Weak Hero: Class 1 (Class 2 soon on Netflix)

YCoCg

Member
Since we only seem to make threads about Netflix shows we hate let's shine some light on ones that go under the radar, the first one I wanted to highlight is Weak Hero: Class 1, it's a Korean Drama that's a bit high school tropey but features some good fights in it. Class 1 is only 8 episodes so you can blast through it in a day or so.


And to make it better, Class 2 (basically the second season) comes out t later his month!
 
This show is really good.
although the reason of his friend betraying is bit stupid
Happy that season 2 is coming soon.
 
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Since we only seem to make threads about Netflix shows we hate let's shine some light on ones that go under the radar, the first one I wanted to highlight is Weak Hero: Class 1, it's a Korean Drama that's a bit high school tropey but features some good fights in it. Class 1 is only 8 episodes so you can blast through it in a day or so.

Okay, so...

-Kid gets bullied
-But has the same spatial awareness powers as Robert Downey Jr in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes
-But isn't very strong
-But his friend can do tae kwon do
-And the bullies are involved with organized crime and kidnap one of the other kids
-So three friends have to fight against the bad kids and the organized crime?

Something like that? Trailer is all over the place.
 
Okay, so...

-Kid gets bullied
-But has the same spatial awareness powers as Robert Downey Jr in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes
-But isn't very strong
-But his friend can do tae kwon do
-And the bullies are involved with organized crime and kidnap one of the other kids
-So three friends have to fight against the bad kids and the organized crime?

Something like that? Trailer is all over the place.
That trailer is actually really bad, it shows scenes from almost every episode and is full of spoilers. You're not far off, in all fairness, lol.

What makes this drama so good is its themes and characters. It explores the psychological effects of child abuse and parental neglect through the behavioral development of its characters. It doesn't use abuse as a plot device just to move the story forward, it genuinely shows how trauma shapes people.

And it's not just about bullying either. The show tackles extortion and political corruption, revealing how those issues reflect a much larger, broken system. It dives deep into its themes but stays grounded. The characters are complex, and the action is solid.

It's also not as predictable as you might think. It's a K-drama, so yeah, expect some melodrama, but it's a really well layered and well written one for a webtoon adaptation. Watch the first episode, I promise you'll like it!
 
That trailer is actually really bad, it shows scenes from almost every episode and is full of spoilers. You're not far off, in all fairness, lol.

What makes this drama so good is its themes and characters. It explores the psychological effects of child abuse and parental neglect through the behavioral development of its characters. It doesn't use abuse as a plot device just to move the story forward, it genuinely shows how trauma shapes people.

And it's not just about bullying either. The show tackles extortion and political corruption, revealing how those issues reflect a much larger, broken system. It dives deep into its themes but stays grounded. The characters are complex, and the action is solid.

It's also not as predictable as you might think. It's a K-drama, so yeah, expect some melodrama, but it's a really well layered and well written one for a webtoon adaptation. Watch the first episode, I promise you'll like it!
Cool, thanks for explaining. I will give the first episode a shot and report back. Probably been 20 years since I've tried to watch a k-drama…
 
Cool, thanks for explaining. I will give the first episode a shot and report back. Probably been 20 years since I've tried to watch a k-drama…
Shit! lol I probably should've recommended something else as a first episode in that case. This is still good though, I look forward to your impressions.
 
Okay, so...

-Kid gets bullied
-But has the same spatial awareness powers as Robert Downey Jr in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes
-But isn't very strong
-But his friend can do tae kwon do
-And the bullies are involved with organized crime and kidnap one of the other kids
-So three friends have to fight against the bad kids and the organized crime?

Something like that? Trailer is all over the place.
The trailer is a bit shit and that's the best one I could find, you've got some bits right, it has the usual trope of socially awkward smart guy, the street smart slacker and the nerdy guy, but it goes in a bit of a different direction with it and has a lot of good fight scenes throughout. The fights are more realistic too, the only crazy stuff comes from two characters who are MMA training.
 
I didn't like this one as much as Study Group.
 
Great show.... I wonder about the security at these schools haha
Are the police anywhere near that useless in SK?
 
This dropped on netflix a few weeks ago out of the blue, watched it over 2 nights, deffo worth a watch. Didn't realise s2 was coming out so soon, thats good.
 
I didn't like this one as much as Study Group.
I liked Study Group too. Study Group is far more comedic, action heavy and fun. While Weak Hero is presented as a more realistic drama with its depictions of violence, and has emotional weight, where you can almost feel the cost of the violence itself. Totally different tonally.
 
It's rare to see a topic about K-Dramas on gaf, so I wanted to suggest another one.
This show is much more serious than Weak Hero, it's like a Tarantino movie but transformed into a series. The acting from everyone is crazy good, and the plot is great.
Typically, K-Dramas have strong pacing at the beginning but lose momentum toward the end, but I found this show's pacing to be consistent throughout all six episodes.

MV5BM2MxOWNmOTUtM2U1MS00MmViLTg5NjgtYmM5YmQxOWM0NjRiXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg
 
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It's rare to see a topic about K-Dramas on gaf, so I wanted to suggest another one.
This show is much more serious than Weak Hero, it's like a Tarantino movie but transformed into a series. The acting from everyone is crazy good, and the plot is great.
Typically, K-Dramas have strong pacing at the beginning but lose momentum toward the end, but I found this show's pacing to be consistent throughout all six episodes.

MV5BM2MxOWNmOTUtM2U1MS00MmViLTg5NjgtYmM5YmQxOWM0NjRiXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg
Wow, finished this one last night, really is a puzzle piece one but when everything clicks into place it's one of those "oooohhhh" moments.

As soon as I saw "UNCLE" appear on the phone I knew exactly the direction it was going to go 😉
 
Okay, so...

-Kid gets bullied
-But has the same spatial awareness powers as Robert Downey Jr in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes
-But isn't very strong
-But his friend can do tae kwon do
-And the bullies are involved with organized crime and kidnap one of the other kids
-So three friends have to fight against the bad kids and the organized crime?

Something like that? Trailer is all over the place.
That's actually pretty damn close. But that's just the first half of the show.
 
It's rare to see a topic about K-Dramas on gaf, so I wanted to suggest another one.
This show is much more serious than Weak Hero, it's like a Tarantino movie but transformed into a series. The acting from everyone is crazy good, and the plot is great.
Typically, K-Dramas have strong pacing at the beginning but lose momentum toward the end, but I found this show's pacing to be consistent throughout all six episodes.

MV5BM2MxOWNmOTUtM2U1MS00MmViLTg5NjgtYmM5YmQxOWM0NjRiXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg
There's actually a community thread https://www.neogaf.com/threads/k-drama-ot-a-swoonworthy-community.1670977/

I should probably post there a bit more since I watch so much of this shit.
 
OP since you like this show, also check out D.P.

ojbe9hqemme71.jpg


It deals with similar themes to Weak Hero but in a 2000s military setting. Great performances, grounded story with sad moments, good action scenes, and it also has an outro song from the guy who made Weak Hero's intro, Meego:

 
OP since you like this show, also check out D.P.

ojbe9hqemme71.jpg


It deals with similar themes to Weak Hero but in a 2000s military setting. Great performances, grounded story with sad moments, good action scenes, and it also has an outro song from the guy who made Weak Hero's intro, Meego:


Can confirm thats a good watch.

Blood hounds is one of my favs for recent shows though.
 
Well, it suddenly took a dark turn towards later 2 eps. MMA action scenes (and action in general) were exaggerated, yet quite decent. Didn't know that Suho actor could move well.

Looking forward to the Class 2. It didn't seem to follow the original webtoon storyline as far as I could tell, at least so far?
 
I finished Class 2 last night, and overall, I found it disappointing. The pacing is poor, leaving little room for any meaningful character development. A whole host of new characters are introduced, but most of them are forgettable. The season is filled with melodramatic moments that fail to deliver any real emotional payoff. It also lacks the grounded tone that made Class 1 compelling, coming off instead like a weak comic book adaptation. Honestly, it would be hard for me to recommend this in good faith - it sucked.

Expanding the season to 16 episodes might have given the story more room to breathe and develop, though even then, the plot still felt lacklustre.
 
Yeah, finished it on Saturday, it felt like it lacked the oompf of Class 1, the two sets fighting at the end was cool, even comical at times as the editing kept switching people around, but Class 1 was certainly a lot better.

though even then, the plot still felt lacklustre.
Either I missed something or is it implied that the guy committed suicide at the end? Since the boss said in the bowling alley that they've not seen him since the fight and would like to know where he is too
 
S2 was a letdown.

After watching S1, got intrigued and read the whole webtoon comics - comics ver was basically a lot of DBZ like power ranking type, typical shonen manga stuff. Difference is that the main character was really weak and frail, but always came out on top in merciless level with a lot of planning. The drama version that the main character could take many hits - and his fighting style was always same. Use the pen, or use something on the ground etc... It didn't show any of planning.

They took out a lot of characters and changed. Some were okay, but some I just didn't find necessary. But the biggest problem for me was the action wasn't as intense or based as S1 for me.
 
Yeah, finished it on Saturday, it felt like it lacked the oompf of Class 1, the two sets fighting at the end was cool, even comical at times as the editing kept switching people around, but Class 1 was certainly a lot better.


Either I missed something or is it implied that the guy committed suicide at the end? Since the boss said in the bowling alley that they've not seen him since the fight and would like to know where he is too
I think I set my expectations high because of how much I enjoyed Class 1. I think some of the fights are definitely entertaining, but it doesn't quite feel as interesting or satisfying.

I think the bowling club owner killed him. In there last conversation (between Choi Chang Hu -the bowling club owner- and Na Baek Jin), the last thing Choi says to him is 'I'll kill you'. It looks like the way they edited the last scene as well is that it is implied he killed him, because he denies knowing he's whereabouts and then we're shown Na Baek Jin's funeral in a secret sort of post credit scene.[/ispoiler]
 
I think I set my expectations high because of how much I enjoyed Class 1. I think some of the fights are definitely entertaining, but it doesn't quite feel as interesting or satisfying.

I think the bowling club owner killed him. In there last conversation (between Choi Chang Hu -the bowling club owner- and Na Baek Jin), the last thing Choi says to him is 'I'll kill you'. It looks like the way they edited the last scene as well is that it is implied he killed him, because he denies knowing he's whereabouts and then we're shown Na Baek Jin's funeral in a secret sort of post credit scene.[/ispoiler]
Yeah I wasn't too sure on that, the editing also felt not as good as Class 1, some areas felt sloppy which could lead to some confusion. Oh well, gonna start Study Group soon since it was recommended here.
 
Yeah I wasn't too sure on that, the editing also felt not as good as Class 1, some areas felt sloppy which could lead to some confusion. Oh well, gonna start Study Group soon since it was recommended here.
Study Group is fun, light hearted and way more enjoyable to binge than Class 2! It's silly, but at least it knows what it wants to be. The action is good too.
 
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