An anime version of Squid Game could add more artistic freedom and its overall plot. The story falls into the thriller genre, but an anime could also play around with drama, comedy, horror, and even political themes. RELATED: Best Female Characters in Squid Game, Ranked
Squid Game is not based on a true story, since no participants have been compelled to participate in lethal versions of kiddie games in real life.
Another reason why Squid Game has gained so much popularity is the easy access to audiences. The series has been filmed in Korean, but Netflix has dubbed the show in 34 languages, and even provides subtitles in 37 languages. Providing several language options is something that Netflix has mastered over the years.
Squid Game: 10 Main Characters, Ranked By Likability.
How many games are there in Squid Game? There are six games that the contestants have to compete in, which are all based on popular children's games. The first is Red Light Green Light, which is a popular kids' game in many countries. In Squid Game, those who are caught moving during 'red light' are shot.
A vicious group of rich elites stringing poverty-stricken and indebted individuals through familiar but twisted games of skill and chance, oftentimes with their lives on the line, isn't exclusive to Squid Game; it's also the exact plot of a lesser-known but brilliant anime known as Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor.
At the time of writing, Squid Game is enjoying its third consecutive month on the list of the Top 10 most popular Netflix shows in Japan. But the success of the Korean drama about people competing in life-and-death challenges based on children's games for money has also been good news for other shows.
Squid Game, a South Korean thriller, has become Netflix's most popular series to date, attracting millions of fans since its debut. In terms of views, it has outperformed its counterparts to become the streaming giant's biggest hit.
Written and directed by Shinsuke based on the original graphic of the same title by Haro Aso, Alice in Borderland premiered on Netflix in December 2020, and while the Japanese series was able to rack up significant views on the streaming service, it didn't get as much attention and praise as the more recently-released ...
2:5919:46Watch Kaiji Instead Of Squid Game - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd it's just absolutely contagious in fact kaiji is so addicting that it can actually be a littleMoreAnd it's just absolutely contagious in fact kaiji is so addicting that it can actually be a little dangerous. Because you might find yourself wanting just to feel that joy of gambling. And the
Netflix quickly became the leading platform in Korea for online streaming, with an astounding 4.1 million paid subscribers by 2020.
Squid Game is officially coming back for Season 2! “It took 12 years to bring the first season of 'Squid Game' to life last year. But it took 12 days for 'Squid Game' to become the most popular Netflix series ever,” reads the statement from director Hwang.
First up was the zombie drama "All of Us Are Dead," and it has not disappointed audiences with its release. In fact, it is similar to "Squid Game" in one significant way.
In speaking at an online press conference earlier this month (via Korea Herald ), he said of that initial Squid Game inspiration: “After debuting with [2007 Korean film] My Father, I read a lot of comics and was mesmerized by survival games. With an attempt to create a Korean version, I started planning out the work in 2008 and finished the scenario in 2009. However, casting actors and getting investment were extremely difficult during these periods. The idea of a game winner who strikes it rich was unwelcomed. The brutality and cruelty of the games were of concern. I had to put the scenario on the shelf.”
The short answer to this question is: no. Squid Game has no source material other than its stellar script. However, writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk (previously best known for features like 2017 historical epic The Fortress) has cited the initial inspiration for Squid Game as a comic book. According to Soompi, the creator has been working on the concept for Squid Game since 2008, when he read a comic book about a group of people who fell into a deadly game.
Director Hwang requested that actors Gong Yoo(left) and Lee Byung Hun, whom he had worked with previously, appear in cameosas the recruiter and the Front Man, respectively, in Squid Game.
Hwang wrote all of the series himself, taking nearly six months to write the first two episodes alone, after which he turned to friends to get input on moving forward.[32] Hwang also addressed the challenges of preparing for the show which was physically and mentally exhausting, saying six of his teeth fell out while making Season 1.[33] As such, Hwang was initially unsure about a sequel after completing these episodes,[32]though wrote the ending to keep a potential hook for a sequel in mind.[26] Hwang had considered an alternate ending where Gi-hun would have boarded the plane after concluding his call with the game organizers to see his daughter, but Hwang said of that ending, "Is that the right way for us to really propose the question or the message that we wanted to convey through the series?" [46]
In the final eponymous Squid game, Gi-hun defeats Sang-woo after a brutal fight but refuses to kill him; he begs Sang-Woo to stop the game using the third clause. Sang-woo instead stabs himself in the neck, and asks Gi-hun to take care of his mother before dying. Gi-hun is returned to Seoul with a bank cardto access the prize money, but discovers his own mother has died. A year later, Gi-hun remains traumatized and has not touched his prize money. He receives an invitation card from his gganbu, and finds Oh Il-nam on his deathbed. Il-nam reveals he created the game to entertain bored ultra-rich people like himself. He chose games he played as a child, and participated in Gi-hun's group out of nostalgia. As they talk, Il-nam wagers with Gi-hun on whether an unconscious man lying on a street corner will be helped before midnight. The man is saved, and Il-nam dies shortly after. Gi-hun retrieves Sae-byeok's brother and has him looked after by Sang-woo's mother, also giving them a share of the prize money. As Gi-hun travels to the airport to reconnect with his daughter in Los Angeles, he sees the same game recruiter playing ddakjiwith another desperate player, but manages only to get that player's invitation card. He calls the card's number before boarding his plane, demanding to know who is running the games. He is curtly ordered to get on the plane, but he ends the call and returns to the airport terminal.
Jun-ho successfully infiltrates the games by disguising himself as a masked worker, and it is revealed that the location is a remote island. The players are now more prepared and start forming alliances. Gi-hun, Sang-woo, Player 001, and Player 199 team up. Player 067 explores an air ventand witnesses workers melting pots of sugar. The second game is revealed to be Ppopgi, where each player must perfectly extract a stamped shape from a dalgona(honeycomb candy) under a 10 minute time limit. Sang-woo learns of Player 067's discovery and recognizes the game beforehand, but does not warn his teammates and chooses the simplest shape for himself. Gi-hun ends up picking the most difficult shape, an umbrella, but is able to complete the game by licking the back of the honeycomb to melt it. Player 212, a rowdy and manipulative woman, helps Deok-su complete the game with a smuggled lighter. A scared player who is about to be executed takes a staff member hostage and forces him to unmask. Shocked that the staff member is a young man, the player shoots himself, and the staff member is killed by the Front Man for revealing his identity.
Squid Game is, somewhat, influenced by the life of its own creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk. Dong-hyuk has shared how he originally developed the script for the series in 2008 when he was in a bad financial situation. He once even had to stop writing the script and his sell laptop because of money struggles. But the popular show is also influenced by manga that Dong-hyuk read, with many of them being adapted into beloved cult films or popular TV shows.
Considering Squid Game is only nine episodes and Dong-hyuk doesn’t have any immediate plans to write a sequel, why not get into the predecessors that influenced it, whether that be the original manga or its adaptations? Along with those, we’ve also included a couple honorable mentions for manga that, although Dong-hyuk didn’t specifically name-drop as influences, have come up amid Squid Game ‘s release.
Originally released in February 2011, the manga was adapted into a live-action film in 2014. Because of certain similarities to the film , Squid Game has been accused of plagiarizing As the Gods Will, which Dong-hyuk has dismissed.
Liar Game has been adapted into a Japanese TV series in 2007, as well as two live action films in 2010 and 2012. In 2014, it was adapted into a South Korean TV series.
Squid Game is on track to become the most popular show in Netflix’s history. The South Korean survival drama TV series has reached No. 1 in 90 countries following its release. (It’s also produced a countless number of memes.) Centered around a group of people who put their literal life on the line participating in children’s games in hopes of winning 45.6 billion won, the dystopian TV show provides an unflinching commentary on modern capitalism and class, fitting nicely alongside similar Netflix series like Black Mirror.
Although Battle Royale has been the immediate go-to when talking about Squid Games ‘ influences, Nobuyuki Fukumoto’s Gambling Apocalypse: Kaiji may actually be a more accurate comparison. Its titular character, Kaiji Itō, is similar to Squid Game ‘s Seong Gi-hun in that they’re both compulsive addicts who both find themselves at the mercy of a loan shark trying to collect an outstanding debt, which results in them being placed in similar scenarios. For Kaiji, it’s participating in a tournament on a gambling ship where he has to plays games like rock, paper, scissors, as well as walk across steel beams elevated so high that those that fall are either severely injured or dead upon impact. The manga is still going on over 25 years later; it’s also been adapted as an anime TV series, as well as a Japanese film trilogy. There’s also a Chinese action-adventure film based on Kaiji called Animal World.
He is forced to partner up with various other players throughout the series. It’s a game of death that lasts seven days. If players can manage to win, they get to wish for anything they want. There is much more to it than that and the mystery will slowly unfold itself.
Akudama Drive is a cyberpunk anime where criminals run rampant. One night a young girl gets caught up in a race to see who can heist a certain object faster.
Sword Art Online is a bit looser of a connection to Squid Game and the genre as a whole. The first season of the anime is about a fantasy MMO that traps its players in the game. If people die in the MMO, then they die in real life.
It was advertised as a show about the last remaining bastion of humanity living inside a movable city. The planet has been overrun with bugs and only an elite group of soldiers can fight them off.
Redline is also a racing anime but in this case, it involves cars. It’s a film rather than an anime show. It’s an obscure one from a while ago that deserves more attention. It’s like a more modern and mature version of Speed Racer except it is interplanetary.
The anime shows follow the plots pretty closely to the games but viewers of the anime will lose out on some character building. Every anime adaptation is recommended as are the games.
The twist comes at the end of the first episode so it’s not a huge spoiler to say that the world above is a simulation. It’s a game played with real people via underground mutants. The humans have no idea they are pawns either.
Part of the reason that anime has become such a versatile medium of entertainment is that it seems like there is a limitless amount of series that can get explored. Anime has a number of genres that are specific to itself, and it continues to push storytelling forward in inventive ways that have been able to trigger major trends in some cases. Netflix’s Squid Game is one of the biggest shows in the entire world, and while its praise is deserved, it’s fascinating to consider that anime has been turning out comparable content for years.
Darwin's Game is a tightly-paced cat and mouse game that plays out across 11 episodes. Teenager Kaname Sudou innocently begins a new mobile game, only to experience bizarre effects and learn that reality and the game have blended together. Kaname's opponents in the mobile app advance on him in real life, and he's forced to fight for his survival and prove just how much he wants to exist.
Sometimes death game series succeed because of how grounded they are in reality, minus the murderous mind games. However, anime has found ways to combine the death game concept with other genres in inspired ways. Magical Girl Raising Project dresses itself up like a cute magical girl series and Koyuki Himekawa optimistically enters a competition to become the latest fantasy idol. This dream gradually morphs into a nightmare when Koyuki learns that anyone who fails these social games are permanently "deleted," and that there's a long list of girls who are set to be on the chopping block.
At only 12 episodes, Deadman Wonderland wastes no time.
In fact, this playfully grim subject matter is so prevalent in anime that there’s a whole sub-genre of “death game” content. Accordingly, there are a number of anime series that should satisfy Squid Game fans.
Squid Game (Korean: 오징어 게임; RR: Ojing-eo Geim) is a South Korean survival drama television series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. Its cast includes Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryoung.
The series revolves around a contest where 456 players, all of whom are in deep financial debt, risk their lives to play a series of deadly children's games for the chance to win a ₩45.6 billion (US$38 …
Seong Gi-hun, a divorced father and indebted gambler who lives with his elderly mother, is invited to play a series of children's games for a chance at a large cash prize. Accepting the offer, he is taken to an unknown location where he finds himself among 455 other players who are all deeply in debt. The players are made to wear green tracksuits and are kept under watch at all times by masked guards in pink jumpsuits, with the games overseen by the Front Man, who wears a blac…
Numbers in parentheses denote the character's assigned number in the Squid Game.
• Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun (성기훈, [sʌŋ gi hun] (listen), 456), a divorced chauffeur and gambling addict. He lives with his mother and struggles to support his daughter financially. He participates in the game to settle his man…
Around 2008, Hwang Dong-hyuk had tried unsuccessfully to get investment for a different movie script that he had written, and he, his mother, and his grandmother had to take out loans to stay afloat, but still struggled amid the debt crisis within the country. He spent his free time in a Manhwabang (South Korean manga cafe) reading Japanese survival manga such as Battle Royale, Li…
In the Philippines, a replica of the doll used in the episode one of the series was exhibited on Ortigas Avenue in Quezon City in September 2021.
A Squid Game doll was installed in Olympic Park, Seoul on October 25, 2021. A replica of Squid Game's set was exhibited at the Itaewon station in Seoul since September 5, 2021. However, the exhibit was prematurely closed due to COVI…
The show received critical acclaim. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 94% based on 63 reviews, with an average rating of 8.20/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Squid Game's unflinching brutality is not for the faint of heart, but sharp social commentary and a surprisingly tender core will keep viewers glued to the screen – even if it'…
Hwang wrote Squid Game based on his own personal experiences and observations of capitalism and economic class struggles within South Korea. Hwang also considered that his script was targeted towards global issues regarding capitalism, stating, "I wanted to create something that would resonate not just for Korean people but globally. This was my dream." and "I do believe that the overall global economic order is unequal and that around 90% of the people believe that it's u…
Due to the stress of writing and producing the first series of nine episodes himself, Hwang initially had no immediate plans to write a sequel to Squid Game. He did not have well-developed plans for a follow-up story and said that if he were to write one, he would likely need a staff of writers and directors to help him. With the immense popularity of the show, Hwang later opined about the possibility of a second season, telling CNN "There's nothing confirmed at the moment, but so ma…