# ONE: High School Heroes (ONE : 하이스쿨 히어로즈)
**ONE: High School Heroes** (ONE : 하이스쿨 히어로즈) is a South Korean action drama series released as a Wavve original on May 30, 2025, adapted from Lee Eun-jae's Kakao Webtoon *ONE* and following a model student who discovers a talent for fighting and forms a masked vigilante team against school bullies.[1](https://asianwiki.com/ONE%3A_High_School_Heroes) • [2](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-entertainment/2025/05/28/GKEYZXHEGBHXXO5TKS22LYD7WU/?outputType=amp)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Wavve original series, 8 episodes, released May 30, 2025; Korean language[1](https://asianwiki.com/ONE%3A_High_School_Heroes) |
| Source material | Webtoon *ONE* by Lee Eun-jae, serialized on Kakao from April 5, 2019 to June 19, 2020, with over 65 million cumulative views and the 2020 Today's Comic Award[1](https://asianwiki.com/ONE%3A_High_School_Heroes) • [2](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-entertainment/2025/05/28/GKEYZXHEGBHXXO5TKS22LYD7WU/?outputType=amp) |
| Director | Lee Seong-tae, making his TV directing debut after the films *Derailed* (2016) and *By Quantum Physics: A Nightlife Venture* (2019)[3](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250528/one-high-school-heroes-is-action-series-with-emotional-depth) |
| Lead cast | Lee Jung-ha as Kim Ui-gyeom, Kim Do-wan as Kang Yoon-ki, Kim Sang-ho as Kim Seok-tae[1](https://asianwiki.com/ONE%3A_High_School_Heroes) |
| Production | Covenant Pictures; screenplay by Kim Young-eun[4](https://blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?blogId=boxofficenews&logNo=223860622546) |
| Reception | IMDb 7.6/10 from about 1.9K votes; AsianWiki user rating 89/100 (716 votes)[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34622123/ratings/) • [1](https://asianwiki.com/ONE%3A_High_School_Heroes) |
| Rating | 15 certification in South Korea; IMDb's parents guide rates its violence as severe[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34622123/parentalguide/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Kim Ui-gyeom (Lee Jung-ha) is the top student at his school, a modest teenager who stays away from violence. At home he suffers under his father Kim Seok-tae (Kim Sang-ho), a successful businessman who appears gentle in public but administers harsh discipline to push his son toward becoming a doctor. One day Ui-gyeom's natural fighting talent erupts at school, and Kang Yoon-ki (Kim Do-wan), a classmate with quick judgment and fighting skills of his own, notices it. The two form a masked "High School Heroes" team, and Ui-gyeom begins knocking down the school's bullies one by one, while Yoon-ki, hiding his real intentions, leads him deeper into the fighting world.[1](https://asianwiki.com/ONE%3A_High_School_Heroes)
The production press conference on May 28, 2025 framed the story as two friends who "hide a great pain in their hearts" and decide to become High School Heroes to take revenge on bullies and wrongdoers at school.[2](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-entertainment/2025/05/28/GKEYZXHEGBHXXO5TKS22LYD7WU/?outputType=amp) Director Lee Seong-tae said the drama follows the theme of the original webtoon and does not stop at a one-dimensional portrayal of school violence, delving into layers of violence such as domestic abuse and societal pressure that values academic achievement above all else.[3](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250528/one-high-school-heroes-is-action-series-with-emotional-depth)
### Episodes and structure
The season runs eight episodes with runtimes between 42 and 51 minutes, totaling about 6 hours 15 minutes.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34622123/) Episode titles trace the team's formation: episode 1 ("Workman") shows Ui-gyeom losing a cassette tape and meeting Yoon-ki; episode 4 ("Hero Mask") has the pair resolve on a "revolution"; episode 5 is the moment they name themselves the "High School Super Heroes" and begin operating in masks.[9](https://tv.apple.com/kr/show/one-high-school-heroes/umc.cmc.50yr51zuil9gubu7hd5nigupw?l=en) In the finale, a fight between Geol-jae and Choi Ki-soo ends with Ki-soo winning and Geol-jae hospitalized; Yoon-ki is advised to stop fighting because violence leads to more violence, and Ui-gyeom's mother Da-bin takes him away from Seok-tae.[10](https://www.thereviewgeek.com/onehighschoolheroes-s1endingexplained/) At the end of the drama, Yoon-ki and Ui-gyeom transfer to Myomyeong High School.[11](https://once-upon-a-drama.com/2025/12/21/one-high-school-heroes-drama-review/)
## Origin and adaptation
The source webtoon *ONE* ran on Kakao Webtoon from April 5, 2019 to June 19, 2020 and accumulated more than 65 million views, winning the 2020 Today's Comic Award.[1](https://asianwiki.com/ONE%3A_High_School_Heroes) • [2](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-entertainment/2025/05/28/GKEYZXHEGBHXXO5TKS22LYD7WU/?outputType=amp) A report from 2021, more than three years before release, described an eight-episode OTT drama based on the webtoon entering pre-production, with the webtoon's hero team delivering justice on behalf of victims of violence.[7](https://www.bloter.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=45528) The screenwriter for the series is Kim Young-eun, and production was by Covenant Pictures.[4](https://blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?blogId=boxofficenews&logNo=223860622546)
At the press conference, Lee Seong-tae said he worked with the director's collaboration in mind to recreate the original's emotion without damaging the story, while allowing more flexibility in the plot than the webtoon.[2](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-entertainment/2025/05/28/GKEYZXHEGBHXXO5TKS22LYD7WU/?outputType=amp)
## Cast
Lee Jung-ha, known for *[Moving](https://www.edgepedia.org/moving-south-korean-tv-series)*, plays Kim Ui-gyeom, and Kim Do-wan plays Kang Yoon-ki; both actors took their first action drama roles in this series.[12](https://kdramareviews.net/one-high-school-heroes-2025-review-promising-start-disappointing-finish) Kim Sang-ho plays the father Kim Seok-tae, and Kim Joo-ryung plays Myeong Da-bin; the supporting cast also includes Shin Hyun-soo as Kim Su-gyeom and Lim Seong-gyun as Kim Seung-jun.[1](https://asianwiki.com/ONE%3A_High_School_Heroes) • [9](https://tv.apple.com/kr/show/one-high-school-heroes/umc.cmc.50yr51zuil9gubu7hd5nigupw?l=en)
## Reception and context
The series premiered into what Korean press called a boom period for school action dramas, following the successes of *Weak Hero* and *Study Group*.[3](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250528/one-high-school-heroes-is-action-series-with-emotional-depth) • [12](https://kdramareviews.net/one-high-school-heroes-2025-review-promising-start-disappointing-finish) By late June 2025, Korean entertainment reporting described the drama as spreading by word of mouth after release and positioning itself as another flagship Wavve title after *Weak Hero Class 1*.[13](https://ottrank.kr/title/1-2025233219)
Audience scores were solid: IMDb lists 7.6/10 from about 1.9K votes, with individual episode ratings between 8.3 and 9.6, and AsianWiki users gave 89/100.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34622123/ratings/) • [1](https://asianwiki.com/ONE%3A_High_School_Heroes) Critical reception was divided on the second half. One review called episodes 1 through 4 among the most gripping school action dramas of the year while judging episodes 5 through 8 a stumble, though it credited the character backstories with adding weight to the story.[12](https://kdramareviews.net/one-high-school-heroes-2025-review-promising-start-disappointing-finish) Another review praised the drama's treatment of mental health, trauma, and healing beneath its revenge plot.[11](https://once-upon-a-drama.com/2025/12/21/one-high-school-heroes-drama-review/) International viewers also noted subpar English subtitles as a barrier.[10](https://www.thereviewgeek.com/onehighschoolheroes-s1endingexplained/)
The Korea Film Commission's 2025 catalog classifies the series under crime and action genres with a 15 age rating, produced by Covenant Pictures for Wavve.[14](https://www.alio.go.kr/download/download.json?fileNo=3032925)
## References
1. [ONE: High School Heroes, AsianWiki](https://asianwiki.com/ONE%3A_High_School_Heroes)
2. ['ONE: High School Heroes' depicts school violence through emotion and action, CHOSUNBIZ (OSEN), May 28, 2025](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-entertainment/2025/05/28/GKEYZXHEGBHXXO5TKS22LYD7WU/?outputType=amp)
3. ['ONE: High School Heroes' is action series with emotional depth, The Korea Times, May 28, 2025](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250528/one-high-school-heroes-is-action-series-with-emotional-depth)
4. [ONE: 하이스쿨 히어로즈 production information, Naver blog (boxofficenews)](https://blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?blogId=boxofficenews&logNo=223860622546)
5. [ONE: High School Heroes (2025) – Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34622123/ratings/)
6. [ONE: High School Heroes (2025) – Parents guide, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34622123/parentalguide/)
7. [카카오웹툰 'ONE', 영상화…OTT 편성 논의 중, Bloter](https://www.bloter.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=45528)
8. [ONE: High School Heroes (TV Series 2025), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34622123/)
9. [ONE High School Heroes, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/kr/show/one-high-school-heroes/umc.cmc.50yr51zuil9gubu7hd5nigupw?l=en)
10. [One High School Heroes – K-drama Episode 8 Recap, Review & Ending Explained, TheReviewGeek](https://www.thereviewgeek.com/onehighschoolheroes-s1endingexplained/)
11. [ONE: High School Heroes, Once Upon a Drama review](https://once-upon-a-drama.com/2025/12/21/one-high-school-heroes-drama-review/)
12. [One: High School Heroes (2025) Review: Promising Start, Disappointing Finish, Kdrama Reviews](https://kdramareviews.net/one-high-school-heroes-2025-review-promising-start-disappointing-finish)
13. [ONE: 하이스쿨 히어로즈 평점·순위·추천, 오뜨랑](https://ottrank.kr/title/1-2025233219)
14. [KOFIC 연구 2026-01, Korea Film Commission (alio.go.kr)](https://www.alio.go.kr/download/download.json?fileNo=3032925)
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*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*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license