All of Us Are Dead (2022)

In spite of all the horror and struggle for survival, there is still room for the heart note

"All of Us Are Dead" isn't specific to South Korean culture, but it's not surprising that the story was born on South Korean soil... The story picks up on the sheer horror that South Korean youth are exposed to in the face of their brutal educational system. There, the enormous pressure to perform is higher than almost anywhere else in the world. For some, bullying is one way to reduce stress. The bullied, in turn, are doubly stressed. Other options include withdrawal, drugs, or suicide. South Korean society is largely blind and/or helpless in the face of this. The pressure to perform and, in this context, the psychological suffering of young people seems to be without alternative in view of the nationwide (and worldwide, economic) competition - a price that society has to pay in view of the greater good. And with that, the youngsters are left alone to somehow survive in this merciless world. However, this applies (perhaps not so blatantly) in a similar way to young people in many countries around the world.

This is where "All of Us Are Dead" comes in its impressive and striking way.

The original title is something like "Currently at our school", so the focus is actually on the school and their students. In fact, the horror of everyday school life, which is more existential for some and less existential for others, mutates into a horror for everyone. A troubled father wants to create a way for his suicidal son to finally stand up to his bullies. The experiment goes astray. The vicious, zombie-like virus is sweeping the entire city and beyond. Disaster control, state of emergency, martial law - the whole program is needed to get the situation under control. And here, again, the young people are left alone in their existential need.

The story telling and expression of various group and relationship dynamics between the young people represent high-end KDrama quality - intense, powerful, sensitive, excellent. Almost everything is on the table. For me, this is the strength of this KDrama and the reason why worth watching.

Besides the problems, dynamics and approaches of trying to 'master' the threatening epidemic somehow sums up what we have had to go through worldwide in the past 2 years marked by Covid. When the rules are overridden, individuals (those who happen to have something to say) rule against the backdrop of their (helpless) personalities - arbitrary or scientifically based, rational or irrational, mostly driven by fear and from a safe distance and/or on the (argumentatively) safe side. Then real quick nobody takes side of individuals anymore, the big picture being more important...

Seen in this way, "All of Us Are Dead" is a qualitatively demanding KDrama in several respects. In spite of all the horror and struggle for survival, there is still room for the heart note.

However, I would like to emphasize that the virus is turning people into flesh-eating zombies. So the abundance of screaming, rattling, biting, blood-smeared zombie scenes, which simply lack any aesthetics for the eye and ear, is part of the story, too. In general this drama is brutal. This is obviously very popular in the international zeitgeist and thus (being published on the international netflix platform) stagily staged. I would say, brutal details and zombie-screentime could definitely have been less prevailing (in order to still tell the story).

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Dying is easy, surviving is hard

All of Us Are Dead is adapted from the serialized Naver digital webtoon entitled Now at Our School, which was written by Joo Dong Geun and published from 2009 to 2011. I haven’t read the webtoon but it reportedly consists of only nine chapters. Therefore it would probably stand to reason that the live-action adaptation has expanded on its lore, especially when Netflix is involved where the potential exists for a series to be renewed for a second season, depending on the success of the first season.

The drama is co-directed by Lee Jae Gyoo, who won a Baeksang for Damo and directing honours for Beethoven Virus, and Kim Nam Soo. It is based on the screenplay adaptation written by Cheon Seong Il, the screenwriter for Chuno and The Pirates. Principal photography took place from June 2020 to February 2021, which was prolonged due to the Covid-19 outbreak during filming.

In a nutshell, the story revolves around a group of highschool students who are trapped at their school, the ground zero for the onset of a zombie virus outbreak. The drama depicts them fighting to survive both the zombies and virus infection while waiting to be rescued. The rating classification for this production is R-18 and aside from the expected zombie action and gore, certain trigger warnings are present in the form of bullying violence that even borders on sexual assault.

In a recent interview with director Lee Jae Gyoo via the online presentation of the production in South Korea on 26th January, he had intimated that this drama would be uniquely distinct within the K-drama zombie genre that has become commonplace in recent years. According to him, All of Us Are Dead features thought-provoking themes that add a different meaning to a zombie apocalypse, where the focus is on the choices young students make at the boundary between life and death. In addition, the story also provides a satirical take on South Korea's educational system and school space.

What I Liked

I love the K-drama zombie genre and anything closely or even remotely associated in the form of mutants, monsters and the like, complete with the horror, action, adventure tags whether in contemporary, sageuk or fantasy settings. As much as I’ve enjoyed the recently aired Happiness, my preference for zombies leans towards the more feral variety with hordes of them rampaging through the populace annihilating anything and everything in their path, in the mould of Train to Busan (which gets a shoutout in this drama), Kingdom and Rampant. Call me sadistic but I’m all for epic levels of productions with economies of scale in delivering the exhilaration of the action, thrills and suspense, along with all the emotive aspects of human drama as well. Based on what I’ve seen of the depiction of zombies in this drama, it manages to convey all of the above, and has successfully fulfilled most, if not all, of my expectations.

A co-production between JTBC Studios’ Film Monster and Kim Jong Hak Production for Netflix, the quality of the technical execution is beyond doubt. No effort or budget was spared as even a huge four-storey set was constructed as the setting of the fictional Hyosan High School. The money was very well spent indeed as the production design looks top notch with all the nitty gritty details providing an intriguing backdrop to the zombie outbreak. The zombies themselves are deftly manifested in terms of the makeup, special and sound effects, as well as the blood, gore and contortions which complement the extensive range of expertly choreographed sequences.

The cinematography is deserving of praise with the crucial aspect for productions of this nature being the calibre of the camerawork, which for the most part does not let me down (or induce nausea). The well rendered scene transitions are testament to the standard of editing as well, where it’s worth mentioning that the chaotic scenes at the cafeteria and library involving 200 or so extras are reportedly the result of a single-take shooting.

As far as the narrative is concerned, the premise of a school-based zombie outbreak is refreshingly new to me. Some viewers may associate elements of Dark Hole to be of similar vein but personally it really isn’t despite the comparable vibes. While I wouldn’t consider the overall plot trajectory as particularly inventive or groundbreaking, what distinguishes this drama from most others that I’ve seen is the storytelling approach.

In addition to the multiple POV perspectives of the main characters, the screenplay takes its time to explore the origins of the zombie outbreak and motivations behind the actions resulting in the said virus being unleashed on humanity. The depiction of characters dealing with the tragic circumstances in the aftermath certainly elicits an emotional response as well.

True to the director's word, this drama tackles both existing and hypothetical societal concerns which provide added dimensions to the storytelling. Among the thought provoking themes incorporated into the storytelling - unchecked and unmitigated school violence, the ingrained hierarchical social order within a society segmented by wealth and power, the deeply polarised mindsets of the local government and communities in the event of an apocalypse or the aftermath of a mass casualty event. The role that technology plays in binding all these themes together is tackled as well in the form of the ever increasing reliance on and abuse of social media as an outlet that fuels the dissemination of actual and fake news.

The infusion of a number of side stories, character arcs and a narrative that steadily evolves as the drama progresses helped to allay my initial concerns of the story sustaining its momentum over 12 episodes. The dynamic between characters giving rise to various forms of conflicts, teen angst, and even hints of romance contribute towards preserving an atmosphere filled with tension and suspense. That said, I do think the drama could have been slightly shortened without adversely impacting the storytelling.

The main cast is made up of young actors, some of whom were prolific child actors and even critically acclaimed talent as well. Park Ji Hoo, Yoon Chan Young, Jo Yi Hyun, Park Solomon and Yoo In Soo portray the highschool students who are caught up in the ensuing chaos. Featuring roles of varying capacities, these youngsters provide a decent account of themselves through characterizations that are adequately written, for the most part. Lee Yoo Mi is particularly impressive here following her brief appearance in Squid Game, given her experience of being the oldest actress portraying a student and for her captivating portrayal of the antagonistic Lee Na Yeon that actually steals the scenes from the protagonists at times. Meanwhile, I would consider Park Solomon’s affable Lee Soo Hyuk, Jo Yi Hyun’s stoic Choi Nam Ra and Ha Seung Ri’s heroic archer Jang Ha Ri as my favourite characters amongst the students.

The supporting cast come across as being more familiar, where we get to observe Kim Byung Chul (Sisyphus, Doctor Prisoner), Lee Kyu Hyung (Happiness, Voice 4), Lee Yo Mi (Squid Game), Uhm Hyo Sub (King of Tears, War of the Son) , Bae Hae Seon (Happiness, Inspector Koo, HomeCha), Jeon Bae Soo (Stranger, Lawless Lawyer), Kim Jong Tae (The Veil, Sisyphus), and Yoon Byung Hee (Hot Stove League). The more nuanced acting in the drama is provided by these mostly experienced veterans, especially Kim Byung Chul as science teacher Lee Byeong Chan. Utterly intense, sinister, and convincing, unsurprisingly the best performance in the entire drama comes from this award-winning actor. Jeon Bae Soo gets to play the hero this time in a memorable performance as firefighter Nam So Ju.

What I Didn’t Appreciate

When it comes to K-dramas and school students, bullying and violence are par for the course - they’re never far away and will probably remain as a staple trope. It’s infuriating and disturbing to watch at times and seems to be escalating in brutality these days. The scale of the savagery seems to be higher than the actual zombie action itself but it’s something that all viewers of K-content will need to accept and get used to, unfortunately.

The main villain of the story is featured through the gangster wannabe and low-life bully Yoon Gwi Nam, played almost too well by Yoo In Soo. This despicable human thrash has the typical clichéd story arc that stretches far too long, in my opinion, before eventually fizzling out as a mere afterthought.

As mentioned earlier, I think the storytelling would have been better presented if it were slightly shorter, perhaps with 8 or so episodes.Despite the multiple POVs, too much time is allocated to the teen drama at school than is perhaps necessary. I would have liked to have seen Kim Byung Chul’s character more fleshed out in real time rather than merely as a series of flashbacks. The same goes for Jeon Bae Soo’s firefighter who is desperately trying to get to his daughter.

There are numerous annoying characters in this drama, some of whom supposedly supplying the usual ill-fitting comic relief that appears very much jarring to the senses.The tough girl wannabe and her whingeing companion, the cowardly police sergeant, and the bickering couples, to name a few. I think generally the boys are better written than the girls who come across as petty and physically abusive towards their male counterparts, as far as the youngsters are concerned.

Final Thoughts

All things considered and despite its flaws as well as the overly dramatic ending that has the potential for expansion either as a sequel or a side story, I had a great time mainly because of my love for horror and zombies. We honestly do need more zombie stories because there is too much romance, rom-coms and melodrama in dramaland already and simply not enough of the macabre flesh-eating, blood-sucking undead. All of Us Are Dead is not the best in the genre, where Kingdom still reigns supreme, but as a one-time weekend watch it definitely fulfils my insatiable hunger for such content, albeit temporarily.

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You need to be a zombie to enjoy this

Whew! Watching this is like doing an unwanted chore. Such a waste of opportunity!

After saving it in my to-watch list the first day I saw the trailer on Netflix, I cleared my Friday night schedule to binge all the episodes, prepared my popcorn, (and beer) popped the first episode and I'm hooked! The first episode was compelling and was such a gorefest, I thought it is exactly how I want my horror show. The very first attack by the school nurse was heartstopping and showed a lot of promise. Sadly, after the 3rd episode, I am snoozing like a baby, drools and all.

My expectations are low when it comes to horror. I come to be entertained and have a good time, and the more gruesome and the more bloody the better. Having said that, I have set my bar even lower for this series because I know it's teen-centric and I just want to enjoy and not nitpick details. This show, however, exceeded in delivering mind-numbing foolishness, and it's so easy to hate almost all characters that you can't stop wishing all of them would just be bitten.

The story is simple enough but could have been a goldmine of ideas and exciting scenarios. Instead, they dropped stupid and repetitive scenarios one after another. The character's eyes keep popping like a light bulb every time they think (or they think they thought of) of brilliant ideas to outsmart the zombies. You just can't help but cheer the zombies to finally have a go at it and just kill the characters:
1. One of the most frustrating is the way they handled Ohn Jo's father, they were building the story for him to be the big rescuer, and that he will do everything to save his daughter only to die minutes after reuniting with her. We were shouting at the screen when that happened cause they all clearly have a path to get away from the zombies, especially right after when he threw the first flare because it seems they can all go safely, Then, he unnecessarily threw the second and third flares. Very anti-climatic for his arc just to create the drama.
2. Seems like they were intent on just unnecessarily killing all the adults alive in the school to keep the narrative that the teens are on their own.
3. The vlogger was just a nuisance. I don't understand his importance to the story cause he did nothing at all.
4. Do I need to mention Chiong San's mom? What about his dad who mysteriously disappeared?
5, The police force. My goodness! I love Lee Kyu Hyung and even if his character here was almost the same as in Happiness, he is still also one of the few bright spots of the series. However, the whole Hyosan police force was just a dimwit bunch. Did you see how easy it was for the zombies to overrun the friggin police headquarters? The guys at the school put up a much better fight than these weakling cops. They got the main culprit -the brain behind the virus and they know the virus is spreading and you interrogate him like it's a normal crime? Has no one there thought of coordinating with the other agencies, and telling them that they have the crazy scientist, turn him over and make him do the antidote or something. No, they all panicked when the zombies attacked the police station, no one even thought of maybe finding some weapons because just maybe there are some because THEY ARE IN THE FRIGGIN POLICE STATION!
6. What about the assemblywoman? What's her actual contribution to the whole story?
7. Did you see how the teen mom tied her hands with that ribbon, to keep her from eating the baby? She's a zombie, not a gift box, that ribbon looks so thin that when she became a zombie she could have snapped it easily. Oh but that ribbon is made of steel and it held her overnight. And that baby? It must have superhuman powers to survive that long without milk.
8. The bullied girl in the rooftop. I was thinking they'd give her a recovery arc, but no, she is just as self-centered as her bullies. She was so happy to announce that she SET THE SCHOOL ON FIRE, but girl has to check that statement cause all she did was burn the papers in the office, nothing more. Hasn't she seen the fire sprinklers working? A fight between her and GwiNam could have been epic.
9. And OMG that bullied guy. I kinda understand why he did what he did on the rooftop, but then he was at the camp, met this girl, and he tells him I want to eat you, and then he just let her. That scenario alone could have opened a lot of possible chaotic scenarios inside the camp. I was kinda expecting the zombies to spread there, but no, nothing of that sort. It's like the guy's existence is just to make the abandonment of the kids in the rooftop climatic, which by the way is not.
10. I would like to mention the countless stupid ways to escape a zombie apocalypse but this is already way too long.

They even spent almost an episode literally talking about shit. They complained about thirst and hunger but didn't bother to find food and water and yet they spent quite some time teaching us how to do the number 2 during an apocalypse.

What makes it sadder, is that I find not a single character to latch on to - not the drama queen, not her puppy best friend, not the pretend goody goody jock, not even the smartass who could have been their gifted savior. What they delivered instead was a puke-invoking bunch of whiny pimpled teenage characters who can't stop talking about their silly crushes and quite a few useless adult characters who make selfish and terrible decisions.

There are only two characters I didn't hate- Gwi Nam is a scary psycho and the funny delinquent Mi-Jin. Had they shifted the focus to these two, they could have created a witty frightening gore. I just have to add that my favorite part was when they were on the rooftop and singing cause that felt sincere.

I can't help but wonder why this show got a 12-episode order as opposed to Kingdom which has 6 per season and Sweet Home which has 10. The show could have used a lot of editing and maybe it will feel better if it was just 8 or even 10.

I recommend having a go at it using your mobile device, that way you can change the playback speed, otherwise, if you're watching on your smart tv just have the remote ready and just feel free to skip the boring parts. I promise you, you won't miss anything. Hard to rewatch, unfortunately.

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Frustrating Female Lead and Unlimited Plot holes

All of us are dead can be said as a high budget series with beautiful shots and gory details and props, but for me that was the only good thing about the series. Well, I can also add that most of the actors are really good too especially the veterans than we mostly recognized immediately in episode 1. It is enjoyable to watch in the sense that we can see that the production team did spend a lot of money for this series, the camera angles, the blood and the realistic entrails was fascinating to watch but that was all for me. The actors acting was wasted by the story line, all of the lead actors did tried their best to deliver their characters well and this is the problem, the female lead become frustratingly useless and stupid and all throughout the series I was exclaiming to my sister that she needs to get her priorities straight. I mean how stupid can you get if she keeps on whining about her crush instead of prioritizing her own life to survive and then telling your oldest friend that everyone that you hold dear in your life is either a zombie or missing ( girl best friend and crush) so she didn’t want to live anymore. She needed to be reminded about her father who might be worried and doing all that he can do to save her before she realize that she still has someone waiting for her to live. Aside from that she was useless and weak compare to her other classmates and there are so many side story that in the end wasn’t particularly necessary to have.

There is also a lot of plot holes that was so funny to watch that my sister and I keep asking each other if we have miss something because that wasn’t possible to happen. One of those is that magic towel that seems to materialized in the roof top, where could have they gotten that one when they have nothing on them when they were running towards the roof top and the inconsistencies of the “Hambies” power. The difference between Gwi nam, Eun Ji and Nam ra’s abilities were so unfair and I know they are zombies but Gwi nam keeps on reviving everytime when everyone else just die after a major blow to their bodies. There is also the fact that it wasn’t establish what sets them apart from the other zombies, I refused to believe that the will of the father and mother of the male lead and female lead isn’t as strong as the will of Gwi nam to get revenge on Cheong san. Overall, if you just want a good ol’ gory horror film with a lot of meaningless deaths and stupid decision this can be a good series to watch if you have nothing to watch.

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ZZZZZombies

I've been waiting for this drama to air for an obscenely long time, I cleared my schedule today to fully binge this and I’ve got to say, I’m disappointed. There's a lot to be said and I’m sure some people enjoy it, but there's just very little to redeem the story and its ridiculous rabbit holes.

STORY
There's really nothing special about this story despite the fact the very idea of a zombie outbreak at a school gives a lot to work with. The writers stuff so many different plot points and social issues into the script and they're never fully elaborated on. But the worst thing is the fact the writers don't have something to say. Instead of the perceived problem of the message becoming too preachy, in a way common to the genre, there just seems to be no message at all. They touch on bullying, teen pregnancy, harassment, etc but there's nothing to be gained from it, you leave the viewing experience underwhelmed and slightly annoyed (especially because of the ending). There could've been many explorations in this story, a dive into pure human nature, an interesting perspective on strength, a deep look at grief. Instead, there are plot twists that make no sense, random characters and stories that have zero effect on the story, death without meaning, and repetitive plot points that leave you bored and exhausted. Some characters are interesting while others are one-note, with most characters having disappointing wrap-ups to their arcs/lives. Every aspect of the story is a complete letdown. It feels like the story writers missed an English class in 5th grade and forgot that every story needs to have a theme, subject, and message... My frustration really cannot be expressed properly, it is genuinely a shame.

ACTING
I'm going to link this acting and these characters together because in all honesty most of these characters are completely flat, we follow them for over 10 hours yet somehow know nothing about them or their motivations. But the cast! These kids are all wonderful, some of the side characters are uninteresting but even then their bonds with the mains and each other seem real and interesting, The main cast, especially Yoon Chanyoung, Yoo Insoo, and Jo Yihyun, are truly amazing, often showing up their older counterparts with the depth they managed to bring their characters. The true strength of this show is based entirely on how the actors managed to bounce off each other and deliver spectacularly when the camera decided to point at them. The show would be much worse off without this cast.

MUSIC/OTHER
I'm not an ost person so music has never had much of a deciding factor, the instrumentals were good if forgettable. I'd actually like to talk about the choreography of the fight scenes and visual effects. They were INCREDIBLE!! There were fight scenes in every episode and every one made use of beautiful staging techniques and were a delight to watch. The zombies ere really terrifying to see and the ever present threat was only heightened by the lovely special effects. The dance choreographers and VFX designers really delivered.

REWATCH VALUE
Like I said, there's really nothing of merit in the story and I feel like rewatching would make that even more pronounced.

OVERALL
To be honest I really wanted to love this drama. with everything in me I really did, but the plot and its meanderings are just really hard to bear... I really hope it does well though because this cast has some really special talent and id hate to see it go to waste.

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Entertaining enough, but no real likeable characters

Likes: As a fan of the zombie genre, I thought the production was pretty good. The action scenes were tense and nicely done. It was entertaining enough that I don't regret watching this.

Dislikes:
- There were no real likeable characters. No one stood out. And because the characters weren't fleshed out enough, I didn't feel a connection with any of them so I wasn't really rooting for anyone that strongly. Nobody really left an impression.
- I especially didn't like the character of Ohn Jo. She was so dull (as with most of the female characters for most of the drama) Having one of the main characters be so dull was a wrong move.
-Lack of clear leads. I wasn't sure half the time who were supposed to be the main leads. Is it Cheong San/Ohn Jo? Or is it Nam ra/Soo Hyuk? I think if the drama had focused on the Nam ra/ Soo Hyuk arc , fleshed that out a bit more and also the hybrid changes that Nam ra was going through, the drama would have been more interesting.
-Lack of depth in the story arcs. Like what was the purpose of the detective, his partner, the baby, and little girl? They added no value to the story. And the whole arc of Ohn Jo and her father was kind of a let down. And the purpose of introducing the arrow shooting nuna so late in the game?
-Draggy moments. Not gonna lie. I did FF a little in the draggy parts.

Overall disappointing? Yes, but I was still entertained enough mainly due to my love for the zombie chase. Would I watch this again? No. Would I watch another season? Yes, esp if they concentrated on the zombie hybrids and have cool action scenes.

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Is it more than your regular Zombie drama?

Zombie dramas have its own fan-base. You either like such gore dramas or hate them. Of-course it is the story that matters at the end of the drama. I feel that the suddenness of a zombie popping out of places you least expect from and the survivors instinct of the dramas cast makes it thrilling for the viewers.
Coming back to the 'All of us are dead' drama. I was waiting for this drama for a long time and I binged watched the entire drama as soon as it came in my country. Even though the drama had its fair share of plot holes and a not so likeable Main FL the drama was a one hell of a thrilling ride. And what I loved is its long list of good actors in it. At points the decision made by the student may seem immature but we have to keep in mind that they were only high school students. It is thrilling to watch them trying to stay alive between a horde of zombies. The drama started as your regular high school bullying drama but it quickly changed gears. The story was pretty fast moving too and it never felt dull at a long interval. I feel that the first half of the drama was far better than the second half pf the drama.
Between all blood and death also there were some nice characters to watch. Namely Lee Cheong San, Song Jae Ik [Detective], Jang Ha Ri and a few more characters. I personally didn't liked the FL. Even though she was a good actor.
At the end I would like to say is that it is quite a nice watch for the Zombie lovers out there. I am giving it an 9 rather than a 10 is because I think something that makes the drama wow is missing from this drama and I personally didn't liked the end that much. Hopefully we get answers about it in the future.

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Promising Outbreak but Questionable Ending

The premise of "All of Us Are Dead" like the korean title "지금 우리 학교는" or "Our School Now" is centered on students who tried their best to stay alive from being trapped in their school through zombie apocalypse. All of Us Are Dead has 12 episodes with 1 hour long duration. Some viewer might find the story dragging, but I didn't at all. How and why I find this drama fun and engaging? Mostly because I got to watch the story from several different perspective, desperate teen survivor, detective and his framed science teacher, also military and political government.

[ Promising Outbreak ]
Unlike most of zombie series that started with main character's everyday life and the sudden zombie outbreak, All of Us Are Dead began with the background story of the virus itself. The starting plot is around a student who get bullied and how this character developed the virus from his science teacher father who helped his own son from death. It is then unfold from his laboratory room and how the infected bring their zombie virus from inside and outside the school. I appreciated how the writer put the issue of school violence into the root of the zombie virus. The emotional story from the parents of surviving student was also my favorite. I always love how South Korean included 'heartwarming' family plot onto their series and ended it harshly for tearjerking scenes.

The story is shifted from time to time but it is all still connected into one because the school background setting is labeled ground zero for the outbreak. They blend the detective, military, and the political side into the story pretty well. We got to see the view on characters who truly wanted to help surviving people, who just wanted to save the non infected citizen, and who wanted to save their own ass on status seat even in harsh condition. Back to the main characters and their zombie battle at school. The main characters here are the surviving Hyosan Students, that funnily were all in the same class. What is the possibility of you and your classmates to survive together in zombie outbreak? This drama writer be like, "Hell yeah, 99%. It is fiction so of course there would be impossible events, what would you expect?"

[ Questionable Ending ]
It wasn't an ideal one but I didn't know a better way to end this drama. The drama has an open ending like our real life Covid-19 situation, there is no light to see the end. I must mention i noticed there is some reference on "Sewol Ferry" accident in episode 12 where the survivors are being interrogated. If you don't know about it, try google search. It was heartbreaking real life tragedy of high school students who was abandoned by the official staff and government by leaving them drowning on sinking ferry. The student victims trusted the adults too much that they had to die in the end. So the dialogue "Why did you abandon us?" and "I won't ask adults ever again, don't ask us to cooperate." hit me in the feels. Not a perfect ending of course, afterall especially in our pandemic situation, which government have done a perfect job on taking care difficult problem? None.

But, how about the fantasy side from the virus and zombie? Yeah like when Nam Ra jumped from high school building, they once again left us with cliff hangers. I didn't get bothered by it, but I just wished to see more depth into their characters before the ending. What I find disappointing was how they started the 'virus making' well but they unfortunately leave the 'mutant making' with full of hanging reasons. There was definitely a chance for them to show more of background stories from Half Zombie characters "The Bully Guy", "The Sexy Girl", and "The Students Pres". Unfortunately we didn't get them until the end and we only could imagine and assume by ourselves.

[ Characters... Are Dead ]
I personally really hate the romance between main characters. It is as if they tell us, we have to crush on someone to be the main characters. Will it be okay without it? of course. If only their focus is more about friendship than love story, I think it will be more moving and affecting in a good way. Like my favorite scenes from the farewell between Cheong San and Gyeong Su, On Jo and Yi Sak throwback, and also Na Yeon character development story. I also find the supporting roles are more interesting, the two archery ladies, crybaby Na Yeon, chicken part timer wannabe Gyeong Sang, the realistic Ji Min, 2nd rank student ( i forgot his name ), the brother in law guy, and more! In comparison, the four main characters are more bland than the supporting characters to me.

Is their acting good enough? At first, both female lead actress looks awkward in my eyes, but they get better each episodes when they are mourning deaths and countering difficult situation. Male leads chemistry are the best, I like their bromance and I wish to see them in other projects. All of the supporting casts and the minor roles have amazing acting and they delivered their emotion admirably. I must mention the zombie stunt are perfect, plus point on cracking bones acting.

[ Zombies... Are Alive ]
Instead of creepy or dark atmosphere, All of Us Are Dead zombies are more gory full of blood ripped flesh and average people would find it disturbing. Most of them are executed on VFX and negative side we can actually notice it because the overall bright cinematography. There would be some plot hole in their action scenes and some people could get bothered by it. Like how the heck those zombie didn't get killed from third-floor fall but immediately died from a single arrow, but I personally didn't mind it because it was all for "plot armour" and just passed it by. I myself hardly get scared with zombie genre and I find most of the zombies here are hilarious. Believe me, I laughed a lot on suitcase, traffic cone, scissors, and kindergarten zombies. I repeated their scenes for comedic relief.

[ Music... Are Splashed Everywhere ]
I don't know what to say here. I don't remember any single background music in All of Us Are Dead and I just remember all the special sound effect of tearing flesh, splashing blood, and purking. But that is what made me focus on their action and dialogue between characters.

[ Overall... Watch it When You Are Alive ]
One you can expect from south korean zombie series is their focus on survival. I like this show from episode 1 to 12. It is a fun experience to see all perspective of students victim of harsh accident trying to get into safety in school area. There are a lot of cool extraordinary action scenes when they tried avoiding the zombies. The thrilling moments and in between relief of breath are exciting for me. The overall cinematography are also excellent, they have this green color grading perfect for image's depth, contrast, and contour to support the story's atmosphere. The behind production team is top notch. I didn't read this drama webtoon because I didn't want to get disappointed like I did with Sweet Home. That was my choice and I think that was the best decision for me. Because in the end, I mostly enjoyed All of Us Are Dead from the beginning until the end.

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I can't explain but this series has my whole heart

Ahhh.. this is so fascinating especially the fact that they have actual choreographers for the zombie movements! i thought that was very unique!! i hope all their hardwork pays off, because i can already tell this is going to be truly phenomenal! And i just love their chemistry ? I love how they put and prioritize every details here! May your hardwork pays off. Fighting! This drama tells us so many things in so many ways like how it feels when it comes to you, your family, your friends..... How selfish people can be when you needed them. this series showed the reality of world... I just loved everything but i just feels like crying because of the ending i wanted see them together.....hell i want another season... ?

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How far will you go in order to survive?

"All of us are dead" is a classic zombie drama with a lot of action, thriller and horror elements. Even though the story is nothing groundbreaking, it doesn't fail to deliver enjoyment to the viewers that seek for zombies and epic action.

As the drama consists a very high number of brutal and gore scenes, in addition with bulling and sexual harassment, it's not for the lighthearted. The drama's extreme violence made the drama at times really disturb and difficult to watch. If you know you can't bear it, then avoid it.

As for the drama's pace, the first episode is slow but the drama in general is very fast paced because it contains many action scenes. As the drama is very suspenseful and stressful to offset seriousness, and make the drama easier to watch, at times it has some comic reliefs. Thus, every episode is good watching experience. As it's a 12-episode drama though, it's difficult to binge-watch it right away.


The Story

"All of us are dead" is based on a webtoon by the same name, written by Joo Dong-Geun. The original run of the webtoon was from May, 13th 2009 to November, 9th 2011. The story mainly revolves around the struggle for survival of the students who were trapped in the ground zero for the zombie virus, the school.

Webtoon comparison

The drama adaptation has many differences with the original story that gave it some advantages and disadvantages. I will analyze some of these changes below.

1. The beginning
Unlike the original story, which starts straight away, the drama invests some time to set the characters background. The advantage of this change was that the viewers had the time to get to know the characters so it was easier later to understand their motives and empathize with them. The disadvantage of this change was that the first episode was slow and it may be boring for some of the viewers.

2. The center of the story
In both stories the center of the drama was the school, but in the drama, we see a lot of subplots outside the school that originally didn't exist, or they weren't fully developed. That way, we see a more global picture of the events that took place under the zombie apocalypse. For example, the overall government's response was more carefully written and seemed more logical and comprehensive in drama.

The disadvantage of this change was that some of the extra subplots were completely unnecessary (and illogical) and that could easily put off some viewers (which in my case happened).

3. Characters & relations
As the drama consists of many extra scenes and subplots, some of the characters are extra too. Apart from this, some of the original characters have different storylines, deaths and relationships from the original story. As for the storyline, the actions of a lot of characters changed but their personalities remained the same. As far as the dead are concerned, the only thing that changed was the cause or the timing of their death. This change was neutral for me as the results were the same as the webtoon.

4. Action
The drama is filled with a huge amount of action scenes and almost all of them aren't part of the original story. On the one hand, the action made the drama a thrilling watching experience as some of them were pretty amazing. On the other hand, as far as the story's events are concerned, due to the action "overdose" the story got draggy. This affected the characters also because, even though they had better and more complete background and relations than the webtoon, the necessary time for them to develop through the episodes, wasn't given.

5. The virus' origin
The virus origin that causes the zombie apocalypse is different in the drama. I can't analyze this in detail because I don't want to spoil it. What can I say is that in the drama they tried to make a full background of the virus and support it with sci-fi biology elements which was pretty convincing for someone who doesn't know about biology. Again, this was an advantage for the drama.

6. The ending
Both endings have many similarities but the webtoon ends while the drama may require a second season. As the webtoon has ended, the second season of the drama will be completely unrelated with the original story. The writers don't have elements to base a second season on, so it's unsure if a second season will be released or if it will end up being a good sequence of the story. This change may be a big disadvantage for someone who doesn't like incomplete stories but at least the story has a closure so maybe it's less frustrating.

Conclusion
The drama and the webtoon have countless differences which have both negative and positive effects on the story. We can say that the drama's story is loose based on the webtoon as it just kept the story skeleton and created a new one. In general, I think the adaptation can be considered as a good one.

My overall impression of the drama’s story is not very great, not very bad either. It was a mediocre story and there were many unnecessary and illogical things for me to accept. Also, several same (or almost same) things and events happened which made the story repetitive and tedious at times. What I liked the most, was how it manages to show how differently everyone acts in order to survive or to save someone else.

The production & Acting

The greatest thing about this drama, it's its production and directing, they were just amazing. Maybe "All of us are dead" has one of the best productions a Netflix original kdrama has. From the VFX to the zombie’s make-up, to the choreographed action scenes, to the scene’s shots and transitions, everything was perfectly and meticulously made. The music on the other hand was the weakest part of the production as it wasn't so memorable to me and it felt a little off from time to time.

The acting in general was okay. As I've said before, the drama mainly had action scenes so the actors didn't have enough to work with and create multi-dimensional characters with complex emotions. Some actors, though, manage to shine and catch my attention as a viewer. These were Yoo Chan Young, Jo Yi Hyun and Park Solomon.

Overall

"All of us are dead" was a drama with a mediocre typical story about zombies. It doesn't have the touching story of "Train to Busan”, the mysterious aura of "Kingdom", the uniqueness of "Sweet Home" or "Happiness" but it has one of the best productions of zombie action scenes which makes it a very decent and solid zombie drama. So, if you're looking for a drama for zombies with impressive action elements, watch it for sure. You won't be disappointed.

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Namhyeok supremacy

I have to start this off with my favorite part of — Suhyeok and Namra, who totally stole the show, both individually and together. I just loved Namra's character arc in particular, and though romance is by no means a main focus of this show, their scenes are the ones I keep going back to rewatch.

With that being said, I think it was really good that romance wasn't a main focus, and yet it was there in certain light-hearted moments, reminding us that these characters are still kids who deal with crushes and first kisses and butterflies. I think both of the main relationships were done absolutely beautiful and we got just the right amount for them.

I think my main criticism with this is just the massive amount of unnecessary characters there are. I liked the two main groups for sure (although I admit some of those characters felt extra — it was as if they were to die in case someone needed to be killed off) and some of the peripheral characters like parents, and I anxiously awaited moments where their paths would cross. But other than that, there were a lot of other character groups and arcs that took up time and got incomplete arcs like the politician, the livestreamer, or the pregnant girl; I either didn't care for those or were downright annoyed with them. Even some of the characters that were more relevant kind of had their character development swerving off-kilter in a non-sensical way.

I also felt like the last episode was really rushed; I felt like taking out some of those unnecessary characters and spending more time with the main group could have given the changes in the last episode more screentime — I also wouldn't have been opposed to having this be a full 16-episodes so we could see more about the aftermath and maybe get an ending that was more satisfying. It currently stands a bit bittersweet and I have mixed feelings on that.

In conclusion - watch for Suhyeok and Namra.

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All Of Us Are Dead review

First, the whole production is on another level as expected of netflix korea! the whole cast really did well, there were some parts that are kinda lacking but overall I really like Cheongsan and Suhyeok’s chemistry especially when they’re fighting the zombies! Also I like Namra’s character, she’s so badass and cool. The bullying issues and the way the school tried to cover it up resulting to the science’s teacher’s experiment to make his son stronger so he can fight those who bullied him. The sacrifices each character made was so tear jerking :( they’re parents and friends turning into zombie was so sad. Tbh I was so mad at Gwinam why can’t he just die, he had to bite Cheongsan and poke his eye (this part was so heartbreaking) then one by one they’re getting bitten, maybe that’s reason for the title :( but the ending got me so hanging like yeah kdrama usually end it like that but hopefully there’ll be season 2 cause I don’t want Cheongsan to die like that :’(

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