Unlike its romantic title, “Love Class 2” has a dark twisted opening scene, with a student witnessing a man jump off a building during the night. No further explanations are given and the scene shifts to a pleasant summer morning, where two friends are relaxing on their campus and wondering what they should have for lunch. And that’s really the essence of this Korean campus series, which follows the blooming romance between three different couples. It is mostly light in nature, but interspersed with some serious themes in between.
J-Min plays the artistic Lee Hyun, who signs up for a subject dubbed as “Love Class” when he finds out that a senior he has been looking for is also enrolled in it. Kim Yong Seok plays the mysterious senior Kim An, who is reclusive and doesn’t interact with anybody due to strange rumours about him being a criminal. However, Lee Hyun relentlessly pursues Kim An. On the other hand, Lee’s shy friend Min Woo (Woo Hyo Won) has a hopeless crush on the popular Ma Roo (Lee Kwang Hee), who is blissfully unaware of Min Woo’s feelings. As for the third pair, An Jeong Gyun portrays the confident, flirty student Joo Hyuk, who unabashedly asks his junior professor, Sung Min (Jung Woo Jae), out on a date. Even though the two go out for drinks, the student-professor dynamic complicates a potential romance between the two. How these three different pairs navigate their feelings and the challenges in their personal lives forms the crux of the show.
The cinematography of “Love Class 2” was on the gloomier side for a college romance show and the production team makes some rookie mistakes which were just hilarious. For example, in episode six, the editing team forgot to crop out their audio equipment in a scene featuring Lee Hyun and Kin An and it was very distracting to see the mic hanging above them. The same mistake occurs again in a later episode, where you can spot the audio equipment on top of your screen. At least these were two instances where the errors were blatantly visible to me. It is bizarre how nobody spotted the equipment before exporting the final cut of the series.
Regarding the storytelling, this sequel feels like a rehash of “Love Class,” with the creators mostly sticking to well-worn tropes. For example, the subplot where Min Woo agrees to fake-date a girl to make Ma Roo jealous is rather clichéd. Woo Hyo Won convincingly portrays Min Woo, but the character is a little creepy, especially due to a scene where he kisses a sleeping Ma Roo, while the two are still just friends. Despite his intense feelings for Ma Roo, Min Woo chooses to be passive-aggressive with his emotions, instead of being more upfront. The writers of the show try to make this look cute, but depending on who is watching, it could also seem problematic.
The student-professor plot featuring An Jeong Gyun and Jung Woo Jae is quite amusing and the creators try to address the problems that come with such an unconventional relationship. Joon Woo Jae is comically cute as the confused professor Sung Min, whose fears and confusion over being pursed by a student are genuine. They have the most fast-paced relationship on the show, but despite having seemingly straightforward personalities, the lack of communication between the two was kind of frustrating.
J-Min and Kim Yong Seok have the most intriguing plotline as Lee Hyun and Kim An, with mystery over Kim An’s past. J-Min is bunny-like adorable as a junior student and he does his best to get Kim An to open up, without being too intrusive, rude or disrespectful. However, with three couples and ten episodes, the series again doesn’t have to time to flesh out all stories properly, especially the one with Kim An. The revelation towards the end of the series about what really transpired with him was rather underwhelming and flat.
Everybody’s problems are magically resolved by episode 9 itself, so the last episode was like a special celebratory edition. The climactic episode reminded me Korean dating reality show “His Man“, with all the characters going on a trip together, where they camp and play games together and just have a good time. So, the ending for “Love Class 2” was very “feel-good” and sweet. Despite its rushed and oftentimes cliched portrayals of relationships, it’s an entertaining one-time-watch.
Rating: 6 on 10.
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