El Juego de la Muerte (2023)

Death's Game: An Overview

This show is genuinely the most heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, action-filled series I have watched in my entire life. I cried throughout the entirety of Episode 8 from start to finish. I was shocked by all the twists and the amount of plotlines that collide so nicely just makes it that much better.

From Episode 1 I was a bit like, hmm how is this gonna go, you have 12 characters to go through and the first 2 just got cast aside very quickly. Episode 2 was the first cry I had when he was Hyeok-su, not gonna lie I felt his character was just a shock one to throw in, seeing as the only real plotline it creates is the one with his Tae-sang reincarnation and Jin-sang, but when he saw his mom through Hyeok-su's mom I genuinely teared up so much.

The end of Episode 2 and the Ju-hun reincarnation was some of the best cinematography I've seen in a non-action movie. The intensity was just perfect considering how heartbreaking Hyeok-su's death was. Plus the way Ju-hun dies was such a gag, I had to pause the show and walk away because I did NOT see that one. Tae-sang's death was also pretty sad, but considering his intentions were to give the money to Tae-sang's mom, who we didn't have a connection with, it just didn't hit hard enough. I feel Tae-sang, Geon-u, Gyu-cheol, and Ji-hyeong's characters were all just for the Tae-u plot and to show Yee-jae's selfishness, but it was good for tying in future plot points near the end.

Episode 4, I was bawling my eyes out so much. It's incredibly sad to realize that this is a pretty common occurrence, maybe not the infanticide, but the abuse is. It was such a quick reincarnation but it was the one that was a lesson for Yee-jae for sure. Not being able to get out of the situation and being forced to just let it happen was so emotional and it's just a horrible thing to happen to anyone.

Also in that episode, when that fucking car hit them I SCREAMED. I was so fucking mad like Geon-u and Ji-su was the only reincarnation that I probably felt a connection to and I just really wanted him to live on much longer and have a life with Ji-su and THEN die. But the pen being a common motif later on in the story was just so wholesome and I'm happy the show ended the way that it did purely because of that fucking pen lol.

Episodes 6 and 7, are not really a lot if I'm honest. It was definitely the dud plotline which pissed me off because at the end of the storyline, it just wasn't necessary? Like, Death rewinds time at the end and so Tae-u would never have had those things happen, so he just carries on being a psychopathic killer (potentially)? So that was just action packed and omds Gyu-cheol's death actually made me squirm that's just fucking awful. Also, the speed they just killed off the 10th and 11th reincarnations made me giggle a bit.

Finally, Episode 10. For a full 40 minutes, I just had tears streaming down constantly. The cinematography, 10/10, the acting, 10/10, the story, 10/10, the emotional fucking-with, 10/10. Honestly, I would rewatch this entire series just to bawl my eyes out at this episode again. I called my mum straight after and told her I loved her it's changed me as a person. If you're thinking of not watching this show because it looks boring or from what I've said you don't like it, it's so worth it for this ending. Plus the final shot of the text right before the credits made me kinda spooked out like, yeah, there is ONLY one of me in this world.

Overall, I rarely think a show is an overall 10/10, but even with episodes 6 and 7 they were still amazing just not in comparison with the rest of them. I think everybody should give this a watch, it's so enjoyable and so worth like 6 hours of my life.

(PS: My fav shot is when he visits the Columbarium as his mom and then it shows his memory of her and there's the parallel shot in the glass of him as if he was standing on the other side of the columbarium. Ugh it was so perfect in a satisfying mirror way.)

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A Drama that SHAPED my Life :-)

LEARNING has no End !!!

At any stage of Life , each and every second , from each and every being , We can learn something .

I am a person who believes in that.
So I always questioned myself -

"What did I learn from this drama ?"
"What did I learn from this situation ?"
"What did I learn from this person ?"
"What did I learn from my Experience ?"
"What did I learn Today ?"
etc. etc.

But never ever,
Not even in my dreams,
Even for once,
Did I question myself -

"What can we learn from DEATH ?"

This DRAMA has taught me that !!!
.....................................................................................

I always heard and believed -
"We get to live only once ! "

Never did I think about -
"We have to DIE only once - was muchhh more of a blessing than living once ."
.....................................................................................

Although this drama talks about DEATH
I'm really really grateful for giving it a watch .

Because it taught me - " THE VALUE OF LIFE !!! "

P.S.- Also , It's hard to Rewatch it , because It's not a drama you can forget easily ;-)

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Not for me

I'll say up front that you should give this show a try yourself and come to your own conclusions.

This was a really hard one for me to rate. My rating is based on the way this drama made me feel. I found myself unable to separate my feelings from the overall intent of the show, thus the low rating. As I feel I have to say so people don't attack me, this is just my personal feeling/opinion. This rating serves the purpose to remind myself what I liked and didn't like about the drama.

Story: Very interesting concept. I thought the way the story was woven together, with people's lives intertwined, was well done. As you go further into the story, we find Yi Jae inhabiting bodies of people that he's encountered before. We also see that his downward spiral was the result of his first encounter with someone's death. This drama embodied the concept of "every action has an equal and opposite reaction". I thought the story became more meaningful when it was personal, concerning his girlfriend and his mother. I just couldn't get past all the evil/darkness/bullying/violence. I probably would have enjoyed it more if time was taken to develop some of the characters more, to see why they became the way they did.

Acting: Can we just talk about the cast? I'll admit, that's what drew me to this drama. Each person was excellent in their own right, but the standouts for me were:
1)Kim Mi Kyung as Yi Jae's mother. I love this actress in everything she is in. Here, she embodied someone carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders after her son's death. Her slightly stooped posture, her slow, mincing gait, and her facial expressions (or lack thereof) showed us that she was walking through the world by herself, after losing the person most important to her. I felt her despair. Watching her face, her flat affect, a lone tear running down her cheek, it seemed that it was all she could do to just keep living.
2)Seo In Guk as Yi Jae. I'll admit that he's one of my favorite actors. Here, he hit all the emotions (even if there were only brief moments of happiness shown in flashbacks). Anger, fear, frustration. Watching him moving from hopeful to hopeless, wow.
3) Kim Ji Hoon as Park Tae Woo. Sociopath? Psychopath? His portrayal of an evil man masked as a successful businessman just gave me all kind of creepy vibes.

This was filmed in a very dark way. I understand that it was part of the whole experience, but some scenes were so dark, that if you watch it in a well-lit room, you won't be able to see what's going on. So, watch it in the dark.

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Something new to experience lovedd itt ??

From the acting performance to the directing, the camera angle, the writing everything was phenomenal . In each episode you'll certainly get the message " you can't ever predict death " and by that I mean every death scene was so unpredictable it was interesting to watch . Every actor did an amazing job . So happy that park so dam finally made a coneback and was great in it . I was most amazed by Seo In guk's performance, he brings something new to the audience everytime and its always refreshing to see actors who gives a character life . Overall a great watch ..would definitely recommend to people
Awesome fantasy with unveiling plot with a twist and the interlinking of various lives to portray pain, love and emotion is beyond description. The writer has done a marvelous job with indelible storyline like the Kid's life (Hyeok) and then killing of MMA fighter (Alchemy of Soul lead actor) at the point where he almost got the chance to meet his mother and in the end killing of Do hyun and Go Youn put a stain over my heart as it was excruciating to see them both die by hands of the villain. Surely the second part would be more thrilling and exciting...anxiously waiting 05 Jan, 2024.
#Death's game
Best drama of the year in my opinion.
Couldn’t stop watching every episode until the end and that is rare for me .It has to be something that good like this drama is.
Glad to see Seo In Guk in a good drama .
His best dramas for me were The smile has left her eyes and Highschool king.The other he was in lately were really bad,but this new drama is amazing.Hiighly recommend it.

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Edge of your seat!!

I don’t write many reviews any more, but I felt the need to write this one. This is very suspenseful, the acting is superb, and the plot is creative and outstanding! More action in 4 episodes, than some I’ve watched with 16+ episode Dramas! Yes, suicide is a way out of your misery, but this is showing how your choice affects others. It is making him feel the pain of what others feel when their life isn’t going as planned. Each time he dies, you wonder what his next experience is going to be. It shows him growing to regret his decision, because he realizes how it has changed peoples lives around him. It helps him do this with the different characters he lives, and the choices they made that changed their lives and others around them. I can not wait until part 2 in January to see where this goes. The writing, directing, producing, and especially the 5 star actors, put on a show you will love! However, it does get very rough, as in bloody and violent, so go into this knowing that.

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