I actually don't know how to summarize this one, I just believe everyone that can watch it should watch it. I haven't read the webtoon so I don't know how fans of the original material will react but, judging it on its own two feet, it far surpasses any expectations I had.
STORY
Honestly, this story almost felt like two, in the best way possible. Going into it I had this expectation of what would occur and what kind of avenues the story would take based on the teaser, but it proved me wrong. Weak Hero isn't just brilliant action, it's a deep dive into how interpersonal violence and bullying can affect and harm people long after the physical threat has disappeared. It's a case where I found every episode better than the last. The script and directing use foreshadowing masterfully, there are parallels that provoke so much thought and every moment feels deliberate. There are parallels everywhere, and the use of foreshadowing is deliberate and beautiful. Thought-provoking isn't even enough to cover it. Of course, there are issues with the script, some things are glossed over to fit the runtime, and the theme came off as confusing to some (not me) but overall I enjoyed the story it told immensely. The character motivations and progression all felt natural and understandable. It's a complete and interesting story that doesn't require additional knowledge from the webtoon to fill in the blanks and its end, though open for a second season, is satisfying and will leave you wishing you had more time with this world.
ACTING
I don't usually go to action flicks for character studies and heartbreaking emotions but the cast delivered on both and on stellar fight sequences that hurt just to watch.
So little disclaimer I am a Jihoon fan, but I will try not to be biased. Park Jihoon acting as Yeon Sieun was amazing. In the story put to screen it would've been very easy for Sieun to be one note, but Jihoons acting and eyes brought him to life.
Hong Kyung gave me the most compelling performance of the entire year. You have to watch it to know.
Choi Hyunwook brought a lovely levity to the story and his well-known ability to charm his way through the screen is at full display.
The entire supporting cast really showed out for this drama, the viciousness and vulnerability of boyhood were on full display. Special shoutout to Kim Sugyeom whose venom playing Youngbin almost burned through the screen.
MUSIC
The OSTs and music choices throughout the show helped evoke teenage listlessness and despair beautifully.
REWATCH VALUE
I considered placing this at a lower mark because some of the scenes are very hard to watch. Watching this drama inflicts a lot of emotional turmoil, but I honestly think it could only get better on rewatch. The point of the twists and turns is not to shock you, they're natural and understandable consequences of the violent world that bred them. Every choice makes sense, and the hunt for parallels in the script and directing upon rewatching would make it all the more worthwhile.
This easily falls into the top 5 dramas of the year for me. I would recommend any day! Also if you want to discuss it shoot me a friend request and a message I have so much to say.
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Remarkable drama
I can honestly say this is one of the most powerful, well written poignant dramas i have ever watched on Asian or british websites. I binge watched the complete series and it was the quickest 4 hours of my life.the young actors were just jaw-droppingly good, the music was perfection and for the first time ever watching an Asian drama i am going to read the webtoon this drama was based upon.I cannot praise this piece of work highly enough, the storyline fast fast paced, my attention didn’t waver for a single moment, i am just awestruck at the quality of the acting, the writing, the music, i just hope everyone “gets it” the way i did.
You have a rare treat in store my fellow viewers
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1Intense. Brutal. Yes, I recommend it. And with a heavy heart I am also considering it valuable
"Weak Hero Class 1" leaves me with mixed emotions. It is an intense KDrama, in which the young people are remarkably slow-paced, sort of numb, at times bordering on apathy. On the other hand, there are violent outbursts. Extreme. Brutal. A cruel parallel world that actually should have no place whatsoever in the everyday life of high school students!What kind of society do we live in? It is simply too much, what young people have to go through and deal with. KDrama didn't invent it. Neither does the webtoon, the story is based on. It is a sad and scandalous reality in many schools, in many classes, in South Korea and elsewhere.
"Weak Hero Class 1" doesn't sugarcoat anything.
And it ends just the way it is... no end in sight...
I admit, I was about to drop it. Too much frustration and violence - it actually goes on and on. (Even if the 'weak hero' develops cunning, inspiring recipes to fight back... it still remains a world of violence.)
But then the relationship dynamics between the boys (and girls) are quite intense and what they go through inside and out is touching. Ultimately, it doesn't help to look away - even if it's painful to look at. In fact, "Weak Hero Class 1" is a great, impressive production. It is a disturbing inventory - disturbing because the story leaves no perspective, no silver lining, no substantial room for hope. (At most marginal sparks of light here and there.)
The largely indifferent attitude towards life that prevails in posture and movement of the young people is one thing, the massive outbreaks of violence another. Each soul seems to have long since fled its young body, so that there are only roughly apathetic youths on the move who occasionally act as numb thugs who kick helpless bodies on the ground, or vice versa. It's actually unbearable. It's traumatizing on both sides. And yet it is everyday life. This creates a very unique flow in the world of the students. In this world, one may search in vain for serious, responsible, courageous adults. They are lacking. The kids are alone in this world and have to find their way to live in it, or rather: to survive. Which side will you be on? Perpetrator? Victim? Rescuer? Spectator?
What agitates me the most in connection with "Weak Hero Class 1" is the enormous enthusiasm among der age-group of 13-17, who with this story obviously feel seen right on. This may be 'only' a fictional story, but it obviously tells the story of the youth, we (adults) usually dont´t get. Many are thrilled. In fact, I'm NOT thrilled. I'm impressed by the intensity of the production, yes. But primarily appalled by the dominance of bullying and the severity of violence among peers in everyday school life today. I am also shocked by the documented, self-evident aimlessness and helplessness of the adults. Ultimately, I am frustrated by the lack of a positive outlook and affected by such a disillusioning world of experience of the young, growing up generation.
"Weak Hero Class 1" is based on the template of a web toon and has (via KDrama) by now reached an even wider audience, especially among the 'adults', regarding bullying among schoolchildren. I appreciate that. The KDrama was released on the young streaming platform Wavve and was thus able to give plenty of dramaturgical space to the violent excesses. Maybe more than necessary? Or just right? The KDrama has a simple mission: to show what 'we' tend not to see because 'we' (adults) have no place in this parallel world of schoolchildren. And as a matter of principle, the story does not provide any answers in terms of a way out. No.
In the contrary: 'we' adults are in the pillory... What have we done (and also missed) that it could have gotten this far! Where is this going to end? What can we do about it?
Anyway, bottom line: I recommend the series. And with a heavy heart I am also considering it valuable especially for all those who call themselves adults, parents, teachers, social workers, officials in youth welfare offices, police officers, etc....
Hello, wake up!
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Friendship, Rage, and Revenge
Disclaimer: This is a short review of someone who haven't read the webtoon but enjoyed the drama.As someone who hates seeing violence even in fiction, I enjoyed the story. Ngl, there are a lot of fighting scenes, however these are essential for the story. Violence aside, this 8-episode drama could easily pass dragged into a 16 episode drama. (and I'm glad it wasn't the former). I know this is an adaptation and usually the source story is better than the adaptation, but this is a good stand-alone drama. I haven't read the webtoon yet and I am planning to finish it before Season 2 gets aired.
The main character (the weak hero) is quite a unique character in the realm of high school dramas. Top students in such dramas are usually written like they are either just good or evil. I like how this character is written. I know Park Jihoon as an idol and have watched (At a Distance, Spring Is Green) his drama I had dropped but his acting is good here. I am uncertain of how well he played the character similar to that of the webtoon, but I was totally immersed in the story.
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This review may contain spoilers
Friendship, Happiness, and Hope (Ep4, 33:01)
I am lost for words. But I think I must do a review for how good this is.The story is captivating, yet sobering, portrait of young students and the various struggles, challenges, and fleeting joys they go through as they develop in a society that all too frequently ignores and pushes them aside. It was everything, the friendship and bonds that must endure in the face of anything going on around them is told best as a character piece. (Did you realize that when Beom Seok lost his eyeglasses on the videoke bar, until then he doesn't wear it and that is when we see his true character or should I say his story.) That was brilliant!.
A talented cast. Even in the brief time we, the viewer, get to spend with the three actors, they effortlessly establish a great chemistry between them. They actually make you wish we could spend a little more time with them before the series takes its darker turns because of how well they get along. Their performances also have no trouble evoking the appropriate emotions from the difficult material. (Park Ji Hoon as Yeon Shi Eun, he definitely ate that role, what a great actor.)
A must-watch for the reason that has an unflinching storytelling, superb cast performances, and gritty but refined style.
I cried.
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A tip: watch the show without comparison between the webtoon & drama.
As someone who has read and is currently still reading the ongoing manhwa, watching this drama was totally worthy of my time and it gave me satisfaction for every scenes especially the fight scenes, so thrilling and blood boiling. I love all the characters, perfect casting in my opinion. I felt a little more depth about their "friendship" and cried a ton of tears watching the latter episode parts until the end. It was fun, both the manhwa and the drama. No bias. Hoping for season/part 2 of the series!!A tip: watch the show without comparison between the webtoon & drama. Enjoy the drama, do not evaluate and nitpick every detail.
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This review may contain spoilers
First 10 for me.
One suggestion to those who are going to watch this... BINGE IT all in one go. Its made to be binged.Out of all the K,C,J dramas I have watched, this is the only one that 'had' to be given 10/10. This drama was really different from the other dramas. The plot progression was not too fast where we felt things rushed nor was it too slow that made one feel like director is really trying to squeeze out everything. It was just right! The brotherly affection between two ML's was so mature and real. Not the usual run off the mill where one is always the jester and other is way too superior.
The twist in plot midway, was so gradual but shocking because we don't see it coming yet it felt completely plausible and natural. The plot, its really simple. Few people come together in adversity forms friendship. And then shit happens. But the way it was written and directed, really made us feel the emotions which are seldomly felt while watching 'kcj'-dramas. The unsaid glances between the ML's, unsaid respect and love for each other... it works like a charm. Watching this really makes one aspire to have that kind of friendship. Hats off to the writers for writing it.
These young actors really are very promising, talentwise. Not just another good-looking useless 'oppas' now-a-days in vogue.
And unlike other korean mini-series, where acting sucks, story sucks, production sucks, direction sucks.. I mean everything sucks, this mini-series do the opposite. The production is top notch without any compromises. Cinematography, sets, action, acting everything is on point.
Its really a gem!!
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just wow
drop everything and watch this i went into this thinking it was bromance revenge plot ( by edits on tiktok ) but i was very wrong ( kinda ) it was amazing binged the entire thing it has u hooked from ep 1 to 8 the actor deserves so many awards just for the last ep i need to see him in other shows like this one. i cant wait for season 2 ive never enjoyed a kdrama like this in a long time it was very refreshing to watch. ..Was this review helpful to you?
The almighty pen.
From a writing perspective, it’s closer to a 7.5, but I had so much fun, I cannot rate it lower than 8.5. It was quite an exciting watch, delivering all types of frustration and thrills, but ending on a rather mediocre note.Honestly speaking, the first half of the show was a good 10/10. It had everything one might want from a show like this - cute fighter, psycho brain, cinnamon roll who just wants to help. We’ve also got all the blood, pain, violence and the main character - the pen! I was eating it all up, could not stop watching and barely stopped myself from screaming at my laptop.
So what happened in the 2nd half? The drama changed from more plot/action driven to character driven… and it focused on the character I honestly cared the least about. With each and every scene I just started to hate him more and more. For all the buildup, all the tension, all the accumulated frustration in me, I was not delivered a proper closure. I understand it will have a second season, but even with that, rather than being excited and hopeful the drama left me fearful if they will deliver a more proper ending this time. I don’t want to dive into it and get a half baked potato with the last scene.
That said, the show presented a glorious friendship/bromance between Shi Eun and Soo Ho and I could not ask for more on that part. Both characters perfectly played off of each other's traits and the dynamic was just fun to watch. They were perfect partners in crime.
Oh Beom Seok was a complicated character and I don’t think the director quite well delivered what they planned with him. I feel like there was something missing with the way his character was developed. For such complex internal and external struggles, I was completely indifferent to whatever was happening to him - which is ridiculous as he is the center of last 4 episodes.
Plot wise, saying this drama lacks realism would be a massive understatement. Some scenes were so ridiculous and over the top I was just laughing. At times it was even hard to feel bad for these kids, because the situations they were in just made little sense. And this is one of the reasons I enjoyed the show. I watched it for the over the top scenarios. I wanted excitement and hype, and not pain and anxiety. That said - fear not, Weak Hero Class 1 still manages to create decent stakes and make you care for the characters, even if your brain sees the nonsense happening on the screen.
I appreciate how the drama tried to showcase what happens when someone is in a circle of violence. What they missed is to show why some characters were able to get out of it, while others got swallowed deeper and deeper.
Production value was good. Loved the fighting scenes, and loved the different approach the characters had to them. They delivered realistic blood and realistic amounts of it - someone gets punched, they will bleed, but ain’t no bloody waterfalls going on. Some scenes were quite aesthetically pleasing, though I wished they included more visual symbolism here. This is something I felt like the drama lacked.
The acting was the one that surprised me the most, on the positive note. I knew Park Ji Hoon is good and that's why I am even more amazed he delivered even more than I expected. This type of character so so easy to mess up. To create the aura of intimidation, you need some skills. to make him look empathic on top of that, is even harder. And Ji Hoon managed to do it all.
Choi Hyun Wook was honestly adorable. That said, I kind of felt like this is more violet, better at fighting version of the character he played in 2521.
Hong Kyung did a great job with the character he was given. Even if the writing for him felt rushed, he did great at portraying the change and desperation.
Overall, fun, violent and exciting. The characters were interesting, some more and some less likable. The conclusions for specific plots and situations could have been better. Perfect binge watch material.
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So to make it short: the bullying plot is a bit tiring. Asia is known for that. I have seen my fair share of bullying series and movies. The last was the Chinese movie "Better Days" which I thought was one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen in my life. So it's not the bullying per se I have a problem with. It's just that the plot was paperthin and we got nothing than violence and violence and violence. I started watching this, because of the friendship between the guys. But the characters weren't that developed. For eight episodes we didn't get much scenes that showed us their friendship. We just got fights and fights and fights to the point where I wonderd WHY people enjoy this. They enjoy seeing high schoolers beating each other up for no good reason? They just didn't stop! I know that was the message of the series, that something small can become massive, that violence leads to more violence, but it was just tiresome to watch how they just didn't stop for god's sake! The end is more or less open, it seems one of the character had a much more gruesome fate in the manhwa. At least they didn't go that far in the series and decided to not be so precise about what happend to him.
Sigh. Gruesome. Violent. Pointless. Unrealstic.
Still I get it why people like it. Because it's entertaining, you want to know what happens next, and the only thing I really liked was how the weak hero was fighting. He was smart and he had balls, and well, he was a batshit crazy. But that was enough to fight those bullies. That gave him a big advantage despite not being physically strong. That core idea was pretty good. But please give those characters a bit more personality and make me feel something for them. I was just annyoed the whole time. The friend and what he did, at the end he said he doesn't know it either WHY he did it - people may say, yeah, that's the whole point, everything got out of control. I think this is lazy writing. They just didn't stop so the plot could move forward. I got a bit teary eyed at the end, because of the great performance of the main hero, but I didn't cry since I couldn't feel much for those characters. They were just so unrealstic with all that pointless violence. I thought it was funny how they just went back to teaching after all those fighting in the classroom. I mean after the first episode all the other students who witnessed this would need some therapy in real life. It was stupid. Over the top. Maybe this works as a manhwa, it sure does, but seeing real people behaving like this? I don't know. Not impressed.
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I am absolutely surprised and satisfied
To start it off i have read the webtoon and am currently reading it as its still ongoing. At first i was trying to figure out what part of the story this season is and i already knew what sadness i'd have to experience towards the end once i figured out what part of the timeline it was. They really did this webtoon justice. This season being the backstory of mc surprised me because i was left wondering how a whole season was dedicated to the backstory that we only caught glimpses of in the webtoon. This drama really made me feel so much empathy and sympathy for mc as the writers, directors, actors, everyone involved did a great job at portraying the story, personalities and emotions involved. Manhwas being put into drama formats have always been scary because some have flopped and others were done amazingly. This is one of those dramas that will satisfy the audience that already read the webtoon. I am pleasantly surprised how well done this is. I recommend this drama so so much to both new audience and webtoon readers. Im sure there will be more seasons after this after seeing the end of the drama where they gave us a glimpse of.. a character, to not spoil it for non-webtoon readers. Have a great time watching this as im sure you'll enjoy :)Was this review helpful to you?
A Complete Knockout
This drama is amazing. I’ve been waiting for it because I really like Park Ji Hoon and was excited to see this project in the works for him. The aura of the premise and the snow overall sold it to me, but with most things I highly anticipate.. they either don’t come out, or they fall flat.Weak Hero Class One soars beyond my expectations and delivers a gritty, thrilling, and clean drama that is full of everything I love to watch but haven’t seen enough of. It isn’t over saturated in any way, neither on the end of being too dark that it takes itself too seriously, or not taking itself seriously enough.
This drama doesn’t have things it doesn’t need, like unnecessary adding romance, it focuses on its characters and keeps its tone throughout. This drama is binge-able (which I did do) and leaves more to be wanted, but not in a way that it didn’t wrap up what it needed to for the first part.
It’s short with 8 episodes long, but it doesn’t lack budget or care. The script is as clean as the visuals, and the fighting is beyond what I’ve seen in a k-drama for a while. It has a lot of fight scenes that are pretty brutal and not for the feint-hearted, and a lot of them. It’s not redundant or sprinkling in fights; they all serve their purpose
I love Yeon Shi Eun uses his smarts to beat people senseless in unorthodox ways. How he goes over what he’s about do do/doing, with theories and proven facts is engaging. The actors on this drama are all young and they look like high school students.. which is a plus plus. The main cast are amazing in this and very impressive.. especially Park Ji Hoon. He takes his character and brings him to life believably, bringing heartbreaking moments, and pure intimidation with his attitude towards other characters. He’s not out there with his intimidation, he’s just way smarter .. and that’s scary. In a good way. It’s so satisfying to watch his overpower those physically stronger with his knowledge. I like how he orchestrates the fights for himself rather than completely letting others do it for him.
The dynamics between the main three is also very good. I love seeing Choi Hyun Wook play this character of a jock again like in 25-21, but this time it’s still completely different of a character. He’s morally a good guy, and he fights for others but keeps an aloof attitude. The flight choreo for him is insane and engaging the whole time as well as the fun and charismatic lines he delivers. The character of Oh Beom Ho is also very interesting and adds a mellow balance to the main three, his story is also heartbreaking and full of deception.
This drama just falls right in line with my interests in what I like to watch. I love dramas like this to the core. It’s got action and it’s got the grit to back it up. It’s not scared to keep its tone but still has its funny moments. Park Ji Hoon is so impressive with the acting. He portrays the looks of pain and anger so well. It’s all believable and there isn’t a sore spot with any of the cast. Everything checks the right boxes with this one and I can’t wait for part two.
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