The Dark Dice (REVIEW)
Peak Mystery Genre?
Okay so, right after I finished this series my first reaction was "holy shit, this is peak". First of all, I am amazed by the effort GMMTV puts in vfx making of this series. It really boost up the mystical, fantasy-ish vibes of the games- oh, lemme explain a bit
Brief Summary
Long story short, here's a guy named Samut (played by my pookie Gemini Norawit) who just moved school becuz something scandalous happened between him and, I guess his friend Atom (whos played by Chimon which is, cool lmao). Basically Samut was allegedly beaten him to coma.
In his new school tho, everyone gossip about it so, blablabla he saw someone someone got bullied, went to the gym room (I think), but some ppl there too, and a dice fall suddenly all the students in that room got transport to a, let's call it "the game dimension".
The game said it'll grant the winner a wish, and what happened to the loser? no one knows...
Game Of Trust
The purpose of this game aren't explained, we got no backstory of why this mysterious dice exist. But we can assume that it took the players in a test. Where they must choose who to trust or even makes them question if they should trust anyone, or not. So many scene where they just betray each other- not only in game but irl too. This is why this game is so interesting.
At first it may be just an accident that they all trapped into the game dimension. But after one game finished, something snapped in their head...
Characters' Struggles
Each of them have their own life struggles. Samut with his friend, Mamay who wants to be appreciated by her father, Kaen who caught hacked the school president voting system which Mamay asked him to do, Mark wants to help his mom to get some money, Don needs to pay his loans because he spent all his money on online gambling (or did he broke first that's why he started gambling? probably), and Benz, Pie... idk about them, they're just there for their friend, and boyfriend, I guess?
And who is this Aom girl who just appeared out of thin air in the game dimension? Okay, about her...
SPOILER: Where The 'Mystery' Lies
So, Aom may seems suspicious in the early episodes because first, she appeared out of nowhere. Then, she seems like know something about the game. She also always brag about how this game could be dangerous. At first, many are skeptical about her take on that, well except Samut.
Samut is like your typical smart protagonist who can solve every problem he faced. He also very invested in this game, not only because of the "the winner's wish will be granted", but he also very curious. I mean, what is this game even? where did it came from? he is just as curious as the viewers. Yet only few of his answers are answered.
Back to Aom, my suspicions was right. She was the previous game player, whos trapped in the game dimension for, some reason. As revealed in the later episode, she played this game with some other friends, including her best friend, Panyada. But to beat the game, someone needs to be decoy so others can escape. Believe that her best friend would go back, Aom decide to sacrifice herself. She waited, and waited, and waited.
The thing is, time that passed in the game dimension is different than time in real life. So, Aom actually waited 30 years before Samut and gang enter the game.
I think what lacks from this series is Aom's screentime in the real life. It could be great if they shows how she struggles and try to adapt with the current world. They showed it briefly tho, to explain how mad she is to Panyada, leaving her behind and now she stuck in an unfamiliar world.
Did I mentioned Mark? yeah that's Panyada's son. Aom knew, and use him as a revenge for leaving her behind. Well at least Pan explains why she couldn't help, she even tried. But at the end, she needs to live her life too.
My Personal Take
Visuals Boost Vibes
When I said that GMMTV put effort in vfx, I'm not joking. Compared to other series they made, The Dark Dice is the one shines when it comes to CGI. Take for example, the hotel snakes and ladders game. The crumbling floors, what happened outside after the floor got destroyed.
Not only in CGI, but the sets too. Bro, in their last game they shoot in a full on theme park. After a bit of research, I found the shooting location. Which is Siam Amazing Park in Bangkok. Kewl.
I'm not expert in cinematography, but if I can feel the thrill by just looking at the scene, it's good enough for me. I'm a type of person that wouldn't finish watching stuff if it's visually bad, and boring. Is it boring tho?
I Am Hooked
I gotta say, I was invested in this series. Every episode did a great job hooking it's viewers to continue. I can't imagine watching this when it still on going..
There's no 'nothing burger' episode, maybe because it only 8 episodes aired so they pack em up really tightly.
Samut And Friends
Let's talk about our main character, Samut. Your typical smart lead who can solve every riddle, calm, calculated, fine shyt. Is he boring? not really. Personally, I always satisfied every time he outsmarted the game, and others. Especially Don and his bro, Benz. Both are bullies, only think about themselves. Benz mostly just tagging Don, and Don... Oh man he's an asshole.
And then we got Kaen and Mamay. Kaen, your typical nerd, for some reason become obedient to Mamay, the school president (thanks to Kaen hacking the voting system). Yeah they did sum bad things but then Mamay betrayed Kaen, Making him lost one game, got a 'punishment'. Well at least they reconcile not long after.
Mark, is there I guess. With his girlfriend, Pie, who's just, there too. Pie's existence is just to be jealous of Aom for tailing Mark. Okay I see the problem here.
The Problem...
Where's the character development? okay sure Aom's hatred towards Pan cooled down. And Benz, out of other characters, empathized over Mark's lost incident and tried to helped. Meanwhile, Samut is just Samut. Don still Don. Not really explained other than "everyone just live their life like they never touched that weird dice". Hey that's a not a good way to ends a series! at least show some development for them...
Also the ending, I don't really mind open ended ending like that, but after the first problem I explained, it makes the ending become a second problem. It makes the story feels uncompleted, even for a first season.
In Conclusion: Almost Great...
Yeah, after writing this review, I realized that it's not as great as I remembered. Don't get me wrong tho, story is still great, watching them playing those games was entertaining, great premise, visually appealing too. Sadly, it's all got overshadowed by how bad the character development is.
I'm not sure if they would make a 2nd season. I doubt it. Well if they did, I hope they can patch the flaw, before explaining what tf happened in the first season ending.
Rewatchability is really low...Sadly... soo, 6.5/10.
p.s, I really, REALLY want to compare it to The Gifted, They kinda shared a some similar aspects, but maybe after I make a review for The Gifted. Imma rewatch that series for the 10th time later lmao :v