Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
What does one need to be a ‘Viral Hit’? Well, in this Japanese show, you need to be a poor, weak underdog, with an ailing mom in the hospital, cruel bullies at school, and one accidental live-stream which shows him finally standing up for himself and beating the shit out of his oppressor. But in an amusing twist, when the video goes viral on social media, the same oppressor offers to become his social media manager.
Directed by Hideki Takeuchi (‘Cells at Work’, ‘Roman Bath’), the Netflix series spanning ten episodes is based on the Korean webtoon “Viral Hit” (Kenka Dokugaku) by Park Tae Jun. It’s a lot like ‘Weak Hero Class‘ in its core themes, just not as bleak, and more focused around internet culture and content creation. Both protagonists however use their wits to defeat their opponents, instead of relying completely on brute force.
Suzuka Ouji stars as Viral Hit’s primary protagonist Shimura, a timid teen relentlessly bullied by influencer-classmate Hamaken (Osada Takuro), his lackeys, and especially the gamer Kanegon (Sugou Araki). When a fight between Shimura and Kanegon accidentally goes viral, the latter spots a business opportunity and proposes a series of face-off videos featuring Shimura taking on new challengers. Needing money for his hospitalized mother’s (Harada Mieko) medical bills, Shimura reluctantly agrees and soon finds support in Yashi Aki (Mikami Ai), a junior who volunteers to edit the channel’s videos.
But of course, Shimura is an ordinary teenager with no martial arts training, so one of Viral Hit’s central mysteries revolves around a series of online training videos he discovers. Hosted by a martial artist wearing a chicken mask, the channel seems to tailor its lessons specifically to the aspiring influencer, teaching him exactly how to survive each new fight that comes his way. Not that Shimura suddenly starts winning these brutal encounters. More often than not, he’s left battered and bloodied, barely escaping defeat by the skin of his teeth.
A minor romantic subplot follows Shimura’s instant crush on his cute new co-worker Asamiya Kaho (Nukumi Meru) at the fast-food restaurant where he works part-time. Like him, Asamiya is a high-school student, though her introductory scenes suggest she is leading something of a double life and hiding her new job from her family. After Shimura saves her from an embarrassing encounter with a group of rowdy livestreamers causing a scene at the restaurant, she treats him to a thank-you meal, leading to a friendship between the two. She soon learns about his Viral Hit channel and becomes concerned for his well-being.
Which, in turn, makes her one of several possible candidates behind the mysterious training videos. Other suspects include Shimura’s biggest supporter Aki, the popular MMA fighter Tatsuya (Hamao Noritaka), who rescues him from one of Hamaken’s brutal beatdowns, and perhaps even Tatsuya’s trainer. The show keeps viewers guessing about the chicken-masked mentor’s identity while Shimura slowly climbs the ranks of the streaming world, with Kanegon and Aki on his side.
Their channel’s meteoric rise doesn’t just earn them a lot of money, but also attracts the attention of jealous rivals and powerful adults. One particular fight channel backed by a major company makes it their mission to crush ‘Viral Hit’. One of the issues with the plot is that the show keeps finding ways to lock Shimura and his friends out of their account. Sure, I can buy their enemies trying to hack or steal the channel, but why on earth do these kids never think to withdraw the money already sitting in it?
Suzuka Ouji’s Shimura is probably the weakest part of ‘Viral Hit’ even though he does have a likable presence and a warm smile. It’s the writers’ fault that they give the character zero personality, beyond the fact that he is dirt poor and willing to do almost anything to earn money for his mother’s treatment. We know he trains relentlessly for the channel’s increasingly dangerous fights, but most of that development is relegated to brief montages. While the fight scenes themselves are entertaining, Ouji never fully convinces as a timid nerd gradually transforming into a capable fighter.
Maeda Kentaro (‘Kamen Rider’, ‘I Can’t Reach You’) meanwhile, leaves a much stronger impression in his brief appearance as taekwondo fighter Reo Shinjo, who challenges Shimura to a match. While Aki is dead against at the prospect of Shimura taking on a trained athlete, Kanegon can only think about the views such a fight would generate. It doesn’t help that Reo carries a fearsome reputation and is even rumored to have killed someone. Kentaro plays the character with comic-book intensity, all wild eyes, simmering aggression, and the kind of menace that makes the rumors feel entirely plausible.
While the animated version of ‘Viral Hit’ spans twelve episodes, this live-action adaptation wraps things up in just six. In many ways, that’s close to the ideal length, but one or two additional episodes devoted to the friendship between Shimura, Aki, and Kanegon would have given the story far more emotional weight. Mikami Ai’s Yashi Aki, in particular, feels underutilized despite being instrumental to Shimura’s success. Always sporting the yellow jacket of her webtoon counterpart, she has a fun comic-book energy that the series never quite exploits enough.
While the animated version of ‘Viral Hit’ spans twelve episodes, this live-action adaptation wraps things up in just six. In many ways, that’s close to the ideal length, but one or two additional episodes devoted to the friendship between Shimura, Aki, and Kanegon would have given the story far more emotional weight. Mikami Ai’s Yashi Aki, in particular, feels underutilized despite being instrumental to Shimura’s success. Always sporting the yellow jacket of her webtoon counterpart, she has a fun comic-book energy that the series never quite exploits enough.
The climactic episode of Viral Hit features a highly anticipated match between Shimura and an antagonist, and despite ending on a positive note, it feels very sudden, almost as if the production was forced to shut shop due to lack of funds. Poor Shimura spends the entire series trying to earn enough money to support his mother, only for one disaster after another to threaten his livelihood. So, when he finally reaches a certain financial milestone, the credits roll so quickly that I wasn’t entirely convinced he’d get to keep the money or actually have a ‘happy ending’. We needed a more definitive closure.
Still, what ultimately makes ‘Viral Hit’ work is the whole ‘underdogs taking on bullies’ theme. Watching the trio slowly transform from opportunist collaborators into genuine friends is often more satisfying than the fights themselves. As the channel grows, they begin taking ownership of it together, supporting one another through every setback and success. Obviously this isn’t the best show out there, but not bad for a one-time-watch either.
Watch ‘Viral Hit’ on Netflix.
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