Hanlim Gym (Webtoon)

* S1
* S2

**Staff**

* Sunghyun Min
* Younghun Lee
* Hyehwon Hwang

## Image Gallery

**Hanlim Gym** is a Korean **YLAB** webtoon; the 4th Blue String webtoon and 13th Super String webtoon. The story is written by Hyeseong, illustrated by Sukjae Lee, and produced by Yongtaek Chae. It is published by YLAB.

## Synopsis

"Tired of being picked on, Youngha, the new transfer student, decides to fight back… and discovers he can pack a punch. He soon becomes the top of the food chain, savoring his new title as the toughest guy at school. But he meets his match when Suho Kang, the Champion of the PVP games, single-handedly takes down him and his crew. To earn back his honor, Youngha decides to join the PVP games. Will he finally get the satisfaction of beating Suho up? Or will he gain something more?"

## Release Schedule

On Naver webtoon, season 1 was serialized on May 26, 2020 and completed on May 30, 2022 with every episodes on a Tuesday. There is an English release starting on June 20, 2021 and currently ongoing with episodes released on Saturdays. The second season was serialized on January 2, 2023 and is currently ongoing on Naver webtoon.

* From June 21, 2020, the translation serialization of Simplified Chinese started in Dongman Manga , an overseas service of Naver Webtoon. However, after episode 62, it is deleted from the web and only serialized in the app.
* From June 28, 2020, serialization started on the official traditional Chinese (Taiwan) WEBTOON.
* From August 12, 2020, serialization started on the official Thai WEBTOON , an overseas service of Naver Webtoon.
* From September 6, 2020, serialization started on the official Indonesian WEBTOON.
* From November 23, 2020, Japanese translation serialization began on LINE Manga , an overseas service of Naver Webtoon and a Japanese published manga e-book service.
* From June 19, 2022, translation serialization began on the French WEBTOON , an overseas service of Naver Webtoon.

## Reading Order

You don't need to read any of the other Webtoons in order to understand Hanlim Gym.

For recommended reading order of the Webtoons click **here**.

## Where to Read

**Official Links**

* Korean (In-progress): https://comic.naver.com/webtoon/list?titleId=743139
* English (In-progress): https://www.webtoons.com/en/sports/hanlim-gym/list?title\_no=2850&page=1

## Background

The story is mainly about Youngha Jeon's past of how he became a formidable martial artist in both the Bluestring and Superstring universe.

There are two seasons: The first season is Younghalearning how to become stronger and fights in PVP for the first time and rise to the ranks. In the second season, Youngha has become a legendary and is now competing in the PVP island with other legendries to win first place which rewards the player a wish that will come true from PVP.

**Season 1**

* Ep.1-6: World of PVP
* Ep.7-11: Youngha's Major Battle
* Ep.12-22: Usurp of Geumgang High
* Ep.23-33: A Friendly Rivalry
* Ep.34-42: The Way of Jeet Kune Do
* Ep.43-52: The Pride of a Gym
* Ep.52-62: Seongbuk Takeover
* Ep.63-70: Championship Elevation
* Ep.71-81: Pentakill Addiction Arc
* Ep.82-88: A Fighter's Resolve
* Ep.89-97: An Unknown Coup d'état
* Ep.98-104: A Battle to End All Battles

**Season 2**

* Ep.1-5: The Championship Begins: Round 1
* Ep.6-14: The Culling of Players: Round 2
* Ep.15-23: Origin of Fighters & PVP: Round 3
* Ep.24-32: Hanlim Master's Beginnings
* Ep.33-43: Closer to Victory: Round 4
* Ep.44: The Quarter Finals: Round 5

### Characters

**Main Characters**

The main characters in seasons 1 and 2:

* Youngha Jeon
* Hanlim Lim
* Seoyeon Yoo
* Suho Kang
* Charles Kim

Full Character List

**All Characters with Pages**

**Chan Kang****Charles Kim****Chibum Kang****Deccan (PVP)****Dohyeon Jeon****Dowon Jo****Elrim Seo****Gwangcheon Lim****Hanlim Lim****Hyeongeun Lee****Jaehyeon Ryu****Kangyoon Ji****Seongkyu Choi****Seoyeon Yoo****Suho Kang****Taejin Suh****Wonjae Shin****Youngha Jeon**

### Organizations

**Season 1**

* PVP
* Hanlim Gym
* The Royal
* Unknown
* Dowon Group
* Korean National Police Agency
* Gangs and crews
	+ Yongsan Crew
	+ Kuun Mongolian
	+ FXDX Crew
* High Schools
	+ Haseong Technical High School - a highschool in Daejong. The No.1 of the school tries to beat King and steal his invitation to the PVP Championship, not knowing he is the Daejong Champion.
	+ Hansan Engineering High School - the school that Irezumi attends.
	+ Keumgang High School -
	+ Daeseong Industrial High
	+ Ilhwa High School - one of the schools that Deccan's crew strikes when they are in Seongbuk. PVP No.12 Wan Lee attends this school and is trying to take it over.
	+ Shinhwa High School - the school Kichang Lee attends.
	+ Hyungsung High School– the school Sihwan Eun attends where he is No.1.

* Incheon High Schools
	+ Sorok High School - The high school PVP fighter Red Socks attends. They participate in the Exhibition Match of the Incheon schools.
	+ Hojin High School - The high school PVP fighter Incheon Gamja attends. They participate in the Exhibition Match of the Incheon schools.
	+ Hwasu Engeering High School - The high school PVP fighter Zebra Hair attends. They participate in the Exhibition Match of the Incheon schools.
	+ Iseong Hish School - The high school PVP fighter Tiger Skin attends. They participate in the Exhibition Match of the Incheon schools.
	+ Songdu High School - The high school PVP fighter Yellow Brush attends. They participate in the Exhibition Match of the Incheon schools.
	+ Kuun Engineering High School – the high school that Deccan belongs to. They clash with Yeonghaʻs High School on the trip to Jeju Island.

* Girl Highschools
	+ Leesam Girl's High School - a school where Sieun Baek, a girl who Chan Kang persistently pursues, attends.
	+ Ilhwa Girl's High
	+ Seoha Girl's High

**Season 2**

* Hanlim Gym
* PVP
* Unknown
* Gangs and crews
	+ XD Crew
	+ Kuun Mongolian

* Sean Hwa's Taekwondo Dojo -
* Toe Master Dojo -
* MBA English Academy
* Dowon Group
* 5000 Snack Store - a small shop where Yoojin Kim, Gwangcheon Im's wife, worked at and where she met Gwangcheon and fell in love.
* MSJ News - one of the news outlets that was going to reveal the corruption of the Dowon Group. However, the reporters recanted, but were still disposed of by the Dowon Group.
* Keumkang News - one of the news outlet that released a press release revealing the corruption of the Dowon Group.
* Mafia Groups
	+ Daegil Group - one of the nation’s 4 major gangster groups before it was defeated by the pre-Dowon Group, by the hands of Gwangcheon Im.
	+ Flying Dragon Clan - the number 1 mafia clan in Gwangju to which the Gwangju Champion is the successor to.
	+ Baekho Clan - one of the enemy clans of the Flying Dragon Clan

### Setting/Locations

**Season 1**

The season takes place mostly in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, however, for a short while events occur in Jeju Island and Incheon.

**Season 2**

The season takes place mainly on the PVP Cruise Ship, where round 1 of the PVP Championship occurs, and Chamma Island where the rest of the championship unfolds. However, after the 3rd round of the championship, events unfold on the Korean mainland before returning to Chamma Island

## Blue String Universe

Hanlim Gym is the earliest on the Blue String Timeline, occurring 7 years before To Not Die and 8 years before Get Schooled season 1. In Get Schooled, Hanlim Lim is confirmed to be 26 years old therefore, knowing that she is 18 in Hanlim Gym, Get Schooled occurs 8 years after Hanlim Gym. Additionally, due to the 1 year gap from Gyeom Ma's arrest in To Not Die season 1 to his appearance in Get Schooled season 1, the events of Hanlim Gym unfold 7 years prior to To Not Die.

**Crossovers**
**Season 1**
* In Ep.53, either Doyun Kim or Youngha says the title of My Bad Boyfriend as they look at the horses. This easter egg is not noticable in the official English.
* In Ep.53, Deccan, who first debuted in Get Schooled, appears.
* In Ep. 84, on the PVP phone, someone tells Daeho to teach Youngha a lesson. This easter egg is not noticable in the official English but in the Korean version where "참교육" was use. This is the title of "Get Schooled."

**Season 2**
* In Ep. 24, Dohyeon's hangover rememdy is name after the webtoon "To Not Die" in Korean. However, this easter egg doesn't carry over to the official English.

Appearance in Other Webtoons* Youngha Jeon appears in **The Age of the Barbarous** as a cameo and **Study Group** as a supporting character.
* Hanlim Gym appears in **The Age of the Barbarous** at the last episode and **Get Schooled** in ep 18.
* Hanlim Lim is the deuteragonist of **Get Schooled**.
* Kangyoon Ji (ep.112) & Seoyeon Yoo (ep.103) appeared in **Get Schooled**.
* Dohyeon Jeon (ep.76) & Gwangcheon Lim (ep.95) was mentioned in **Get Schooled**.
* Golden Mad Dog, PVP player, appeared in ep. 67 of **Get Schooled** while mentioning PVP.
* In season 2, Ep.110 of Study Group, the Non-Existent Martial Arts, Origin, is mentioned.

## Bluestring & Superstring Confusion

The Hanlim Gym Webtoon has a unique circumstance where it appears in both Bluestring and Superstring. Due to this, people may be confuse if both strings are in the same dimension or in a separate dimension. What is most certainly clear is that both strings are separate. The most logical evidence is through the concept of different dimensions which is the main idea behind Superstring. Superstring contains supernatural elements while bluestring is normal and the opposite. Which means that both strings contain events of Hanlim Gym but branch into different routes. Therefore there is two different Yeongha Jeon.

If you still don't understand, refer to this video for a simple explanation.

   Of course this means that we will not include any Super String info besides Hanlim Gym as this wiki is only about Bluestring. An example is that we won't include inclusion of Hwan Seok as he is a member of Hanlim Gym in Super String.

## Criticism & Evaluation

Points from Korean readers;

* **Timeline Inconsideration** - there are criticisms that it does not properly take into account the time period and background within the work because only the characters' ages change and the changes in the times are not noticeable with Reawakened Man.
* **Mixed Review on Art Style** - Generally, the fighting scenes are superb but other than this, there are some critcism of how characters are portrayed. Male characters look like grown adults despite being teenagers while female characters has exaagrated large breasts. Although, this criticism is half-serious.
* **Superpowers?** - There are feats and strengths that seem to be more superhuman than regular humans. Such as breaking boulders or columns in pieces. Due to this, when Yeongha Jeon appears in Study Group, his strength felt nerfed in compared to the protag of the webtoon.
* **Character Plagiarism** - Seoyeon Yoo's first appearance was believed that the character design was plagiarized from a Korean illustrator named "Shal E." Specifically a character named "Visla." Although it could had been coincidence or borrowed design, many find the atmosphere and hairstyle of Seoyeon to be too similar.
	+ On February 22, 2021, either the author or illustrator had supposedly admitted plagiarism. With an official apology in season 1, Episode 34 at Naver. Thus Seyeon's hair color is changed.Supposedly this controversy was also directly mentioned in Shal E's YouTube video.
		- Shal E's Visla illustrating video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOfwQ7FQpFA

## Media & Merchandise

### Media

* **OST** - There is an official OST titled, "Different From You," created by Yohan Han(JUSTHIS)

### Merchandise

In the official Ylab Store, there is a couple of merchandises such as mousepads and acrylic stands:

* https://smartstore.naver.com/ylabstore/category/fedf66ac05284aed89a5c287341a2f4f?cp=1

## Trivia

* In season 1, ep. 25, an the Unknown Executive tells Kangyoon Ji that he knows about his little brother, but in Season 2, it turns out that Kangyoon has a sister instead of a brother. This is a mistranslation from the translators as the original language put, "동생," which is a general saying for "sibling" which could refer to either female or male.
* The webtoon has been criticized/joked about how most of the male PVP players looks more like grown adults then teenagers. Another similar critique/joke is how most woman in the webtoon has large or exaggerated breasts.
* Blue String and Super String are most certainly parallels dimension as the the main concept of Ylab's String Unvierse are connected with multiple similar dimensions. This means the Superstring dimension has some settings and characters from Bluestring .
	+ Thus, all characters, organizations, and events of Hanlim Gym appears in both Blue String and Super String.
* In season 1, Ep.35, the video tape that Dohyeon Jeon gives to Yeongha has the name "Dohyeon Kim" written on it instead of "Jeon". It seems to be a typo.
* *"Return of the Dragon,"* a martial arts film featuring "*Bruce Lee*," appears on season 1, ep. 37.
* This may be a coincidence but there is a gym named "Hanlim Gymnasium" in Jeju Island.
* In season 1, Ep. 53, Yeongha and his 2 friends made the "reaction guys" meme.
* Hanlim Gym is one of the few to have merch for Super String and a couple for Blue String.
* In episode 82, Season 1, it featured **Housekeeper** easter egg.
	+ S1, Ep.82

## References

1. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 2, Ep.18
2. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.34
3. ↑ http://ylabcomics.com/bbs/board.php?bo\_table=02\_02\_eng#2
4. ↑ https://www.webtoons.com/en/sports/hanlim-gym/list?title\_no=2850
5. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.104
6. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.63
7. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.1
8. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.56
9. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.57
10. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.26
11. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.57
12. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.57
13. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.57
14. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.57
15. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.57
16. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.60
17. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.6
18. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 1, Ep.53
19. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 2, Ep.20
20. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 2, Ep.20
21. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 2, Ep.20
22. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 2, Ep.31
23. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 2, Ep.24
24. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 2, Ep.25
25. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 2, Ep.25
26. ↑ Hanlim Gym, Season 2, Ep.49
27. ↑ http://ylabcomics.com/bbs/board.php?bo\_table=02\_02\_eng#2
28. ↑ https://namu.wiki/w/한림체육관(웹툰)#s-5
29. ↑ https://namu.wiki/w/한림체육관(웹툰)#샬이%20일러스트%20표절%20사건
30. ↑ https://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail?titleId=743139&no=34
31. ↑ https://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail?titleId=743139&no=25
32. ↑ https://linguasia.com/dongsaeng
33. ↑ https://terms.naver.com/entry.naver?docId=2627372&cid=51955&categoryId=55547