Poster for the new Netflix series ‘True Education’.
This ‘True Education’ is a success. It hit the mark.
According to the OTT ranking aggregation site FlixPatrol on the 8th, Netflix’s new series ‘True Education’ (directed by Hong Jong-chan) climbed to No. 3 in Netflix’s global Top 10 TV shows just three days after its release. It settled into the global Top 5, following ‘Witness’ and ‘Michael Jackson Trial: Verdict’.
A scene from ‘True Education’.
It has captured the hearts of audiences in a total of 25 countries worldwide. In Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Maldives, Morocco, Oman, and Pakistan, ‘True Education’ reached No. 1. Compared with the previous day’s numberswhen it topped the chart only in the Philippines and South Korea immediately after releasethis is a remarkable surge.
In South Korea, it has held the top spot continuously since the 6th, the day it premiered. Notably, community reactions flipped 180 degrees before and after the release; worries and concerns sparked by various controversies surrounding the original webtoon appear to have been put to rest by its quality and entertainment value.
Kim Mu-yeol in ‘True Education’.
Given that production reportedly suffered growing pains from the start due to various controversies over the original webtoon, this outcome is highly encouraging. The original webtoon of the same name, ‘True Education’, is set in a school where teachers’ authority has collapsed as student violence worsens following the enactment of a fictional corporal punishment ban; members of a ‘Teacher Rights Protection Bureau’ are dispatched to campuses to directly punish problem students, parents, and corrupt teachers. Some criticized this problem-solving method as excessively glamorizing violence, and additional controversiessuch as misogyny and racismfollowed, drawing backlash.
In fact, last year the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) held a protest calling for production to be halted. The union argued that the original, based on the fictional premise that ‘teachers’ authority collapsed due to the corporal punishment ban,’ repeatedly depicts teachers’ violence against students. It also criticized the work for distorting the reality of teachers who have worked to protect teaching authority.
Kim Mu-yeol and director Hong Jong-chan (right).
However, the production team’s resolve paid off. As director Hong Jong-chan said, “We couldn’t lose the premise of the ‘Teacher Rights Protection Bureau,’ so we had to reference the original, but we focused on refining itremoving uncomfortable elementsto craft a good story,” the series threads the message that ‘good adults protect children well’ through all 10 episodes, successfully delivering laughter, tears, emotion, and empathy.
Kim Mu-yeol’s comic transformation also worked. Having mainly played serious, weighty characters in works such as ‘Akinjeon’, ‘Beomjoedosi 4’, and ‘Voice’, he now channels a sharp comic sensibility to fully embody Na Hwa-jin, a ‘Teacher Rights Protection Bureau’ inspector who is a former special forces operative. By punishing school bullies, overbearing parents, and corrupt teachers with an ‘eye for an eye’ approach, his Na Hwa-jin delivers cathartic laughs and thrills, recreating the character at 200% and heightening immersion and pull.
On top of that, the ensemble of Lee Sung-min, Jin Ki-joo, and Pyo Ji-hoon amplifies the dramatic fun. Each expresses a distinct charm in their character, making the story more rhythmic. With director Hong Jong-chan’s meticulous direction and writer Lee Nam-gyu’s brisk pacing added, it has been completed as a ‘top-tier binge-watch’ you can’t stop once you start.
It will be interesting to see how much more love ‘True Education’, which flipped controversy into empathy, will garner from here on out.
