kkgoh07

So-so kdrama if you're looking for something to bingewatch over the weekend. The star-studded cast of various reincarnations weren't enough to lift the poor storyline and pacing. The cast is the only reason I'm still giving this 6 stars, else it would be lower.

The show was adapted from a webtoon that wasn't really popular in the first place. Wasted opportunity since the show's writers could've just made it loosely based on the original story and developed something really new and tight, like "Weak Hero Class 1". Instead, we're left with a pathetic main character and his disparate reincarnations. You're expecting well-written interwoven/intertwining stories like "Crash" (2004). Instead, the MC just reads about his failed reincarnations in the news.

The lack of continuity is jarring. So EVERY episode just ends up pitting a new celebrity actor/reincarnation vs the original weak main character. This goes on and on and diminishes his role further and further until you're actively hating on the main character.

I find myself skipping ahead entire segments of the show just to see the MCs next miserable end just because I'm completely disinvested.

There's no tension in anything because the main character is written to be an utter imbecile. If you've ever watched Final Destination, you know that impending doom and fear of death causes the cast to constantly be on their toes. Instead, the imbecile MC just goes YOLO swagger all the time, despite the high stakes of falling eternally to hell if he fails. Utterly STUPID.

The premise of ANY suicide being a severe punishable sin which ticks off the omnipotent/omnipresent Death god is pretty silly as well. Feels like you're seeing a thinly-veiled Korean religious notions creeping into the show.

Of the same ilk as "All of Us Are Dead" (Korean high-school zombie disaster mini-series).

Duty After School is adapted from a shorter Korean webtoon. Noticeably slower pace of action compared to other similar thriller series. A LOT of Part 1 is spent on the angsty emotions of teenagers being unknowingly drafted into a war against aliens. Lots of scenes with the usual social/political jibes at the Korean education system, bullying, yada yada you know the drill by now.

When there is any action, it's spent on the kids running around like headliess flies, screaming and panicking. Period of calm are denoted by even more angsty teenage scenes with angsty emotions. Did I forget to mention almost all the male kids are angsty and behave like 12 yr olds?

The age and behavior doesn't make much sense ... since they are all supposed to be 17-18 (final year of highschool). Several countries like Israel, Singapore and yes, even S. Korea, start their mandatory conscription draft at age 18. And they definitely don't behave as immaturely as the kids here do.

But hey if you're like me, with nothing better to do and easily entertained watching disaster films, all while complaining about the infinite plotholes and even more infinite ammo, this is the perfect way to waste a Sunday.