How Squid Game is rooted in the Korean debt crisis
3 years, 2 months ago

How Squid Game is rooted in the Korean debt crisis

Live Mint  

Last week, a tweet from Netflix confirmed what a lot of viewers had suspected: The South Korean survival drama Squid Game has become one of the most popular shows on the streaming service globally, with 111 million confirmed fans. Squid Game obviously references several dark chapters from South Korea’s history—the visuals of gun-toting guards overseeing hundreds of jumpsuit-clad players in a gymnasium-like setting are, for instance, inspired by photographs of South Koreans in concentration camps in the 1980s, during President Chun Doo-hwan’s “Social Purification” campaign. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk has cited many films and shows as inspiration for Squid Game, including the well-known manga series Gambling Apocalypse: Kaiji, which spawned the Kaiji anime in 2007-08. Pachinko parlours are big business for Japan’s entertainment franchises too: for example, Neon Genesis Evangelion pachinko machines had earned close to $9 billion between 2004-19, over half of the Evangelion franchise’s total worth.

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History of this topic

Real-life violence that inspired Squid Game left countless dead, survivors were 'frustrated' by Netflix show
Trending News
1 day, 5 hours ago

Real-life violence that inspired Squid Game left countless dead, survivors were 'frustrated' by Netflix show

Hindustan Times  

A factory turned into a battlefield, riot police armed with tasers and an activist who spent 100 days atop a chimney -- the unrest that inspired Netflix's most successful show ever has all the hallmarks of a TV drama. Squid Game is the most-watched show in Netflix history This month sees the release of the second season of Squid Game, …

Real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
1 day, 14 hours ago

Real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'

New Indian Express  

SEOUL: A factory turned into a battlefield, riot police armed with tasers and an activist who spent 100 days atop a chimney, the unrest that inspired Netflix's most successful show ever has all the hallmarks of a TV drama. This month sees the release of the second season of Squid Game, a dystopian vision of South Korea where desperate people …

'Squid Game' returns looking for win with season 2
Top News
2 days, 8 hours ago

'Squid Game' returns looking for win with season 2

Deccan Chronicle  

Stepping onto the set of “Squid Game” season two, Lee Jong-jae felt like he had never left. Lee says when Netflix ordered a second season of “Squid Game,” he questioned the timeline because it took Hwang years to work on the first one. Lee says when he read the scripts he thought Hwang “really is a genius.” It's rare for …

‘Squid Game’ returns looking for win with season 2
Top News
2 days, 9 hours ago

‘Squid Game’ returns looking for win with season 2

Associated Press  

Stepping onto the set of “Squid Game” season two, Lee Jong-jae felt like he had never left. Lee says when Netflix ordered a second season of “Squid Game,” he questioned the timeline because it took Hwang years to work on the first one. “I wondered, ‘How many years will it take him to write season two,’” said Lee. “There’s a …

Nobody wanted to make ‘Squid Game.’ Now it’s making history
2 years, 4 months ago

Nobody wanted to make ‘Squid Game.’ Now it’s making history

LA Times  

I thought it was impossible to make the show and now we have 14 nominations. I think this is the finale of us celebrating Season 1 of ‘Squid Game.’ ” Lee Jung-Jae plays the main character “Gi-hun” The likable antihero Part of that celebration of the series’ first season took place at Netflix’s FYSee space on L.A.’s Melrose Avenue a …

Money Heist: Korea hopes to repeat Squid Game’s success
2 years, 6 months ago

Money Heist: Korea hopes to repeat Squid Game’s success

Live Mint  

The path-breaking success of Netflix series "Squid Game" was a driving force in turning the South Korean adaptation of "Money Heist" into a reality, said director Kim Hong-sun, who believes Korean creators now have "an easier path forward" to showcase their content internationally. Kim Hong-sun, who previously helmed TV dramas like "The Guest" and "Voice", said he hopes viewers enjoy …

‘Squid Game’ season two is coming, Netflix confirms
2 years, 6 months ago

‘Squid Game’ season two is coming, Netflix confirms

Live Mint  

Netflix Inc. confirmed the popular dystopian drama, which took the world by storm when it was released on the streaming service last year, will return for a second season. “Join us once more for a whole new round," Hwang Dong-hyuk, the show’s director, writer and executive producer, said in a letter posted to Netflix’s website Sunday. “Squid Game" quickly became …

AP Breakthrough Entertainer: Anupam Tripathi of ‘Squid Game’
3 years ago

AP Breakthrough Entertainer: Anupam Tripathi of ‘Squid Game’

Associated Press  

SEOUL, South Korea — Anupam Tripathi said his grandfather sometimes read his palm and told him he’d be rich one day. Now, after the global success of “Squid Game” and his turn as Ali Abdul, he’s taking the camera far more seriously. Since the massive popularity of “Squid Game,” which became Netflix’s most watched show, Tripathi has gained more than …

North Korean man sentenced to death for smuggling Netflix series Squid Game
3 years, 1 month ago

North Korean man sentenced to death for smuggling Netflix series Squid Game

Op India  

North Korean man has been sentenced to death for smuggling in South Korean Netflix series ‘Squid Game’ on USB through China and sold their copies after seven high school students were caught watching the show. Squid Games is a popular South Korean drama on Netflix which shows a dystopian world where cash-strapped contestants are pitted against each other in a …

You Can’t Understand Squid Game Without Understanding the Korean Concept Driving It
54 years, 11 months ago

You Can’t Understand Squid Game Without Understanding the Korean Concept Driving It

Slate  

At this point, it’s hard to walk across an abandoned lot without hearing about Netflix’s Squid Game. The South Korean survival drama’s first month on the platform amassed an estimated 111 million views, beating out Bridgerton for the biggest launch in Netflix history. In case you’ve been living under a rock : Squid Game centers on Seong Gi-hun and other …

Why some Korean women are boycotting Squid Game
3 years, 1 month ago

Why some Korean women are boycotting Squid Game

Al Jazeera  

Cheongju, South Korea – It was about halfway through the hit Netflix series Squid Game that Ye-eun Lee had had enough. “I didn’t want to waste my time on the misogyny of Squid Game too.” Squid Game depicts debt-ridden players competing in deadly versions of children’s playground games for a cash prize. It’s this climate of contortion that blames women …

The seedy world of private lending in ‘Squid Game’ is a real temptation in South Korea
3 years, 2 months ago

The seedy world of private lending in ‘Squid Game’ is a real temptation in South Korea

LA Times  

The business card, tossed with expert precision from a motorcycle as it sped away, landed at Park Chul-woo’s feet just as he was nearing the end of his wits. “It can send you down a sand-pit trap.” Customers use ATMs at a subway station in Seoul, where private illegal lending with crippling interest rates is a real temptation for those …

Squid Game, the most popular show on Netflix, was inspired by South Korea's crippling debt crisis
3 years, 2 months ago

Squid Game, the most popular show on Netflix, was inspired by South Korea's crippling debt crisis

ABC  

With its technicolour sets, outlandish plot and wild costumes, Squid Game might seem like just another dystopian fantasy set in the same fictional universe as The Hunger Games. Squid Game's plot, which pits the downtrodden against each other as entertainment for the rich is the perfect allegory for modern Korean society, according to Sung-Ae Lee. Many Koreans are drowning in …

Not just a game: What has made ‘Squid Game’ so popular?
3 years, 2 months ago

Not just a game: What has made ‘Squid Game’ so popular?

The Hindu  

Who would have thought a dystopian story of 465 debt-ridden contestants willing to put their lives at stake for 45.6 billion won, playing a deadly version of a children’s game, would have taken off as it did? Ever since Squid Game ’s premiere on September 17, the nine-episode Korean series directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk has been the most watched and …

‘Squid Game’ strikes nerve in debt-ridden South Korea
3 years, 2 months ago

‘Squid Game’ strikes nerve in debt-ridden South Korea

Associated Press  

SEOUL, South Korea — “Squid Game,” a brutal Netflix survival drama about desperate adults competing in deadly children’s games for a chance to escape severe debt, hit a little too close to home for Lee Chang-keun. “In ‘Squid Game,’ you see characters scrambling to survive after being laid off at work, struggling to operate fried chicken diners or working as …

South Korean Netflix show Squid Game takes over China with illegal streams, merchandise sales
3 years, 2 months ago

South Korean Netflix show Squid Game takes over China with illegal streams, merchandise sales

Firstpost  

“Our assessment is that Squid Game, which is gaining global popularity, is being illegally distributed on around 60 sites in China,” said South Korea’s ambassador to China. “Our assessment is that Squid Game, which is gaining global popularity, is being illegally distributed on around 60 sites in China,” Jang said, testifying remotely from Beijing. As fascination with the show swirls …

Squid Game, South Korea's global hit show on Netflix, speaks to financial despair of the country's youth
3 years, 2 months ago

Squid Game, South Korea's global hit show on Netflix, speaks to financial despair of the country's youth

Firstpost  

“The stories and the problems of the characters are extremely personalised but also reflect the problems and realities of Korean society,” says Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of Squid Game. In Squid Game, the hit dystopian television show on Netflix, 456 people facing severe debt and financial despair play a series of deadly children’s games to win a $38 million cash …

Squid Game review: Why the biggest show today is one of the weirdest
3 years, 2 months ago

Squid Game review: Why the biggest show today is one of the weirdest

Live Mint  

In the middle of Netflix sensation Squid Game — where people put their lives on the line to play children’s games — there is a discussion about “the weakest link.” Variously called “kachhi-mitti” in North India or “kachha-limboo” in Western India, this is described as “a beautiful rule kids used to keep so that the weakest kid wouldn’t feel like …

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