"Duty After School" is the web drama that has been the buzz of the K-Drama world lately.  Starring Shin HyunSoo, Lee SoonWon, Kim KiHae, Choi MoonHee, Kim SuGyeom, Lee Yeon, Kwon EunBin, Moon SangMin, Woo MinGyu, and more, the drama has been gaining rave reviews for its interesting extraterrestrial concept and riveting nature. Based on a webtoon of the same name, fans of the drama have become curious about the differences between the "Duty After School" webtoon and web drama.

"Duty After School" tells the story of senior high school students during the time of an alien invasion who suddenly get drafted into the military as reserve soldiers. They receive military training and end up going to war on top of the stress of preparing for their college entrance exams.

The webtoon was written by Ikwon Ha and is known as "방과 후 전쟁활동" in Korean. You can read it in English here.

The web drama has been gaining attention for another reason. It's one of the webtoon-based dramas that fans acknowledge to be very different from its original webtoon. This is in small differences and significant differences alike. Although the webtoon and web drama are not exactly the same, none of the differences drastically change the story. However, you might find some of the differences interesting.

Today we'll take a look at the "Duty After School" web drama and webtoon differences, how they've impacted the story, and come up with theories behind why the differences were made. Here are 6 differences between the two formats.

Note: This article contains spoilers for episodes 1-2 of the "Duty After School" webtoon and episodes 1-6 of the web drama. 

 

Character Differences

1. Wang TaeMan's Background

Detail: In the webtoon, Wang TaeMan (played by Moon SangMin in the drama) had lived abroad in Canada for some time and he goes by the name Wang Johnson. His character also speaks English.

In the web drama, there's no mention of this detail or this part of his background.

Impact on the story: This doesn't change much of the story or even TaeMan's character other than the way he speaks.

Potential theories for change: One of the things that didn't change about TaeMan is the fact that he farts a lot, for example. So, it's possible that the director felt that his character would've been too comical if he was trying to mix English sentences and slang into his speech, as well. Of course, this depends on how his English speaking would've been incorporated into the story, but if it's the stereotypical portrayal, this may have been the case.

 

2. The Class President's Personality

Detail: In the web drama, the class president Kim YooJung (played by Yeo JooHa), is well-respected by her classmates and they all listen to what she says. In the drama, she doesn't present as insecure or shy, or even quiet.

However, in the webtoon, she seems more reserved and like she doesn't have that much control over her peers as she speaks quietly and gets scolded by other students about her meekness. It also seems like the other students take advantage of her personality. When she eventually raises her voice, everyone is stunned.

Impact on the story: This also doesn't affect the story that much. However, the webtoon version of the class president weakens her leadership persona at first glance which would make it less convincing to have her lead her peers during a war.

Potential theories for change: By making her web drama character stronger, she's not only more convincing of a leader, but her character also makes a bolder impression on the viewer. It would've been important to have a convincing character taking the lead in a situation like an alien war and there wouldn't have been time to give her a decent character arc before the war starts in the drama.

 

Storyline and Plot Detail Differences 

3. Details in the Formatting and the Pace of the Story

Detail: Some of the formatting choices and storytelling pace in the story is different depending on the medium. For example, in the webtoon, we get to see video diaries from the characters almost immediately when the story starts - they're used to introduce us to the vital characters in the classroom. It's unclear from the start why we see these video diaries, but it foreshadows what's to come.

Whereas, in the web drama, the video diaries only come into play after the announcement of the students joining the military. The military officer, Lee ChunHo (played by Shin HyunSoo), assigns Kim ChiYeol (played by Kim KiHae) to record videos of the whole experience.

On this note, the commonality between the two mediums is that the starting point for the video diaries is still Kim ChiYeol. In the webtoon, however, since there's no context about the video diaries, we don't know that he's in charge of them. In fact, we don't get to know the person behind the camera in the beginning. So, in the webtoon, he is in front of the camera, but in the web drama, he is stationed behind the camera most of the time.

Impact on the story: The video diaries from the start of the webtoon give the story more of a documentary feel, which makes it seem like something huge is going to happen or already happening a lot faster in the story. This adds an intriguing aspect to the story for sure.

Potential theories for change: In the drama, the video diaries are added through a plot device that introduces the war to us. By delaying the video diaries, the intention might've been to create more attachment to the characters first by letting us get to know them in a bit more depth pre-war first.

 

4. When ChiYeol's Crush on NaRa is Revealed and the Extent of It

Detail: Tying into the previous point about details being different... In the webtoon, we find out about ChiYeol's crush on Lee NaRa (played by Choi MoonHee) immediately. It's alluded to in one of the first conversations that ChiYeol has with Kim DeokJoong (played by Woo MinGyu). However, in the drama, the two talk about a lot of random things before we even see hints of his crush on NaRa - like him staring at her in admiration.

Additionally, in the webtoon, his thoughts revolve around NaRa a lot more than they do in the web drama.

Impact on the story: As a result of the extent of his crush on NaRa in the webtoon, we don't get to know much about ChiYeol as a character at the beginning of the story. Whereas in the web drama, he actually gets to show some form of character development outside of having a crush on someone.

We also get to see the process of him falling for her, which somehow makes us more invested in that love line.

Potential theories for change: As we mentioned above, ChiYeol doesn't have a personality outside of liking someone at the beginning of the webtoon. In a drama, it's vital to like and be invested in who a character is before moving on to their dynamics with other people. This could be a potential big reason why.

 

5. Our Introduction to the Spheres & ChiYeol's Window Interaction with NaRa

Detail: In the webtoon, what we see as the fart scene in the drama (where TaeMan's fart smell leads to all the students hanging out of the window and gasping for air) is the scene where we get introduced to the spheres - minus the hectic fart.

Whereas in the web drama, we get introduced to the spheres in a flashback where ChiYeol is leaving his apartment and most people are standing outside staring at the sky. This scene is also linked to an explanation of the sphere phenomenon by a YouTuber that Jang YoungHoon (played by Noh JongHyun) is watching on his phone.

In the same webtoon scene, ChiYeol gets to interact with NaRa and have his first 'skinship' (physical contact) with her because they're leaning out of the same window.

In the drama, their interaction is not physical and only involves him staring at her from a different window when they are some of the last students left.

Impact on the story: Due to ChiYeol's crush on NaRa being a more prominent part of the storyline, NaRa becomes a more prominent character at first than she is in the web drama; because we get to encounter and focus on her more.

Potential theories for change: The introduction to the spheres might've been different to emphasize how the sphere affects not just the school but the whole city and ultimately the whole world. The difference in ChiYeol and NaRa's interaction is just a result of the different progressions of ChiYeol's crush in the webtoon and web drama.

 

6. The Conditions of the Military Draft

Detail: In the webtoon, during the military enlistment/draft announcement,  the Minister of Justice requires all university and high school students to enter the military draft.

However, in the web drama, people over the age of 24 are required to enlist and only high school seniors (year 3 of high school) are required to train as reserve troops for the military.

Impact on the story: By changing the draft to a more specific demographic in the web drama, the stakes are upped for the high school students as only students ahead of their college entrance exam are affected.

Potential theories for change: The fact that they are the single high school grade chosen for the draft adds to how unfair the students think it is and adds an aspect of conflict to the story. Additionally, by upping the stakes, they emphasize the importance of these particular high school students enlisting - it also narrows down the scope of students to cover in the drama. This change might've also been to emphasize how the senior high school students were only to be considered reserve soldiers despite the fact that they eventually ended up being active-duty soldiers anyway.

These are only a few of the web drama and webtoon differences for "Duty After School" that we've spotted so far.

Have you spotted any other differences between the drama and the webtoon for "Duty After School"? How do you think these differences impact the story? Let us know in the comments below!

 

If you would like to read about more K-Dramas that are different from their webtoons, check out this article.

 

Here are some other webtoons that are different from their K-Drama: