A Webtoon Review: Weak Hero by SEOPASS / RAZEN
In Weak Hero (story by SEOPASS, art by RAZEN) on webtoons.com once the bullies target you it is game over. The reader follows the main character Gray Yeon, through his confrontations and befriending of the yakuza-like gangs of his school and the surrounding area. He starts as a mysterious new student, where his slight, effeminate looks seem to paint a target on his back at a notorious high school, but no one quite expects how vicious his fangs actually are. Think of a monster-of-the-week set up, but focused instead on teenage gangs in a world where grown-ups, when they exist at all, are matchstick periphery characters and your peers are out for blood. If you are one for cold, calculating protagonists with angsty backstory and tried and true brotherhood surrounded by brutal violence and colorful language – give it a shot.
Now, while I read plenty of web comics in my undergrad days it has been awhile since I have read one from beginning to it’s current ending. Not only that, gang stories are not the first thing I would pick up. However, my brother added this to my list for 2021, and I decided to start the year off with this one. For those unfamiliar with webtoons, each chapter or section is called an episode. This first two seasons of Weak Hero total to a whopping 127 episodes, and more is on the way. Not unusual for a web comic (they can get long, trust me on this), but if you’re used to traditional novels it will feel like quite the endurance challenge. Tip for reading – do it on a device where you can easily scroll! I love reading webtoons on a tablet, but any touchscreen or a well-adjusted roll of the mouse also works well.
Before we get into my thoughts on Weak Hero, let’s get some perspective from the person who recommended it to me in the first place (my brother).
Q & A
Why did you choose to recommend Weak Hero to me?
“I thought you would enjoy it and hoped it would (re)start an appreciation for webtoons, as they are a good story medium.”
What are your favorite elements or parts of Weak Hero?
“My favorite part is probably the friendships formed inside the group as the story progresses, despite being enemies before.”
Violence in Weak Hero makes up much of the story and character progression. Fight after fight pushes both the plot and protagonist onward. How do you think violence being that medium of progression impacted the story or characters?
“The lack physical repercussions of the violence would definitely impact the story. For example, when Helmet (one of the early fights) reacts throughout the rest of the story his actions are driven by the violence of that first interaction. His impact on the story would change if it was a different medium.”
Is there a different element that you think could have worked as a driving force if not violence?
“Perhaps competition in something like sports since everyone is already grouped by school already and the internal conflicts could just be infighting. The lack of physical repercussions and the differing attitudes would change the impact of the story though so maybe not.”
Exposition in Weak Hero is largely provided through third person observation and internal dialogue. That being said, some of the actual dialogue wouldn’t have been out of place in a romance – do you think that was intentional?
“I don’t know. I haven’t read any of SEOPASS’s other works, and since it is translated there is always a chance of tonal changes there. Flashback scenes are also meant to be intentional nostalgic so that could be it.”
…and that’s a wrap for the Q&A with my brother on his addition to my 2021 Reading List, Weak Hero. Many thanks to him for the recommendation and his time in answering my questions.
Some of my own comments on the webtoon relate to my brother’s answers. Chunky wording and phrasing throughout the comic are part and parcel of it being translated work. I would attribute any instances of awkward language to translation hiccups rather than author error. The more you read the harder those instances are to notice as you adjust to the way it is translated as well.
Onto the actual story review, and I want to start with the statement that if you are not a fan of in-depth background for every character or violence then Weak Hero may not be for you. Flashbacks to flesh out characters abound and redemption arcs are indeed a thing here. If the main character, Gray, interacts with another character the chances of a backstory arc for them increases exponentially. By the time the second season of Weak Hero ends, Gray has managed to make several close friends. Two of them, Ben and Alex (nicknamed Big Ben and Gogo respectively) have one of the longest backflash sections in the entire comic.
Gray Yeon, our protagonist, is the weak hero that Weak Hero gets its name from. He is small, slight, and effeminate in appearance. He has minimal physical strength. What he does have is wicked smarts, an analytical mind, and a willingness to persist far beyond any reasonable stopping point. One of the wrap-up lines near the end of season two that he says to a friend are, “I’m a coward…so I never start fights…I can’t win.” He grows on you. At the start he seemed a little brooding and emo to me, but I enjoyed seeing his character flesh out as the comic progressed and while I think I could tell you exactly how this series will end for our main character there is always time for a curve ball.
His supporting cast, as stated above, doesn’t suffer from 2-D characterization either. Each member as they are assimilated (yes, assimilated – the group seems to absorb people like an amoeba) receives a thorough analysis of their fighting background courtesy of resident fight nerd Eugene when we meet them. We the readers also get small bits of insight into hobbies such as the fact that Gerard, who has a stunning green bowl cut and some fierce kicks, sings and plays some killer guitar. Teddy Jin, while possibly insane, has a weakness for kittens. No new character joining the gang remains a mystery.
Reading Weak Hero was a break from my usual novels and fanfiction, and by the time I wrapped up with the content currently out a welcome one. I was unsure in the starting episodes if I would care about any of the characters enough to stick with it, but I am glad to be proven wrong. I do want to know what SEOPASS decides to do with Gray Yeon, Donald Na, and the inevitable clash between the two.
