Definitely not for me.

There is far too much good to say about Afterschool War Activities (AWT) and little to dislike that makes it hard for me to review it without gushing over how good it is. AWT excels as a psychological character study of young men and women thrown from their normal heyday to the shell shock frontiers of war. It brings to mind the character studies in Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. So allow me preface this by getting the bad out of the way before gushing over its strengths.

The bad:
AWT's biggest misstep is perhaps AWT's large cast make it hard to figure out who is who in all the frenzy. Given that the central focus of the work is to study the reactions of the living in regards to the events occurring to them, it might be a bit unfair for me to say this but at certain points, I found myself wondering where or what was happening to a character. Yet this is most likely my error given that I devoured the series in a sitting so I might have glossed over character details.

The good:
Where do I start? The series has delectable art that balances masterfully between the comedic and dramatically dark, ushering in colors to wow us and voiding a scene of them to bring attention to nauseating and claustrophobic atmosphere these students feel trapped in. At times it looks goofy, an irreverent nod to the attitude the students have about their conscription and at other times, morose and well-defined to bring us back to the real pain these students face.

The series is a slow burner, taking its time building up the characters and analyzing them. They feel real to us because we identify with some aspects of them. Kimchi's worrying whether or not him and Nara will get closer during the whole war recalls me of my adolescence when I obsessed whether I could get closer to the girl I liked back in high school (and like Kimchi and Nara, it never worked out lol). Their worries are banal like whether they'll be able to take their CSATs next year and at other times indicative of the social divide that existed before their life and death trial (such as Cho and Yeon's talk about their newfound friendship) but it always remains a tad dark. The threat of death literally looms over them and among them. Both attempted and actual suicide and desertion occur at intervals, stretching the tenacity and nerves of our protagonists and military officials. The apocalyptic sci-fi premise does little to distract from the real terrors the students face.

The students are a diverse cast from the individual who considers himself above others to the student who swots from morning to night to the everyday loser who wonders whether he will get closer to the girl he likes to the quiet kid in the back to the weirdo pervert friend to the social butterflies. There's a bit in all of them to recall our own high school classes but the real greatness is not in capturing that but in breaking it apart. This is where AWT excels at. It takes these common characters from our own lives and analyzes them in times of stress. Outcast who no one liked died? Well how do react to this? The quiet kid in the back is actually incredibly dependable and nice? Woah nice never realized it.

AWT doesn't pulls its punches. It hits and hits hard. Students are visibly stressed, they are not prepared for the horrors of war, let alone making decisions on behalf of the rest. It builds up narrative tension in such a way that when the payoff comes you both feel agonized and awed even if you saw it coming. The students pain feels real. Their suffering agonizing. The tension palpable.

AWT is an incredibly well-crafted dark sci-fi drama with an ending that will be sure to grip you and never let you go. Please give it a read.

... Last updated on September 28th, 2018, 10:26am

I liked the manga alright for various reasons stated before me here : the diverse and compelling crew of characters and their day-to-day interactions, the storytelling that makes measured use of narrative tropes (interviews of the students, splitting the groups), the fact that social commentary is not thrown at the reader's face by idealistic and unrealistic spoken or inner discourse.

But...


... Last updated on September 6th, 2017, 4:49am

Normally I don't read action manga because they make danger look like a boys' ego-fest. This story couldn't be more different. The characters include both boys and girls and they are thrown into a situation where the danger is 100 percent real. There's a preliminary training period (no magic powers here) in which you can get to know the characters and gradually get scared on their behalf. Then it's battle and danger for most of the 51 chapters.

Great pacing, great drawing, great character building, and great battles!

... Last updated on August 27th, 2017, 11:28am

I loved almost all of the characters especially Bora, and I really hoped that they would all make it out. I had so many hopes for them, but as this is an action horror someone had to die, and yes even important characters died. This manga was sad, exciting, funny, and just great overall. The characters were all developed and the plot was awesome and unique. Also, this should have a tragedy tag on it cause I cried my heart out.

Whoa. I started reading this manhwa in Naver, but the update was too long i have to waited for it come out every friday Dx i love this series, it shows a reality life, how they managed to survive and found myself got addict with this manhwa. In other series, the MC used to be the greatest, or should i say the toughest from everyone else, but this series show a different and unique storyline where the male MC was just an ordinary person who get scared at times and still trying to protect the girl MC, there's absolutely a lot more who is more handsome and cool from him. But that's what i like from this series. This Manhwa mix up my feeling with happy,sad,anxious and also curiosity about the life in war in realistic way. I also found it weird why they have to do it for extra credit. But i thought that maybe most of them doesn't really care with extra credits and join it because they actually curious about the war (me sometimes want to feel how is the war too lol) anyway, this manhwa is worth reading. Looking forward for author's next manhwa, and i hope maybe he can make the sequel of this (with them all already goes to university and then meet up again because of that purple creature with more thrilling stories)

Exceptionally well crafted and thoughtful-- the author is a master of suspense and storytelling! The split perspectives and panels add a sense of realism to the webcomic, and the author can easily CONVEY atmosphere and expression with pictures instead of words. Hence intense moments hit you HARD and are ABSOLUTELY NERVE WRACKING, especially in the 'stop-motion' scenes where events happen in super slow motion and are therefore so agonisingly tense you just may begin to hyperventilate.

Great character development too! You begin to develop a sense of 'kin' with the characters-- they're flawed but human. So be prepared to cry... Or at least, curse and swear under your breath for their poor souls.

Warning: how the hell is this shounen? no happy endings with rainbows and lollipops :/

What do you expect when you throw a bunch of ordinary Korean high schoolers thrown into military combat against mysterious and f*cking DANGEROUS EXPLODY-STABBY PURPLE BLOBS?!

A sea of dark and angst, a beautiful but small ray of friendship, and a crapload of PTSD.

10/10 must read,
- also end scanlation notes are wonderful and helpful! Thanks

This is a rather psycohological series, it doesn't have that much great action or brilliant plot twists. This is a realistic series(with pruple floating exploding balls) which will make you care about the caharacters more than anything. You will feel them. And hate some of them. Find them silly and likeable. Art is alright i guess, not colorful so that you will feel more and more desperate. Any Ha Il Kwon fan should read this.

this is one of the greatest survival horror out there. the characters are real.they are normal human beings with quirks and foibles. there are no archetype like in normal manga with super cool jocks or the big busted females - they are just teenagers trying to survive. so you feel for them, they are not puppets to extend the plot = they are living characters.

one thing very weird and peculiar about this is that they do all this for 'extra credit'. man, you gonna die and they bribe you with 'credits?' i dont know whether this is too unrealistic or korean students are that way.

but still, goddamn great webtoon.

This manhwa is a dark one. It shows a very small slice of the nasty stuff that would happen in a real war, except in a post-apocalyptic setting where the invaders are unknown cellular creatures. The feel and atmosphere is very well done and realistic as RoxFlowz describes. It shows the grittiness of war, emotional scars from the fights, and the bonds between the students who, by volunteering, put their lives on the line. You will often times wonder whether or not any of the students will suffer from PTSD. Although its main focus is the trials of a singular class, a dull but brighter light is cast upon two in particular.

... Last updated on December 31st, 2013, 10:54pm