Netflix Series Recommendation. What to Watch After: All of Us Are Dead
- Koki Rabanye
- Feb 6, 2023
- 4 min read
Zombie apocalypse, zombie outbreak, zombie disease – today’s keyword is “Zombie”, as we’ll be looking at all the best Netflix has to offer on the living dead. Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
If you haven’t watched the Netflix series All of Us Are Dead, where exactly have you been? The series, created by Joo Dong-geun was released on the 28th of January 2022, and is based on the original manhwa (also referred to as webcomic or webtoon) with the same name, which was published between 2009 and 2011.
The series takes place at a high school in South Korea as a zombie apocalypse suddenly breaks out and threatens the safety of the students and the whole town; and I’ll tell you this, I pressed that reminder button so fast when I saw the trailer!
I knew that this was a series I had to watch since I am a huge otaku/weeb and I tend to read the manga or book of any film/series before it’s released onto tv or streaming sites (another fun fact about me lol) so, I had my expectations high for this show and it did not disappoint my friends!
With that said, I’ll be suggesting some of my top 3 other favourite zombie themed shows that are just like All of Us Are Dead, if you’ve been struggling to find the perfect dystopian series to binge watch.
1. Kingdom
Kingdom was one of the first series I watched when I joined Netflix and will always remain a series very close to my heart. The series is also based on the webtoon series, The Kingdom of the Gods, both the series and the webtoon were created by Kim Eun-hee. The live action adaptation premiered onto Netflix as it’s first original Korean series on the 25th of January 2019.
Kingdom takes place in a fictional, medieval inspired Joseon and blends with political thriller and elements of zombie horror. The story follows Lee Chang, the Crown Prince of Joseon who attempts to investigate a mysterious illness afflicting the King, only to end up in the middle of a deadly epidemic throughout the Kingdom of Joseon. Whilst trying to save the kingdom from the plague, the Crown Prince must also stop his enemies from seizing the throne.
With only 2 seasons and a special film Kingdom: Ashin of the North, which explores the origin of the outbreak that triggered a surge of tragic events that swept through the Kingdom of Joseon; I believe that this series is a good entry point into the genre with a mix of political ambience.
2. Happiness
If you’re a frequent visitor of Aesthetic Diaries, you might notice that this isn’t the first time I mention this series, I did a mini review of this series and whether it was worth watching, in case you missed that post, you can read it here. Since I did a review of this series, I’ll just give a short summary of what to expect.
The title “Happiness” is a tragic irony, you would think, that the series depicts the characters achieving the highest form of nirvana, whereas in essence the series is horrifying as the characters must face the dire circumstances of trying to survive a zombie outbreak whilst being locked up an apartment complex with a shortage of necessities such as food, water, and electricity. As the fight to survive the zombies on the outside escalates, a fight amongst the residents inside the complex arises as greed and selfishness takes over.
The series keeps you on your toes as you wouldn’t know what to expect, it was a series I didn’t know I needed in my life as I realised through the characters, it’s about finding out what makes you happy when the world around you falls into chaos.
3. Sweet Home
Sweet Home is one of my favourite series on Netflix by a long shot! The plot, the character development, the setting, the dialogue, is engaging and thought provoking.
I remember reading the manhwa in my second year at university, there were nights where I couldn’t sleep, the art style and the storyline left me completely in a daze and yet I could not bring myself to put it down.
The series is based on a webtoon of the same name created by Haro Aso, is a reflective piece hidden behind a cryptic message, “human desire is what turns people into monsters”. As our main character… haunted by his past plans his suicide in an apartment complex, a sudden outbreak occurs in the city turning people into monsters. The sudden fight for survival turns … into something he never thought possible, being able to risk his life to save others, unaware that the disease is slowly poisoning his mind too.
This show is a brilliant adaptation of the webtoon, however I would suggest for one to read it for deeper context as there are some scenes left out of what I think are important reference points. Other than that, if you love thought-provoking content this is a good series to watch.
4. Bonus recommendation: #Alive
As a bonus recommendation, I've added one more show to the list, #Alive. To start off, this isn't really a show, but a film that I happened to watch not to long ago and I thought it was bloody brilliant! If you watch a lot of zombie shows/movies, you'll notice they repeat the same pattern: normal day, random zombie outbreak, people fleeing in terror, non-infected hiding out, etc. #Alive falls into that pattern but with a bit of a twist.
The film revolves around a video game live streamer's struggle for survival as he is forced to stay alone at his apartment in Seoul during a zombie apocalypse. However, instead of lying in wait, our main character, Oh Joon-woo makes use of his gadgets and social media to contact other survivors in the fight against the walking dead.
That’s all for today’s Netflix show recommendations, if you have any other shows that you think would be a good match, please be sure to leave your suggestions in the comment section. Thanks for reading!
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