One: High School Heroes

Trash Parents, Broken Boys and a Fight for Justice - What a Ride!!

This drama is yet another entry in south korea’s growing list of school bullying revenge stories but what a wild, gripping and emotionally charged ride it was. Even though the theme is familiar, it pulled me in completely. South korea keeps churning out these revenge dramas and i keep devouring them with so much love.

I liked this one just as much as Weak Hero Class 1 and Study Group and in some ways, i think it was even better.

Kim Ui Gyeom’s father was one of the worst parents i have ever seen in a kdrama. He lost one son because of the extreme pressure he put on him yet he went on to repeat the same toxic cycle with his other son. His character remained consistently despicable until the end and it pushed my frustration to its limit.

The backstories of both male leads, Kim Ui Gyeom and Kang Yoongi were done really well. Their pain, rage and emotional scars were portrayed with raw intensity. I especially loved how Ui Gyeom’s psychological trauma, shaped by his family was visually represented in such a haunting, artistic way. His inner turmoil and bottled up frustration were executed brilliantly.

The action scenes were also amazing. I found myself clenching my teeth without even realizing it as if i were fighting too. Thats how much i was into it. Watching it was truly exciting.

The final scene clearly hinted at a S2 and im absolutely here for it.

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Amazing! A great addition to it's genre

I loved every bit of this! A kid who uses his fists to navigate his trauma and pain. It wasn't heavy on he melo and the story got just a little disjointed at the end, but that didn't take away from its overall appeal. I loved all the characters, even the villain of the end, would have loved to see more of some of the side characters. But with the ending, looks like we are primed for a second season.
The actors were great, the ML did a great job in playing a volatile character.
Loved the theme of friendships and dedication.
The triumvirate of Weak Hero Class, Study Group and One High School Heroes are now my go to for school action! I certainly want to see more of shows like that made

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Not for faint hearted

for me this drama has two main strengths： first it is an excellent portrayal of a dysfunctional family with one parent obsessed with achieving reflected glory for himself through his sons and the other too helplessly neurotic to function in the family at all、and Lee Jung Ha gives a truly great and sensitive performance showing the impact of this on him as the victim of his parents bullying and fighting back for victims of school bullying。secondly it has very good fight sequences although clearly often losing touch with reality and the constant violence does become too much at times。 the storyline and above all the end is reasonable。lots of interesting metaphorical touches and ironies at the end like the broken cassette getting repaired and the so called sane being shown as the really insane and vice versa、 it's the "sane" insane parent producing the broken child now labelled "delinquent"、 and I assume what is the juvenile detention prison not rehabilitating but reinforcing violence as power with the teacher leading the way： all well considered touches 、and at 8 episodes the show gets its message over without stringing it out with aimless repetition like many K dramas。 enjoyable in its way though、as often when I planned to watch a good drama again, so here when I get to the end there seems nothing more to see or say 。excellent job〜良く出来ましたね〜

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Mostly wasted potential, but not a bad drama

Not sure why they decided to release this drama in the same year as Weak Hero season 2 AND Study Group. Because all that did was make me think about how much better both of those dramas are.
Which is not to say that this drama is bad. It's not. It has some elements that I liked and wanted to see explored (namely the family drama. aka the root of Eui Gyeom's trauma). But this is, at it's core, a school fighting/bullying drama and while some of the fights were pretty good, most of them didn't really feel earned.

Eui Gyeom was a character that didn't always make sense to me, but I liked and wanted to see overcome his trauma. It was fascinating to see him constantly toeing the line of going a little too far with each fight. And then he does.
I thought this was such an interesting choice.....that they don't really do anything with other than attempt to set up a second season.
Speaking of, I can't believe the adults in Eui Gyeom's life took one look at him after he stomped on that kid in the end, and were like, "Hmm, I know what he needs! A prison school! Where he has to fight all the time and where even the teachers beat the kids! That'll help him get past his brother's death and his father's abuse!
Poor kid needs therapy, not a fight club school.

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Binge watch worthy!

I'm usually not that much of a fan of this high school drama genre but as I read the webtoon years ago, I decided to give it a try and I do not regret it one bit. It follows the webtoon quite well & I think the casting was really great! It has its deeper stories, very enjoyable action scenes & nice chemistry.

I have to talk about how great Kim Dowan and Lee Jungha are as Yungi and Euigyeom though...they could portray the complexicity of their relationship perfectly. The looks, the eyes, so many times were more than enough to express whatever was going on in their mind and i absolutely loved it. They really brought the characters to life!

Overall, this a great drama that i will miss, definitely binge watch worthy :) A season 2 seems to be hinted at the end of the drama, which is as scary as exciting to me, so i'm looking for it~

Nice, nice!!!!

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Good, but could be better

One is a series hard to describe, and just as hard to summarize whether I loved it or not. Some things I can easily say that I loved: Lee Jung Ha as Kim Eui Gyeom and Kim Do Wan as Kang Yoongi. That’s a pairing I’d never think could work so well together—but they are amazing.

But other aspects annoyed me a bit, especially since we had Study Group just a few months ago. Maybe it’s because One takes time to reveal a few key elements that are crucial to the story, and since this series was not released all at once, things moved weirdly.

You NEED to understand why Yoongi is hyping Eui Gyeom, you need to understand his reason, you need to understand why he wants to take revenge. At the same time, you need to understand the backstory with the brother to better understand Eui Gyeom. I feel like the series takes too long to drop both reasons.

So we see Yoongi in the hospital, we see Eui Gyeom suffocating himself, we see the visions and the walkman... but overall, it’s a lot of just Eui Gyeom suffering at home and beating people up, and the pieces take too long to fall into place.

Also, no one in their school being part of the main revenge group kinda makes us spend too much time with characters that don’t matter to the plot. But Im Sung Kyun, as bully-turned-voice-of-reason Seungjun, was great.

Terrible to say, but I was happy to see Eui Gyeom punching his dad in the hallucinations during the last fight. Curious to see how long it will take Wavve to make and release Season 2.

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A Fresh High School Drama That’s Fun but Feels a Bit Rushed

I really enjoyed One: High School Heroes. It was a fun and fresh drama with a lot of energy, and the story kept me interested throughout. That said, it did feel a little rushed at times, and there was something missing that I can’t quite put my finger on. Maybe it needed a bit more time to develop some parts or to let the emotions hit harder.

One thing I really liked was the character development of Kim Seung Jun. His journey felt real and relatable, and I enjoyed seeing how he changed over the series. I just wish he had more screen time because there was so much more to explore with his character.

Also, the bromance in the show was something I totally loved. The friendships brought a lot of warmth and fun moments, and if there’s ever a season 2, I would definitely want to see more of that. More bonding and friendship scenes would make the show even better.

Overall, it’s a good drama that I’d recommend, especially if you like stories about youth and friendship. It just could have used a little more breathing room to really shine.

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Mixed feelings about it : the first half got me invested but then it was quite a let down

I really enjoyed the first half of the series but I vibed much less with the second part. At the start, the series felt very real with a deeply wounded main lead with huge mental shift and scary side. The fighting scenes were gritty and the drama took my breath away with the mental hurdle faced by the main protagonist, the way pressure was put on him by his family environment. However the series then went into more of a shonen style with characters trying to be "heroes" and fights feeling much less realistic and relatively repetitive. There were also introduction of new characters that were quite purposeless. Still, the ending hint at a sequel, which I felt could be quite interesting.

The cast was good but also definitely too old (with maybe the exception of Lee Jung Ha but even for him it was an hard sell) to play realistic high schoolers roles. The level of acting was good but the credibility really was missing. Still, I enjoyed finding back Lee Jung Ha in this drama: he is clearly breadening his range of acting, far from his sunshiny role in Moving. Production was good overall. They have not an outstanding amount of budget but the fight sequences are dynamic and well-made. I especially loved the flashback and the grey scenes making very clear the suffering of the main lead.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a highschool fight drama. It is in my opinion less good than Weak Class Hero but it is exploring relatively similar thematic, so if you enjoyed one, you might appreciate this one as well.

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Next stop for the duo: Satan's Embassy on Earth.

Once again, Wavve proves it knows how to do a lot with very little. In One: High School Heroes, the platform delivers a mature high school drama that actually respects the intelligence of its audience — and in a sea of lazy teen scripts, that alone is worth something. Sure, a few episodes drag their feet here and there, but the mental health arc of the main character (played with surprising depth by Jung Ha) more than makes up for it. He and Kim Do Wan have solid chemistry and real presence, and together they drive a narrative that, as I’ve said before, gets that school violence isn’t just random chaos — it’s systemic. It’s a machine where victims and aggressors simply switch roles depending on where they fall in the pyramid of power.

The ending works because it doesn’t try to wrap things up in a neat little bow — quite the opposite. It throws both leads straight into what the show itself calls a “hell on Earth,” a brutal arena where survival takes more than fists. It takes connection, empathy, and purpose. It might look like the series is glorifying violence, but what it’s really doing is using it as a language to talk about mental health, abandonment, self-worth, and resilience. If there’s a second season coming, I’m just hoping the fight scenes — already solid — lean even more into realism and weight, because the story underneath is more than strong enough to carry it. Bottom line: One might not have made global headlines, but it’s one of those quiet gems that has a lot to say if you’re paying attention.

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Great action drama with good storyline

Wow, what a nice surprise! I didn't expect it to be so good. I was captivated by the story from the first episode and I loved the Eui Gyeom and Yun Gi throup. I like how their relationship develops throughout the drama. The fighting is amazing, as is the storyline. The more we learn about Eui Gyeom's past, the more sympathy we feel for him and the more resentment we feel towards his family, especially his father.
The first half of the drama was amazing; I liked the fighting scenes, and Eui's desire to fight made it so captivating.

If I compare it to *Study Group*, I would say this drama is better, as the fights feel real and the storyline is great. Don't get me wrong, I like *Study Group*, but it lacked deep emotions and a complex storyline.

I hope we get a season 2 so we can see more of our superheroes.

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