Weak Hero Class 1 (2022)

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

Lire davantage

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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Historia: A Historia e boa e cativante mesmo tendo alguns momentos em que eu acho que o roteiro força a barra, principalmente quando um dos protagonista "Oh Beom Seok " da historia acaba meio que virando o personagem vilão da historia , sendo esse que o Oh Beom Seok estando em um estado catatonico mesmo assim eu ainda o motivo rediculo pois o roterista poderia simplesmente ter acabado com o estado do Oh Beom Seok com ele simplesmente fazendo uma pergunta para o Ahn Soo Ho. Falando no Ahn Soo Ho eu acho que o roterista peca quando supostamente mata ele no final do 7 episodio e meio que revive ele no começo do 8 episodio isso tira todo sentido da cena e sentimento que consequencia tira o Oh Beom Seok do estado catatonico. Os personagem segundarios estão bem escritos é eles tem seu proposito na trama

Atuação: Os atores estão muito bom em diversos momentos, os personagem segundarios tambem são bem atuados, eu acho so que talvez as cenas de ação talvez fosse melhor com os atores treinando algo mais isso nao tira a experiencia

Trilha sonora: A trilha sonora convence bastante principalmente na hora da ação e as OST são gostosas de ouvir.

Direção: A direção e boa eu acho que o diretor não peca muito , tirando na cenas de ação que tem bastante cortes mais eu creio que nisso a direção não tem muito que fazer porque talvez os atores não tenha experiencia em artes marcais, e a fotagrafia do dorama e muito boa sendo cru em muito momentos com isso passando como se a gente estivesse no enredo e isso ajuda muito para passar a trama do dorama.

Lire davantage

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!!!!

Lire davantage

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.

Lire davantage

If I had to go off the scale I would

By far one of my fav kdramas of all time 10000000/10 , I had nth to complain about , it was perfect , I'm waiting unpatiently for the 2nd season.
The choice of characters was sooo on point , I can't think of more fitting actors , it made me feel a lot of emotions, I was looking fit smth like this , if I had the opportunity to wipe my memory and rewatch it I would in a Heartbeat, it portrays high-school reality and from diffrence perspective through the characters , I specifically loved how they bonded by helping each other , all I can say is that u don't need to waste one second reading through reviews, just go watch it and thank later .

Lire davantage

This drama surprised me

I had known about this drama for a few months but never actually started it since i didn’t think much of it from what I heard. All i knew is that Park Jihoon and Choi Hyun Wook (who i really liked in twenty five twenty one btw, he’s a great actor!) played the two main characters. I started it a few days ago and i have to say it’s so much better than i ever imagined.

The story is something almost everyone can relate to, it’s about high school students who all have similar but very different lives at the same time. My favorite character was definitely Ahn Sooho (Choi Hyunwook), but I really liked Sieun too. I quickly got very attached to both characters, their friendship is so well portrayed and it’s realistic too. The actors did such a great job with that and had great chemistry as a duo.

This drama contains violence and I did see some people who thought about dropping it because of that. For me personally I love action dramas but I can understand that since it’s school violence and gets pretty extreme at times.

I want to add that I loved the music so much too! the intro song ‘Hero’ has been added to the playlist!! The music fits the entire concept of this drama and brought everything together and made it even more emotional 😭🫶

This drama constantly kept me on the edge of my seat and I had no problem finishing it in 2 days😂
It’s no doubt one of my favorite k-dramas i’ve watched so far!

Lire davantage

"You guys are so predictable. Does this fill your ego?"

(+)
To sum up this series: this is the ancient tale of the fragility of youth and/or the toxicity of macho masculinity. Wherein the only emotions that most males could muster here is their ego-filled aggression, anger, and greed.


(-)
School bullying and male aggression have been, as prior mentioned, an ancient tale. As if a vampire that continues to age, but never dies—these issues are almost, if not always, part of most KDramas and even those from other countries. Though, an ancient thing does not always mean a cliche thing, especially such matters that are as rampant and relevant as these mentioned subjects.

What made this series rather different was its straightforwardness right from the start. It was gripping to watch from start to finish as there were no unnecessary fillers neither irrelevant tropes. Although I enjoy a little romance at times, I was glad that it was rather focused on its very themes of youth, friendship, and violence instead of distracting the audience with side stories of romance as what most KDramas love to do.

It was satisfying to watch a main protagonist that is so serious about their studies and being a responsible student all while still not being a pushover and also not refusing to back down to bullies. It can be really exhausting to see this trope of a nerdy intellectual student who is always portrayed as weak or a pushover. Thus, it was really satiating to see the main protagonist apply their interests in maths, psychology, physics, etc. as a strategy in their physical fights in spite of not being absolutely gifted in physical strength.


(x)
The series is truly a heart-wrenching violence multiplied. Yet, it was also a sundry of heart-warming spectacles. Dark and horrific, but the humanity here was not blind.


(÷)
As much as I really liked this series, I still have some divisive opinions. I instantly appreciated the way they started this with the main protagonist applying maths, physics, and psychology in his physical fights. Though, towards the end, such premise deteriorated and was not properly utilized. I understood that towards the climax, the emotions of the main protagonist were totally heightened and desperate for revenge. Though, the revenge could have been much more intriguing and also consistent with the way they introduced his character if they utilized more such wit and strategic thinking.

(=)
Overall, I still can say that this series was absolutely outstanding, especially, in terms of acting performance, pacing, direction, and musical composition. I was really impressed with Si-Eun (Ji Hoon)'s performance here, especially that intense eye acting. Yes, I really love it when a thespian do know how to act greatly with their eyes.

The OST and the direction and choreography of the action scenes were also marvelous. The writing was also excellent, though I believe that there was still more necessary exertion to do. Though, I really despise this old tale of violence being a never-ending cycle. Thus, I am looking forward to its final end in the upcoming second season.

Lire davantage