Weak Hero Class 1

Complex lead w/nuanced character growth, emotions screamed through punches/throws/kicks, A+ delivery

I usually don't post about, let alone review, shows that are already highly represented (I don't post a lot as is), but this show truly deserves the 5 hours of time anyone who can handle violent content (EXTREME bullying and extreme injuries!).
That said, I honestly recommend you NOT read any reviews before watching. It's so satisfying to go in without others' perspectives. A clean slate is perfect for this IMO. With that said, this isn't really so much full of spoilers (as I don't really go into plot much) as it is a summary of the characters which may still be more than some wish to read about.

We start with a stone-faced high school kid, a complete loner whose parents, divorced middle class workers (an academy math teacher and athletic coach), pay him little attention. He dives into his studies like his life is on the line, goes to cram academies and not much else. When he places first in a math competition (that is either schoolwide or regional/national-something bigger than their class), the guy who places third (a rich, entitled kid who rebels by drinking, smoking, and buying fentanyl from a hulk-like runaway/homeless/orphan thug in a gang that exploits teens) gets irritated and makes him a target.

From there, violence becomes the main feature, but the reasons for being violent, the methods of fighting, and the approach to it are different for all of the key figures. There are, of course, lackeys that gang up on people in swarms, but they picked a truly unique lead here. How he fights is pure strategy. He's truly weak-his stamina makes him take 50% longer than classmates to run a distance most take 6-7 minutes to do, so he instead uses his brain. He scans his environment, calculates the best strategies he can, and goes for quick shocking moves, not a steady flow of hard punches. He is, to be frank, a badass in terms of his brain. His lack of social skills, though, is less enviable, but his apparent lack of need for friends/him seeming fine flying solo does make others (like the attention-seeking third place kid who we can assume has some home life issues/parents pressuring him to be the best because "how can you lose to someone without our abundance of wealth?" but we don't actually see the background of them because it would distract from the short and fast-paced show's focus).

Alongside him are two other classmates, one right away, another soon after. From the beginning, our second lead is a righteous classmate whose MMA skills are unparalleled, a sweet guy who works multiple jobs to help take care of the grandmother he lives with. He protects not just the lead from others but others from the lead early on. He gets along with everyone, is truly good-hearted and generous, and is impossible to dislike for anyone but the few bullies with their ego issues who can't stand someone being so well-loved by everyone, someone so assured in who he is that he doesn't mind anyone's opinion of him or anger easily at all. They become friends in a quite unique set of encounters day to day, but it is a hard-earned friendship for the golden retriever-like faithful pal.

Soon after the initial two have been introduced to us, a transfer student enters the picture. He is a rich kid who was bullied severely at his former school. His family situation, though, is nothing to envy. His father is an Assemblyman who we learn adopted him solely to improve his image. There is nothing but annoyance and hostility because he is a nuisance-he isn't winning awards that the Assemblyman can show off but instead is occasionally taking him from work when beaten up by other schoolkids at the school of all-wealthy people.

This show's fight scenes are incredibly powerful... for something with only 5 hours of viewing content, I found myself truly impressed by the sheer variety of reasons for fighting and ways people end up fighting people who are often total strangers. It wasn't a variety pack that was just "create all kinds of scenarios and throw them all out there to just have as much violence as possible" from my viewing. Nothing seemed farfetched, a scary fact. Sure, the chance of ONE PERSON having this assortment is farfetched for reality, but this almost has a "Girl From Nowhere" "tour of this town's adolescent violence" feel through the lens of the ML.

I always LOVE when students look like everyday students. Seeing a load of flower boys/princess-like girls is harder to get immersed in. I love that this particular ML, despite being able to "glow up" and look very pretty (I've seen him in such roles), looks like a pretty common, average kid. He isn't this tall model-looking guy with an anime-like face but a kid whose expressions make him seem generally not-so-attractive. The golden retriever who can fight like nobody's business, well, okay-he's like a young Jang Ki Yong and no one's going to deny he's got some really handsome moments here. The third player, too, can look rather intriguing in a way that has a bit of what make Lee Soo Hyuk and Noh Min Woo so drop dead gorgeous. He is an awkward squirrely skinny kid here, and his hair is intentionally made unflattering, his glasses not really doing much for him, either-they made the two friendless ones LOOK like kids who don't have friends. Pretty impressive on makeup/hair/wardrobe and of course the acting, too!

One thing really stood out about these kids' faces, the ML's in particular. Watching the stoic lead show warmth as time goes on and seeing the transformation in his EYES when slowly getting a bit closer to the SML is powerful! The acting is truly spot on start to finish, and there's a scene where the SML (golden retriever) mentions feeling a bit strange as he expresses how the lead, this kid who was nonchalant and "are we close? Do you know me?" with people who talked to him when attention went his way, is actually a really warm, considerate, kind person... it was one I'll remember a long time. Despite there being SO much violence, we really do see these awkward kids blossom... and one fall and develop intense envy and bitterness and sadness/loneliness and derail for that matter. The ML's development, though, is kind of magical. Even the end is showing a still-transforming adolescent. He's one of the most intricately written teen characters I've seen in a LONG time (maybe ever), and his delivery was IMPECCABLE.

You will feel such a wide range of emotions... sometimes the violence will be deeply satisfying (even though it shouldn't), other times deeply disturbing and even heartbreaking! It's like these actors really did punch out all of their characters' strongest emotions with every single punch, throw, etc. For the male lead in particular, we see the journey of his psyche and can tell his emotional state from the way he engages in violent acts. It's truly well-done. I'm REALLY stoked it's getting another season, something I rarely feel so excited about!

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Overrated and Disappointing

LIKES:
FX:
decent amount of realism to scratches and wounds.
CAST:
well chosen, great acting from ML Park Ji Hoon and Choi Hyun Wook. Liked Shin Seung Ho in this role, as Seok-Dae.
Cinematography, locations and sets were well done.
Female presence not really doing much in terms of romance, but provided some addition to storyline.
DIRECTOR:
some of the fight scenes were okay, but could’ve had better choreography.
MUSIC:
was appropriate for the scenes and theme song not overly played.

DISLIKES:
FX:
bruised and damaged knuckles from punching was overlooked. CGI/green screen used during car driving scenes was very bad, so noticeable.
WRITING:
Adult abuse never had consequences; the father got away with everything & nothing got concluded about it. They should’ve just left it out, because it was over the top violent.
No character growth for anyone, except maybe the one “bad guy” played by actor Shin Seung Ho .
Conclusion felt rushed and incomplete, almost like there were more episodes needed.
They could’ve left out the female friend part, because she had little under developed reason to stay with the main leads. Similarly the writer didn’t conclude the fentanyl issue.
Typical tropes and cliches used, which made it a bit boring and overly predictable.
No explanation why Beom-Seok did what he did and that is totally lazy writing.
The main character Shi-Eun in the end didn’t use his brain as his character was described or made to use in beginning, it was more brainless braun. It felt like the writer didn’t know how to create the ending with that foundation still intact.
The important characters, main leads, Soo-ho & Shi-Eun had no backstory, which could’ve been done with short flashbacks, while too much of it was given for Beom-Seok.
The reason for the three friends to spit up was badly executed.
Too much violence used for the abuse inflicted by the father (the kid would’ve been hospitalized, instead of showing up to school the next day).
PRODUCTION:
shaky camera syndrome and the fight scenes had too many camera angles and zoom in parts. No truly good fight scenes, like in TONG: Memories (2016), which had a similar concept. Pacing issues for everything other than the fights.


OVERALL:
This was VERY overrated. The good acting and music, couldn’t save it from bad writing and execution.
Recommend TONG: Memories or Bokutachi ga Yarimashita (Fugitive Boys/We Did It) or Age of Rebellion (2018), instead of watching this mess. No fight scenes were so good I would rewatch it. I don’t recommend this show, but might read the manga to see if it’s better. If they do come out with a second season, depending on the cast, I check it out, but with VERY low expectations.

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Our mind and our situations can affect us so, so much

First of all may I say the acting was so good! I know Jihoon and Hong Kyung played their parts really well, but I want to say the same about Choi Hyunwook, who seems to not be getting as much attention with the acting. I think his character was shown to be the least "complex" out of the trio, but he did so, so well executing a fun loving dedicated but dark friend. His subtlety in playing his character is what made Soo Ho charming but human in the end. Also, Hyunwook is very young compared to the other two actors, but his acting is on par with the others?! I find him insane, and I'm glad he's landing so many good roles in kdramas these days, like this show and 2521, etc. The rest of the cast also undoubtedly deserve rave reviews for portraying such complex characters. I will DEFINITELY be on the lookout for new shows from this cast.

Now, on to the story. The plot for me was really good, but at the same time I am not well acquainted with the action genre so I cannot say if it is mind blowing or not. To me however, I thought the plot was rly good and kept me on my feet, so if someone like me who doesn't watch many action dramas wants to watch it, I believe they should give it a try. This show rly taught me about how our brain is capable of so many things, and it can be our friend and enemy at the same time. This is not a light drama, so if you are looking for something on the lighter side, maybe take a skip on this one. Otherwise, I think this drama is genuinely likable, and to me, it was great.

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Loved it...Hated It....But mostly LOVED IT

I wasn't too sure what to expect. I knew it was loosely based on the webtoon, but was more of a prequel to it.

Loved the characters from the actual webtoon and some of those added in toon Young Yi was a great addition.

Seeing Grey (Shi Eun) grow into the Charater he is going to be in the future was Stunning. Yet another flawless act from Ji Hoon. That boy can play anything.

While the ending was expected (considering the webtoon) I was still let Broken Hearted.

Hopefully the writers of the Webtoon and the K-Series give us the hope that we need.

The Webtoon gives us more of a BL vibe, while the series gives more of a bromine...and I saying I am here for both.

Definately a must watch

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worth a watch

Weak Hero Class 1 is not just a simple school bullying drama, it is much more than that. It started slowly but after a few episodes it's getting better, so many violence sequences are there.

The development of the story is also really interesting to see. As i said at the start, it's not a usual bullying drama which only focuses on a particular person. Basically we can call it a revenge type story line. The character development was another brilliant thing about the drama.

Feel free to watch it only has 8 epi with duration of 40 min also the story is moving very fast without much dragging. The emotional part of the story also worked really well and ended with a very decent climax.

Overall worth your time. Try it

#N45Views

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Brutally Bloody and a Whole Lot of Broken Bones (and spirits)

I am not crying but I think I want to... As I finish yet another drama about bullying in s. Krean schools I still feel that this was actually worth my time (as you may notice with the high rating).

I do not know if this brings a lot new to the table, as we get to see a bunch of grownups take advantage of kids use them as punchingbags and then blame them for paying it forward by punching others... There is a lot of splashing blood, sounds of bones cracking and legs flying in the air. Plus why take responsabilaty for stuff when you can blame others, done slighlty differently and really good.

Our leads are not always what they seem to be, but the friendships and fakefreindsabuserships are solid. The cinematography is brutally beautiful and the felling of f*** lingers in the air throughout the drama.

I love, love, love the bromance and appreciate the male trio in this as well as pretty much have a huge crush on Young Yis (LEon Yeon) character. Park Ji Hoon and Choi Hyun Wook did a phenomenal job portraying their characters.

A painful yet easy binge, but if you are the slightest sensetive to blood chances are you will have to look away now and then.

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acting and action scenes on point!

{It only took one clip to convince me to watch this and I was not at all disappointed! Give one of the best series of 2022 a watch!}

Underdog stories are nice to watch every now and then. this one was no doubt one of the best I’ve seen in kdramaland. The bullying and cruelty was handled well. It was extremely hard to watch at times but I’m glad it wasn’t shied away from. The realism is what enhanced the watch. The theme of friendship and how it can strengthen the people involved manifest throughout the story.

Park Jihoon being cast as Si Eun was as genius as it was clever. This was my first drama with him but I truly wanna commend him for his portrayal of his character. He looks weak on the outside but when crossed he becomes a totally different person. He seemed numb but never indifferent. Choi Hyun Wook really shined here. His chemistry with PJH and Hong Kyung was great. I hope he gets bigger roles in the future. Hong Kyung’s character had a real twist I didn't see coming. The contrast in his demeaner and actions when he wears his glasses and when he doesn’t was interesting. His fall was unfortunate but made for good storytelling. The bullies did their thing. If anything this showcase the common idiom “hurt people hurt people.” Some people are so weak that they prey upon others to feel some sense of power or stature in society.

On a side note I have to acknowledge the fights! The action scenes were really cool and filmed so well. Def exhilarating to watch and even had me on the edge of my seat at times. I actually might rewatch this because of the fights alone.

Overall this was a good watch. The ending for season 1 was open-ended enough for a second installment. I really hope thats the case cause this was fantastic.

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It's the best drama I have ever seen!

Really proud of Jihoon as he's not only good at singing, dancing, rapping but his acting is getting better and better. Sieun is a character with a complicated mentality but he did it perfectly, just looking into his eyes I can feel the loss and pain that Sieun's character has gone through.he prepared a lot for the movie even losing 5 kg, switching from introvert to extrovert and being severely affected psychologically after the end of the movie. It's lucky he told his fans that he wasn't okay instead of hiding it and suffering alone, he's such a close person with a warm heart and really loves his fans, he deserves more fame and more recognition. This is a drama worth watching and I hope it will be more and more successful in the future and Jihoon's career too!

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Such an Impactful Series and Seriously One of the Best!!

This originally caught my attention because I saw that Park Jihoon was cast and as I enjoyed his performance in 'At a Distance, Spring is Green' I was excited to see him playing an entirely different role. I appreciated the production and was amazed by how much could happen in a single classroom in just the first episode. A few episodes in, I thought all actors played their roles amazingly, and I felt more connected to the characters emotionally. The actions and changing feelings of some characters made me realize what powerful messages this series held. Toward the end, I was very impacted by the relationships between the characters, and I absolutely sobbed for most of the last episode. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this series and praise all of the staff, editors, and actors for bringing this together. I highly recommend Weak Hero Class 1 to anyone.

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Ive read the webtoon so i may compare the two

ive just finished it,and its probably one of the nicest kdramas from this year in my opinion. This will be as short review since im writing this in the middle of the night.

To start the story is very enjoyable and at the same time kinda predicable. But not predicable in the boring way just in the way where you kind of understand what the director is trying to do with the story line. It is set in a high school with the usual bullying and hierarchies. It then build from there to more than just a high school drama, which i find to be very interesting. But at the same time the kdrama doesn't get to messy with its plat and still centers around the same characters and still keeps the high school setting relevant, as it should be to create realism.

now the characters were one of my favorite things about this drama. I really loved park jihoon as shieun, because he really in bodies the character. As shieun also known as grey in the webtoon is very emotionless and study obsessed, and jihoon really sells this. I alos just love the friendship between soohon and shieun, it was so sweet and nice, and they really tried to protect each other. As for oh beom, yeah i really hated him, and therefor ill give credit to the writers because they really made him despicable. But as for this sort of internal struggle with him not belonging anywhere, and therefor feeling lonely. I really liked it and it gave depth since he was a part of the mains friendship so his change was unexpected. I do feel like they could have done it better if they had provide us more of his feelings instead of his actions, what i mean is through out the series i could understand his struggles but mostly just because of his actions. I feel like giving watchers more moments where he just thinks or has a struggle of his own which does not involve harming the characters could have provided even more depth and soul to him, and so it would make the ending hit harder. Lastly as for Young yi, while she didn't have much impact on the story as a whole, i really liked her character. She was naturally social and seemed to bring a lot of joy to shieun and soohon, and therefor i really liked and enjoyed her scenes in the drama. Btw the acting in this was all good, so no need to worry for that if you're wondering.

As for the music, i cant say much there, dont really remember anything special. But mostly just used to build suspense before fights.

NOW FINALLY FOR WHAT IVE WANTED TO WRITE, DISCLAIMER; THIS WILL BE SOMETHING I NOTICED ABOUT THE SERIES AND THE WEBTOON, SO THEREFORE IF YOU'RE AFRAID OF SPOILERS JUST DONT READ THIS PART, BUT IF YOU'VE SEEN THE DRAMA, READ THIS PART YO MAY FIND MY OBSERVATIONS INTERESTING.
so while watching i was just unconsciously comparing the drama and the webtoon. In the beginning i was just complaining on how the webton and drama dont reallly fit at all, the ony thing thats slightly the same is shieuns way of fighting. Like for example soohon wasnt a character in the webtoon, and plus shieun seemed "weaker " than from the webton, as well as a little more open to having friends. Plus the stories in of it self just dont fit each other. But that when, when i realized at the end what the drama was doing. The kdrama is set before the events of the webtoon, its set in shieuns/greys past, which i kinda remember form the webtoon. I realized that the kdrama was a more in depth versions of his past, which just hit me like WOW cuz i was kinda disappointed at the beginning as a avid reader. So this means that the new school is the same school as the webtoon, which makes sense if youve read the webtoon. And therefore if there is going to be a season 2 its going to follow the webtoon. Anyways cool right, so if you wanna read the webtoon after watching you can just read from the beginning. Anyways hopefully a season 2 is in works. Thanks or reading. also soohon MUST wake up, he cannot die fr like that season 2 needs him.

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