Squid Game — Japan? But it’s Korea!

Hundreds of deadbeats competing for an 8-digit prize

Today, this very day, I just finished watching the first season of Squid Game, the latest Korean hit on Netflix. I was astonished to find that it was pretty good, and I very much enjoyed it. But to be fair, I don’t think a second season was announced yet. More so, I initially thought this was going to be a miniseries like The Queen’s Gambit until I saw the ending (no spoilers).

So what is it about that might pique your interest? The story tells of a down-on-his-luck deadbeat by the name of Seong Gi-hun, who got into so much debt that he agreed to sell his organs as a contingency, should he not return his debt in time to his lender (that’s some pretty deep shit). On one random occurrence in the train station (or was it a bus station?), he meets an apparent salesman who gives him an invitation to an enigmatic “game”, and the reward: a cash prize of 45.6 billion South Korean won (or 38.7 million dollars). So now he finds himself in a mysterious location, competing for a huge sum of money against hundreds of other financially struggling individuals, all of whom have to compete in six games across six days, with the last person standing as the winner. By “standing”, I mean the rest are lying on the floor… because they were shot in the face or got defenestrated.

That’s right; this show wouldn’t be popular if everyone just got to live by the end of it. But there’s more to just a bunch of people competing in a game of life and death. The various subplots also contribute to how well the show is made, such as the conspirators behind the game itself and the lone cop’s attempt to end their operation. My point is, it’s an awesome show, but that’s not what I’m going to talk about… as always.

A Korean production with a multinational cast

As I continued watching the show, I couldn’t help but notice how fancy many of the settings appeared. The production value must’ve been high. About that, the show had some interesting casting choices that employed actors from various nationalities. Some of the Korean actors spoke English perfectly (but with an accent). There were also American and Chinese actors and a recurring character portrayed by a Korean-speaking Indian actor (although the character he’s playing is from Pakistan). I don’t usually watch Korean shows or movies (in fact, I only ever watched Oldboy), but they must do things differently from the Japanese, which is the thing that I want to get to.

But what does Japan have to do with this? Nothing directly, But I have watched a lot of Japanese media, and I think that’s almost true to say that if Squid Game were a Japanese production, then the casting would’ve remained esoteric. Specifically, Japan is often criticised (at least on social networks) for “not knowing what the world outside Japan looks like”, in that all of their fictional works either exclude entirely any kind of foreign material or are utterly oblivious to how foreign cultures are. For example, I recently watched a Japanese movie called Hentai Kamen, an ostensibly vulgar (if not hilarious) comedy about a man who becomes a superhero whenever he wears women’s underwear. In the sequel to that movie were two scenes that took place in America. The first scene featured an empty house to serve as the excuse for why there are Americans. But the second scene takes place in New York (and is also a parody of Spider-Man) because the hero is fighting a giant crab-like robot, but get this: in that scene, there were “Americans” who spoke English… but in a British Accent! After carefully inspecting the scene due to its sheer absurdity, I assume that it was some stock footage pulled from some random video archive.

For the record, I really love Japan, but it is true that for the most part, they keep to themselves as one culture, so they probably don’t want to deal with foreign matters unless necessary. Interestingly, Japan does have a history of isolationism, so there’s probably a reason for their casting choices.

Umm… more exposure?

First off, let me remind whoever’s reading that I only indirectly associated Squid Game with Japanese production values. Still, I wonder what Japanese media would look like if they were more “involved”.

In any case, like all the solutions to all the problems I present, this solution addresses a deep-rooted problem since it includes the history and culture of a particular country that is accustomed to certain traditions. And that’s something that no one can change.

On the other hand, considering how things are advancing technologically and that everyone wants a piece of Netflix (so to say), every country is slowly becoming interconnected via smartphones and digital distribution. Hopefully, foreign shows will also learn to appeal to more than just their home audience… hopefully.

Did you like Squid Game?

Because if so, be sure to tell me what you think. Not just about the show itself, but also about the issues that I presented, particularly the subject that concerns Japanese shows and movies. Other than that, I have nothing special to say in this section… not today at least.

In Conclusion…

Squid Game is a surprisingly great show that’s new on Netflix, and I can say for a fact that if you haven’t watched it yet, then you should. But take heed that the show is awfully violent but too gruesome.

Again, Japan is awesome, but it would be cool to see more from them that didn’t involve “just them”. I’ve seen some Japanese shows with actual Japanese-speaking Americans, but right now, that’s still not enough to convince them to make something more sophisticated.

It’ll take time, but until then, I watched Squid Game. No, seriously, watch it while it’s still relevant. I’m already waiting for the next season…