Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Run For The Money’ On Netflix, A Japanese Game Show Where Celebrities Run From ‘Hunters’ For A Sizeable Prize

The relatively simple format of the Japanese reality game show Run For The Money has been running in that country for years, and a version of the format ran on the old Sci Fi channel here in the States in 2008. Like we say below, the format is straightforward: The last contestant to be tagged by a large group of dark-suited “hunters” wins the pot at the end of the chase.

RUN FOR THE MONEY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: In the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Nagasaki, we see twenty men, clad in dark suits, sunglasses and face masks. These are the “hunters” for this season of Run For The Money.

The Gist: Twenty-nine celebrities, ranging from athletes to influencers to boy band members to YouTubers and reality stars, are set loose in the massive park, which has winding streets like in the Dutch cities that have been used as its model. The goal is simple: Don’t let the hunters catch you, and if you make it to the end of the 200-minute chase, you win the ever growing pot.

In the first part of the chase, the twenty hunters roam the park while the celebrity contestants hide and try to avoid them, all the while being scared like they’re actually being hunted. After three people are caught, an “elimination button” is added; if anyone can find and push that button without being caught, the number of hunters is reduced from 20 to 5.

Even with 5 hunters around, though, there’s still a good chance the contestants can get caught if they’re not careful. An “all-powerful” overseer activates a mission: Four sets of “androids” roam the park, each holding an English letter. The goal is to get close enough to the androids to read the letters and put together a word describing emotions the contestants might feel during the chase. The more words that are guessed, the higher the money added per second goes, from minute 160 down to the end. If successful, the pot balloons to ¥5.04 million (about $36,000). Will some of the contestants, wishing to increase the pot, expose themselves to the hunters?

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Run For The Money is like The Amazing Race, if people were chased by men in black suits.

Our Take: At first we were a little confused about the format of Run For The Money, which has apparently been running for years in Japan. We weren’t sure if this was going to be one chase played out over the season’s four episodes or four different chases. It turns out to be the former, with things playing out more or less in real time.

There’s a ton of repetition, but nothing out of character for reality game shows coming from that part of the world. At some point, the producers do show all 29 celebrity contestants, though the number that are really followed are soon narrowed down, to the people who decide to move around and take the missions rather than just sitting and hiding.

The park itself is quite surreal; the chase starts in the middle of the night, but everything in the cityscape is brightly lit, like it’s the theme park it is rather than a real set of city streets. We’d imagine that has to help the hunters, who are walking around wearing shades and some cylindrical “device” that is supposed to help them see but is really just a prop.

Despite their celebrity, all of the contestants have real plans for the relatively small pot; most say they’re going to buy a car. It won’t set anyone up for life, and we wonder if it’s worth running around for three-and-a-half hours, half scared to death, for the level of money being given away.

But in each of the four episodes, new challenges will be thrown at the contestants, like “traitors” getting paid to point people out to the hunters, and then more hunters thrown in to put the pressure on as the number of people dwindle. That should make things interesting.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: The remaining contestants get emails on their phones about the new phase of the contest, full of traitors.

Sleeper Star: All of the “hunters” are fast, and when they start running after a contestant they spot, it’s weirdly creepy.

Most Pilot-y Line: The overseer holds up a picture of a female contestant that looks somewhat like him. Uh, that’s not very nice.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Run For The Money moves a little slow at times, but it’s mindless fun, and you’ll be into the times when someone leaves themselves open to getting tagged by a running “hunter.”

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.