Crash Course in Romance (2023)

Captivating show - well done.

I've went into this show with little expectations since I haven't really found any good shows with middle aged leads. I was clearly wrong since this show quickly became one that I would recommend to many. It was well written, quite funny, enjoyable and not boring at all.

Whenever you see MANY side stories in a drama it is really easy to get bored. However it wasn't the case. We had VARIETY with both the adult leads, all 4 teenagers, the suspense regarding the murderer and so on. It was captivating and easy to catch on.

We had all kind of moments you would want... beautiful, sad, funny and so on. We've seen great CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT and the bond between Hae-yi and Haeng-seon was really beautiful.

So yes, this is drama is pretty enjoyable. And TMI it is quite FAMILY friendly I'd say, ofc except some kiss scenes.

Read More

A BLOSSOMING LOVE STORY, WITH A DOZENS OF ANNOYING CHARACTERS

Crash Course in Romance is a drama like many others which started really good but the latter part fell, and continue to dip till the end. I personally didn't enjoy this drama as much others might have. Like it's nothing new, but then what do expect from a rom com. It's not the best drama I've watched nor the worst. So here's I've listed out some good and bad aspects of the drama below.

THE GOOD PART
• The MAIN CAST is probably the reason I continued watching this drama, the sense of warmth and love surrounds them. And them being the only characters with positive traits
• THE FIRST HALF OF THE SHOW, the emotions in the earlier part where the main leads were getting to know each other were really naturally done with good dialogues.
• The ROMANCE is surely one will look forward to when watching this drama. An adult middle age romance which is gradual and not toxic at all.

THE BAD PART
• WRITER failing at executing the thriller plot and writing characters with either positive or negative shades. UNNECESSARY addition of plots
and characters which caused them to show UNREALISTIC character development/awakening, which was more filmy and felt UNFINISHED.
• The drama gets DRAGGED at the latter with the addition of plots and charcters which added nothing to story.
• The drama also becomes quite PREDICTABLE and doesn't leaves anys curiosity, what it leads impatience and annoyance in the watcher's mind
• The drama is full on NEGATIVE CHARCTERS
which is intolerable at times. There is a clear divison between good and bad characters and make the charcters really shallow with having only one major trait showed. This divison lasts till the last minutes of this drama.
• The OST's were not that great either. The album is mostly dominated with male solos and acoording a romcom must have atleast one cute duet!


Okay so that's all I have to say about Crash Course in Romance, my emotions changed from initially blushing over the interactions between the leads to me cursing the mothers cause it was too much. Last but not the least, don't watch this drama because you liked it's trailer, THE DRAMA ADVERTISED AS A ROMCOM ONLY CONSTITUTES THE FIRST 7-8 EPS, LATTER IT BECOMES A BORING THRILLER SHOW WITH SPRINKLES OF ROMANCE.

( sorry if there are grammatical mistakes, im not proficient in expressing my thoughts in words and worst in typing stuff)

Read More

Short and sweet, I really liked this drama. It was one that has been on my list ever since I saw the trailer pop up on Netflix, and I would say it exceeded my expectations far beyond what I thought.

I thought this was going to be a cute romance between a mother and her daughter's tutor, but instead ended up being about finding first and true love in your mid to late 30's (I assumed that is their age), about the high expectations that society and parents put on students to be the top of the class, and about chosen family (one of the only times I have seen a non-traditional family in a korean drama).

We need to normalize/have more dramas with mature adults who have their shit figured out (even if they don't have everything figured out, they are confident in the basics). There have been so many instances where I have watched a drama about two 20-somethings, and they make dumb decisions because of dumber reasons. Whereas in this drama, the ML and FL have a set of personal morals and stick with them throughout. Their morals are challenged, but as the characters evolve and begin to understand what is most important to them in life and what they want to fight out, only then do their morals change, for the better.

I was also surprised that this drama hit me as much as it did - me being a single female with no kids, but still trying to put myself in our FL's shoes, trying to understand what it would be like if I had a child and they were going through everything her daughter was. How frustrated I would get whenever the "mom squad" would show up on screen and gossip and plot how to get their child to the top, even if it meant starting scandals about their child's classmates/friends.

This drama definitely hit the feels.

I would say the only thing that made me not give this a perfect 10, was because of the whole serial killer side plot. They did a good job of blending it into the main storyline and plot, but I feel like it didn't hold any weight. The only person who seemed to be stressing about it was the lawyer because she had to deal with it directly, but even when her part in the murders is "resolved" she moves on to her next controversy. I felt like everyone and their mom was fine with this serial killer going around and murdering students and teachers who were linked to Pride Academy like it was a normal Tuesday. And the way the serial killer was ultimately caught and how that whole side plot was "solved" was so anticlimactic... that it was never mentioned again and everyone moved on like there wasn't some person going around murdering people and was in the middle of kidnapping one of the mains. There was only one person who seemed to grieve, but even that was a short minute or two until a whole different subplot was introduced.

The last episode was super random as well, with the introduction of a separate last-minute plot. I would have rather watched an episode or two of the main characters grieving and healing from this serial killer who targeted them and kidnapped one of them, with the intent of killing them. Instead, we get a random subplot that made the daughter act super out of character and was honestly not needed. I understand it was a way to introduce what the FL wanted to do after her daughter got into college, but that could have been introduced in a completely different way.

Other than that, I liked it. Everything else was great and I binged watched the whole thing in 2 days.

Read More

A good romantic series, making a sharp criticism of the Korean education system

A very good series but the title and the poster are misleading viewers: they announce a romance, funny and cute. The drama isn't about that at all. There is a romance, even several, but the series is above all a violent denunciation of the Korean education system and its excesses: family pressure/obsession over grades and school results, over-involvement of mothers, multiple support classes (especially in final years), severe competition between students & between parents, corruption, suicide, influence games, even doping, etc.
It also deals with eating disorders (anorexia in a man), with a student recluse after too much pressure,... which are rarely discussed topics :).

The tone is more gray than rosy, despite some humorous passages to lighten the atmosphere.

PROS:
+ well-written, intelligent story and production without downtime. The clues are given at the right time, just enough to maintain the suspense.
+ The drama is carried by two great veteran leads, endearing, moving, strong and fragile... They establish a mature relationship, made of trust and understanding. Perfect!
+ a brother on the spectrum (a really great performance from Oh Eui Shik )
+ Good OSTs, conveying the emotions/vibes of each scene well.

CONS:
- the lead actress looks a little too old (50) for the role (30-35 years old max), particularly with her hairstyle in the last episode.
- inappropriate title and poster.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Très bonne série mais le titre et l'affiche sont trompeurs : ils annoncent une romance, drôle, mignonne. Le drama ne traite pas du tout de cela. Il y a bien une romance, même plusieurs, mais la série est surtout, une violente dénonciation du système éducatif coréen et de ses dérives : pression-obsession familiale sur les notes et résultats scolaires, sur-implication des mères, multiples cours de soutien -surtout en terminale, sévère compétition entre élèves & entre parents, corruption, suicide, jeux d'influence, dopage, etc..
Elle traite aussi des troubles alimentaires (anorexie chez un homme, ce qui est un sujet rarement évoqué :).
Le ton est plus gris que rose, malgré quelques passages d'humour pour alléger l'atmosphère.

PROS:
+ histoire bien écrite, intelligente et réalisation sans temps mort. Les indices sont donnés au bon moment, juste ce qu'il faut pour maintenir le suspense.
+ Le drama est porté par deux super leads, attachants, émouvants, forts et fragiles... Ils établissent une relation mature, faite de confiance et de compréhension. Parfaits !
+ un frère handicapé (super bien joué par Oh Eui Shik)
+ un reclus (trop de pression)
+ Bons OST, bien adaptés.

CONS:
- l'actrice lead fait un peu trop âgée (50) pour le rôle (30-35 ans maxi), particulièrement avec sa coiffure dans le dernier épisode.
- titre et affiche inadéquats.

=> Bonne série romantique, qui fait une critique acerbe d'un système.

Read More

From Promise to Disappointment

"Crash Course in Romance" is a drama that effectively portrays the struggles of students and the dynamics between them, their school, and their private institute teachers. The first eight episodes were well-executed, highlighting the immense pressure parents face regarding their children's education, the students' struggle to maintain their grades, and the magnitude of the private education industry. I was deeply invested in the drama until it took a downturn.

The female lead's character was a disappointment. She attempted to portray a saint-like figure, which didn't resonate with me. Her wardrobe was another aspect of the drama that I found lacking. I understand that her character worked in a small restaurant and wouldn't necessarily dress up for work, but her attire, even during her time off, was reminiscent of a grandmother's. Even for formal events, her outfits were less than appealing. While I understand her character is portrayed as poor, it's reasonable to assume that everyone has at least one decent outfit for formal occasions.

The casting of the actress for this role was a misstep. She wasn't suitable for a character in her mid-30s as she appeared too old. The narrative continually emphasized that she was too young to have a child, yet she looked older than the other mothers. Furthermore, there was no chemistry between her and the male lead.

The thriller/murder subplot felt unnecessary and didn't add any value to the main storyline.

Overall, despite its flaws, "Crash Course in Romance" was a good drama.

Read More

I fast forwarded through this one a lot. Jung Kyung Ho is one of my favorite Korean actors but this drama is a mess. Is it a commentary about Korea’s class divides and rich parents and their precious children, with their associated pressures and competitiveness? a star teacher’s journey back from a stressful and isolated existence? a murder mystery? I wouldn’t have a problem with it being all of the above, if the writer had done a better job of pulling it all together or making many of the side characters more than one-note caricatures. I assume it’s also supposed to be a romance because, well, the word “Romance” is in the title, after all. But there is little romantic spark. Nam Haeng-seon comes across more like Chi-Yeol’s older sister than a possible object of his desire. Plus I really really hate how she treats her brother. Finally, why do many Korean romcoms have serial killers lurking in them? Is it an attempt to add dramatic tension to poorly written fluff?

Read More

BEST ROM-COM WITH A TWIST OF MYSTERY. MUST WATCH.

I don't write reviews that much however, for this drama I feel like it's better to drop a review so that more people can watch this drama. Many people might say that the FL casting was bad or there were too many unnecessary sub-plots. But I will say that all those things added to the charm of the drama. Though it could pass it as only rom-com as well but I liked those small plots as well. They added seriousness to the issues that this drama wanted to address.
About the FL, I think she portrayed her role very well. She looked perfect as someone who had gone through so much in life and became older earlier. If you go through so much at a young age, your beauty bound to fade away and her casting was perfect for the show. Though I wish they could have dress up prettily at special ocassions but I still feel that the kind of style was her character.
She and Kyungho complimented each other so well and complete the drama. From bickering with each other to falling in love with each other, this couple gave us all kinds of butterfly emotions in stomach.
I also loved how the drama came to a perfect ending with all the characters falling in it's place. The best part was how mothers came to an understanding about their kids and how su-a, who was the most stressed one found a friend in Geon Wu. I am so happy that Hae Yi and Sun Jae was together as well. Our babies grew up so well.
For now I will say that this was the best rom-com of 2023 yet. I am sure we will get more rom-coms this year but for now, this will be on my top list. If you're wondering to watch or not, I will say go ahead and give it a try. After 2 episodes, you will be addicted to the drama yourself.

Read More

Solid slice of life, interesting serial killer angel, cute romances but the chemistry was a bit off

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 South Korean comedy romance drama with 16, 70 Minute Episodes.

First I provide a synopsis then a review.

Synopsis
Nam Haeng-seon's (Jeon Do-yeon) has been all about supporting the niece her sister abandoned and her autistic brother. After giving up a spot on the national handball team to raise her niece and take care of her disabled brother, she carries on with the recipes her deceased mother used and runs a banchan shop that became a favorite of food bloggers. Money is tight as a single wage earner and the last thing she needs is to deal with an eccentric spoiled celebrity who breaks her autistic brother's phone following an misunderstanding. Or so she thinks. Choi Chi-yeol (Jung Kyung-ho) works at an elite academy where people line up quite literally to get their child a prized spot in one of his tutor classes. The two are destined to interact though as Haeng-seon's niece requests a slot in Chi-yeol's sessions so she can bring up her scores and Chi-yeol finds that, for some reason, Haeng-seon's food is the only food that does not trigger his eating disorder. It provides a slice of life of South Korea's competitive educational system which provides a backdrop for an unlikely romance.

Review

Overall a very light hearted romantic comedy with a slice of life into the competitive world of academics. I found that view on how much power and influence wealthy parents can have interesting and not all that different than what you might see with ivy league colleges in the United States. I recommend it for anyone that likes straight forward romances, slice of life and family dynamics.

Spoilers

The male and female lead had a 10 year age gap in the actual ages of the actors with the Jeon Do-Yeon being 10 years older than Jung Kung-ho. Do yeon is a beautiful and elegant lady but she looks her age. Kung-ho has a young face that looked even younger than his age and made the gap seem even larger. Both did an amazing job acting but the physical appearance of the age gap really disrupted the chemistry in my opinion. It was more sweet than passionate.

It was a little disappointing that the issue with Chi-yeol's assistant Ji-Dong Hee (Shin Jae-ha) ended with suicide. It felt like too little for everything he had done.

The chemistry between Haeng-seong's best friend, Kim Yong-joo (Lee Bong-ryun) and her brother, Nam Jae-woo (Oh Eui-shick) was also off. With the brother's autism it would have taken a slow build over the series with them slowly showing feelings for each other. Her abruptly expressing interest in him seemed like she was doing it only out of loneliness and his reciprocation wound up feeling like pity. There was no "ah finally" when they became a couple because it really wasn't that much of the series where she expressed interest in him, he initially rejected her, then they were together.

As a fan of the reality dating show "Heart Signal" I was fan girling when Bae Yoon-kyung had a role as Chi-yeol's blind date and 2nd romantic interest. I am excited her acting career has taken off and I thought she did a great job in this show.

I loved the relationship between the daughter/nice, Nam Hae-Yi (Roh Yoon-seo) and her aunt/mother Nan Haeng-seon (Jeon Do-yeon). If you love and raise a child biology does not matter. And, an aunt, because of dominant and recessive genes can be more closely genetically related to their niece or nephew than the mother anyway.

I loved the relationship between the daughter/niece, Nam Hae-Yi (Roh Yoon-seo) and her aunt/mother Nan Haeng-seon (Jeon Do-yeon). If you love and raise a child biology does not matter. And, an aunt, because of dominant and recessive genes can be more closely genetically related to their niece or nephew than the mother anyway. did I not want to see Hae-Yi try to fix him or feel like she owed anyone that, I felt like he wasn't there for her during some really key times when he withdrew and basically ghosted her. That is why I was more a fan of her dating the ice hockey player and fellow student Seo Geon-hu (Lee Min-jae) because he was more straight forward with his feelings, always there for her, and I thought he would have been very good for the often too serious and underconfident Hae-yi. Instead he wound up with selfish and spoiled and almost mean girl Bang Soo-ah (Kang Na-eon) who he claimed was nice but, aside from one time when she welcomed back Hae-yi when she returned from the hospital and gave her notes, never showed a kind side. I thought the ice hockey playing, lovable and handsome Geon-hu deserved better.

The friendship between Geon-hu and Seon-jae was cute as it developed out of their rivalry over Hae-ri. I felt like Geon-hu gave up Hae-ri as he could tell her hear was with Seon-jae but also he started to like Seon-jae as a friend and was willing to give up the girl for the friendship. Still I wish he hadn't settled for a character I did not find likeable. Hae-ri's loyal girl friend Jang Dan Ji (Ryu Da-In) would have been a better choice as she was consistently nice and loyal and he did seem to have a flirty friendship going on with her before he suddenly switched to Soo-ah.

#CrashCourseInRomance
#JeonDoYeon
#JungKyungHo
#RohYoonSeo
#LeeChaeMin
#ShinJaeHa
#OhEuiShick
#LeeMinJae

Read More

The union of my expectation and reality

This review is going to be different from my usual style. I don’t want to go through and dissect the show point by point because it would be nitpicking. I want a broader approach because the show affects me at a more visceral level.

Fundamentally, my overall emotion after completed this show is disappointment. On paper, this show should be one of the biggest hit of 2023. Indeed, the ratings and the online chatters all points to a buzzworthy show. That is to be expected when you start with an award winning script writer who has penned hits like Once Again, Oh My Ghost and Weightlifting Fairy, then add the power coupling of Jeon Do-yeon and Jung Kyung-ho. Throw in a laundry list of veteran support actors and you have one heady mix. This should yield nothing short of perfection. I should be able to just write QED and adjourn to the Union Bar for some (cough) intellectual discords.

However, by the half way mark, I can’t ignore a growing sense of unease and it only intensified as the story unfolds further. What bothers and concerns me is not the acting, which is solid, nor a bad script but it is just so . . . . underwhelming. It lacks that magical quality I'd expect from our writer-nim. To be brutally honest, this is not her best work. Most plots are tropey, the majority of support roles are one dimensional, the murder mystery is hardly suspenseful and why do we even need one? She pushes the button hard on the exam hell suffered by many senior students but she offered little redress. If anything, the ML is a hypocrite because while fully acknowledging how unfair and stressful the CSAT system is, he also makes an obscene amount of money tutoring and basks in his status as a top star teacher.

Similarly, after all the trials and tribulations relating to the exam system, everyone comes up roses. All the young protagonists gets into college courses of their choice. Even the sport jock who failed the exam is now a hardworking lad who won't give up. Hwaiting! It is not exactly a warts and all exposé, is it?

This spills over into the murder mystery. I was really expecting a tight and suspenseful whodunit but it soon becomes clear that the murderer’s identity and even his raison d’etre are fairly obvious. The only people who are fooled by the numerous red herrings are the local police. Of course this leads to some soul searching by the leads but in the end, the punishment fits the crime and we collectively moved on without a backward glance.

This is a recurring issue. While the show decries certain issues, the message is conflicting and diluted. The murderer was tormented and abused but because he committed heinous crimes, he is the one to blame. Everyone else is a victim. Ditto, the helicopter parents who drove their kids to distraction or worse are mostly given hall passes. The Show concludes with scenes of our long-suffering young cohorts being happy, well-adjusted college students enjoying themselves. Is the Show condemning the system or supporting it?

As a piece of entertainment, it is buzz worthy and very watchable and ticked all the boxes. It gets the Monday morning water cooler seal of approval, but I find it wanting. It pains me to have to write this review. It should have been a celebration of a great script and wonderful acting. To be fair, there is an lovely autumn romance with its fair share of swoon worthy moments. The amount of chemistry is up for debate but I digress. There are tensions and high dramas but they are also weakened by some inelegant story telling.

If I had known nothing about the writer and the ensemble actors then I'd be happy to watch it as a decent k-drama with its fair share of foibles but, alas, I do know better. This makes it all the harder to be placated by the last episode which I can only describe as sugar overload. Everyone is gifted with a HEA ending whether they deserved it or not. I, for one, cannot unsee the scene of the pregnant FL's BFF chatting with one of the gang-of-mums about her marriage. I literally groaned out loud.

One final thought. Whomever is the FL’s stylist needs to be locked away in a dank dark dungeon. It takes a herculean effort to dress the FL in the most frumpy anti-fashion way. That, my friend, is THE true crime.

Peace out.

Read More

A crash plot but directed it well enough to watch

The show is a one time watch at the most. If I am going to talk about the story it is a not an intriguing plot nor has any exciting element. Just a basic plot to watch when you don't have many exciting series going on. But one thing they did well is execution and pace. The director should be credited for this.

The story is highly predictable after first four episodes including who is the serial killer.

I have two biggest complaints, first the final episodes were a wrap fest. So many subplots ending are rushed to wrap too quickly and abusive parents are forgiven just like that and turned into good people at the end. But we all know a parent who is been abusive for many years will never change. And it's not just one parent, almost all of the over bearing parents turned into caring parents in the end.

My other complaint would be although it seemed a romantic series with title and description, most of the time frame education pressure has been a concerned topic in this drama, they showed different sufferings students had to endure yet nonetheless the show never truly focused on the education system of Korea nor it focused properly on the romance development. I mean if they showed that much suffering of students at least education system should be made as focus but the show never went deep.

The drama doesn't have strong subjective frame of what the storyline it is going to narrate or it's purpose. The only sentence that will describe this drama is "let's make a drama that has thriller, romance, soap, a mix of basic plot that is just enough for people to not dismiss it quickly and direct it well enough so it won't bore them."

the higher ratings would be probably due to fact that both actors are quite famous in Korea and second would be there aren't many light hearted romance kdramas with neat pace like this one these days and lastly student education pressure is always been an accepting drama is korea.

my overall review is if you are okay with ight hearted drama that as quite alright pace, this is good drama to watch. Don't expect a strong plot and great narrative.

Read More