Weak Hero suffers from 'The Back to the Future Syndrome'
Here's the thing: I think the show was good. But when the first is a classic, the second needs to do something similar, and I think they could've done a better job. I am currently reading the webtoon, and I think the webtoon's Suho part was not as entertaining as Weak Hero Class 1. Some changes were made in the first season, and I liked them. But in Netflixifying the show, the show unfortunately lost some of its charm. First things first, Park Ji Hoon gave his best here. Ryeoeun was also good, and I liked Humin. The final battle was also good, and given its runtime, I don't think the show drags at many points. The story was fine to good, with Humin's fights being the best. The right-hand man of Baek Jin was also a good villain. I liked the dynamic of the Eunjang friends, and the final battle looked cooler than I thought. The seventh and fourth episodes were IMO the best episodes.
Now, onto the parts that I disliked: Yoon Si-eun's fighting. I cannot stress this enough, I think Si-eun was handled poorly this season. Only the rooftop fight of Si-eun was good, but that too wasn't as good as the first fight in the first season. Sure, the production was good, but the result was not satisfactory personally. He was the communal punching bag in the season. The previous season set the tone for Si-eun. I hoped he'd be a better fighter than he was during the last season. Yeah, I understand that he is mentally drained with Suho's case and thinks he's responsible for everything, but still, Si-eun was beaten by the weakest thug in the school. I don't want the show to follow the webtoon to a T, but they retconned their own story. The set for Eunjang and the design for Baek Jin were wayyy better in Season 1. Also, Si-eun has a serious relationship with his pen. Seriously, the pen thing stayed for way longer than it needed to. This was also a case in the first season, but one could argue it was fresh then. I thought he'd be called Stabby McStab with the amount of stabbing he did in the entire show. By the end, the pen became stale and flavourless to the point where most people predicted it.
But overall, I think the show was good, and that's why I am rating it an eight. But it is not as good as the first season. This season's story was so meaty, so the 30 - 40 minute 8-episode structure doesn't fit here. The friendships weren't explored properly either. The side story they told in the first season was short and to the point, even in the webtoon, so it worked well even with the big changes they made in the first season. That's why that story was better than the webtoon's. But when it comes to season 2, I feel like they could have made this an hour-long, 8 to 12 episode series because this season had so much material to be meaty.
If they:
1. Made Si-eun more solid and scary - less a punching bag, more a calculated fighter
2. Continued the Hyoman fight of the first season with Si-eun pulping the guy like in the webtoon
3. Introduced Baek-Jin with his old design in the previous season at the very end, not as the main villain of this season.
4. Made Wolf this season's main villain.
5. Ditched the pen thing and focused on other everyday objects
This would have become even better than the first season. It's still a good watch though, so I would recommend the show.
Now, onto the parts that I disliked: Yoon Si-eun's fighting. I cannot stress this enough, I think Si-eun was handled poorly this season. Only the rooftop fight of Si-eun was good, but that too wasn't as good as the first fight in the first season. Sure, the production was good, but the result was not satisfactory personally. He was the communal punching bag in the season. The previous season set the tone for Si-eun. I hoped he'd be a better fighter than he was during the last season. Yeah, I understand that he is mentally drained with Suho's case and thinks he's responsible for everything, but still, Si-eun was beaten by the weakest thug in the school. I don't want the show to follow the webtoon to a T, but they retconned their own story. The set for Eunjang and the design for Baek Jin were wayyy better in Season 1. Also, Si-eun has a serious relationship with his pen. Seriously, the pen thing stayed for way longer than it needed to. This was also a case in the first season, but one could argue it was fresh then. I thought he'd be called Stabby McStab with the amount of stabbing he did in the entire show. By the end, the pen became stale and flavourless to the point where most people predicted it.
But overall, I think the show was good, and that's why I am rating it an eight. But it is not as good as the first season. This season's story was so meaty, so the 30 - 40 minute 8-episode structure doesn't fit here. The friendships weren't explored properly either. The side story they told in the first season was short and to the point, even in the webtoon, so it worked well even with the big changes they made in the first season. That's why that story was better than the webtoon's. But when it comes to season 2, I feel like they could have made this an hour-long, 8 to 12 episode series because this season had so much material to be meaty.
If they:
1. Made Si-eun more solid and scary - less a punching bag, more a calculated fighter
2. Continued the Hyoman fight of the first season with Si-eun pulping the guy like in the webtoon
3. Introduced Baek-Jin with his old design in the previous season at the very end, not as the main villain of this season.
4. Made Wolf this season's main villain.
5. Ditched the pen thing and focused on other everyday objects
This would have become even better than the first season. It's still a good watch though, so I would recommend the show.
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