English Dub Review: Viral Hit “I Have to Become Stronger”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After tasting viral success, Hobin and Snapper try to come up with ways to keep their new audience interested.  However, when Hobin calls out Pakgo live on stream, he finds out he’s not as ready for a fight as he thought he was.

Our Take: 

Hobin has received the success and internet fame he’s always wanted.  However, his journey of viral glory is just getting started, thanks to an unexpected alliance with his tormenter, Snapper.  Yes, the same Snapper who made Hobin’s life a living hell and mocked Hobin’s sick mother.  I’m still sore about the latter part despite Snapper getting his just desserts in the previous episode.  Hopefully, his cooperation with Hobin would set this bully straight for the better. This week’s episode further expresses the idea of Hobin maintaining his audience’s attention by fighting bullies live on camera.

This episode sees the two going after their first target, Pakgo, by hitting him where it hurts the most: his online personality.  When Snapper filmed Pakgo abusing Hobin in front of the class, Pakgo became the next bully to experience internet infamy.  That’s what that idiot gets for insulting Hobin and his mother like that, but more importantly, where the hell are the teachers during these confrontations?  But, of course, Pakgo isn’t the one to forgive and forget, as he vowed to take revenge on Hobin for ruining his fame.  Thankfully, Hobin has some people backing him up: Snapper and another classmate, Moon-seong Kim, who’s said to be an MMA expert feared by everyone.

Following that, we see Hobin and Snapper devise a way to survive a fight for three minutes to maintain their audience’s interest.  This resulted in Hobin finding a mysterious channel titled “How to Fignt” consisting of videos of a man in a chicken mask teaching viewers to fight.  It’s unclear who this person was or whether his videos help strengthen Hobin.  The only way to know for sure is when Hobin goes on a quest to retrieve his phone, which happens to have Bo-mi’s phone number, from the muggers who took it.

Overall, the episode offered enough hits in its plot to maintain my interest in this particular channel.  It’s satisfying to see Pakgo get what he deserves for being an asshole, which will likely continue in future episodes.  However, it’s also nice to see Snapper support Hobin in his snarky and stubborn way by saving him from being punched by Pakgo.  But he still has a long way to go to find redemption within himself.  Hopefully, this continues with him helping Hobin get his phone back.