Death's Game

Death's Game (Korean: 이재, 곧 죽습니다) is a South Korean fantasy reincarnation television series written and directed by Ha Byung-hoon, and starring Seo In-guk and Park So-dam. Based on a webtoon of the same name by Lee Won-sik and Ggulchan which was serialized on Naver in 2019, it depicts the story of a person, who in the midst of frustration, begins a new life with death. It is an original drama of TVING and is available for streaming on its platform, and on Amazon Prime Video in selected regions except South Korea and China.

The series was divided into two parts: Part 1 released on December 15, 2023, and Part 2 released on January 5, 2024, at 12:00 (KST).

Synopsis

The series tells the story of Choi Yi-jae, who being on the verge of falling into hell, experiences death and reincarnation 12 times due to the judgment of Death.

Cast

Main

• Seo In-guk as Choi Yee-jae: a man who lost his will to live after repeatedly failing to find a job for seven years.
• Park So-dam as Death: a mysterious being who condemns Yee-jae to 12 cycles of death and reincarnation before falling into hell.

Supporting

Choi Yee-jae's reincarnation

• Choi Si-won as Park Jin-tae: a 33-year-old second son and successor of Taekang Group.
• Sung Hoon as Song Jae-seop: a 38-year-old extreme sports athlete.
• Kim Kang-hoon as Kwon Hyeok-su: a 17-year-old high school student who's a school bullies' target.
• Jang Seung-jo as Lee Ju-hun: a 35-year-old secret organization fixer who solves any client's request.
• Lee Jae-wook as Cho Tae-sang: a 21-year-old aspiring mixed martial arts fighter who gave up his dream due to his family's circumstances and being imprisoned for some reason.
• Lee Do-hyun as Jang Geon-u: a 24-year-old handsome model and heartthrob who catches everyone's attention wherever he goes.
• Kim Jae-wook as Jeong Gyu-cheol: a 34-year-old mysterious painter who was born in an ordinary family.
• Oh Jung-se as An Ji-hyeong: a 42-year-old detective who wanted to become a great police officer like his father.
• Kim Won-hae as homeless man.
• Kim Gun-Ho as office worker.

Others

• Kim Ji-hoon as Park Tae-woo: the first son and CEO of Taekang Group.
• Go Youn-jung as Lee Ji-su: a novelist who has been in a relationship with Yee-jae since they were college students.
• Yoo In-soo as Lee Jin-sang: Hyeok-su's classmate and a school bully.
• Kim Mi-kyung as Yee-jae's mother
• Choi Woo-jin as Woo Ji-hun: a homicide detective and Ji-hyung's junior.
• Oh Ji-yul as Woo Seul-gi: Ji-hun's daughter.

Extended

• Nam Kyung-eup as Chairman Park: Tae-woo and Jin-tae's father, and the founder of Taekang Group.
• Kim Geon-ho as an office worker / Yee-jae's 11th reincarnation
• Kim Ha-eon as young Jin-tae
• Jung Min-joon as young Tae-u
• Kim Beop-rae as Boss
• Jeon Seung-hoon as Na Tae-seok
• Seo In-geol as Kim Seong-hyeop
• Seo Woo-hyeok as Han Jun-sang
• Bae Gang-hee as Kim Eun-jae
• Han Ye-ji as Park Min-ji
• Lim Ji-gyu as Mr. Kim: Tae-u's right-hand man.
• Jung Yong-ju as Kim Ji-yeong
• Bae Ji-won as Kim Jin-u
• Kim Han-sol as young Yi-jae

Special appearances

• Kim Sung-cheol as Kim Hyeon-su
• Ryeoun as youngest PD

Episodes

Production

Development

Developed under the working title I'm Going to Die Soon (이제 곧 죽습니다; Ije got jukseumnida), Death's Game was written and directed by Ha Byung-hoon, who previously worked on dramas like JTBC's 18 Again and KBS2's Go Back. He based the drama on the webtoon of the same name by Lee Won-sik and Ggulchan. SLL, Studio N and Saram Entertainment managed the series' production. It was supposed to be a JTBC drama and would air on the channel, and stream through TVING.

On January 13, 2023, it was announced by director Ha that the production is in the final casting and filming would begin as early as February and would last for about six months.

On May 31, 2023, Dexter Studios announced that they received an order for VFX technology of the series with a total budget of ₩3.35 billion (US$2.93 million). The period of contract is from May 31, 2023 to January 31, 2024. A representative said, "Visual special effects will be widely used in various scenes as the main character is placed in different environments and conditions each time he lives 12 lives," adding, "the delicate technology will contribute to the drama's fantasy elements and mysterious atmosphere."

Casting

The role of Choi Yi-jae was first offered to Kang Ha-neul.

On February 8, 2023, Seo In-guk and Park So-dam was confirmed for the main roles of the series. On February 21, Joy News 24 reported that the actors conducted a full script reading on the 14th and Seo started to film on the 20th. It also marks Park's small screen comeback since tvN's Record of Youth in 2020, as she took a hiatus to recover from papillary thyroid cancer.

On August 4, 2023, TVING released a video of the star-studded lineup cast namely Seo, Park, Kim Ji-hoon, Choi Si-won, Sung Hoon, Kim Kang-hoon, Jang Seung-jo, Lee Jae-wook, Lee Do-hyun, Go Youn-jung, Kim Jae-wook, and Oh Jung-se.

Original soundtrack

Album

Death's Game soundtrack album was released on January 11, 2024; it contains all of the singles and background tracks from the series.

Track listing

Singles

Release

TVING confirmed the release date of Death's Game would be on December 15, 2023.

On November 18, 2023, it was announced that the series would be available to stream through Amazon Prime Video in 240 countries and territories except China and South Korea.

The series was divided into two parts: Part 1 was released with first four on December 15, 2023, while Part 2 released with the remaining four episodes on January 5, 2024, at 12:00 (KST).

Reception

Critical response

Cine21's Kim Hyun-seung stated that "many works have dealt with the afterlife, but the worldview built by [Death's Game] is quite novel". He also cited that "[Death's Game] is receiving favorable reviews on CG that is rare in South Korea" and "somewhat disappointed that all narratives rely on visual effects".

Viewership

Amazon Prime Video reported that the series has been a hot topic around the world since the released of Part 1 on the 15th. It is the most watched show in Indonesia and Thailand and entered the Top 10 in 43 countries around the world, including Australia, Brazil, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan in December 2023.

Notes

References

External links

• Official website (in Korean)
• Death's Game on Amazon Prime Video
• Death's Game at IMDb
• Death's Game at HanCinema
• Death's Game at Naver Webtoon (in Korean)
• Death's Game at Naver Webtoon