I've been waiting for this drama to air for an obscenely long time, I cleared my schedule today to fully binge this and I’ve got to say, I’m disappointed. There's a lot to be said and I’m sure some people enjoy it, but there's just very little to redeem the story and its ridiculous rabbit holes.

STORY
There's really nothing special about this story despite the fact the very idea of a zombie outbreak at a school gives a lot to work with. The writers stuff so many different plot points and social issues into the script and they're never fully elaborated on. But the worst thing is the fact the writers don't have something to say. Instead of the perceived problem of the message becoming too preachy, in a way common to the genre, there just seems to be no message at all. They touch on bullying, teen pregnancy, harassment, etc but there's nothing to be gained from it, you leave the viewing experience underwhelmed and slightly annoyed (especially because of the ending). There could've been many explorations in this story, a dive into pure human nature, an interesting perspective on strength, a deep look at grief. Instead, there are plot twists that make no sense, random characters and stories that have zero effect on the story, death without meaning, and repetitive plot points that leave you bored and exhausted. Some characters are interesting while others are one-note, with most characters having disappointing wrap-ups to their arcs/lives. Every aspect of the story is a complete letdown. It feels like the story writers missed an English class in 5th grade and forgot that every story needs to have a theme, subject, and message... My frustration really cannot be expressed properly, it is genuinely a shame.

ACTING
I'm going to link this acting and these characters together because in all honesty most of these characters are completely flat, we follow them for over 10 hours yet somehow know nothing about them or their motivations. But the cast! These kids are all wonderful, some of the side characters are uninteresting but even then their bonds with the mains and each other seem real and interesting, The main cast, especially Yoon Chanyoung, Yoo Insoo, and Jo Yihyun, are truly amazing, often showing up their older counterparts with the depth they managed to bring their characters. The true strength of this show is based entirely on how the actors managed to bounce off each other and deliver spectacularly when the camera decided to point at them. The show would be much worse off without this cast.

MUSIC/OTHER
I'm not an ost person so music has never had much of a deciding factor, the instrumentals were good if forgettable. I'd actually like to talk about the choreography of the fight scenes and visual effects. They were INCREDIBLE!! There were fight scenes in every episode and every one made use of beautiful staging techniques and were a delight to watch. The zombies ere really terrifying to see and the ever present threat was only heightened by the lovely special effects. The dance choreographers and VFX designers really delivered.

REWATCH VALUE
Like I said, there's really nothing of merit in the story and I feel like rewatching would make that even more pronounced.

OVERALL
To be honest I really wanted to love this drama. with everything in me I really did, but the plot and its meanderings are just really hard to bear... I really hope it does well though because this cast has some really special talent and id hate to see it go to waste.