A Film Directed by Takashi Miike

Takashi Miike is basically the Roger Corman of Japan. Every three or four years, he has a flash of quick brilliance buried within numerous films that are simply adequate- well-made within the budget specified but ultimately forgettable. He’s one of those directors who stood out a lot when I first got into extreme Asian cinema back in the early 2000s. Films like Ichi the Killer and Audition became critically praised cult classics that an entire generation of filmmakers took inspiration from. That said, despite how much I enjoyed movies like those, I’ve seen a number of his films that I absolutely hated. Hated. Visitor Q, for example, is probably the most reviled movie I’ve ever had the misfortune of watching.

Lately, I’ve noticed that Miike has been doing a lot of manga or anime-related films. I’m not sure if he’s genuinely into them or if it’s one of those situations where he gets to make one movie a year that he wants to do as long as he cranks out four others for the studio. Just look at his IMDb page! This guy has made something like 120 movies in the past 20 years – that’s impressive, no matter who you are. Today, I’m going to be looking at one of those movies that I assume was cranked out in lieu of some other film: As the Gods Will, a live-action adaptation of the manga of the same name and one of the many inspirations for the popular Netflix series Squid Game. Unlike more overt inspirations for that show, such as Kaiji, As the Gods Will has an almost paranormal aspect to it and, as such, comes across more like Gantz than most other “death game” media.

The plot kicks off in a way that immediately sets the tone for the kind of absurd horror spectacle Miike is known for. High school student Shun Takahata (who was clearly not 16 when filming this lol) is just trying to get through another boring day of classes when, without warning, his teacher’s head explodes. In its place appears a Daruma doll, which announces that the students must participate in a deadly game of “Daruma-san ga koronda”—a variation of red light, green light.

Anyone caught moving is instantly killed, their heads bursting into tiny red marbles. From there, the surviving students are thrown into a gauntlet of similarly twisted, supernatural death games, each themed around traditional Japanese children’s toys and folklore. The games escalate in brutality and creativity, pushing the characters into desperate survival mode while revealing hidden truths about the nature of their reality.

This film does not play around by immediately throwing the viewer into the first encounter with these mysterious death games. the opening scene alone is incredibly gruesome and eye-catching, but for someone like myself who hasn’t read the manga that this is based on, I didn’t know who any of the characters were initially, which resulted in the scene coming across almost like a car crash I was witnessing versus something that I built up to. Eventually, the students discover that the back of the doll has a red button on it and words that say something akin to, “Push this and it’s over,” potentially meaning that if somebody could make it over to the doll and push the button, everyone else would survive. Well, that’s what the remaining kids assumed, until they realized only one person would live, this resulting in even more death.

Later on, you get to see some flashbacks for at least the main characters, but I never really got a good idea of where anyone stood or where their relationships were. The film would present a character that one would assume was a “main character” moving forward, only to have them mercilessly killed like 10 minutes later. I’m sure this comes from the fact that this was adapted from a manga and you almost inevitably lose something when you make that jump, but it made the characters feel less human somehow, and I felt that I didn’t care about their fates nor take their deaths seriously.

As the Gods Will is based on the manga of the same name by Muneyuki Kaneshiro (writer) and Akeji Fujimura (artist), serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 2011 to 2012. I did not have time to read the manga for Squid Game Week, but wanted to at least talk about it so I watched the film instead, just like a slacker high school kid! The film only adapts the first half of the story, meaning it leaves a lot of unresolved plot points compared to its source material. The manga itself takes a slightly different approach in character motivations and game mechanics, but both versions share a love for unpredictable, over-the-top violence and a darkly comedic edge to their carnage.

Given the premise, it’s impossible not to compare As the Gods Will to Squid Game, especially since As the Gods Will predates it by several years. While Squid Game took a more grounded approach with its commentary on economic disparity and social manipulation, As the Gods Will leans fully into the absurd and supernatural. The games in Squid Game are horrifying because they feel like something that could actually happen, while the games in As the Gods Will are nightmarish fever dreams with godlike entities controlling the fates of the players. That said, the eerie similarities in structure, where a seemingly random selection of people are forced to participate in deadly children’s games, make it clear that As the Gods Will was one of the many influences that shaped the Netflix series.

One thing director Miike has always excelled at in pretty much every movie I’ve seen of his is dialogue. He often has long, dialogue-heavy scenes with double coverage that really get into the characters’ mindsets. While the dialogue in this film is nowhere near as well done as a film like China Mafia War, for example, you still see little glimpses of what Miike is known for, even in a film like this that is based entirely on existing source material. Probably the best example of this in the film is a game where a snowboarding polar bear robot of some sort forces everybody to tell the truth under the penalty of death. It’s such a bizarre yet fascinating scene that reminds you of the kind of weirdness only Miike can pull off.

I would say that this film somewhat suffers from having relatively inexpensive special effects when practical effects could have potentially been a better choice. Take the initial opening scene, for example: the Daruma dolls are CGI creations designed to have facial expressions and act somewhat comical to contradict the gruesome brutality of what’s happening. However, they honestly don’t look very good, which makes the movie appear far cheaper than it probably was. In my opinion, a physical Daruma doll would have looked better and cost a lot less money. This has always been an issue I’ve had with a lot of Japanese films – there just isn’t a huge emphasis on spending money on CGI, and when they do, it often comes across as something you’d see in low-end American television shows. This isn’t to say that the film is bad by any means, but it does put the Japanese film industry somewhat behind in terms of wider appeal. The aforementioned Polar bear is especially bad in my opinion, but as one progresses through the film, you almost get Stockholm Syndrome’d into thinking it was a stylistic choice he made. Who knows!

Here’s a quick breakdown of the games in As the Gods Will, summarizing their mechanics and role in the film:

• Daruma-san ga koronda / Red Light, Green Light – The opening game features a giant Daruma doll overseeing a deadly version of red light, green light. If a student moves when the doll turns around, their head explodes into red marbles. The only way to win is for someone to reach the back of the Daruma and press a hidden button before time runs out.
• Put the Bell on the Cat – The surviving players face a massive, godlike Maneki-Neko (lucky cat) that demands they place a bell around its neck. The cat ruthlessly devours anyone caught in its gaze (initially those dumb enough to put on mouse costumes that were provided).
• Kagome Kagome – A group of giant Kokeshi dolls play a twisted version of the Japanese children’s song Kagome Kagome, where blindfolded players must guess which one of them is behind them or be brutally crushed.
• Hand Holding – A bizarre, seemingly innocent game where participants must hold hands or risk death by a wandering alien (?) that is sad he has no friends.
• Seven Keys – Players that retrieved seven keys from the previous games must use them to open a locked door, but only seven can move on.
• Tell the Truth – A snowboarding polar bear forces players to tell the truth under penalty of death. Lying results being forced to vote for the liar, which is then instantly executed.
• Kick the Can – The final game pits players against each other in a battle of strategy and betrayal. A single can must be kicked to win, but competitors are forced to condemn each other or willingly sacrifice themselves to end the game.

Overall, As the Gods Will is an interesting film. It is by no means whatsoever the best film that Takashi Miike has made (in fact I wasn’t sure I liked it at first), but it is so off-the-wall and crazy that it is at least entertaining. The film throws viewers directly into the chaos, at the cost of perhaps a better narrative. It is adapted from the manga of the same name, which was one of the many inspirations for Squid Game.

While As the Gods Will suffers from inconsistent storytelling and a lack of deeper character development, it remains a spectacle of bizarre, over-the-top death games that highlight both Miike’s chaotic style, and it’s something that I’m sure would be poplar on social media if more folks knew about it. Definitely worth watching on Crunchyroll, but perhaps the weakest thing I watched for this review series.