Stereotypes
Overall I enjoyed this drama, which had several plots intertwined and made for an interesting watch.With the cast involved, the level of acting was never going to be in question and none let the drama down.
I liked the threat element of the shady character who targeted people around Choi Chi-yeol (Jung Kyung-ho), which balanced the fluffy romance side quite nicely.
Whilst it made a change for the attractive, well off, successful lead male character, to end up attracted to and falling for, the older, quite dowdy, financially struggling (even though her traditional food business seemed to be thriving) lead female character (LFC), I found it a little uncomfortable to begin with ~ like neither were completely relaxed inthat element of their roles. However it did settle down and they ended up a believable couple.
What really stood in the way for me, was how they styled a beautiful actress, to look SO frumpy... why? She didn't have to be glamorous with a ton of makeup, too short/inappropriate clothes and ridiculous heels, but also not dressed like a granny.
Just because she'd been sporty, worked, brought up a child and looked after her brother, shouldn't mean she has no sense of style, especially when going out on a date. It really aged her too. That is stereotyping.
Same with the autistic brother... fine acting, which said it all and did not need trousers that were way too short and a look that could have been stolen from 1980s Rain Man! Just because a person is autistic, does not mean they have to dress like an overgrown child!
Lazy, lazy styling and woefully prejudiced to my mind.
Yet, on the other hand, what they did with that character's storyline, was a breath of fresh air! Infuriating!
I really liked the interactions and relationships between all the characters, although I do roll my eyes up when the nasty, rich, influential mothers abuse their positions to push their kids and usurp the out-of-place nobody.
1 in particular was not fit to be a mother at all, and how her story ended was not what she deserved... saccharin instead of poison.
A lot was forgiven of low-life characters in the skins of privileged, but not refined by any means, disguises. As usual, no consequences fitting their actions.
One part of the storyline that was completely superfluous to requirements, was the appearance of the LFC's sister. What was the point in that? It added nothing to the story, she was rude, selfish and looked down on everyone, including the daughter she'd abandoned and left to her sister to raise. She came, went and made no difference to the story at all.
I wasn't surpised at all by who the murderer was, but still enjoyed the twists and turns.
An enjoyable watch and whilst I personally wouldn't watch it again, I would still recommend it.
As a footnote, I wonder what all the nUtizens who always make rude and offensive comments about older male leads starring with younger female leads, feel about this main couple, with her being 11 years older than him! No doubt they'll still complain.
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An interesting look at the school system and parents with a mature romance.
I'll admit that this drama made me think about things. About how some parents are willing to destroy their children as long as they achieve academic success. It's sad what lengths they go thru and how the school system actually highlights this instead of finding a way to protect their students. But I guess if the kid's parents are not going to protect them who else can. Before watching this I never really thought about this, but I got to say this series is thought provoking. Not only on the parents and school system but other heavy subjects as well. I feel like the writers handled all the sensitive subjects well: like eating disorders, school and parent pressure, mental illness, abuse both physical and mental, cyber bullying and social pressure.Sometimes this series got to dark tho but the lighthearted romance did lighten the mood. I like how the characters were older. We rarely see a romcom centered on a woman in her thirties, so this was a breath of fresh air. I like how it was handled and the characters made me root for them. The teen romance was also handled well imo and didn't take much away from the main storyline. What did take away from it was the serial killer plot. I understand what the writers wanted to do here and how abuse can lead to someone becoming a monster. Important to tell but not always necessary in a romcom. Especially, when the plot is centered too much on this one plot and forgets the main story. However, I did like how it was resolved in the end. And I also liked how the characters were smart FL especially.
The cast did a great job and I found some of my favorite actors while watching this.
Overall I give it an 8.5 because like I mention I feel like the killer plot took away too much from the central story. Other than that I really enjoyed this series and would recommend.
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This was like Sky Castle meets murder mystery thriller but like not really lmfaaaoooo I loved the mother-daughter dynamic even though they were under unique circumstances and I loved the teacher/tutor anyway; I truly just enjoyed everyones company like the moms were overdramatic, everyone wanted a successful kid but then they put in this plot twist and it all just didn't make sense but it all made sense at the same time lol like how was it relevant idk but will I keep watching? Absolutely. Lmao. I think I was in it for the young actors/actresses because they really carried with all the emotions and jazz but I liked the family dynamic in general; there was a lot they could've done without but then again, what do we really expect? It was a good watch, good to just play in the background and also get hooked and the music is FANTASTIC, I've been listening to a song on the OST for hours because it's so good. So worth a watch but I wouldn't rewatch it.
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i am smiling from ear to ear (and tearing up)
overall the story is really cute and fun and keeps you hooked. just because of the ending i'm rating it a ten. it made me so happy and filled me with such a warm fuzzy feelingi love nam hae-e so much she is such a cutie and sun-jae and the hockey player i forgot his name but it's okay i still love him
this is definitely worth the watch and i would recommend it to anyone who likes romance (but beware it does have some thriller aspects)
i also really like nam haeng-seong and choi chi-yeol's relationship. it's nice to know that you can always find love no matter the circumstance
overall everyone is so cute and this motivated me to study more despite the craziness of south korea's education system so make sure to watch!!!!
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O que falar...
Demorei um tempo para pensar o que escrever e a forma a qual resenhar esse drama. E acho que so agora consigo entender o que senti assistindo ele. Esse drama possui uma serie de nuances e contextos socias, políticos, econômicos que podem ser englobado em apenas um contexto, passar no vestibular.Acho que esse drama compriu o que se propôs a fazer, falando sobre os aspectos fisicos e mentais dos estudantes, a amizade (do apoio nessa fase ou richa entre esses). Além de falar sobre o que é a familia e o apoio dos familiares ao longo do percurso de cada individuo.
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you must see it
First of all, don't leave the series because of their age difference, you will regret itthe series makes you feel better and maybe makes you happy. I have never felt such happiness in any series, but this series made me crazy
Their play was great. They have a healthy and great relationship that I really envied them. To show the life of entrance examination students very well and to maintain balance. Study and enjoy life.
The other case was about the autistic disorder and its normalization, which shows that these people can also have a normal love life.
And the last point, I will say again, it was an incredibly good feeling after seeing it, as if I had lived it :)))))) you must see it
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An enjoyable drama overall
- Couple had chemistry. I liked that they were always supporting each other and not breaking up at last minute just to reconcile in the last episode. I have past traumas with that and it was really good to see a couple staying together through and through. I just wish they had more scenes together that explored that chemistry. I think the show spent too much time on other things instead of delivering romance.- Why didn't Hae-e and Sunjae get together sooner? They had such a connection. They knew each other secrets. They had everything. Even Jaewoo and Yeongju had a satisfactory ending. And that love triangle they tried to force was the worst. Everytime Geonhu tried make a move I just bawled. It was obvious that she wasn't interested in none of them. But I was expecting to see her falling in love with Sunjae since I think they had more in common. And in the end when he finally confessed to her she asked him to wait until after the exams. Ok, I understand that, but she decided to go out with him only after 2 years had passed! They had a lot of potential in the beginning and I was really disappointed with their ending.
- I think Sunjae and his mother should've had a talk in the end abt how she treats her sons. I know he tried to put his feelings out to her some times, but I think it didn't seem definitive. I just wished they had a final confrontation in which he would explain how he feels and how her actions only hurt him and his brother. And we didn't get to see her reaction to Sunjae's decision to drop school. Also, I remember Sunjae saying that studying medicine was his mother's wish for him. But he never said what was that he actually wanted to do. And I don't know if I lost some info but I don't think it was clear if he was doing medicine with Hae-e and Sua or not. Furthermore, I wished we had more scenes of both brothers together, giving support to each other since Sunjae was suffering from all the pressure Huijae had suffered as well.
- I think Sua's problem should've had a more closed ending. It was a little bit confusing to me how she dealt with her stress symptoms in the end. We didn't get a conversation between her mother amd her abt this. Because she was feeling pressured to get good grades probably cuz' her mother's job, but I didn't feel like her mother was intentionally putting that pressure on her. So I think that if they had talked maybe Sua would feel less pressured.
- Why Hae-e did that with her mother in the end? Why would she want to go to Japan with her biological mother?! That was totally absurd! She didn't like that woman!Hae-e was actually one ofy least favorite characters in the drama, cuz she didn't really have a personality. Like she always had that straight face like she wasn't happy or sad with anything. Maybe the actress doesn't have charisma idk. But I didn't hate her either, so all of this plot with her wanting to go with her bio mother simply destroyed her character for me. And when her bio mother left without her, we couldn't see how she reacted to that. And what about how she made Haengseon and Jaewoo feel? They were hurt by her choice and no apology or conversation whatsoever was showed. It all felt like the writers needed to create some last minute drama for the last episode. It was rushed and badly written. It would've been better if they had stretch the story with the villain instead of ruining her.
- About the OSTs, I loved all of them. But I think they were poorly used. They were played too few and because of that when I listened to them they didn't remind me the scenes, the charaters and the overall vibe of the drama.
Well, that's my review. Although I pointed out only negative aspects of the drama, I think that it was a good series overall. Maybe if they had spent more time showing the main leads together, or if they didn't destroyed the writing with that Hae-e's mother plot in the end, maybe it would've been a better experience. But it was enjoyable anyways and I'd reccomend if you like comedy with some drama.
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Entertaining but a missed opportunity
This drama has all of the right elements: a solid cast that delivers, good directing and an interesting subject matter. The story started strong, I was even on board with the murder mystery but, in the third part of the drama, the script started to loose its footing. No longer able to figure out what story were they telling.In many ways, I feel there were several missed opportunity. Crash Course in Romance could have told a good and solid story commenting on society’s prejudices on what a family should be or look like. There was also plenty of room for a proper storyline about the mental health of students going trough an incredible amount of stress and how they coped. How the competitive mothers are willing to bully, adults and children alike, in order for their kids to get into university and their impossible expectations that directly impacted in every aspect of the kids’s well being. By the end of the last episode, male lead doesn’t see anything wrong about kids pushing themselves this hard, except when they collapse, which in my book that means very little character development. Male lead also suffers from half of the story of a eating disorder and we are supposed to just, what?, let it go? There’s never a proper follow up on it or how it was connected to the murder mystery that the drama concentrated most of its time with. A mystery that was resolved in one scene alone, rushed and swiftly under the rug. Almost like we didn’t spend fifteen of sixteen episodes trying to figure out what was happening with this particular storyline.
We only got proper real development and resolution about the issues regarding the kids and mothers, on the last episode, in a epilogue like montage showing us where each character was. The character growth, throughout the run of the drama, came there was came from the teens and the leads. Everything else was almost like an afterthought.
None of this means this is a bad or frustrating drama. On the contrary, despite its shortcomings, is a really fun story with lovable characters. I can recommend it for that alone: entertaining value.
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Not just a crash course in Maths
I really enjoyed this series . It ties well with " Green Mothers' club " which I watched before hand . The intensity of the competition and pressure put on Students by their parents to over perform is quite topical at the moment an well documented . Korean school children are pressured to be the best , to be at the top , as money can buy the best tutors and a place at the best academies .Going to the top Seoul Universities is the ultimate goal of every parent for their children . Students are often burnt out by the time they reach uni . They will have worked three times as hard as their American counterparts for example . Mothers not only pressure their children but also teachers by the sound of it .They are a formidable force but lack empathy and understanding .Having money or making money does not make them happy neither at home with their partners or their children . So it was refreshing to see another more compassionate side with flesh and blood characters who develop to become better people than when they started . I loved the series and the acting was superb . Congrats to all the cast .
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So close to being a great RomCom but then suspense!!
Firstly, if you were like me, you would have been put of by the Kingsman parody Netflix trailer (an actual scene from the first episode) - thankfully I gave it a chance and was able to enjoy a truly lovely romance staring two A-star actors - especially Jeon Do Yeon in the role of Nam Haeng Seon.The romance that starts to blossom is really lovely between Haeng Seon and the superstar tutor Choi Chi Yeol, all supported by a great supporting cast for the immediate family and friends.
I'll address the elephant in the room about Jeon Do Yeon's casting. A lot of people say she's too old at 50 to play that character. Technically they are correct - her character is supposed to be around 10 years older than Hae-yi as she's her aunt. Firstly she doesn't look 50 and she's Kdrama royalty and plays the roll so well. So, don't listen to all those haters.
The drama showcases the ultra competitive after school tutors/lessons that kid take to get into the best universities. Those students are 'supported' by a group of mothers that I've been calling the 'Housewives of Gangnam' - a group of gossiping busybodies who will throw anyone under the bus to ensure their precious baby will be top of the class. This group is headed up by Cho Soo Hee played by the delightful Kim Sun Young (who most of us met in CLOY). I loved her characters until this one - she is not a good person and doesn't see the stress she's causing her daughter Su-A, not the issues she has of her own. At times this group really annoyed me and their toxicity was tiresome in some episodes, especially as they would look down on our lead and cause troupe without thinking of the consequences they could cause. Sometimes I felt they got too much screen time
However, our love story is quite lovely and healing and so you'd think that would be the end of this review...
Sadly CCIR is not without its issues. As seems to be the norm in a lot of newer dramas in having unnecessary drama and this one is no exception but an underlying murder mystery which it really could do without. I'll leave that for you to judge if you feel the same.
The writers kept throwing new things into the mix right up until the final episode and while this didn't detract from the sweetness of the main romance (as well as some of the others - especially a couple of bromances) I don't think it was needed.
Did that spoil this drama form me? NO! I loved it. I had Hometown Cha Cha Cha vibes minus the seaside location and I;d recommend watching it. Thankfully the romance between the leads is a great constant throughout. Warning - the food will make you hungry.
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Truth and Consequences of Korea's Education System
“Crash Course in Romance” is a series that is rock solid through fifteen episodes, and then limps to the finish line with a very mediocre final episode. It was clear that the writers had enough material for fifteen episodes, and then ended up having to come up with some gimmicks to stretch it to sixteen, which is almost always a mistake for a writer to make.This is a series that is part romance, part thriller, which is something that the Koreans are masters. They are fantastic at utilizing multiple genres within a single series and making it work.
This is a series that seeks to shed light on the obsession with education in Korea. Korea is one of the top countries in education, which obviously accounts for much of the country’s success. But, at what cost? Korea also has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, especially among teens. You’re dealing with tiger moms, worn-out kids, and one of the most competitive cultures in the world.
I am an ESL teacher, and I have lived and worked in Korea, China, and Taiwan in the Asian countries. While education is huge in all three, Korea surpasses the others when it comes to an almost obsessive, compulsive need to be the best. And this series does a tremendous job of exposing the education culture of Korea with the realization that change is needed.
First of all, students in Korea are expected to study from sunrise, and in many cases, until midnight or later. This is true for children as young as 2nd or 3rd grade. I remember asking many of my students on the eve of a long holiday what they planned to do (thinking that they might do something fun). All of them said, “Studying. My parents told me to bring my books on our vacation.” In the series, we see the culture of students in Nam Hae Yi, Bang Soo Ah, and Lee Seon Jae.
Bang Soo Ah has an unhealthy and frenetic outlook on her education. If she doesn’t finish as #1, she sees herself as a failure. But worse than that, she gets angry at those who beat her, feeling that they must have done something wrong or dishonest.
Lee Seon Jae is put under such pressure from his mother, that he ends up doing something terribly wrong.
Second, we have Tiger moms. This a term used to describe mothers who are so obsessed with their children’s education and future, that nothing else matters to them. They will even dictate to teachers what should or shouldn’t be done. We have a number of tiger moms depicted in this series. Of course, they will all state that it’s for their children. This is a lie. These are women who live vicariously through their own kids and use them to achieve social status. Their children are nothing but pawns, and yes, this is a form of child abuse. It’s no less abusive for moms in the west who give little-to-no attention to their kids, not caring what they do or don’t do. That is abuse too. These are two cultures of extremes, where balance is needed. Make no mistake: most children in Asian countries and cultures are never given much of a chance to be a kid. Many of their lives are mapped and planned out for them. They are told who to marry, what job they will do, and what to do every single day. I have spoken with so many native teachers of these countries who say that they hate their education system.
Believe it or not, I actually had a Korean student who was upset with his test scores at school. His own mother told him, “If you can’t do any better than this, then you should throw yourself off the balcony!” Yes, that’s a true story.
In this series, we have tiger moms who will do anything to bring other students down. Other mothers down. In short, there isn’t much they won’t do to ensure that their child is among the elite. Now, you may look at some of the scenes in this series and say, “Goodness! Do those things really happen? Do mothers really do these kinds of things?” Yes, they do. And that is the truth of the harsh reality that virtually nothing depicted in this series is exaggerated.
Choi Chi Yeol is arguably Korea’s top academy math teacher. He’s so popular, that moms and students line up on the street for a chance to get into one of his classes. There’s no doubt that he’s a great teacher, bringing great enthusiasm and passion to his classrooms. However, it’s also apparent that teaching is all there is for him. He can barely eat, and he even sleeps less. And his small, bubble world is finally blown up when he meets Nam Haeng Seon. What’s funny is that Choi Chi Yeol is horrible at remembering people’s names, including those he works with. However, someone is killing anyone who attempts to harm Choi Chi Yeol, and we’re given a pretty good thriller aspect as we try to figure out who it could be.
Nam Haeng Seon is a woman who runs a small side-dish café while raising her niece who was left on Nam Haeng Seon’s doorstep when the girl was only a few years old. It’s clear that Nam Haeng Seon wants the best for her niece, but she wisely allows Nam Hae Yi to choose and create her own path. In short, she’s a supportive mother who isn’t a tiger mom. She’s a perfect balance of supporting Nam Hae Yi without going overboard.
The relationship between Choi Chi Yeol and Nam Haeng Seon is endearing and cute, despite the fact that occasionally, there appears to be little romantic chemistry between the two leads. Don’t get me wrong. Jeon Do Yeon and Jung Kyung Ho are masterful in their roles. But I made me wonder if the fact that Jeon Do Yeon is 10+ years older than her co-star had something to do with it. I’ve seen Jung Kyung Ho in series like “Hospital Playlist” and he’s nothing short of brilliant in this series as well. He’s very believable as the tightly wound and somewhat aloof math teacher. I was also very impressed with Roh Yoon Seo (Nam Hae Yi). This young lady has a bright future ahead of her.
This series was a “10” for me until the last episode. The writers suddenly forced a contrived storyline upon us where Nam Hae Yi’s mother comes back, and she suddenly announces that she’s going to move with her selfish, gold-digging mother to Japan, which comes right out of the blue. Also, it simply doesn’t fit with the character of Nam Hae Yi. Now, one might believe that she did it to protect her aunt and Choi Chi Yeol, but no resolution or discussion is ever made to account for her behavior. It was ridiculous and it didn’t fit with the rest of the story. We also got no real resolution between Lee Seon Jae’s mother and his brother, whom she suspected of being a murderer. A resolution scene there would have gone far, but that came up short as well.
All in all, this was a very nice series to be a part of. I’m glad that someone decided to shed some light on Korea’s issues with the educational system. It’s high time the children stop paying the price for their parents’ obsession with status. This series would have been perfect had it ended after 15 episodes, but even with the lackluster 16th, it’s still a good series!
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