it's one of the most sexist dramas that ive ever watched and its surprising to see so many reviews with high rating…
Korea is still a very sexist country—as evidenced by its abysmal gender gap index score, ranking 105th out of 146 countries*—and this reality is reflected in much of its entertainment content.
As I pointed out in my review, he’s an arrogant, insufferable jerk in the beginning. But he’s an equal opportunity jerk; the only person who doesn’t suffer from his assholery is Segi.
And if we’re going to slap the “sexist” label on him, how are we going to describe the FL and all the things she did, a few of which were violent and even illegal? It’s a farcical, edgy rom-com and I think most of us adjusted our expectations accordingly.
ETA: While we’re on the topic of gender equality, I’d like to recommend one of Kim Jae-uck’s other dramas, Her Private Life. While the ML may be the FL’s boss, he’s the greenest of green flags and once they get together, theirs is a relationship of true equals. They have one of the swooniest, healthiest relationships in K-Drama Land and their chemistry is ❤️🔥.
I'm re-watching this as a mid-30s woman and the end of episode 10 made me lose all respect for FL. To be hiding…
I love HPL but agree that her behavior was ridiculous. Eun-gi pretty much gaslighted her into thinking that Ryan would dump her as soon as he found out about her fangirling but the way she acted was laughable and cringeworthy. In most dramas, this would’ve resulted in a huge misunderstanding and the obligatory break-up but thankfully, Ryan was intelligent and mature enough to address the situation head on.
However, I do think her character showed some growth as she and Ryan were open and communicative with each other for the rest of the show.
Is there any break up or love triangle in this drama...
No break-up or love triangle. Each of the main leads does have a friend who likes them but the OTP are head over heels for each other pretty early on so the friends have zero chance with them.
I tried to watch this several times but I’ve given up. Something about her being a grown woman and being a K-pop…
I was on the fence for the first few eps because the fangirling was way too cheesy and OTT. Thankfully, it gets much better in Eps 4 and 5 when the two leads start to fall for each other and the fangirling takes a back seat to their budding romance. (Some viewers were even upset that the show started to focus on romance rather than the K-Pop stuff.)
If you like rom-coms, you may want to give it another try. They have one of the swooniest, healthiest relationships in K-Drama Land, the ML is the greenest of green flags, and their chemistry is ❤️🔥. And after they get together, they actually behave like a real couple with tons of skinship and kissing, much of it initiated by the FL. No dead-fish kisses, awkward hugs, or manner hands for these two.
He’s always said that he takes the roles that are most interesting to him, regardless of whether they’re leading or supporting. He’s not in it for fame or fortune but because he loves acting. That’s why he’s done a lot of indie films and theatre projects.
After Coffee Prince, he received tons of lead offers but he chose to play a gay pâtissier in Antique, a quirky indie film co-starring Ju Ji-hoon and Yoo Ah-in. And despite the resultant gay rumors, three years later he played Hedwig in a stage musical version of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
It’s admirable that he prioritizes his values and happiness over industry and societal expectations, but this has resulted in him being very underrated. It can be very frustrating being his fan as we’d love nothing more than to see him take the lead in more high-profile projects.
I love the painting which connects the story and plot is very nice too. I love the chemistry of ML and FL,in this…
You thought the FL acted more maturely than the ML? Even though she snuck espresso into his drink? And was passive-aggressive with him in Ep 9, letting her co-workers think he cheated on her ? And literally hid behind Eun-gi when Ryan showed up at her place at the end of Ep 10? And called him a bunch of names?
Hulu has both but each version has its own thumbnail. If you search for Crazy Love, both should pop up.
I can’t do dubs either. If you have a VPN, you should be able to watch it on Disney+ Hong Kong or Singapore. That’s how I watched it back in March 2022 when it originally aired because D+ didn’t release it outside of Asia/Australia until May of 2023.😡 It’s also on D+ Canada. Good luck!
I was on the fence about HPL during the first few eps because I found the fangirling a bit too cheesy. Started…
You’re very welcome! Some of the scenes KJU and PMY dreamed up on their own were the wet scarf untangling and the drunken pin number whispering. And there’s a cooking scene in Ep 12 that was completely improvised. The script just said, “You have fun together.”
The Japanese DVD release included this fun bonus BTS from that scene:
Only came to this after Crazy Love as couldn't warm to Kim Jae-Wook in the first episode, so dropped it originally.…
I was on the fence about HPL during the first few eps because I found the fangirling a bit too cheesy. Started warming up to it in Ep 4 and was fully on board by Ep 5 and it’s been my go-to comfort drama ever since.
Deok-mi and Ryan have one of the healthiest relationships in K-Drama Land and their chemistry is ❤️🔥. Kim Jae-uck and Park Min-young were very comfortable with each other and it showed. The director gave them free rein to beef up their scenes and they ended up re-working or improvising more than half of them and even added a bunch of unscripted kisses. KJU said in an interview that he and PMY wanted to make viewers’ hearts flutter and boy did they ever.
The glorious black coat and charcoal silk shirt Kim Jae-uck wears in Death’s Game are both from RXB Seoul, the luxury fashion label he launched with two childhood friends in November.
The glorious black coat and charcoal silk shirt Kim Jae-uck wears in Death’s Game are both from RXB Seoul, the luxury fashion label he launched with two childhood friends in November.
*https://www.statista.com/statistics/1378362/south-korea-gender-gap-index/
As I pointed out in my review, he’s an arrogant, insufferable jerk in the beginning. But he’s an equal opportunity jerk; the only person who doesn’t suffer from his assholery is Segi.
And if we’re going to slap the “sexist” label on him, how are we going to describe the FL and all the things she did, a few of which were violent and even illegal? It’s a farcical, edgy
rom-com and I think most of us adjusted our expectations accordingly.
ETA: While we’re on the topic of gender equality, I’d like to recommend one of Kim Jae-uck’s other dramas, Her Private Life. While the ML may be the FL’s boss, he’s the greenest of green flags and once they get together, theirs is a relationship of true equals. They have one of the swooniest, healthiest relationships in K-Drama Land and their chemistry is ❤️🔥.
However, I do think her character showed some growth as she and Ryan were open and communicative with each other for the rest of the show.
If you like rom-coms, you may want to give it another try. They have one of the swooniest, healthiest relationships in K-Drama Land, the ML is the greenest of green flags, and their chemistry is ❤️🔥. And after they get together, they actually behave like a real couple with tons of skinship and kissing, much of it initiated by the FL. No dead-fish kisses, awkward hugs, or manner hands for these two.
After Coffee Prince, he received tons of lead offers but he chose to play a gay pâtissier in Antique, a quirky indie film co-starring Ju Ji-hoon and Yoo Ah-in. And despite the resultant gay rumors, three years later he played Hedwig in a stage musical version of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
It’s admirable that he prioritizes his values and happiness over industry and societal expectations, but this has resulted in him being very underrated. It can be very frustrating being his fan as we’d love nothing more than to see him take the lead in more high-profile projects.
The Japanese DVD release included this fun bonus BTS from that scene:
https://www.instagram.com/tukta3495/reel/CERkODkh7si
Deok-mi and Ryan have one of the healthiest relationships in K-Drama Land and their chemistry is ❤️🔥. Kim Jae-uck and Park Min-young were very comfortable with each other and it showed. The director gave them free rein to beef up their scenes and they ended up re-working or improvising more than half of them and even added a bunch of unscripted kisses. KJU said in an interview that he and PMY wanted to make viewers’ hearts flutter and boy did they ever.
The BTS are also really worth watching as KJU and PMY are adorable together IRL. A fan was kind enough to sub the individual-ep BTS clips on YT: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWqzQoay0EJ95_jhrknHIUwA7VQ-qhMR3&si=Iore0lBMu1H-qiIf
This is a fun compilation of the BTS from the entire series:
https://youtu.be/Ka6KaWg-bbE?si=d1bewqtepFnpsAb0
https://www.instagram.com/p/C1ylOCMpw2Q/?igsh=MzY1NDJmNzMyNQ==
https://rxbseoul.com/product/vincent-shirt-in-silk/50/
https://www.instagram.com/p/C1ylOCMpw2Q/?igsh=MzY1NDJmNzMyNQ==
https://rxbseoul.com/product/vincent-shirt-in-silk/50/
https://youtu.be/Gs0VjN71wy0?si=Q2wrO4hzkwVsvsnl
[Slightly spoilery during 0:20 - 0:25 and 9:05 - 9:10 if you haven’t seen Death’s Game.]