"What is this feeling? I'm getting goosebumps. What's your deal? You're being so soft right now. I mean the way you are looking at me, your behavior, the way you talk, your facial expression... It's making me feel gross."
Weak Hero Class 1 is based on a popular webtoon of the same name; features top-ranking student who seems so weak, but uses what he has learned in his lessons, to fight back against the bullies in his class.
The series starts with our protagonist Yeon Shi Hoon (Park Ji Hoon), that was introduced at Byeoksan High star student. His appearance may tell you his really a studious student, meek and quiet, but out of silence he suddenly proceeds to the back of the class and hit a student with a book.
13 days prior to the book hitting incident, it showed the timeline of how everything started, and why he did what he did. Shi Eun's character showed that he is really a model student. His good in his studies, watching his mom (whose an academic lecturer) in between breaks and receiving a gold prize in a math competition. Meanwhile, his excited, happy classmate (whom I thought was a happy child), Jeon Yeoung Bin (Kim Seo Gyeom), who got the bronze award, out of nowhere, he just threw a shoes at Shi Eun and that how everything between them got a bit out of hand.
Verdict:
I have always loved school dramas, I feel like I am too old for school dramas but school dramas have a lot of learnings and realizations that sometimes I wish I have watched when I was younger.
But since Weak Hero Class 1 has a rating of 18+ for violence and profanity, I guess this won't hit the watch list parents want their children to see, and it's eye-opening to watch it now that I am older.
The main core of Weak Hero Class 1 is friendship, school violence, and bullying. And according to International Statistics (stopbullying.gov, Sept 2021), one-third of the globe's youth is bullied. In the Philippines, in the year 2018, 6 out of 10 Filipino students are bullied regularly,
School violence is not a new theme for a K-drama. But instead, it diligently followed the characters' struggles by focusing reasons of the lasting effects of violence on a victim. Students, victims, experiencing this types of abuse may struggle not only outside the school walls but also outside their homes.
Through the course of the series, we see each main character grow particularly Shi Eun, Soo Hoo, and Beom Seok, but we also have witnessed how their friendship grows and lasts. I must say that since Weak Hero Class 1 streams through the comforts of our home, I was shocked by the gritty, intense, dark imagery of violence that was captured through the camera lens. From its cinematography to the change of visual colors, to the emphasis on emotions of happiness, pain, and friendship, the series really showed moments per moment of guilt, triumphs win, and sanctuary, specifically the "hope" they give to one another.
(SPOILERS AHEAD and my own point of view)
The drama is rich with roller coaster emotions that you'll be wanting to finish the next episode. There's angst, there's friendship, there's betrayal, there's love, excitement and the cast had perfectly delivered everything that you couldn't ask for more.
1. Social Media (it was slightly focused on Instagram follows) = COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY!
I just really felt bad that Beom Seok's approach to the friendship he built with Soo Hoo and Shi Eun was based on an Instagram follow. I just felt that this had something that could be talked about, but I also couldn't blame what's going through his life, I feel like this scene was a little touch on how social media could mess up with our brains. Who followed who, whose friends with who. But honestly speaking, social media could really mess up a friendship (because misunderstanding could follow). There will be some point where "why aren't you following me?" or why aren't we friends on FB. But at the end of the day, it is something to be talked about. No problem could be fixed without communication.
2. When the weak fight back
As I was watching the first episode, without watching the trailer nor reading the manhwa or summary, it already gave me the gist of our weak hero. My heart was bouncing with glee when he had fought back but much to my amusement, I was shocked by how brutally bloody that scene was (if you guys know what I mean, and if you are going to watch it). I may say this kid may look weak but he is not! Looks are really deceiving.
The fun thing about his character is he fights back with the knowledge he learned from books, basically science, and it's all gravitational forces and yes I have understand you Isaace Newton!
But as the weak fights back , there's also this connotation in the series which I could say "kapag tahimik nasa loob ang kulo", it's a Filipino thing when someone's quiet, there's something boiling from within them. As for Shi Eun, I couldn't blame him for fighting back, he warned them so many times, and he had enough. I thought as soon as the fight ends he will be the one being "suspended" or kick-out in school. Good thing that the school, his teacher has taken his side.
3. Not all homes are safe. (What happens in the corners of our homes is not what we think it is.)
They say that our home is our sanctuary, our safe haven, a place where we could be whoever we want to be without the judgment of the world. But what if you are broken inside your own safe haven, that what seems to be a sanctuary is a place where you are unsafe, being scrutinized and judged.
As we dwell into each character's progress, we found out that Shi Eun's family seems to be dismantled (his dad is an athlete or a coach, while his mom is a lecturer or a teacher that has videos online), and despite his dad being quite present, the echoes of silence that lingers in his home is deafening. And the only thing he could be good at is his grades.
On the other hand, Beom Seok had it worst. Imagine being adopted and all you wish was a family that could care and love you like their own is far more worst than you could ever imagine. I am so angry watching his dad beat him, (I remember Nam Kyu Man in Remember; those beating gave me chills and anger) I feel his pain;. His actions may seem relevant due to what he is suffering at home, but at the end of the day, it's his choice to do good, and his choice to do bad. His really a good friend, really, it's just that his character was far way more than just a good friend. "Sayang"
4. Family can be our friends = Surround yourself with good People.
As the series centers around friendship, we can basically see the love of these kids for one another, from forgiveness to excitement, to protection, to an unforgettable brotherhood. They say that friends are also our soulmates, and this series had shown us that in between all our fights and struggles friendship is remedies for broken souls.
5. A little Kindness goes a long way
If it wasn't for Soo-ho's kindness to Shihoon and Beom Suk wouldn't experience having the fun of being with friends. Soo ho's kindness extended to Shi hoon that he would like to understand what's is going on in his life, and he would want to understand his feelings. But at the end of the day despite of the kindness the two friends showered Beom Suk, it's his prerogative (and the way he sees his friendship from the two of them).
Overall, I really love the series! 1000/10!!!!
