Weak Hero

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SPOILER FREE!

Well, this is my very first review on MAL, and boy am I so glad that it’s about Weak Hero! It’s the high school story that I never knew I needed, but I am so glad that I found this gem. Many of the popular delinquent mangas are nearly 20 years old or older, and I think this manhwa is an amazing contribution (and update) to that underrated genre.

Plot: 8.5
Well firstly, the synopsis on MAL and Webtoon is not giving you many hints on how this manhwa actually plays out, but don’t worry all the twists actually turn out really well. I'm not gonna ... give spoilers, but what I love about Weak Hero is that it has plot elements consistently being foreshadowed sometimes 90+ chapters before it's revealed, and it never makes the plot confusing or boring since there are so many enjoyable and interesting developments within each chapter. I really admire the amount of planning that was put into the storyline, and it is definitely something that I wish more manga/manhwa/webtoon writers would put more effort into.
Considering all the hints and small details within Weak Hero, I have a feeling that the story still has a lot of story arcs to get through, which is why I’m holding back a full 9 or 10 rating. However, I am extremely confident that the writer will deliver on this very promising story.

Characters: 10
Despite its action-packed focus, the characters and their personalities are portrayed extremely well in this series. The tone of Weak Hero is a lot more grounded than other action mangas since it is set in the “real world”, and I think that this really contributes to the reliability and realism of the personalities for each of the main characters and how they interact with each other. While this is a mature story, the main cast definitely feels like your regular teenagers in a very good way.
The character development for the protagonist is also quite prevalent, and the character arcs for some of them are pleasantly surprising (spoiler-free sorry). In fact, I’d also say that the gradual development of friendship within this story is one of the best I’ve seen in anything I’ve read or watched. I also really like the direction that the antagonists of this series seem to be headed in, but that also includes personal speculation and specific plot details, so I’ll leave you to read it and form your own thoughts.

Art: 8.5
The artist and the writer for Weak Hero are two completely different people, and this may contribute to some inconsistencies throughout chapters especially when comparing flashbacks to the actual scenes themselves. However, I’d say that this is a super minor weakness. Firstly, the art drastically improves after the first story arc, and I love the manga-esque art style, and the fight scenes are extremely well drawn.
In fact, in the later chapters each panel literally looks like it’s been ripped straight out from an anime since all the characters and backgrounds are completely colored. Now it's not Solo Leveling art, but I also adore how it's so easy to follow what’s going on in each fighting scene and how distinct each character is with their unique designs even if they’re all supposed to be regular teenage high schoolers.

Enjoyment: 9.95
I’ve already discussed why I adore the plot, characters, and art, but I also want to highlight another good aspect of this manhwa: the pacing. Filler chapters are a plague that has infected most long-running webtoons (including the good ones). Thankfully, this is not an issue with Weak Hero so far, and there's always relevant plot/character developments with each chapter. I’m extremely impressed with the story arcs that they managed to fit in within 100ish chapters since, in my opinion, it could have easily been stretched out into 150 chapters or more. This natural pacing that Weak Hero has substantially increases the enjoyability of reading this manhwa.
The 0.05 that's missing isn't the fault of the writer or artist of Weak Hero, but rather it’s the translators at the company Webtoon. The mistranslations and misspellings are noticeable, but they're more like distractions or annoyances rather than becoming a complete detriment to the enjoyment of the manhwa.

Overall: 9
Well, what can I say? Weak Hero really deserves it. I hardly get attached to characters or stories, but I’m all-in on this train, and I feel like everyone who loves a solid action manga or manhwa should check this story out as well. It has completely surprised me with how great not just the action is, but how it takes advantage of its more realistic setting with great and relatable characters as well as its high stakes.
Check it out! You definitely won’t regret it :)

Much like the other reviews, I cannot begin to say how insanely good this Manwha/Webtoon is, and if things go well with Crunchyroll during their test runs on Tower of God, God Of High School, and Noblesse, I can see a future anime adaptation for Weak Hero.

This is everything you want, in a cold, exciting, action read. The scenes are brutal, the emotions are real, things are so grounded in reality, you can almost imagine them happening right in front of your eyes.


Story: 9/10
At no point does the story of Weak Hero fall short (for the most part.) Even when we take cuts into peoples ... pasts, or turtle in between 'arcs' you still get a nice strong fill of emotion, action, and set up. The story is RICH, you have angst, sorrow, happiness, excitement, you name it, it can deliver it. There are times where you will feel sad, this Manwha delivers are rich amount of real life tragedies that affect us all, and it really drives home how traumatizing some of it is. It doesn't shirk away from scary topics like suicide, bullying, gang-affiliation and the fear that comes with it. It's more than just an action book, its a full-blown story with its own world and development.

Art: 8/10
As it's a Webtoon/Manwha you'll get your simple art, simple panel to panel, sometimes only speech bubbles. However where this Manwha excels is in the fight department. Sure it delivers on peoples emotional reactions, and dramatic scenes. But when it comes to Gray and his style of fighting, oh man, will it send shivers down your spine and hook you into it. Gray is not a clean fighter, and the ideas that pop out of the Authors head are captivating. I promise you one thing, if you read it, you'll imagine an animated version of it. Each moment really captivates the emotions and actions that are happening.

Characters: 9/10
It's hard to talk about the other subjects without touching down on how phenomenal each character is. They all have a unique character trait, no one protagonist is the same as the other, and they draw well upon one another, like a well tuned machine, or a puzzle. You get great character depth, astounding development, and you can really get down and understand what each one is thinking.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I don't give this rating out often, but I found my niche love. Every time I see someone stare into the eyes of 'White Mamba' after they know who he is, the drawn work of art really lets me see the fear they have.
Whenever you go to the next chapter, you can see the evolution of art style, drawing, ad character development. You jump on the journey of a growing Artist/Story Teller, and their work is a smash hit. I can't stress how much I recommend this.

Overall: 9/10
Read it, if you like action mixed in with dramatic story telling. Enough said.

I had stayed away from webtoons for a while because I had heard the quality could be a mess; however, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I fell head over heels with this webtoon. I binged it in 2 days and have been staying up-to-date with new chapters. While I don't think I fall in the target audience, I enjoyed it quite a bit as I like stories with fighting. Even the antagonists have fleshed out backstories and remain relevant to the plot. The fights are well put together and display an array of fighting styles and motives. Not all characters are likeable but ... they all have their charm.

Overall, it's g u d shit and def recommend people to read.

This is my first review because I really enjoy this webtoon and want to see more people enjoy it :)

Overall it is an amazing story that has its melancholic points and its exciting points. It is one of the first manhwa I have read and it is still one of my favs to this day. The only thing that I have against it is how the english TL's names seem really goofy if you know what I mean and kind of puts me off at some points in the story.

Story:
Although there are many school gang manhwa type stuff this is one of my favorites because of how its story is told. It doesn't go over the top with crazy insane shit and mostly stays ... within the grounds of reality (to a certain extent of course). One thing that I love most is how it isn't stretched at all. There is one big bad introduced in the beginning and that is the end. All around the story gives itself time and pacing to go step by step reaching the end goal.

The ending is definitely one that is great in some ways while lackluster in other ways. Maybe it is just how I was feeling while reading the chapters but although the build up to the finale was insanely hype I wasn't that hyped as the finale was happening. The final twist is definitely something that came out of a left field and finally I became completely invested in the story again. I am not saying that at any point the story became boring but the finale wasn't as insane as I hoped it would be.

The flashbacks to moments before the story began is also really good as we see how the current ecosystem came to be from how each character knows each other to how systems that exist came to be. The flashbacks are also really amazing at giving the aspirations of each character and why they do things.

Characters:
Definitely one of the stronger points in weak hero is the characters. Each of the main cast is explored enough so that we understand their positions and emotions. The arcs that explore the individual characters are some of my favorite actually as it takes a break from the grand goal and explores the values and goals of a character and understand what makes them who they are. Even the majority of the main antagonists are explored to the point that I can understand them and to a certain extent feel for them. The story is also really great in its character to character interactions, as we can see the hate/care/respect one character has towards the other that has been built before the story even began.

Art:
The art is great all around from how the characters look to how the movements seem fluid and natural even though it is just panels. An amazing thing that I have to say though is how great the emotional scenes are drawn such as the sad scenes or the angry scenes. The close up angles shown in panels where stylized depictions of the situations show the gravity of the situation. The characters expressions are really great as they show us exactly how the characters feel and also prelude us to their intentions.

Overall:
Good action, good story, cool interesting characters. School violence type of story that stays within the realm of reality enough that I seems pretty legit (like probably could happen idk how korean laws work). Still kinda annoyed by the english TL's of the names of the characters though with the worst in my opinion being Doland Na (no one is named donald these days come on man). Great story though.

!!SPOILER FREE!!

I am a die hard fan of delinquent manga's whether be it Crows or GTO. This show likes to build itself before nose diving into action. It will have perfect amount of buildup for 5-7 chapters or so enough to make you hate/love a character and then put them into a fighting predicament where they show off their morals, values and bonds. The MC is the best thing about this show, he's creative AF in fights, just when you think now what he will do, he gets creative and will shock you. Most of side characters have their moments and good amount of build-up ... to actually get attached to them. The main villain will feel like he is the son of DIO, the way he carry's himself and commands other around him but it's not cringe and is actually cool because he is portrayed as the prodigy.

The show starts off a little bit dark but it's the essence of the great MC of this show. Just read it, once the action starts chapter's fly by you and you will just sit their thinking did I just read through so many of them.

Characters 10/10
Art 8/10(Doesn't need to be good because story is LIT)
Enjoyment 10/10
Story 10/10

Weak Hero is a mediocre underdog story with a great cast of characters. The interactions between the protagonist's group of friends are by far the highlight of the story. The plot is not necessarily bad, but it has some absolutely glaring flaws that i can't seem to get over. For one the plot is so god damn predictable, how many times do we have to see the MC get underestimated because of his appearance only to beat the shit out of his opponent? Honestly the fights that don't include the MC are way better than the same copy paste fight we get every time the ... MC gets in a fight. Also there is a major plot hole in this story, they spend a lot of time telling you about the big bad antagonist, Donald Na, the leader of "the union". The author describes him as someone insanely strong and smart who only cares about money. Yet for some reason, despite the fact that the union could just not fuck with the MC's school and keep making money, they keep sending members of the union to try and crush the MC and Ben Park. With how often the other characters talk about Donald being a genius you would think he would've just cut his losses after Jimmy went behind his back to fight Ben Park, but instead he just keeps sending goon after goon at the MC and his friends and they always lose. The author has given no reason other than maybe pride(?) for why the union is so hell bent on destroying the MC and his friends.

Also this has nothing to do with the story but why does the author insist on making all the characters wear designer clothing it is so insanely tacky and distracting.