Position Paper 4 - Wild Card

Hannah Diffee

Professor Reppert

Foreign Language Media in America

Dec. 2024 

Position Paper 4 - Wild Card

A New Player Emerges in the Zombie Genre
All of Us Are Dead is a South Korean horror drama about students trapped in their school amidst a zombie virus outbreak. The students must fight for their lives or risk becoming one of the infected. Along the way, unlikely alliances form and friendships shatter as the characters discover what--or who--is behind the outbreak.

The series, released in 2022, is based on the 2009 Webtoon Now at Our School by Joo Dong-geun. Closely following its source material, the live-action series adapted the webtoon's 130 chapters into 12 hour-long episodes. In June 2022, Netflix revealed that season two was in the works.  

Characters

The series follows several characters in the fictional city of Hyosan, South Korea, including:

Students at Hyosan High School

• Nam On-jo: Cheong-san's childhood friend, neighbor, and love interest. Her father is a firefighter.
• Lee Cheong-san: On-jo's neighbor and childhood friend
• Choi Nam-ra: the president of Class 2-5 and Su-hyeok's love interest
• Lee Su-hyeok: an ex-delinquent
• Yoon Gwi-Nam: a delinquent and the series' main antagonist
• Lee Na-yeon: a wealthy but arrogant student 

Adults at School and in the Community

• Lee Byeong-chan: a science teacher at Hyosan High School
• Song Jae-ik: a detective at Hyosan Police Station
• Nam So-ju: a firefighter and emergency worker at Hyosan Fire Station. His daughter is On-jo.

The Rise of Korean Media

Over the past several decades, Korean media has gained worldwide popularity. Hallyu, a term that translates to the "Korean Wave," describes the growing popularity of South Korean culture and entertainment. Superstars like Psy and boy group BTS have thrust the country into the international spotlight, encouraging fans to explore Korean culture and engage with other forms of Korean media. 

Image Source: The Times

All of Us Are Dead is ranked as the ninth most popular non-English show on Netflix, after notable titles such as Squid Game, Money Heist, and Lupin.