Reviews

VERY GOOD UNIVERSITY DRAMA ! Don't listen to negative reviews

On paper, Crushology 101 seemed to be yet another romantic drama in the vein of Yumi's Cells, with a heroine surrounded by multiple suitors. However, despite its soft and pink universe, the series manages to stand out thanks to its benevolence, its light themes and especially its university setting - rather rare in the genre, which often remains centered on high school.

I didn't read the original webtoon, but I hope it offers a little more depth to some characters. I regretted that some, although highlighted on the poster, finally only make brief appearances, almost like simple cameos.

On the casting side, the main actress was excellent! Even if I am not always convinced by all her roles, here she literally radiates: sunny, smiling... a real pleasure on the screen. On the other hand, I had a little more trouble with the character played by Lee Chae Min, whose sometimes too passive attitude frustrated me a little.

Overall, I fully validate Crushology 101! It's a drama without a headache, without a heavy love triangle - yes, a second suitor is present, but he never represents a real threat to the main couple. And frankly, it feels good!

Visually, it is a real bouquet of flowers: some may not have hung on to the very "sakura" and pastel aesthetics, but for my part, I found that this soft and flowery atmosphere fit perfectly with the universe of the webtoon and the spring freshness of the poster. A coherent and successful visual choice in my opinion.
OST IS SO GIRLY AND SWEET !!!
The romance is delicate, tender, and what I particularly appreciated is the absence of really toxic or malicious characters. We have a good time, even if, sometimes, we can regret a certain lack of depth or the absence of stronger secondary subjects. But at the same time... a little lightness, it doesn't hurt either!

The ending is pleasant, and each character manages to solve his or her own problems, finally expressing what he or she has on his or her heart.

In summary: a sweet and refreshing school romance not to be missed!

10/10 !

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This is my first short c-drama, and I was pretty impressed by it, so much so that I think it would've been better if the episodes were longer, at least 30 min. minimum. That way some more the back story can be developed, and pad up the romantic aspect between Ning Jinyi and Master Pei in order to show the origins of Master Pei's devotion (to death) to Jinyi and country. What I also liked was the actors looked right for their roles. The make up for Jinyi was done so that it toned down her female features. Her character is one of the more convincing portrayals of a woman pretending to be a young man that I've seen in recent times. The music and action sequences were pretty good for a short drama. The lighting could be better, but it is a short drama so gave it a pass (production probably had a budget to stick to). Ultimately, everything all comes together giving this drama a Shakespearean or dramatic tone to it.


And, hope to see more of Huang Haoyue (Jinyi) and Li Geyang (Master Pei) in bigger projects in the future.

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Didn't expect to be screaming throughout this wholesome serie!!

I started to watch this serie without reading the plotline nor watching any trailer. I have to say that the poster of this serie reminded me to Jack and Joker the series, and that's the reason why I decided to give it a try.
At first I was disappointed as it had nothing to do with cards, games or jokers and also the acting seemed a bit forced, therefore I asked myself... Should I keep watching?
Let's say I did not regret the choice.
Episodes full of emotions where I couldn't stop crying and smiling, hating and loving and all at the same time.
Something I didn't like tho is that it felt a bit rushed at the end, and I felt as if the last two episodes were made just to fill something and make it "nice"... not gonna lie but it was a bit hard to understand the reason behind it as it was all going perfectly smooth, but anyways... all i want to say is that despite this, I would rewatch it once and again as these two actors are just amazing. I expect to see them growing in this industry as anyone can see how much they love what they do with all the emotions and feelings they put into this serie.
I can't wait for the second season!!!
I want more from JinxAkin!!!

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she fell first he fell the hardest and stayed that way ?

Childish infatuation turned into beautiful everlasting love with stupid mess in the middle, is how I would explain the main characters' love story in this.
They made me think I was going to get second lead syndrome and masterfully fixed with how deeply in love the main lead became and how much he changed. you couldn't help but root for them.

things I liked:
-the deep love and just slowly watching him fall for her just go full speed with no break.
-how he just turns so sweet with her.
-theyre chemistry was just amazing and I loved watch them get closer.
-how naive she was and how insult just roll right off her back and she was so forgiving and understanding. I never once hated her or thought of her as a bleeppp word.
-full circle ending the couples living happily ever after is always a huge plus in my book.

What I disliked:
-episode 15 onto 19 just trash
-how wishy washy they were with the skinship and getting close to each other after finally being able to "get the girl". he was hot and cold. he had his reasons but I felt they could have executed it better.
-all the subplots that didn't sign up to watch with the ajummas

OST was a mess. the hilarious oh no no no sound killed me every time. the fashion was on point.

At first I thought this is a drama that is well written, and well done because I never thought it was going to go the direction in which it went. a well balanced medium heaviness drama that was going to find humor even in things like loss, grieving and cancer. they had struck a really great balance, in a fun respectful way... until they got to episode 15 when I feel like the drama went under new management and the person had no idea what they were doing.

overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the first half with the friends and watching him slowly come to the realization that he cares for her and then the friend getting in the middle. until episode 15 like what were they thinking with this turn of events that turned something great into a complete joke, it went from a possible 8 or 9 to 5 for me. Afterwards they sure made up for it but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Also with all the extra characters no one cared about so the rating couldnt go over a 7 for me.

I don't get why writers and directors don't get that we come to watch the MAIN character's lives and see them fall in love and go through troubles. not to watch a bunch of irellavent filler foil characters' lives. NO ONE CARES. like seriously. so stop putting effort into other characters stories over the main ones.

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their chemistry was insane

You would think the leads were together in real life lol their chemistry was insane!

Her ex was full of doubts - wondering he can never give her the life she wants. That’s BS! She can never give him the life he wants because his support was very selfish when she decided to start her own company and not to mention that “specific” so called best friend who liked her friend’s man. I couldn’t stand either of them.


Anyways, even though it was a bit long, there were so many scenes I enjoyed watching and their chemistry made it so so much better.

THANK YOU FOR THE EXTRA EPISODE BECAUSE YOU GOT ME HERE CRYING. It made the ending perfect!!! I would definitely watch this again.

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I enjoyed it. Still...

So this series received a lot of hate in the MDL comments. And some of it was deserved. Still, I liked it. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

MUSIC. Say what you will about Oxin Films, you can't deny that they always come up with good OSTs which, of course, is understandable, being that the Philippines have some of the best singers in the world.

STEAMY SCENES. The series had plenty of slutty and hot scenes. Well, I enjoy slutty and hot. Sue me.

LEMUEL. I've watched enough Oxin series to know that Gio Emprese is quite a fine actor. I prefer seeing him in dramatic roles, but he does play the creepy perv character very well, as shown here.

COMEDY. Some of it was over the top but, overall, I enjoyed the comedic moments.

EYE CANDY. Plenty of that to go around.

CONS

TOO MANY CHARACTERS. I find this to be a flaw in just about every Oxin series. Do they have an obligation to a large number of actors for each outing? There were so many characters I had a difficult time keeping track of everyone. Too many story lines.

GIN'S MOTHER. For me she was the most annoying character, I found her so shallow and fake. And what's with her acting like a teenage girl half the time? Not a good look, honey.

JENNIFER. Another annoying one, she was just unlikeable. Even with that, what happened to her? She was a credible villain, but then she was just... gone.

I could go on, but you get the picture. Despite many flaws, the series kept my interest and I looked forward to it each week.

It's a 7.5 from me.

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This drama is like chewing gum, the more i watched - the more flavor it lost.

I'm going to be honest when I started this drama I was quite excited because while watching hierarchy (despite how mediocre it was) I personally wanted them together in another project as leads and honestly I want to take that back after watching this horrible actualization of my wish.

Cons:
1. Overloaded with clichés : I can usually overlook frequently used tropes in dramaland when executed well but it was almost like the scriptwriter and director were competing to see how many tropes they could fit into a single show. At some point certain things didn't add up and I honestly didn't have the energy to care.

2. Bunny and her boys or as usual Bunny and THE boy? : I absolutely hate it when writers give us the perfect second/third leads but make the character end up with the male lead simply because HE IS THE MAIN LEAD UGH!

3. Lacking chemistry: sadly i did not feel any significant chemistry from the final couple and I frankly could not see why they liked each other besides each other's looks. They also sounded like little kids in elementary for majority of the show and it was so difficult to watch.

4. This show also distinctly felt like a teenager's fantasy after getting rejected by their crush, like why did all the popular guys suddenly take notice of her after she got humiliated and dumped her bf?

5. There were also not much to develop in terms of characters, their backgrounds/personalities/relationships are all pretty 2D and have no depth as such and so there was no personality development or growth.

6. Introducing a New guy: Now we already know she ends up with someone else but they still brought up yet another contender from the past who is also MADLY in love with her YET only confesses to her when he notices she's in a possible relationship? Like whats up with the men in this drama acting out impulsively like men in in love only when they get jealous??

7. Acting: Like many have pointed out both actors are pretty mediocre at conveying emotions via acting but esp the FL, she had absolutely no facial movements, every single shot she either looked like a lost child looking for their parent or like she was spacing out.

8. Storyline: Felt like a typical web drama/soap opera was being marketed as a high budget coming of age show for drama lovers and it was genuinely difficult to watch because I forgot it was airing every other week

Pros:

1. Pretty visuals

2. Supporting cast: Ji-won was a great guy and watching him and yeol's friend was the highlight of every episode


Conclusion:

All in all just like with the chewing gum analogy, if you want to chew just for the sake of chewing something, similarly if you want to watch anything just for the sake of it this drama is perfect. I watched this drama as it was being aired and honestly it was very very difficult to complete but maybe if you binge it might be better.

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It started off strong. I enjoyed each person's story and what brand them to this point in their life.
Fe kei was definitely an interesting one that used everything to his advantage to be in control and hurt several people because of it
The father, I blame as his actions were what caused his daughter's death as you can't force a marriage just for convenience.
The married women I felt bad for as she fell out of love with her husband which don't excuse that she was cheating and got her husband arrested.
However the last 3 episodes were boring and I skipped most of it, most of Fe kei beginning you could say.

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