Zombieverse

A few episodes in, and i like this somewhat improvised reality show. From their reactions, etc., it seemed to me the contestants were told they'd start out being on a reality dating-type show but that "something" would happen and they would then be on their own.

I can't imagine that this is any more than minimally scripted, because the producers obviously spent a lot of time setting up the various locations and situations, and it doesn't make any sense that they would do that for people who are just reading lines. From their reactions as the dating show starts to go sideways they seemed genuinely taken by surprise.

The "something" turns out to be a zombie apocalypse, which they are supposed to somehow survive. They travel around together to complete various escape-related tasks (and try to avoid being taken out by the zombies). You can also tell the zombies are really into the concept.

For imported shows like this, i much prefer the original audio accompanied by subtitles. The voiceover is kind of bland, and doesn't really match what was very likely more honest reactions to what's going on. Would recommend for fans of reality (and, sure, zombie stuff too)

This was a great idea and the producers were clearly did their best. First, the good points, and there are a number of them:

1) Zombie effects were done quite well. This makes sense since it was apparently the same team as "All of Us are Dead" (hurry up with the next season!)

2) The storyline -- clearly difficult with an unscripted show -- was done really well, and the producers were clearly thinking cleverly while shooting went on to react to events and finished with a neat little denouement.

3) Some episodes' challenges were good and realistic for a zombie scenario -- finding items, rescuing survivors, finding working transport, etc., were done well and they were able to put little wrinkles on it with the unscripted nature that a scripted show would not have had.

4) Each contestant's character showed through their actions and narrative subtitles. This was good at inspiring fondness for some characters and dislike for others.

5) The contestants were clearly immersed enough to do things which hold some actual risk. Not hugely dangerous, but think things like jumping over barriers and climbing fairly high objects without nets/wires/etc., and "fighting" zombies (no stabbings or hammer strikes to the head, but definitely hard pushes, throws, etc.).

6) Tsuki is adorable.

Now, the bad points:

1) Obviously all the contestants knew they weren't in an actual zombie situation. Most were still able to act as though they were, but Rong-Chul in particular could not suppress a grin even during scenes that should have been intensely terrifying (well, except one that seemed to really shock him). Additionally, sometimes many of the actors were either overcome by silliness or made decisions they quite clearly would not have made during an actual zombie apocalypse.

2) While many of the challenges were pretty good, a couple of them also got into some silliness. Quiet (nonzombie) portions of the show also looked a lot more like variety talk shows than any kind of drama.

3) The survivors all being celebrities at themselves was a bit weird (at one point, a survivor even asks why there were so many celebrities clustered into the same country grocery store). It was even weirder when they tried to use their celebrity status to convince others they were trustworthy.

4) The presence of "NPCs" who served to guide events was a bit distracting. Early episodes handled this pretty well to do the initial setup, but some of the later NPC interactions were sort of blunt.

Overall, I enjoyed the show, though, and would look forward to another season.

Season 2: LOL Defconn? From Live Solo on the show? A contestant? Maybe he can finally find a wife and let's hope she doesn't turn into a Zombie! So happy to see DEX - it wouldn't be good w/o DEX and he proves his worth with UDT soldier expertise right from the beginning in ep. 1; he is so handsome and manly, in contrast to some of the other cute but scaredy cat guys (no names but you will see in ep. 1). Will raise my rating to a 9 just for entertainment value. Its cheesy and fun at the same time so have fun with it. Also noticed Code Kunst's military skills and how he steps up to the plate and does what he needs to do too.

Season 1: I gave it an 8 mostly for DEX (fans of DEX know who he is) and for comedy value as I found it extremely funny from the very beginning. It can't be serious but I've seen some great acting amongst the zombies - it is advertised as unscripted per se, but we all know it is fake so it comes out as hilarious. The one actor contestant with the hat with the ear flaps is laughing the whole time - even he can't help it. Dex is playing his cool self as usual and figures out how to escape the zombies in an early quest using his UDT soldier experience. Am kind of wondering if it isn't treated kind of like a mystery dinner where each contestant is given their roll to play in advance, but there is no script. Have no idea about the producing but each episode is a different quest (gas station, grocery store, etc). Will have to see how this ends - 8 episodes in all.

People need to understand that "unscripted" doesn't mean that the cast knows nothing. Obviously they do know that they're in a reality show and what they need to do to survive, otherwise they would harm the zombie-actors. But their reactions and characters seemed genuine to me. I found it really funny and interesting. It is a reality show, so you don't have to question their actions, it's not a movie nor a series. Some people didn't like the fact that the cast laughed and seemed to enjoy it, but I really liked that, because it made it more genuine for me. I think that it was really entertaining and I would like to see another season with different cast!

Lets be honest, South Korea produces the best zombie shows and movies. As a huge fan of the zombie genre I spent no time downloading the whole show on netflix so I could watch it on my vacation. I spent the first 15 to 30 minutes figuring out what was going on. I completely lost it when they mentioned it was "unscripted". Sure there was no script to follow but the whole show was made to look like a reality show where the characters have no clue what is going on when it is very obvious they are in on the show. The very convenient cut between the episodes gives them enough time for makeup and prop setup. Now I was stuck on a vacation with nothing else to watch except for this. The more I watched the more I felt I was losing my braincells. There was nothing to look forward to. The characters are real life celebrities that had nothing to offer. There were no stakes. Just a bunch of fake zombies, and fake characters.