neo

looking forward to this as a fan of both hajoon and minyoung !

i did think that too when watching him being carried off in all the neverending korea vs japan matchups like he was nothing haha... but i think part of that was also just sungbin being sungbin since he's always just been an absolute machine lmao

right the teamwork is the thing i can commend them on. i'm kinda just like "yes you're skilled, i'd root for you too if it weren't for the way you seem to always look down on your opponents and assume every game is an easy win off the bat" lmao... i was hoping some of the individual match ups would knock them down a peg. i did admire alex's tenacity in the team hanging game though, if i had to pick a fav of their team it'd be her 100%.

the hanging game in ep6 was crazy, can't believe they all held on for over two hours. really hoping amotti can pull through for team korea

at the end of ep5 - top 4 for me is mongolia, turkiye, korea and japan (in no particular order)

super sad to see thailand leave! james especially was such a blast to watch, i loved his sass and the fact that he had the strength, teamwork and strategy to match his loud personality.

i also agree as someone who is uk-based but chinese ethnically. confidence and knowing you have the strength and skill to match up is one thing but having the respect for your opponents to match it is what makes a likeable contestant in shows like this... which is what made me root for amotti, sungbin and eunsil in the previous seasons. i wonder if it's a mix of the cultural difference and because they're not really used to team sports... but then again so many of the other contestants are swimmers, crossfitters, martial artists, etc which are solo sports. it's no excuse, really.

absolutely agree. they were way too overconfident from the offset so i loved seeing them get humbled by türkiye in the first round. but then the game against japan was just foul sportsmanship even if it wasn't against the rules as such, they were the only team to even consider stealing the opposing team's crates (also thoroughly enjoyed seeing the korean team beat them overall by that 20kg, which they got without needing to resort to underhand tactics lmao). i fr have players that i'm really rooting for from each team except theirs.

looking forward to seeing previous contestants again, especially sungbin and amotti. also def intrigued about team philippines because of manny pacquiao

still wondering why australia is here lmao... same energy as them joining eurovision while not being part of europe and now physical: asia without being part of asia 😭

an improvement from s2 but i feel like the ending left much more to be desired...

i wonder how they're going to manage to fit so much into 10 episodes unless they're intending multiple seasons... kinda sad that there doesn't seem to be any mention of kaufman appearing, he was one of my favs in the series. i absolutely couldn't stand rashta though (i know i'm not the only one haha), props to LSY for taking on the role though i just hope people do not give the actress herself hate over it.

agreed! i really liked the contestants this season and don't doubt that the top 5 deserved to be there but (despite a few minor switchups) the constant "oh these people are just going to play together" was just starting to get tiring. i wish there were more games that forced them to shine individually outside of the prison matches. i also feel like there were not as many "hidden" secrets/games as i'd have liked unlike s1 although the ones they did have were excellent.

i was especially sad and upset for eunyu and 7high. both were such strong contestants and i would've like to see one of them in the final, especially eunyu. i was not the most fond of 7high initially but i grew to really like how he approached things, it seemed like he was one of the most adaptable players who knew how to make a good balance of team playing and solo playing. it was just so clearly split with the ranks from the start and remained that way with little shifting, unlike the first season where the winner had his fair share of time going through hardships among the lower ranks and in prison, which made me root for him even more and be glad that he won in the end.

up until last week (ep9) and even first half of ep 10 i was fully invested but as soon as they brought out the semifinal game it was so frustrating how easily rigged it could be with an alliance just by repeatedly one person making a silly bet and another calling it out and then flipping it around. if it's semi-final it should be every person for themselves with little to no way to form alliances to manipulate the outcome etc to make it entirely fair. like come on now... it just got so annoyingly predictable from there.

i thought that about hyunjoon from the start haha, even the way he speaks

whew that end for ep9... so intense... i think my bet is on one of the three remaining women (all are so strong in their own ways), hyun gyu or 7high to win but i've been unexpectedly surprised by how well hyunjoon has done so far as well. it's really anyone's game at this point, so many good players have gone.

so shocked to see sedol gone so early on, really thought he'd end up as one of the finalists he was so good. likewise with harin, though the poker game was so intense, everyone did so well.

hyun gyu is my fav so far (rooting for him to win) but i've grown to love the prison contestants too as the prison games really makes you root for them... i really want to know what that underground game was though

agreed, as a fan of the og series and yjh being my fav chara i was beyond disappointed by the casting news. both appearance and acting wise it is not giving.