Duty after School: Part 2 (2023)

This PART 2 Should Never Have Happened

If you loved the first part, DONT WATCH THIS. You have been warned. This series suddenly made All of Us Our Dead a masterpiece.

The first part was an ok mess, there were some things that can be improved if you are nitpicking but still it was a fun gory watch.

Then this happened. The awaited conclusion, that sadly wasnt what it was expected to be. There was a sudden shift in tone and genre - what was initially an apocalyptic scifi horror show became a teenage psychotic drama.

Unlike some people who enjoyed it till episode 9, i was already dreading the ending from episode 7, the shift in pacing was noticeable after the action sequence at the beginning of the episode, and was constantly waiting for the action and the momsters to attack. By the end of episode 8, i already had the feeling the cute alien monsters are never coming back.

I can only conclude that the studio decided it is not worth to give this series the budget for special effects but they're already shooting so they changed plan mid-way that forced them to give it a totally different ending.

Dont get me wrong, these whole second part is not a bad drama - if it wasnt the conclusion of Duty After School Part 1. The problem is, this is not what i signed up for. I was waiting for a gory end, a satisfactory conclusion. I want answers to the questions that arised from the first part, but none of that were resolved. In the finale, suddenly we are led to believe that after 2 years, a magic wand was brandished and everything is back as it used to be. Where are all these people during the war? What we get is a drama that reminds me so much of the series Happiness.

There was a line in the last episode that perfectly summarizes the whole PART 2, when Chi Yeol said that a weapon was developed and ridiculously all the spheres were eliminated. This part 2 is exactly that - a total pointless waste of time and money.

Whats even worse is how they treated the actors - because everyone was quite good in it. Their characters doesnt deseeve their endings and its such a waste as this could have been a career-launching show.

It is such a shame because there could be a wealth of ideas to mine from the original story that could have been used to extend the span of this series into multiple season.

Avoid at all cost. Not worth your time.

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The ending isn't the only problem with this drama

The whole drama is one big problem. This drama is so bad that I decided to write a review for the first time to warn others. Don't waste your time. There are much better dramas worth watching.

Why do I think drama is so hopeless?

It's mostly about the plot. Or rather, the lack of it. What's the point of this story anyway? There isn't any. Really. Normally, every story has a beginning, a middle part and an ending. It reaches some conclusion.The story started out interesting . DAS wasn't as good as other zombie/monster dramas, but it was still interesting. Aliens invasion was quite original idea. And that's it. The further you go, the more nonsense the story becomes.

Part 2 begins by showing the students eliminating the aliens. It's promising. We know it's been a while since the incident when Sergeant Lee was killed. It seems that the children have matured and learned to take care of their own safety. You could not be more wrong. From this moment the story starts to get idiotic and full of plot holes.

First of all, why are the children alone? What happened to Kim Won Bin? Did he leave the children alone? Did he evacuate without them? Why do children talk about everyone who died and not him? He seems to have survived, so why did the writers suddenly forget about him?

As I wrote above, at the beginning of part 2 we see that the children have grown up. And suddenly... They start acting irrationally and getting hysterical again. All character development suddenly disappears. The other scenes don't make sense either. Why was the prison scene included in the series? The kids needed parts for a radio, so shouldn't they look for an electronics store in a deserted city? And how is it possible that the prisoners survived? We know that it's been at least a month since Sergeant Lee's accident by the time part 2 starts, and the town has already been abandoned. Did these prisoners live for more than a month without food, water and other necessities? And they were in such great condition? Seriously? Where is the logic?!

Another thing are the spheres. Where did the spheres come from? What did they want? What was their purpose? In the first part, it seemed that people were learning more and more about aliens, e.g. that they were sensitive to cold and noise, and that they could communicate. And in the second part? Aliens are mindless. They run to the prison because the children screamed a few times, but they didn't show up at the amusement park, where children make noise, So I am asking again where is the logic? At the end, we also learn that a weapon was invented, thanks to which the aliens were eliminated, but the spheres were still in the air. Why?

As for the ending, In my opinion it was stupid. But the stupidest thing was that nothing foreshadowed it. The writers didn't show us that Guk Yeong Soo is slowly going crazy, he just suddenly went crazy because his exam was canceled. Seriously?! PTSD would be much more convincing.

All in all, I do not recommend wasting your time watching this drama. The writers made this story as if they didn't respect the viewers. The series was very hyped, so they wrote anything, after all, the viewers would not notice.

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Idiocy in its glory.

This drama was the literal meaning of frustration. I have so much boiled up in me after watching it and i don't know how to get it all out.

I JUST WANNA SCREAM IT ALL OUT.

Each time you find yourself forgetting a character's idiocy, comes another foolish shit.

I don't know how i finished this series because each time someone open their mouth i just wanted them to shut up. They never talk like normal people, rather like babies screeching, the sound is haunting. SHUT UP FOR GOD SAKE AND FREAKING THINK FOR A SECOND. Funny to say nobody in the drama listened to me ^^.

This plot would have been intriguing in the hands of a genuis writer. All we got in this drama was nonsense to fill up the pages. Full of plot twists that just don't make sense, just to try to get that wow effect. It is only right to say that it was a shit effect.

I'm rather a fan of shitty endings, but the problem with this drama was not the ending, it was rather the drama all in itself, poorly written, thinking that a bunch of unexpected deaths here and there is what makes people emotional and connected to the drama. I for myself couldn't care less about what happens to those bunch of screeching kids, they were all but stupid, frustrating, with poorly written personalities and perspectives, making me not feel an ounce of connection to them. All i want is for me to forget this drama as soon as possible.

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the different opinions on this show's ending are actually funny, and totally understandable.

i am not going to lie, at first i hated how the show ended as well, it was so unpredictable (even tho i knew what youngsoo would do); but as i sat down and thought about it more, i realised how and why the ending made perfect sense.

part 1 was an introduction to the story, to the war, to the spheres. an introduction to our characters. a way to show development and underdevelopment. we see them acting according to how the adults want them to act, having no right to choose what they wanted to do after signing that paper (which was also signed by their parents, some of them not even being allowed to say if they wanted to do the military training or not). our main characters are building up relationships, platonic or romantic, they are starting to love each other as more than just school colleagues. we see them being together 24/7 in a world that is could be destroyed.

while part 2 is the destroyed world. we get no adults introduced (other than the criminals in the prison, who aren't even humans to begin with), our main characters are able to vote, to communicate, to make decisions together with no adult telling them otherwise. we see betrayals, fights, and lastly, a massacre. youngsoo was the world character of them all, and not in a way that he was written badly, but in a way that he was a criminal. he did not care about no one in the classroom, from the first episode to the last. if someone says that i am wrong, please remember the time when younghoon died and he was happy he wasnt there anymore because he didn't have any more competition in the classroom. he was only thinking for himself, which until the end was, at most, understandable. but his actions were wrong. extremely wrong. not only did he try to sa soyeon, he killed the only witness (ilha), and then he killed almost all his friends. yes, he went crazy, but his reasoning for his mental stability going down was not it.
at the same time, tho, all the trauma they were going thru, plus the pressure from the adults who were using them, i can try to understand him (not what he did). his character had depth, that i don't really care about, but if i did, i could talk about him for hours. as the story was progressing, i hoped that, maybe, they won't keep the ending from the webtoon, i was wrong. it traumatised me in the worst way possible, but i am here writing this with a smile on my face.

we are seeing three wars in the series, one against spheres, one against adults, and one against each others. part 1 was all about the spheres, and the adults, it showed how the kids could fight against both of them and survive. with little sacrifices happening. in the second part, we see the war against each other, which showed us different sides of the kids. they were more mature, not whining that much when they had to do something or when things dont go their way. we see them getting tired, wanting to go home, but still sticking together. there is so much going on in 4 episodes, and ep 7/8 weren't even that long. it keeps you in a state where you can't wait to get to watch the next episode. i was scared the whole time, hoping all of them were going to be alive at the end, yet still knowing that wasn't happening. i was doubting them when they were doubting each other. i felt betrayed when they betrayed each other. i was hurt, i cried with them, i laughed with them, and at the end, something in me died with them as well. altho they didnt stick to the original plot of the story, the main line was still there. kids in war time. no matter what the war was. some of you are failing to see that. they went thru a lot of ups and downs together, they had hopes and their hope died, they were, at the end of the day, just kids.

watching this kdrama was a rollercoaster. i was happy, sad, crying, laughing, anxious, hopeful. but at the end of the day, it gave me comfort (with a lot of anxiety on top). all of my fav characters ended up dead. yes, i did like kimchi, hana, aeseol, and nara, but jangsoo, tae man, yujoong, ilha, soyeon, bora, soocheol, youngshin, all of them, ended up dead. and with ilha's death, followed immediately after by jangsoo, i was petrified. when jangsoo said he'll go find youngsoo, i knew what was going to happen. and when he opened that damned door, i couldnt breathe. he was the reason i was so excited about part 2, and even tho i knew how he ended up in the webtoon, i had a little hope. jangsoo, i miss you.

that 'in other universe' ending, with them graduating, i will take that as the actual ending, and im pretty sure they added that scene as a way for people to choose what ending they want to believe in. younghoon is there, and honestly i never believed he actually died, so thats a bonus. they all graduated guys, they did. and they ended up going to college, and having jobs and families, and happy. thats the real ending (source: trust me bro).

i didnt expect duty after school to be more all of us are dead than all of us are dead, but looks like that title fits them more. i will miss them a lot, somehow i hope for a season 2, even tho i know why they ended part 2 like that (for people to not ask for a season 2).

the actors did such an amazing job. imagine playing jangsoo and having to open that door like 7 times and filming your death in 2 different ways (first they thought it was a sphere that killed him, then they showed youngsoo killing him). i am so glad i started watching this and meeting this amazing, and beautiful cast. can't wait to meet them in a new kdrama.

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WORST ENDING EVER

After watching the 1st episode i thought they might abolish whole spheres and go military basement or something i thought may be some of them may die and i might cry after seeing those moments. actually don't feel a thing even after watching the whole class die .
After knowing that CSAT got cancelled the 1st person who got into my mind is yeong soo and after he gone crazy i thought I feel really ba- ,then this assault happened . I thought he may die because of this and their friends may remember him in good way and feel bad for him. but he f**king killed the whole class. I feel bad for those two who left alone .but they should have shown more fighting scenes and more adventurous things than emotional scenes because 90% of part 2 is all about emotions even though this is action drama.lol.I think if the radio didn't break they might've known that CSAT didn't cancelled because those science students already left there group so they didn't know what happened later . 😮‍💨 I shouldn't have given 10/10 for part 1.
And that ending credit scene 😮‍💨😮‍💨 why that song 😮‍💨 after that shit .

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The perfect ending

I see so many people angry with the ending and i get it is not the cup of tea for everybody, but to be honest i don't agree. I agree with the fact that a few more episodes would have been great for a better build up of the finale, but i get why they chose to end it like that: as the criminal said, the spheres are not the real villains, humanity is.

All the episodes have been pointing out how children should not have to worry about adults problems. About how adults put excesive presure on them, helding them responsible for things they are not. In the first season it was quite clear it was the war or getting into college because that it's what they are told to do, not because they want. In season two they are also held responsible about family situations being geting out of poverty one of the main themes. The thing is that even if the social and political narrative is that if you work hard enough you'll be able to get out of there and acomplish what you want, the truth is that there are many obstacles that are out of your hands and you won't be able to go though them by yourself.

With the ending we see the consecuences of that. We see how society makes kids compete with each other for a grade, makes them believe they have to be the best among their peers so they can have a bright future. They make them sabotage each other to the point where school violence is a norm in nowadays society as we reinforce it by valuing someone because of their results and not because of the process. All that because society says that you should get into college if you want to be valued later on, if you don't want to be an outcast. As youngsoo starts to deviate and do whatever it is in his hands to acumulate benefits and not die, even if that means betrying his friends, he strats to feel that the loss of letting go that goal that society asigned to him is too much to handle. That's why he can't put up with the fact that they have cancelled the CSAT, he has already done so much so it can't be true. That's why in a world were violence between peers has been normalized he chooses it as a way to get rid of those between him and his precious goal.

Despite the social narrative the truth is that after a few years, the college entrance exam becomes insignificant, maybe you study someting and end up working on something totally unrelated because even if you are a top student society can't secure you the job you want not even a job wit the minimum requires. That means that the people who suffered because of those years, including the ones who end up with mental health problems, those who killed themeselves, the victims of school violence or the perpetrators become insignificant. The same thing happens with war, at first people get engaged, but as it gets longer people forget about it. They only remember the result, the winners and the losers , while they forget all those from both parties that have lost their lifes. With time, even if those lost lifes are crucial to history's course and to modern civilication as we konow it, they become insignificant and are quickly forgoten.

Therefore the ending is cruel but the consecuences of how the modern world works are cruel and raw too. When you put too much presure into someone and even after all their hard work they fail the mental damage is devastating. That's why they said that they should have enjoyed their time together, go to the amusement park with all the class, not to participate in war because of the benefits and not to worry that much about the CSAT. We saw in a few scenes that when you go through something difficult to overcome it you can not solely rely on the results because they might not meet with your expectations, you have to see the things you earn in the process. I think that's why in this season we see so many scenes between them, hanging out and goofing around despite the gravity of the situation. As they said if it was not because of the war some of them would have not even talked to each other, they would not have felt the confort of telling somebody about their personal difficulties and feel the warmth of feeling that somebody understands them as in the current world we only know superficial things about each other believing that everybody is doing amazing and you're the only one that's in a bad place.

So I think the ending is the cherry on the top of the cake, closing the social critique they have developed all throught the series. Even after all they have sacrificed, even after all their damage and loss, the thing is that nobody will remember it, nobody will value it, it will just be as if nothing ever happened as society will move on. Only those to whom we are really close to will be the ones that remember, that's why the writer said that the hole class where the main characters because at the end, the thing we should value above all are the people around us, because when things get hard they will be the only ones that won't give us their back.

At the end, they just sign a paper where it says only 4 of the unit class have survived, that's all society cares, a paper with a few lines and a signature, they move on and that's it. Even after their esencial contribution, the kids only remain as memories to their friends but to nobody else.

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SHOULD HAVE NEVER WATCHED

(this is my first time writing a review if anyone of you think it's inappropriate just comment anything i will remove it right away)
i should have never watched it atleast not now it's 2 am and idk what to do now... I'm traumatized what type of ending was that? writernim you really did us dirty this wasn't what we expected atleast not that? and what about the sphere nothing makes senses yes i never watched it idk i can't even rate it ik this script was hard to write, was hard to make, everything was hard but what type of ending is that? ughhhhhhhhhhh i can't help but be mad
i don't to talk bad about it as it's hard to make all these but it doesn't even make sense
everyone's death at the end of the episode was useless why did you have to kill everyone it just feels like ending was rushed
The "2 min scene" at the end of the episode what was that for after giving us such ending and about speheres why are they explained? not a fan of this
i will watch this drama everytime i feel like i have never watched some drama with such "good ending" and not rushed ending

thankyou writernim

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Forgotten plotlines, Frustrating people

I was a pretty big fan of Part 1. The large cast really grew on me and I quickly felt emotionally attached to the entire class, intrigued to see how they would face the "new world" together. Part 2 really dropped the ball on a LOT of plotlines, and they did it in exchange for shock factor.

Sergeant Kim, who I thought would have a vital role to play after the events at the end of Part 1, isn't in this at all, and there's not even a name drop or throwaway line that explains why. The lovelines are kind of fun to watch at first but it devolves into nothing. The characters never get anywhere physically, which means you never get to see how the larger society has changed and how our characters would fit into it. It feels like aimless wandering. The hints from Part 1 about the spheres getting more intelligent is not addressed at all — in fact, the aliens are barely a part of these episodes, leaving you with more questions at the end.

Instead, it's a lot more about in-fighting and worst of all, doubling down on that one annoying, selfish character.

Don't get me wrong, I think that character is necessary in survival shows because it reveals the worst of human nature, but here's the thing: you need your OTHER characters to adapt and push back. If you don't, you just get one really annoying person dictating the plot. Essentially, they made the most unlikeable character even more unlikeable, and then they gave this character everyone else's screen-time. Evoking empathy only works if that character is going to develop or at the very least have some redeeming qualities. Without that, it's just frustrating.

The second issue is that shock factor is always temporary. What happens once all the adrenaline wears off? What are the consequences of being alive? That's always the most interesting part of survival shows; I can forgive the drama for starting off with a time jump but I can't forgive it for ending with one. We never got to see how characters might get their strength back after the worst days of their lives. That would've been the most powerful character development, had we gotten to see it.

And part of that is really just an issue of personnel; some of the survivors are the most random, unimportant people (I promise you, there were much more worthy characters to keep). Combined with all the other issues of the time jump and misplaced screen-time...the ending just feels abrupt and you finish the show feeling unsatisfied.

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"The aliens came to clean up the trash"

I loved the first part so I don't know how the writer/director failed to end this series well in such a terrible way. Spoilers towards the end.

The 7th episode starts off on a high note and a time jump. Our students are far better at killing the aliens and have developed good survival kills. This episode is a bit fun to watch after all the dread, fear and sadness of the first part. But we don't know why the students are living off base? Where did the other soldier in charge (Won Bin) go? None of it is explained.

Getting credits for their time served for the CSAT is what was keeping the students fighting and this is still a major discussion in part 2. What doesn't make sense is half the students still want to go home. It's not possible that their memory failed them of how they nearly died at their school and just barely made it out alive. Because why would you leave a place where there are less spheres and thus less danger? Especially since the first part also showed them how spheres were about to target a place where families were put up as a safe house. So it's very likely that that many of their families may have been attacked.

It also doesn't make sense that none of the adult soldiers are in the picture anymore. Why didn't they give them the opportunity instead to talk to their families over the radio? Or at least provide some kind of update. Missing them made them want to just run away even more. So as the series went on, it got more and more unbelievable.

At one point they have to deal with prisoners left behind. The biggest wonder is how did these people even survive without any water? They seemed to have a lot of energy despite being starved for days. No logic there. Only one of the prisoners talked sense on the condition of humans and humanity.

Themes of distrust are a major component in the final two episodes. Hiding the truth never ends well. And this is where the downfall of the show began. It's like the plot took a sudden detour and crashed into a wall. Details with spoilers below.

MAJOR SPOILERS NOW
- How was electricity running at the theme park for the rides but they couldn't heat their food? And all the food stored had gone bad?
- How does a scrawny kid having a psychotic break manage to tie up a body with rocks and drown it in the ocean? Where did he find ropes and a rock that heavy? The kids almost immediately ran there. How did they not catch him in the act and how was he not soaking wet?
- The main reason this show is a disaster is because they turned it into a sexual assault and school shooting episode rather than stick to the the main plot. All those "good guys with guns" lost their lives because of the "one bad guy" they didn't see coming. Would have been a great show but this is not why we were watching. They really did them all dirty with this plot move.
- And to add insult to injury, the aliens were all quickly destroyed soon after. No one talked to the students that they were even close to developing proper weapons which would have given them hope and a boost. And in the end, they didn't even get told if their points would matter. Plus, they made the exam extra hard.
- Honestly the ending was so bad that it would have been better if it were all a dream.
- A good alternate ending would have been that they find out he was the killer but then an alien actually comes and kills the psychotic student. And they kill the alien, mourn their loss and survive.

SPOILER FREE
The biggest plus points of this show are:
- The CGI is still wonderful
- The bonding between the students during their lighter moments
The only reason why I even gave this part any points.

For fans of the first part, this one will really leave a bad taste in your mouth so brace yourselves.

EXTRA CREDIT SCENE:
There is a scene/song at the end of the final episode. Almost missed it because I was so upset with the ending. You can be the judge of how you feel after this bit.

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SYNOPSIS with PERSPECTIVE of a HIGHSCHOOLER, empathize with them!

After binge watching the first part when it got released, I was so excited for the second part like most people!
With a 1month timeskip we saw some character development directly from the beginning when our beloved highschoolers take on missions all by themselves. Without their adults, they quickly adjusted to the dark world and independetly acted in their ways. They showcased many moments of joy and friendship, even though life is hard and got even harder after they lost contact with the military.

So, when everything escalated with a stundets loss and the voting-trust issues, those supressed and pent up emotions were overflowing, since the world is depressing and someday they have to face the hard truth of being left alone. They waited and survived for 1month and after hearing that all their expectations about their CSAT went on vacation, all hope fainted in addition to their trust issues. The cohesion was taken down.

Then when they discovered the corpses of the science students, we all knew that this could particularly happen to our group of students. So their moral or will to fight was weaken even more.

Following the cheerful moments, it already felt like "the calm before the storm" and with the rising tension between yongseo and his inner conflict, the sort of either happy/sad ending was set.

You need to empathize with them! They are Highschoolers, teenagers which were thrown into the cold water so they had to adapt quickly. They have no adults to look up to neither hope insight or a strength group moral. We already saw somebody going mad in part I when another platoon was betrayed by its sergeant and the surviving members being suspicious about the our platoons adults. One student went crazy shooting the vice sergeant... so similar things could have happened with this platoon right?

When Yongseo went on his final rampage, things were pretty realistic (except the ammount of bullets he can shoot with just one mag lmao). A small and closed room with a mass of students and one assault rifle with bascially infinite ammo since it's a fictional series, a massacre was most likely to be expected. That's why I'm not even mad about the author hooping 95% of II parts cast. But, the fact that some survived the first wave of his rampage was even better! They tried to take him down after mag dumping, but also failed in shocked conditions. Unlucky and realistic because if u aren't crazy nor totally emotionaless and shocked u couldn't pull the trigger unless u either done it before or were prepared to do so.

I think many people couldn't handle the end since many ppl wrote "last ep destroyed everything" but let's be honest. What were the options for the stories end unless u read the manwha/webtoon (idk). Happy but boring end, tragic last stand against those alien creatures, in my opinion lame and too cruel. But the final blow throughout the stocked up emotions and students going crazy? In my opinion the best option they had for a dystopia teenage scenario. Teenagers can't handle their emotions :o

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Is writer mad or somthing?? Worst ending ever

What the hell.. is this alien story or just bullshit story about mad idiot...
when part 1 they alredy killed so many kids without even giving them wepons.. and there r dumb parts like when they grab that key with hand like that, even so there haf story and it is actually cool.. even i am not cried or scared i loved that story.. and this is the first ever drama thay i waited without patience for 2nd part.. but what the hell, only 1st episode aliens arrived then only few, then here comes prisonrs and then tht idiot go crazy...

Is writer go crazy or did he forget about story line. Why the hell they all should die.. its actully ok if they died becoz of aliens.. but no hell.............. worst ending ever.. this is not humans fight this is aliens story..

And 2nd part, story line is suck i think it would be more better if they end it in ep 6. There r no news about parent and there r still balls left and theire only kimchi write exm hell dude hell... and when some scenes come to end it is not ending cool way becoz next part started from other different sscene. Is writer drunk...??? i am so angry right now 😠😠

As for actors no need to argue they are best every character did thire part superbly except writer 😒

And most funny part is i waited somthing happend and at last moment of lee n then he will come back... that what i hope but look at what we got not only lee but also won bin disappeared and all kids just dead.. poor us

(I write this again (edited riview) this part after thinking - When I was wondering why this happened to a story that had so many ratings, what I thought was that we were watching the story in the wrong corner.... We watched this with expecting a feeling like All of us are dead, but that's when we thought that we missed one of the most important points of the story. We watched the story based on the alien spheres. But the kids in story were not thinking it that way. For those children, whether they have the spheres or not, it doesn't matter to them whether the world is destroyed or not. Wanted to face the exam called CSAT. Those children went to military service because of CSAT, when their friends died one by one, when their parents didn't know whether they were alive or not, even when the lieutenant who was their bodyguard died, but those children did not want to leave this mission because of CSAT, if you look closely, all of them died at the last moment. That also becoz of CSAT That's why.... If you look at the story on the basis of CSAT, thinking that the spheres is actually a just in your mind , the the beginning, middle, and end are balanced....

In my opinion, the main purpose of the story is to tell how badly a competitive exam affects a child's mind... Even if it is not scary things like duty after school, even when we are doing competitive exams, when the exam is near, the books of the class top are lost. They have been working as if the admission is disappearing. As far as I know, such things are still happening today... If you look at it like that, there is a similarity between going after the competitive exams by trampling even the closest friend and the things that happened in Duty after school....

But overall i dont agree with writer becoz this is survival drama about aliens. Itz not survival drama about school kidsor somthing

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