#esp female ones as we get no examples in canon sadly

[seriousbrat]

me inventing an entire magical drinking game as well as a whole language system and social structure for the goblins and then not really including them in my fic lol

[hyejinoh]

All Of Us Are Dead (2022) Review (finally)

Here it is. My review of All of us are Dead. Beware, there are going to be some spoilers under the cut. And it is also quite long.😌

Ok, how to get started...I think, I will break this down into categories.

About the plot: I don't have much to say about the plot itself. It's a zombie invasion story and, therefore, comes with all the usual cliches - i.e. frustrating characters who make stupid decisions, plot holes and loose threads, violence and a whole lot of drama. As well as meaningful friendship scenes and the good old question of humanity.

In general, I'm very tolerant of things that don't make sense in TV shows as long as they give me sth. to care about and get invested in (and they did! but they also kind of dropped the ball on that!).

Obviously, some subjects shown were very unnecessary, esp. if you (as creators) aren't going to follow up on them. I'm talking about the sexual assault. I get it, it's a brutal show about shocking stuff but the show literally kick-starts with a bullying scene and I didn't think we needed more to understand how the zombie virus came to be or why to hate certain characters. At the very least, it should have been handled more subtly, more carefully.

About the characters: The characters in a series often make or break it. In this regard - imho, AOUAD mostly made it. It's where it sometimes shines, even. I LOVED Nam-ra, Su-hyeok, Cheong-san, Dae-su, Mi-jin, Ha-ri, Eun-ji, as well as Jae-il and the little group he adopted. Also Cheong-sans mother, as stupid as she could be. LOATHED Gwi-nam (and his band of bullies), Nayeon, everyone in the military and the head of the school + some other teachers. I was (still am) ambivalent towards most of the other adults (the assemblywoman and the homeroom teacher for example), Lee Byeong-chan, as well as On-jo and her dad.

Yes, Nam On-jo, you read that right. Let's get into her right away. On-jo was a difficult character for me to like. And I'm usual all for unlikable female characters - as long as it's acknowledged by canon they can be jerks. Sadly, that wasn't the case in this show. She had potential (a phrase I will probably repeat a few times during this review), though. There were some sweet scenes with her bestie I-sak and I did like the tentative building of a friendship with Nam-ra. She also proved to be helpful in the beginning, thanks to her father. But later on, I felt she didn't provide much to the story - except for her conflict with Cheong-san, as well as repeatedly being annoyingly emotional (when there was absolutely no time for that, I mean). But what really turned me off her character was her treatment of her childhood friend of years, Cheong-san. She was so unnecessarily mean to him and could be downright vile, imo. (Acting like Cheong-san died when he confessed to her?? Talking about basically losing him, just as she did with I-sak? Girl, he didn't even need you to respond to his feelings, smh.) I'm absolutely not one to think she owes him her affection because he's good to her but they are friends. Being nice should be the bare minimum.

Moving on to Lee Cheong-san himself; he was a great lead character. He was dedicated, competent and just such a good friend. He wasn't without fault but I felt like he owned up to all the decisions he made. Also, I just loved they way he mocked Gwi-nam. And Cheong-san and Gyeong-su...a tragedy :( better chemistry than him and On-jo, too. Sorry, I'll stop, lol. What I didn't like was Gwi-nam choosing him as his mortal enemy. There was a perfect set-up for it to be Eun-ji (the person who got bullied), for her to be the one who would ultimately take Gwi-nam down. Or at least get to kill him once. I loved Eun-jis 'I want to watch the world burn'-attitude and everything seemed to point towards her going after Gwi-nam, as y'know she used to be his victim and subsequently became a half-zombie. Alas, another case of wasted potential, one who ended up becoming just a plot device, too.

Two characters who stood out to me (besides the ones I'm choosing to focus on last 😏) were Jang Ha-ri and Park Mi-jin. I loved their chemistry (yes, I did ship them) and how competent they were together. I enjoyed Ha-ris matter-of-fact attitude and Mi-jins foul mouth. They started out beating each other up and then became best friends (and more). They were delightful to watch and I'm so glad they survived.

Alright, now onward to what everyone is really here for - me included. Nam-ra and Su-hyeok. Su-hyeok and Nam-ra. They were literally everything to me. Together. Apart. With other characters. But mostly together :). Let's talk about them separately first.

Choi Nam-ra. What a girl. The class president no one seemed to care about, the quiet and studious type. Who was regarded as closed-off and arrogant by her classmates but who hid her loneliness, her awkwardness and even her resentment towards her peers well. Her entire arc was so good. I was so glad they made her a half-zombie because that way she got to show a whole lot more of herself and shine, instead of being sidelined as much (like some other female characters). It also made her relationship with Su-hyeok so much more compelling. I loved how she was very (similarly to Ha-ri) no-nonsense and smart, brought up issues others were willing to ignore and paid close attention to her surroundings. Also her strong will to keep being human until the last possible moment and how she was able to open up to her classmates about her insecurities, later on. I only wish we had seen more of her backstory - her relationship with her mother, when she fell for Su-hyeok. One thing I have to criticize, though, is that I felt, despite her importance, she was still very underutilized. They kinda seemed to push her to the back a lot - probably because otherwise she would have kept stealing the show (from On-jo) and shortened it's episode count by half.

Now, about Lee Su-hyeok. What a guy. Handsome (damn, Park Solomon, I see you!), popular, friendly with everyone, a reformed 'bad guy' (he used to hang out with bullies some time before the series started). Despite claiming to not be that smart, he shows a whole lot of competency and quick thinking, as well as fighting skills. He was a very, very, devoted person (esp. towards Nam-ra) and always willing to help someone in danger (unless it involved hurting Nam-ra). He was just such a good person. I also really loved his friendship with Cheong-san (there were some vibes~👀). But what I loved most about him was how ride-or-die he could be. The way he cared for Nam-ra and her well-being at all times really hit my sweet spot. Also Park Solomon does some great eye-acting, like dude looked in love.

Hopelessly/Totally Devoted To You is one of my favorite (romantic) tropes (which is why Cheong-san/On-jo could have worked...but oh, whatever), as well as Hurt/Comfort and You Are Worth Hell. And, oh boy, did Nam-ra and Su-hyeok have these in spades. The way these two cared and repeatedly saved each other was everything to me. The little looks they exchanged pre-confession and their worry for each other. They were willing to give up their lives for one another. Just every little one of their interactions (even in the background) were so sweet and sometimes even intensely romantic ('your voice woke me up'; 'bite me, not yourself'; 'I was afraid you would know that I liked you if I said your name'...like hello??? I'm going insane! That's my shit!). It was fulfilling all my monster girl/human guy needs. On a side note, even though I complain about her being underutilized, I absolutely loved the fact that Nam-ras zombie side mostly acted up when Su-hyeok was around her or in danger :)))). Ah, romance.❣️

About the ending: So, yeah, that happened. It was bullshit. I was fine with literally everything as long as they gave me Nam-ra/Su-hyeok. And then they took them from me in the most out of character way ever, in Su-hyeoks case. (Yeah, no, I don't care about the rest except for the lesbians Ha-ri and Mi-jin surviving, and the detective and his group, too.) Okay, continuing on, Su-hyeok was ride-or-die for Nam-ra. He would have killed for her, he would have let On-jo die for her. That's all very much established in the previous episodes. So, tell me then, why does this man end up in quarantine camp without her??? And then the last scene on the rooftop? That was just insulting. I get it, On-jo is the female lead (why, tho), she gotta have the poignant ending moments but how does her getting the most of the emotional reunion talk with Nam-ra make sense at all? How does Su-hyeok just standing there? I sure hope - if there ever is a second season - they will rectify that. Otherwise, I will just pretend it ended with Su-hyeok and Nam-ra running away together.

So, overall, I did enjoy this show, and loved parts of it a lot (obviously). But I wish the focus had been tighter, much less jumping around of plot-lines that seemed to point in one direction only to be disregarded in the next episode (it could get repetitive and downright stupid). In that way, stuff (that wasn't ticking all my boxes like Nam-ra/Su-hyeok or Mi-jin/Ha-ri) could have had a deeper emotional impact on me. Also, the ending just really sucks. I will say this, though, when the writing of the show hit? It really hit. And should there ever be another season, I can see it building up on the first and maybe elevate it at the same time then. I give it a 6.5/10. (And Nam-ra/Su-hyeok a 100/10. 🥰)