Intensivão de Amor

At first, this show is really great! It's everything you want out of a rom-com k-drama. Likeable leads, nice flow, good acting, high production value. It's a bit heavy, but it's to make a point about the state of the insane educational environment currently prevalent in South Korea.

But, wow, when it starts to stray and put more focus on some of the other plotlines (around episode 10 I think it was), it gets real silly, real fast. It really loses all idea of what it's trying to say, and common sense flies entirely out the window in the process. Side characters become complete caricatures, situations become super forced. In particular, the first hour of the finale is wretched. It is, in all seriousness, truly insultingly bad. Literally everyone starts acting completely out of character, in an attempt to create as much random drama as possible when one can only assume they had completely run out of ideas and are trying to fill time until they can get to the proper wrap-up.

Anyway, overall it's worth watching, because it really is quite good for a while, but you might find yourself rolling your eyes a lot as it enters the stretch run, as I did.

Dear previous reviewer. I haven't yet written a review on this series as I'm waiting for the next episodes to be released in Europe from Netflix ! I can't wait, it has been PERFECT up until now.... In the meantime I would like to add that I'm on my 4th (fourth) South Korean Netflix series. Since having discovered them with Crash Landing On You, I have been overwhelmed at the quality of these ...what could easily be described as sheer unadulterated adorable romcons, but somehow much more...We are treated to eye candy for the soul and the evoking of all sorts of human misgivings AND attributes. Plus GORGEOUS (and extremely talented) actors, fantastic scenery, escapism from our somewhat sometimes dull and/or hectic lives here in Europe. I have noticed an unusual and telling grasp of HUMAN NATURE captured in all the series I've seen so far...without exception. Each and every character has his/her relatable flaws, but also their strengths....it is SO inspiring to watch. And last but not least, I APPLAUD the subtitled translators into English of these series, they are SPOT ON! (despite a lot of « Gosh », which are SO endearing (the Americans would probably use « Gee »!), but no matter, Gosh to this reviewer is more than perfectly acceptable and cute..don't stop.

To conclude, I highly recommend CRASH COURSE IN ROMANCE as a get- away-from-it all, virtual visit to South Korea...it will broaden your mind (don't sue me if it doesn't, but it should do if your mind need's broadening !

Instead of Jeon Do Yeon, Jang Young Nam would have looked much better for the female lead character role.

No doubt the performance by every actor and actress was great, but lead couple's age gap was rather unsettling.

Male lead actor Jung Kyung Ho who in fact is actually over ten years younger than the female lead actress Jeon Do Yeon.

Off course, the decade of age gap between the lead characters in a Kdrama is not completely new, it's just that female lead character looked very aged compared to the male lead, I'm not pointing fingers at the actors instead I'm just not satisfied with casting team. Jeon Do Yeon is rather a very skilled actress, even her latest movie Kill Boksoon was an amazing example of her skills.

It's hard to capture what it's like to be falling in love with someone, especially if they are not able to express their love to one another. He believes she's married. She's not exactly a "catch" being a single mom with a difficult uncle in the family. She's had a difficult life. So you can really empathize with her situation, and with the fact that he recognizes what a good person she is. It's a very special program and I'm recommending it to everyone. Maybe it's because they are both such admirable people that you really want them to find the happiness they deserve. And also, the male lead is truly adorable! It's a premium to be tall, even in Korea!

I like the concept of this series. It explores the academic situation for many teens in South-Korea, especially the darker side of it; all the stress and competitiveness. I really enjoyed that part. The storyline was quite unique as well. The romance was also enjoyable, especially when there were multiple couples to root for.

As many have said, it felt like the crime part of this series started to take over about halfway. I did like the thriller side of the story, but it could have been better balanced with the romance story. I also feel like some of the side characters' stories were left unfinished at the end. This is truly a shame since some of their stories were really interesting.