Sorry, but you're already living in the “Squid Game”

It is reminiscent of communist revolutions of the past where people choose to overthrow a system to establish a totalitarian system so that they can get some gain out of it.

The social critique of Squid Game isn't the squid game. It's the world outside the game. It's why so many of the participants not only volunteer but also volunteer to come back after having already experienced it. The world outside the game show is portrayed as so bleak that hundreds of people would rather compete in a life-or-death "game" that promises fairness and a life-changing cash reward.

And the critical message of the show is that this world outside the game is not significantly different from ours. The game is a grotesque exaggeration of a get rich quick scheme but there are plenty of examples for people hoping to beat the odds or being willing to scam others for promises of great fortunes (look no further than the way the GameStock pump and dump was framed as a proletarian revolution until it was revealed most of the stock movement was the result of established investors jumping in to cash out on the gullible masses still tweeting "diamond hands" memes as the tide was starting to turn).

The cheap gore horror sells the show, but the implications of the story it tells, what people are willing to do to themselves and others for the promise of a carefree life, and how characters from all walks of life can end up in the gutter and devoid of hope, is why people dig their claws into it for more than just a few viral marketing memes. It speaks to the zeitgeist, especially during a pandemic that has repeatedly demonstrated failures of government and society, and economical interests being placed above the individual's well-being.

Before 2020 many people likely believed that their country would come together in a crisis like this, that people with power would forego their own interests for once an help out or that the wealthy wouldn't do less than even the bare minimum to contribute to the society that made them rich. In 2021 I don't think there are many people left having any such illusions about the systems they exist within.

So yeah, detached rich people betting on the dying and desperate like horses in a race strikes a chord with people right now. A show casually presenting a social reality in which poor people are willing to participate in such a "game" even more so. Note that this show's success on Netflix followed both The Platform and Snowpiercer (or the serialization thereof) as well as Parasite and Knives Out. There's a common thread between the themes of these films and Squid Game managed to strike the nerve.

Back in 2007, Netflix wasn't a globally available streaming service and they were still sending out DVDs.

> would not have looked twice at Kaiji

I still wouldn't, it's a cartoon, I'm not into cartoons.

> it first had to be publicly announced as 'popular'

I didn't figure out it was popular until after I finished watching the show. Meanwhile, while watching the show, I was telling all my friends about how much I liked it and recommended it to them.

Your comment reeks of "I have superior taste and people who watch Squid Game are sheep". Just accept that some people might just really like this show while not being interested in the Manga you enjoy.

They all live in a strongly capitalist society, which works in the same way as the squid game does, just less gory but still brutal. It is still a competitive race to the top where the losers are left behind. That's exactly capitalism and meritocracy for you, if you didn't get it yet.

What the squid game organizers offer to them is, at least for once a fair-ish opportunity. The players all take it, even if they know they will very probably die. It is still fairer to them than a life in the capitalist hellhole that is South Korea in the show.