My mom recommend me watch this series, I didn't know what it was about, so I didn't go with any expectation. The series is set in a dystopian-leaning reality where campus violence has escalated out of control, and teacher authority has hit rock bottom. So because this was something that showed teachers completely defenseless against school vandalism and even physical attacks on their person-hood. They create the Educational Rights Protection Bureau (ERPB), a specialized task force legally authorized to use physical intervention, psychological warfare, and highly unconventional tactics to clean up broken classrooms and protect victims.
The show goes around two main characters, a special forces captain with military training and a Korean politician that is pushing for this new agency to grow and produce high profile results. The team is complete with 2 more characters, Gong Geun-dae, a tech specialist and very traditional civil servant, and Im Han-rim a chaotic, loud mouthed ex-commando with also amazing fighting skills.
The Bureau is called ERPB and stands for Educational Rights Protection Bureau, their mantra is something like If the teacher is afraid of the student, how can he teach. When I first started the series, I noticed some political undertone for a conservative wing trying to bring back corporeal punishment, given that Korea used to have them until very recently. So a lot of people might still think it was useful. This conversation is escalated to a political battle and opposition.
The show goes through different cases exposing different topics that torment both, students as well as teachers. From traditional bullying of peaking on the introverted guys, to locking them in the locker, to making him do thing he doesn't want to in the name of the group. Vandalism is also another big ring that the bureau dismantle.
It makes the viewers question how protections to minors laws can become a shield for future criminals. And also how much can the kids can get away without facing real repercussions and also separating the predators from their victims. Other topics such as the use of drugs and how a parenthood obsessed with the idea of having their kids compete for a medical doctor or other high paying job, parents can work as drug dealers getting their kids to take pills that turn them into addicts.
In general, is a good movie, a bit politically motivated but it does showcase what are the current state of schooling in Korea and also how these problems affect students nowadays.
