Over the past few years, Koreans have quietly overtaken the United States when it comes to media when it comes to concept and vigor. Between the K-Pop bands topping our charts, the feature film Parasite winning the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the phenomenon that was Squid Game, we never know what is going on to occur.
Last month, Netflix dropped out of South Korea’s newest and most unusual reality competition, called Physical 100. The idea is easy yet addictive. One hundred of the nation’s top athletes gather under one roof and compete in physical challenges that eliminate half or more of the contestants after each settlement. The goal is to seek out out whose physique and physical training prepared her to turn into the very best athlete within the country and surpass others.
Competitors range in age from early 20’s to late 40’s, all sizes, men and girls. Men compete with women and vice versa. Heavyweights vs Flyweights, Olympians vs Amateurs, and there are each team and individual lineups. There aren’t any people voting off the show, hardly any prize money, and there isn’t any worse fate than not giving your best.
The spectrum of physical talents includes special forces, military, crossfitters, fitness influencers, bodybuilders, dancers, powerlifters, martial artists, gymnasts, mountaineers and Olympians of assorted specialties. It is a various field, and every of the Physical 100 is represented by a plain white forged of their sculpted torso, which have to be shattered in shame in the event that they don’t advance to the following round.
The atmosphere of the show has Calamari game energy as most of the same Netflix voiceovers are used for the English dub (should you don’t prefer subtitles) and the range of games is wide and intense because of the identical supervillain and billionaire methodology. The interesting thing in regards to the Korean show is the unbridled respect and encouragement the participants show one another. By American standards, there isn’t any talk or play. They are there to compete and win or go home, not hook up an Instagram or TikTok page.
Each of them is a fanboy/fangirl and admires their abilities. Two standout fighters the collective are fawning over are renowned MMA fighter Choo Sung-hoon, nicknamed “Sexyama”, and Olympic gold medalist Yun Sung-bin. They are celebrities, battle-hardened veterans and favorites to go far, if not win your entire competition. They are each physical specimens as well, especially Yun Sung-bin, who effortlessly shows off his 5+ meter vertical jump to the opposite competitors.
The challenges of the Physical 100 are varied and unpredictable. Whether you beat the others by shouldering a 200-pound boulder, moving a 2-ton wood ship in a bunch, battling for medicine balls within the mud, or constructing a suspension bridge to hold sandbags, this system will keep you guessing. This is the fun factor that encourages American TV to make its own version.
Don’t we as a rustic deserve our overpaid and overrated athletes to do the identical? Sure, LeBron James or Dwayne Johnson would never give you the option to afford our version of the show unless they showed up pro bono and with their very own insurance, but we could still have an in depth list.
I’ll just name just a few: Olympic icon Michael Phelps, legendary MMA killer Julianna Pena, ballerina Zion Williamson, reality TV star Johnny Bananas, bodybuilder Phil Heath, soccer player Megan Rapinoe, a slew of depraved fitness influencers like Liver King, and whoever is the flavour of the month could be great entertainment.
Most of the Physics 100 challenges are non-contact challenges, so the chance of injury is low, and we finally got to see who has “muscle show” and who has “movement muscles”. Inevitably, Americans would engage in verbal sparring, and that is fantastic, but it surely’s hard to play by the standard rules of reality TV once you’re winning or going home.
It’s the identical principle that makes The Ultimate Fighter such a unbelievable premise. Personalities and politics to hell with the Physical 100. Show up and perform or smash your papier-mâché bust and walk home slowly.
Whether we emulate it or not, that is a fantastic show with a clean message to deliver. Work hard, do not be afraid of challenges, and massive muscles don’t all the time equal strength. To catch Physical 100 now on Netflixand hopefully we get a second season soon.
