# High School Return of a Gangster (2024)

> A reincarnated middle school dropout gangster returns to high school in a dead boy's body to take revenge on bullies and finds unexpected friendship.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/142954

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 65 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, fantasy
- Created by: Ho Rol, Lee Seong-taek
- Network: wavve, TVING
- Cast: Yoon Chan-young, Bong Jae-hyun, Won Tae-min, Lee Seo-jin, Seo Tae-hwa, Kim Se-won, Joo Yoon-chan, Lee Kyung-young
- TMDB rating: 7.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32499943/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: gritty, comedic, sincere, tense, bittersweet

## What critics say

Audience reception is positive, with viewers rating the series well for its comedic revenge premise and warm high school relationships.

## Synopsis

High School Return of a Gangster (2024) is a South Korean fantasy drama series created by Ho Rol and Lee Seong-taek for wavve and TVING, a single-season run of eight hour-long episodes. Yoon Chan-young plays Yi-heon, whose spirit is pulled into the body of a boy who has taken his own life, while Bong Jae-hyun plays Choi Se-kyung and Won Tae-min plays Kim Dong-soo, the classmates who become his unlikely allies. Lee Seo-jin appears as Kim Deuk-pal, the gangster whose old instincts shape the protagonist. The engine of the show is simple and sharp: a former street fighter wants to settle scores with the bullies who drove a classmate to despair, and every episode builds from classroom confrontations, rooftop brawls, and tense encounters where old criminal habits collide with the rules of school life. The story is a contained, complete arc rather than an open-ended saga. Set in contemporary South Korea, it moves between grim schoolyard cruelty and warm, comic camaraderie, mixing rough humor with sincere emotion. Its tone is part revenge thriller, part coming-of-age story, with a bromance thread at its heart. Fans of Trash, Extraordinary You, and The Glory will find resonance in its blend of school bullying, retribution, and a second chance at youth.

## Shows like High School Return of a Gangster

- [Study Group (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/150801)
- [Abyss (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/74986)
- [Sweet Revenge (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/66111)
- [Shadow Beauty (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/113498)
- [Shark: The Storm (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/134047)
- [Who Are You: School 2015 (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/55568)
- [Hierarchy (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/144995)
- [Revenge of Others (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/130321)
- [Death's Game (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/138211)
- [Big (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/39315)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt
