The BETTER Squid Game (Kaiji)

On September 17, 2021, Squid Game exploded onto Netflix, reaching #1 in 94 countries with over 142 million households watching in just 28 days. But what if I told you that Squid Game wasn’t the first of its kind — and that another series did it even better?

📺 Enter Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor – the original death game masterpiece that inspired much of what made Squid Game a global phenomenon. But unlike Squid Game’s fast-paced spectacle, Kaiji slows things down, turning survival into a mental chess match of desperation, betrayal, and raw human emotion.

In this video, I break down:

The shocking similarities between Kaiji and Squid Game 🔍

Why Kaiji’s slow-burn psychological horror hits even harder ⚠️

How both series reflect our real-world class struggle, debt traps, and the illusion of choice 💰

The moral dilemmas that challenge who we are when no one’s watching 😶

👤 Kaiji Itou isn’t a hero — he’s a broken man, a gambling addict, a loser. And yet, through his pain, he becomes one of the most relatable, human, and tragic characters in anime.

💡 If you ever asked yourself “What would I do for money?” or “Is this really all life is?”, this video will hit you like a gut punch.

00:00 Intro
00:50 Kaiji
06:55 The First Game
20:58 The reality of the working world
22:48 The Second Game
28:30 Kazutaka Hyōdō

🔔 Subscribe if you love deep dives into anime, social commentary, and mind-bending narratives.
💬 Comment: Have you seen Kaiji? Do you think it’s better than Squid Game?

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