Welcome to our community! Below, we’ve tried to cover a lot of the basic questions all fans need to know!

What is Run for Money?

Run for Money is a Japanese gameshow that has been running on FujiTV since 2004

The basic premise is:

• For every second that passes, the prize money goes up
• There are designated “Hunters” whose entire purpose is to catch the competitors, called “Fugitives”. If a Hunter tags a Fugitive, they are eliminated from the competition and receive no prize
  • The Fugitives typically wear bright neon clothes to make them easy to spot.
  • The Hunters are all dressed like characters from “The Matrix” in all black suits and sunglasses.
• Survive until the game time runs out, and you win the prize money! Games usually last between 80 minutes and 3 hours
• In order to prevent competitors from camping in hiding spots the entire round, timed events will periodically occur to entice players into the open. Completing each event will result in one of the following:
  • The prize pool goes up even faster!
  • Some advantage (revive an ally, remove hunters)
  • Avoiding a punishment (ie. failure to complete this event adds 3 more hunters)

Specific rules to note:

• The show has a narrative that the Hunters are actually androids. As such, they are given specific instructions that they are only allowed to run if they have direct line of sight on a player, can hear the player, or a “snitch” reports their location. If a fugitive manages to evade the line of sight of a Hunter, the Hunter cannot intuit their direction and must stop running. They are also not allowed to “see” the cameramen.
  
• Competitors do have (limited capability) cellphones that allow them to check the game map, instructions for the current mission, and communicate.
  • They will receive a text message when any player is eliminated or any mission begins. This plays a sound out loud which Hunters are allowed to pursue
  • Players are allowed to call other players to strategize, again with the awareness their phone will ring out loud which could lead to the other fugitive being caught
    
• In some episodes, Fugitives are allowed to “Surrender” via marked payphones. If they do, they receive whatever prize is currently on the clock. Surrender payphones tend to be in very open locations, so fugitives need to be confident in their decision to go for them
• You will see acted scenes the equivalent of cutscenes! These are just for fun and part of the vibe

How Many Seasons are there?

• As of the writing of this post, there are 70 main seasons. It is worth noting that unlike traditional TV, the majority are seasons are a single 2-5 hour episode rather than broken up into parts.
• There is the Netflix special “Run for the Money: Battle Royal”. While this is formatted the same way as other seasons and equally as good, it is not considered to be part of the main canon
  
• During the early years, there were 9 “mini” seasons with runtimes under 1 hour that aired as side-content
  
• In the last decade we got a series of 6 mini seasons that aired as live games during the original networks big seasonal TV specials that highlight their current lineup and stars

Are there any spinoffs?

Yes! Several!

• The most notable is “battle for money”. In this, Fugitives must ally with or defeat roaming Android Shinobi (Ninjas) in addition to the other players with the goal of being the last player standing. It is based around dodgeball, so it is possible to obtain and collect dodgeballs and some other variant weapons. The Shinobi have blinged out weapons such as a massive dodgeball flail. As of the current time, there are 12 seasons and a pilot of this, plus some cameos on the main show. There was also a prototype version called “escort for money” that had 3 mini-seasons, but with two teams playing the dodgeball against each other.
  
• The next most notable is “inform for money”. In this variant, competitors wear numbered jerseys. Any fugitive may use their phone to “snitch” by reporting a specific players number and location. While this was discontinued as a standalone show back in 2008, it does return as an event mechanic in run for money
  
• Mononoke Hunt! In this variant, the tables have turned and the competitors are the ones doing the chasing. The arena is filled with parkour athletes in costumes. They must grab the tail off the runners costume to gain points. There are different tiers of runners that are worth more points, but are harder to find and have more prestigious athletes fleeing. This ran for 3 seasons.
  
• Ochiruna! Think Ninja Warrior meets run for money. Fugitives must attempt an obstacle course, but shortly after they begin a hunter starts running from behind them. They must clear the course *and* outrun the hunter! There were 2 seasons of this.
  
• The Real / Chronos. A set of side programs that was used to test several new variants of the format such as “diffuse for money”, “panel for money”, “hide for money”, “survive for money” and “track for money”. This is where those aforementioned mini-seasons of the main show aired.

Are there any versions outside of Japan?

Yes, there have been 5 other adaptations of the franchise outside Japan?

• Cha$e, a short lived American adaptation from 2008 that ran on the Sci Fi network for a total of 6 episodes. Fun enough watch if you can tolerate the 2000’s energy
  
• City Hunter, a Chinese pilot from 2013 that featured 6 tournaments over 10 episodes
  
• Run for Time, a full Chinese adaptation that fully utilized the story elements of the Japanese original. The format is slightly different, in that over the course of a season’s 9-12 episodes, about half the lineup will remain constant for all episodes, while half will be celebrity guests who rotate through. The show saw an original run of 21 episodes in 2015-2016, and then a revived run of 36 episodes from 2023-2025. A 2026 season was planned, but cancelled before airing due to a lack of brand sponsors. We may still see this one come back.
  
• Run for Time also released a crime-drama web-series with sixteen 10-minute episodes about some geniuses investigating stolen museum pieces. It’s…. A thing that exists. Watch it only if you are truly a superfan or into Chinese drama.
  
• Run for Time Vietnam, a 1 season, 12 episode series similar to the Chinese one except with excessively long episodes, and the challenges paused the time limit and Hunters, among other issues. This version was quite weak compared to the other adaptations.
  
• Pogonya (Chase), an ongoing Russian adaptation that at this time of this post is airing its 2nd season. Format wise, this is actually the closest to the original. Vibes wise, it is completely different as they’ve opted to style it off of “Kingsman: The Secret Service” and other retro spy movies instead of the Matrix

Any other media?

• A 97-episode kids anime called “Run for Money: The Great Mission that featured shonen protagonists taking on tournaments within the shows universe
  
• A 2024 Theatrical film to celebrate the franchise’s 20th Anniversary. It featured high-profile celebrities, former competitors and takes the plot of a fictional filming of an episode going wrong with deadly stakes. Decent enough movie with lots of fun self-awareness and references
  
• A series of 5 video games
  • 1 on PSP (2010),
  • 2 on 3DS (2012 and 2015), both received a Switch port in 2018
  • 2 on Switch (2024 and 2026)

Where can I watch all of the above series?

• 10 seasons of the original are available with English Subtitles on https://www.doki-tv.com/run-for-money
• The Netflix special is available with a netflix subscription https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/81480089
• A total of 40 seasons of run for money, 10 seasons of battle for money, 12 episodes of Chronos and the movie. It is worth noting that due to licensing rights in older seasons, the music from the original broadcast has been replaced with new music. These are available on https://fod.fujitv.co.jp/, although be aware it can be difficult to find a VPN it doesn’t block and get payments setup .
• A total of 34 seasons of run for money and 8 seasons of battle for money are available on DVD officially, albeit only in Japanese region (which requires a specific player). These DVDs also feature the replaced music. These include special features and extended cuts. They are no longer officially for sale but can be purchased on auctions sites
• For one week after broadcast, all new episodes are available to watch on https://tver.jp/
  
• The theatrical film is available on Blu-ray and DVD through most online retailers
  
• Run for Time China, Run for Time Vietnam and Pogonya are all available officially on Youtube.China has subtitles, and YouTube’s auto-generated subs are good enough for the other two.
  
• City Hunter is unofficially available on BiliBili and has been abandoned by the network, so it should be fair to watch
  
• Cha$e is available unofficially on YouTube

What episodes aren't available officially?

Between all of the above options, the following 26 seasons are currently unavailable in any official capacity:

• 3
• 5-6
• 11-12
• 41
• 46-58
• 60-65
• 67

It is worth noting that all episodes are archived privately, meaning none of the show is lost media