Mercy For None Review: A Breathtaking Action Noir Series That Doesn’t Disappoint For the Most Part

Mercy For None Review: A Breathtaking Action Noir Series That Doesn’t Disappoint For the Most Part | Leisurebyte

Director:
Choi Sung-eun

Date Created:
2025-06-06 12:30

Editor’s Rating:

3.5

Mercy For None Review: When his old gangster life comes back to his peaceful life, Nam Gi-jun is thrown back into chaos as he goes on a relentless path of revenge after his brother mysteriously turns up dead.

The series has 7 episodes, each with a runtime of around 35 minutes, and is adapted from the webtoon Plaza Wars written by Oh Se Hyung and illustrated by Kim Kyun Tae.

Mercy For None Review

It’s not every day that I find myself absolutely enamoured with the fight sequences of a show, but Korean action series have consistently been upping their game in every release. Netflix series Mercy For None showcases, well, a brother showing no mercy for those responsible for his younger brother’s murder. The series is grim, and the air is thick with hatred and anticipation for the next shoe to drop. Every scene of the drama is beautiful, and the action sequences live up to the hype.

The series follows, as mentioned, So Ji-sub’s Nam Gi-jun killing people left, right and centre to see his brother’s murderers face justice. Revenge thrillers are always fun, but watching So Ji-sub throwing punches like there’s no tomorrow feels like he’s right at home, oddly. The tension brewing between the two gangs is thrilling, sure, but the most terrifying thing is probably Ji-sub as Gi-jun, whose understated rage radiates from every pore of his body and is translated in every punch that he delivers.

The action sequences are well-rehearsed and absolutely eye-catching, and take you on a journey throughout the 7 episodes. Thankfully, the series is a short venture, making it more tense and action-packed. The world-building is quite twisted and fast-paced enough to keep you on edge for most of it, and the series does a great job of making Gi-jun this mystery killing machine that will make even the audience do a double-take.

So Ji-sub is the absolute correct choice to play the protagonist. I don’t remember whether I ever saw the man smile throughout the 7 episodes, which goes perfectly with how much blood he spills. He’s no-nonsense and very one-track, going in and hitting people or taking information out of them, whatever comes first.

And it’s here that I will mention that I found Mercy For None to be a tad bit all over the place sometimes. Although I loved the action and the ambience, I found the series to showcase Gi-jun with absolutely no personality. We don’t know this man, and neither do we understand why he goes from killing one person to another without looking at the complete picture. It’s so odd. I liked the twist at the end, and the gore is fantastic, but there are just some moments in the main backstab plot that feel very messy. It’s not the worst, but a little bit more clarity would’ve been great.

Final Thoughts

Mercy For None nails the vibe and the execution of this thriller series to a T. Its action sequences are extremely entertaining and will leave you on edge. So Ji-sub is fantastic as the no-nonsense killing machine. However, it required a little bit more clarity in terms of the storyline, and Gi-jun really needed to be humanised on some level. Otherwise, this one would’ve been flawless.

Also Read: Mercy For None Ending Explained: Is Gi-jun Able to Get Revenge? Who Killed Gi-seok?

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