This comment section is a mess, because the people who didn’t like it seem to REALLY hate it and believe that everyone else absolutely HAS TO hate it too, so here I am giving my very first review here. Let’s start with what I didn’t like. I wasn’t invested in the characters, so I wish that we got to know a bit more about their past, like we did with Nummber 3, so I could be emotional about how much the game and need for money affected them (for better or worse). Another thing I disliked was the music choice. It’s difficult to be emotionally invested in someones fate, when there’s a comical, uplifiting music playing in the background, even as someone’s being brutally toruted. I get that it was a "creative choice", it just didn’t work for me. I thought the descent into violence was a bit abrupt. Realistically, they could’ve sticked to the "mildly sexual stuff" a bit longer, but it was a short drama, so it makes sense. I also didn’t like the overall vibe of the last episode. It was an odd mix between comedy and brutality and I no longer felt like I knew any of the characters or their motivations.

However, there were many things I liked. I liked the concept and the metaphor. I can see people think they’re both overused. But "people playing violent games for money" is a concept as old as time. Before Squid Game and Alice, we had Hunger Games. Before that, we had Battle Royale. Before that, we had Stephen Kings Long Walk and Running Man. It still works for me, so no complaints. I think The 8 Show potrayed capitalism and social inequality MUCH better than Squid Game did. It wasn’t just the villains vs the poor. We got to seee both sides. We got to see morally grey characters. Each floor was clearly representing SOMETHING and it showed some truths. Politicians (7) aren’t the highest. The rich are (8). Politicians need the rich to actually do anything. Both need brutality, police and soldiers (6) to really have some power. They need their brainwashed, spineless pawns (4) and they need the lower class to make them money. While the poor work the hardest, only to barely get by and no matter how united they are, it’s nearly impossible to change it. It was depressing to watch, but VERY accurate, that’s what made this show stand out to me. I didn’t mind the gore, it made sense for the story. It was supposed to make you uncomfortable and it did (alhtough I could do without the sleep deprevation thing, because that was way too dark and seemed out of place, only for everyone to just immediately snap out of it later). The actors were all great. The set looked amazing. And I wasn’t disappointed by the ending.

Overall, it wasn’t perfect, but people giving it 1/10 or saying it’s the worst K-drama ever are being way too dramatic. I could understand not liking the gore, but that’s no reason to say it was trash that had nothing to offer, when it clearly isn’t the case. I think 7 is a perfectly accurate rating.