O Jogo da Morte Parte 2 (2024)

Just finished the series. As a loyal Kdrama fan, this drama was a beautiful addition to my favourite dramas. It was indeed a fun ride filled with twists and turns, I loved how fast-paced it was. It felt like it had everything a show needed, The twist after twist had blown my mind and heart again and again throughout all episodes. This series is the mixture of drama, fantasy, comedy, suspense, thriller and action. Full of crucial life lessons, realization and tackled different issues happening in our society even right now.(child abuse, bullying, corrupt law authorities, injustices, unemployment, not giving importance and enough credits to the workers etc) Also currently reading the webtoon version. So far, I personally prefers the series more than the webtoon (though it's just me, still recommending y'all to read the webtoon if you're interested, I'm enjoying it rn). The series has more depth and emotion put into each of the characters story and the whole plot in general. The casting for Yee Jae, his mother, Ji soo, Jin Tae, Jae Seop, Hyuk Soo, Joo Hoon, Tae Sang, Geonwoo, Death, etc... was too good to be true too. (I have a love-hate relationship with the casting crews, they're doing their jobs real good).

Leia Mais

A show that praises one thing and then does the opposite for 8 episodes

I can't help but feel like this show is some really unwise propaganda against suicide, especially considering the country that it comes from, but that's not even the point. Regardless if that was the goal of the show or not, the constant victim blaming and shaming towards suicide is just not it.
Technically speaking this show is really good. From the acting to the cinematography, the timing and the music, even the story is engaging and has a really good premise, but I can't give it a good score when the core idea is "you are selfish if you kill yourself".
This is obviously written by someone who has never dealt with these types of feelings, which I'm glad they haven't, but then why write about something you don't fully understand? Not only that but they did it while looking down on anyone who has ever considered it.
It should be obvious that someone doesn't want to kill themselves on a random wednesday just because. Imagine how much pain, suffering, guilt (because yes, believe it or not they usually do think about the people they leave behind, and that's one of the reasons why making the decision can be so hard) and self-shame they already feel, to have other people come and point fingers saying how weak you are, how self centered, how little your problems matter and to "get tough because life is hard and other people have it worse".
For a show that praises so much selflessness and understanding of other's suffering, a show that shames the main character for their egotistical decisions, they really showed no empathy towards him or anyone who has thought about dying. Ironic.

Leia Mais

"In the end, we arrive at the beginning." – Birdy

At first, I was a little worried about the direction the drama was going to take, when I noticed some different things about the webtoon. But everything went well and went much further. I believe that what made a big difference in quality was the impeccable casting, it couldn't be bad with this strong cast.

I found it interesting that they included a character from the webtoon in his 12th life, it was very significant and helped connect the story. I felt that there could have been a little more development in the relationship between the police officer and his partner's family, like in the webtoon. These are the things that made me take half a star (which isn't much).

The title of this review is an lyric from a song called "Celestial Dancers" by Birdy and I think it really fits with the story of this drama. In the end, we really arrive at the beginning.

Leia Mais

A very well crafted drama

“People are happiest when they can truly be themselves. In the end, life would be meaningless if you can never really be yourself.”

Ultimately, life would lack meaning if authenticity is denied. This sentiment encapsulates the essence of the drama's journey. The latter half delves into Choi Yi Jae's remaining life, leading to a climactic resolution that leaves us questioning whether he will attain the happiness Ji Su had wished for. The effectiveness of the second half lies in its exploration of the core characters, particularly Yi Jae and Tae Woo. The plot's pacing is adeptly executed, seamlessly alternating between acceleration and deceleration as required. The final two episodes left a profound impact on me, sparking contemplation on various themes. The entire cast and crew deserve commendation for their outstanding performances and meticulous execution.

Credit is due to the casting team for selecting the right actors and the entire crew for carrying the drama with precision. This is undoubtedly a must-watch, and I assure you that you won't regret investing your time in it.

Leia Mais

That was a headache

I don’t think I’ve ever been more conflicted about whether I like a show than I have with this one. My head is pounding just trying to figure out how to describe my entire view of this show, so if my review sounds like I’m just yapping, that is why.

Part 1 of this show gave an extremely promising start, especially the pilot episode. It had a great introduction to our main cast, a good amount of foreshadowing, a great setup for future character development, and also had a dark comedic undertone. In a sense, it reminded me of the movie Parasite. I’d also like to mention the phenomenal acting of the whole cast, especially those who played the reincarnations of Yi Jae.

All the compliments I gave for part 1 pretty much go towards part 2 as well. With that being said, however, I disagree with the way the show handled the topic of suicide. With a subject matter as sensitive as suicide, it is extremely important to handle the topic with respect and consideration, especially if the ‘moral of the story’ being conveyed revolves around the subject of suicide. In this case, the moral of the story was essentially to be appreciative of what you have. That is not at all a message I disagree with; in fact, I think it’s a good message to convey when writing a story on the topic of suicide. However, the way the show conveyed that message was by remaining completely insensitive and apathetic toward Yi Jae’s situation that drove him to commit suicide. Instead, they only focused on the pain Yi Jae caused his loved ones to feel due to him taking his own life. I believe it’s a great idea to focus on the hurt of his loved ones, but not when the writing makes that its only focus, especially when another point the story was attempting to make was that Yi Jae should’ve considered how his loved ones would feel if he were to take his own life, making him out to essentially be selfish and inconsiderate with no redeeming qualities. If the writers are trying to make the point that he should’ve put himself in their shoes before taking his own life, then I find it hypocritical that they don’t do the same with Yi Jae. They shame him for not focusing on the positives he had in his life, yet when he does something as commendable as saving another person’s life while risking his own, they shame him for that too. This hypocrisy and disrespect towards the topic of suicide diminishes the strength of each message the story was attempting to send, as each message stems from the writers’ insensitive way of trying to make a point. It is not at all impossible to convey all the messages they were trying to convey without attempting to prove it by completely ignoring the circumstances that led him to commit suicide, while also shaming him for doing so.

However, that is just my take on how they handled the topic of suicide. I personally am sensitive to the topic, but I don’t at all disagree with any of the messages the story carries. In fact, I admire the story’s take on the topic of suicide, and I do realize that there was good intent behind each message, despite the harsh way they conveyed it. I just personally wish the story would’ve taken a moment to realize that Yi Jae did give life a chance; even after his life went to shit, he spent 10 whole years giving it a chance, but life continued to fail him. I believe if they wanted to fully go with the idea of him being the personification of ego and greed, then it would’ve been better to portray his character the same way the Webtoon did before he took his own life. Not as hardworking, taking the easy way out each time, etc. For me, it just hurts to see a character who genuinely worked extremely hard but only given shit back in return, which is what led him make such a decision, and then be shamed for it as if he didn’t work hard from the beginning. I’m not saying he was right in taking his own life, someone taking their own life will always be the worst choice that could be made no matter the circumstance. However, I believe there could’ve been a better way to go about things.

Now that I’ve discussed the main issue, I’ll just mention some minor issues I had with the story. Some parts of the plot were a bit incoherent, specifically the plot point where Yi Jae was explaining how he organized this whole scheme on how to kill Tae Woo while bypassing Death’s rules. I’m not sure if I’m just stupid or lacking sleep, but those entire 5 minutes made absolutely no sense. I’d also like to lastly mention an inconsistency with the foreshadowing. Again, I could just be stupid, but in part 1, they seemed to imply that when Yi Jae jumped off the building, his body had hit someone, specifically a kid. However, this was never picked back up again, which makes me believe that the writers either chose to discard that idea because it would overly complicate the story, or that the teddy bear panel at the crime scene and the conversation between those two police officers discussing the dead body of a kid was just completely pointless, lmao.

Anyways, with all that being said, is this a recommendable show? I believe so, if you’re not sensitive to the topic of suicide, that is. It is quite an interesting story with commendable acting partnering it. It also has quite a bit of dark humor, especially in part 1, so if that’s what you’re into, I’d say give it a shot. However, if you’d like to watch a show that explored the topic of suicide well and that was even more entertaining than this show, I would like to recommend “The Fallen High School Girl and the Irresponsible Teacher.” Quite a silly and long title, Ik lmao, but it definitely was a very memorable story.

Leia Mais

Why are the ratings so high ?

Maybe my review is too subjective but I really don’t understand how this drama got so much liked nor do I understand the ratings here.

The only 3 really good things are : SIG’s acting - the gorgeous cinematography - interesting topics within the main topic

But then it is lacking in a lot of aspects. The top review on it said the ditector was too narrow minded about their opinion on suicide. To me it is not a problem. In order to convey a message, directors often need to be narrow minded… Then if it meets the public’s opinion it is a win. But what troubles me is the lack of originality in the main topic and that, with all those cases and beautiful scenes, we are waiting somehow for an ending twist which we do not get. Let the end be very open is not what I consider an ending twist as it is not surprising.

It is ok if you don’t want to be original but when you decide to make a series in order to convey a message so simple or seen over and over there is a disappointing feeling in the end. That is where originality is lacking to me.

You get sometimes engaged in one special case but hardly on his own fate.

GYJ is great and some others I didn’t mentioned but I am not convinced one inch by the female lead here… I might get so much hate but it is the first time I want to call out an actress telling her this is quite a bad performance..

Anyway, I apologize if you find this too subjective but this is my honest opinion on it

Leia Mais

Deaths Game is an emotional ride that grabs you from the first moment. Choi Yi Jae's life is basically a series of unfortunate events—unemployment, a betrayed heart, and the classic falling-for-a-bitcoin-scam disaster. But when he decides to take a dark turn, Death herself steps in with a wicked game. The top-notch cast delivers performances that hit the right emotional chords, and the cameos add extra flavor. The storyline, with its mix of genres, keeps you guessing, and the concept of experiencing death through 12 other lives adds a unique twist. The ending, though somewhat expected, feels just right for the narrative. What's impressive is the intentional cut after the final scene; it's like the creators want us to focus on the emotional weight rather than wondering about the future. Deaths Game is not just about dying and living—it's a gut-wrenching exploration of life's complexities and the resilience to start anew.

A must watch for a ride that'll tug at your heartstrings and leave you contemplating the layers of existence.

Leia Mais

the message of this whole show feels like a boomer telling that depression is made up and mental health problems don't exist.
the way they depicted suicide in this was very weird.
the issues yeejae faced were very relevant and true problems faced by many young adults which they could have tackled in a better manner. here they have shoved everything aside and said 'hey u have 2 people who care abt u'. yeejae was suffering so much and is in such a bad mental space, the current situation of the world drove him into death and death comes out all offended over him saying death is his way of escaping pain. a person who is considering suicide is not in the headspace to see through the fog in their mind. and in this show, the main reason they give for him to live is his mom and gf but by death's timeline they also die within a few weeks, so will it be okay for him to die then? yeejae, a person who worked hard all his life faces 12 punishments for his decision but an evil person like taewoo (who btw is responsible for almost all the deaths) gets to live comfortably for so long?
i really liked the plot of living through 12 different people and avoiding deaths and learning about their lives. even the way all 12 of them were connected to each other was amazing.
the drama could have worked better if the mc was someone evil who used death to escape punishment on earth OR if death was purely an evil entity who was just punishing him for entertainment. death was too preachy, always so superior. and her giving him a chance to re-live just destroys all the superior act she pulls in the series. i would have enjoyed her more if she was just pure evil.
im not saying suicide is the answer(it never is) but giving this as a solution to it? nah
the drama had so many familiar faces in it, it was a fun to see people pop-up here and there. all the actors did their characters full justice (even the baby)

Leia Mais

Meh, it was good, not amazing

Death’s game

I thought the concept was interesting. I like stories that take on the supernatural, so it picked my interest quite fast. The main downpoint for me would be the whole suicide is a sin thing, I’ve never been a fan of this and it comes as insensitive most of the time. This time, surprise, it’s the same, it annoyed the crap out of me. Still think it did better than tomorrow on that subject, but barely. I still find myself enjoying quite a lot of this drama woudl probably rate it higher if I went with feeling, but objectively there are a lot of points that must be talked about.

-My life was hell every day (MC)
-How about the real hell ? (Death)

The ending was predictable. I wished it to go in another direction, but it chose the most predictable path.

The Story:

The main character sees himself as a failure. He ultimately kills himself after a series of hardships and misunderstandings. Death is not pleased with this at all, intercept his soul before going to hell, to prove a point, I guess. He is destined by Death to die 12 other times. Death puts his soul in the body of a person about to die, if he can prevent his death, he gets to keep living the rest of his life in the body he saved. Simple enough.

Some points are unbelievable, especially in the 4th episode.

1-      He was in a relationship for 7 years, but doesn’t know his girlfriend’s brother ?

2-      7 years and he is not living with her? it’s easier to be two, than one on rent.

I disliked that the baby story was only there to point out that at least MC has a mom who loves him. It could have been easily the most horrifying live in any episode but was brushed aside so quickly it made no impact.

The moral of the story could have been better than blaming the MC for the heartbreaks of the people he left behind. He took control of many lives where money was a key point in their life and ended up killing them. The 11th life should have been an eye's opener for MC ; the man lived the life he wanted, job, marriage, and kids, but it didn’t mean everything was going well for the guy. He wasted his chance and triggered his misfortune by killing the guy.

It was also ridiculous to put him in the body of his mother. 1-Nobody wants to see their mom naked (just kidding) 2-he lived more years as her than he as himself lol. Why, because he doesn’t want the body of his mom to die, not his mom, just the body, she is already dead.

I get it was to connect him with his mother, but I still laughed and it failed to bring the tears where there should have been.

Will his girlfriend die like she was destined to on the side of the road? will the Evil Chebol and the serial killer go unpunished? Does he retain the 32 years and 12 deaths in his memory, or just the feeling of it remaining, pushing him in the right direction? Unclear.

Suicide is a heavy topic, and this drama is not doing a good job of tackling it. The Problems that the MC faced are never put up front, never brought to light to help him fix them.
The resolution boils down to ‘’Dying = people sad = by the way you go to hell too’’

The ending is quite underwhelming. 

Pro :

+good actors
+The concept is interesting and original.  (it feels webtony, guess it was a webcomic)

Con

+ The chebol plot point was unnecessary.
+ Suicide is seen as egoistical/ sin.
+ the constant gaslighting of the character about his problem not being real.

Leia Mais

Death's Game toys with some very sensitive topics

Hm. Huh. Much to think about.
I feel like this critique is less of an examination of whether I enjoyed Death’s Game because I did, I had a lot of fun with it in fact. No this is more of a critical analysis of how K-Dramas continue to mishandle the issue of suicide.

As far as my actual review goes, I think this is a more than competent show. The premise is fresh and out there, the acting is overall very solid. It’s a visually stimulating and flashy drama. At times actually too flashy. Sometimes more is less, I feel, especially when it comes to sub-par CGI. I’m not going to fault the series for looking a tad cheap at times because I find that somewhat endearing, but occasionally it felt like they were throwing every visual effect in the book at me for no particular reason. So, there’s that. Other than that I really like the look of Death’s Game, I felt the gore especially, which shocked me every single time, was somehow still really tastefully done, if you can call dismembered bodies tasteful, that is.
The plot structure might have been a tad wonky. I kind of felt myself preferring the first few episodes for their pace, that being one person’s life being dedicated to roughly one episode. And the revenge subplot kicked in a bit late and then ended a little early, in my opinion. But I mean, I wasn’t bored or anything like that. Death Game was an overall thrilling drama and it most definitely made me think. But my thoughts might not have been entirely in line with what this drama was trying to convey.

This was a show which clearly considered itself to be very witty but more often than not, that attempted wittiness felt more smug than actually intelligent. Considering what prevalent and pressing subject matter suicide is in Korea, it’s rather strange that I can’t think of a single piece of Korean media that I think handled the topic well. Maybe it is the fact that that would warrant a more nuanced discussion about systemic issues. About stigma around mental health, the insane pressure Korea puts on its students and workers, outdated structures etc. Maybe that would not necessarily make good television. But for a story that I assume is supposed to function as some type of suicide prevention, Death's Game felt incredibly judgmental.
Our protagonist is literally sent through hell and back for struggling with his mental health. He is punished with physical and mental pain for feeling alone. How dare you feel this way? See the anguish your feelings have caused? You’re selfish. You’re cowardly. Cho Yi-Jae wants to die, and the best alternative this story seemingly had to offer was: Noooo don’t do that. Which, fair enough, I agree, you shouldn’t kill yourself. Suicide is bad for a variety of reasons, shocker. But what Yi-Jae needed, what this show needed was compassion. Someone killing themselves might seem like a choice. But the human mind is deceptive. What appears to be a choice often is not truly a choice. This story frames it as if our protagonist willingly abandoned his mother and girlfriend. And he selfishly decided that their love wasn’t good enough to stick around because he had failed in his career. But to presume and then perpetuate that those who fall victim to suicide did not have concern for others is wrong and harmful.

I don’t think that every story needs to be an after-school special. I don’t think every narrative has to be centered around what would be the morally correct answer. How dreadfully boring would that be? But suicide is a topic so incredibly delicate and if you get it wrong, there are actual repercussions. Imagine someone having those thoughts that Yi-Jae is having, watching this show, and the answer that they get is that they’re arrogant and that hell is waiting for them. Granted, if that deters them from taking their life, that’s good. There are no bad reasons NOT to kill yourself. But I don’t think that this was a super productive approach. Choi YI-Jae spends this show ironically enough literally living for other people. And sometimes that’s enough for a while. But that conclusion can also feel like a heavy burden to carry. I feel like Yi-Jae deserved the conclusion that he should stay alive regardless. Not only because you don’t want people to be left with the grief, you’re going to inflict, but because life is simply always worth living. Stay alive because your mom is making your favorite food next week. Stay alive because you’re not caught up with your favorite TV show. Stay alive to finish the book you’re reading. Stay alive because you’re not out of shampoo yet. Stay alive because honestly, most problems in life are temporary.

By the end of the drama, nothing has changed for Yi-Jae except for the fact that he has been through additional trauma he didn’t need. He had all these different lives to try and live out and nearly every single one was more terrible than the last. How much more powerful would it have been to reclaim life because he genuinely wanted to? Because he was reminded that no matter how hard it gets, on some days you get to see people you love and sit in the sun or see the city lights? Yi-Jae stayed alive because the alternative was hell, but what we needed to see, was that life on earth can be heaven sometimes.

Leia Mais

Anti-Suicide Messaging overboard but Still Amazing!!

Do not get me wrong I really loved this show, but I was really put off by how much the show reiterated that Yi Jae needed to be punished for his decision. I think that it has to do with the fact that this show was sponsored by the Korean government like the sports and culture I think. Korea is known to have high rates of suicide due to work culture (not only Korea). I understand the messaging of finding purpose and wanting to show there is good in life, but actively punishing someone after they have made a decision to literally die and feel guilty is not really beneficial. As a person who heavily identifies with Yi Jae it made me really uncomfortable.
Despite this I found the acting in this drama to be absolutely amazing and it really evoked strong emotions in me. The last body he takes made me BAWLL!! I totally forgot that it was not Seo In Guk playing all the different characters, it really felt like he was just wearing their faces.
The story line was also really interesting, I personally have always wanted to be able to live in another person's body so it was really fun and interesting to see how the director worked with the plot. Also the fact that there is another plot that Yi Jae is solving aside from his death was also really cool.

Overall, it was a great show and I recommend it but if you are struggling mentally some of the messages are a bit tough to swallow.

Leia Mais