One: High School Heroes

This first season is like the backstory for the next season

I wanted to watch this kdrama because of weak hero and didn‘t regret it. You can tell that its inspired by weak hero class but it also has its own story to it. I really love the acting in this one, like Lee Jung-ha is a really good actor. Some parts were really disturbing to me regarding his brother, don‘t want to spoil anything. What is most shocking to me is that the dad didn‘t learn from his past mistake. He is like the most ignorant and merciless person. The fact that the MC had to endure that. But I also couldn‘t ignore how cute the MC was. I swear I was having some kind of cuteness aggression whenever he was like „hyung 🥺“. Overall the cast is really goodlooking. There are a lot of fights and I guess I’m the type who doesn’t like if its constantly fighting and bullying. I do think the music was lacking since I don’t really remember any of the music. I‘m happy that they are giving it a second season because if not it would‘ve felt uncompleted. This is basically the backstory of the next season. It‘s just starting since they were like saying that in the next season it will get tougher. I‘m so excited, so worth to watch.

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Storyline the weakest link

For starters, I haven't read the webtoon so this is purely based off the drama.

Action scenes were good. Delving into psychological trauma was good. Manifesting suppressed anger was good.

Here's what wasn't good.

There was no true "bond" between the characters. There was no friendship, no bonding, no connection. You can't build a friendship on shared rage alone. There was nothing to look forward to between characters because everything felt forced.

There was no lovable character. No, I don't mean cute, or fluff. I mean truly likeable characters. They tried but character development was non-existent. In fact, there were more hateful characters (aka Dad, and bullies) than anything else.

Essentially, with no attachment to characters, a weak storyline, all that was left for this drama was good casting and slugging action. I compare it to Weak Hero cause it's come out around the same time and it just doesn't have the same... depth. No umami. Convenience store instant noodles compared to restaurant level ramen... so to speak.

Watch it if you want but also, don't expect too much.

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This series was a story full of potential, only half realised.

I don’t know how to feel about this one but I’ll try to put together my thoughts.

On the one hand the main character is like a blend of Si-eun and Beom-Seok from Weak Hero Class. This is what intrigued me at first. It’s an interesting portrayal of young male rage (or in this case - young male Asian rage) and the cycle of violence.

However, on the other hand, I’m unsure of what story they were actually trying to tell. Even up to episode 7 I had no idea where the story was headed, and not in an exciting or intriguing way either, but rather in a perplexing and scattered narrative kind of way. When this happens it usually puts a lot of pressure on the last episode to tie everything together. I was worried when we got to the half way mark of episode 8 and I was still none the wiser. There were so many different narratives and characters’ stories that didn’t seem to tie-in much below the surface level violence.

I’m not trying to be obtuse. I understand that they are tackling the topic of violence and showing how violence begets violence, but why? And how is this informing the audience about the purpose of Ui-gyeom’s story. Past this surface level plot, how does this violence impact on Ui-gyeom behaviours now/going forward and why does it manifest in this way? What are his motivations, his outcome, and lessons learned or take-aways from this, or even his thoughts for the future or about what he has done or himself? That’s all left unexplored, unfortunately. We don’t even know how Ui-gyeom feels now the dust is settled. Has he become a monster? Is he a school hero? Is he an anti-hero? Is he neither? Is he all of the above? What does he think? What does his peers think? What do the adults and his parents think? I get that life doesn’t wrap up neatly or typically have a ‘message’ or a point to it, but this is a crafted story and stories should have a purpose to them (narratively speaking).

E.g. Is this a story drawing parallels between Ui-gyeom and the two bully characters that realised fighting wasn’t worth it to exorcise their demons? No. That’s not it. Perhaps it’s showing how friendship, or having someone care enough about Ui-gyeom’s wellbeing can help him on the path to slowly healing the feeling of brokenness and the pent up rage he has inside him? Nope, I don’t think that’s it either. Then, is it about Ui-gyeom taking responsibility for his actions, recognising this and breaking the cycle of violence? Uh-uh. Alright then, it must be a character exploration of Ui-gyeom’s descent into violent madness and how you can’t get out of the violent cycle once you are deep in it. Nope, wrong again. Maybe it’s all four? Could be, but the story never really explores these fully or commits to any of them narratively. It touches on them and then swiftly moves on.

It’s frustrating that it took the last 10 minutes for the series to finally ‘say something’ about what story they were trying to tell, because by then there wasn’t a lot of time left to explore and unpack now that it was getting interesting.

I can’t say this series was satisfying. It left me more befuddled than anything else. It wasn’t half bad but it wasn’t that solid either. What was the take-away supposed to be? That this was primarily a series about bully violence with just enough background plot and character development to break up the fight scenes?! What was this all supposed to be building to? What was the point of, or the take-away from Ui-gyeom’s story? Is he going to get the help he needs? Is he going to unpack his trauma? Is it exploring the effects of the cycle of violence through Ui-gyeom and the consequences/impact on the character? Is he going to say f-it and lean into the violence from now on? Heck, will he be scouted for the 2028 Olympics combat sports? Or was this series merely setting up for a new fight-club style school series? What’s the conclusion of where Ui-gyeom is at in his story/journey and his psychological state of mind, feelings about himself and his future? Who will he be from this point on? No one knows. This isn’t a clever open ending. It’s the conclusion of an underdeveloped story. And it’s just so frustrating.

As the tile says; this was a series with a story full of potential, only half realised.

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I just watched another show.

One High School Heroes – My 7/10 “Okay I just watched another show” Review

Alright, so first things first I’d give this drama an 7.2 out of 10. It’s entertaining, but not in the “this was a tight, perfectly written story” way. More like, don’t think too hard, just enjoy the ride. If you go in expecting flawless logic, you’ll be yelling “What is going on?!” every other scene.

I came into this expecting something kind of like Study Group or Weak Hero. High school crime-thriller vibes, emotionally charged fights, and characters whose backstories punch you in the gut. And in some ways, I got that. In others… it felt like there was a whole list of missed opportunities.

There were moments where random stuff just got tossed in, Filler fight scenes here, mysterious characters there, no explanation anywhere.

I get it the main character was fighting to deal with his frustration toward his dad- his family situation, and all that built-up trauma. That part actually made sense. That’s why he agreed to do the “hero” thing in the first place, and why he kept taking it too far. But the actual becoming a high school hero part? It just… happened. Not much buildup, not really any satisfying “this is the start of something” moment. I thought we’d get more vigilante-style scenes like actual clever justice work, but instead it felt like, “Okay, they’re heroes now.” It was rushed, underbaked. Like they had the perfect recipe but pulled it out of the oven 30 minutes too early.

Then there’s the characters who… I don’t even remember the names of. That guy with the bucket hat? He was just there to fight other pointless characters. Not much story, no growth, no real purpose. I kept thinking he’d join them and form a high school hero group or have some revolution later, but nope — Same with Shoeless Fighter Guy, Fun to watch? Sure. Did he matter? Not REALLYYYY..

And don’t even get me started on the hospital guy Yoongi kept visiting. The show dangled that relationship in front of us like it was important, like it was the thing driving him, and then sorta forgot to explore it, I mean sure we did get a couple of scenes but it just felt sorta empty, didn't even get his revenge right. Wasted potential, again. Same with the family dynamic, on paper we saw a lot of it… but it still felt like we didn’t really get into it. Like they were handing us information with one hand and taking it away with the other... sorta?

That said — the ending? Chef’s kiss. The fight where he’s seeing everyone he’s ever hated flash as he’s beating the guy down? Absolutely brilliant psychological touch. I love that style of editing, and those flashes of internal chaos worked so well. Same with the recurring choking scenes, they hinted at a deeper, suicidal struggle in the beginning so I thought we’d dive into more.

So yeah, it’s entertaining. I had fun.

But I still can’t really tell you EXACTLY why I had fun, which… probably says a lot about the writing. They built a gorgeous roller coaster but forgot half the track in the middle, so you’re just screaming and holding on until you hit the end! Also my bad for not really mentioning characters names, I couldn't care enough to remember all these pointless randoms!

7.2/10. I’d watch a season two, but mostly I want answers. The ending seems like it should be the beginning.

(Yes the .2 is necessary, also 30 year olds acting like freshmens in high school?)

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The same thing as Study Group or Weak Hero Class 1,2 etc.... fighting violence with violence.

School violence, bad distant parents, broken families, nuclear families and abandoned lost kids without any positive adult guidance is a problem, globally, and it is good that some art tries to call attention to children's and teenagers' and young adults' needs, .....
But... with all due respect.. there is a flood of fight dramas now and such "art" will not solve the problem but make it worse.... it promotes fighting as "fun" and promotes solving violence by applying violence.

Esp the ML in this drama gets addicted to fighting and thinks he is a great person fighting against bad ppl, but in reality, he goes bananas and sooner or later will cause an accident and kill or injure someone. He is an abused kid who vents out all his anger by fighting and beating up other people.

THE SAME OLD SAME OLD.... the root cause of all problems, advertised as the solution.

THE GANGSTA BOYS SEE FIGHTING AS GOOD and try to be the top dog in the violent world.... THEY SEE NO OTHER WAY TO EXIST.
Of course nasty ppl are like that... but also... kids who are gray area and who get beaten to serve the gang lords... AND the entire school is like that.... AND PARENTS .... AND ADULTS ....

The root question is: Why did so many "gray area" kids and even "good" kids turn out like that too.... ? and what is the proper way to solve this?
WHY would anyone organize into these gangs where they get entertained by beating others up... ? WHY would some stupid moron enjoy looking ah so grand by dolling it over others and harming them, "entertaining" others who are trying to kiss the ass of the lead bully... ? WHAT IS ENTERTAINING, OR USEFUL IN THIS KIND OF BEHAVIORS.... ? they are all mentally ill.

THEY ARE ALL MENTALLY ILL.... and then we get to watch them on tv

WHY SHOULD WE WATCH MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE SMASHING THINGS AND PEOPLE?
IS IT ENJOYABLE TO BE WATCHING A PSYCH WARD?????
no it isnt...

This drama has slightly better portrayal of the problems than most in this new flood of fight dramas, and it is good that the ML is not DEAD inside and does think of himself highly enough to deserve to exist .....

but he then ENJOYS fighting as "fun" and the drama is essentially the same thing or even worse than Study Group or Weak Hero seasons 1 and 2...

The same environment: All male school, and lots of fighting, enabled by boys not standing up for each other and by parents and teachers who do NOT care.
The same plot: a very shy boy who becomes a fighter and uses violence to solve the school violence problems.
The same approach - cartoon-like fights where MAGICALLY NOBODY EVER GETS REALLY HURT although they fight and there is blood all over, and they kick into all internal organs and ribs and bones..... All of them should have lost teeth, facial bones, cranial bones, brain damage, rib damage, kidney, spleen, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, intestinal etc damage and should have ended up as Mr. Plankton... but all that is conveniently swept under the rug, glorifying hitting and kicking each other ANYWHERE

The same pathetic tunnelvision reactive crude script - NO communication, NO talking things trough, NO big vision solutions, .... Basically, the script is mostly meaningless and shallow

The same pathetic tunnelvision characters - very closed off, emotionally supressed, dead ppl , who get SOME emotion when they fight

The same idea - that violence is only solved by violence

THE SAME GROSS VIEW OF MALE - DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT -
THE BULLIES BEAT UP VARIOUS BOYS AND **** NO OTHER BOY STEPS IN TO DEFEND THE VICTIM ***** and the parents and teachers could care less.

In short... this type of kdrama is great for perverts, for those who love sex and violence and love to watch pretty boys drenched in blood and bleading and breathing heavily
And this type of drama is great for psychopaths, who love seeing how others get hurt

In short, this type of drama is getting boys ready to enter French Foreign League, or gangsters, or some kind of assassin special forces.
Or at least to become crude brutal dumb corrupt policeman and fight violence with more violence.

In short - this type of drama is a strong advocacy and advertisement for feminism, for a female-dominated environment where things would be solved with kindness and talking things through.
Well not the kind of woman "The Glory" is about LOL she is no better than these... she orchestrated murder on several people. Yeah they deserved it but removing them was done ... in a very gross way.
The Glory contributed positively by showing that women are no less bullies than men, and that the sex partnership between male and female bullies creates even more chaos and suffering and damage

The pluses in comparison between this drama with other dramas of this type:
This one shows more of WHAT THE PARENTS ARE LIKE who created kids like these - we see the bullying that father does to the son, and his medication-addicted useless mother; AND WE SEE HOW THE KID TRIED TO COMMIT SUICIDE . So that is better. THat really helps to understand bullying. Kids never do it just because. They come from homes that create this disorder.

This one unfortunately tries to put together violence and sex - there is the starting video where we see all bloody face of the kid and he is breathing deeply as he listens to music, so it is behavior seen at sexual activity coupled with bloody violence look. Very pervert ready

So imo this is the "Hollywood type" of drama that Netflix and Disney are trying to put on, to essentially make american moves with korean actors and then sell it in the West where the audience IS conditioned to be perverts, they are all so conditioned to watch MOSTLY sex and violence in their entertainment, without ANY meaningful content.

I think this is abuse of kdrama reputation and an artistic fall of kdramas
FOR THE SAKE OF MONEY, getting americans to pay to watch this
And I also think for the sake of runing korean culture and families

bc if S Korea keeps making dramas like these, kdrama reputation will go down AND they will lose their culture
all for the sake of grabbing a few $$$$$$ by making dramas similar to what americans already watch

this type of "art" is really a clever cultural colonization move, counting and enhancing the most vile, the most low, the most primitive impulses in the audience, conditioning the audience to be MEANINGLESS
The script that is shocking, gross, distracting, scandalous, "catchy" bc it is so grossly disgusting.... the meaningless script that DUMBS DOWN THE AUDIENCE

so yeah welcome to america where school shootings are a normal thing and all kids have to practice shooting drills, and where parents are totally absent. It is a miracle if a family has a father at home. THERE ARE PRACTICALLT NO FATHERS LIVING AT HOME IN THE USA. Black ppl are 99% without a father at home, white kids maybe 80% have no father at home and probably 99% in big cities, so only fathers at home are Mexicans, Arabs, Asians and other RECENT immigrants

Also, in the USA, there is a huge epidemic of drug use and everyone uses drugs, from sleeping pills, painkillers, legal pot, all the way to cocaine, crystal meth, extasy, and who knows what else, you just see huge billboards in all big cities about drug epidemic AND ALSO syphilis, Hep C, and AIDS epidemics.

Kdramas do not talk about that bc it is NOT YET prevalent in their culture but ... if they keepmaking and watching this kind of "entertainment" that is where S Korea is going .... there is no other way...

If you want solutions, you would not support this type of art, because this does NOT show the solution, only the demise

SOMEONE HAS TO MAKE KDRAMAS ABOUT REAL SOLUTIONS TO SCHOOL VIOLENCE AND BULLYING

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eu gostei mas falta algo

Impossível não assiatir esse kdrama e lembrar de Study Group e principalmentr Weak Hero mas....

Esse foi o que menos gostei a começar pelos atores com cara de 35 anos na escola( ???) impossível não reparar nisso e achei muito genérico, o protagonista não tem o mesmo carisma dos dois anteriores, os coadjuvantes esquecíveis, é uma porradaria sem fim, não sei como não morrem o único ponto positivo que vi aqui é a trama familiar do protagonista e ter evitado alguns personagens clichês como o nerd fraco que toda hora tem que ser salvo...aqui o bromance mais forte que nunca afinal são dois protagonistas apenas....pelo final esperam fazer a 2 temporada....

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Resenha

Simplesmente viciante! Amei cada segundo desse dorama. A temática escolar misturada com ação e lutas é tudo que eu gosto — e One entrega isso do começo ao fim. A atuação dos atores é impecável, eles realmente dão vida aos personagens de forma intensa e envolvente. Me apaixonei por todos! As cenas de luta são insanas, muito bem coreografadas e cheias de emoção.

O único defeito? Só ter 8 episódios! É muito pouco pra um enredo tão bom e personagens tão marcantes. Já estou torcendo muito por uma segunda temporada — e de preferência com o dobro de episódios, porque esse universo merece mais. Dou nota 9 com gosto e indico pra quem ama doramas cheios de ação, emoção e aquele clima tenso de escola onde todo mundo parece esconder algo.

Quero mais!

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História que vale a pena assistir

esse drama não é aquele de muitas novidades...

temos bastante dramas nesse mesmo gênero, ainda assim é uma história envolvente e interessante. poderia ser menos porradaria? sim. sinto que poderia ter uma história por trás, não apenas a trama familiar e a vingança. mas pra quem gosta , é uma boa história .
a trama familiar foi bem interessante.
os personagens em si são bem parecidos com outros de gêneros semelhantes.
apesar dos comentários sobre a idade dos atores, 27 e 30 anos. esse fato não me incomodou... se formos vê por esse lado, os filmes escolares ( americanos ) não passaria né? já que até 40 anos estão fazendo papéis escolares🤭.

é um drama que vale a pena assistir.
o final deu uma sensação de 2 temporada.

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