Weak Hero Class 1 (2022)

GREAT WATCH!!!

"Weak Hero Class 1" offers a refreshing take on the typically intense theme of school bullying in Korean dramas. Unlike many others in this genre that can be emotionally taxing, this drama manages to balance intensity with a sense of empowerment and justice. Yeon Shi Eun, the fearless male lead, stands out as a small but mighty protagonist who uses his wit to outsmart bullies, even when physically overpowered. His journey intertwines with Ahn Soo Ho, a skilled fighter, and Oh Beom Seok, a transfer student escaping bullying.

However, Beom Seok's character takes a frustrating turn due to his deep-seated insecurities, causing rifts among friends and leading to serious consequences, particularly for Soo Ho. The story explores themes of loyalty, revenge, and the complexities of teenage relationships amidst adversity. It portrays Shi Eun's unyielding determination to protect his friends and confront injustice head-on, even in a new school where challenges await.

The drama captivates with its compelling characters and intense confrontations, though not without its heart-wrenching moments. Shi Eun's moral compass, while strong against bullies, raises questions about the limits of justice and forgiveness. The narrative builds anticipation for future developments, promising a continuation that fans eagerly await in the upcoming season.

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Painful But Beautiful Watch

I've held off watching this drama for a while now, mostly because I didn't catch it while it was airing. Then I kept wondering all this time if it actually lives up to the hype or is it just because of the cast. Truth be told, it's definitely worth the hype. It's beautifully made -- from the story to the acting, it was just perfect. I've actually read the first few chapters of Weak Hero on webtoon way before the drama came out, so my expectations were really high. Boy, did they jump over my expectations.

Now, let's get down to the review. The story was just made so realistically. Normally, I don't necessarily resonate with negatively developed characters, but Beom Seok's character touched my heart deeply. I know, he's like the most hated character because of what he did, but I completely understand where he's coming from. Although immoral actions are inexcusable, his story is truly one of a kind. I say this as I've also been in his position before -- the 'leftover' friend with no one to turn to. It's suffocating, especially when you'd just transferred schools. I've been there. When he tried to look for different 'friends', I understood it all too well. Everyone, if they were in his place, would do the same thing. The people you thought were your friends made you feel like a lost dog tagging along every time. Yes, they might not have meant it, but to Beom Seok, it was. Considering that he was bullied heavily to the point he had to receive therapy, it must have been so painful to see yourself be 'replaced' by someone else in your friend group. Just like what Si Eun had said, Beom Seok was feeling lonely. But to put it into Suho's perspective, it was also something to be angry about. I think what had to be done was for Beom Seok to explain what he truly felt to them, because clearly the other two saw him as a friend they treasured. However, that's totally easier said than done. The scene where Beom Seok hid in his closet, surrounded by children's toys was heartbreaking. It's like we could see that he never really got to escape his childhood trauma from his father's abuse and to the school bullying.

Aside from Beom Seok, I loved Si Eun's character a lot. He went from being an emotionless block that cared about his academic performance to a fearless person that loved his friends more than anything else, despite what they have done. Ji Hoon outdid himself with this one, truly. I was actually expecting an average performance from him, since he's an idol that trainedmore on performing rather than acting. The scene where he first attacked Yeong Bin was jaw-dropping. And even more so for the scene when he punched the glass window in the last episode. He truly embodied his character, not just acted as Si Eun, but really became him. It was like I wasn't seeing the cute member from WANNA ONE, but a student that had gone through so much. I'm looking forward to his acting in the second season!
Choi Hyunwook did well too. His character was static, in my opinion, though. There wasn't any development, but he was a catalyst for both of his friends' development. I loved the trio.

I really think this drama was very well made. It was very painful, especially the ending. I think there should've been a better closure, especially for Beom Seok, but I guess that'll have to wait for the next season.

I highly recommend this drama. Aside from the violence and foul language, it's an excellent drama that holds true life lessons.

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Exhilarating

I'm still filled with adrenaline after watching this. The first thing that stood out to me were the action scenes, which have extraordinary choreography.

Ultiamtely, I think the best part of this drama is, without a doubt, the main lead. There's an abundance of "stand up against your bullies" stories out there that feature main leads with physical prowess, or leads with some sort of superpower (lol), but very rarely do you get a lead who counters physical attacks with intelligence and attitude. His archetype is just so intriguing, and Jihoon's acting perfectly encapsulates every step of his arc.

The other acting standout is of course Choi Hyunwook as Suho, who brought all the charisma and humor that the show needed. Bumseok was also really interesting as a character study. Maybe the one person who I felt was sort of random and out of place was the female character Young Yi, who throughout the show always felt more like a plot device.

There's so much to unpack here — I'm a bit torn between thinking the 8 episodes is just perfect because it made the pace lightning fast, and wanting just a few more episodes to show more of the trio and dive deeper into Bumseok's downward spiral, which ultimately still felt pretty sudden despite the backstory we got for him.

Overall, still, I think this is a fantastic watch that really did deserve all the high praise it got.

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Generational

Lately, I've been on a K-Drama strike, going through multiple genres, while it's been a repetitive grind, I have stumbled across some real heavy hitters. Weak Hero Class 1 was one of them, and an unexpected one at that.

This is a story about the extreme end of bullying, school violence, and cliché gang shenanigans. Of course, in the most classical K-Drama fashion, the schools are teacherless, leaving the canvas wide open to all students to act how they see fit, which is funny in hindsight but very good for creating tension. And this show takes full advantage of that.

I'm very impressed by the detailed choreography of the fights, pretty much all of them, from the pro to the mature, they really sell the weight of every punch, the swiftness of every dodge, and the danger of every weapon used. No character feels invisible yet you see some of them having through mobs of people with no problem.

It was Choi Hyun Wook who brought me here, along with a recommendation, and it turned out it was worth it. The acting was great, the action direction was amazing, and the hype was there. Better even that some battle Shounen Anime shows. All throughout, it never felt "fake" or forced, and that seems the common problem with most K-Dramas.

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Great drama

It was intense since the first scene. Seeing how the main actor actually uses strategies and the things around him to settle problems is really exciting and intense. Though he didn't win a lot of fights, I think it's still really cool. Before any fight scene started, my heart would really just be pumping really hard and fast of course hoping that the main actor can win. The bullies that he had to face were very skilled as well especially the few bully that knocked out the main actor's friend causing his friend to actually I think go into coma. He avenged his friend and that was the most intense part. He had to transfer schools and yet met with more bullies. It was a cliffhanger which is the only thing I wasn't really pleased about. Really hope for a season 2.

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Fair Adaptation from the Webtoon

When this first came out and everyone was raving about it and about Park Jihoon’s stellar performance I was really excited to watch it. But, I saw that it was adapted from a webtoon and decided to read that first. There’s currently 3 seasons with it still being updated, and ended up being quite confused on season 1 compared to the webtoon.

However, after finishing season 1 in the webtoon I realized that the show is a prequel to it, and are things of which we only see through Sieun’s/Gray’s flashbacks. I was then very interested to see how they would flesh out the flashbacks into a series. The webtoon starts with Sieun/Gray arriving at Eunjang, which we see at the end of season 1.

I do have to say, it’s not quite like the webtoon, or accurately adapted. As seen in the series, Sieun is a loner who only cares about academics. He has no sense of a goal for life and is lost and tries to fill that hole with excelling in academics. Stephen/Suho approaches Sieun after he realizes that Sieun is lost and has no clear goal and takes him under his wing. He begins to show him what life is like outside of academics and how much fun he can have. Sieun wasn’t bullied at first nor did the bullies mess with his grades by placing a fetanyl patch on him as we see in the show. And Stephen/Suho was not a martial arts fighter, he was just a good guy that liked helping others.

Their friendship with Bryce/Beomseok is pretty accurate though, but also not at the same time. They became friends because Stephen/Suho approached Beomseok/Bryce in the cafeteria because he was alone. There was no background information about Beomseok/Bryce being bullied at a former school. He did however have an inferiority complex as he did in the webtoon, but it stems from when he heard girls saying how handsome Stephen/Suho and Gray/Sieun were. The more he started hanging out with them, the more he felt inferior to them. This is what led to his fall into delinquency and started targeting Stephen/Suho for bullying and even got Oswald and friends to start it. They started a group chat with the class, excluding Sieun and Suho, and spread a rumor that they were romantically involved. Gray/Sieun had no idea Suho was being bullied because Suho shielded him from it. He wanted to handle it on his own, because he couldn’t live with himself if anything happened to Sieun, which eventually led to him falling off of the roof after being lured there by Beomseok/Bryce and his friends and falling into a coma while Sieun was at a Math Olympiad. Which leads to a very big character arch for Sieun as he is terrified of going to rooftops because of what happened. It’s his thing, he DOESNT do rooftops.

In the series, Sieun/Gray tries to shelter Stephen/Suho from the bullying and goes himself, completely opposite of the webtoon. We also see in the series that after finding out about Stephen/Suho going into a coma, he immediately goes to Byuksan and finds and beats up those who were involved, but never actually beating up Beomseok. In the webtoon, Gray falls into a 2 month depression and doesn’t go to school, and only after his return does he get revenge on Beomseok and Oswald and friends and he actually beats up Beomseok to the point of unconsciousness.

But of course. this seems to be a little too boring for a show so I guess you have to add some pizzaz lol I’m not sure what the whole gambling thing was about but it was completely unnecessary. Even though we get no parental background on any of the characters in the webtoon, I do like the fleshing out of sieun’s parents, and why sieun is the way he is.

So I guess, in short, the series is nothing like the webtoon, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get views and spruce up the story. I would say season 1 of Weak Hero Class is “loosely” based on the webtoon. So for my webtoon readers, don’t get your hopes up for a good adaptation. Try your best to understand why they changed and provided different storylines for the series as to make it more appealing to those who did not read the webtoon.

The series itself, apart from the webtoon, is great. If I get rid of all biases towards the show adaptation, I do have to say I can see why it has such stellar reviews and I do have to admit Park Jihoon does an amazing job at embodying the character of Gray/Sieun. All actors in the show gave an amazing performance, and the music also played an integral role in setting the emotion for the show as I almost cried when we all thought Suho died (even though i knew he didn’t). The show had a great production value and I see why everyone likes it. If i hadn’t read the webtoon i easily would’ve given it a 9 or maybe even a 10, but because of my bias of reading the webtoon beforehand, I gave it an 8.5.

I still enjoyed the season 1 and am now very looking forward to season 2 since these are the characters I know and love and are attached to. All I have to say is they better not fuck it up haha

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My best drama from 2022?

This drama was literally perfect in everyway! Like how to not fall in love with it for the 100000th time??

The acting was amazing, lead chemistry, Plot exceptional and all to fall in love with.

if I'm to say, what I love most about this drama is the lead chemistry { omg my SooEun CP) ? Help, They were so cute. And also the Plot which was mind blowingly amazing and unexpected.

I cried, sure. I cried for literally almost one hour because it was that I can't let go!!! I want a s2 right now!!

Overall, This drama is that amazing and I'd recommend you to check it out now and fall in Love with perfection as well

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i wasn't ready!!!

I have never given a drama a perfect score...or watched one in one sitting although a short one.

first of all, whatever you're expecting, it's not what you'll get...at all.
also if you have a past in bullying mild or extreme this will be an emotional roller coaster...
that being said it's been a long time since I straight out ugly cried over fictional characters, but those last few episodes had me baying for blood and drowning in tears.

the revenge wasn't enough...all those f**ckers deserved way more...cowards!!!!...maybe I'm projecting

I'm so happy there was a hint about a continuation...because I feel unfulfilled...I need to see if Bum Seok is drowning in guilt...i hope so...and if my man Soo woke up and hauled ass to that other school...I seriously need that team back together...

.....now let me go finish my project???

Can't wait!!!!

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You Need To See This

This is one of those dramas that will stay with me. It’s very emotionally heavy (lots of emotions bubbling underneath the surface) and it’s these volatile emotions that lead to quite graphic scenes of violence that may make viewers uncomfortable but I think it’s dramas like this one that needs to be viewed so that those emotions can sit with you. It’s important to feel these emotions vicariously (which you do - very much so) and recognise where they are coming from. They should resonate with you, as it’s a hard look at how people become this way.

This drama was very illustrative, with the three main leads representing how someone can end up so far down a certain path. Each character is at different stages of that path. Soo Ho could have easily used his skills to become a school bully and give in to baser instincts but he doesn’t. Even when he has issues with Boem Seok he makes sure not to cross the line. He is someone who knows when to stop. Shi Eun is someone who was headed down the wrong path and about to give in to all his (understandable) anger and pent up frustration. I could feel him holding back in the earlier episodes. The tension was so thick and heavy, at times it felt suffocating so I can only imagine how much Shi Eun was being stifled by it. You can drown in those kinds of emotions and life circumstances where you feel like the boot is constantly on your neck. All that anger and resentment just to be greeted with more of the same each day. No wonder people in these circumstances flip out and rain down hell in a violent outburst when it finally breaks them and the anger comes spilling out.

Thankfully, Shi Eun was brought back from the brink before he went too far. He had someone like Soo Ho to pull him away from the edge and most importantly, Shi Eun was receptive to his help/intervention. This is where Boem Seok differs. The writers, director and most importantly; the actor, did a great job of showing the similarities and parallels between Shi Eun and Boem Seok’s characters and then showed how unlike Shi Eun, Boem Seok allowed himself to go to the brink. Unlike Shi Eun, he did not heed the warnings to stop before he was too far gone. And while he was justified in his anger and needing remedy for his pain; he crossed the line and became a victim who victimises.

What’s even more resonant is seeing how Boem Seok’s actions also drags Shi Eun past the brink as he loses it at the end and gives in to his pent up anger, frustration and resentment. Watching him in the second half of the finale, I felt so exhausted and emotionally drained. He looked tired, empty and like he had just returned from war, a shell of a person. This is the outcome when people are pushed too far. This is how someone loses the light behind their eyes.

The actors portray the complex states of emotions expertly. If you want to see characters who are real shades of grey; this is a drama that is a great illustration of that in the most harrowing way. You will not be disappointed.

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