6
4
1
1
1
A Big Catch
I concede. I let this one sit with me for a bit after finishing. Only by doing that, have I gotten over my fascination with the many strengths of this drama and can outline the blatant flaws. I was completely prepared to tear most comments and reviews here limb from limb. But I’ve come around to a conclusion as to how a drama as mildly popular as this one at the time got so much flack.
The Midnight Romance in Hagwon is misunderstood for the most part. The problems this drama has doesn’t fall into quality, but quantity.
Romance
The director doesn’t shy away from their infamous odd-one-out style with character dynamics. You can tell when viewers aren’t familiar with this style of direction, this drama is flooded with romance, but what defines that exactly?
We have countless instances. It started with mere moments of an old tutor frantically power walking around, looking to confirm the rumors of her favorite student years back returned, wanting to become a teacher at their academy. From the very beginning, romance was in the air. But ofc, that’s just the beginning.
Romance in Hagwon is exactly that, and it doesn’t ever shy away from it in the slightest. If the scale were to tip on one of these aspects more, it would certainly be romance. Idk what others are used to with romance, but I’m all for the silent, warm moments in the office after hours. The late nights at home where check in texts turn to hours of flirtatious rambling, blushing away to wee hours in the morning.
I mean, how can we sit through a man running up n down a neighborhood , multiple times, just to get back to her apartment, and not acknowledge the effort? How can we watch a woman slowly open herself up to the possibility of a relationship at her friend’s place, buzzed up, and not sense the sincerity? How can we see this man rush to her aid, immediately after her closest friend’s relaying the big confession, take her home, and fight every temptation to even stay in the same room as her while she’s under the influence, and not commend his respect for their relationship?
The drama is riddled with endless moments like these, but for whatever reason, the vocal minority here would swear it lacks romance. That if that’s what you’re looking for out of watching, to not bother wasting your time. The romance here can be as subtle as it is most of the time blatant. If you failed to see that, respectfully, you don’t have a clue of what romance consists of.
The problems I had with the drama in this aspect were minimal. Yeah, the ending wasn’t as grand as it could have been, and there were several moments where I found myself figuratively sitting next to the ML’s cubicle going “Are you like, on the clock or? You have some lessons to plan for tomorrow, no?” as he’s one shut eye away from a wet dream. They could have shown us more work processes from his side, especially with how passionate he was about how he wanted to teach students, but this leads to..
Hagwon
Ah, academics. I’m one of the last people you’d want exploring this topic , I shower in ignorance after a long day. Let’s simplify and make it brief.
2/4: Ethics is the main conflict of the drama, in case you’re unaware. What does teaching students mean to private academies where the numbers in the results are dire for success? My favorite moments of the drama was when the our two lovebirds at the office suddenly came to one another’s intention with their curriculums.
One wants to teach students the very essence of the subject that’ll help them generally improve with the basics to better understand anything advanced they’ll take on in the future. The other has been putting the effort in all for the results in what the parents and presumably the students have came for , aiming ultimately for more financial success in the business and continuously moving up in position and recognition. This is where their personal relations were put to the side, and the tension rose.
1/2. This is basically where every conflict with the notable characters in the drama stems from, minus the uh, sexual tension at times. I’ve decided this drama would have been way better off in this aspect, had it been a cdrama. There simply wasn’t enough time to explore every relation, conflict, systems, and outside influence the show introduced. Just about every aspect they took on was wrapped up in an unsatisfying manner. While these sub genres were in well hands , they were suddenly dropped. I think the main antagonist, was dropped on her head as well. The most potential resided with her character’s standards, professionalism, and pride. You would expect a big bang from a character set up with as much tension and pent up frustration as hers, but it never gets there. Instead, we get last minute gaslighting and cat fights.
That basically sums up everything else the drama had going for it. Superbly built up, subpar payoffs. The cinematography is as decent as decent gets, and the music throughout puts OSN and SiTR to shame. At least with those tired tracks, they were catchy. The ones here are embarrassing, to say the least.
The Midnight Romance in Hagwon is a severely underrated drama challenging morals and ethics in the world of academics, that doesn’t shy away from a very heartwarming, raw and mature portrayal of office romance . One of the better slow burns out there for sure. After calming down from reading some other reviews and comments, and giving the drama some time to sit, I got over my surprise with the highs of a drama rated this comparatively low, as the lows became a bit more clear. While yes, this drama has no business being where it’s at in rating in comparison to the average slop at the top, I do see where the criticism comes from, and why a drama paced and directed like this wouldn’t fit for many in drama land. Regardless, if slow burns are your thing, you’d be doing yourself a huge disservice in not trying this one out. A drama like this is one I’ll toss out there in the feed river flow sometime and reel in those with taste catered to mine. Whoever doesn’t get hooked are meant to stay in the current.
The Midnight Romance in Hagwon is misunderstood for the most part. The problems this drama has doesn’t fall into quality, but quantity.
Romance
The director doesn’t shy away from their infamous odd-one-out style with character dynamics. You can tell when viewers aren’t familiar with this style of direction, this drama is flooded with romance, but what defines that exactly?
We have countless instances. It started with mere moments of an old tutor frantically power walking around, looking to confirm the rumors of her favorite student years back returned, wanting to become a teacher at their academy. From the very beginning, romance was in the air. But ofc, that’s just the beginning.
Romance in Hagwon is exactly that, and it doesn’t ever shy away from it in the slightest. If the scale were to tip on one of these aspects more, it would certainly be romance. Idk what others are used to with romance, but I’m all for the silent, warm moments in the office after hours. The late nights at home where check in texts turn to hours of flirtatious rambling, blushing away to wee hours in the morning.
I mean, how can we sit through a man running up n down a neighborhood , multiple times, just to get back to her apartment, and not acknowledge the effort? How can we watch a woman slowly open herself up to the possibility of a relationship at her friend’s place, buzzed up, and not sense the sincerity? How can we see this man rush to her aid, immediately after her closest friend’s relaying the big confession, take her home, and fight every temptation to even stay in the same room as her while she’s under the influence, and not commend his respect for their relationship?
The drama is riddled with endless moments like these, but for whatever reason, the vocal minority here would swear it lacks romance. That if that’s what you’re looking for out of watching, to not bother wasting your time. The romance here can be as subtle as it is most of the time blatant. If you failed to see that, respectfully, you don’t have a clue of what romance consists of.
The problems I had with the drama in this aspect were minimal. Yeah, the ending wasn’t as grand as it could have been, and there were several moments where I found myself figuratively sitting next to the ML’s cubicle going “Are you like, on the clock or? You have some lessons to plan for tomorrow, no?” as he’s one shut eye away from a wet dream. They could have shown us more work processes from his side, especially with how passionate he was about how he wanted to teach students, but this leads to..
Hagwon
Ah, academics. I’m one of the last people you’d want exploring this topic , I shower in ignorance after a long day. Let’s simplify and make it brief.
2/4: Ethics is the main conflict of the drama, in case you’re unaware. What does teaching students mean to private academies where the numbers in the results are dire for success? My favorite moments of the drama was when the our two lovebirds at the office suddenly came to one another’s intention with their curriculums.
One wants to teach students the very essence of the subject that’ll help them generally improve with the basics to better understand anything advanced they’ll take on in the future. The other has been putting the effort in all for the results in what the parents and presumably the students have came for , aiming ultimately for more financial success in the business and continuously moving up in position and recognition. This is where their personal relations were put to the side, and the tension rose.
1/2. This is basically where every conflict with the notable characters in the drama stems from, minus the uh, sexual tension at times. I’ve decided this drama would have been way better off in this aspect, had it been a cdrama. There simply wasn’t enough time to explore every relation, conflict, systems, and outside influence the show introduced. Just about every aspect they took on was wrapped up in an unsatisfying manner. While these sub genres were in well hands , they were suddenly dropped. I think the main antagonist, was dropped on her head as well. The most potential resided with her character’s standards, professionalism, and pride. You would expect a big bang from a character set up with as much tension and pent up frustration as hers, but it never gets there. Instead, we get last minute gaslighting and cat fights.
That basically sums up everything else the drama had going for it. Superbly built up, subpar payoffs. The cinematography is as decent as decent gets, and the music throughout puts OSN and SiTR to shame. At least with those tired tracks, they were catchy. The ones here are embarrassing, to say the least.
The Midnight Romance in Hagwon is a severely underrated drama challenging morals and ethics in the world of academics, that doesn’t shy away from a very heartwarming, raw and mature portrayal of office romance . One of the better slow burns out there for sure. After calming down from reading some other reviews and comments, and giving the drama some time to sit, I got over my surprise with the highs of a drama rated this comparatively low, as the lows became a bit more clear. While yes, this drama has no business being where it’s at in rating in comparison to the average slop at the top, I do see where the criticism comes from, and why a drama paced and directed like this wouldn’t fit for many in drama land. Regardless, if slow burns are your thing, you’d be doing yourself a huge disservice in not trying this one out. A drama like this is one I’ll toss out there in the feed river flow sometime and reel in those with taste catered to mine. Whoever doesn’t get hooked are meant to stay in the current.
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