Duty After School 방과 후 전쟁활동 [TVING]

Duty After School is a 10 episode military sci-fi thriller broadcasted on TVING on Apr 2023.  The first 6 episodes were shown on 31 Mar, followed by 4 episodes on 21 Apr.  I have no idea why this was done, but it was certainly quite bordersome to wait for the last 4 episodes after a rather cliff-hanger ending for episode 6.  To make the last 4 episodes really last for me, I took 4 weeks to finish them (as if it mattered, as detailed recaps were on the internet before I watched the final episode).

This rather ambitious production (with all that CGI aliens and probably quite a bit of blue screens) narrates what happened when mysterious purple spheres in the skies start to fall.  High school students preparing for the SAT exams were lured into fighting the spheres with extra credits.  While adult characters appeared in the first 6 episodes, they were absent in the last 4.  In a world where high school students were left to fend for their own survival, the different personalities (and development of personalities) made for an interesting psychological study.

There was no blatant romance, but hints here and there of infatuations and likeings.  Some of which were obvious, some were blink-and-miss, but the parallel universe ending kinda confirmed that I did not miss those blick-and-miss.

The obvious infatuations include Doo Soo-cheol and Kim Chi-yeol both liking Lee Na-ra, with Lee Na-ra liking Kim Chi-yeol.  Kim Deok-joong liking Yoo Ha-na one-sidedly.  Kook Young-soo liking Cha So-yeon one-sidedly.  Cha So-yeon's very obvious infatuation with Lt Lee.

The blink-and-miss were Wong Tae-Man always seeming to defend Kim Yoo-jung.  Jo Young-shin looking out for No Ae-seol, whether she was picked on by Yeon Bo-ra, or rescuing her when the spheres fell in the school grounds.  He was also the one who pre-empted Ae-seol of the group's plan when she was captured in the prison.  I thought I was mistaken when Young-shin went to check on Bo-ra after she was injured trying to rescue Ae-seol.  Perhaps he liked Bo-ra instead.  However, in the parallel universe, Young-shin was ribbed for nominating Ae-seol as the prettiest girl in class by the other boys.  So it seems that the other boys did notice Young-shin standing up for Ae-seol.

I don't know whether I should be surprised by how Duty After School ended, or even to think that the screenplay deliberatly chose to make a certain point about students from different economic classes.