Absolute Value of Romance Review
- 2 minutes ago
- 6 min read
I just found out that people ship a student and a teacher here... What is wrong with you all?
If you didn't get scared by that and watched the drama, what is your opinion on the 'couple' and the drama itself?
In this case, the most well-known of the creators is director Lee Tae Gon. He has worked on youth dramas, as well as dramas about mental health and romance.
"Absolute Value of Romance" was also quite well directed, with great comedic moments.
On the other hand, the fashion in this drama was atrocious. Starting from Yeo Eui Ju's hair and ending with that one teacher's goatee. It was very nice that most of the time high schoolers just wore their uniforms, and the four teachers only had ridiculous outfits during their 'fan-fiction' scenes, so we don't have to imagine how they dress up outside of school.
It added to the comedy, but sometimes it felt like their clothes/hairstyles were used only to portray them as weirdos.
Directing: 7/10
Synopsis:
Yeo Eui Ju is an ordinary high school student who is average in every way and tries to keep a low profile at school. But at night, she secretly becomes a writer, posting BL novels online. Despite her enthusiasm, her work barely gets any views.
However, her life as a writer takes an unexpected turn when four handsome new teachers arrive at her school.
Among them is Ga Woo Su, a cold and brilliant math prodigy from a family of renowned mathematicians. No Da Ju, a playful and mischievous Japanese teacher born to a wealthy family. Jung Gi Jeon, a former athlete forced to retire due to injury, is now a warm but clumsy sports teacher. Lastly, Yun Dong Ju is a warm-hearted and modest Korean teacher who is respectful and soft-spoken, and treats his students with respect.
The storyline is definitely unique and gives us funny moments that Yeo Eui Ju gets to encounter with her teachers, especially with Ga Woo Su.
At first, Eui Ju meets the maths teacher with a lot of hatred, as they start the introduction on the wrong foot; however, as the drama progresses, they see different sides of each other. This was very lovely to see, especially as this bonding between student and teacher is done with different side plots that are also interesting to watch.
However, the lines have been crossed a bit (as we see with people shipping the leads), and rather than focusing on Eui Ju's writing, we spend too much time on their relations.
The characters were portrayed quite nicely; most of them had some kind of growth, especially Eui Ju. Even when looking at Ga Woo Su, we can see that he was taught a lot by having his first class of children.
Both of them are having their first time, and it was endearing to watch.
It would have been nice if we had seen Eui Ju interacting with other students more. They do have their moments, but they're brushed off quickly and forgotten. As well as more moments with the other three teachers would have been nice.
Something to get to know all of them. I would like another season focusing on another teacher, with a different storyline.
Overall, this might be a drama you truly love and laugh with, or you might not get past the cringiness of it all. But there are some actual great moments in all of this comedy.
Now for the more elaborate review on my feelings for the drama...
Overall: 7/10
After seeing four handsome men, Eui Ju already starts fantasising about the story she's going to write with them.
The actions and their friendship throughout the drama help her get more story, and the book feels like it's writing itself. It even helps that Woo Su is being a mean teacher towards her as Eui Ju puts it all on paper, making him the villain.
While all that is happening in her head, we have more shenanigans in the real world: Eui Ju gets constipated, one of her classmates is involved with loan sharks, and there is a transfer student who apparently lied about some things.
Most of the stories were interesting to watch, and easily keep you entertained throughout the drama. Though, it would have been perfected if they developed some of the stories more.
After the loan sharks are gone, we barely see the classmate again, and she's still not in their group circle.
The transfer student likes webtoons and romance just like Eui Ju, so it would have been fun if the student was the first to know about her novel.
There is also an eye surgery plot for Woo Su, but it all happens at the last second and passes so quickly that there's no reason for it to be prevalent in the last episode.
Throughout "Absolute Value of Romance", they mentioned that he has bad eyesight, but it needed to be talked about more, or the surgery should have happened at the time when Eui Ju broke his glasses.
It was not a bad story, and definitely had great moments, but it needed something more to catch my attention. So I would be seated to what happens next...
And that was very well done when Ga Woo Su finds out that Eui Ju is writing a BL novel with him and his friends. All I'm saying, sideplots are great, but if they don't want to develop them more, let's focus on Eui Ju's passion - the novel.
Storyline: 7/10
Eui Ju is first shown as a weird kid: she has never liked anyone, and is more like a crazy BL fan.
At least, this is the first impression of her, and the haircut doesn't help her much.
As we later see, she helps out her classmate; when she gets in an argument with her best friend, she tries her best to fix that. All those experiences really show up in who she becomes at the end of the drama.
Ga Woo Su matches up to her too, with an interesting backstory which we slowly unravel; however, we never completely know who he actually is.
We hear a bit about the stalker; that's why he hates being on camera. We hear about his university friend, and they look cute together, but nothing really happens. The latter thing seemed more like a plot device to make Eui Ju jealous, but do we actually need this in a drama where the lead is writing a BL novel about her teachers?
Eui Ju has a crush on her maths teacher, and there is no wonder, as they dealt through a lot of stuff together and he's quite handsome.
What student wouldn't fawn over that kind of teacher?
Ga Woo Su mentions that she was his first student, and they learnt a lot from each other.
However, in the last episode we suddenly get a childhood trope, where they met and inspired him to become a teacher. The very last scene of them together when it starts snowing was also very lovely.
And these are the things you see in a normal romance drama, so it's no wonder some people want to ship it.
But we have to remind ourselves that this is still a student and teacher!!
Even if they make another season, and make it 10 years later, the romance between them would still seem weird...
We don't get to know much about other teachers at all.
In a way, it makes sense as Eui Ju doesn't interact with them much, but it would have been nice to see how they all (teachers) became friends.
Other students were also okay. The argument between Eui Ju and Go Ya felt a bit exaggerated, and there is no real connection with any of her classmates. As mentioned before, some stories entangle them, but sometimes even with a lot of classmates nearby, Eui Ju seemed not to have any close friends (except for Go Ya).
Also, the art teacher was horrible whenever he came on screen. I'm not talking about the acting; he was way too dramatic, and all over the top even for this kind of drama.
Please get him off my screen!
Characters: 6/10
As it is quite a short drama, it doesn't have many songs.
One thing that was interesting to have is two of the same songs, but one is the male version. Other dramas do that too, but it usually is an actor's version, and both were nice to listen to.
It didn't feel like it added much, though.
However, I was very happy to hear Cha Hakyeon's voice when "Why the Night" played, though I don't think it was a very memorable soundtrack.
Music: 5.5/10
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