One of the best ways of learning new things about languages and different cultures is to be exposed to stories that are made in parts of the world that are not your own. In a globalized world, this has only increased as the years go by. A factor that helps with distinct stories reaching broader ranges is the streaming services. There has never been a time when someone had the possibility of such diversity in their watch-list. This leads to a few countries standing out from each other, and Korea has neared the top of that list.
Korean films and series diverge from thrillers to cute romance stories to even supernatural tales; some even broke important records, especially in viewership. This is especially the case when everyone stopped to watch the 2021 series, Squid Game. The first season was a groundbreaking success. Everyone cheered when the show was renewed for a new season, but the wait for the continuation of this violent story may still be a long way to go.
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Some of that has to do with why and how Squid Game was created in the first place. Here’s a bit more about Korean cinema and why the second season of Squid Game may take even longer to come to your small screen.
South Korean Cinema
CJ Entertainment
K-dramas have been famous for a very long time now, starting to become popular back in the 1990s when Korea invested a lot in its entertainment industry. However, it was in the 2010s that this success became more worldwide. Various people, including Angela Killoren, CEO of CJ ENM America, attribute this success to the stories being written with the ‘female gaze’ in mind, something that is not as common in Western television. K-dramas have been done in multiple genres, but romance-orientated stories have been the most popular for a while.
Even though Korean television shows were popular, their movies didn’t have the same reach. That started to change in 2020 when the thriller about social class, Parasite, written and directed by Bong Joon-ho, won a surprising four Academy Awards: Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best International Feature, and Best Original Screenplay. After that, there was a high increase in the search for more Korean stories. As was seen at the Cannes festival this year, the Korean movie Decision to Leave won Best Director, and is one of the strongest bets of the country to get on the Oscars nominated list.
Squid Game Was a Real Life Result of Parasite
Netflix
In fact, it was the international success of Parasite itself which gave Squid Game’s creator the confidence needed to go forward with the series. As he told Deadline, “When Parasite was not only nominated for the Oscars, but also won four trophies, I was so surprised. Those wins gave me a lot of confidence and motivation to go forward. And it made me realize that, from now on, if we make really good shows, we can be acknowledged in Hollywood and in other parts of the world. I thought that more opportunities would be opened and waiting for us in the future, but I never expected that it would happen to me.”
Nevertheless, when Squid Game premiered on Netflix, no one could have said that it was going to surpass the biggest hit show by the streaming service at the time, Bridgerton, in merely 12 days. The success of the show didn’t stop at being watched in a staggering number of houses worldwide; when it came to the Emmy Awards, the series also collected an important number. Hwang Dong-hyuk never imagined this; in fact, he never imagined a season two.
Squid Game Season 2
Squid Game premiered on Netflix back in 2021. Since then, fans have been waiting to see what will happen to the main character, Seong Gi-hun, after finally escaping the games — or did he? Nevertheless, there has been very little news about the next season for various reasons, but the one that strongly dictates how slow the process has been is simple: it was never intended to have a continuation.
If fans of the show recall, in the finale there is a somewhat open-ended storyline that could lead to another season. However, most stories are closed, especially because most of the characters didn’t survive the game. Those who run the game and are delighted to see violence in gruesome levels happen were also identified. So, a new season would have to introduce a lot to be able to be entertaining. And the showrunner and creator of the show, Dong-hyuk, is having a particularly hard time doing it.
Dong-hyuk wrote the entire first season alone and took him 10 years to complete the scripts. Now, there is a writers’ room that can help him with it – but that doesn’t necessarily make his job so much easier. There is clear respect and love for his story, especially because it took him so long to finish and sell it, and it’s highly unlikely that he will do anything that he doesn’t feel is 100% right for his show. It is said that the new season will air only in 2024, completing three years after the first season aired on the streaming service. And while fans can’t help but be eager to see what happens next, most will probably prefer that the showrunner is as proud of the second season as he was of the first one.
What Can We Expect
In June 2022, it was announced via Twitter that the second season of Squid Game was officially happening. Not much regarding the plot has been announced. Also, without knowing much, the fans continue to think and talk about the show. Nevertheless, there have been a few announcements, like the boyfriend of the iconic killing doll in the first round, Young-hee, being introduced. This already triggers many memories for fans and everyone that had an internet connection when the show aired. Lee Jung-jae, the protagonist of the show, told People, “You want the whole package at once, so I’m just waiting for director Hwang to give me the whole scenario, and I’m really excited for it.”
If you are eager to continue watching similar great series while waiting for the new season, rest assured that there are various Asian shows and movies to watch that are similar. Alice in Borderland is a Japanese series by Netflix that has strong shared characteristics with Squid Game. A group of friends is transported into Tokyo in a parallel universe where they have to play deadly games to survive. Another one is a Japanese movie called Battle Royale. A group of ninth graders is selected to fight to the death on a secluded island, in a game called Battle Royale. These are only a couple of examples, as there is a lot to watch before the next round begins.
