{ "id": "epvsdkahxj", "slug": "weak-hero-class-1", "title": "Weak Hero Class 1 (약한영웅 Class 1)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials", "label": "International serial drama and telenovelas", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials" }, { "id": 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"Thriller, crime, and mystery series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.korean_contemporary_drama.thriller-crime-and-mystery-series" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.korean_contemporary_drama.thriller-crime-and-mystery-series.action-spy-and-legal-thrillers.spy-and-action-thrillers", "label": "Spy and action thrillers", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.korean_contemporary_drama.thriller-crime-and-mystery-series.action-spy-and-legal-thrillers.spy-and-action-thrillers" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Weak Hero Class 1 (약한영웅 Class 1) is a 2022 Wavve Korean action drama, 8 episodes, loosely adapted from the Naver webtoon Weak Hero, starring Park Ji-hoon, Choi Hyun-wook, and Hong Kyung; it won an Asia Contents Awards 2023 OTT Original award and reached Netflix's global Top 10 after its March 2025 re-release.", "snippet": "Weak Hero Class 1 (약한영웅 Class 1) is a 2022 Wavve Korean action drama, 8 episodes, loosely adapted from the Naver webtoon Weak Hero, starring Park Ji-hoon, Choi Hyun-wook, and Hong Kyung; it won an Asia Contents Awards 2023 OTT Original award and reached Netflix's global Top 10 after its March 2025 re-release.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.korean_contemporary_drama.thriller-crime-and-mystery-series.action-spy-and-legal-thrillers.spy-and-action-thrillers", "markdown": "# Weak Hero Class 1 (약한영웅 Class 1)\n\n**Weak Hero Class 1** (약한영웅 Class 1) is a 2022 South Korean action coming-of-age drama series in which Yeon Si-eun, a top-ranked but friendless student, fights back against school bullies alongside his first friends, Ahn Su-ho and Oh Beom-seok. All eight episodes were released on the Korean streaming service Wavve on November 18, 2022, and the series reached a much larger international audience when Netflix re-released it on March 25, 2025.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/weak_hero_class_1/s01) • [2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250328/weak-hero-class-1-gains-global-traction-on-netflix-3-years-after-debut) • [3](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/tv-shows/weak-hero-class-2/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original release | 8 episodes on Wavve, November 18, 2022; episode lengths from 37m 31s to 45m 11s[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/weak_hero_class_1/s01) • [4](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/weak-hero-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi5mdcy) |\n| Source material | Adapted from the Naver webtoon *Weak Hero* by Seopass and Razen (Kim Jin-seok)[5](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/weak-hero-release-date-news) |\n| Main cast | Park Ji-hoon as Yeon Si-eun, Choi Hyun-wook as Ahn Su-ho, Hong Kyung as Oh Beom-seok[5](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/weak-hero-release-date-news) |\n| Creative team | Written and directed by You Su-min; Han Jun-hee as creative director; Park Dan-hee as co-director[5](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/weak-hero-release-date-news) • [6](https://www.nbtc.go.th/getattachment/News/Information/58246/%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%9A-session-2-Wavve-Original-Content_Introduction-pptx.pdf?lang=th-TH) |\n| Initial reception | 45.5 percent market share on Wavve during its first run; OTT Original award at the Asia Contents Awards 2023[2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250328/weak-hero-class-1-gains-global-traction-on-netflix-3-years-after-debut) • [7](https://repository.unpas.ac.id/78712/4/11.%20CHAPTER%20II.pdf) |\n| Netflix resurgence | Re-released March 25, 2025; ranked No. 3 globally on Netflix's TV chart with a FlixPatrol score of 629[2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250328/weak-hero-class-1-gains-global-traction-on-netflix-3-years-after-debut) |\n| Sequel | *Weak Hero Class 2*, released on Netflix on April 25, 2025[3](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/tv-shows/weak-hero-class-2/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and characters\n\nThe series is set at the fictional Byuksan High School in South Korea. Yeon Si-eun, played by [Park Ji-hoon](https://www.edgepedia.org/park-ji-hoon), is a star student and constant target for bullies whose refusal to bow to their demands incites their anger. When he meets the skilled fighter Ahn Su-ho ([Choi Hyun-wook](https://www.edgepedia.org/choi-hyun-wook)) and the transfer student Oh Beom-seok (Hong Kyung), the three combine forces to fight back.[5](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/weak-hero-release-date-news) Despite his small stature and quiet nature, Si-eun uses his intelligence and his surroundings, rather than brute strength, to fight school violence.[2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250328/weak-hero-class-1-gains-global-traction-on-netflix-3-years-after-debut)\n\nThe supporting cast includes Kim Su-gyeom as the bully Jeon Yeong-bin, Shin Seung-ho as the drug dealer Jeon Seok-dae, Lee Yeon as Young Yi, and Kim Sung-kyun and Kong Hyun-joo as Si-eun's parents.[5](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/weak-hero-release-date-news)\n\nThe season builds toward a rupture in the trio. Beom-seok's growing insecurity leads him into a dark plan, and the finale leaves Su-ho in a coma after a near-fatal attack involving the MMA fighter Woo-young ([Cha Woo-min](https://www.edgepedia.org/cha-woo-min)) and Beom-seok. A devastated Si-eun takes vengeance on those responsible but cannot bring himself to seriously injure the regretful Beom-seok, whose abusive politician father sends him to a school in the Philippines. Si-eun then transfers to Eunjang High, a notoriously violent school and the only one that will admit him.[3](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/tv-shows/weak-hero-class-2/) A mid-credits scene teases the villainous \"alliance\" led by Na Baek-jin, the antagonist of the next season.[3](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/tv-shows/weak-hero-class-2/)\n\n### Sequel\n\nNetflix announced a second season in December 2023, and *Weak Hero Class 2* premiered on April 25, 2025. It continues Si-eun's story at Eunjang High School, with a new cast including Ryeoun, Choi Min-yeong, Lee Min-jae, Yoo Su-bin, and Lee Jun-young; Park Ji-hoon is the only returning member of the Class 1 main cast in a leading role, though Choi Hyun-wook appears as the still-comatose Su-ho in visits Si-eun makes to his friend.[3](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/tv-shows/weak-hero-class-2/) • [13](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/tv-shows/weak-hero-class-2-cast/) Director You said the impulse behind the season was wanting to make Si-eun smile again, and that in Class 2 Si-eun raises his fists to protect those around him rather than only himself.[14](https://bomdianews.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250505_%EC%95%95%EC%B6%95.pdf) Han Jun-hee has said that if a Class 3 is made, the team is ready to cover the period from Si-eun's third year of high school to graduation, though no third season had been officially announced as of the season 2 release.[8](https://time.com/7280148/weak-hero-class-2-netflix-ending-explained/)\n\n## Adaptation from the webtoon\n\nThe drama is based on the webtoon *Weak Hero*, but Class 1 is a loose adaptation rather than a direct one. Director and writer You Su-min told TIME that the original webtoon is \"a straightforward and intuitive school action story, where Yeon Si-eun seems to almost clear one stage at a time, like a game,\" and that he and executive producer Han Jun-hee decided to make Si-eun's backstory an entire eight-episode season. The final scene of Class 1, in which Si-eun arrives as a new student at Eunjang High, is the first scene of the source material.[8](https://time.com/7280148/weak-hero-class-2-netflix-ending-explained/) In a 2022 interview You said that in adapting the webtoon he worked to expand the character's relationships and conflicts within the action genre, so that viewers could empathize with the emotions of that school-age period.[9](https://v.daum.net/v/20221130163038648)\n\n## Production\n\nYou Su-min, who won the Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival's grand prize for his short film before this series, wrote and directed the drama in his first feature-length directing job; Han Jun-hee joined as creative director, reviewing the writing, shooting, and editing and keeping the project on course.[9](https://v.daum.net/v/20221130163038648) • [10](https://wiki.onul.works/w/%EC%95%BD%ED%95%9C%EC%98%81%EC%9B%85_Class_1) At the 27th Busan International Film Festival, the two explained that they wanted to cast \"actors who can lead Korean films in the next generation and actors who have great energy.\"[11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20234568/trivia/) [Martial arts](https://www.edgepedia.org/martial-arts) director Heo Myeong-haeng led the cast through the high-intensity action scenes.[11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20234568/trivia/) Choi Hyun-wook prepared for his first action role with months of training at an action school and a rigorous fitness routine.[2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250328/weak-hero-class-1-gains-global-traction-on-netflix-3-years-after-debut)\n\nThe series was invited to the On Screen section of the Busan International Film Festival, held in October 2022, before the Wavve premiere.[6](https://www.nbtc.go.th/getattachment/News/Information/58246/%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%9A-session-2-Wavve-Original-Content_Introduction-pptx.pdf?lang=th-TH) All eight episodes were released on Wavve on November 18, 2022, with multilingual subtitles on other platforms simultaneously.[11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20234568/trivia/)\n\n## Reception and the Netflix resurgence\n\nDuring its initial 2022 run the series claimed a 45.5 percent market share on Wavve, and it won the OTT Original award at the Asia Contents Awards 2023.[2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250328/weak-hero-class-1-gains-global-traction-on-netflix-3-years-after-debut) • [7](https://repository.unpas.ac.id/78712/4/11.%20CHAPTER%20II.pdf) Its wider fame came later. When Netflix re-released the series on March 25, 2025, it entered the streamer's Top 10 in its week of release and, per the analytics platform FlixPatrol, ranked No. 3 globally on Netflix's TV chart with a score of 629. It topped the charts in Thailand and Malaysia, was listed No. 2 in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Brazil, and placed in the top 10 in France (No. 3), Spain (No. 4), the United States (No. 5), Canada ([No. 6](https://www.edgepedia.org/no-6)), Germany (No. 8), and Italy (No. 10).[2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250328/weak-hero-class-1-gains-global-traction-on-netflix-3-years-after-debut) • [3](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/tv-shows/weak-hero-class-2/) Netflix's first-half 2025 engagement report counted about 22 million views for the series, placing it among the platform's most-watched Korean titles alongside its sequel.[12](https://issuefeed.dcinside.com/content/1964008) On Rotten Tomatoes the season holds a 96 percent Tomatometer score from critics.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/weak_hero_class_1/s01)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Weak Hero: Class 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/weak_hero_class_1/s01)\n2. ['Weak Hero Class 1' gains global traction on Netflix 3 years after debut, The Korea Times (March 28, 2025)](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250328/weak-hero-class-1-gains-global-traction-on-netflix-3-years-after-debut)\n3. ['Weak Hero Class 2': Everything We Know, Marie Claire](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/tv-shows/weak-hero-class-2/)\n4. [Weak Hero, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/weak-hero-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi5mdcy)\n5. [Weak Hero Class 1: Cast, Plot, Class 2, Netflix Tudum](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/weak-hero-release-date-news)\n6. [Wavve Original Content Introduction, NBTC (October 2022 BIFF On Screen selection)](https://www.nbtc.go.th/getattachment/News/Information/58246/%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%9A-session-2-Wavve-Original-Content_Introduction-pptx.pdf?lang=th-TH)\n7. [Thesis chapter on the Weak Hero Class 1 adaptation, Universitas Pasundan repository](https://repository.unpas.ac.id/78712/4/11.%20CHAPTER%20II.pdf)\n8. [Breaking Down the Ending of 'Weak Hero Class 2', TIME](https://time.com/7280148/weak-hero-class-2-netflix-ending-explained/)\n9. [유수민 감독 \"'약한영웅'은 앞으로 나아가는 모든 사람들이죠\" [N인터뷰], Daum news (November 30, 2022)](https://v.daum.net/v/20221130163038648)\n10. [약한영웅 Class 1 overview, 오늘의AI위키](https://wiki.onul.works/w/%EC%95%BD%ED%95%9C%EC%98%81%EC%9B%85_Class_1)\n11. [Weak Hero Class 1 trivia, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20234568/trivia/)\n12. [넷플릭스 상반기 시청 현황 보고서 공개, issuefeed](https://issuefeed.dcinside.com/content/1964008)\n13. [Meet the Cast of 'Weak Hero Class 2', Marie Claire](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/tv-shows/weak-hero-class-2-cast/)\n14. [You Su-min interview on Class 2, Bomdia News press compilation (May 2025)](https://bomdianews.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250505_%EC%95%95%EC%B6%95.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Korean contemporary drama › Thriller, crime, and mystery series › Spy and action thrillers*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/weak-hero-class-1", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/weak-hero-class-1.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Weak Hero Class 1 (약한영웅 Class 1)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/weak-hero-class-1. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Weak Hero Class 1 (약한영웅 Class 1)](https://www.edgepedia.org/weak-hero-class-1)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/weak-hero-class-1](https://www.edgepedia.org/weak-hero-class-1). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Weak Hero Class 1 (약한영웅 Class 1)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/weak-hero-class-1. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Weak Hero Class 1 is a 2022 Wavve Korean action drama, 8 episodes, loosely adapted from the Naver webtoon Weak Hero, starring Park Ji-hoon, Choi Hyun-wook, and Hong Kyung; it won an Asia Contents Awards 2023 OTT Original award and reached Netflix's global Top 10 after its March 2025 re-release." }