Weak Hero Class 1 Review | The Rise of a Fragile but Fierce Hero

After Weak Hero Class 2 dropped on Netflix, it skyrocketed to No.1 in the global non-English TV category within just three days.
As a huge fan of the first season, I decided to revisit Weak Hero Class 1 before diving into the sequel — and it was just as gripping and emotional as I remembered.

🧠 The Top-Tier Student Who Never Fights Back

The story centers on Yeon Si-eun (Park Ji-hoon) — a quiet, top-ranked student who spends all his time studying.
He doesn’t socialize, doesn’t care about others, and keeps to himself. But everything changes when jealousy turns into cruelty.

Jeon Young-bin, who always comes in second, orders new transfer student Oh Beom-seok (Hong Kyung) to plant a fentanyl patch on Si-eun’s neck.
This single act ignites Si-eun’s transformation — from a passive model student to someone who decides to fight back, using his brain instead of brute force.

Then enters Ahn Su-ho (Choi Hyun-wook) — cheerful, strong, and fiercely loyal.
Living with his grandmother and juggling multiple part-time jobs, he still shows up at school every morning with a smile.
Together, Si-eun, Su-ho, and Beom-seok form an unlikely friendship that feels fragile yet sincere.

🧩 Friendship, Jealousy, and the Breaking Point

For a brief moment, the three boys find peace.
But cracks soon begin to show — Beom-seok starts feeling left out and inferior to his new friends.
Haunted by trauma and resentment from his past, he spirals into darkness and eventually betrays them.
His anger explodes toward Su-ho, leading to one of the most heartbreaking scenes of the series.

The show boldly asks: How does a victim become a perpetrator?
Through Beom-seok, we see how isolation and unhealed wounds can breed violence — a vicious cycle that feels painfully real.

💥 Si-eun’s Fury — The Birth of a “Weak Hero”

When Su-ho collapses after a brutal beating, Si-eun finally snaps.
All the anger he’s suppressed erupts in a storm of cold, calculated vengeance.
Armed with nothing but classroom objects — pens, fire extinguishers, and even dumbbells — he takes down every bully responsible.

But he spares one person: Beom-seok.
Was it because he still saw him as a friend? Or because he knew Beom-seok would suffer more from guilt than pain?
That silence — choosing not to strike — becomes the most powerful moment of the entire series.

🏫 The Endless Chain of Violence

What struck me most was not the action, but the silence of the adults.
The school has become a battlefield where students fend for themselves.
Teachers, parents, and the system remain absent — leaving kids to fight their own wars.

Weak Hero Class 1 isn’t just a school-violence drama; it’s a sharp social commentary on the cycle of abuse and neglect that fuels it.
Every punch carries meaning, every scar tells a story of survival.

🎭 Acting That Hits Hard

Park Ji-hoon (Yeon Si-eun) perfectly captures the quiet rage behind his stoic eyes.
Choi Hyun-wook (Ahn Su-ho) brings warmth and moral strength to the chaos — the heart of the trio.
Hong Kyung (Oh Beom-seok) portrays a broken soul so convincingly that you can’t help but hate and pity him at once.

Their chemistry elevates the series beyond a mere action drama — it becomes an emotional journey about friendship, betrayal, and loss.

🔚 The Ending — When Weakness Becomes Strength

In the end, Beom-seok leaves for abroad, while Si-eun transfers to a new school — Eunjang High, a familiar name to webtoon fans.
Carrying deep scars and unhealed guilt, Si-eun’s story continues in Weak Hero Class 2,
where he faces an even harsher world and greater violence — but also, perhaps, a chance at redemption.

For Si-eun, friendship turned out to be more complicated than any equation he studied.
He fought to protect it, failed to keep it, and learned what it truly meant to care for someone.
This bittersweet growth is what makes Weak Hero Class 1 unforgettable.

💭 Final Thoughts — Not Just Violence, but Vulnerability

Weak Hero Class 1 goes beyond being a “school action” drama.
It’s a raw portrayal of loneliness, friendship, anger, and survival —
reminding us that even the weakest can be the bravest when everything falls apart.

If D.P. showed the brutality of military violence,
then Weak Hero Class 1 delivers a student-age counterpart —
a haunting, emotional ride that lingers long after the final scene.