 minutes monologue from a character, but this same character also repeat parts of this monologue several times later in the same episode. I really liked the fact they were not afraid to kill off main characters right on the first episodes and it sure gave me the impression that noone was safe. I was also intrigued by characters being manipulated to participate and after the game on episode two i was really interesting into seeing our protagonists taking on a villain role for a game, sadly that didn't last long, plot armour, moral and red shirts somehow find their way into this series, and characters sometimes do things because plot requires them to do so, the best example being Arisu despite being a good "game reader" taking conveniently too long to understand the game and how to beat it, or Usagi, who is a cimbler and has been shown to be the type of player that makes field reconnaissance not reading whats written in the bus on episode 4, so instead of watching 40 minutes of characters standing perfectly still and talking about their lives, we have unnecessary action and death of two red shirts, all so Arisu can move on from his friends death, only that...he doesn't.
Now, to the second part of season one, i liked the games shown in episode 5 and we get a pretty nice idea of how games work, and that so far, our protagonists have nit pick the best ones to participate, the human elevator and the fight the beasts ones are just plain savage and clearly were made just to kill people with no real "how to beat" behind it. And with the information we got on how games "content" are set, that last game was...meh, considering the previous game shown with the same "genre" was brutal, i guess they're kind of the same idea but this new one is executed poorly, whell it's technically not executed at all for two episodes actually, and the solution would have been easily discovered, as we see with Arisu taking only minutes to figure it out.
Btw, I get Japan doesn't have that many weapons, unless you raid a police station or a military base, and that probably influenced the way they represented deaths with bullet shots but seriously a shot in the arm and another one in the abs are not enough to instant kill a person. And if you came to this show because of youtubers comparing it to Sweet Home (trust me youtube is FULL of comparisons between these two) I hate to say the similarities end on the fact that both male protagonists are hikikomoris, which is the same thing as saying the walking dead and csi are similar series, because the protagonist is a white cop.
Kind of wondering how they plan to start a Season 3. Feels like the Show was concluded in the Season 2 Finale.
I wouldn't have finished this show 10 years ago tbh, but these days Japanese and Korean shows are the goto if you don't like Hollywood having its own agenda which is neither to be entertaining, nor to actually make money (The continuing Fall of Disney is a direct product of that).
Does it have an intricate story? No!
Is it entertaining? For sure.
In the end its a 7/10 from me.
Not something I am desperately waiting for a new Season on, but if one is coming, I'll be reactivating my sub once all Episodes are available :)
Watched the first episode and didn't find anything redeeming about it. I found the dialogue, the acting, the pacing, and the execution of an otherwise interesting premise to be all quite bad. I wanted to like it. I was hoping it would take me by surprise like Squid Game, but it was nowhere near that experience.
a bit boring but its okay
Murder games are understandably not for everyone. Foreign content is understandably not for everyone. Mental thrillers are understandably not for everyone. This is all of those. You will likely love it or hate it, and I am sad there won't be another season. The ending to season 2 was crazy (not in a cliffhanger we need a third season way) and made me want more! Maybe someday. For now, this is worth checking out if you like the aspects previously mentioned.
Average Season Review: 8/10
Recommendation: Watch if You Need Content (For Murder Game Fans)
A decent enough tv show. I definitely enjoyed the first season more than the second and the finale was not exactly what I pictured. Glad it did end though and they did not try to force another season.
1st season was so-so, 2nd was filled with pseudo-bullshit and cliches... we still don't get any clear answer as to what happened to the people, the world and who was running the games... nearly every character is fatally wounded but still survives 'cuz drama I guess... there is some teaser to a potential 3rd season but I'm glad it never happened as I've lost all interest in this show...
Great production and effects with this increasingly popular "free for all, murder spree" genre, but the pacing became frustratingly slow. Too much silence, quivering. Don't waste your time with season 2
The end felt a little like Lost.
They're all dead for one min and they come back not remembering anything. Lazy end.
I would prefer the one in thousand years and they playing.
But I still think it's worthy watching.
Timmy thourghly enjoyed this show.
This is the bloodiest show I've watched. Only irritating part is that every character gets a flashback backstory no matter how important they are to the story. One good thing is the lack of plot armour, characters die, Duffer brothers should take note. Character development in S2 which was a sudden shift to the intense games every episode in S1.
literally the actually ash was in a coma the whole time theory
They did the ending so good, soo logical, soo wholesome.
Overall i enjoyed the show and I'm okay with the ending..
The only problem for me , some episodes are long and could have been way shorter so people won't get bored.
season 2 outshined season 1. can't wait for the third season!
Texting on mobile phones is not and never will be acting.
Really enjoyed the new season. I thought I was following up until that ending scene... but then they showed a close-up of the last card on that table... HMMM. Something's up, and I think we may need a third season to explain it.
Death makes humans change
I like this much better than Squid Game ± the plot and games are more interesting and deadly ; there is no timeout , healthcare or friendly-fire(off).
I still can't believe this is the end where people share consciousness in a mass extinction event by meteor ; there is a J0ker to play for which can reverse the status co and once they are healed they will be forced to play the games again !! the game masters would be the 2 sociopaths who choose to stay as citizens
I also believe An survived and she is the patient that was revived by doctors
Honestly, I have more fun with it than with overhyped squid game. But I'm a sucker for anything Japanese in general ;)
Great premise and interesting mystery at the beginning of this show, which is largely squandered as soon as the critical and mythologized "location" is revealed, at which point the show rapidly goes downhill. Still, I preferred this to Squid Game.
As I don't like a Asian videos to be honest, that serial was pretty awesome. Recommendations from my site to all who's love CUBE
Loved it. Cant wait for season 2.
So goooooood. Can't wait for season 2!!
Not bad, similar to the usual Battle Royale sadistic people innocent smart kid going through trauma and hunting down white collars premise... it didn’t blow me away purely because it’s not a new idea, but enjoyable for people new to it and the psychological test type movies that the Japanese screenwriters are best at
WOW! So I was only going to watch 2 episodes tonight....several hours later i watched the whole season. This is a really good show. There's a little bit of a lot of other shows/movies in it, which is not a bad thing. It works well as a whole because it uses the best bits from those other shows/movies.
There were several surprises here that surprised even me. I can't wait till season 2.
1-3 :heart: = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 :heart: = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 :heart: = I expect you will like this too
9-10 :heart: = movies and TV shows I really love!
Started really good then turned into a mess.
This is the same show as https://trakt.tv/shows/alice-in-borderland-2020-170654, but the other one should be the correct one as it has an entry in TMDB and this one does't.
Shout by Gabriel GithioraBlockedParent2022-12-29T19:41:39Z
5 episodes in and as much as I'd like to love the show, I simply cannot overlook some issues. Let's begin (spoiler warning):
Why don't the players think to bring weapons especially after the first game? Or at least a Swiss Army Knife? The dude with the taser brought his and it ended up helping. Why don't the players think to bring well fitting shoes or clothes for running or moving quickly? Why did they have to hunt or live in tents? Did all the grocery stores run out of food? What about cozy beds? The people disappeared but left everything behind. Are there no ways of blocking lasers? Why did no one think to find more diesel for cars and steal one? They also want me to believe that the rush of water wasn't strong enough to break the windows of the bus? And that the guy killed the tiger with one punch?
I understand that it's a fictional show but the stakes are not as high when they allow such events to happen. I'll keep watching and hopefully it becomes better.