Great concept, mediocre execution

I am writing this review as someone who hasn't read the webtoon.
I am someone who really enjoys revenge plots, it feeds my soul to see bad people be put in their place, however, this drama, on many occassiona, just had me feeling frustrated instead of happy.

What I liked
1. Wonderful performances by supporting cast - I love almost most of the supporting cast of the show, including actors portraying Sumin and Jihwan. To pull off villains that make your blood boil is not an easy task and these two nailed it. It was genuinely infuriating to see them manipulate and gaslight Ji-won.
2. Jiwon learning to stand up for herself, and face Sumin on her own as much as she could. It was nice to not have Ji hyuk be her knight in shining armor all the time.
3. Jihwan's death, it was satisfying to see him die the way Jiwon had, instead of it being Sumin. It was a plot twist I enjoyed.

What I disliked
1. The main leads - I disliked both of their characters, especially Jiwon's. Her pure and naive personality felt unreal and stupid and instead of pitying her situation, I only ended up feeling mildly annoyed at her decisions. Even after time traveling, she continued to take forever before she grew a spine, and by the end of it, I was rooting more for Jooran than her victory. Jihyuk's character was the blandest male lead one ever had in kdramas. Having his entire existence revolve around Jiwon's happiness made him one-dimensional. Surely, they could have explored his relationship with his fiance in detail, and explore his arc. He basically was like just there.... most of the time, and it was boring to watch him on screen. The chemistry of the main leads also was lacking, and I was left feeling uncomfortable whenever they hugged, because of how forced it felt.

2. The writing taking a nosedive after episode 11. I didn't mind the addition of Yoora to the plot, they needed a scapegoat to share Jihyuk's fate, while also being connected to him. But damn, they failed the execution. Her character too had no depth, no rational explanation behind her motivation other than she was ruthless... which we didn't actually get to properly appreciate because of the lack of context. Also it didnt make sense why she would use Jihwan considering how pwerful she is, let alone sleep with him and bail him out of jail. Crappy writing.

3. The fact that no one stands up against that shitty manager, its so irritating. Surely someone would have, it just felt so ..... weird that everyone just tolerated that behaviour. Surely Jihyuk's sister could have had him fired, especially since he underperforms.... it was stupid.

Overall.. this was a one time watch, and I played most of it in 2X speed.

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Beautiful execution, but some loose ends

It's really hard to execute equal amounts of romance, drama and comedy in one show, but Crash course in romance has managed to master this balance reasonably well.
I would argue that the title is misleading, as this show is so much more than just romance, to the point that I believe the romance would rank quite low in terms of the priority within the story. However, the romance aspect was not lacking in any way, its just that it was not a major part of the plot, even though it was quite enjoyable.
The casting of this show was perfect, and everyone did justice to their roles quite well. I remember Jeong Yeon Nam from it's okay not to be okay, and here too she portrayed her obsessive character wonderfully. Oh Eui SHik shined as Nam Jae woo, even though his romance with Kim Young Joo came out of nowhere. The best was Ji Dong hui and his character was quite fascinating and wonderfully done by the actor.
Now for some aspects I really enjoyed in this drama
1. The friendship between Sun jae and Geon Hoo.
Typical of many dramas, here too we had a love triangle. As someone who has come to having two guys fall for a girl, it was refreshing to see the friendship between the two boys bloom. They both liked Hae-e and while there was a sense of competition with none of them backing out, it was nice to see that it did not affect their friendship deep down. I would more such non-toxic portrayals in the future too. Also the Sua and Geon hoo angle toward the end was quite cute.
2. Dong-hui's true face.
Having watched a lot of thriller dramas, it was quite surprising how late into the drama I started doubting Mr. Ji as the one behind the metal ball attacks. Portraying him as a sweet person who really wants the best for Chi-yeol, it did not even cross my mind that he could be capable of ruthlessly killing people off. But it once it was revealed, everything he had said previously that I had merely brushed off made more sense to me. I loved the plot twist, even though a part of me really wanted him to be a good person.
3. The pressure of the education system
This story managed to highlight all aspects of the korean education system, and showed how parents, students and teachers alike are affected by this system. They also portray the consequences of fame, and how it can make or break a person's career. Seeing the mother's fight against each other in an effort to put their children in an advantegeous position was very reminiscent of sky castle and done well.

Loose Ends
1. Dong Hui's arc was cut too soon. For all the suspense surrounding the identity of the killer, I felt that the reveal to chiyeol and subsequent confrontation was too short. Felt a little underwhelming the way they dealt with the ending.

2. Hae-ee's mom leaving
It was frankly quite irritating to see Hae-ee birth mom return. But what was more irritating was the fact that Hae-ee made some stupid decisions in an effort to try and make it up to her aunt for raising her. Instead of properly showing her gratitude, she ended up pushing her aunt away, making everyone in the house sad. Haee mom leaving was the best thing she ever did in her life. But what bothered me is that we didnt get a conversation between aunt and niece in the aftermath of the mom leaving. I would have loved some family bonding time, but it was skipped over.

Overall a great watch, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in a fun, interesting watch.

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Gaipa stole the show!

I went into this with quite some expectations and while I wouldn't say I was disappointed, I do believe this series did not manage to reach its potential.
The story by itself was quite simple, but I loved that each character had some issues they needed to work on. No one (Except Gaipa, but that's my opinion) here is perfect, and they have to work on themselves through the show. I enjoyed Li-ming and Heart's story a lot, and it was a cute development that was well done.
As for the main couple, for some reason their story just......... never took off for me. Not a diss on Earth and Mix, both of them played their characters well, and have amazing chemistry on screen. It's just that I feel like there was no depth to their story at all. Felt like Wen was just following his crush around like a puppy and Jim ended up begrudgingly agreeing to be his boyfriend. There was at no point any scene that highlighted Earth really liked Wen romantically, even though they did end up together.
Jim's attitude towards his nephew threw me off sometimes, especially his reaction to finding out about him being gay, but I believe that was the intention, to show that people are not perfect.
I loved Gaipa and his mother the most. Khaotung is an incredible actor, and he once again proved himself through his portrayal of Gaipa. He is my fav character from this series.
Overall this was a decent series and I would recommend watching if you want a slice of life kinda watch.

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Overall great story, but be ready with tissues!

It's been a while since I genuinely enjoyed a Kdrama without losing interest in the middle. Maybe it's because of the pacing or the style with each episode focusing on one particular character's story, but every episode was intense, nail-biting and exciting. It's very refreshing to see Rowoon in a role really different from extraordinary you, and his childish playful and cute side was very welcome in this mostly emotionally draining series.
The casting was perfect and I believe every single one who appeared in this show gave full justice to their role, and a special shoutout to all the guest appearances whose performances really took this show to another level.
The story was well paced, and I really enjoyed the suspense throughout regarding the main characters and their pasts. However, since it's a drama that deals with suicides and suicide risks, it is really heavy in terms of the topic chosen and the violence depicted, so if you are not comfortable with that, this is not a how for you.
Overall, I truly enjoyed this show, and I would highly recommend to anyone who needs a break from rom-coms in the kdrama environment. I promise you won't regret this watch!

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