Weak Hero Class 1 (2022)

excellent

As someone who has been a fan of Jihoon as an idol for a while, I am so glad I got to watch him reach his fullest potential as an actor 🫶🏼 He did such an amazing job portraying Sieun, i felt his every emotion through the screen…his sadness…his resentment…his happiness. He is so so good at depicting human emotions through his expressions.

As for the series itself, I never expected it to end the way it did (which was honestly devastating), and definitely could be avoided if some better decisions were made (I am looking at you Beomseok) Nevertheless, there is a deeper message that only such an ending could’ve painted.

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A Tale of Three Boys All On Their Own

The commonality of the 3 main characters were their school and personal lives. All were growing up on their own and having to watch out for themselves. In school they all were the targets of bullies but handled it in different ways. Their paths collided in Weak Hero: Class 1 and ignited a poignant tale of survival, betrayal, and loss.

Si Eun - the ML. He is an exceptionally quiet loner focusing on his studying. He has a routine he sticks with day in and day out. He has parents but they are busy with their careers and frequently out of the picture so he is alone most of the time. In the first couple of episodes, he becomes the target of a gang of bullies in his class. Two things help him. His intense stare along with the clicking of his pen (which acts as a threat), and another classmate, Su ho, who is an expert fighter and takes on these class hoodlums.

Su ho - the class sleeper who uses a cute pink pillow. He is not interested in school at all and not planning on going to college. Outside of school he works 3 jobs and takes care of his grandmother. He does not have parents. Along the way he has trained in fighting so can defend himself when necessary, and uses it to defend others. In this storyline, he defends Si Eun and they become friends.

Beom Seok - a transfer student who also gets targeted by the class bullies. Su ho defends him and all three become a tight friend group. Of the three, I believe Beom Seok had the hardest life which made him different from the other two. The writer did not develop his storyline too well, but this is the jist of what I got. He is the adopted son of a high up politician who works all the time and needs a perfect image. He has a family, but not really. There is a picture of Beom Seok, his political father, a "wife" and a "sister" in their expensive, luxurious apartment. Beom Seok tells Si Eun and Su ho that he was adopted, the others were stand-ins to give the appearance of a family. His father treats him horribly and regularly beats him in cruel and demeaning ways. So Beom Seok is abused by bullies at school, and abused at home by his father. He has no where that is safe nor secure, or loving nor nurturing. His life day and night is surviving the abuse. The damage to him emotionally and mentally shows up in the latter part of the story.

All three boys support each other first in school by getting the main bully kicked out and the others leave them alone. They are also targeted by the head of a gang who extorts kids for money and lures them in for a life of crime whom they lead the police to and get him arrested. This part of Weak Hero Class 1 is the best. After this the 3 are best friends and hang out everyday together.

Then the story changes, mainly because of a girl. When Yeongi comes into the picture, Beom Seok feels left out and abandoned by his other two friends. He hardens his heart and turns against them, especially Su ho. The story becomes really dark as Beom Seok sinks into maddening urges to get even and destroy.

The drama is sprinkled through with a variety of fights complete with blood, broken bones, bruises, and even some hospital stays. It does not end well for any of the 3 main characters, and the preview for season 2 appears to keep the darkness and fighting going. What made this drama great were the actors in all of the 3 lead parts. Their characters and their acting was superb. What makes this drama not so great is the darkness of bullying, constant fighting, and the emotional cost is takes on a person's mental stability. We are being taken on a journey of the main character, how he just keeps to himself trying to study, but there are those who keep messing with him, so he does what he has to in order to survive. His survival includes others joining in to help him survive but (though no fault of his) end up paying serious consequences for it. The story also shows Si Eun sinking more and more into darkness and emotional instability. It's a push and pull of your senses and emotions as you cheer him on in defending himself, but you cringe at the lengths he is willing to go to hurt others in that defensive moment.

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The Weakest of Heroes (Affectionate ) <3

I actually tried this show months back but gave up after 5 episodes. Boy was I being impatient. This show was beyond my expectations after I dropped it. I'll get straight into my Pros list (yes, just pros as I think there is barely enough cons to even warrant a list for it).

Pros:
- This show was entertaining as fuck. Seriously, I like was barely ever even feeling a semblance of boredom throughout it. This is why some kdramas truly don't need to overcompensate for something but double its episode length instead of working with what you have. I'll take quality over quantity ANY day.
- The acting was fantastic; especially from Park Ji-hoon. That man is going places with how he can express so many emotions through a seemingly emotionless character. The other two's actor also played them very well. To be honest, majority of the acting was amazing.
- The show wasn't ugly to look at; the color filters truly fitted their scenes and I loved to see how they were linked with emotions. Si-eun's fantasies being a warm yellow sunset only to then turn into a bleak gray once he awakes to reality is truly heartbreaking to watch (is this why his name translates to "Gray"?)
- The fighting was insanely over the top and out of reality yet it didn't upset like it usually would because of how well choreographed it was and how genuinely painful they made the hits look and sound. I was wincing when Si-eun bonked people over the head and stabbed Yeong-bin in the shoulder with a pencil. That kid is a menace in sheep's clothing.
- I really liked how much depth they gave Beom-seok as an antagonist. He is insanely insecure, clingy, possessive, spiteful, and impulsive. He truly did put Su-ho on a pedestal of what his dream friend would be like, but the moment he couldn't live up to that he snapped and viewed him the same way as all the other controlling people in his life. Yet, I honestly pitied him more than hated him by the end because of how destructive he was toward his own future and the people around him. He loved putting the blame on other people too.
- Liked how they showed how different styles of parenting can be damaging to children. Beom-seok's father was blatantly abusive and controlling and this made Beom-seok aggressive and spiteful as a person. Su-ho's grandmother (though we don't see a lot of her) can be seen as kind and nurturing, which in turn made Su-ho a protective and confident person. Si-eun's parents were distant and put a veil over how they really felt which in turn made Si-eun distance himself from others and hide his emotions until they boiled over in destructive ways as he was never taught how to cope with them healthily. Yeong-bin's mother was one of those "my son can never be the one in the wrong and he is a perfect little sunshine" kind of parent, which made Yeong-bin selfish and feel a false sense of egotism and security. This is easily one of my favorite parts of the show.
- Dissed on the police system a bit when it came to those gangsters but made sure that they weren't painted as being 100% incompetent by at least arresting some people associated with the crime. Not everything is always black and white.
- Had some truly heart-touching moments; especially when Park Ji-hoon portrayed Si-eun's first wide smile when Su-ho was in the hospital for the first time. That touched my soul. I could sense his relief and happiness that he had bottled up and he looked genuinely glad to be alive for once (this was probably the happiest he ever was in the entire show).
- The music wasn't half bad. It contributed to emotional scenes well and didn't make me feel the wrong emotion. I was only slightly caught off guard by english lyrics when it's a Korean show. But this is one Netflix so I'm not really *that* surprised. The song itself wasn't bad either so it didn't really impact how I rated the soundtracks.

All in all: I liked this show quite a bit. Is it perfect? No. Will it be to just about everyone's liking? Probably not. Was it still entertaining as fuck despite any of its flaws? Hell yeah! To be honest, I'd take an entertaining show with a decent plot over one with style and little substance any day (don't @ me Flower of Evil enthusiasts).

Should you watch it? If you like action, friendship, betrayal, portrayal of youth struggles and a decent production; then yes! Why not? It's only half the episode length of the average kdrama, and packed with 200% more to appreciate!

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I have no words

I don't even know how to start. I watched the series because I knew 2 actors who play there so I already had some expectations that it's gonna be good but this show is just amazing. The actors portrayed their roles so so good. I don't even have words to describe it. (I wish I could speak English fluently.) They moved my heart in a lot of scenes. I was shocked, I laughed, I cried. I fell in love with Shi Eun and Soo Ho friendship. It was so cute and pure and just so real. The series showed a lot of real teenagers problems the twist were so good. THE ENDING WAS JUST STRAIGHT PAIN. I mean I was happy that he didn't die but the scene when he "woke up". They just played with my feelings.
To sum up the show is in my top faves but we'll see after another season.

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Great Show

This show was literally SOOO good! if you enjoy shows with fighting this is it!! I really enjoyed this show, it even made me shed a few tears! i highly recommend this as a starter show, it really gets you hooked in throughout the first episode! Honestly I knew I was going to like it because of Park Jihoon, I told myself that I have to like it anyways because I love his music, but after watching the first episode I can say for sure that this show is a show that you love or hate, no in between! this shows Jihoons side of acting and this show showed me how good Jihoon can act! Like I said i really do recommend this show to anoyone whos just getting into korean dramas!

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An unpredictable movie... on a predictable subject

This is a very predictable subject I've noticed with Korean dramas around bullying. But I love how it was done in an unpredictable way. I have to admit this probably wouldn't have gotten great reviews if it wasn't for the amazing acting by all the leads. The male lead was phenomenal one of the best performances I've seen in all of year long. I love how I wasn't sure what was going to happen next.

I was fine with it but I was amazed by the graphic nature of the series. The action scenes were done very well.

The grittiness of this drama remind me a lot of another drama called Extracurricular. I appreciate that it was a nice tight eight episodes so it did not contain a lot of filler episodes and one too many origin stories.

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a weak hero doesn't mean he can't fight, but he knows how to handle vengeance and self-bravery

NEED A SEASON 2 BUT THE CONTINUATION IS ON WEBTOON!! huhuhu it was very entertaining and the fact that it breaks my heart because many things were getting involved by their friendship because of betrayal. but this drama was interesting from the beginning till the ending was a cliffhang a bit. Adding it to my favorites, but I need to explain a bit but not that long since the story seems confusing but i'll try to give a summary to it.

But, i'll share a bit since I saw a comment from the website I've been watching kdramas and it was actually a prequel. Gotta find it on webtoon to read the story where it begins to be very exciting tbh. but they said its different but i'll try I guess.

The story talks about how a student handles bullies in school, much more of giving revenge and for the sake of giving them what they deserve to be treated. to fighting scenes to friendship scenes. injustices from the weak hero turns to be so powerful, involving his life to be in despair and how his education and all destroyed because of blaming the people who gave too much attention to him to be mad to give punishment. From the plot itself, it seems interesting but when I get to watch the drama, now I realized that I got very entertained because of the action and fighting scenes that makes it look even attractive. I never had been obsessed about this drama because it is one of the best action high school series I've watched. I think the story, to be specific, is how oneself struggles to find a way to give revenge and seek for what's right by using violence since most of the time, high school violence (in most cases in some kdrama series) are not given attention to be solved. That blames the society and the high positioned leaders as well. getting involved and justice not been served.

The ost in short fits the atmosphere of the drama in every episodes. It seems to give so much intense from every fighting scenes and the bonding moments with their brotherly-friendship. Giving most of the scenes such feels as well. I would also note the cinematography of this drama, because it could also blend with the scenes most especially the fighting scenes.

The characters, with the cast was WOOOOOH, they were entertaining from their scenes on screen, their emotions gave out and their actions scenes was on point! I also fell their friendship as well from where they were until the end was kind of sentimental. But not to spoil so much, the cast was very promising as well ever since the 2 male leads, I saw them from their previews kdrama roles as well.
- Park Ji-hoon, as the yeon shi-eun he got this role very lucky. many of the viewers appreciates his acting skills even myself could appreciate him much, he even improved a lot from his role from the previews drama i've watched, at a distance spring is green. A promising actor as well!!
- one of my favorite actors as well, Choi Hyun-wook as ahn soo ho. I got so attracted by his role from this drama. The acting skills was very entertaining and how skilled he was. Most of his roles especially some drama series he was casted, this was the first kdrama I've seen his fighting skills too! I fell in love from the first web drama I watched seeing him, Real:Time:Love. A promising rookie actor as well!
- Hong kyung as Oh Beom Seok, hmmm this is the first drama I saw his role and very well done! I guess he was also promising actor and while watching his scenes, seems very real as well. Even if I hated his role from this drama, he deserve attention to the viewers and might as well have the main role from future drama projects as well.


Overall, I hope it has a season 2 since the ending was seems a cliffhang after all. But I would look forward to the webtoon version since this was (again) a prequel.
Good for binge-watch and a time killer as well. I think in most cases, I would probably no recommend to beginners unless if they are interested to action series. A must watch to kdrama fans as well!

Looking forward to the main casts roles soon!!!

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this would be me if my impulsive thoughts wins during such situations SKJFSKF park jihoon really nailed portraying sieun in here. and hyunwook, gosh, looks like my type of guy HAHAHAHA the extroverted and funny but knows when to become serious guy ah it's sad what happened to him and spoiler--atay jud kaayos beomseok diri dae anyways what i felt the most while watching this is that it is really scary and made me feel so stressed out lol. the way they just kept running into gangs made me feel so scared for them. the fights???? damn this should be one of the dramas i have ever watched where i kept covering my eyes and pausing the video HAHAHAHA the violence is just not for me especially the knives and bats. fuck bullies indeed and they deserved all the violence. it's a good show but definitely not for kids!!

my rewatch value is low because i cannot handle the violence but if you're here for the story, it's a must watch

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