I have got to start blogging again, because why do I even have this blog?

*major spoilers ahoy!*

Weak Hero has a lot of good things going for it. Positive Masculinity, Bromances, and cool fight scenes. It ended some months ago, therefore it’s time for a review.

The plot follows my boi Gray Yeon, a high school student at Eunjang High who’s book smart and can throw hands. His beat down abilities are the result of countless of hours of training to enact vengeance on the bullies who turned his only friend (Stephen Ahn) into a vegetable (they literally threw homie off a roof).

Loosely, Gray’s other goal is to never be in a place where he (or his friends) have to suffer at the hands of those stronger than him. His ruthless fighting style earns him the moniker “White Mamba” and his Eunjang gang (Ben, Alex, Gerard, Rowan, and Eugene) take down a lot of baddies culminating in a fight with the Union. The manwha involves a lot of fighting, leading up to fights and more fights but is interwoven well with themes like the power of True Companionship and complex characters. Even the villains have their motivations and reasons for being who they are, and most of them are difficult to fully hate even though I managed to find it in my heart to doo so.

All roads lead to Donald Na, head of the Union, regardless of how hard the bros try to avoid him, and try to avoid him they do.

Donald is for reasons somewhat unclear gathering all the HBICs of nearby schools under his wing and he’s successful with every school except Eunjang. Donald already beat Eunjang once, nearly crippling Ben 4ever and giving Alex Go Go PTSD, but this time they have Gray, who despite physically not being as strong as Donald is his intellectual match. Long story short, everything culminates in a final throwdown with Eunjang vs. the Union in which Eunjang loses.

Some will probably find the final fight in Weak Hero disappointing, but the ending works because it balks expecations. Something the manwha doesn’t do up until this point.

The heroes always win, even when the odds are stacked against them (i.e. Wolf vs. Gray, Jake vs. Ben) and even in this final fight against Donald where they lose the physical brawl, they walk away with their lives and more importantly their friendship intact. A friendship that’s been forged through good times and bad times, but the bros remain with one another through it all.

Ironically, Donald loses everything. He disbands the Union shortly after winning and is quickly abandoned by those who fought under him, leaving him to curb stomp Myles Joo and his goonies alone. His final moments are spent injured, manic, and idly wondering if he and Gray Yeon had met under different circumstances, would they have been friends? Donald may have won the battle, but he lost the war (and his life, RIP).

Weak Hero isn’t really about fighting, but friendship and the importance of surrounding oneself with true bros. Donald spent his entire life betrayed by those closest to him, losing the only person he really cared about (his mom). Gray Yeon’s backstory isn’t much different. The adults who were supposed to keep them safe, only protected those who lined their own pockets, even at the expense of human life. It’s no wonder both of them became cold, jaded, and calculating.

But Gray eventually drops his emotional walls and allows himself to be truly vulnerable again, despite the risks, surrounding himself with friends who pull him out of his solitary existence. Win or lose, Gray is left with friends who genuinely care for him and will stay with him through it all.

Donald too surrounds himself with people. Those willing to fight for him, but he never allows himself to drop his walls and be vulnerable. When there’s no more fighting to be had and no more battles to win, Donald is left with nothing but an inkling that perhaps his life would’ve been better spent making friends instead of fighters.

All in all, Weak Hero concludes on a satisfying note that sticks to its themes whilst still providing an epic, final fight.

Weak Hero Rating: 8.5/10