Seoul Station (2016)

Quippy title: 🚉🧟 “The prequel nobody asked for, but hey—it bites.”

Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers shall we?

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Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

Seoul Station is the animated prequel to Train to Busan. On paper, it promises to show us the “day zero” outbreak before the train ride, tracing the collapse of society from the streets of Seoul. In execution… it feels like déjà vu. Once again, we watch the first sparks of infection spread like wildfire, only this time through animated crowds instead of a speeding train.

It’s still gripping—fast zombies tearing through panicked civilians is always unnerving—but narratively it doesn’t add much. If Train to Busan was about survival and sacrifice, Seoul Station is more about chaos, societal breakdown, and, unfortunately, some very frustrating human behavior.


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Character Rundown

Hye-sun (Shim Eun-kyung) – A runaway trying to survive the streets of Seoul. She’s vulnerable but determined, carrying most of the film’s emotional weight.

Suk-gyu (Ryu Seung-ryong) – Introduced as Hye-sun’s father searching for her amidst the outbreak. He’s seemingly protective, but his true motives unravel later.

Ki-woong (Lee Joon) – Hye-sun’s boyfriend, caught between cowardice and occasional bursts of bravery.

The Landlord – Without spoiling too much up here: let’s just say his obsession with debts and control in the middle of an apocalypse makes him one of the most detestable characters in the franchise.



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Pacing / Episode Flow

The pacing leans more chaotic than tense. The film is relentless in showing the outbreak rip through the city—mobs of zombies, overcrowded shelters, mistrust between survivors. But it lacks the laser focus of Train to Busan, so it meanders and feels repetitive.

The animation style adds a layer of grit—bleak colors, exaggerated expressions, jagged violence—but sometimes it looks more stiff than stylish.


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Pros

Dark atmosphere. Seoul as a crumbling city feels haunting, claustrophobic, and hopeless.

Social commentary. The film doesn’t shy away from critiquing how society treats the homeless and marginalized—zombies just expose it faster.

Shock value. There are moments of raw brutality that hit harder because it’s animated.

That ending twist. It’s bleak, nasty, and leaves you unsettled.



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Cons

Redundancy. Did we really need another “this is how the outbreak started” story? Train to Busan already gave us enough.

Frustrating characters. Cowardice, selfishness, and bad decisions dominate—making it hard to root for anyone.

Animation inconsistency. The tone is grim, but the visuals sometimes feel stiff or cheap.

Narrative pointlessness. By the end, you realize this story doesn’t really change or expand the larger universe.



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Final Thoughts

Seoul Station is watchable, at times even powerful, but it reeks of franchise milking. It doesn’t add much to Train to Busan’s legacy except “more zombies.” That said, it’s still more creative and intense than a lot of American zombie films, and the ending lands with a nasty punch that you won’t forget.


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Rating

7/10


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🚨 Spoiler Warning 🚨

Spoilers

The story follows Hye-sun trying to navigate the outbreak while her supposed father, Suk-gyu, and her boyfriend Ki-woong search for her. The chaos escalates as the city falls apart—emergency shelters overflow, the police lose control, and the infected swarm through streets and tunnels.

But the “emotional core” of the story implodes in the third act. Suk-gyu, revealed to not actually be Hye-sun’s father but her landlord, was never trying to save her out of love. He wanted her dead because she never paid her rent. Yes, seriously. In the middle of a zombie apocalypse, this man’s obsession with debts becomes his motivation.

The climax turns brutal: he murders Hye-sun in cold blood, only to be bitten and killed by her reanimated corpse moments later. Ki-woong is lost along the way, leaving no survivors. Everyone dies.

It’s a cruel, nihilistic ending that hammers home the film’s bleak worldview: humans are often more monstrous than the zombies themselves. But it also leaves the viewer wondering—what was the point? Unlike Train to Busan, which balances horror with humanity, Seoul Station offers no real catharsis, just despair.