Japanese media outlets both congratulated and expressed disappointment at the historic win of “Squid Game” at the Emmy Awards.
On September 13, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported the achievements of “Squid Game” at the 2022 Emmys and said, “Korean entertainment is actively entering the world. The status of Korean content has increased, including an Academy Award for Parasite, BTS’s nominations at the Grammy Awards.”
TV Asahi, a Japanese private broadcaster, also said, “‘Squid Game’ is the first non-English series that has been awarded at the Emmys. Even though it is about Korean games that English-speaking people do not know, 142 million households around the world watched it in a month.”
On the other hand, some Japanese media showed mixed reactions to the historic achievements of “Squid Game”.
Local journalist Daily Gendai said in a report on September 14, “’Squid Game’ changed history. At first, I thought it was a simple survival game, but I was drawn to the story in which human complex emotions intersect. However, there are still complicated feelings.”
In Japan, opinions surfaced that the story of the protagonist of “Squid Game”, where he starts gambling at the risk of his life to repay a large debt, is similar to “Gambling Apocalypse: Kaiji”, a manga series which has been serialized since 1996 in Japan and made into an animation.
Daily Gendai said, “(The story of ‘Squid Game’) is similar to ‘Kaiji’ or ‘Liar Game’ of Japan. ‘Squid Game’ winning at the Emmys is a good thing, but for Japanese people, it feels a little unfair. It’s true that we can’t just be happy.”
Daily Gendai continued, “The Korean film and drama industry is striving to foster talent while not forcing on-site staff to work low-wage. If this continues, the gap between Korea and Japan will continue to widen. Some have pointed out that it is time for Japan’s entertainment industry to change.”
In fact, Japan has been very popular with the content about a deadly survival game, a genre in which people risk their lives and money to survive. Most famous works include “Gambling Apocalypse: Kaiji”, “Liar Game”, and “Battle Royale”. Director Hwang Dong Hyuk of “Squid Game” also confirmed that he was inspired by Japanese comics and animations when creating “Squid Game”.
This is also the reason why “Squid Game” was under suspicion of plagiarizing Japanese works when it was released. In this regard, culture critic and journalist Soichiro Matsutani said in a Yahoo Japan article in October of last year, “The biggest attraction of works about deadly survival games in Japan is ‘lightness’, and ‘Squid Game’ became a global hit by drawing its light material heavily.”
Osamu Suzuki, a famous broadcast writer, also praised “Squid Game”, saying, “When I first heard the setting, I thought, ‘This is Kaiji,’ but after I watched it, the more I felt, ‘It doesn’t matter’.”
Source: daum
