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Pierce Conran

This article contains mild spoilers.
3/5 stars
Lead cast: Hwang Min-hyun, Han Ji-eun
For a series about a study group led by a boy who wants nothing more than to hit the books, precious little studying actually takes place in Study Group.
Instead, these fresh-faced youths spend most of their time hitting other people who prevent them from achieving their scholastic ambitions.
Yoon Ga-min (Hwang Min-hyun, Alchemy of Souls) loves to study, but no matter how much time he devotes to it he languishes in last place at this school.


He transfers to a notorious vocational school in the hopes of a higher academic ranking. Despite the pugilistic environment at the graffitied Yuseong Technical High School, however, he is still frustrated in his ambitions – he once again lands right at the bottom of the list.
Hence his desire to form a study group by finding other students with academic desires. Given that Yuseong is dominated by another ranking – which places students according to their fight skills – Ga-min has his work cut out for him.
Classrooms are dominated by fighting and posturing; any studying must be conducted in secret.
Naive and unafraid, Ga-min perseveres and is able to assemble some recruits to his cause because of something he has been keeping to himself – he possesses godlike fighting abilities.
After handily putting down a few opponents and with the help of new teacher Lee Han-kyung (Han Ji-eun, When the Stars Gossip), who wants to reform the school, Ga-min manages to form a study group, even scoring a dedicated study room.

This study group is made up of several characters who are harassed by other kids in school. Thanks to Ga-min and a few other members who are handy with their fists, much of their time together is spent fighting against other factions.
Occasionally they do have the time for some brief studying montages, but the show seems to acknowledge how limited their time is and thus their achievements are. One of around 250 students, Ga-min rises just 10 spots from bottom come exam time.
Study Group is designed to be consumed by young viewers, many of them probably still studying as teenagers or young adults. It’s a tantalising proposition, as it lionises scholastic achievement but provides a constant excuse for not being able to study.

Through its exaggerated representation of a Korean school, hierarchy and the importance of academics, it affords viewers a soothing form of wish fulfilment. Ga-min’s fighting prowess is purely fantastical, in the way a bullied teen might daydream of fending off his attackers.
The best example of this comes at the close of episode three, when Ga-min soars out of a fourth-floor window to deal a knockout punch to a loudmouth outside on the street, to the wide-eyed admiration of everyone gathered around.
Study Group gives us a few fun examples of this heightened kind of fisticuffs, which would not be out of place in a video game.
However, the novelty does wear off after a while, particularly as the choreography of the fights steadily becomes less ambitious – settling for students smashing people through walls.

Also just like a video game, Ga-min and his cohorts have to fight their way through successively bigger villains until they make it to the number one fighter in the school.
Some of these opponents are worthy additions to the show, like gangster recruiter Oh Jang-ho (Kim Min) and the peroxide-blonde bodyguard Kim Sun-chul (Joo Yeon-woo), who eventually aligns with the members of the study group.
However, the fighting skills of the opponents are equally fantastical; it never really seems as though Ga-min is facing off against tougher bosses.
Sadly, Pi Han-wool (Cha Woo-min), the ultimate villain, is something of a letdown. He’s yet another rich kid with a violent and powerful father lording over his school and its teachers. Ga-min’s eventual fight with him lacks the colour of the early bouts.

And that generally holds true for the series, which was quick, fun and breezy but couldn’t find a punchy narrative note to close on.
The show winds down to a simple and unremarkable conclusion, with Yuseong freed from Han-wool’s influence and the study group left with no more obstacles between them and their books.
Whether Ga-min ever makes it to college is another matter, but for now his fists will be reserved for his pens and furious note-taking.
Study Group is streaming on Viu.


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With the lowest marks in school, Yoon Ga-min wants to raise them through study, but must fight for the right to stick his head in his books


With the lowest marks in school, Yoon Ga-min wants to raise them through study, but must fight for the right to stick his head in his books.


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}With the lowest marks in school, Yoon Ga-min wants to raise them through study, but must fight for the right to stick his head in his books

With the lowest marks in school, Yoon Ga-min wants to raise them through study, but must fight for the right to stick his head in his books