Squid Game Review - YMS

[@YMS]

I said "Iraqi" instead of "Pakistani" oops bye bye

[@pepsiisbetterthancoke6283]

LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@justvibin1087]

Adum raycist confurmd

[@Hedgpig]

You better have been apologetically teary while writing that

[@TrueCarthaginian]

It's okay. Netflix cast an Indian man to play him, and if they don't care about getting the Token character's nationality correct, why should you?

[@bunkerman_who_digs]

I am sorry you're getting cancelled now

[@mr.nobody5669]

You had the chance to say "The old man losses his marbles" but you blew it.

[@UnCreativeDeconstructionism]

he said "irocki" man when referring to ali. lol

[@nobody-gh2yf]

Dad?

[@geoffreybrockmeier3765]

loses*

[@danny3640]

And for that i give this review a 6/10

[@OneOfTheLoveless]

First off *loses, secondly he tried to talk about memory loss which does not always equate to insanity, so losing one's marbles does not fit the bill.

[@derrickjameson9953]

I like how Adam describes an old man organizing the deaths of hundreds of people as "trolling"

[@Bandalorian]

He was referring to the dementia fits

[@klystron2010]

just a little giggle m8

[@janeeyre1990]

That's how a lot of people dismissed Trump and his interment camps for immigrants from specific Central American and Middle Eastern countries. He's a troll. He's a buffoon. Late-night talkshow hosts all make the same jokes about him and we move on. Much more Brave New World than 1984. Too much information from the news, too much pleasure to be had with fast food or fast fashion or movie theatres or amusement parks or whatever. Who cares? I would say that's a fairly typical attitude here. And based on what I've observed and heard secondhand from other countries, I think it's a fairly common attitude toward authoritarians, fascists, dictators, etc. around the world right now.

[@danielaxc2900]

He's just random like that

[@pureevil9496]

Troll face

[@HiddenLunarWings]

Both of my grandparents had dementia and the way they portrayed the old man was, in my experience, spot on. The Marble episode was totally convincing to me. The thought floating, not being able to concentrate, not being able to formulate many sentences, being childish, getting easily distracted, etc. were the exact same symptoms that my grandparents had. I had honestly never seen a piece of media that related to that type of dementia and didn't go all in to the stereotypical severe Alzheimer's diagnosis where they're like "who are you??" to their adult kid.

[@emilyhale1049]

I agree. I also feel like it works for that episode especially with the setting being of his neighborhood, which would have brought forward symptoms even faster than not.

[@krazyfrog]

Sure but he only has those symptoms in that episode and was basically fine in the rest of the season.

[@murphy7801]

I would agree. But also who are you has happened to me.

[@camihl3841]

@@krazyfrog Yes, so

[@RachelScalfani]

Yep, my grandma has it and she has good days and bad days.

[@zorfmorf2414]

One comment about the bad acting of the English guys: What you're seeing is the reverse of what usually happens in English (American) movies. A bunch of Chinese, Germany, whatever bad guys are needed for a side scene, so they just get a bunch of people that can speak (sometimes not even that) the language and act just well enough. However, for a native it's immediately obvious that the conversation wasn't written well/doesn't flow well or the actor's don't really use it as their primary language. Good enough for the English audience though. Squid game was produced in Korea for Korean audiences and nobody expected it to become an international success. I'm quite sure they just got the first English speaking actors that looked the part, nobody was concerned about their quality of acting or the flow of the lines. It works for the Korean audience

[@lightpoint4426]

That's what I figured - It was sort of fascinating to watch xD

[@JcDent]

Another example of this is anytime English is spoken in Shin Godzilla.

[@vasvas8914]

As a Russian I concur. My language is usually incomprehensible in the mouths of most Hollywood actors

[@ivanlagrossemoule]

@@vasvas8914 As a French speaker, I feel your pain.

[@zorfmorf2414]

@ConManliness Of course it's bad. I'm just highlighting that this also happens a lot in (sometimes even critically acclaimed) western productions but for obvious reasons goes unnoticed by Adam or you or me. Just an interesting thought to be on the other side of it once.

[@Pinely]

My favourite part is when one of the VIPs keeps saying 69 over and over again

[@reaperz5677]

"IF NOT 69, WHAT ABOUT 96 HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH" This show's VIP's singlehandedly managed to fuck everything up for me while watching the show. Like, past that VIP introduction part, it doesn't ever get better, it gets worse.

[@aidan9266]

I loved that part, I laughed every time (cause its a sex number)

[@calebwinfield1403]

You said 69. Lol.

[@SlytherinHero]

A strange yt box appears

[@ileachoffeverything6535]

it was kinda annoying

[@Magikalic]

I saw Gi-hun not using his prize money are more him being just flat-out traumatised, rather then any sort of moral stance. He also didn't keep his promise to both Sang-woo and Sae-byeok in looking after their mother/brother until he had recovered. Like he was the only person who knew what happened to them, and he left Sae-byeok's little brother in an orphanage for a year. That's not a decision that Gi-hun would have rationally made. Same with him just not being able to kill Sang-woo, Gi-hun hadn't directly killed anyone and I think he would have just preferred to walk away then to stab his childhood best friend to death.

[@BuzzabeelYT]

except he had. by the last game Gi-hun had 100% murdered an old man so he'd live on. the problem with him taking a moral stance to not kill Sang-woo is that he sure threw those morals away earlier to take advantage of an old man with dementia knowing that he'd die and probably not even realize what happened. regardless of the ending making Gi-hun innocent or the old man doing the 'I-knew-all-along' thing.

[@bologna3464]

@@BuzzabeelYT You have to think about how easier it was to win against Il-nam though. He's lying, yes, but to a man he barely knew. And unlike with Sang-woo, his childhood friend, he isn't driving the knife in himself. Method has a big impact on a moral decision. It's like that train morality problem. A lot of people would pull the lever to save people from a train crash, but less would directly push a man in front of the train to stop it.

[@iwillworkharder]

I agree, leaving Sang-woo and Sae-byeok's families abandoned and with no idea what happened to them doesn't read as a moral stance to me, it reads as mind-breaking trauma that he's not dealing with.

[@iwillworkharder]

@@BuzzabeelYT I don't think it follows, though, that just because he's taken one life before means he can never feel anything about murder again. If anything, the tragedy and guilt he felt about that series of events would make him even more hesitant to kill anyone ever again.

[@austingoyne3039]

The problem is he acts like a selfless hero right after killing the old guy

[@PrimmsHoodCinema]

Final game should've been a freestyle battle

[@outhereinsquamish]

then 50 cent and ludacris woulda been vips

[@ehlani6677]

Squid game is the Korean version of get rich or die trying

[@ChAn-dv9to]

Primm's here on a YMS video, he dope and funny as hell, he an all-star.

[@ac8911]

*Go in the house!*

[@levelmake7758]

It should’ve been a freestyle rap battle

[@TheVardener]

Something my mom pointed out during the final episode was something I liked quite a bit, is that while he was chastising the old man for what he did, the main character fell right into what he was condemning: he bet on the life of a man he could have just gone down and helped himself.

[@elliot20201]

That bugged me the whole time I was watching it. Why couldn't he just go down there and help him himself? Especially since, now, he had a shitton of money that he felt bad using himself. Could've set the man up with some food and warm clothes, an apartment, something. But the big moral "bet" had to keep going...

[@ooostarb3rryooo]

Ooooo, I didn't catch that parallel that's a brilliant observation.

[@notsosadbart6343]

That's actually what I thought was going to happen the whole time I was watching that scene. It would've been so clever to have the main character prove the old man wrong by being the kind person that he doesn't believe exists and by him ensuring he would win the bet by doing it himself would be a parallel to how the games are rigged, a sort of "fuck you" to the old man and what he stands for by doing to him what he does to others through the games

[@lordcrispen]

@@notsosadbart6343 waaaaaaaay too smart for the writer of this show. This would be amazing though, you're right

[@cinnamontwigs]

i also thought he would go down and help the guy himself, was disappointed too

[@reroxas]

honestly ilnam having 'convenient dementia moments' was addressed in the episode. ilnam was WELL aware at the end of the episode, and I had assumed he did that to give gihun a chance because he realizes he's old and doesn't have much time left. idk just how I interpreted the scene

[@Gunk05]

bro thank you i was really confused by all these comments thinking he actually was having dementia it was definitely a self sacrifice thing because why else would he start having the dementia right when they were down to the last marble

[@must08]

you interpreted it well and i was confused on how Adam didn't mention Il-nam being aware of Gi-hun taking advantage of him.

[@AFastidiousCuber]

Also, at the very end right before he "dies", he basically gives away that he was pretending.

[@CompletelyAnonymous7]

Kinda funny that Adam complained about treating the audience too dumbly, but also forgot which guard was the cop lol

[@ChocolateThaiE]

Right lol. Every time they showed the broken button...that was the cop lol. And he was always acting differently than the other guards.

[@pinkfakecheez]

And also called Ali Iraqi when it's specified several times he's from Pakistan (which is hundreds of miles away and has a time zone two hours ahead)

[@Highwayhunter6]

Exactly what i was thinking😂

[@TheDapperDragon]

He also didn't get that #1 was faking his dementia, but sure, Adam, you *totally* knew how the gun scene would play out. Reminds me why I stopped watching him.

[@jadendafinger]

@@TheDapperDragon so why did you watch this video?

[@MrMrMrprofessor]

I remember they interviewed some of the actors playing the VIPs (the guys in the golden animal masks) and there was indeed a disconnect in communication. The VIP with the water buffalo mask, in particular, said he was basically just told to play his character like a childish moron. I've actually seen that actor in other shit and he's not bad at all. It's mostly the writing for the VIPs and how they were directed more than the actors themselves. He also pointed out they were wearing these enormous masks that obscured most of their vision and they had to deliver lines to scene partners that were sitting quite far away from them, so that would explain some parts of their weird delivery, along with the clunky dialogue. I dunno, it's kind of hard to give a gripping performance when most of your dialogue consists of 69 jokes and lines like "Wow, it's bigger!" while almost your entire face is covered.

[@iamnemoo]

Yea one of the foreigner actors wrote a Facebook post about their experience. They knew the lines were bad and redundant to an english speaking audience, but the korean filmmakers just didn't care or get it. The VIP actors kinda got screwed and just decided to act like callus man children the best they could like they were asked to

[@sharp7j]

TLDR: Horrible fucking writing.

[@hafirenggayuda]

More like bad directing. The writing still not good but if the actor give better performance, it would not be noticed this much

[@joinsideke]

@@iamnemoo I've seen it suggested that the lines were redundant and over enunciated for the sake of the Korean viewers, so it would be easier for them to understand. Which kinda makes sense, except you could just subtitle the English for them? I wonder if being reluctant to watch shows with subtitles is just normal everywhere.

[@aliar86]

I personally don't think it's that important. English-centric movies constantly do the same with Korean/Japanese/Chinese, sometimes actively butchering the language, and no one gives a shit. Sometimes it's so bad they have to re-dub it for releases in those countries. I feel English speaking people get particularly upset when they are not pandered to every time. It personally didn't take me out of it, it was clearly intended to be subtitled for a Korean audience.

[@Music34897]

He didn't do the disappear in a millisecond thing, the train stopped between the characters and he got on it. I remember specifically appreciating that they *didn't* do the teleport disappearance thing lol. Also I think the Sae-byeok photo wasn't 100% exposition, it was also just to see him see her I think. I agree with pretty much everything else tho.

[@MrBrax]

To see her happy with her brother

[@randid7978]

Yeah it was definitely not to remind you who it was because you saw the kid in a prior episode. You don’t have to guess you literally already have seen him, he’s the only small boy

[@Dell-ol6hb]

Yea you can see him in the train

[@mr.jacksonscales2462]

I feel the picture is an important scene to remind the main character of what was lost in the battle. A year went by and that picture showed him the only time the girl smiled.

[@brianrothman7716]

Also she asked him to take care of his brother. Adam just straight up didn’t pay attention for parts lol

[@TigerDragon1001]

“Sacrifice for no reason” dude it was his childhood friend and he’d never killed anyone directly before? Idk I thought the ending was pretty in-character. It was definitely frustrating as hell but I wouldn’t say it was unwarranted.

[@StrawHatRain]

he did take advantage of the old man and he was about to kill sang woo when he fell asleep. They made it out like the girl Sae byeok was the only reason he didn’t. And then after sang woo slit the girl’s throat gi hun tried attacking sang woo with the knife

[@arepasxo]

Childhood friend? It must be that i watched this in spanish, but they are BROTHERSSSS

[@ocd9033]

@@arepasxo No they aren't

[@dsilva369]

@@StrawHatRain him "taking advantage" still wouldn't be the same thing as direct murder. He took up the knife but we never saw him actually do it, it's possible that Sae-Byeok was right and he just didn't have it in him and would have given up. Wel'll never know. He did try to stab Sang-Woo but that was in the heat of the moment. The point remains that Gi-Hun just isn't capable of cold-blooded murder.

[@krishiebobbybill3209]

Makes absolutely no sense why someone would allow someone else to kill them just because they are child hood friends 😂 Just because you haven't killed someone before, that isn't going to take away the human urge to survive at the expense of someone who is actively trying to kill you.

[@victorconway444]

I massively disagree with your takes on the protagonist. What you're implying to be inconsistencies is what I'd call character development. The games had to have traumatized him, for one. Watching 455 people being butchered like cattle and coming so close to being one of them probably taught him a brutal lesson in the sanctity of human life. It's ridiculous to think a person would come out of that hellhole consistently the same selfish asshole he was before. You'd have to be a total sociopath to not experience survivor's guilt after an experience like that. Things are NEVER as simple as "oh well X amount of atrocities have already happened, what's one more?" Also, giving his money away to those he cares about is not just to flaunt his righteousness, it's that he's trying to redeem himself for what he feels responsible for. The show very clearly frames the money as the sum total of all the lives lost in monetary form, so having that money is literally equivalent to an ocean of blood on your hands. It's hardly "an impossible moral code" to be conscientiously opposed to being a direct beneficiary of mass murder. It seems relatable for a broken individual weighed down with guilt. Also, side note, of course he wouldn't kill his own childhood friend. It takes a lot of willpower to kill even a total stranger, let alone someone you're close to.

[@muttonsword]

For some reason I feel like YMS is missing something really important. It's not that Gi-Heun is self-righteous, but rather he probably became really fucking depressed after being indirectly the cause of 450 people's deaths and having his only reason for going into the Squid Game be destroyed at the end of it all. It probably fucked with Gi-Heun for such a long time and he became wracked with guilt. I don't know why YMS overlooks this detail I will say though, Gi-Heun not helping Sang Woo's mother and the North Korean girl's brother and family was a dick move. Also it's really sad that Ali's family had the worst end of the stick of it all. His family didn't receive any help at the end and I had hoped the writers had somehow managed to write in Ali's family receiving some form of help

[@TheCyanSqueegee]

@@muttonsword They really did my boy Ali dirty and he was by far my favorite character (I think a lot of people feel the same way but I have seen some sociopaths in these comments say things like he deserved his death because he was stupid which I can't even fathom thinking, like I wouldn't have even blamed Sang-Woo for tricking Ali some other way to survive but he abused his trust in literally the most soul crushing way. From that point on, Sang Woo was worse to me than Deok Su, but that's probably more of an outlier opinion. At least Deok Su never played any games about being a fucking sociopath so everyone knows what to expect with him, but Sang Woo was like a little bitch boi snake. Edit: also to address your point about Gi Hun being depressed and apathetic rather than self righteous, I really have no clue how YMS would have missed that. The show literally shows him sitting on the bus/train with a blank expression, he hasn't shaved, he stares out at the water, etc. Everything they had him do in those final parts of the show screamed this man is severely depressed, he is traumatized, probably has survivor's guilt, and he needs help. I agree that him not using the money the way he promised was not the right thing to do, but the whole point was that he wasn't in much of a position to do much of anything was how I saw it. Not saying the show's ending was very good, but this was not one of the bad parts imo like YMS says.

[@hypotheticaltapeworm]

@@muttonsword I mean YMS likes the Neon Demon so his takes aren't guaranteed to be good.

[@user-tu1jb3yl2c]

@@muttonsword Did you miss the last episode? Gi-Hun helped both mother and brother. Knowing that Sang Woo was dead he gave half the money to Sang woos mom to take care of her and pay the debts of her son, also bringing the boy to live with her giving him a mother figure and her a son again. I think it was much deeper to bring the boy to Sang woos mom to care for him, she has raised a son who I think in the back of her mind, she knows is gone whether he fled his debts or died. It's known that the boys mother is still stuck in NK but Gi-Hun can give him a motherly figure even if he cannot save his mom.

[@user-tu1jb3yl2c]

@@muttonsword As for Alis family, Sang Woo screwed them out of that by killing himself, had he ended the games with Gi-Hun, the money would have been given to the deceased families. Sang Woo really just fucked Ali over at every turn.

[@pepsiisbetterthancoke6283]

The VIP part was seriously the worst part of the show, they're too cartoonishly evil. Even for a bunch of billionares.

[@TrueCarthaginian]

The whole 69 thing was especially bad.

[@yggdrasilsaltar]

the VIP’s made me despise 69 jokes

[@pepsiisbetterthancoke6283]

@weird internet person yes, I know but they made them so empty that they're unrealistic. The 69 thing made me cringe so much and even for a bunch of rich people I would think 'nobody talks like that'.

[@gregai8456]

One of the actors was a SEA pedophile sexpat so it reflected that culture really well.

[@pepsiisbetterthancoke6283]

@@gregai8456 wait what

[@markbyrd9513]

Just wanna give some props to the math teacher on the glass bridge game. Everyone else agonized over every single panel but he just fucking hoofs it across like it was nothing. Great moment in an otherwise slow-burning episode.

[@probableflaws3597]

Maybe I didn’t watch close enough but I thought he actually did try to use the edges like Adam mentioned. I thought they probably rigged it so those edges broke away along with the glass but might be reading too much into it.

[@starcraft2own]

@@probableflaws3597 Nah, he wasn't stepping on the edge.

[@porc1429]

Yeah it doesn't matter if you decide for a minute or a milisecond where the right panel is. Just go

[@Boredman567]

Yep, he realized the odds were impossible for him anyway, so he might as well just go and let fate take its course.

[@ahmad92760]

Its easy to miss but whenever the cop has scenes where he is in his disguise, the camera pans to his torn chest pocket button (which he tore when he fought with the original suit owner). That's how the show expects you recognize him (atleast that's how I did).

[@ghostoflazlo]

"Easy to miss" what you on nigga? It zooms in to the point where It's the entire frame!

[@xproflipscarab]

Also the fact he was an obvious fish out of water character the entire time... I don't know how people didn't immediately catch him out as an imposter

[@jborrego2406]

@@ghostoflazlo I don’t understand why you have to be racist

[@midnightroads4180]

I thought that was pretty obvious as well. I don't know how he didn't get that. Even if you miss it, it still puts you in the scene and makes you question if any of them could be the cop or their are more people that inflitrated the place like the organ harvesters.

[@macescoolchannel]

@@jborrego2406 Explain how he was racist.

[@nickelakon5369]

6:30 "The old man had the most convenient dimentia moments ever" Adum, he was faking it, that's the point of him calling out the main character for taking advantage of it.

[@otterno.1128]

Yeah, that's Adum's point, he knew he was faking it and was going to be in on the game because of how convenient the dementia was

[@nickelakon5369]

@@otterno.1128 honestly I paused to say it and then he said it like right after.

[@deadwinterrider4104]

@@otterno.1128 so Adams point was bad. It was meant to be obvious but the main character didn't get it which is why it was spelled out to him right before be won

[@xproflipscarab]

@@otterno.1128 No Adam wasn't paying attention, He missed the whole scene where 001 Admitted faking it at the end of the game so he though he was being cleaver by thinking that was "off" and it tipped off about the ending

[@oiii3538]

@@xproflipscarab you might want to rewatch the video and actually listen to adam’s argument this time

[@dorians.9872]

Adam is angry that the gay furry billionaire representation was so poor.

[@BodywiseMustard]

Furry 🤮

[@JAMBADG3R]

I can’t believe you couldn’t tell which one was the cop, they showed that stupid button falling off a million times.

[@corvusastrum2982]

Oh that's what that was? I noticed them zooming in on the button only once and I wondered what that was about. But tbf I didn't really have an issue recognising mr cop man because he always looked around like a lost puppy.

[@JAMBADG3R]

@@corvusastrum2982 Also true.

[@TheVardener]

I thought they were zooming in on his pocket to show he had his phone still

[@ShyBug42]

I always could tell who he was (or the times that I couldn’t It didn’t really matter much) but I never noticed any button falling off?

[@RiverInsanity]

@@TheVardener That's what I thought too

[@talkinghoorse6936]

"The resolution with the Iraqi man being tricked was great." If by "great" you mean "soul-crushing" then yeah.

[@Lilith3x6]

I mean he was kind of stupid. So can't feel too bad for him

[@fyessssss]

Pakistani not Iraqi btw

[@talkinghoorse6936]

@@fyessssss I know, I was just quoting Adum.

[@Jabadamazo]

@@Lilith3x6 You can't feel too bad for a guy who uprooted his entire life to move to another country to try to support his family, signs up for a death game just to have a chance to give them a better life, and gets double-crossed by a dude he decided to trust? Yikes.

[@kidkangaroo5213]

@@Lilith3x6 bruh, he wasn't "stupid" per se, it's clear that he really didn't want to be the reason Sang-woo died, because Sang-woo was up to then pretty nice and helpful to him up until then, maybe the nicest any Korean has been to him (remember he's an undocumented immigrant most likely), so when Sang-woo presented a way for them both to get out of this alive, he took it, maybe just to make them even.

[@MyBenjamin73]

Episode 2 is genius. Going back into the world, and then back into the game is a brilliant way to flesh the characters out, build pacing, and create dread for the next game

[@sennajordan7968]

Instead of lazy flashbacks.

[@tarreislam]

Thank you

[@Sponsie1000]

l also thought it was great for driving home the main point of the series,, even after fully realizing that they didnt have to play the game if they didnt want, almost all 1st-game-survivors decided to join back before the end of the week. Even fully aware that they have like 0.000001% chance to win and losing means dying, they'd rather take those odds than try and be poor in the system as it functions now, and thats a pretty brutal message

[@ANIMAL.LOVERS.DONT.EAT.ANIMALS]

Yeah that was the best episode imo

[@chimedemon]

@@zwan1886 some call art boring, but I say “I’m a pretentious fuck and I liked it.”

[@fhdyehyuru]

I think the part about the main character acting high and mighty after the glass game was on purpose, it shows how people who have just gotten luckier and haven't had to make tough choices to survive feel like they have the right to criticize those who have. Main character hasn't had to directly kill anyone throughout the games to survive, unlike sang-woo, and even when he was about to kill the old man he got lucky and was given the marble.

[@privernd]

Yes exactly, the main character is very flawed. Luck plays a huge role in his survival throughout the story. He got lucky enough in the marble game to be handed an easy win by someone who WANTED him to lie to him, but he still lied which no matter the context was not a morally good decision. If anything, his criticism of Sang-woo was likely projection.

[@johandrytenias1725]

15:33 the picture is not only there only to remind the audience who she is. It's there also to show us the only time we see her smiling in the show

[@cheesedip1]

Why didn’t she tell the people who ran the show that she was stabbed?

[@ooostarb3rryooo]

@@cheesedip1 Death is death, doesn't matter how it happens.

[@santiago6676]

@@cheesedip1 Because they don't give a shit

[@PurpleMoon799]

​@@cheesedip1 they don't care at all

[@TIMRUM]

Come on, Adam didn't you notice how camera focused several times on cop's breast pocket button that was torn loose and hanging about? That's how you were supposed to tell him apart from anyone else

[@enriquethe2795]

I recognized him because the other soldiers called him number 29, which was the assigned number of the soldier that he killed and stole the identity from.

[@maisybean47]

literally. Adam was calling out the show for being too obvious to the audience, even though they showed the torn button close-up like every single time he was on screen

[@naughtiusmaximus789]

8:15 There's an entire post on reddit's r/Korea where a non-Korean individual who used to do acting gigs in Korea explained how the entire situation is messed up with casting agencies pocketing the lion's share of salary to be paid to the foreign actors with zero insurance, food and worse, sometimes foreign actors in Korea get paid in just gift coupons for Korean stores which they would be forced to sell off in-person to make some money.

[@StreptoStar]

The irony that people in such a working situation are cast to play cruel billionaires... Lol

[@petrfedor1851]

@@StreptoStar They were paid to play their exploitative bosses. Of course they portrait them as cartoonishly evil. (Because they are)

[@Ssekkaha]

Well this is a pleasant suprise, and no matter how many times I hear it, the dub is hilarious.

[@CarozQH]

Dubs of foreign shows and movies aren't the issue. The issue is that english dubs for live action stuff tend to be really lazy and badly put together compared to what experienced dubbing studios in europe do

[@zachmontminy]

@@CarozQH I'd prefer it push more English speakers to watch things subbed anyway. Broaden their horizons.

[@Greendalewitch]

@@CarozQH Unless its Yugioh Abridged. Its really amusing that a guy on KZbin, that is not being paid for anything, puts more effort in dubbing a show, albeit with the intention to make a parody of it.

[@rompevuevitos222]

I saw it with he spanish dub cuz i watched it with friends and they don't really handle english It was fairly faithfull to the original which was surprising I remember someone saying how they changes the bathroom yelling scene in english and that originally it had her essentially yelling a lot of "oh my lord i'm gonna die from diarrhea" But the spanish one kept that From my experience with dubs, there are 2 kinds of dubs, the ones that try to "localize" ignoring that they cannot localize over the cultural gaps and other modisms and the ones that realize it can't be done and just keep it faithful but understandable Spain is a fan of the former with things like: Fast and Furious > Full Gas Kamehameha > Vital wave Naked Gun > Get it however you can (what the fuck) BeetleJuice > Bitelchus (no, that word does not exist, it's just how it sounds in spanish if you try to speak the title with spanish accent)

[@mastermarkus5307]

@@CarozQH Dubs for animated stuff, especially anime, nowadays is pretty professional, but I guess the assumption for live-action stuff is that most people interested in it will watch in the original language.

[@elixorvideos]

This is what happens when you watch a lot of media, you begin to see the story story structure, elements and tropes, but can fail to see the heart of the story or have something emotionally resonate because you are watching with intent to review instead of intent to enjoy. I think this is what happens with anything when you pay attention to it long enough, music critics, film critics, art critics. they begin to compare and contrast pieces of media as if those media exist to compete with one another. Instead of just seeing art, they see performance, just an actor, irritating music and so on.

[@DrunkenGlums]

So essentially "You are nitpicking and biased!"

[@autokrft]

Completely agree. Adam can be so miserable sometimes.

[@icantthinkofaname4265]

@@DrunkenGlums I think he's just giving context to why adum is being so negative and why it's ok to enjoy this even tho by critics standards it's bad.

[@Minimellow]

@@icantthinkofaname4265 Well, if they wanted to give context, they should at least give correct ones. The many positive reviews that Adum have done show that he can see "the heart of the story" or appreciate that each element made the whole more than the sum of its parts (even in this review, he does it too but negatively). When has Adum ever implied that he uses media to compare other media as _competition_ between one another? It's a whole lot of posturing, to be honest.

[@icantthinkofaname4265]

@@Minimellow he's never implied it but maybe that's what's actually happening lol.

[@rottytherottski522]

I’d say him wanting to spare the guy at the end makes some sense for how the series had built up. The big thing being that it was someone he was very close to and whose family he had close ties to. It wasn’t just someone he met the last few days but someone he had known his entire life and could physically see the repercussions of his death when they happen. Plus them playing the old childhood game brought a lot of memories flooding back from who his fiend was as a human being before he became so ruthless for money. This is just my take and I can definitely see how others like Adam just saw the trope and were tired of it.

[@greenapple1470]

they were almost like brothers. it makes sense he tried to spare him.

[@groovylobster]

Didn't the old man expose Gi-Hun's dishonesty right after he beat him? And regarding his death, I really didn't expect them to just show the old man getting domed right in front of the camera.

[@fredrik8500]

Well it pretty obvious it wasn’t his death, since the sign on the gate of “his house” is the same as the business cards the contestants were given.

[@Mammutidae]

@@fredrik8500 maybe if you binged it all in one go so that it was fresh in your memory.

[@elixorvideos]

I would have thought that the old man getting killed on camera would have definitely fit in Squid Game's style, I was actually suspicious when it didn't. However, I did not see the ending.

[@Schrodinger_]

It wasn't obvious to me that he wasn't dead because his death was offscreen. So was Ali's. A lot of the main characters' deaths were offscreen, because shows tend to avoid showing characters that the viewer actually likes turn into a stew of scrambled brains.

[@thaearthquake]

Actually, after seeing the deaths of every other contestant it was NOT seeing the old man die that raised a red flag for me.

[@AStrangeTrap]

I personally seen the whole thing with the protagonist and the marble game was that it was easy to be supportive of others and preach helping each other when it didn't effect you, but when faced with dying for the old man he was putting himself first, because he obviously didn't want to die for a old man to live a few extra years. But towards the end of the game he started to feel bad for acting like everyone else and after the old man called him out and let him win he silently walked away in shame. On the other hand his childhood friend killed someone that was helping them without a single regret, resulting in him becoming upset at his cold-hearted action. Don't know if that made sense, but that's how I interpreted his actions.

[@bestthingsinceslicedrice]

Yeap thats the same thing I thought about the actions of the protagonist. Also his choice of not using the money made sense since he felt he did not want to be cold blooded just for the sake of having enormous wealth. Like whats written in the bible. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world yet forfiet their soul

[@Jalex_Owns]

Exactly. As Adam was going on about this, I'm yelling at the screen, "IT'S CALLED A CHARACTER ARC, ADAM."

[@luigiwiiUU]

@@Jalex_Owns to be fair, Sang Woo has been saving Gi Hun's ass for the whole show lol

[@santiagoarauz1580]

@@luigiwiiUU except you know when he didn’t said the shape that was easier and send Gi-Hun to the umbrella one knowing willingly that might and most likely will kill him. He saved the rest in the rope game because he would have died too. In the glass game is the same and in the marbles one he was a manipulative jerk to save himself so he didn’t “save” anyone for the sake of it. It was always for himself.

[@luigiwiiUU]

@@santiagoarauz1580 i know it was for himself but it just so happens that without Sang Woo, Gi hun would be dead as hell lol

[@NotaUnfamiliar]

Horse game woulda got a 10

[@garyking1986]

He didn’t give all his money to the kid, he gave it to Sang-woo’s mother, and it was only the amount that got added to the bank because of Sang-woo’s death - 100,000 won

[@seventeenraccoonsinatrenchcoat]

12:00 His brother was a competitor and won his game. It's implied he got recruited to administrate 16:05 No, he doesn't. He gets on that train that pulls into the station while Gi-Hun runs around from the exit to the entrance side, by the time he gets there the doors have closed and he sees the man on the train.

[@Limbbiscuit]

Can you explain why gi-hun dyed his hair like tomato?

[@bethm5852]

@@Limbbiscuit For the lulz

[@Ronkyort0dox]

It's Magenta

[@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat]

It’s a some cultural thing about hair colour representing personality states and all that, you see it in anime though I’ve never seen it in live-action before. Aside from adaptations I guess

[@mrfreeman2911]

@@Limbbiscuit The writer said it was to show the characters anger.

[@Monkie_]

You really think that the MC not spending the money was an indication of having a higher moral standard? I saw it as a pretty bad thing, like he had knowledge of people he could've helped but chose to do nothing because he felt upset/guilty over what happened. I don't know if I'd consider that a morally righteous thing, I only really see it as some serious mental torment he was going through.

[@1yo2many]

Also at that point he basically had no reason in his mind to spend money anyway. His mother died when he returned (which he planned to spend money to get her surgery), and he was not in the right headspace to see his daughter and try to make a case for why she should stay with him. He was so traumatized and depressed after the games that basically no material thing would help him, so why would he spend the money?

[@pinkfakecheez]

Then again, when he gives sangwoos mum a share of the cash and a replacement son, it's like when he yells at his daughters stepdad in episode one: you can't solve problems by just throwing money at them and hoping that fixes everything. cheol and sangwoos mum will still wonder what happened to their sister and son respectively, even if they're both better off not knowing

[@pinkfakecheez]

Arguably saebyoks family should know (if her mum ever makes it across the border) what happened to her, but that knowledge (even if she's sort of repairing some of the harm without realising it) is probably going to kill sangwoos mum with guilt

[@sagganuts18]

He could literally gives the money away. If the movie is a metaphor for capitalism, the fact that hes not giving the money away after seeing how many people are suffering for the lack of money is an incredibly nillistic and defeatist understanding of those living with in it. In real life, direct mutual aid is an effective way of supporting one another in capitalism

[@Greaseball01]

I think that was the point of the homeless guy, the whole scene I was like "Why doesn't Gi Sun go down there himself? Maybe then he'll realise he can help people with his money now and this is the first step towards that." But tbf that isn't what happened so shrug

[@justinssongsarehis2]

Adam, I think you missed an important detail about the brother. When the cop is in the records room he looks through the past games and saw that his brother actually won the game back in 2015. He could still be a worker because we don't know how they're recruited but it definitely makes sense he would have a position of power because he won.

[@BurezuWho]

So why did Gi-Hun not get offered a position of power? Definitely doesn't make sense.

[@nateygameplay]

@@BurezuWho When the brother won in 2015, there could be many reasons why he was offered a position and Gi-Hun wasn't. Maybe the seat needed to be filled at the time because the old frontman was killed. Maybe the brother was too traumatized to go back to a regular life and wanted to stay. Just because one winner was offered a job, doesn't exactly mean all winners are offered a position. A lot is up in the air for speculation, but I don't think it's a completely senseless aspect of the plot.

[@stevenbenson9976]

The impression I got (and this may be because of the dub) was that his brother hadn't been missing for very long. Like he seemed genuinely confused by the duration of the game and by the year in which his brother won. As for why his brother was involved as the front man and others not I suspect that it may have to do with the situation involving the current front man. Maybe the dudes brother demasked the front man when he won so there was a new front man position available.

[@moldman5694]

And he could have been hired as a lower-level worker initially and risen to the top during the 5 years prior. And I wouldn't say he's absolutely 'head honcho' as that would have at least been the old man; it seems he's just in charge of managing the games. But yeah, as Adam said, it definitely wasn't resolved and they'll probably be revealing more in the next season

[@rainbowskin3379]

But there's no reason for the brother to disappear without telling anyone or paying his rent to set up that whole plot line in the first place. The entire sequence relied on plot devices and tropes to force a story thread that ultimately didn't lead to anything. That entire thread disappears if the brother just texts his mom saying "hey I'm taking a vacation be back in a month"

[@UnicornStorm]

I don't think the MC really acted out of character (well maybe right at the end..... and in the beginning) he was heartbroken over the old dude he cheated out of his marbles, so why shouldn't he be upset about and angry with his childhood friend who just killed a guy in cold blood. And even if he was okay with killing someone else before, doesn't mean he's okay with it now. Furthermore, acting high and mighty isn't a badly written character trait. not wanting to kill his friend in the end might be a trope, but that isn't the fault of the show. It's completely believable and consistent with his previous characterization. as for not touching the money. I don't see it as the character being presented as "such a good guy", but more like he bit off more than he can chew. He wanted the money, but now that he has it, he regrets taking part in all this and doesn't want anything to do with it. Also, watch Kaiji

[@nobody2996]

Yeah, I'm confused by the reoccuring point of 'Gi-Hun is being treated as unrealistically virtious'. These scenes aren't communicating that the dude's a great guy, they're communicating that he's a guilt-ridden coward. Him yelling at his friend is both him being a hypocrite and him realizing that the guy he's been unrealistically pinning all his hopes and responciability on this entire time never actually had his back. When he doesn't want to continue the game, it's him being unable to accept respociability now that he's realized there's no third party or such he can blame for the person he kills. No solo challenge that his progress doesn't effect, no team mates that make it so he's not solely responcaible, just a big empty room and an opponent he directly kills. It's why it's important that they have everyone willingly join the games even after the deadly concequences are revealed, why they have Sang-Woo point out that agreeing to these games means you are agreeing to murder the losers, that until the marbel games, that we're introduced to Gi-Hun as a gambler who never consisders the consequences of his bets until it's too late, you could argue you as a contestant are never directly responciable for someone's death and why the series's final 'game' is Gi-Hun and the developer betting on whether or not someone will bother to help a dying homeless man; with Gi-Hun being proven right being what spurs him to actually start helping people again.

[@knurdyob]

this summed up my thoughts on it for the most part but, for example, the "comedic" music in the cookie scene actually enhanced it for me because it highlights just how ridiculous and desperate the situation is, this guy just found himself frantically licking a cookie to avoid getting shot in the head, it's so ridiculous that it goes past funny and falls back into dread again, feeling like he's on the verge of a panic attack. usually, when music is too on the nose, it takes away from the scene rather than adding to it, but this time, it made it even more surreal and terrifying in my opinion (also in the cookie scene they needed guards to check the test personally, as no machine can accurately recognize from a distance if a small cookie was actually shaped properly or not)

[@hinasakukimi]

i mean.... you just misread that scene. gi-hun was projecting all of his insecurities onto sangwoo. that's the point of his moral high horse. EDIT: also of course it's different with sangwoo??? they're childhood friends. there's an emotional attachment there that gi-hun didn't have with other randos. and all of the shitty things gi-hun had to do over the course of the series was chipping away at his soul. he gives up not just because he's a good person but because he's reached his breaking point. this is so frustrating

[@TheCyanSqueegee]

yeah Adam's interpretation of both of these moments is so strange to me

[@kitj3992]

@@TheCyanSqueegee not sure I’d want to be Adam’s friend if he can’t tell the difference in why he was hesitant to kill Sang Woo.

[@jakeums0]

I get what you meant during the honeycomb (dalgona) game with them being killed up close so he could take the man hostage. But I personally feel, in the world, they were killed from afar during Red Light, Green Light because the guards couldn't be out on the field to execute the players without risk of being shot themselves, and I believe the guns used in RLGL were automated based on the sight of the giant doll. Obviously they could have still used an automated system during the dalgona game, but it's far simpler, and possibly more intimidating, to have the guard actually present with guns.

[@dezgasting]

I feel like the guards were there to be like, "Yeah I stand there. I can fucking kill you if you fuck up." Plus the guards themselves checked for any breaks of these things

[@fabianosouza3986]

Plus, they have to see what they're doing, they COULD cheat if they were watching from afar. In the tug of war game they're not there because there's no inspection to make, only in the dalgona game.

[@goodial]

for me it was also part of constantly raising the stakes. First you get killed by automatic weapons, then someone kills you, then you as a team have to kill the other team, then you as an individual have to kill someone else ...

[@chrome269]

@@goodial and then you might commit an accidental suicide in the next one if you make the wrong move. Then you just straight up try to kill another person in the last one.

[@altcommand]

I sure love how much sense you just made there. There would be no risk of the guards being shot themselves if there are no automatic guns from afar. This one probably has more to do with the fact that the number of deaths that would come from the game was going to be so large that it would be impractical to have guards do it.

[@DeadFishFactory]

I think the last game where they just beat each other is on purpose. It literally just devolves into a fist fight to the death, which is exactly what the games were if you took away all the fancy rules and games.

[@Link-ji7kx]

The end, with the fight in rain, and how the main dude almost dies, it was kinda cliché. But really, there aren’t many ways to do a dramatic “final fight”. They are clichés are for a reason - they work to build drama/tension - even if you’ve seen them a million times before.

[@BigBoi653]

I mean, it's a KDrama, I didn't expect something with more thought put into it.

[@royalblanket]

The final fight in most movies is sort of a convention, while the rain is a cliche At least I think. I'm basically just quoting ralphthemoviemaker

[@BigBoi653]

@@royalblanket The thing about cliches, is that they're not all bad. Fight in rain is a BORING cliche.

[@narsheguard6417]

There are endless ways to make a final fight interesting and unique.

[@Link-ji7kx]

@@narsheguard6417 Of course - depending on what your plot has provided.

[@Saulgoodman67677]

Didn’t the old man tell the main character that he was faking dementia all along right before he gives up his marble? I think you missed a part.

[@myles4714]

Correct

[@midnightroads4180]

Did you watch the english dub or sub?I just rewatched that scene and I saw no mention of it. He says right before Gi-Hun leaves that he remembers his name. He talks about being gannbu's and thanked him for the experience.

[@Saulgoodman67677]

@@midnightroads4180 I watched the sub since I’m Korean myself. I swear there was a moment where the old man confronts the main character and informs him that he never had dementia

[@midnightroads4180]

@@Saulgoodman67677 I don't think the old man states it outright. He does catch Gi-hun in his lies and calls him out for stealing his marbles basically. I'll have to rewatch the episode in it's entirety, but that's the only part that I caught where it seemed like he was faking his dementia. People that suffer from dementia also don't go through permanent memory loss. They slip in and out of reality and their neurons are basically firing off randomly. He could have been having an episode while wandering the marble stage, then come back and remember that Gi-hun had lied and taken his marbles.

[@Kazu_Tsukiri]

@@midnightroads4180 You're right, he doesn't state that he was faking it. After the old man suggested they play for all the marbles, where he had one, and the main character had 19, the main character says that that's not fair, to which the old man replies 'So then it is fair to cheat me out of my marbles?'

[@TheCyanSqueegee]

I really don't get how Gi-Hun and Sang-Woo ending the game would have been a meaningless sacrifice that doesn't benefit the main character in any way. For one, he doesn't have to stab his childhood best friend to death and further cement himself into guilt and despair at what this game has made him become. That seems like a pretty big benefit to me off the bat. Also, you keep saying that Gi-Hun has already killed so many people so he should not have qualms about killing people, but that's not really what happened in the show. If you think about it, Gi-Hun never directly killed anyone in cold blood in any of the other games (barring the tug of war because that was literally kill or be killed and the marbles, which yes, he was willing to deceive the old man but from his perspective the old man was already so far gone in his dementia that he likely wouldn't have much life left in him. I know this is a fucked up way of thinking but that's the way this game is. Plus the old man willingly gave up his last marble in the end so from his perspective it wasn't as one-sided as just taking someone else's life). Also, the money would have gone to the dead people's families so the sacrifice would not have been completely without positive impacts for others which would make it meaningless.

[@blaisetelfer8499]

it would have been meaningless because they already had an entire episode where those characters opt out of the games, but realize very quickly that going back to square one with no money and loan sharks chasing them is just as bad if not worse. Then the main character just forgets this and wants to opt out again, even though both he and the audience have already been through this? It would have been both an annoying cliche and a repeat of the 2nd episode.

[@tmadoorable]

The front man did win his year's squid game if you look at the records in that one episode, that kind of helps to explain how he became the front man.

[@krazyfrog]

But it's weird tho right because the front man's cop brother goes to his apartment where the landlady says he hasn't paid his rent in a while and the place is also a dump. Why was the front man living there and not even paying rent if he won and was essentially a billionaire.

[@Krenny]

yeah. I said it in my comment. I see it as him joining the old man in his philosophy. He views the games as just and wants them to continue.

[@danielhathaway43]

@@krazyfrog 40 million he won or there about...

[@chrisdaughen5257]

@@danielhathaway43 I was expecting that the winner gets the money, but they're forced to be the frontman. It made me think Sang-Woo would win, but would be imprisoned on the island as karmic punishment.

[@tmadoorable]

@@krazyfrog Lots of real life lottery winners end up bankrupt after blowing through their money too quickly

[@johncerasi]

Gotta say Adam, I think you entirely missed the reason Gi-Hun decides to throw Squid Game so he and Sang-Woo can both survive without the money. It’s not a noble sacrifice, it’s someone who is riddled with guilt and desperation who doesn’t want to see any more people die! This is also why he doesn’t touch the money for a full year after he wins it, the guilt and shame are too much. He is still a deadbeat dad and I don’t think the script wants you to view him as a hero with a perfect moral compass at all, it feels like you are projecting that onto the piece.

[@akshaydalvi1534]

Yeah it's a little concerning that adum thinks that not personally killing your friend for money is some kind of unattainable moral compass😂😅 I think he just hates cliches over everything

[@ria237]

Also from Gi-Hun's point of view if Sang-Woo agrees to terminate the game they are the majority and the money would go to the families of dead players. They both go out alive, empty handed but without being murderers of a childhood friend. But Sang-Woo couldn't accept that. He must "win" even if it's destructive. He committed suicide so that Gi-Hun could win because he knew that Gi-Hun would help his mother with the money.

[@Sener]

His sacrifice at the end made sense to me, because he knows that the money gets sent to all of the dead families. This would include the girl's brother.

[@luigiwiiUU]

I actually forgot about that LMAOOO

[@CloppingIsMyThing]

Only if there was no winner. Fairly sure he just killed himself because he couldn't live with what he became... I mean he lied tricked and killed his way to the end to fight his children hood friend to the death.

[@SCF721]

@@CloppingIsMyThing also the fact that he was wanted for fraud and stuff...even if he did win he wouldve most likely been put in jail.

[@CountJoe1]

@@CloppingIsMyThing I think he was fairly comfortable with what he had become all throughout the series he believes that the deaths of all these people means something, when people want to quit he points at the piggybank and tells them that those peoples deaths shouldn’t be for nothing. I think he killed himself because he didn’t want the MC to squander winning the prize, at least that’s his justification for his heinous actions imo.

[@sleepykoinu]

That was only if everyone agreed to quit the game.

[@m00rons]

Well, the reason why the main character didn't want to kill the last opponent was due to them being old friends. That absolutely makes sense

[@arepasxo]

In the spanish version that i saw is implied that they are BROTHERS, thats why their mom know them both Really strange to see this change but just thinking they are brothers is just fucking shit Also the fact that i watched this with my fucking mom and know despices netflix fucks sake

[@HOTD108_]

​@@arepasxoThis is why you should never watch dubs.

[@aceevee4404]

man you missed so many points like ilnam admitting to gihun that he faked his dementia, gihun's survivor's guilt and PTSD, gong-woo going to the train which explains why he disappeared so quickly, gihun's hesitation to kill his CHILDHOOD best friend, and the cop's messed up button in his uniform. you kept saying you think of yourself in these games but failed to think about the after effects of participating. i think we're so desensitized to death, gore and blood that we fail to empathize with gihun completely. im surprised it only took him a year to get back on his feet, i'd actually expect it to be longer. the review was great but i didn't expect it to turn cinema-sins-esque.

[@edsanville]

I love how the old guy claimed everyone who played the game "chose" to play it. Even the people who were shot in Red Light / Green Light, before they knew death was a possibility. And also, the old guy didn't actually PLAY the game, because he wasn't actually KILLED for losing.

[@gwimbly519]

That's the point tho. They have "equal" opportunity according to the host but even that is bull. Cause the old man (rich guy) is above the rules. Goes along the lines of a critique of capitalism. There's "equal" opportunity in capitalism. (Not saying I agree with the sentiment or message but that is the point of the show)

[@chimedemon]

@@gwimbly519 exactly

[@23345star]

Just like how Jigsaw rationalizes people dying in his "life lessons." It comes off as egotistical.

[@WizardMouth]

@@gwimbly519 I hadn't thought of it like that, you kinda blew my mind a bit

[@edsanville]

@@gwimbly519 Perhaps, but I still felt they were trying to make the old guy "sympathetic" somehow, which was bollocks. Anyway, I'm so sick of how everything, literally EVERYTHING is a "critique of capitalism." Especially when the creators take their profits directly to the bank. None of it's a critique of "capitalism" anyway... it's more a critique of corruption if anything, and the two are not the same. But most in Hollywood (or the foreign equivalent), aren't smart enough to detect the difference.

[@sam-bw5mr]

some valid criticism but also of course the main character is more hesitant to directly kill one of his childhood friends than he was going through like tug of war or even the marble game with the old man

[@RasEli03]

They were childhood friends?

[@sam-bw5mr]

@@RasEli03 seemed like it. they kept referring to playing games together as kids, knew each other’s mothers, knew about each other’s pasts…

[@ChocolateThaiE]

@@RasEli03 that was them as kids playing squid game.

[@m.w.r.1408]

@@RasEli03 it's literally said like in every episode

[@thechosenjuan8776]

7:15 This scene messed me up not because of the confusing old man dying, but because that simple straight forward and a lil goofy main character that I genuinely liked just finally started to break.. just remember him in episode 1 and compare him to now! Even after the twist, that part of the scene stays very real to me, idk

[@UnicornStorm]

him in episode 1: "hey, the PIN is her granddaughters birthday. Haha, my mother loves my daughter more than I do"

[@makalshadakal6777]

@@UnicornStorm I think he says she loves her grand daughter more than her own son.

[@thechosenjuan8776]

@@UnicornStorm haha Jonathan you are the father my daughter never had

[@collinslogan01]

Idk how Adum was so confused by the organ harvesting side hustle. Was pretty clear to me.. Maybe he was distracted by the more technical aspects of the show during some parts that made it more clear I guess? I felt like it was done very well.

[@liebedich6311]

The fact they were organ harvesting for Chinese as well, was so perfectly put together. China has been long scrutinized for their illegal organ harvesting techniques. This was definitely a jab towards them. Even one of the rich assholes at the end was Chinese among the white men. It was almost saying "Hey, we didn't forget about the shitty CCP alongside white billionaires"

[@TheDapperDragon]

Adam is not a smart boy, don't let him lie to you.

[@Cobalt985]

@@liebedich6311 "Hey, we didn't forget about the shitty CCP alongside white billionaires" exactly, i really like the message of this show, it's precise in a way that many many other TV shows and movies aren't. It was refreshing to see something that wasn't just "greed bad"

[@acreativename2781]

@@TheDapperDragon Ew you're cringe, this is why you don't have friends.

[@barbalalaika]

What annoyed me the most was that Sae-Byeok asked him to use some of the money to get her mum out of NK and this was completely forgotten about. He didn't touch the money for one year because he was so guilty and meanwhile that woman was stuck in a totalitarian dictatorship having no idea what happened to her children. He went ahead and have the money to the boy who ALSO has no idea where his mum is.

[@juiuice]

Do you ever consider the logistics of the character having to get her mom out of North Korea? That was not a big deal for me in this aspect of the show

[@LucasCarvalho-hn4dx]

Hey Adum I am legally required to preach the good word of Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor, the manga/show squid game is highly inspired from. If you liked the concepts in squid game, you'll love kaiji (you see because it is good see)

[@Lakatu]

Kaiji is so good- there’s movies too, but I haven’t seen them yet, if they’re good, then maybe Adam would enjoy those more?

[@rudeboyspodcast]

PREACH, brother. Kaiji is one of the greatest pieces of media I've ever seen. The manga is fuckin incredible but the anime does a very good job of adapting the first 2 parts alongside its incredible soundtrack and voice actors. If even 1% of Squid Game watchers go watch Kaiji afterwards, hopefully we'll get more people to see it!

[@haughtygarbage5848]

Man that mulletd Japanese man really cries a lot....

[@whitethunder9064]

Uh, the Ultimate Survivor is Rantaro! Duh! (Sorry, Danganronpa reference. I had to.)

[@thomascolabella5757]

Thank you for your service. More people NEED to watch Kaiji. May the ZAWA spread!

[@welldonesteak_with_water]

i didnt get the impression that we were supposed to think that the main dude was SUPER righteous. felt like a really weird interpretation tbh. i agree that all the stuff with the old man and the black mask was silly, but overall im fine with how things happened in the end.

[@Infestedhobo1]

6:45, to be fair, he admits he's trolling him during that game, it's not supposed to be a secret at that point.

[@razriri1467]

Quite a few of the criticisms adam leverages here are based around him just not watching the show

[@raggedymuffinz]

@@razriri1467 This is very true. There’s definitely a lot of gripes he has that could have been resolved either by rewatching or simply just paying better attention the first time

[@TheAeriusLight]

​@@razriri1467 Maybe Adam should've watched the dubbed version because it's clear he didn't pay full attention and probably missed a lot of subtitles.

[@razriri1467]

@@SpookerK He says the guy from the beginning of the show who scouted Gi Hun just "vanishes" at the station after they make eye contact. but what actually happens is that Gi Hun runs over to the other platform and watches the scout already boarded on the train who then smiles at him as he drives away and places his hand on the window. That alone is a pretty hilarious oversight for someone who spends quite a bit of time complaining about it being a "cliche that he vanished"

[@raggedymuffinz]

@@SpookerK Also Adum says that it’s never explained why the Officer’s brother is the frontman, even though it’s shown when he’s in the record room that his brother was the winner of the game during 2015, highly implying that it earned him the position somehow. Meanwhile Adum just thinks it’s sequel-bait.

[@stevedaguy9639]

I can’t help but feel like you failed to engage on a lot of the thematic elements of the show. Like the brother being the head honcho was an obvious twist from the start, but it was interesting that he was also revealed to be a winner of a prior squid game before becoming the frontman. And the bit at the end where the MC refuses to kill his childhood friend was the culmination of an entire season of exploration on the value of a human life. And I can’t help but feel like the feeling of frustration at the stupid situation of the old man being revealed was purposeful since the MC was right there with us feeling the same things. Yeah the end was def a bit awkward, but it wasn’t without purpose. I can’t help but feel that most people who talk about the ending are being a bit uncharitable. I might be in the wrong here but I feel like the sense of things not feeling quite right was a purposeful decision because the character was dealing with the reality of his situation as well. Like putting yourself in the position of having won the games what the hell would you do? I’d be even more traumatized. I’d probably donate all the money and self t3rmin8 seeing the shit that guy has seen.

[@KenLinx]

I was like “why is Adam being so positive, this isn’t like him” until the second half of the video hit.

[@moocow5556]

for me the biggest reason i like this is because it was just simple, it did most things above average, and it actually had set-ups and follow-throughs. it was just a quality and entertaining show and that feels pretty rare these days.

[@moocow5556]

also SIDENOTE THAT CONTAINS SPOILERS: i was genuinely disappointed when they showed the candle-light checkerboard room and didnt make them have a candle-light knife fight instead of doing the shitty squid game rain ending thing. i genuinely got hyped up when they were sitting there lookin' all fancy and they were all given knives.

[@nonah7675]

The annoying flashbacks seem to be a common trope in Korean television shows in general. As a fan of Kdramas I accepted it, but hopefully Korean shows drop the trope as they continue to grow in popularity.

[@muizzsiddique]

Good luck with that.

[@Bhazor]

There are a bunch of weird Kdrama tropes that seem to be stubbornly refusing to go. Most annoying for me is the tableaux where every one just freezes in place and we see the same thing from multiple camera angles and it goes on for a full minute.

[@davidc7450]

You didn't really touch on a ton of the themes of the show and I wonder if that detracted from your enjoyment. Like, I don't think the message is that you have to hold yourself to some absurdly high moral standard - just that using people as a means to your own end is generally not a good thing, even though it's often what the systems around us expects or even demands us to do. The old man sees exploitation as part of human nature; it's why he plays up the dementia and is then validated by his only friend taking advantage of him. It's also why, in the end, he refuses to believe that anyone will stop and take care of the homeless dude. It's why he invites the main character to talk to him. Gi-hun did what anyone would do, so why feel bad for himself and leave the money in the bank? But Gi-hun rejects this, even when it's illogical to some degree, because he wants to believe in an alternate world where we don't immediately think about what we can gain from others.

[@luigiwiiUU]

my guess is that Adum has seen it done before

[@raggedymuffinz]

@@luigiwiiUU or, or, he just wasn’t paying that much attention. I’m going to be honest, it’s pretty clear he didn’t watch this show more than once because so many of his complaints had given explanations which he simply had the misfortune of missing

[@luigiwiiUU]

@@raggedymuffinz eh, you cant really explain away an obviously done trope. Not that those bothered me much tho I was just watchin the show to have fun

[@ThreadBomb]

For "staccato" strings, I think Adum actually meant pizzicato. Staccato means the notes are short and separated; pizzicato means a sound produced by plucking a string on a violin (or viola, etc.). They sound very different.

[@Kitth3n]

Wouldnt pizzicato inherently be staccato then

[@nikkisuddenlydidit1510]

@@Kitth3n exactly!

[@edward4840]

@@Kitth3n I mean not really, guitar strings are normally played pizzicato really but that doesn't mean everything you play on guitar is pizzicato

[@BodywiseMustard]

@@Kitth3n No, because the notes follow quickly after one another

[@matteoluca1]

When it comes to the head honcho reveal i felt his motivation was explained in the episode where he kills the surgeon and organ harvesters, when he monologues about how their sin wasn´t harvesting the organs but taking away the "equality" the game offered by cheating, and that was the most beautiful thing of the game since it created that "equal" environment (not really imo) where everyone had the same chances as opposed to in real life where they were unequal. So I understood that he actually beleived in the game as a positive force, and ideological motivation. That made even more sense to me when it was revealed he was the winner of a previous game, therefore cementing that he felt the game was something very special for him and wanted to help produce that opportunity for others from behind the scenes; tbf several friends had that same complaint as Adam, but i felt the pieces all fit together, he wasn´t doing it for the money since he won the game, he was doing it because he believed in the purpose of the game and wanted to help.

[@heymelon]

14:25 Really, is your media analysis that the show is trying to portray him as a *stupid voice* "just a really goood guy okaaay" for not using the money? And not that he is like depressed and the show clearly not giving us a fairly tale ending where the guys is completely fixed by going through a ton of loss and trauma but getting suddenly rich. Also at the last duel, yeah one guy tried to "harm himself" by not taking the money and save the life of his old friend to say F you to this crazy game when it was all said and done, and this is also somehow part of the unrealistic "nice guy agenda"? Jeebz.. Look out Adums friends. Btw, not a stan. I also had several criticisms and didn't like the twist and several other bits but also I did get the themes and messages of the show. Then again 15:36. Thx for the vid :D

[@liebedich6311]

Right? If the main character ended up spending all the money and buying himself into happiness, Adum would say the same shit, but on the other side of the coin. "Oh another cliche! Money does buy happiness!" Film critics are starting to loose their touch with reality.

[@doclinny]

@@liebedich6311 he didnt have to be happy about using the money?? its using absolutely none of it after hundreds of people died for it that's selfish.

[@heymelon]

@@doclinny it was adum who claimed the MC was portrayed as a good guy for some reason by not spending the win money. If you want to add another value judgment and call a super ptsd and depressed guy selfish as well go ahead.

[@liebedich6311]

@@doclinny bad take.

[@aughlnal7333]

16:04 He disappeared in a millisecond? He walks around and sees the guy inside the train with the doors closed. WTF ADAM?!?!?!

[@S475-pb2dp]

Yeah. He's kinda bad at criticizing good material. His criticisms are also arbitrary and irrelevant at times. And sometimes just flat out wrong.

[@WatsonDynamite]

@@S475-pb2dp the point isn't to make good criticism, the point is to talk shit about a nearly-universally beloved piece of media to bait angry comments to drive the video up in the algorithm and make $$$$$

[@S475-pb2dp]

@@WatsonDynamite it's bad either way. Whether he's genuinely trying to make a point but it's bad, or he's being disingenuous, as you said. But I've noticed a pattern with yms. When it comes to good movies, he's not that good at analyzing them, or positing good criticism. Though, when he's talking about shitty movies like Spiderman, WWZ, or Amusement, that's where he's at his best, and those also happen to be his most popular videos..

[@joeiorio9654]

I didn’t view him not spending any of the money as a good thing. He selflessly hoarded and chose not to give it to any of the people who lost family to the Game, he didn’t see use it to see his daughter, he didn’t use it to give to charity, etc Him not using the money should not be viewed as noble. He’s choosing not to do anything. That’s what makes him changing his mind later on more satisfying. Granted, I don’t like the way he changes his mind, but I won’t ignore the intentions they tried to show, and I’m mainly referring to what happened before he changed his mind.

[@abderianagelast7868]

I didn't think anyone did view it as a good or noble thing, and then I got to that point in the video. I interpreted Gi-Hun's actions as irrational decisions made from someone with a combination of serious depression and severe PTSD. That money would be a reminder of everything he went through, of his failure to keep as many people alive as possible, but also of how he now knows that, if his life is on the line, he's willing to deceive even his close friends if it means he can survive. Gi-Hun is not a good person, but that makes him more relatable. He's trying to be better, but he's got a lot of shortcomings. I highly doubt I would be any better if put in a circumstance like that. Anyway, I'm getting off-topic. The money thing is not a noble act, but I think it makes a lot of sense for his character. Unfortunately, the Il-Nam thing kind of ruins it all, especially when we see how Gi-Hun doesn't bother to go help the homeless guy. It feels so much like that scene was intended to be a wake-up call for Gi-Hun by having him go down and help the man himself, and then be like "Wait, I have money, I can do this even more!" It would have been great to see Gi-Hun even give up his revenge on Il-Nam for that, as that would provide a powerful inciting incident for his change. But no, that's not what happened, and then the plane scene was even worse.

[@Luke-zj6ge]

"Noble" LMAO.

[@dsilva369]

Adam, people aren't robots. Just because you can think in a very ethically and intellectual consistent way about the protagonist principles and actions while watching it from afar doesn't mean even you wouldn't act like that in the heat of the moment. Yes, it was possibly hypocritical on Gi-hun's part to complain about how Sang-woo just pushed the old man to his death. Heck, maybe even killing Sae-byok. So what? People are often hypocritical. It would still be shocking to watch an old friend be that cold-blooded. Remember, Gi-hun never actually directly killed anyone in the game. The worst he ever did was in the marbles game, and even then he just went with the flow when the old man began trolling him. He was never as cynical as Sang-woo. Characters are allowed to act on their emotions and not "logic" and that's not bad writing; in fact, people in real life often act that way. That kind of cold-blooded murder ,of simply looking at one of his oldest friends and letting him die before his eyes just wasn't in gi-hun's heart, no matter what he went through. Like sae-byok said, it just wasn't like him. It's also a rebuttal of Il-nam's cynical philosophy on human nature. Also, the show doesn't frame the main character as perfect, the fact that he didn't spend the money for a year isn't meant to be seen as a sign of his "virtue", it's obviously to indicate that he's absolutely broken on the inside and too full of survivor's guilt to be functional.

[@ET-oq1vj]

“He should have bought some therapy” made me crack up unexpectedly

[@kattlocke]

This is the first video from YMS that left me sort of frustrated. While other comments have already mentioned the times where he missed the point, I have one more thing to add: YMS makes a huge deal out of the later parts of the show being “paint by numbers” at times and… I really don’t know why that’s such an issue. With so much media out there, it’s impossible for something to be 100% subversive. As long as a show is enjoyable, does having a few common tropes really matter? Also, Adum constantly nitpicking, and creating strawmen for the common person (normie), is getting more and more egregious with each video. Aside from that, keep up the good work :)

[@luigiwiiUU]

I see it as the paint by numbers parts not being executed in such a way that the cliches can be ignored. Adum likes a ton of cliched media but he considers those really well executed despite the writing

[@weebyboi620]

Yeah complaining that something isn’t original is such a lazy criticism IMO.

[@HeIsFullyBooked]

I think theres a difference between using a tried and true genre trope and literally copy and pasting scenarios from different pieces of media. I understand where he's coming from. If you start watching a show or movie and almost every plot point is something that you recognize from another property, without anything to make it somewhat original or fresh, its going to become very predictable and less engaging in general. I'm not saying that there's no one on earth entertained by cliché, but it can become frustrating when something is being touted as "groundbreaking" or "unique" when in reality it is using the same emotional/plot beats being used for years.

[@CloppingIsMyThing]

I mean you should watch him play Sekiro...

[@kattlocke]

@@noname-dt6sv I didn't mean to come off as angry. I'm sorry if it came off that way- I was mostly just trying to articulate my thoughts. I never said he wasn't allowed that opinion or that he was objectively 'wrong', so I'm not sure why you came to that conclusion. I respect his opinion and I respect yours. I tend to like YMS videos, I just found this one a little misguided. I hope you can respect that. I just wanted to add to the conversation.

[@maude6671]

Anyone else mad about how they handled cigarette lady's storyline? She seemed genuinely funny and cunning in the first few episodes then basically devolved into "oh no my man abandoned me halp". Just felt kinda cheap and forced when I was really looking forward to seeing more of her.

[@UnicornStorm]

I just found her annoying (which might have been on purpose) and just blatantly horrible, not really cunning. Her killing evil guy was okay, but it was presented as too much of a win or good deed for her, which I don't appreciate

[@weebyboi620]

But I liked how she ended her arc by leading him to his death in the glass game. Plus she wasn’t obsessed with the guy she was trying to dissuade other players from playing with him

[@santiagoarauz1580]

Maybe in wrong but for me it wasn’t “oh I need my man to help me” it was “oh s*it, now I’m alone; and also this SOB betrayed me, I’ll get my revenge” she became hopeless because she knew being alone is like being dead in that scenario.

[@raggedymuffinz]

All she wanted was a leg to stand on. She’s manipulative by nature, just really bad at it. You can see later on as she gets more desperate trying to employ the same tactics she used on him to even less practical effect. She’s also just really petty though, so at that point, realizing she was probably going to lose anyway, decided to take out the person who crossed her instead. I mean, hey, she made a promise she would.

[@TheCyanSqueegee]

I honestly viewed it more the way the evil guy viewed it, which was that she was actually just a pathological manipulator so when she became really helpless and stuff it was literally just an act to try to see if she could squeeze a few more pity points out of someone who would help her. I don't think she ever actually viewed herself as a damsel in distress, it was just that that was her preferred tactic for navigating these situations (she was probably a scam artist in her outside life). I ended up hating her character but I also recognized it was played really well, I just hate those qualities in people.

[@TheAnnoyingThing1915]

a lot of the character's choices could be explained if adum understood human empathy. he only empathizes with animals thats why he's a furry

[@tomlangford1999]

Watching Adam point out cliches like cinemasins wasn't how I thought this channel was going to go

[@baemonrawr]

Dude ikr? I used to like the channel but cinema sin level critiques are accurate for this jfc

[@jamiecal11]

it's a shitty form of criticism too.

[@Ariel_emerald]

his videos have gotten better in recent years but this one was a miss

[@rubssi8741]

@@jamiecal11 How is that a shitty form of criticism? Since when are calling out clichés "bad" criticism. If these clichés impact your viewing experience, pointing them out is totally valid. Should we just ignore jump scares in horror movies, cause they're clichés?

[@maninblack3410]

@@jamiecal11 not when the cliches are so old and tired that the use of them actively makes the story worse. Seriously, this wasn’t a good story, everything in this show was either stolen or so cliche it’s paint by numbers. Go watch the anime Kaiji and tell me I’m wrong. The only difference is that squid games somehow made the main character and the old man “likeable” (Kaiji is a bum and a drain on society and the story isn’t afraid to show that and the “old man” in Kaiji is a demented jaded thrill seeker, not someone’s sweet old grandfather) Just theft and watering down of something better.

[@burner627]

"I seen that before that's Bad"- Adam, 2021

[@connieallen6804]

Don’t remember exactly, but wasn’t the whole point that the old man (even before we knew the twist at the end) was faking his dementia to see if the main character would take advantage of him. Like we found that out in episode 6 right?

[@sparking117]

Yeah, 001 calls him out on his bullshit.

[@wephilips6651]

Overall I liked the show, it’s definitely overhyped but that’s completely understandable/explicable. I think it’s starts amazingly and then every episode gets progressively worse with the last episode being the worst but I’d still give it a 6/10 which is not bad at all

[@soulslasher7890]

and i'm giving it a six outta tennnnnnn

[@lampad4549]

@@soulslasher7890 Haven't seen the review yet how much did he give it?

[@lampad4549]

What kinda show would you give 7/10 just curious?

[@tite93]

Did you really just sum up the review like that or is your opinion accidentally identical to Adum's?

[@za-ir5ni]

This doesn't make sense considering that episode 6 is the best episode.

[@beybladesinmyheels1267]

“Wow I cant believe that someone would pay to watch people die in these terrible games” *The camera then pans out to a dim room whose only light is the screen of a squid game illuminating a man on a couch in a blanket*

[@jamesmcintyre1729]

My guy, the front man was a previous winner of the games-it’s literally in the scene of the cop looking through files, the camera pauses on it multiple times; I caught that my first watch through. It’s not 100% explained how he became the front man but he was a previous winner so it’s not hard to make that jump. Also doesn’t the cop mention his brother disappeared before?

[@tobbi_art]

It’s a while since i saw the show, but I’m sure it was mentioned that the brother would disappear months at a time every year?

[@mastermarkus5307]

You're not wrong about a lot of English-speaking roles in Asian shows being a sudden tip into awful, but I don't know _why_ it happens. If I remember correctly from what I know about early video games voiced in English, it can be down to what a director thinks "sounds dramatic" because they don't really know what would sound natural.

[@awethukakaza3373]

I didn't really see the evil VIP's being into men as the usual gay = bad or gay people do bad things but more like with cult leaders and the power dynamics of sex. How cult leaders will have sex with both male and female followers, but it's not really about the sex but about having power and control over someone and essentially being able to do what you want to them. So I took it more as in the golden lion guy being like hey you're cute and I want you, doesn't matter if you're gay or not. I have the power to make you do whatever I want. I didn't get the feeling the golden mask guy was Particularly gay, but just saw those he deemed lower than himself as just objects he can use to satisfying himself and nothing more. Showing the whole you just serve as entertainment for me whether it's dying in a game or sexual favours.

[@delirious4565]

Yeah this was the impression I got too. The men in masks are not "evil", they are powerful, and self-indulgent

[@tarbeck7305]

I don’t think the creators were trying to equate homosexuality with evil, but it definitely came off as if homosexuality was being likened to Western decadence. Especially since despite the naked ladies being used as furniture and decor, showing already how they literally view humans as objects, the sexualization of the cop by the VIP was specifically highlighted and presented as particularly predatory (even his mask was of a predator). I didn’t get the sense that it was a simple power play since he was staring at him and calling beautiful, etc. All that being said it was just a simple plot contrivance to get the VIP alone with the cop, I don’t think they intended it to be read as anything in particular.

[@tarbeck7305]

@@delirious4565 You got the impression that the “men in masks are not ‘evil’”?

[@delirious4565]

@@tarbeck7305 what did they do that you would constitute as evil? I only saw the series once a while ago so can't remember everything.

[@xproflipscarab]

@@delirious4565 That's actually a fair point to make that i never thought about it like that before... The only thing the rich guys are guilty of (Except Big Chungus being a rapist and possible murderer) is conspiracy... All the players were there on their own merit and decide to play on the rich guys just watch... Maybe they also fund it (Highly likely) which is a bit more of a moral question but at the end of the day all the players are given a choice for a chance to get filthy rich ... The only thing I question is them blindsiding them with the first game instead of telling them before hand that elimination = Death

[@Herrikias]

This show taught me that all gay furries are secretly billionaires. Adum, no doubt, either has not been informed of his billions by his parents or doesn't love horsies enough. Ponies will die of heartbreak without your tender caresses, Adum. Do what's right.

[@untrustworthybagel]

Horse Game

[@Winasaurus]

Scoot stole his billions out of the bank when Adum got tendonitis, so couldn't type in his password to report fraud to the bank. Scoot spent it all on commissioning artwork, of questionable legality.

[@adm111490]

adum promised himself the morning he filmed this that he'd use the phrase "paint by numbers" 10 times before the end of the day.

[@FartingSpider12]

YMS misunderstood something somewhat essential as a part of the detective's (and his brother's) storyline. The front man was never the "Main Organizer" or "Penultimate bad guy", he's literally just the man that runs the Korean Squid Game specifically. When the VIPs arrive one of them says something along the lines of "Korea's squid game is going well" which directly implies that there are other squid games in other countries which makes even the Front Man himself just another piece a larger puzzle. Other than that though, I agree with most of the criticisms in this video. Thanks for keeping it real Adam

[@dineshaurus]

Also, he said there was no explanation for the frontman to be turn out as his brother. The cop saw his brother's name on the winners list. So he won in the past then joined the organisers.

[@grizzly3273]

@@dineshaurus Yeah I thought this was covered in the show. How when you become rich you also become bored with everything else, then leading you to seek entertainment in suffering, which then creates a cycle of that scenario which happens to others over and over.

[@mckernan603]

Maybe that line was just slightly awkward English? (the intended meaning being: “the Squid Game of Korea is going well”) I don’t see how it could be a well-oiled international machine if 001 was allowed to control and manage the game.

[@ashenone6166]

That comes across more as a translation issue to me because that then causes more problems. When the titular game is happening at the end one of the VIPs literally asks why a character is doing a certain thing and the front man has to explain the rules of squid game. If there were already other countries doing it (and it's shown that Korea has been doing it for decades) wouldn't this VIP already know?

[@StardewCoffee]

The VIPs were written with clunky dialogue on purpose. The director instructed them to be awkward, milquetoast billionaires. They were suppose to feel inhuman as a contrast to the contestants. Them being try hard philosophy dude bros was so the audience wouldn't see them as "cool villains". You're suppose to hate them.

[@janmdsdks]

I just hate a director instead

[@77ELCREADOR]

Well, the fact that it was intentional doesn't make it any better, it still sucks

[@MXO839]

Just because something is done intentionally by the director doesn’t make it good. The only thing it changes is that it’s now intentionally ass

[@microblast3700]

They suck anyway intent or not

[@lukedrewry2816]

But at the sacrifice of good writing

[@davidgalan2140]

"He shoud have bought some therapy" LMAO

[@Jormbis]

I saw a comment about the slow motion scene was that it built tension. It’s a moment where we are supposed to feel relieved that they finished the game, but this makes us remember, “They may have won, but it’s only going to get worse.” I kinda liked it.

[@AUKronos]

I expected the 6/10 rating and the criticisms of the latter half of the show, but I was interested in your take on the subtext of the show and its overall portrayal of greed, selfish and selflessness acts based on the backstories and circumstances of each character. Their motives and the character development i felt were still strong. Not like it's never been explored before in cinema but this show took social media by storm and its interesting to see such a mature themed show become a worldwide phenomenon. Not even breaking bad reached such craziness of popularity compared to it Decent review, just expected a longer video

[@Nytephyre]

Missed battle royale movies didn’t ya?

[@2401M3NDIC4N7BI45]

Honestly I was looking forward to this too, but it feels like the episode-by-episode format was a cop-out. He didn't really get into the overall themes or emotions or why it's so relatable,a nd instead got caught up in the minutae of each episde. And the whole "oh this is a trope" thing is honestly starting to get annoying in film critique. It's starting to feel like pointing out a trope is a trope is, in and of itself, becoming a trope, so you don't really need to discuss what's actually happening in the story DURING said trope. Yeah, sure, to an audience that isn't a (relatively stupid) compulsive gambler locked away playing death games for multiple days, it might seem a bit obvious. "Of course he's got dementia NOW when it matters." But throughout the show, not just Gi-Hun, but everyone has been basically FORCED to accept things as they are. Before you decide to run across the railing, you'll remember the HUNDREDS of dead bodies from the people who were shot right in front of you, for either breaking the rules, or losing. You'll remember the literal crucifixion of people who apparently "broke the rules of equality." Before you have time to think, "is this old man tricking me?" You'll think "holy shit I only have 10 minutes or I'll be killed." You're thinking "how the fuck do I get this man to stop for 5 minutes to play marbles so I don't get shot." And we also can't forget how he's previously shown having literal PTSD attacks the night before. When he basically got no sleep. One of the most emotional episodes in the series, because it relies on the main character being a despicable person to someone he otherwise genuinely liked and cared about. COMPLETELY gets glossed over because "lul trope ohmygeee."

[@AUKronos]

@@2401M3NDIC4N7BI45 Took the words out of my mouth

[@rigdigwus]

only because people tend to hype every above-avg-show to the fucking heaven. wasn't as bad back then when breaking bad was aired. squiddy game is a decent show but you can't be decent in todays social media. there is only black and white

[@BigBoi653]

Maybe because the message of this show has been done to death already? There's nothing unique about it or interesting to even talk about. Lmao

[@Chris-lw5mw]

06:35 absolute tragedy YMS didn't say "lost his marbles".

[@ruairihair]

There's an article about how a lot of English characters in South Korean movies often use google translate instead of forking out for a translator

[@MJ-kc9ic]

My favourite part was when the one guy knew which glass was which and the front man caught on and instead of being FAIR about it (cause yknow it’s his entire character) he purposely dims the lights so the guy has no clue which one is which anymore causing him to get fucking yeeted

[@santiagoarauz1580]

I agree with you but also it made sense because having this knowledge made it “unfair” because it’s supposed to be a game of chance. It’s kind of BS but at the same time is it’s lol. Kind of weird but I didn’t hate it

[@MJ-kc9ic]

@@santiagoarauz1580 But they have files on everyone. Wouldn’t they have been able to see that number whoever the fuck has an advantage to the game cause he’s a glass manufacturer? If that’s the case then they shouldn’t have done the glass stepping stones game if they knew one of the contestants has an advantage, because the game wouldn’t be fair.

[@santiagoarauz1580]

@@MJ-kc9ic yes but thinking like that about every single participant would make the game impossible to make. Because everybody has an advantage over something. But at least for me the advantage that he had made him way too “OP” in that game. Or maybe it was because they didn’t want it to be boring for the rich men, they wanted the game to be entertaining and “nail bitting”. If the glass maker man would get everybody safe then it would lose the purpose of the game I suppose. I might be wrong but i think the front man does what his superiors tell him to do, even if it’s agains what he would like.

[@MJ-kc9ic]

@@santiagoarauz1580 but in that game, the glass maker dude waited until everyone in front of him died to spill the information that he knows which one is which. However, I guess it’s fair to say that if the front man is told something, he’s gonna do it regardless of his morals cause his superiors told him so. I didn’t think of that.

[@luciuseclipse]

The frontman never really cared about maintaining a "fair" game. Sure he did things to prevent cheating and put up a facade of fairness, but that is only to keep the VIPs interested in the game and investing their money. He dims the lights because actually having the VIPs there in person and voicing their disinterest in the game being ruined by someone who knew the trick meant that he had to please them and make the game interesting again.

[@adrianramirez8882]

Waiting for the American version: Octopus Tournament

[@Keihzaru]

The american version of a game for children with death involved is simply going to class in texas.

[@YAH2121]

Or Adum's version: Horse Olympics

[@lhistorienchipoteur9968]

0:28 That's english-speaking-world's world supremacy for you.

[@Sebongie]

"haha, now you HAVE to win, loser" is the best thing i've heard in a while

[@karamasan1552]

To be fair, all the weird stuff Gi Hun did was after he thought he killed an old man with dementia through cheating him, I took it as him being psychologically disturbed and trying his best to "redeem" himself of the guilt he felt, "why did you push that guy, we are alive because of him", "I don't want the money, I want you to be alive", "another game is happening, I better go stop it", these all sound like attempts from a disillusioned suffering man trying to justify his actions and make himself righteous and act like a hero he desperately wants to be when really he was hard carried throughout the whole games only really having one point where he managed to sort of outsmart the game instead of getting lucky This is also supported by the bet with the old man, he could have gone down there and helped the guy, but he decided to stay there and win a meaningless bet, the guy isn't the peak of moral compass, he's a broken gambling addict who desperately wants to be right and a hero

[@TheCyanSqueegee]

Yeah I mean I still think Gi Hun is a good guy overall who was literally so broken by that point that he couldn't do much of anything but I think this interpretation makes a lot of sense too. Part of me really wanted the show to end with Gi Hun pushing the old man's bed out of the window and then going to help the homeless dude because it would have been cathartic and funny as hell but of course then Gi Hun would probably end up in jail for murdering Il Nam. They definitely could have had him say "fuck your bet" and go help the guy himself which is what I thought would be more likely to happen, but I guess they wanted to really show that him seeing someone else who he thought was robbing the homeless man actually go to get help kind of shook him out of his depression/apathy and made him realize that he could still easily make a difference due to the example of others which couldn't have happened if he just decided to be good on his own.

[@karamasan1552]

@@TheCyanSqueegee For sure, still a good guy, just utterly broken, to the point where he doesn't use the money for anything good (like taking the little guy out of the orphanage or paying his friend's debt) and is willing to let someone die because he desperately needs a sign or something that proves to him that goodness does exist, Il Nam dying before he could see he lost is part of that too, the bet was with him, but even though he started the bet with the intention of winning against him, he's happy someone did do something, he ends up not caring about the bet, unfortunately he does go a little too hard into the hero complex, willing to let his family be disappointed for a chance to redeem what he very clearly sees as a stain in his mind or guilt, but at least he's doing something

[@marlenapowers478]

Exactly!!

[@FTZPLTC]

The great thing about Squid Game is that it takes a concept that's been done a few times (Would You Rather? did almost everything Squid Game did in terms of plot) and then doesn't treat it like the concept alone can carry its runtime. It actually makes an effort to have striking visuals and more importantly good, sustained character development. It's surprising how many "death game" IPs with much smaller casts fail to do that. e.g. after Squid Game I thought I'd check out As The Gods Will, and holy shit, was that a massive drop in quality, because the characters were completely inconsequential at every point. In summary, woo do Danganronpa pls.

[@JakeFromAccounting]

Old man was just pretending to have dementia and be clueless. The main character never actually took advantage of him, he tried but we don’t know if he would’ve went through with it and actually let him die. Old man basically sacrifices himself (but not really) so that main character can continue

[@lezard2102]

wdym the main character literally stands up and goes to the guard saying "Here I got all the marbles" which knows would get the old man killed, till the old man says "ah ha ha ha ha SIKE I still have one marble left, i'mma go fuck around to troll you"

[@JakeFromAccounting]

@@lezard2102 he could barely get the words out with tears in his eyes, i think it’s fair to say we don’t know if he would’ve let it happen. But even then, it clearly hurt him enough that comparing it to his friend pushing the guy that saved them all off with no remorse like adam did is dumb imo

[@lezard2102]

@@JakeFromAccounting Maybe Adam was wrong and things need to be spelled out for the audience. There's a reason both instances of cheating happen in the same episode and it was to show the parallels in both characters. And while Gi Hun learned from it and turned into a better person what he did was still wrong and still makes him a hypocrite for lecturing Sang Woo.

[@minartson]

While I do agree that the last 2 episodes were A LOT weaker than the rest of the show, a lot of these complaints make absolutely 0 sense. 1. The old man didn't get dementia at a convenient time, it was made pretty damn clear that he was faking the whole thing. 2. Walking on beams and licking the honeycomb can not be compared as it was never said how they have to cut out the shape, just they have to do it. As opposed to the glass jumping game where they were instructed clearly to jump on a glass panel to advance, hence it would break the games rules if they tried some funny business with the beams. 3. Gi-Hun acting all high and mighty is actually very relatable. The world is full of hypocrites who act all high and might after everything they have done. It seems like YMS wants everybody to be a perfect trope of a character. If you are good, you are good and if you are bad you are bad, no in-between. 4. Gi-Hun wanting to end the last game isn't anything out of this world. After being the cause of so many deaths and now being in the position where you have to kill your childhood best friend can put you under a pretty heavy mental toll. I do agree about the side plot with the brother, it was utterly pointless and didn't advance or change the plot in anyway.

[@Rini_H]

He literally said that his dementia seemed very convenient which 1. Got him to figure out Il-man's role in the series immediately 2. Took him out of the episode and made it less enjoyable. So he's not saying that he thought the dementia was real but portrayed poorly. He's saying that the way the show wrote a fake dementia plot device was poorly executed.

[@HungL0W]

For under 5 seconds, I was hyped to see that notification for the YMS Dune Review; good or bad. BUT just find out, "the uploader removed the video". Now im NOIDED!!!!!

[@jotarokujoandstarplatinum1280]

13:15 I'd argue it's reasonable that the protagonist makes this decision tbh. They're childhood friends after all. I think it's weird that once a character makes some kind of moral decision like choosing their life over others, you seem to expect them to always make that decision. With the marbles game, he's playing with a terminally ill 90 year old. You'd probably feel less bad killing him over someone you've known for most of your life. I also don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to make your main character come out as a good person in the end? What a weird point. For the record I kinda hated this show. If you liked this show or the concept but not the show itself, I'd recommend the anime Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor.

[@Michae89]

Not to mention that with terminally ill guy he still wasn't the guy that directly killed him, he cheated, sure, but didn't have to plunge a knife into anybody. On top of that it was a kill or be killed situation completely different than the final fight where him not killing the other guy meant that they both get to live. On top of that the guilt from being ruthless before could manifest in this change of attitude and showing mercy. Adum dropped the ball on this one.