Amanda M. Castro
2026-01-17 03:55:00
Weak Hero didn’t become a hit overnight. When the Korean high school action series first premiered in 2022, it lived mostly on the margins — passed around through fan recommendations, social clips, and word of mouth rather than a massive global push. But now that the show has found a second life on Netflix, its reach has grown fast.
Since Weak Hero Class 2 arrived on the platform, the series has pulled in more than 112 million hours viewed, per FlixPatrol, while Letterboxd users continue to rate it as one of Netflix’s strongest K-action titles. The attention isn’t coming from hype alone. Weak Hero earns its following by being sharp, uncomfortable, and unusually honest about how violence actually works in environments built to ignore it.
What Weak Hero Is About
The story follows Yeon Si-eun (Park Ji-hoon), a quiet, high-achieving student who keeps to himself and spends most of his time studying. He’s small, tired, and visibly overworked — an easy target in a school where bullying isn’t occasional, but constant. Si-eun doesn’t fight back because he wants power. He is constantly subjected to harassment and, therefore, reacts violently as a result of snapping. He does not rely on brute strength when he snaps; he relies on his ability to react quickly, to utilize the surrounding area, and to take advantage of the fact that the aggressor will only think about what they are currently doing. The combination of these leads him to snap and be unable to stop himself from doing anything about it.
The first season of K-drama tells the story of how his relationship with Ahn Su-ho (Choi Hyun-wook), a talented martial artist and a very loyal friend, and Oh Beom-seok (Hong Kyung), a wealthy student who is being abused at home, develops into a beautiful yet fragile friendship which falls apart due to betrayal and ends with a very violent finale that has long-term consequences.
Season 2 moves Si-eun to a new school, but not away from violence. The past follows him, along with a reputation he never wanted. This time, the danger isn’t just individual bullies — it’s an organized student network known as The Union, which treats intimidation and extortion like a business.
The series also makes a point of showing how little help adults offer. Educators resolve conflicts without changing the environment in which students fight; therefore, many educational institutions focus on image rather than student safety. The parents of these students either do not have the time or cannot be present when needed, thus allowing their children to continue to be placed in an unsafe area. Where there is no quality assurance for the student population, students will seek anything to fill that void, ultimately finding themselves in a downward spiral of consequences.
In the second season, they take that to a whole new level by having The Union profit from fear, using the students’ stolen phones to control them, put them into debt, and threaten them. This isn’t a subtle approach, nor does it need to be; Weak Hero does an excellent job of showing what happens when a system fails and no one takes responsibility for stepping in.
Why ‘Weak Hero’ Is Worth Watching Now
Park Ji-hoon plays Si-eun with restraint. He’s quiet for long stretches, reacting more than speaking, letting tension build instead of spelling out what he’s feeling. When he finally lashes out, it’s disturbing precisely because it feels earned.
That approach becomes even more effective in Season 2. However, Si-eun has become increasingly withdrawn due to his experiences during Season 1. He continues to deal with the trauma related to Su-ho and Beom-seok, and the series makes a compelling argument that trauma stays with a person even after leaving a stressful situation.
Choi Hyun-wook plays Su-ho in the series and adds a much-needed warmth to the character, and Hong Kyung’s portrayal of Beom-seok is one of the most unsettling performances in the series. Beom-seok’s gradual breakdown is much more painful because it is so real. Even after both characters are gone, their presence continues to influence how the events unfold in the series.
The show’s growing numbers and Letterboxd buzz suggest viewers aren’t just watching — they’re thinking about it afterward. In a crowded streaming lineup full of forgettable teen dramas, Weak Hero stands out by refusing to be easy. The 112 million hours viewed aren’t just a statistic. They’re proof that audiences are willing to sit with something this bleak when it feels this real.
