“Squid Game” Netflix Series: When Is Season 2 Coming? What you need to know

“Squid Game” has been running worldwide on Netflix since mid-September 2021 and was specially produced for the streaming service. In almost all countries, including Germany, the series is number one and is the world’s most successful non-English-language Netflix series. It is foreseeable that it will be the most successful title of all and will even replace the romantic US historical series “Bridgerton”. The first season consists of nine episodes. In Germany, in addition to the Korean original version – also with German subtitles – German and English language synchronizations are available.

456 people voluntarily take part in a competition that, as it soon turns out, only one can win and in which all the others are killed in six individual rounds. After the first round, only 201 participants remain. The cash prize will be displayed in a giant glass ball on the ceiling of the dormitory. With every death it grows by 100 million won (currently a good 70,000 euros); then more bundles of money fall from above into the crystal ball. In the end, the prize money amounts to 45.6 billion won (around 33 million euros). Because every death increases the sum, grueling fights break out among the participants, even outside of the competitions. The dead are removed by the uniformed and masked guards and cremated in an underground crematorium.

In the first round, the 456 participants come to a hall, at the end of which an oversized robot dummy with automatic submachine guns is set up. The participants have to reach the other side within five minutes, but are only allowed to move as long as the head of the doll is turned away, so she looks away: “Green light!” If she turns to the participants, it says “Red light” and it everyone who is still moving will be shot. 255 people, significantly more than half, are lying dead: a murderous variant of the German children’s game “Ochs am Berg”.

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“Squid” is the English word for squid. Korean children play the traditional “Squid Game” on a playing field in which an octopus is shown schematically. The attacker first jumps on one leg until he has reached the body of the octopus. The defender has to push him out of there in order to win. The series originally had the working title “Round Six”, so sixth round. Because the squid game is the last of the six life and death competitions.

In the nine episodes of the first season, which last a total of 485 minutes, around 500 people die a brutal, violent death, an average of one every minute. The blood splatters, heads burst, corpses pile up. This aesthetic of blood, if you want to call it that, can be found similarly in current computer games, in the recently released movie “The Suicide Squad” (from 16 years) and in the “John Wick” films (part one also from 16 years old) , Parts two and three from 18). Most 16 to 18 year olds are probably not to be frightened of that. Many parents are likely to perceive such scenes as intolerable carnage, but they now correspond to viewing habits.

“Squid Game” does not have a classification by the Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Film Industry (FSK) because this is not intended for in-house productions by streaming services. However, Netflix has to point out an age rating according to the Youth Protection Act and does so: from 16 years. For this classification, criteria of the Voluntary Self-Control Television (FSF) can be used, which states for this age group among other things: “In programs that are released for an audience of 16 years and older, drastic depictions of violence must be embedded in a narrative context so that they can be perceived in a distant manner. “The violence must be” relativized by the overall message of the format, “it continues. “Although the protagonists also break rules, their transgressions are comprehensibly questioned.” For comparison: The similarly drastic, albeit less bloody, successful film series “The Hunger Games” has been approved by the FSK for ages 12 and up.

The main character Gi-hun, portrayed by Lee Jung-jae, is a runaway young man who is chronically broke and gambles in horse racing. When he was invited as a teammate, he was attracted by the amount of money, not least to be able to pay for hospital treatment for his diabetic mother. In each of the six competitions, he tries to act morally.

Unlike all other adversaries, no one dies as a result of their immediate action. A direct opponent of his initially appears to have been killed, but survived. Another kills himself. At the same time, Gi-hun forms a group that consists of supposedly weaker fighters who, thanks to their team spirit, prevail against the others.

Gi-hun is a deeply moral figure in a totalitarian system, embodied by masked, uniformed command receivers. He of all people, who not only thinks of himself and for whom money is not everything in the end, can win the deadly game – that is the message, and “Squid Game” also resembles the film series “The Hunger Games” in this respect.

The competitions are held in front of a group of rich, gross, and deeply amoral men who bet on the contestants in their own luxury box. It looks like a modern form of gladiatorial combat in ancient Rome. The rows of uniformed guards are reminiscent of “The Hunger Games” as well as the “Star Wars”, that is, cinematic interpretations of totalitarian systems of the past.

The Squid Game ensemble consists of some very well-known South Korean actors and actresses. In addition to Gi-hun, it is above all the members of his supposedly weak team and his opponent who the story revolves around.

Gi-hun wears the number 456 on his overall, so he was the last participant to be included. Before it really starts, he learns Oh Il-nam know the number one. He is the oldest player, increasingly suffering from dementia, but helps the group by remembering the games from his childhood. He is embodied by Oh Young-soo, a well-known theater actor who is approaching 80 and who, according to his own account, has participated in more than 200 productions since 1967, including the role of Faust von Goethe. He has often played Buddhist monks, and he also shows a spiritual side in “Squid Game”.

The figure of also plays a major role Kang Sae-byeok, played by Jung Ho-yeon, a 27-year-old successful model who has appeared on the cover of several Asian fashion magazines. She embodies a withdrawn, disaffected young woman from North Korea who has not got on her feet in South Korea and who wants to use the prize money to open a future for her younger brother, who lives in an orphanage.

The role of Cho Sang-woo describes an ambitious financial expert who belongs to the Gi-hun group, but cares little about the others. He is embodied by Park Hae-soo, who has so far mainly appeared in the theater and in television series.

Gi-hun’s opponent is Jang Deok-su, a greasy, psychopathic petty criminal who also gathers a group – all men – around him. He is embodied by Heo Sung-tae: The former television salesman who studied Russian appeared on a talent show ten years ago and has since appeared in more than 60 film and television productions. In “Squid Game” is his brief liaison with Han Mi-nyeo, wonderfully chatty embodied by Kim Joo-ryung, his fate. Here, too, a strong moral message is conveyed on the side: the oppression of a woman is staged as disgusting, and it becomes the man’s undoing.

The role of Ali Abdul describes a young Pakistani who has sought his fortune in South Korea in vain and now wants to enable his family to have a good life at home. He is played by Anupam Tripathi, an actor from India who came to Seoul in 2010 to study and has since appeared in numerous films and series, often in the role of a guest worker.

Whether there will be another season is still open, but there are some indications. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk said he had no plans, but outlined a concrete path: “It is quite tiring to even think about it. But if I did it, I certainly wouldn’t do it alone. I would consider using a team of writers and I would want various experienced directors, ”he told Variety magazine. And lead actor Lee Jung-jae has already publicly announced that he is ready to take on the role in a second season. At the end of the first season everything remains open, because the competition starts again. A second season could follow seamlessly.

The idea for “Squid Game” is more than a decade old and comes from Hwang Dong-hyuk, who wrote and directed the script. The 50-year-old’s previous films have drawn 18 million viewers to the cinemas in South Korea, but “Squid Game” overshadows everything. Lee Jung-jae, who plays the main character Gi-hun, is also a well-known figure in South Korea, whose filmography lists more than 30 films since 1993. He’s nearing 50, but looks a lot younger in this role. He was surprised at the success of the series in an interview, especially because he shows a humorous side that he has seldom acted out before. “I hope this will spark a love of a lot of other Korean content in the international audience,” he told the Korea Herald.

The “Squid Game” takes place predominantly in hermetically sealed halls in which the deadly competitions are held. At the beginning and at the end, the real world is shown: the South Korean capital Seoul, a glittering ten million metropolis with strong social contrasts.

The main character Gi-hun comes from a poor background. Some scenes show a misery that young people in Germany do not experience, for example in the market where Gi-hun’s mother works. But otherwise, Seoul is an interchangeable city in the series that can be found all over the world. The fact that Korea is a divided country, as Germany was until 1990, only plays a marginal role: One important figure is Kang Sae-byeok, who fled North Korea and sought her fortune in the south in vain.

Perhaps the enormous popularity of the series also shows how cosmopolitan the young generation of today is, because they obviously identify with the Asian performers without any effort. Just a few years ago, a Korean series could at best have achieved the status of a lover, but not this resounding success.

Here is the photo gallery: These are the characters from the series “Squid Game”