Intensivão de Amor (2023)

Truth and Consequences of Korea's Education System

“Crash Course in Romance” is a series that is rock solid through fifteen episodes, and then limps to the finish line with a very mediocre final episode. It was clear that the writers had enough material for fifteen episodes, and then ended up having to come up with some gimmicks to stretch it to sixteen, which is almost always a mistake for a writer to make.

This is a series that is part romance, part thriller, which is something that the Koreans are masters. They are fantastic at utilizing multiple genres within a single series and making it work.

This is a series that seeks to shed light on the obsession with education in Korea. Korea is one of the top countries in education, which obviously accounts for much of the country’s success. But, at what cost? Korea also has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, especially among teens. You’re dealing with tiger moms, worn-out kids, and one of the most competitive cultures in the world.

I am an ESL teacher, and I have lived and worked in Korea, China, and Taiwan in the Asian countries. While education is huge in all three, Korea surpasses the others when it comes to an almost obsessive, compulsive need to be the best. And this series does a tremendous job of exposing the education culture of Korea with the realization that change is needed.

First of all, students in Korea are expected to study from sunrise, and in many cases, until midnight or later. This is true for children as young as 2nd or 3rd grade. I remember asking many of my students on the eve of a long holiday what they planned to do (thinking that they might do something fun). All of them said, “Studying. My parents told me to bring my books on our vacation.” In the series, we see the culture of students in Nam Hae Yi, Bang Soo Ah, and Lee Seon Jae.

Bang Soo Ah has an unhealthy and frenetic outlook on her education. If she doesn’t finish as #1, she sees herself as a failure. But worse than that, she gets angry at those who beat her, feeling that they must have done something wrong or dishonest.

Lee Seon Jae is put under such pressure from his mother, that he ends up doing something terribly wrong.

Second, we have Tiger moms. This a term used to describe mothers who are so obsessed with their children’s education and future, that nothing else matters to them. They will even dictate to teachers what should or shouldn’t be done. We have a number of tiger moms depicted in this series. Of course, they will all state that it’s for their children. This is a lie. These are women who live vicariously through their own kids and use them to achieve social status. Their children are nothing but pawns, and yes, this is a form of child abuse. It’s no less abusive for moms in the west who give little-to-no attention to their kids, not caring what they do or don’t do. That is abuse too. These are two cultures of extremes, where balance is needed. Make no mistake: most children in Asian countries and cultures are never given much of a chance to be a kid. Many of their lives are mapped and planned out for them. They are told who to marry, what job they will do, and what to do every single day. I have spoken with so many native teachers of these countries who say that they hate their education system.

Believe it or not, I actually had a Korean student who was upset with his test scores at school. His own mother told him, “If you can’t do any better than this, then you should throw yourself off the balcony!” Yes, that’s a true story.

In this series, we have tiger moms who will do anything to bring other students down. Other mothers down. In short, there isn’t much they won’t do to ensure that their child is among the elite. Now, you may look at some of the scenes in this series and say, “Goodness! Do those things really happen? Do mothers really do these kinds of things?” Yes, they do. And that is the truth of the harsh reality that virtually nothing depicted in this series is exaggerated.

Choi Chi Yeol is arguably Korea’s top academy math teacher. He’s so popular, that moms and students line up on the street for a chance to get into one of his classes. There’s no doubt that he’s a great teacher, bringing great enthusiasm and passion to his classrooms. However, it’s also apparent that teaching is all there is for him. He can barely eat, and he even sleeps less. And his small, bubble world is finally blown up when he meets Nam Haeng Seon. What’s funny is that Choi Chi Yeol is horrible at remembering people’s names, including those he works with. However, someone is killing anyone who attempts to harm Choi Chi Yeol, and we’re given a pretty good thriller aspect as we try to figure out who it could be.

Nam Haeng Seon is a woman who runs a small side-dish café while raising her niece who was left on Nam Haeng Seon’s doorstep when the girl was only a few years old. It’s clear that Nam Haeng Seon wants the best for her niece, but she wisely allows Nam Hae Yi to choose and create her own path. In short, she’s a supportive mother who isn’t a tiger mom. She’s a perfect balance of supporting Nam Hae Yi without going overboard.

The relationship between Choi Chi Yeol and Nam Haeng Seon is endearing and cute, despite the fact that occasionally, there appears to be little romantic chemistry between the two leads. Don’t get me wrong. Jeon Do Yeon and Jung Kyung Ho are masterful in their roles. But I made me wonder if the fact that Jeon Do Yeon is 10+ years older than her co-star had something to do with it. I’ve seen Jung Kyung Ho in series like “Hospital Playlist” and he’s nothing short of brilliant in this series as well. He’s very believable as the tightly wound and somewhat aloof math teacher. I was also very impressed with Roh Yoon Seo (Nam Hae Yi). This young lady has a bright future ahead of her.

This series was a “10” for me until the last episode. The writers suddenly forced a contrived storyline upon us where Nam Hae Yi’s mother comes back, and she suddenly announces that she’s going to move with her selfish, gold-digging mother to Japan, which comes right out of the blue. Also, it simply doesn’t fit with the character of Nam Hae Yi. Now, one might believe that she did it to protect her aunt and Choi Chi Yeol, but no resolution or discussion is ever made to account for her behavior. It was ridiculous and it didn’t fit with the rest of the story. We also got no real resolution between Lee Seon Jae’s mother and his brother, whom she suspected of being a murderer. A resolution scene there would have gone far, but that came up short as well.

All in all, this was a very nice series to be a part of. I’m glad that someone decided to shed some light on Korea’s issues with the educational system. It’s high time the children stop paying the price for their parents’ obsession with status. This series would have been perfect had it ended after 15 episodes, but even with the lackluster 16th, it’s still a good series!

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A really good rom-com drama

I hesitated a lot when I started watching this drama, but if you are doubting whether this gonna waste your time, I don't think so cause the story is fresh, the acting is good and funny !!

The plot is just nice, it doesn't make me stressed out, and it doesn't disappoint me in every episodes, the story line is also not so obvious, but it doesn't make me feel to keep waiting for next episode.
And the acting is incredible, Jung Kyungho and Jean Doyeon are such a good actor, not just them, but all of the actors that play in this drama are really great, the villain characters make me feel annoyed, and I hope that Nam Ha-e will have romance line with anyone please...

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For romance lovers

I'll be giving a quick review about this drama. For me I can watch the Romance drame if the story is really extra ordinary. But for this drama it's not the case.

If you like romance stories it's for you... Kinda dropped interest time to time but still a Good drama to watch. Plot twist is really interesting. If I talk about chemistry between leads it awesome. I kinda have more interest in her niece's love story but ok.

Ending is good even tho I feel a little bit sad in the end for villain but that's fine ig. Anyway you can watch this drama atleast for once.

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exciting new rom-com

Really good drama I have watched 11 episodes so far this is definitely a feel-good drama. It's a light drama but it also has a good balance of addressing issues. If you watched hometown cha cha cha you will definitely like this. I like how it looks at the teenage side and adult side eg their parents and how far some s. Korean parents would go for their children's education.I like the plot and how there is a mystery in the police investigation and I can't wait to see what it will all be like after it is solved. I do like the cliffhangers at the end of the episode. The casting could have been better it would have been nice if the main character's mum was younger as I think she is supposed to be in her 30s.

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Wrong Cast, wrong aging calculation!!!

how a very young handball player jumped into a 50 years old woman in 13 years! she was younger in the past but got in age accelerator machine somehow?!!! I couldn't stop thinking about how old and ugly player they could have chosen for the main role... why would they do that??!!! whyyyyyy
I also liked the story line but I couldn't believe how easily they forget and forgive the people who were so mean to them! rude children have been doing all sorts of meaningful actions but at the end of the episode they have been forgiven by a simple apologize!
I couldn't stop thinking about the woman character's age each episode... why??just why they did that? I don't argue about the ugliness but just couldn't match the ages from past seen to future ones! I wonder no one else have gotten any problem with that!!!!:))

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Pleasantly surprised....for the first half of the drama

I wish I wrote my review when I was halfway through the drama so I could've had all my good things to say about this drama out before it got ruined by the later half of the drama.
Honestly, I was really pleasantly surprised at how much I was enjoyed the first half of the drama. Even though I had my doubts about the female lead, I thought the ML and FL were so cute and had great chemistry. I liked the warmth that our FL's family had and it was just heartwarming and wholesome. I also didn't mind having the murder mystery aspect in the drama because it kept things interesting.

However, the conclusion of the murder mystery was so anticlimactic and just outright disappointing. And from there, everything else just also went downhill. All of a sudden, we're given all these random subplots being rushed throughout the last few episodes of the drama, and for what? I just found everything so pointless or anticlimactic. The love between the best friend and FL's brother felt so random, out of place, and forced. They could've at least dropped hints of it throughout the first half of the drama so that it could make sense in the end but instead it feels like they just wanted to make sure everyone was paired up in the end. I also hated having the biological mother come back, and it felt so incredibly pointless and I really don't know what Hae Yi was thinking during all of that. I also was waiting the ENTIRE drama for the two evil mothers to be punished for all that they had done. I was so sick of them and the only thing that kept me going was that they were going to pay for their actions later. But NO. Instead, they were able to redeem themselves with little consequences for their actions and go on their merry way. And honestly I liked the Hae Yi and Geon Hoo pairing better than Hae Yi and Seon Jae but I knew that was a losing battle. What I didn't expect was for Soo Ah to also be barely punished, to just be redeemed in the end, AND put together with Geon Hoo.
It's really a shame. I was enjoying this drama so much and had such high hopes. I can't believe this is how it ends.

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Things I hate/love about this drakor

Yang aku suka dari drama ini adalah openingnya dengan animasi yang lucu juga judul episode nya yang berkorelasi dengan MTK. Kyung Ho juga all out banget sebagai Chi Yeol.

Yang aku gak suka dari drama ini adalah Konfliknya yang terlalu banyak untuk drakor bergenre romcom dan eksekusinya juga gak begitu memuaskan. Dari awal drakor ini udah bikin kita nebak-nebak siapa villainnya (meskipun riddlenya gampang ditebak dengan beberapa hint yang dikasih), tapi saat villainnya udah ketauan langsung dibuat adegan bundir aja kayak serius nih gitu doang? kita nonton nyampe 14 episode tapi ending villainnya gitu doang? Emaknya Hae yi juga kenapa mesti muncul lagi kalau akhirnya bakal ilang juga. better buat emaknya die aje dah🙂

Terakhir, ini yang paling gue benci, kapal gue sejak awal karam ges🙂 ketebak lah, geon hui😭😭

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Absolutely fantastic!

I’m still in shock at how good this series was. I have rarely found a “romance” that is this good and keeps me so engaged that I don’t want to stop watching.

At first, I didn’t see the two leads together. Complete opposites. He looks so much younger than her. He’s professional and polished. She dresses frumpy and really needs to do something with that hair. But as the series went on, they made sense.

There were so many side stories which included characters that I loved and hated. The love triangle with her daughter was hilarious most of the time. I just loved both guys so much. But there was only one obvious choice for her.

There was murder and suspense. I have to say that was the most devastated I have been and I started crying from the moment I realized what was going to happen. I figured out exactly how it would all go down and I was right. Left me gutted and I still haven’t stopped crying.

Her best friend’s relationship was the cutest.

I highly recommend this series. It has substance and not at all boring. It has a great ending.

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Does having super high TV ratings means it's a great drama?

Crash course in romance

My ratings : 7.5/10

First of all as I have watched a lot of kdramas already so I surely except something unique or refreshing from every drama that I watch. Many must have a different opinion about this drama and I have no intention of hurting others feelings. It's jusy some of my opinions.

The cast  and high Tv ratings made me watch this drama with really hing hopes. I loved it's first half a lot but actually I never really felt something so different or unique about this drama.

I really don't wanna talk about how typical cliche tropes the writer used in the last half that totally ruined my experience of watching the drama.
I don't know how it has super high Tv ratings.

I really don't know whether I should tag this one a average or a bellow average drama. ( My mood was just so frustrated in the last half of the drama) 😤

Pathetic!!!! One of the wrost writting from my pov. The writer made it a disaster even when it could really have been a great drama.

However the drama does have many good things about it that i really loved.

- I loved the performance of all the cast.
- potrayal of mother and daughter relationship beyond  blood relationship. 
- Exam stress and mental health issues.
- parental pressure and over expectations.
-The teenager characters were so much adorable. Also the love triangle wasn't annoying at all plus they ended it really well.

There's nothing extraordinary about the show , It's just a typical Average TVN Rom com drama .

Special mention:
Jeon  Do Yeon is my favourite character from the show and I totally disagree with the people who say that she's too old for her role.

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Quite fun

This was cute and fun! I liked how bright and colorful the show was, it felt like an easy watch.

CCIR sheds light on the competitive educational system, and how it negatively affects students in terms of mental health and behavior towards others (their parents or classmates). Su Ah, for example, may have a nasty personality for most of the drama, but I couldn't hate her because it was clearly a result of the academic pressure she has on her shoulders in order to be consistently high achieving in class. I also blame her mother and any other adult in this show lol. Seon Jae's mom... Su Ah's mental health drastically deteriorated: she had hallucinations and even fantasies about harming Hae Yi. Due to the pressure she felt, she viewed HY as an enemy that needed to be eliminated but we could see that she felt bad and that she was self-conscious. Hee Jae is another example of how academic pressure (and parents) can destroy a person mentally, especially because his mom continued to make the same mistake with Seon Jae.

The found family trope in this show is strong and great, I really liked it. Chi Yeol finally found his people, and Haeng Son's little circle was so wholesome. And I loved it whenever she'd say "Anyway" 🥹. However, I found the episodes a tad too long, I watched the second half of the show in double speed and also skipped a little. I thought I would enjoy it a little more than I did to be honest. The show is overall 'alright' - I don't know what it is, but it didn't catch me 100%. The OST was okay - average, there wasn't really a song that stood out to me. But: I really enjoyed the relationship between the leads. It offers some sweet and fun moments between all the teasing and bickering and is also overall quite mature. I didn't like how it was never clarified that Hae Yi didn't attempt suicide though. That was bad writing... my girl was kidnapped!

In conclusion: a cute little show that offers an insight into education and its dark sides and impact on mental health, but also a show with fun romance, friendship and found family.

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