raj_page's review
4.0
When I picked up this series, I had the movie in my mind. I was surprised with the lack of violence in the manga.
That brings us to the main thing I wanna discuss: motivation. The motivations of the protagonist and the antagonist are completely different from the movie and for me, that was the best part. Ohk, the villain's motivations, which we find in the last chapter, made little sense to me. But that gave the ending even more impact. We will keep guessing whether this deranged maniac had any other cards up his sleeve. Some mysteries are never solved.
This is in stark contrast to the movie as the motivations were not vague. The characters were not doing things because they were deranged. They cards are all on the table. It is an action thriller.
I believe that one should both read this manga and watch the original Korean movie in order to really enjoy the full experience.
And a non-brutal ending isn't such a bad thing, is it?
That brings us to the main thing I wanna discuss: motivation. The motivations of the protagonist and the antagonist are completely different from the movie and for me, that was the best part. Ohk, the villain's motivations, which we find in the last chapter, made little sense to me. But that gave the ending even more impact. We will keep guessing whether this deranged maniac had any other cards up his sleeve. Some mysteries are never solved.
This is in stark contrast to the movie as the motivations were not vague. The characters were not doing things because they were deranged. They cards are all on the table. It is an action thriller.
I believe that one should both read this manga and watch the original Korean movie in order to really enjoy the full experience.
And a non-brutal ending isn't such a bad thing, is it?
earlapvaldez's review
5.0
Finally finished the whole series. I daresay that this is one amazing psychological thriller, which could have been captured in a different movie or anime series (on its own Chan Wook Park's rendition is a masterpiece, and I realized that his version is so far off from Garon Tsuchiya's). The violence that the manga series evokes is not graphic as the film's, but it's in the flurry of tricks and strategies that made the "game" more exciting. In the end, the whole reason for these events is so so shallow, but this made everything crazier than it ought to be.
Amazing work, Garon Tsuchiya.
Amazing work, Garon Tsuchiya.
More...