Netflix's new K-drama with disappointing reviews tops global charts, beats When Life Gives You Tangerines, Resident Playbook, and more

Indian Express

01-05-2025

Netflix has unveiled the top 10 TV shows in its non-English category for the week, and to everyone's surprise, one K-drama that debuted just 5 days ago has outshined giant hits like Park Bo Gum and IU's When Life Gives You Tangerines, knocking the show down to seventh place after it dominated the charts for nearly 7 consecutive weeks. It has also overtaken Son Suk Ku's Heavenly Ever After, which opened with strong ratings. With just eight episodes, Park Ji Hoon's Weak Hero 2 has made a splash on Netflix and, in just a week, climbed to the number one spot. The show is a sequel to the 2022 release Weak Hero Class 1, and is adapted from a manhwa of the same name.
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Starring Park Ji Hoon in his new school Eunjang with his new anti-bullying gang, Ryeo Un (Twinkling Watermelon) as Park Hu Min, Choi Min Yeong (XO, Kitty) as Seo Jun Tae, and Lee Min Jae (Uprising) as Go Hyun Tak, the miniseries K-drama has hit No. 1, dethroning shows like The Gardener, A Glass Dome, and Netflix's new Brazilian documentary A Tragedy Foretold. With 6.1M views this week alone, Weak Hero 2 is No. 1 in 9 countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Oman and parts of America, and ranked in the top 10 in 63 countries, including India, Japan, Peru, Argentina, and more.
Seon Suk Ku's Heavenly Ever After has slipped to the No. 5 spot with 2.9M views this week, while the acclaimed medical K-drama Hospital Playlist's spinoff, Resident Playbook, sits at No. 6 with 2.1M views. Park Bo Gum's When Life Gives You Tangerines is currently at No. 7. Thanks to the popularity of Weak Hero 2, season 1 of the show has also climbed back up and is now at No. 8. All in all, K-dramas seem to have taken over the entire non-English chart with their recent chart-toppers.
Why Weak Hero 2 is disappointing despite global success
Weak Hero Class 1, which impressed its audience for portraying the raw emotions and pain of a bullied teenager, their meaningful friendship, and most of all the slam dunks and punches shown in the manhwa, landing straight in its live adaptation, were completely missing in season 2 of the show. Fans accused Netflix of butchering the show by rushing the plotline, skipping proper character development, and leaving out action sequences that just didn't match up to the comic. Some characters never even got their closure, especially Na Bae Jin, who suddenly vanished after things went south for the union, and in the end, all we saw was a funeral. Though fans who haven't read the manhwa still loved Park Ji Hoon's acting and praised the storyline and the bond Ji Eun shared with Baku, Go Tak, and the XO, Kitty fame, so it won't be wrong to say the OTT streamer is cashing in on the success of the first season.
Weak Hero class 2 plot
Si Eun gets transferred to Eunjang High after getting expelled from his previous school. He is still haunted by the past and undergoes therapy while contemplating a foreign move suggested by his mother, as he keeps blaming himself for his friend Su Ho's current situation, who is in a coma after a fight sequence in season 1 that hurt him badly and left him in a near-dying state. In Eunjang, Si Eun, who is a loner, tries turning a blind eye to all the bullying and fights, but when Seo Jun Tae keeps getting bullied again and again by Hyo Man, he has to take charge. And that's how he meets Baku—Eunjang's top dog—and his second-hand, Go Tak. Together, the two will do anything not to let their school become a part of the union. The Union is a gang alliance run by school kids, each from different schools, who call themselves top dogs and operate like a mafia syndicate, dealing in stolen phones and bikes.