This review may contain spoilers
A refreshingly sassy KDrama, critically reckoning with the South Korean education system (and love)
“The Midnight Romance in Hagwon” promises a love story with its international title - and that's what we get. Jung Ryeo-won and Wi Ha-joon are creating the relatively adult, authentic aura of a tender but complicated love relationship between a former graduate and his former tutor. Yet, the two are more than a couple. Today, as teachers, they inspire each other to teach didactically creative. And in doing so, they also inspire their students.Thus, the KDrama, which in the original means something like “The Graduate”, basically offers more than a romance. It is rather a quite critical reckoning with the South Korean education system. The criticism: It's less about education than about grades -and a lot of money is involved in getting good grades. The students learn the correct answers to their questions. They therefore receive any effective support outside of school, mainly in the tutoring academies, provided their parents can afford it. However, there is one thing, the students don't learn: how to ask the right questions. They don't learn to question or get to the bottom of something. They know their material they have to memorize and what formulas they should be able to apply. Everything else is not part of the entrance exam or a prerequisite for qualifying for admission to one of the three large SKY universities. It has to be Seoul National University, Korea University or Yonsei University (S, K and Y), if anyone in South Korea is to become something...
"The Midnight Romance in Hagwon" aka "The Graduate" takes stock of the prevailing, dubious, even misleading values of a society, still trying to convince the people that they have to obsessively achieve something in order to be valuable of some sort.
When it comes to the academy teaching staff, it is about tailor-made exam preparation, courting parents an acquiring new students. Looking to the right or left, seeing a student as an individual human being with dreams and needs, let alone respond to them? Oh my! Whether it's students or scandals, it's never about the people. It's always about the money. A lot of money. The competition is enormous. The South Korean education market is a lucrative economic engine that is humming along happily.
This KDrama offers a wonderfully staged, emotionally sensitive and vivid approach to these issues, using the fate of various ambitious, highly motivated teachers who would like to try something different, but are not allowed to. They are surrounded by elitist parents who are ready to do anything for the glorious future of their beloved, dearest offspring. They are also surrounded by fiercely competitive academies that are just waiting for someone to make a mistake, because then those protégés can easily be poached and their own coffers start ringing instead...
What a refreshingly sassy KDrama, dealing with all those issues...
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Conventional Drama with Minimal Impact..
In a world awash with romantic dramas and emotional rollercoasters, a 16ep series must offer something truly different to actually stand out.. Unfortunately, this drama falls short of this and leaves us with much to be desired.. The script lacks significant depth.. And the chemistry between characters is rather mediocre.. The romantic elements are decent but still lacks any actual development.. TMRIH lacked the depth needed to truly keep us engaged or atleast with me.. Overall it’s a “so-so” affair.. Neither compelling nor terrible.. But undeniably underwhelming..Was this review helpful to you?
Too close to RL or not close enough?
I think this drama will have a solid core of supporters but also its fair share of detractors.I find myself in two minds about this show as well. Fundamentally, this series is uniquely Korean. Its main subject matter will be much more relatable to locals who has children who has lived through exam hell or spent half their youth in tutoring academies themselves. However, even then, there are those who would consider this not realistic enough and is nothing more than dramatisation.
I suppose from my perspective, this show is much more "real" than the usual romcom. Even those set in a tutoring ecosystem like Crash Course in Romance feels almost cartoon-y in comparison.
This is a double-edged sword. The day-to-day aspect is a bit dull. There is a lot of jockeying of positions and details about the Korean education system, especially the last years leading up to the all mighty CSAT. The fact that our leads teaches Korean literature makes it harder for non-Korean to form a connection. Any nuisance about a particular author or a piece of writing is mostly lost in translation.
This is not helped by a slow burn romance. There is a lot of push-pull in the beginning. The age difference and their original teacher/student status adds to the complication. While the ML is all in, the FL is very hesitant to accept his advances. While some scenes are touching and heart fluttering, the majority are mundane, and work related. This improves once they are a couple and there are more emphasis on them. Nevertheless, most episodes are dialogue heavy.
The acting of our leads definitely help to steady the ship and made it watchable. The ML is handsome in a manly way and the FL has good chemistry with him. Their portrayals are on point. The rest of the ensemble cast is a mixed bag. Most of the senior cast members did well. The grey witch’s role is a challenging one and SJY is a class act. However, some of the lesser support roles are one dimensional.
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed this show. This is not your typical idol drama full of beautiful people. This one will not grab you from the opening scene and hook you till the end. You have to be patient, invest your time and walk a mile in their shoes to appreciate their struggles. These are mostly normal people doing a challenging job. BTW, I’m glad that there are no murders or psycho stalker. I’m getting tired of that trope.
OST is fine and catchy. I doubt I’ll rewatch this drama anytime soon.
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Beautiful romance with great chemistry
PROS:◇The romance (There is an age gap and they are both adults)
◇The chemistry
◇The writing very slice of life
◇The main couple
◇The friendships
◇The realistic characters.
◇The married couple that own the restaurant. What lovely green flags 💚
CONS:
◇The Meolodrama work senses dragged a little in the 2nd half.
Overall glad I watched it. Honestly a really nice watch when it was on.
If your a fan of slice of life's with a side of Meolodrama and 100% a happy endings? Then I recommend checking this one out. ♡
CONTENT WARNING:
◇Same language
♡ Romance ♡
◇A fade to black scene and kissing
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Upcoming Best Romance Drama currently!!
Upcoming Best Romance Drama currently!!This looks promising drama!! The texture is same style and genre with “one spring night” drama.
If you like “one spring night” and “something in the rain”, you will enjoy this drama too!!
Good directing and cinematography!!
a Realistic workplace plot will be with sweet romance!!!
I am fan of main lead actress and like their chemistry!!
hope to see more romantic scenes!!!
This will be slow burn romance drama and same vibe and texture with “one spring night” and “something in the rain” drama.
They have 6 years age gap only. Female lead was third year of university student and part-time study guide/instructor (not real teacher) while male lead was in high-school student (will be 18 or 19 age) for matriculation exam.
As per photos of age chart, current FL age is 35 years old and ML is 29 years old , that is why 6 years age gap only.
I enjoy this drama a lot!!! Can’t wait to see new episodes!!!!
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Dont let the title fool you
This drama advertises itself as a primarily romance orientated drama, but i would beg to differ. If you're looking to watch this drama, it is NOT a romance, it is just sixteen episodes of 'hagwon' (academy/tuition centre) politics, and how the hagwon is affected by said 'romance'.So, that explains why i feel like i wasted my time with this drama.
What did i get out of it? Basically nothing.
See, i wouldnt have minded if it was vice versa and the romance took the main role with a side of hagwon politics, but that wasnt the case.
I would have still watched this anyways since i am a fan of wi ha jun, he's my type in men and an amazing actor to boot, so any drama that he works on that i like the premise of is a must watch for me, but no amount of ogling at his beautful face could save this drama from the trenches of a severe lack of romantic plotline, chemistry or development.
I wouldnt recommend this if you are looking for romance.
Theres no midnight romance, its just hagwon.
If you like hagwon politics however, you should watch it.
It's a well made drama, however it's romance plotline is very weak and this drags the drama down - nothing much really happens between them and they have barely any romantic tension after episode 8.
Basically, after episode 8 the drama is entirely focused on hagwon politics.
Quite disappointed. I like the ost a lot tho, an the acting is very good, if it didnt have these qualities it would have been a 6.
Love the actor playing si woo, i will be waiting for his future roles, and the actress playing hye jin is amazing and encompasses her role very well.
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This review may contain spoilers
comfort drama material
things that i loved about this series...- the main characters (not only them as a realistic couple but also them as an individuals)
- chemistry was chemistryng
- the acting (i've followed leads' works for years and i'm so happy that they got cast together)
- the setting (as a casual contemporary cdrama viewer, i don't mind when drama focuses more on occupation than romance)
- the cinematography and editing (ahn pan seok has magical hands)
- proposal scene (most of the "noona" genre dramas have open endings or leads barely make up so this was refreshing)
thing i didn't like that much
- just a little bit too much focus on some of the side characters (some of their scenes could've been cut)
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school/academies dramas were forced
im gonna say that i wanted to watch it because of wihajoon, of course he delivered and seo hyejin also played really good. i think that the cast and acting is the best thing about this show.however, i do understand why the rating is higher than mine rating.
the chemistry, the tension, the couples - sooo good. main female lead was acting her age, shes grown woman and her behavior was appropriate for her age (some kdramas cant relate;()
anyway, what i didnt like was all the school/academy drama.
like when the teacher from public school was on screen, what was that? his bad character was so forced, maybe the writing was just bad
also, all the drama between academies, like chill, it was just boring and like what would grown people act that way about their students and academies?
why it was such a big deal that two teachers are dating? why there is this big drama about it?
so everything was nice if we are not looking about all the problems in school/academy/teacher.
i get it that we need 'bad' characters, like the teacher at first, or we need bad things and some drama, but ngl it was so forced and unreal.
i hope wi hajoon and seo heyjin will be cast in other romance kdrama;)
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This review may contain spoilers
An Office Romance Wrecks Havoc on the Fragile Career of An Elite Educator
Interesting insight into the elite education field for high schoolers in Korea. Though the FL was very good at what she did her approach, at times, could be off putting. The ML being brought onboard predictably stirred things up and inevitably led to the FL being humbled a bit but it was growth her character needed .Though the show did a good job at capturing the atmosphere of the elite Korean education system the story wasn’t deeply engaging. There wasn’t anything compelling about the FL standing outside a door waiting for the ML to finish his teacher’s entry exam, watching him do a mock lecture or watching administrators and teachers try and outwit each other to become the next *star* educator at the school. It’s difficult to make a series centered around the classroom interesting, which is why this show struggled to capture this viewer.
The romance wasn’t enough to make up for what was missing in the main story. The leads chemistry wasn’t great, just passable. Their love story was okay. It was a little icky that the ML had a thing for the FL back in high school when she was his teacher. She gave in to his advances almost immediately. It would’ve been more realistic had she resisted his romantic overtures given their past teacher/student relationship, not to mention the risk to her career, for which she’d worked very hard to find extraordinary success.
Overall, this was okay. After I finished the last episode I realized there was nothing memorable about this show. Is it worth watching? Depends on the viewer, but honestly not to me. Is it worth a rewatch? Absolutely not.
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Part endearing part aggravating
The male character is endearing - his zest, drive, and heartfelt portrayal of his character are what lifts the show. Unfortunately, the protracted and frequently boring storyline regarding the actual running of the academy, together with the unprofessional conduct, and competitive behaviours - all take away from the overall charm.I guess at the end of the day what really was a turn-off was yet another portrayal of an archaic, face-saving, and frequently harmful society. Destroying someone's career on the basis of them dating another adult - well, that doesn't make for compelling storytelling, it just makes one aggravated.
It is a sweet, slow-burn romance that touches the heart. It is also a slow and frequently frustrating watch.
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Pointless Idealism and disappointment
It tells the story of a secret and sweet real-life romance between Seo Hye-jin, a veteran cram school instructor, and Lee Joon-ho, a quirky student who returns after a decade to stir her heart. The secret midnight romance that begins when the lights go out in Daechi-dong Academy, and the colorful stories of the academy instructors we didn't know about.The subject matter is important to me but they failed to deliver it compellingly. I'm not even complaining about the romance but about the lack of coherence and the presentation of the story itself. The real issue isn't just the plot but the pacing, tone, coherence, and expression of ideas throughout the drama. The script starts with a strong foundation of idealism, but those core themes are abandoned by the end. It's a classic case of bad writing where the initial promises aren't fulfilled. It's too preachy and idealistic while lacking that "realness" quality. You can tell what they were trying to say but they failed to convince the audience with their story-telling and execution it in a memorable way.
Initial episode 1 to 10 had romantic buzz, their plot was interesting and it was good to watch but after 10th episode the drama got so boring that I didn't want to watch it but I watched it.
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My First Review because this is the only Drama that I have watched while it was airing.
This my first review for a KDrama, I will be short about it. The starting was amazing even i was anxious of what might be go down in the coming episodes but it couldn't just do well in the second last part of the drama. The acting was good but the story continuation was below average. There were times when one could just see how below and clueless the characters were about how to deal with a crisis. People kept talking and a lot of talking kept going on, you never feel the impact of it eventually. The only thing that I held onto was the the beautiful chemistry between ML & FL apart from that the second half wasn't able to carry the same specularity.What should have happened in between they dragged it to the ending. If only it could be a tug of war between academies rather than multiple meets and unnecessary persusion knowing the consequence of it.
Korean Drama hardly and rarely lives upto my epectation especially they crash in the middle but I had high expectations with this one as it started slow and there weren't any cringe or slow moments but it really failed to deliver the perfect blow I was expecting all along.
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