- He's so cute. You monster!
♪ (upbeat music) ♪
- (whistles) (blows raspberry)
- This is cool that they play that there too.
This is such a universal game that other countries also know about.
- (React) The first game played in Squid Game
is Red Light, Green Light, a popular children's game
played all over the world. - Right.
- (React) And while the general rules of the game are the same,
what the game is called varies by region.
- Ohhh. - (React) In Korea,
the game is called mugunghwa kkoci pieot seumnida.
- Which is what she sings! - Uh-huh. I had no idea
that's what she was saying. - (React) The first part,
"Mugunghwa kkoci," translates to "hibiscus flower,"
or the rose of Sharon. - Hey, rose of me?!
- (React) The second part, "pieot seumnida,"
translates to "has bloomed." So, "the hibiscus flower has bloomed."
- ♪ The hibiscus flower has bloomed ♪ I'm not gonna even try
to do the Korean version. - (React) But let's take a look
at the title card. Since the general rules of the game
are the same, the overall translation here works fine.
- Okay. - (React) The title card actually
translates to "The day the hibiscus flower bloomed."
- Oh! So, the day it all started! - (React) While I understand
they chose Red Light, Green Light, 'cause that's the game they play...
- Yeah. - (React) ...I feel like
a more appropriate title would be something like
The Day the Light Turned Red. - Ooh! That's cute.
I love this [censored]! Ah, I love it!
- She's actually one of my favorite characters.
- Hey, Sae-byeok. (chuckles)
- She was so good.
- (React) A few of the characters have names that also have
a second meaning. - Oh, okay.
- (React) Let's go over Kang Sae-byeok.
We're going to remove her family name and just look
at her given name, which means...
- Dawn. - So, a new beginning and...
- (React) Right. This can signify a variety
of things, but we'll pick the most obvious and say
it means a new day or a fresh start
for someone who's faced hardship since birth.
- Mm-hmm. That's-- yeah, that makes sense.
- With the North Korea situation... - (React) Yeah.
- ...checks out. - (React) And kind of gives you
a little bit of context when he says...
- "Doesn't really suit you." But it does.
- (React) But it does. - He just doesn't know it yet.
- (React) The second person we're gonna talk about is the old man.
- Oh, that guy, huh?
- The old man's name is significant, isn't it?
- (React) It is. - I felt it in my bones!
And he was so cute! Why did you have to be
the way you are? - (React) So, his name is Oh Il-nam.
We remove his family name, and his given name actually means...
- Literal. - (React) ...first man.
- [Censored]! - (React laughs)
- What?! - Ahhh, that's so cool.
- (React) Weird, right? - Yeah.
- I hate this [censored] scene.
- This scene hurt so bad.
- (React) Finally, we end with my favorite character,
Han Mi-nyeo. - She was so good.
- (React) Mm-hmm. - The acting in this
was (clicks tongue). - (React) Her name literally
translates to a beauty. - Beauty.
- (React) I don't have to say too much about the irony here...
- Yeah. - (React) ...but I'm gonna play you
the only three times we hear her name.
- (laughs) I love her way she reacts to everything.
- My name's a beauty. - Ooh! (smooches) Sassy.
- That miss was deliberate. Now that I know what it means,
that makes a lot more-- yeah. - Mm. Yeah.
- She uses her full name there. - How can you leave me?
I'm the beauty. Yeah.
- (React) In Korea, the younger sibling doesn't call
their older sibling by name. - Hyung or noona.
- (React) And if they do address them by their name,
they'll add "hyung" or "noona" at the end.
On the flip side, if you're being called
"hyung" or "noona" or "oppa," you're kind of
given some responsibility or accountability for that person.
- Yeah.
- Yeah. "You" is noona. - (React) Yeah, instead of their name.
That's one relationship.
You can also use these words with friends,
but only when it's someone really close,
one you would call family. - Mm-hmm.
- (React) So, in this scene, it's the first words Sang-woo says.
Try to see if you can pick it up.
- (React) He said, "Hyung, (speaks Korean)."
- Oh, he said that so fast. - (React) He says it really fast.
- Oh, yeah. "Hyung, (speaks Korean)." Yeah.
That was so subtle! I barely heard it!
- (React) So, right away, that kind of gives you a sense...
- Now we know how close they are. - (React) Exactly.
- Yup.
- Like, "She's my sister." - (React) "I'm the youngest."
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- (React) And then, this is a funny conversation
that happens when he calls her out for it.
- You know, when I watched this, I understood, 'cause I only knew
what oppa meant. I didn't know what anything else meant.
- It's basically saying older than you.
I don't know if I'm older than you. - (React) Right.
- Then she's like, "Yeah."
- (React) Next, we're gonna talk about Sae-byeok's North Korean accent,
which she hides throughout the entire series
except in one scene. - Oh yeah, we wouldn't have
picked that up. - (React) 'Cause she doesn't want
people knowing that she's from North Korea.
- (React) Now, it's-- - (raspily) I wish I could tell.
I really do. (chuckles) - (React) Yeah.
Listen to her say "no." It's actually the first word she says.
- Okay.
- "Aniya."
- (React) Here's her North Korean accent.
- "Aida." Ohhhh.
- Ohhh! Okay. - Yeah, completely different.
That's not-- (blows raspberry) So, it's kind of like
the Okinawa versus Tokyo Japanese. It's not simply an accent.
It's like a literal different dialect entirely.
- That's just so mind-blowing. They pay so much attention to detail.
Now, I really wanna go back and rewatch everything.
- (React) In Korean, there are two ways
you can speak the language: honorific and non-honorific.
Whenever Gi-hun talks to the old man,
he speaks to him in honorifics. But at the end, when he's about
to realize he's the mastermind, he turns it off and goes
full disrespectful. - A little twist in the knife.
- (React) Yeah. - As you should, bestie.
As you [censored] should. - (React) If you hear
at the end of a sentence, "yo," that means he's being respectful
to a person. - Gotcha.
- That was a lot right there.
- He's so cute. You monster!
- He's such a happy old man.
- Yeah. Yeah. - (React speaks Korean)
- Yeah. - (React) Now, what makes
this scene great is his transition is gradual.
You're gonna hear him say "yo" maybe once or twice,
and then he drops it. - Oh, okay.
- (React) Still being a little respectful.
- (chuckles) He's so mad.
- (React) The yo, still respect. - Still honorific.
- (React) Just dropped it. - Now it's gone.
- Just completely-- he's just angry now.
He's just like, "I'm done being respectful to this guy."
- (React) So, those were five things you missed in Squid Game
if you aren't Korean. What are your thoughts
after rewatching some of these scenes with me?
- Not Korean, but glad I have a Korean to help.
That was-- no. I always knew that the translation
wasn't perfectly translated, but now I'm wondering
how much am I actually missing. - I think the mere fact
that we are being slapped in the face with going, hey, guys,
we need to look at Korea as look how the quality
of stories that they're putting out and movies putting out there.
I think that right there is a LeBron James,
Michael Jordan slam dunk on the industry.
- Do you feel like we missed anything?
Any fun conspiracy theories? - Comment below
and don't forget to subscribe. - Annyeong!
- My parents plant those in every house they've ever lived in.
- (React) That's crazy. - Because of this gal.
- (React) Sharon. - Right.
- (React) Rose of Sharon. - They don't talk to me
and support my career. However, they do plant
something in my name. No, I'm just kidding. (laughs)