Lessons to Learn from the hit series “All of Us are Dead”

Warning: This article contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.

"All of us Are Dead" is about a high school in South Korea which becomes a ground zero for a zombie outbreak and the students who survived desperately avoid the infected and must find their way out of the school.

It was an amazing series and here I have listed the realizations and lessons that for me are note-worthy after watching it. Here they are!

Bullying is a serious matter.

This is how it all started – the cause of the bigger violence started with what most people see in the series as petty and nothing serious: bullying. I’m pretty sure in real life scenarios, there are people who also thinks the same and see bullying as something that is “normal among kids” and should not be given serious attention by adults. They thought it ends with some confrontation but little do they know, the worse is just about to happen. Or maybe they know that it keeps happening, but they choose not to care because it will do them and the school no good.

The hopelessness and the feeling of having no power to change the already rotten system, and out for desperation to make his child stronger to be able to fight back and out of his love, the teacher created the virus. He had done everything he can but nothing really changed. It must be so painful for someone to see their loved ones so hurt and pained not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. Those are the things people sometimes fail to see, that there are more than just the physical and emotional trauma from something they see as “nothing serious” as bullying.

Turning a blind eye is just as bad as being the perpetrator.

One of the issues highlighted in the series is how the management and faculty members of the school brushed off the bullying incidents experienced by some of the students. One teacher even said that they must be bullying them for a reason, when one of the victims came to him for help. Most of the teachers knew that bullying is happening repeatedly but they didn’t stand up for the oppressed. No one held them accountable just for the sake of the school’s reputation. No matter how you look at it, the school was partly responsible for it because they didn’t do anything when they had to. They are just as bad as the bullies.

A parent’s love is powerful.

Mr. Lee Byeongchan and his son

              The virus was created out of the teacher’s love for his bullied son. He wanted to make him strong so he can fight back the bullies who didn’t stop hurting him even after he transferred to a different school. The teacher went to the police but nothing happened and the school principal even scolded him for it. He did everything he can until the experiment was his last straw, seeing how the bullying affected his son’s mental health.

On-jo and his father

              On-jo’s father made a promise that he will come running to her whenever she’s in danger and he fulfilled his promise up to the very end. He went through a lot just to save his daughter, and he was able to. He even saved On-jo’s friends; he is one of the characters I truly admire. He gave his life just so they can make it out alive.

Ms. Park and her Students

              Teachers are the students’ second parents they say. And Ms. Park proved it true. She is the only teacher who truly cared for the students. Their safety and well-being were her priority more than her own life. She sacrificed her life for Na-yeon even after she did something very bad. She wants them all to be safe and alive. We need more Ms. Park in this world, not someone who will give their life for others, but someone who is selfless enough to be brave for other people’s sake.

Violence, no matter how small, is still violence.

One line in the series that left an impact and is memorable to me is when Mr. Lee Byeongchan (the teacher who created the virus) said, “Who made the world like this? I warned you countless times that ignoring minor violence would result in violence taking over the world.” A representation of how the justice system works only for those who have money and power. So in return, he put the justice in his hands. Though the end doesn’t justify the means, and a mistake cannot be corrected by another mistake, let’s not forget that before he is a teacher, he is a father. If only someone stood up with them, if only the system was fair, maybe none of it all would have happened.

Pride, and why it is the worst sin.

Someone told me that pride is one of the seven deadly sins and the worst among them because other sins stem from it. Na-yeon’s character is the representation of pride as a sin. She was a self-centered girl who likes to pick fights with someone she thinks is below her. Just because she doesn’t want to admit she’s wrong, just because she doesn’t want to say sorry, just because of her pride, she killed an innocent boy. She’s the character in the series that I hate the most. Because she’s worse than the zombies. The zombies kill people but they are dead inside, they aren’t capable of thinking anymore. But she is, she knows what she was doing. Some people felt regret when she died after she’s decided to apologize to them but I didn’t. The boy didn’t deserve what happened to him and her sorry can’t bring back his life. A crime is a crime. If a sorry can fix everything, then why is there still chaos in this world?

Mr. Lee Byeongchan’s mistakes were out of love as a father, but her mistakes were out of selfishness and pride. And even after everything, Mr. Lee still sacrificed himself to save others.

Hatred is contagious, but so is trust.

“Hatred is contagious, but so is trust.” This is a powerful line from one of the main characters when one (Nam-ra) of them was bitten and the other students feared her into turning one. Though she showed signs of gradually turning, she didn’t hurt her friends. Only two of them trusted her that she will not turn one so when On-jo said this line, all of them eventually trusted Nam-ra. And she really didn’t. She’d rather hurt herself but not them. My favorite character, the best girl, Nam-ra.

Sometimes someone just have to take the initiative to do something other people fears doing; in their case, it is trusting that Nam-ra won’t turn and hurt any of them. And Su-hyeok and On-jo did, so the rest of them did as well. Because hatred is contagious, but so is trust.

Love and kindness can sometimes be your strongest weapon.

Many characters in the series sacrificed for someone they love. Aside from the parents and the teacher, the students also had their share of sacrifice for the welfare of someone they love and the group itself as a whole. They were ready to risk their lives to save each other, and they also did everything they can for the group, just so they can leave all safe and alive. It’s sad that the other characters had to die but it made the series more meaningful.

That's it for this article. The series did a good job in conveying their message and portraying different characters that are not far from what's truly happening not just inside a school but in the bigger system out there is.

My personal rating for the series would be 10/10.

Thank you for reading this! Until the next article.

– glossyberrycraze ♡