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This review may contain spoilers
Crushology 101 reminds you of the preciousness of love, even through its complications
It's a cute college rom-com, but it's also a genuinely strong story, something the drama keeps proving right up until the final episode. It's beautifully directed too, with a fresh soundtrack (that French song at the start — awesome) and really creative visual choices: shifting from simple shots to dynamic collages, full cinematic frames, warmer color palettes, and even black-and-white flashbacks in reduced framing. All of these choices are used deliberately to serve each scene.
The original webtoon, Bunny and Her Oppas, is a reverse harem. However, there is no endgame. Here, you have a love story with a clear ML, but each of them had a purpose and intervened at some point.
Bunny's struggle with self-esteem, Yeol's vulnerability and trauma from his family, his heightened abandonment issues from his ex (contrasting Bunny's ex and her other experience), and the physical distance between him and Bunny compared to Won, who worked in the same department as Bunny and started his relationship with her more naturally — these are the kinds of things that draw me in.
The cast was a great ensemble where everyone felt necessary to the plot: Bunny's parents (it's so rare to see a loving couple like this and get to see their own story), Yeol's friends and especially his best friend Dong Ha (a reunion with his brother from Hierarchy), Bunny's friends with the funny names, Ji Won and Yeol's growing and funny friendship, Won's sister, Yeol's mother and his ex, the male leads, and Bunny's ex.
Honestly, I was a little scared when I saw which webtoon they were adapting, because I thought it would be a waste of potential for their romance to become some reverse-harem rom-com, and I'm not into that. Turns out, their romance more than satisfied me, and I loved how the concept was handled.
(Spoilers up to Episode 7)
However, I've read comments about Yeol that make me wonder if they really watched the drama. In Episode 4, he confesses his feelings. In Episodes 5 and 6, he goes after her several times and makes it very clear that he likes her, reinforcing the confession from Episode 4. In Episode 7, he is trying to deal not only with his own feelings, but also with his ex, who won't let him go even though he makes it clear that he doesn't want her.
Bunny, even though she is hurt by the whole situation, doesn't choose to give up. And she has Ji Won, but she doesn't see him romantically and makes that clear. After knowing the truth, Yeol felt bad about his ex because all this time he had hated her without knowing the truth.
(End of spoilers)
The drama felt nostalgic, and it made me appreciate old-school tropes again. The fantasy scenes were great too, like in True Beauty.
The ending was also beautiful, on top of the great cliffhangers the drama had. I wish it had gotten a better release; it should have been on Netflix and not a region-restricted platform like Viu. Even I couldn't watch it on Viki in France. It's a "small" drama, but it deserves way more. I can only say that the impact the drama had on me was incredible.
For details that you might notice, there were parallels to Hierarchy (the end of Episode 1, the bike, the shirt), and I felt like it was inspired by Nevertheless — the art setting, the beginning of Episode 4, the opening, one particular scene especially.
P.S. I'll post one of my favorite shots and edit under the review.
The original webtoon, Bunny and Her Oppas, is a reverse harem. However, there is no endgame. Here, you have a love story with a clear ML, but each of them had a purpose and intervened at some point.
Bunny's struggle with self-esteem, Yeol's vulnerability and trauma from his family, his heightened abandonment issues from his ex (contrasting Bunny's ex and her other experience), and the physical distance between him and Bunny compared to Won, who worked in the same department as Bunny and started his relationship with her more naturally — these are the kinds of things that draw me in.
The cast was a great ensemble where everyone felt necessary to the plot: Bunny's parents (it's so rare to see a loving couple like this and get to see their own story), Yeol's friends and especially his best friend Dong Ha (a reunion with his brother from Hierarchy), Bunny's friends with the funny names, Ji Won and Yeol's growing and funny friendship, Won's sister, Yeol's mother and his ex, the male leads, and Bunny's ex.
Honestly, I was a little scared when I saw which webtoon they were adapting, because I thought it would be a waste of potential for their romance to become some reverse-harem rom-com, and I'm not into that. Turns out, their romance more than satisfied me, and I loved how the concept was handled.
(Spoilers up to Episode 7)
However, I've read comments about Yeol that make me wonder if they really watched the drama. In Episode 4, he confesses his feelings. In Episodes 5 and 6, he goes after her several times and makes it very clear that he likes her, reinforcing the confession from Episode 4. In Episode 7, he is trying to deal not only with his own feelings, but also with his ex, who won't let him go even though he makes it clear that he doesn't want her.
Bunny, even though she is hurt by the whole situation, doesn't choose to give up. And she has Ji Won, but she doesn't see him romantically and makes that clear. After knowing the truth, Yeol felt bad about his ex because all this time he had hated her without knowing the truth.
(End of spoilers)
The drama felt nostalgic, and it made me appreciate old-school tropes again. The fantasy scenes were great too, like in True Beauty.
The ending was also beautiful, on top of the great cliffhangers the drama had. I wish it had gotten a better release; it should have been on Netflix and not a region-restricted platform like Viu. Even I couldn't watch it on Viki in France. It's a "small" drama, but it deserves way more. I can only say that the impact the drama had on me was incredible.
For details that you might notice, there were parallels to Hierarchy (the end of Episode 1, the bike, the shirt), and I felt like it was inspired by Nevertheless — the art setting, the beginning of Episode 4, the opening, one particular scene especially.
P.S. I'll post one of my favorite shots and edit under the review.
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