Zombieverse (2023)

Stupidly Entertaining

The title of this review should be Stoopidly Entertaining but most of you would probably just think I couldn't spell. For the 1 person that understands <3. I had not a clue what Zombieverse was when I started it. I read nothing about it. I had a tough day and wasn't feeling well. All I wanted was something to vegetate to so naturally, NETFLIX! First thing I saw was Zombieverse. I laughed and cringed...a lot.

Zombieverse is a variety show. If you've watched Korean varieties like Running Man, Infinite Challenge, The Escape, or more recently, The Zone: Survival Mission, etc, you know they make up scenarios for the cast to act out while accomplishing missions. Almost all of them, especially the ones I mentioned, have had zombie episodes. Zombieverse is one of those zombie episodes/stories turned into an 8 episode series. The premise is 4 celebrities escape Seoul as the Zombie Apocalypse hits. They pick up a few other survivors a long the way as they head out of the city with no particular place to go. Is it too long? Depends on what you're looking for. It was a great length for me. It maybe could've cut an episode, but it didn't put a pall on my enjoyment. The production was good. I appreciated the direction and editing. The quality was above your average variety. I loved how it began. I'm still not sure if the cast knew what they had truly signed up for. Their shock as things transpired seemed a little too real. Admittedly, if you're not a Dr. Noh fan, you probably hated the ending. I think it was leaving things open for a season 2. It also let's you know that the zombies may be evolved and perhaps a little wacky.

The cast was great. I love Noh "Dr. Noh" Hong Chul. I missed him when he left Infinite Challenge. His crazed energy and how others react to it is the stuff of legend. I was surprised to see Lee Si Young in a variety for more than 1 or 2 episodes, but she has established herself as a monster queen with her role in Sweet Home. I don't know much about the others. I've seen most of them before as guests in other shows (some like Na Rae more than others), but that's about it. That being said they were great. From time to time they had a hard time staying in character, which is understandable when you have comedians in the cast doing "their thing". Since they were all playing themselves, they had a little leeway in their behavior and reactions. I now understand Dex's popularity. You want Dex on your side in any apocalypse. At one point I yelled out "Now that's a man!" I also never knew Din Din was funny. With a name like Din Din I don't know how I missed it. The zombies for the most part were great. I felt a little sorry for them when they were on a certain amusement park ride, but I couldn't help but laugh.

The music was supportive. I'd say it was good. Re-watch isn't high, my usual, but it's not low either, especially the ending. It was so silly I watched it twice.

Overall, I liked it. As the title suggests it was stupid and entertaining. It was exactly what I look for in Korean variety to tell you the truth. If you like Korean variety of the type of mentioned, I can't see your not liking this.

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Entertaining but a bit too long

6.5 rating might put you off but it's actually entertaining to watch to an extent. Many people are taking this show seriously so let me lay it out for you guys. Warning, might have a few spoilers

Script:
Now zombieverse isn't a drama, it's technically a variety show. However it's more of a mix between a drama and a variety show. There is a basic script that all the celebs have to follow but anything more than that basic script is all their own genuine reactions/decisions. Dex's rope scene is an example of this (even the zombie forgot he was a zombie for a moment). Also people seem to be upset that it has funny bits ......this is a variety show, it needs to be funny to be entertaining. That's the whole reason why there's a bunch of comedians/known entertainers in the cast.

Actors:
A lot of people have a lot to say about the actors and honestly, as a third person watching this in the comfort and safety of my blankets, yeah some were annoying. The only useful ones were Dex, Siyeong, and Dindin. Hongchul was helpful here and there as well. The others were there for reaction sake. And yes Narae was in fact quite useless and annoying, with her injured leg and all. However, keep in mind that they're reactions to the zombies are unscripted so they're genuinely getting freaked out and mind you the zombie actors were so good it would be freaky even for me to see irl. So while we can get annoyed at the useless if most of the actors, it's probably just how they act when in fear. Not everyone can get up and lead like Dex or Siyeong (mind you Dex is an ex- udt/military man and Siyeong is an amateur boxer so they're used to working in high tense situations)

Music:
Yeah idk what music there was🤷

Rewatch:
Nah I wouldn't rewatch unless I really wanted to rewatch for Dex or for Siyeong. It's like a one time watch honestly

Closing statements:
If you have nothing to watch go for this. It'll keep you entertained. The only thing I kind of disliked was that I felt it was too long. Instead of 8 episodes I think this should have ended in 6. Almost felt draggy at one point. Adding new types of zombies or new evolution of zombies would have been interesting to see. Comedy bits are sprinkled here and there but it's funniest when the actors break characters (couldn't stop laughing at Patricia's reactions to Johnathan). Overall a 6.5/10. Would love to see a second season especially after that cliffhanger

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Misleading promo

I watched this without seeing any reviews, ads or even trailers but 've read that this show was promoted as "unscripted" reality-tv. If that's the case, then the promotion is grossly misleading. This show is neither a game or even reality TV. It's really a work of fiction in which the cast play themselves and are improvising the dialogues. And the final result is pretty bad.
There's a huge flaw in the whole concept that makes it unable to work, I'm surprised that it wasn't obvious for the producers : the cast can't hurt the "zombies" since they obviously know that those are just regular people. So you're stuck with "characters" who can't do what one would normally expect them to do in such a situation, which is to bash the heads of the zombies or at least try to neutralize them as violently as possible (set them on fire, dismember them, whatever...). All they can do is flee, which is ridiculous.
I wanted to like this show but really the only thing enjoyable is the little moments when the cast can't help laughing at how stupid the show is. Oh, and Lee Si Young is such a milf, my god. I hadn't noticed that when I saw her in Sweet Home.

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really good in the beginning

i loved this show it was incredible at first. my first time ever seeing a zombie show or anything related to zombie, where they actually changed without camera or scene cutting out. It was so convincing and cool. I loved the way the writers started this show out in the beginning but they fcked it up towards ep 6&7 when the zombie actors made it too obvious they were fake. i mean im not stupid i know they were fake in the beginning too but they made it so freaking convincing they shouldve kept it that way all the way to the end.... sad cause thats what ruined it for me in the end. But kudos to the zombie actors, action and stunt teams, and especially to the Makeup fx team!

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Embarrassment of time-waste sh!tshow.

3/10.

1 star for Na Rae, Hong Chul & DinDin trying to make something out of this sh!tshow and, also Lee Si Young to trying to fulfill whatever the creators of the show wanted from the cast. Rest of the cast was just forgettable at best. I know there are many Dex's fans on here but, for me Dex & Jonathan were too awkward and cringe, esp Dex's immersion was downright embarrassing.

1 star for Episode 6 & its main character - the reporter guy. Only episode 6 is funny and worth watching (however still skipping almost half of it), and possibly if I were to know about the episodes content, I would have skipped it all and just watched the episode 6.

1 star for the supporting cast/zombies/rest-of-the-non main cast-survivors for their convincing performance, wish the rest of the main cast could learn something from them.

Basically, this is a sh!tshow. Skip it. Still want to watch this one, then watch just episode 6, there would not be anything of loss in continuity worth-while.

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Because this is such a time-wasting sh!tshow, just for the fun of it, I'm going to attempt to rewrite this review that treats this show like a diamond in the rough, except it's more like a pebble in a sandbox. Trust me, this show has its own version of 'not worth it' written all over it, with a font size bigger than the screen.

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With an overall rating of 3 out of 10, this reality TV show scarcely manages to tread the line between engagement and bewilderment. The minimal commendations within this narrative fall upon the valiant attempts of Na Rae, Hong Chul, and DinDin to navigate the stormy waters of a production rife with inconsistency. Notably, Lee Si Young diligently endeavors to fulfill the enigmatic expectations the creators have bestowed upon the cast, demonstrating a degree of commitment.

The ensemble, however, leaves much to be desired. A majority of the cast dissolves into obscurity, a chorus of forgettable performances that fail to resonate. Admittedly, fervent admirers of Dex may beg to differ, yet the chemistry between Dex and Jonathan often feels palpably awkward, even to the point of inducing cringes. Dex's forays into immersion, a supposed highlight, often cascade into moments of painful embarrassment.

Remarkably, a glimmer of redemption graces the realm of the show in the form of Episode 6, bearing a protagonist of intriguing qualities - the reporter. Amidst the somber landscape, this episode emerges as an island of amusement, albeit one that necessitates judicious skipping of certain portions. It is here that the show briefly flares with the promise of what could have been.

An additional star finds its place within the constellation of appraisal for the supporting cast, particularly the zombies and the initial survivors. Their portrayal resonates with a semblance of conviction, underscoring the potential yet untapped by the larger ensemble.

In summation, the show falters in its execution, leaving an unsatisfying aftertaste. The discerning viewer would be prudent in electing to bypass this particular offering altogether. However, should curiosity persist, the recommendation rests in limiting the investment to Episode 6, where a semblance of comedic respite resides, and the toll on narrative continuity remains negligible.

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Running Man Zombie Version

The story is about several people who get trapped in the zombie apocalypse. The zombie origin itself was never found. The survivor needs to get out from the island and survive for several days. In the middle journey, they have to cooperate. It looks like a Running Man show where they have a mission and objective in every episode. It's quite hilarious to see this show since they sometimes do stupid things. It's recommended to those who love the combination of Running Man and Zombie. But if you like zombies that are much more intense such as Train To Busan, I don't think that this is gonna be good for you.

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I hated the ferris wheel part so much, honestly if I was there with them I’d have lost my mind🙃
It was so useless too and I accidentally skipped to the end so I thought that laughing part was the end and I was about to give a 1🤣

Dex was annoying again tho doing it for Patricia as well I was gonna calm down about him but I did feel like all members were secretly fat shaming her especially siyoung asking was it really that hard/heavy to move..

Idk how much was rigged cuz she did end up saving them tho staying behind would’ve also saved her
But the rest would’ve looked like trash eventho it’s a game to just abandon her for having body density

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Indescribable feeling

Credits to the producer and team for coming up with a new concept to the kvariety shows.

While we do have zombie episodes once in a while in the current suite of kvariety (running man, the zone s1 and s2, great escape etc), it’s new to see a variety program dedicating an entire 8 episodes on escaping zombies.

The scale of the program is HUGE: ranging from the amount of zombies “hired”, the guest actors that appeared in some of the episodes, the venue where the variety was filmed, the effects, the cast etc shows how much effort was put into this.

I finished the 8 episodes but I still cannot tell if I like the show or not.

The show is not scripted so you get to see the cast at their very “raw” selves. It was good to see how the cast adapts to such extreme circumstances (escape or get bitten).

However, it was really hard to be fully immersed into the show because logically it’s hard to make sense. It’s either kill or be killed situations, but because the zombies are after all cast themselves, the only method to escaping zombies became nothing but bodychecking them (they tried to have some weapons at the later part of the show but…)

The satisfaction that one may get from killing zombies that you see in dramas such as Kingdom, walking dead are all non-existent in the show.

In fact, this could be the mildest zombie show I ever watched. And there are some instances where even the cast cracked up during filming because the entire situation is just so bizarre.

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But what came as a surprise to me, was that despite the fact I was struggling to be immersed into the show, I was able to finish all 8 episodes because I became so intrigued on the outcome.

At some point I am watching to see how the ending would be, like: will Dex and Siyoung be able to survive this? Will there be more variating factors etc?

To me, zombieverse became less of a variety show that I enjoyed, but more like a problem that I want to know what’s the outcome going to be like.

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This program is really an acquired taste. Either you like it or you don’t.
I personally don’t really liked it, but would I watch season2 if it’s out? Likely yes.

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Come on...

First thing the first one: In some places they classified this as a reality show!!! I was enclosed in the COVID and I lost the news about zombies (I love how the Koreans say chombis) working in reality shows in TV programs. Come on whit such a classification.
It is closer to a drama than to a simple TV show but I am not that specialist to judge that. However, a drama is a series whose chapters are interconnected and something is happening to characters to change their focus. Spoiler ahead: The punishment to the coward is no less than the best closing to a drama. So and at the end, this is a drama as far as I can see. So in my particular classification, it is the 340th I have watched. And let me tell you something, I enjoyed all the eight chapters a lot. Maybe I am as fool as a fool with a pen, but I really enjoy them. As I was secluded by force in an unfamiliar environment and Netflix was my only escape, Zombieverse was the best to get it. Watch it. Love it or hate it but enjoy it. You are going to have some very good moments for sure.

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Unique concept that lets the cast shine!

I watched this for Jonathan and Patricia and ended up staying for the entire cast.

I've never seen anything like this concept before and that made this a unique experience. The closest thing I can think of is maybe the theme episodes of Running Man? It's obvious certain aspects of this story were scripted, but they really seemed to give the cast broad strokes and let them run with it. My favorite moments were just watching the cast lose it and start laughing at some of the ridiculous things that were happening. The chemistry between them was so much fun to watch! I think Patricia's interactions with Hong Chul and Si-young were definitely my favorites!

Dex was obviously meant to be the hero of the story but I admired Si-young throughout the entire thing.

This is a recommend if you don't plan on taking it too seriously. This has been the funniest thing I've watched in a while.

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Watched this show for Dex and I wasn't disappointed in regards to him.

First things first, everyone is complaining about the show claiming to be 'unscripted', but I think it's only natural for certain things to be scripted in order to create an interesting narrative. The cast probably have some kind of role or character they had to play but made decisions on their own based on their judgements. We have to keep in mind that this show wasn't meant to be the most realistic of zombie shows, it was meant to be entertaining. But was it really entertaining? Well, yes, to an extent. I found certain storylines and cast to be annoying -- to be specific, the characters they had to play were annoying.

I'll be rating the cast from this section onwards:

Dex - He was clearly the protagonist, which is surprising because the cast had quite a lot of famous people -- and I think this was filmed last December so Dex wouldn't have been famous at that point in time since Single's Inferno 2 was just being aired. As expected of Dex, along with all the shows he's been part of, he again managed to be entertaining showing how reliable he can be.

Si Young - She was relatively reliable as well, but I expected a bit more from her. She was immersed in her role but not to the point of being overly dramatic like some of the other cast.

Hong Chul - Despite being portrayed as a coward, he was quite useful in a lot of the quests and he honestly was thinking very rationally compared to some of the other cast that totally relied on their emotions to make decisions. His biggest contribution to the show was his wits and his ability to make serious situations funny.

DinDin - Dindin in most aspects was kind of hot or cold. He was funny in some moments but not in others. He was reliable in some moments but not in others. He's smart and dumb at the same time.

Jonathan - I actually expected more from him. I'm a big fan of him and I expected him to be a lot funnier. I guess for now, he's only good at 'talking' shows.

Patricia - She barely got any screen time and I don't think she did a lot on this show. She was at least not a nuisance for the most part.

Tsuki - She was unexpectedly high maintenance. Even though she was an idol, I didn't think she would be such a mess -- at least physically. She was just too over the top and was a nuisance in some situations, others had to pull her weight.

Na Rae - Okay, she was injured; so she was literally deadweight. The show managed to give her a role that could contribute despite her handicap. Despite that, others also had to pull her weight. She was funny at times, but a few times I felt like she was trying too hard to get a reaction and it felt a bit forced.

Seong Woo - He was a sidekick, that's all I can really say about him. He was reliable but his presence was a bit weak. He did contribute to being wholesome.

Conclusion:

- Should you watch this show? Would I recommend it? Probably not.

- Why you should watch it? Because of Dex or if you want to watch something zombie related.

- Honestly, if you want to watch something in the same vein, just watch the Busted series in netflix. It's a lot more entertaining and funny with a more star studded cast and a better story.

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forced myself to put it on at first but turned out to be a good decision.

Although others seem to have a completely different few on the show I felt like it was 100% worth the overall rating of 9.

At first I was bored and just scrolling through Netflix, I had finished watching another zombie drama and was in a total zombie mood. Zombieverse was the first show to pop up when I typed in zombie so I clicked on it. I noticed the filming was 'off'- nothing like a typical drama. It felt as if I was watching a reality show (which it sort of was?). I clicked it off that very moment and scrolled further for other series but I couldn't find anything so I just put it on, after one episode I was completely into it, I still didn't understand what it was supposed to be so I googled it and it made more sense which also made it a tad better.

Zombieverse is a mix between a drama and a variety show, most of it is unscriped and made out of the actors genuin decisions and reactions, there was ofcourse a basic script of some things they had to follow. (I assume the quests and such.) People, especially Redditors, will continue saying it was scripted but if you watch the show you know it's painfully unscripted- in a good way. In my opinion I think having an unique show once in a while won't hurt even if it didn't play out as you wished it did.

The cast was put together very well, there were people who i ha never heard of but also a few familiar faces, Lee Si-young who I recognized from Sweet home and Billie's Tsuki. Nevertheless, the combination of 'unknown' faces and well known people did not dissapoint or ruin the story at all. Alot of people seemed to hold a dislike towards a few cast members, like Tsuki; "She was so annoying." "I got so many second hand embarrassment from her.", There were of course moments were even I was like "Stop making sounds." or "Just stop screaming." but despite that she was a great person, always tried to include everyone which left with good results at the grocery mark parking lot.

Dex, who entered the show a bit later than the start group got a lot of screentime, he did very well, was sweet and caring and also took care of the others. He was always helping others and putting their safety before his own, in the store, on the parking lot, in the fabric, in the themepark and on the water. Even with his 'cold' look and introverted personality he was someone to rely on.

Many people seemed to find Na-rae useless, which she was at first, with the injured leg but after she got bitten she helped out a lot. Her teamwork with Seong woo was amazing and even though she sometimes was doing a bit too much it didn't irritate me at all and I was able to completely ignore that.

I am very neutral about Si-young and Patricia, Si-young seemed to be a bit more helpful at times but I completely understood Patricia's struggles. I was very pleased with both actors and the teamwork they had with the others.

Jonathan was also a very neutral member, his death didn't really do me much, he didn't have a very negative death, rather he was able to joke with the others and still laugh. He didn't do much throughout the entire show but at times was still very helpful.

DinDin was helpfull from the very start, he was a tad more scared but who wouldn't be if zombies just suddenly appeared? He helped at the gas station but also knew when to not help, he overall has helped the others and especially Tsuki a lot. That brings me to Tsuki's and DinDin's teamwork, DinDin helped her multiple times and in return Tsuki did the same for him.

now the last person, and potentially the most relatable member; Hong chul. I believe most people held a love-hate relationship with him, he would always put himself first, leave others in dangerous situations and laugh. All that probably made him the funniest and most relatable person in show, imo. I dont think he is to blame at all, for laughing, leaving and saving himself, its the most reasonable and best thing to do in a life or death situation. He kept the mood good and also worked great together with Patricia, even after he turned he was still funny and unserious, which is a personality trait not a forced act.

I would not rewatch the entire show but there certainly are parts that I would definitly like to see again for shits and giggles, the Tagada scene but also parts on the parking lot or at the 'funeral'. Even in a normally seen bad situation they were able to make jokes and laugh which gave the show lots of + points, if there weren't jokes it wouldn't be enjoyable at all.

My closing statement is that I would definitely recommend it to binge watch on a boring weekend or watch it with family/sleepover with friends. If you don't understand anything in the show googling might help, I didn't understand the ferris roulette but after googling I was like "ooooooh." and it made the, kind of boring scene, better.

I really hope there will be a season 2 after that cliffhanger.

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