Darwin's Game Season 1 Explained

If you're one of the many fans of the viral, thrilling series "Squid Game," chances are you're on the lookout for other survival drama shows to watch. Thankfully, Netflix is chock full of classic series and exciting new shows, including the supernatural survival drama "Darwin's Game," which is based on the manga of the same name.

"Darwin's Game" centers on a high school student named Kaname Sudō (voiced by Yūsuke Kobayashi in the Japanese version and Stephen Fu in English) who downloads an online app called Darwin's Game, not realizing it's a life-or-death game that you have to fight your way through in the real world. While players in the game each get a unique power to help them survive, the players are ruthless and willing to do anything to win — but Yūsuke wants to put a stop to the cruel game once and for all.

While we wait for news on Season 2 of "Darwin's Game," let's go over what happened by the end of the 1st season.

Throughout the 1st season of "Darwin's Game," Kaname tries to avoid killing people as often as possible — he was thrust into the game unwillingly and is a kind-hearted person who isn't necessarily fond of hurting others. However, as the season progresses and more of Kaname's friends are killed by other players, we start to see a transformation within him that ultimately results in a shift in tactics.

Rather than continue to try to end Darwin's Game by refusing to act violently unless necessary, Kaname decides to show those who aren't already part of his clan that he means business. By the end of "Darwin's Game" Season 1, Kaname and the rest of the Sunset Ravens clan use brute force to prove their point — in their territory, the game isn't allowed, and those who break the rules are punished with death. It may seem a bit counterintuitive, but at least surviving players get the message loud and clear.

While Kaname starts out the series as a relatively peaceful player who relies on his wits, by the end of the 1st season, the impact of the game on his psyche is clear, and his opponents are sure for a rude awakening if they challenge him in the future.

While there hasn't been an official update regarding a potential 2nd season of "Darwin's Game," there's a strong possibility that there will be a Season 2. For one, the "Darwin's Game" manga is still in production, so there's plenty of source material for the show's writers to draw from for future seasons. Not to mention, the Season 1 finale theoretically works as a perfect segue into the next one.

On another note, "Darwin's Game" seems to be getting tons of love from fans. The series currently has a 7.3/10 rating on IMDb, and the show's official Twitter account boasts almost 40,000 followers. Fans also use Twitter to share their appreciation for the show, including user @mikeyrpgamer who recently tweeted, "If you are an anime fan yall need to go watch Darwin's game ASAP on Netflix. We need that season 2 for such an amazing anime and a hell of a cliff hanger!"

As previously mentioned, "Darwin's Game" is based on a manga, which has been running since 2012 and is still going strong. One of the most common concerns for fans of books and comics whose favorite material gets picked up for adaptations is accuracy: Just how much will be changed for the show? While tons of adaptations have done well when it comes to including important moments and details, others, unfortunately, miss the mark and leave fans less than thrilled.

So far, "Darwin's Game" seems to stay pretty darn close to its source material. There have been changes, as noted by Fandom, like certain scenes being cut short for time, side plots being removed, or even brand new characters being created just for the show — but overall, "Darwin's Game" does well at keeping fans of the manga satisfied.

You can watch the 1st season of "Darwin's Game" on Netflix.