Deaths' Game - The Soul Gripping Series

It is rare that I watch anything outside comedy and romance. I love to laugh and prefer to shut the world out laughing my heart out to Rom-Coms. However, even before I discovered my strong preference for Rom-Coms, I settled for chick flicks and lots of cartoons. Ah…Anime too. I really did not have the patience to sit through series and it showed even when I watch Animes. I prefer to binge watch than wait for an episode once a week. So, if it is not completed, count me out.

I got into watching series from last year when my cousin came back into town. I started with the popular Netflix series Never Have I ever… but I think there was one before that. Honestly, I just used it to kill time because it was a well-needed staycation away from home. However, my focus shifted when I came across K-Drama. From that time, I have sailed through dozens and still counting k-drama of mostly one genre. Rom-Com. I love romance and I love comedy. Although I have found myself in very heartbreaking tales, which made me cry my eyes out and left me disoriented for days, yet I keep going back because they always satisfy me. Which is why I am doing this review. Death’s Game was excessively good to pass up.

Screenshot from IMDB

Adapted from the Webtoon Death’s Game, this movie is a combination of Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller, Action and Horror. Not my usual style but I got slightly curious when I saw someone give a review on TikTok. My curiosity spiked when I saw a 30 seconds clip from the movie. In addition, the fact it was on Webtoon [I never knew that] had my thirst hitting the roof. Therefore, with nothing better to do, I went on and downloaded all eight episodes.

Death’s Game began like a normal drama with love and family depicting the hardship of a graduate hunting for a job in South Korea. Played by Seo In-guk, Kim Seong-hyeop was a young man who had big dreams but kept hitting rock bottom. The major problem was his inability to find a proper job to carry out his life plans, one of which was getting married to his college sweetheart, Jung Ji-soo played by Go Youn-jung which eventually led to him ending things with her because ‘he was a failure’.

Screenshot from IMDB

Seong-hyeop takes the road of no return and ends his own life. He meets with Death, played by Park So-dam, on his way to the afterlife who had decided to teach him a lesson because he took her 'lightly'. In his eyes, death was a way of escape and this did not seat well with our character, Death. Thus, Kim Seong-hyeop is forced to live another twelve lives. His assignment? Prevent his death.

Death’s Game began with death. The death of the protagonist took us into dark depths of pain and psychological trauma all caused by the one factor called life - that's how he sees it. Death was merciless. She gave little to no advantages to the player and watching it was sweet torture. What happens next? Each time there is a twist that I never expected and in a way, it felt like Death was playing with me too. I had the full experience due to the depth of the characters, the storyline and the development.

The action scenes were gold. As I mentioned earlier, I am not a fan of action or thrillers but I was on the edge of my seat [or bed in this case] from start to finish. They really went all out on this one. There was flow and such smooth synchronization between the characters in regards to their stories. For a series with only eight episodes and durations of less than one hour each, it is the best K-drama I have seen in the year 2024 and it is not even Romance or Comedy.

Death’s Game is more than just K-drama. It is real life served with the right amount of entertainment. The cutting-edge series consists of day-to-day struggles of a ‘dead man’ but in the real sense of it, it is something the living deal with every day. I had moments of laughter and exasperation because even I could not figure out what Death was thinking. Then, I felt pity when it seemed as if the protagonist had spiraled and lost it. In the closure of episode 7, I was convinced that the writer was on a mission to drive me mad with speculation. This has not happened with any other K-drama.

If you are looking for a drama with suspense and thrill that leaves you covered in goosebumps or just something to binge watch for the night, I recommend Death’s Game. It is a heavy 9.5/10 for me. I do not see myself watching it again anytime soon because I am still nursing the heaviness of it but in all ramification of the word, Death’s Game crushed it!

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