방과 후 전쟁활동 1

Afterschool War Activities #1

by Ha Il-kwon

Includes chapters 1 to 10.

Rated 19+

Genres: Manhwa, Manga, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Action, Dystopia, Fantasy

290 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 2013

About the author

Associated Names:
* Ha Il Kwon, Ha Il-Kwon, Hailkwon
* Ha Il Gwon, Ha Il-Gwon, Hailgwon
* 하일권 (Korean Profile)

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read somewhere and January (review written, saved and posted better-late-then-never, again)



English title: Afterschool War Activities (aka Duty after School)
Original title: 방과 후 전쟁활동
Author: Ha Il-kwon (하일권)
Artist: Ha Il-kwon (하일권)
Country of origin: South Korea
Volumes total: 5
Chapters total: 50
Genre: Drama, Psychological, Sci-fi, Shounen, Supernatural, Webtoon



Volume 01 (chapters 1-10)

Rating, 3.80 (webtoons.com translation) / 4.5 (mangafox.me translation)

One day mysterious purple spheres appear in the sky. Those alien spheres are found dangerous, but the civilians are kept mostly in the dark regarding the severity of the situation. The army doesn't have enough man-power, subsequently Highschool and college students have little or no choice but to join the military. They join the reserve forces with promises of extra points when school resumes, but soon becomes clear they are expected to go to the front-lines, and that the situation isn't as simple and harmless as they thought.

Interesting survival manhwa. The author keeps building the unease and tension chapter by chapter. The style, mostly grey colors (apart from the purple spheres there are only a few splotches of other colors here and there) reminds me of his artwork on Annarasumanara.



On a different topic ...
I've read the webtoons.com translation first. It was pretty good, but as someone who watches Korean tv dramas and movies more than often, I find it annoying when translators take liberties with names and titles. Alright, I didn't notice problems with titles here. (K-drama lovers know what I'm talking about ... crappy and unnecessary translations of words like nuna, hyung, oppa, ajeosi, ajuma, etc. K-drama lovers appreciate when they are left as they are. In manhwas (and webtoons) we prefer finding near them the little * sign, withn the explanation of the possible meaning under the caption.)
The second thing that bugs me when they write the Korean names ... western style. Koreans write the last name (family name) first, and the simple fact that the translator decides to write the name Kim Chi-yeol as not only Chi-yeol Kim (it annoys me enough), but decides to cut the first name in half, and leaves me with Chi Kim. When I tried to read it Korean-style, it read Kim Chi. For those who are unfamiliar with the Korean culture. kimchi is a pickled side dish. So for ten chapters my mind was trying to fathom if the author meant something naming one of the main characters kimchi. Then I noticed that all the other names are suspiciously short too. Too many short names. Finally, I opened mangafox.me and ... alleluia, a normal translation.

So ... if you've never watched more than two Korean dramas or you've read less than four manhwas/webtoons, you can go with the webtoons.com translation. If you love your manhwas/ K-dramas , movies and K-pop ... go for the mangafox. me translation.



Off to volume 2.

[osoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Если Annarasumanara была настоящей сказкой (для тех, кто готов был слушать), то Duty After School / Afterschool War Activities - это апокалипсис и драма на фоне кровавого террора.

Здесь уже наступил конец света, когда однажды в небе появились фиолетовые сферы и начали методично убивать население Земли без требования о капитуляции, навсегда изменив жизнь каждого на этой планете. В том числе и жизнь старшеклассников, что еще вчера больше всего на свете волновались об экзаменах и поступлении в университет, а сегодня им уже вручили повестку на военные сборы.

Так начинает раскручиваться драма со школьниками в главной роли, у которых все еще работает защитный механизм и они верят, что участие в военных действиях добавит им баллов при поступлении в университет (хотя неизвестно, останется ли такое понятие после… и будет ли это “после” вообще - для них и для всех остальных). В одну минуту ребята ноют на камеру по поводу сломанного ногтя, или переживают влюбленность, или продолжают тёрки внутри класса - и тут бац! в мгновение ока все становится серьезным от слова смертельно. Ад, когда простая потасовка одноклассников может закончиться трагедией, позволяет наконец прочувствовать, что это не игра. И что завтра может вовсе не наступить.

lukk.svbtle

[Lovingkiwi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I finished this way back in high school (or was it middle school?), this story and its characters stayed with me until now. Ha Il-Kwon is truly one of the best webtoon authors/artists out there.

[V.R. Sibeko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot understate that this is the single greatest Manwa I have ever read. The story telling technique, the simplistic art style, the individual characters, the individual character arcs.

I have read over a hundred Manga and a couple dozen Manwa and this is absolutely the best. This is my Citizen Kane of Manga.

The Premise is pretty simple. Alien orbs show up in the sky all over the world. No one knows anything about them. The Korean Army is spread thin so the government offers a school incentive to high school kids to volunteer for extra credits and the whole time they are recorded and interviewed as they go along. Things seem simple until, suddenly, shit gets real!

My only critique is that some of the female character art could have been only a fraction more distinctive between one or two of the girls, since I had to remind myself on a couple faces but that's nit picking at best. There's a whole lot of characters to juggle, a lot of characters to care about and you do, the almost the entire time. It's stylistic without being confusing, you don't find yourself thinking 'no high schooler thinks or talks like this' and you give a damn about the characters.

Don't just but this volume, by ALL OF THEM. I don't want to talk about the ending because it was just...I can't even put it into words. Please keep reading this and I hope to see more by this artist.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected better artwork from a Korean manga, but the story makes up for it. Sure, the plot is exaggerated with its floating balls of death pulled right out of the 90's, but the characters' interactions are enjoyable. They are kids put into an extraordinary situation. It's brilliant how much this feels like one of those military training movies. You start from greenhorns and slowly move up to killing machines. Kinda.

Large purple spheres have fallen from the sky all over the world. In some cases, they explode, wiping out entire cities. In other cases they float all over, killing only those who get too close. The military is desperate, so high schoolers are enrolled by force. The students from Sung Dong High in South Korea are some of the new recruits. Army life will be entirely different for these kids.

The students are considered reservists. They are forced to sleep in the classroom in beds that replace their desks. They must eat food cooked by soldiers - it's not to everyone's liking. There is no more studying or sports, just more military training, learning regulations and following orders. Most complain about it, though some try to focus their free time on regular highschool stuff like studying for university or crushes, even animosities. Some try to make light of the situation, until the purple spheres kills one of them. Later, during shooting training, they learn that the purple balls are exhibiting more offensive behavior - they are actively attacking people.

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Denisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another rating: 9/10 (for whole series)

[ŵłńtėr · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars rating for the whole series.

[Joana · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best Comics out there, Ha Il-kwon honestly has never disappointed me with his work

[jov · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4

Damn.

[Abril · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hasta ahora me gustó bastante, es muy adictivo D: