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Crash Course in Romance korean drama review
Completed
Crash Course in Romance
3 people found this review helpful
by hey887984
Mar 7, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
This review may contain spoilers

A warm and fuzzy rom-com drama with a touch of thrill

Before this drama finished airing on Netflix, I avoided the drama for some reason. I eventually came to watch the drama because it is convenient as I am a Netflix subscriber and as it turns out, it is available within the Canada region. The plot is very easy to watch, but not boring - as they have melodramatic plots as well.

A little overview of the drama:
Choi Chi Yeol (ML) is a well known and successful private instructor who is also known as one trillion won man. Nam Haeng Seon (FL) is an early-retired athlete who owns a small side-dishes business. FL has a teenage kid who excels in her studies, a brother who has Asperger's Syndrome, and a best friend who helped her with her business.

The drama could be just like any other rom-com drama, however, they have a good script writing, which led this drama getting a high-rating. What I love about this drama is how they portray each individual's flaws - as dramas who has "rich man poor woman" theme often portray the man as a perfect all rounder and untouchable. In fact, the ML has many flaws, and he succeeded by his own effort, which I appreciate very much. On the other hand, FL is okay in her economic perspective, not too poor and not rich either. However, she got a full loving family that stands by her side.

What I admired very much is how FL is very kind-hearted, to the point where she quit her future athlete career to take care of her abandoned niece (now as her daughter). She is very selfless and always want to help people in need, just like her mother.

The story tells how ML has many mental health issues due to stress primarily, which causes him to become malnourished most of the time. However, after he came across FL's side dishes coincidentally, he was reminded of the time where he had no money but was taken care of by an Ajumma. He immediately felt warm after tasting the food, which led him to the FL.

I also love FL's daughter because she's very mature for her age. Despite being only in high-school, her behaviour seems very put-together and this can be seen as how she is beloved by her friends- plus she has brains too!

As for the sides characters, the drama portrays how rich families has many problems, especially when it comes to how they raise their children. For instance, Cho Soo Hee chose to become a dotting mom and her daughter has mental health issues that resulted from her being a perfectionist. Meanwhile, Jang Seo Jin, who's also a well respected lawyer, chose to become an extreme tiger mom, where she pushed her sons to become "perfect" in her eyes no matter the cost. In fact, one of her sons became a "Hikikomori" where he locked himself in a room without any life, purpose and motivation because of her.

In the end, though Cho Soo Hee became somewhat a changed woman, Jang Seo Jin is the one who has the most character development, which I love. She has peace with her husband, and her sons, where she took her Hikkomori son on a trip together. And we can see that in the end, her son surprised her in her office in the middle of his military break and shared a warm hug.

All in all, the drama was very enjoyable to watch. I'd say, if I have one thing to complain, the chemistry between the 2 leads are not the best as I don't see any sparks between them. Usually it is harder to make a chemistry work in the public eye, since the leads has an age gap, but to take "Romance as a Bonus Book" for an example of an age-gap drama that can show a very good chemistry between the lead. However, aside from the chemistry issue, I think the drama is worth the watch.

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