122 replies to this topic

[BoldChild]

o_0, are the large cells about to "give brith" again?  It looks like they're bloating at the end of the chapter.

[svines85]

 As for Il-Ha's body, its unlikely the recovery team will pay any attention to his gunshot wound since Youngsoo smashed his head in with a rock, and there's no suspicion of murder to warrant closer inspection. Even if the gunshot wound is discovered, Youngsoo's story that the cell attacked Il-Ha's head would save him, since he can just say the wound is from him shooting the cell.

Has anybody else noticed Ha-il is using more color in recent chapters? There's been a warm tint of orange instead of the usual grey skies, and there's been a lot of focus on the girls' hair. There's only one more thing in this webtoon that's colored, and no, I'm not talking about the fabulously green army pants...

We'll see, it would depend on how the author chooses to tell the story. I do think suspicion being raised is within the realm of possibilities though.

 

And yeah, Ha Il-Kwon's art has quite a bit of depth to it, contrasting color and black and whites was a hallmark of Annarasumanara. 

 

o_0, are the large cells about to "give brith" again?  It looks like they're bloating at the end of the chapter.

I don't know if what we saw is really a sign of that..... we've seen similar effect from the sun at other, earlier parts in the story.....but it does seem to be a possibility that's being alluded to.

 

We're only about 10 chapters from being caught up with the original which is still ongoing,  so at this point we could be looking a ways down the road before we know just how far the story will take us..

[Qwick]

I heard it might be ending at ch50 with only an epilogue left. 

 
Part of persuasive writing - the most important part - is ignoring the negative parts of an argument. I wanted more people to actually think about Youngsoo and his possible motivations, rather than call him insane. By providing only one half of the entire argument, someone else has to think and provide the other half. Then, other interested people read both halves, and make their own decision. Providing only the positive parts of Youngsoo's character requires that I fluff things up a little, considering all the bad he's done.
 
As for a friendship between Youngsoo and Il-Ha (I made a mistake earlier mixing up the author and the character), it would only be possible if Il-Ha showed a sign of respect first. There's a funny point in relationships where we allow our friends to disrespect and outright abuse us. Perhaps you're right that Il-Ha was trying to be friendly in his own way, but all of it was disrespectful.

I did enjoy your devils advocate, their relationship is an interesinting thing to think about, which is why I made such a long response to it.  

 

As for respect, in a way he was getting more from Il-Ha than any other student character, in Youngsoo's flashback the most powerful feeling I got is loneliness, Youngsoo stares into his book, nobody other than Il-Ha even bothers to talk to him or acknolege him more than they have to.

 

I think their relationship is very similar to that of Abosel and Bora, (to a lesser extent of course) but the pressures of war got to them whereas they seem to have made both the girls stronger.  I think the presence of just one other person who cared for both of them (youngshin) helped the girls succeed where the boys failed.

 

Definately agree with you on the colours aspect though, in the early chapters the world itself is very drab and grey but ever since the characters remarked about how beautiful the sphere's looked in the night sky of the rally point chapters it feels like the panaramic views have been increasing.  Recently though it feels like the camp sections have a coloured world and the fighting reverts to grey asside from the accents you mentioned.  I kind of get a realize how precious these moments are message.

[svines85]

I heard it might be ending at ch50 with only an epilogue left.

Spoiler

I did enjoy your devils advocate, their relationship is an interesinting thing to think about, which is why I made such a long response to it.  

 

As for respect, in a way he was getting more from Il-Ha than any other student character, in Youngsoo's flashback the most powerful feeling I got is loneliness, Youngsoo stares into his book, nobody other than Il-Ha even bothers to talk to him or acknolege him more than they have to.

 

I think their relationship is very similar to that of Abosel and Bora, (to a lesser extent of course) but the pressures of war got to them whereas they seem to have made both the girls stronger.  I think the presence of just one other person who cared for both of them (youngshin) helped the girls succeed where the boys failed.

 

Definately agree with you on the colours aspect though, in the early chapters the world itself is very drab and grey but ever since the characters remarked about how beautiful the sphere's looked in the night sky of the rally point chapters it feels like the panaramic views have been increasing.  Recently though it feels like the camp sections have a coloured world and the fighting reverts to grey asside from the accents you mentioned.  I kind of get a realize how precious these moments are message.

Oh really? Could be, there was a chapter this week which would be #50 but it isn't numbered.........so yeah, maybe it's ending, the author isn't known for excessively long stories.

[PervySageChuck]

You know I totally missed that we'd gotten an answer in ch 40 to a question I'd brought up earlier, that being if the bodies of the lost soldiers from the first day of the medium cell operation had been recovered or not.

 

We now know they have not, and even though in ch 41 we find out our squad is being shipped off to another locale, it's still very possible to come back up in the story. Il Ha's body will be recovered and identified at some point.....that's just going to be a matter of protocol........ and it very likely will raise questions about the cause of death. I personally don't think Youngsoo is necessarily off the hook just yet.

 

 

Ahh...  But will the author think of the possibility of Il Ha's body being found in the future and an investigation started which could lead to Youngsoo's arrest, court martial and execution?

 

And if so, will the author be willing to use this as part of the story line?  Or will he instead use the plot device of Youngsoo's superiors covering it up.  Or just ignore the whole possibility by thinking that it may muddy up and over-complicate his creative processes?

 

We know for a fact that these investigations have happened in real life, as we also know that these incidents have many times been covered up by a soldier's superiors.

[svines85]

Ahh...  But will the author think of the possibility of Il Ha's body being found in the future and an investigation started which could lead to Youngsoo's arrest, court martial and execution?

 

And if so, will the author be willing to use this as part of the story line?  Or will he instead use the plot device of Youngsoo's superiors covering it up.  Or just ignore the whole possibility by thinking that it may muddy up and over-complicate his creative processes?

 

We know for a fact that these investigations have happened in real life, as we also know that these incidents have many times been covered up by a soldier's superiors.

Indeed yes, you're right. All just idle thoughts and observations on the part of readers that ultimately won't amount to a hill of beans compared to what the author actually has in mind.  

[Qwick]

IMO if the military is despirate enough to enlist children to fight on the front line it isn't running smootly enough for efficient military tribunal.  Most likely Il-Ha's body is already burried (a task that was likely delegated to people who wouldn't be able to identify the wound).  If Youngsoo is caught it will be due his own behaviour or Soyeon remembering.

[svines85]

IMO if the military is despirate enough to enlist children to fight on the front line it isn't running smootly enough for efficient military tribunal.  Most likely Il-Ha's body is already burried (a task that was likely delegated to people who wouldn't be able to identify the wound).  If Youngsoo is caught it will be due his own behaviour or Soyeon remembering.

yup, he might get away with it entirely

[PervySageChuck]

We can speculate all we want, but in the end, we will have to wait patiently for the author to decide on just how he wants to fuck with our minds in this story.

 

I look forward to finding out just how much we will all be cursing the author's birth, his life, his probable sexual habits, his debatable personal hygiene, his questionable ancestry...

 

And his dubious friends who are all likely to be criminals in addition to his politically far right or far left teachers who influenced him to do these terrible things to us, the honorable readers who faithfully follow his work.

 

 

 

It's going to be a ton of fun!!!

[svines85]

Wow, that was quite the uncomfortable reunion.  >_<

[svines85]

So, at least it seems like where they're at now isn't nearly as active as their last station. I notice we didn't see Youngsoo, I kinda wonder how he's holding up at this point. 

[svines85]

Yup, I figured as much. Even though the story's almost over, so it's doubtful that it'll amount to much........I knew the potential of that in-the-field murder coming to light was pretty strong.

 

I don't care what nation you're talking about, these days military organizations are as much like big bureaucracies as anything. There's people who's jobs are to investigate every little detail, they don't just leave bodies laying around without checking them out to see what happened.

[paraquat]

I really don't see how the author is going to wrap everything up in two chapters, unless he abruptly kills everyone off.

 

Also, did anyone feel just a bit bad for Youngsoo in ep. 48? I don't think he was justified in what he did, but I could understand his reasons for being so quick to kill that other dude in the trees somewhat better from his internal monologue. It exemplifies one of the things I love about this manhwa; namely, that it doesn't have any stereotypical heroes or villains. Instead, the characters have to deal with the situation around them and the flaws within them, which makes Afterschool War Activities seem about as realistic as a comic that's about high schoolers killing space blobs for extra credit can possibly be.

[svines85]

I really don't see how the author is going to wrap everything up in two chapters, unless he abruptly kills everyone off.

 

Also, did anyone feel just a bit bad for Youngsoo in ep. 48? I don't think he was justified in what he did, but I could understand his reasons for being so quick to kill that other dude in the trees somewhat better from his internal monologue. It exemplifies one of the things I love about this manhwa; namely, that it doesn't have any stereotypical heroes or villains. Instead, the characters have to deal with the situation around them and the flaws within them, which makes Afterschool War Activities seem about as realistic as a comic that's about high schoolers killing space blobs for extra credit can possibly be.

Heck, I'm personally not entirely sure we've even got two more..........ch "50" isn't actually numbered so I kinda wonder if it's even an "entire" chapter. It's not like I know or anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a combination of "author's afterwords" and content. We'll see, I suppose.

 

Frankly though, it really doesn't surprise me. My experience/assessment of the author's other works leads me to expect a much more "seinen" style ending where a lot is left up to the readers to decide on.........in other words not a shounen/shoujo style "every little loose end tied up/happily ever after" ending.

 

And yeah, sure, I at least feel sorry for Youngsoo, I think any human being with the slightest bit of compassion should feel sorry for those who're experiencing difficulties in their lives. I've said it before, but I've thought Youngsoo was poorly adjusted from the start and that what happened was an almost inevitable consequence of that. But yeah, I've felt sorry for him almost from the start, and really feel sorry for him now. He's paying a very high price for his actions. His internal dialogue is actually pretty shudder-worthy...........he's essentially rationalizing  how he's blameless in a sexual assault and a murder.  >_<  

[claudio rolna]

I got to say 10+ men/girls of there class are going to survive

Yeah AND THERE WILL BE MORE DEAD PEOPLE

so I cant guarantee There Survive

But the Boy With Glassess Will SURVIVED

And Other Peep's

TRUST ME AFTERSCHOOL WAR ACTIVITIES WILL BE LIKE THIS

[svines85]

Ah well, that was bound to happen once they went into the building, that was an entirely different setting than they'd been encountering the cells in up to now. I guess now we'll just have to wait and see how many of them the cell got before it was destroyed, and how many the explosion took with it too. 

[svines85]

Ah well, not a pretty ending at all.........great, but still not pretty. 

 

I guess the combination of almost being ready to return home and a normal life along with being back in a school setting must have been the final straws that set Youngsoo off. 

[Cervance]

Did you guys catch the twinkling cells in Youngsoo's eyes? He was hallucinating, and has been for months on end now. PTSD is a bitch.

 

Modern armies usually do a fine job beating soldiers into shape so that they don't crack in the first fight, but that wasn't really the case with the student reservists. Add to that the fact that no mental health evaluation was done at all, and its not too surprising there were suicides, homicides, and tragedies like this last one. I'm adamant it isn't Youngsoo's fault, but the system that is in error. Even Nara won't get proper treatment because lying was the "right" thing to do.

 

At any rate, I'm proud of Nara, there's no way she'd let her future hubby get shot. And I'm proud of our man too, even though I still can't remember his name.

[Parakewl]

Slightly disappointed. Not in the events that took place, but in the lack of explanation of what happens to the surviving students beyond high school and if they're able to live reasonably normal lives after what they went through.

 

Overall I enjoyed ASWA very much, as I do most of Ha Il-kwon's works. My thanks to SupremeCreamScans for making it available and all their hard work.

 

And finally...

 

Keep on living Nara!

[The Kookie Monster]

I felt the ending was maybe... missing something. I think that it might have been a little better if it had suggested at some kind of future for all of the students, rather than simply ending 

Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the series. Big thanks to the scanlators, and looking forward to the next Ha Il production