Death’s Game delivers much-needed life lessons in a world that can be so emotionally and mentally exhausting.
Amazingly constructed, Death’s Game utilized its amazing cast to the fullest to bring such an enthralling story with life and death as a subject.
- Main Cast: Seo In Guk } Park So Dam | Oh Jung Se | Kim Ji Hoon | Lee Jae Wook | Kim Jae Wook | Lee Do Hyun |
- Go Youn Jung | Jang Seung Jo | Kim Kang Hoon | Choi Siwon | Sung Hoon | Kim Mi Kyung |
- Thrill/Addictive Meter:
- Overall Rating:
- Rewatch Value:
- K-Dramas of Similar Vibe: See You In My 19th Life | Alchemy of Souls |
abbyinhallyuland watches Death’s Game on Prime Video
K-DRAMA RECAP: “Death’s Game” Part 1 Drifts To An Explosive Death-Defying Journey
Death’s Game Episodes 5 to 8 Recap
8th Life
Agonizing over Ji-su’s death, Choi Yi-jae shoots Death with her gun but as flame can’t be burned, water can’t get wet and Death cannot die. Vocally expressing his eagerness to make Park Tae-woo pay for his sins, Death reminded Yi-jae that she would intervene when his intentions did not follow the rules of the game.
Agreeing to continue the game, Yi-jae wakes up to the body of a psychopath painter Jung Gyu-chul. He is a serial killer who uses his victims’ blood for his artworks.
Using Gyu-chul’s killer’s instinct to awaken Tae-woo’s similar murderous spirit, Yi-jae was able to record Tae-woo killing Gyu-chul.
9th Life
In his 9th life, Yi-jae transmigrated to the body of Detective Ahn Ji-hyung. Unfortunately, his career is not that illustrious as he often evades the hard part of his job as a detective. But with Yi-jae inside him, he gets popular after a video of him subduing a man running amok went viral.
He also leads the police team to the lair of Gyu-chul and solves the serial murder case. However, the powerful Tae-woo who plays god was able to manipulate the police and public sentiment. After admitting to the murder of Gyu-chul, he reasons his choice was to kill or to be killed. With Gyu-chul’s body not found, he escapes the sticky situation and gives back the humiliation to Detective Ahn.
But Yi-jae crafted a payback using all his memories so far in finally pushing Tae-woo to a miserable existence. However, Ji-hyung meets his demise when he sacrifices himself to fulfill a promise to the daughter of his detective partner.
10th and 11th Lives
Waking up to his 10th life which is a beggar. Yi-jae visits the wake of Ji-hyung and gets a realization that the lives he has lived so far are not his. Eager to end the game, his 11th life took him back to the man he saw died after being driven mercilessly by Tae-woo.
12th Life
Death was not joking when she said Yi-jae gets to experience difficult and heartbreaking deaths as the game progresses. For his final transmigration, he wakes up to the body of his mother. He agonizes over her pain when he gets her memories that are only full of worrying about him.
To return the love he failed to give after deciding to end his life, Yi-jae in his mother’s body fulfilled his promise of hiking a mountain that her mother liked to go to as they used to go there as a family. On her way down, she unfortunately fell, but Yi-jae’s heartfelt prayers made her mom survive and live a life longer than him.
When his mother dies and he faces Death again, he pleads with her to give him another chance at life. Without any more bullets, Death gives him another chance with a bullet that could either kill or give him what he yearns.
Yi-jae pulls the trigger and wakes up to the night when he is about to jump from his rooftop place, his phone rings showing his mother as the caller.
Death’s Game Quick Series Recap
Death’s Game, based on a popular webtoon of the same name centers on Choi Yi-jae (Seo In Guk), who is down on his luck in every facet of his life. Overwhelmed with all of his failures, Yee-jae decides to take his own life and “control death.” Death (Park So Dam) then decides to punish Yi-jae and he is reincarnated 12 different times, living 12 different lives. As a part of his punishment, Yi-jae must stop their imminent deaths.
Death’s Game Series Musings
Uniquely ruminative, Death’s Game does not give tearjerking moments despite its emotional premise. It’s the kind of narrative that satisfies the logic and emotions of people who might have the same experience as Choi Yi-jae.
Appealing to anyone who experiences recurring frustrating moments in life, this series validates that emotion and reassures that there are enough reasons to not consider ceasing to live.
Notably, each story of the character Yi-jae’s soul transmigrated to provide crumbs of relevant lessons to use while navigating life. That includes life being fleeting, having reservations about trusting someone and being conscious of the people who truly care.
Emphasizing how living in fear of a bleak future does not equate to justifying giving up on life, the focal character went through various lives to reach a full understanding of what he could have held on to life before considering ending it.
One point that stands out in the story expounds on the idea that revenge as a motivation to live can never make someone happy.
It also gives sound advice that if you can’t find your purpose in life, you can start by keeping a promise to yourself or your loved ones.
Unreservedly contemplative yet exceptionally focused, Death’s Game mounts a simple but substantial pitch to people who are trying to get the weight of the world when they only have two hands.
Don’t be afraid to look around or ask for help when burdens are wearing you out.
If you are looking for a retrospective series that provides unfiltered life messages, the eight episodes of Death’s Game take you on a rollercoaster of emotions without tears but make you ponder and value life if you have recently taken it for granted.
All episodes of Death’s Game are available on Prime Video!
Photos TVING Drama
