My Non-Spoiler First Impressions of ALL OF US ARE DEAD ("지금 우리 학교는")
So I'd binged all 12 episodes of "ALL OF US ARE DEAD" in a weekend, and first shared my impressions on TOYSREVIL, which I'll do so here, in advance of what I hope to be a full review of the South Korean drama, currently streaming on Netflix (Premiered Jan28) ... I will attempt to do said review over the coming Chinese Lunar New Year, but no guarantees tho, so hence this post, cheers :)
Also I am avoiding SPOILERS in this post, but apologies advance if video/trailers featured here, or episode synopsis give anything away.
We've seen zombie apocalypse on trains, in urban cities and deserted back streets, and they've predominently featured "adult zombies", both lurchers and runners... now imagine school students being flesh-devouring horde rampaging through the fictional "Hyosan High School". And yes, they are the FAST kind (see trailers&teasers below). But not everyone are turned, and we follow the survivors as they attempt to escape the horde, and the actions of the adults around them. This is "ALL OF US ARE DEAD".
"All of Us Are Dead" ("지금 우리 학교는") is a 2022 South Korean coming-of-age zombie apocalypse horror streaming television series consisting of 12 x episodes in Season 1 - each lasting between 53 minutes to 72 minutes - this rated "M18" series can be as brutal and devastating (at least it constantly left me breathless as I'd binged it over the weekend!), and is exceedingly entertaining, without a need for jump scares!
I'd watched the entire series in it's original audio while reading English subtitles. There are only a few (short) times when my experience of the frenzy of the visuals were slightly lost when I was attempting to read subtitles, but not a hinderance, IMHO.
Most of the script and dialog is not hard to digest, but for technical terminology (which I am in no position to "authenticate" lol), so it works as "adult background noise" used to justify their actions. But the focus is on the students, and the series starts off frantically, but lulls to a much slower pace as the zombies overwhelm the scene. Original audio gives the actors the opportunity to express, as far as I am concerned.
It might be very easy to "dismiss" this project as a "teen drama", but neither is it a "massively deep"-thinking project to turn you away from being entertained, IMHO.
This series is based on the Naver webtoon "Now at Our School" by Joo Dong-geun, which was published between 2009 and 2011. I have had a couple of comments referring to this as a "live-action" version of 2010-2011 Japanese anime "Highschool of the Dead" (which I have not watched, save for a partial first episode - seen below - to authenticate the comments), and the manga (2006 and May 2013). The setting is similar (AKA "zombies roaming high school"), but otherwise emotionally different.
Expect loads more teen drama, including bullying (*Not lightly addressed, FYI, so might be triggering), alienation, and a frustratingly inept adult and school system. Whatever "humor" exsists in the reactions, and some lighter situations, but this is not necessarily a "comedy", and neigther is it a straight-up "horror drama". If you are at all familar with "KDRAMAS", you'd recognize they are (mostly) able to navigate and criss cross genres, IMHO.
Does this give you a glimpse at what the students are "thinking"? I've reached a stage in my adult life (with no children of my own to draw experience on), where I dare not claim otherwise, and instead of "flooding" me with "memories of (my own) teenhood", it certainly put the fear in me, that IF I had a child, and he or she is the middle of this, and the helplessness I would feel, was overwhelming at times, I will not lie (WARNING: There are side-plots that might mess you over, IMHO).
And yes, I am "zombie"-biased, and after the exceptional "TRAIN TO BUSAN" (a movie meta-referenced in the series too, as seen in trailer), folks' expectations of a South Korean zombie-project might be piqued (although "PENINSULA" might have dulled that :p), and especially since "SQUID GAME" was THE media project for "2021", folks might still and will continue to be looking for the "next Squid Game success" after "My Name", "Hellbound" and "The Silent Sea"...?
Personally, I have found MY favourite for 2022 thus far, and we're not even ended the "Month of January 2022"! Right after the high of "HAPPINESS" Zombie-KDRAMA too...! We certainly are being fed well, pun fully intended...!
One key question/concern I first had, before starting this series, was (A) if the plot'll be unresolved by the end of Season One, and leave me hanging (*Main reason why "Hellbound" is NOT on my TOP TEN KDRAMAS list, truth be told),. (B) There'll be too overt a tease for "Season 2".
Without spoiling too much, YES there is resolution (for "A"), and YES there is a tease for "Season 2" (for "B") that totally piqued my interest, but does not take away the impact of the story (but there'll be hella speculations and wishes tho...!), so at this point I'd highly recommend you dive into this show, and enjoy the ride, relish the tears and fears, cheers :)
Andy TOYSREVIL
Also I am avoiding SPOILERS in this post, but apologies advance if video/trailers featured here, or episode synopsis give anything away.
We've seen zombie apocalypse on trains, in urban cities and deserted back streets, and they've predominently featured "adult zombies", both lurchers and runners... now imagine school students being flesh-devouring horde rampaging through the fictional "Hyosan High School". And yes, they are the FAST kind (see trailers&teasers below). But not everyone are turned, and we follow the survivors as they attempt to escape the horde, and the actions of the adults around them. This is "ALL OF US ARE DEAD".
"All of Us Are Dead" ("지금 우리 학교는") is a 2022 South Korean coming-of-age zombie apocalypse horror streaming television series consisting of 12 x episodes in Season 1 - each lasting between 53 minutes to 72 minutes - this rated "M18" series can be as brutal and devastating (at least it constantly left me breathless as I'd binged it over the weekend!), and is exceedingly entertaining, without a need for jump scares!
I'd watched the entire series in it's original audio while reading English subtitles. There are only a few (short) times when my experience of the frenzy of the visuals were slightly lost when I was attempting to read subtitles, but not a hinderance, IMHO.
Most of the script and dialog is not hard to digest, but for technical terminology (which I am in no position to "authenticate" lol), so it works as "adult background noise" used to justify their actions. But the focus is on the students, and the series starts off frantically, but lulls to a much slower pace as the zombies overwhelm the scene. Original audio gives the actors the opportunity to express, as far as I am concerned.
It might be very easy to "dismiss" this project as a "teen drama", but neither is it a "massively deep"-thinking project to turn you away from being entertained, IMHO.
This series is based on the Naver webtoon "Now at Our School" by Joo Dong-geun, which was published between 2009 and 2011. I have had a couple of comments referring to this as a "live-action" version of 2010-2011 Japanese anime "Highschool of the Dead" (which I have not watched, save for a partial first episode - seen below - to authenticate the comments), and the manga (2006 and May 2013). The setting is similar (AKA "zombies roaming high school"), but otherwise emotionally different.
Expect loads more teen drama, including bullying (*Not lightly addressed, FYI, so might be triggering), alienation, and a frustratingly inept adult and school system. Whatever "humor" exsists in the reactions, and some lighter situations, but this is not necessarily a "comedy", and neigther is it a straight-up "horror drama". If you are at all familar with "KDRAMAS", you'd recognize they are (mostly) able to navigate and criss cross genres, IMHO.
Does this give you a glimpse at what the students are "thinking"? I've reached a stage in my adult life (with no children of my own to draw experience on), where I dare not claim otherwise, and instead of "flooding" me with "memories of (my own) teenhood", it certainly put the fear in me, that IF I had a child, and he or she is the middle of this, and the helplessness I would feel, was overwhelming at times, I will not lie (WARNING: There are side-plots that might mess you over, IMHO).
And yes, I am "zombie"-biased, and after the exceptional "TRAIN TO BUSAN" (a movie meta-referenced in the series too, as seen in trailer), folks' expectations of a South Korean zombie-project might be piqued (although "PENINSULA" might have dulled that :p), and especially since "SQUID GAME" was THE media project for "2021", folks might still and will continue to be looking for the "next Squid Game success" after "My Name", "Hellbound" and "The Silent Sea"...?
Personally, I have found MY favourite for 2022 thus far, and we're not even ended the "Month of January 2022"! Right after the high of "HAPPINESS" Zombie-KDRAMA too...! We certainly are being fed well, pun fully intended...!
One key question/concern I first had, before starting this series, was (A) if the plot'll be unresolved by the end of Season One, and leave me hanging (*Main reason why "Hellbound" is NOT on my TOP TEN KDRAMAS list, truth be told),. (B) There'll be too overt a tease for "Season 2".
Without spoiling too much, YES there is resolution (for "A"), and YES there is a tease for "Season 2" (for "B") that totally piqued my interest, but does not take away the impact of the story (but there'll be hella speculations and wishes tho...!), so at this point I'd highly recommend you dive into this show, and enjoy the ride, relish the tears and fears, cheers :)
Andy TOYSREVIL
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