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Zombie Films Reflecting a Society in Crisis —Youth, Women, and the State in Train to Busan and I Am a Hero—

  • 日本硏究
  • 2025, (63), pp.93~115
  • DOI : 10.20404/jscau.2025.08.63.93
  • Publisher : The Center for Japanese Studies
  • Research Area : Humanities > Japanese Language and Literature
  • Received : July 11, 2025
  • Accepted : July 29, 2025
  • Published : August 20, 2025

Kim HwaYoung 1

1수원과학대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

In Train to Busan and I Am a Hero, zombies serve not only as horror figures but also as metaphors for societal anxieties in contemporary. Both films follow genre conventions while offering critical insights into social collapse, moral failure, and human ethics during crises. This study analyzes these films through four key lenses: youth, women, social issues, and state absence. In Train to Busan, youth are portrayed as passive victims of adult self-interest, while I Am a Hero features morally awakened youth, especially empowered female characters, who challenge traditional gender roles. The former work evokes emotional and ethical responses through female characters symbolizing motherhood and the future, whereas the latter work features active, liminal female agents. Although Train to Busan critiques capitalism, it still carries a message of hope, whereas I Am a Hero depicts a darker world of exclusion and conformity. Both films illustrate the collapse of state power, emphasizing individual ethical choices. Their settings—the moving train and the closed outlet mall—represent contrasting social metaphors. Ultimately, both films urge viewers to rethink the ethics and shape of post-crisis societies and the sense of belonging their members experience.

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