Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Now that the Korean campus romance ‘Love Class’ has three distinct seasons, it’s easy to say the first remains the most memorable. Love Class 3 actually has all the ingredients to be the best season. It’s got K-pop trainees juggling college life, cut-throat competition, brutal dance practices, and even dating and stalking scandals. Yet, it ends up being the blandest installment of the three, with generic plotlines squeezed into 15-minute episodes.
Love Class 3 follows two primary couples. The first storyline centers on Hyun Jae (Saebyeol) and Soo An (Seo Yi-han), who grow close while competing on a reality show in hopes of debuting together. Their dreams are cut short when Soo An is eliminated, while Hyun Jae goes on to become a K-pop star. The two become estranged due to misunderstandings, but when their agencies merge, Soo An unexpectedly gets another chance to debut alongside Hyun Jae.
The second story follows disgraced former idol Jae Min (Lee Woojin), who begins falling for his new classmate Khun (Petch Panutuch Saelee), an international student from Thailand. Turns out, Khun is already an established celebrity in his home country and has come to Korea to pursue a career as a K-pop idol. Unsurprisingly, he and Jae Min find themselves training together to place in the same group as Hyun Jae and Soo An.
Honestly, the first episode of Love Class 3 is pretty entertaining. The creators put together an engaging montage of the main characters competing in a K-pop survival show that’s heavily inspired by Boys Planet, right down to the color scheme. As a fun little touch, the fictional group ‘Wakers’, which Hyun Jae debuts with, is actually a real K-pop group that Saebyeol belongs to, with his real-life bandmates making cameo appearances. In the drama, however, Hyun Jae’s one-year contract with Wakers expires, prompting his company to place him in a brand-new group.
The cast looks great, they all dance like real K-pop idols in the show’s training scenes, and even have decent onscreen chemistry with one another. But unfortunately, the writers put very little effort into the plot and completely waste the show’s potential to deliver a romance that could’ve memorably explored the struggles of young K-pop trainees trying to keep up with the harsh rigors of the entertainment industry, all while also struggling to keep up with college work and matters of the heart.
Love Class 3 does try to touch on manipulative managers and exploitative CEOs who treat their artists like disposable commodities, but none of it lands with enough impact. The creators should’ve just stuck with one couple and their struggles. Instead, they split the story between two romances and then unnecessarily tossed in another side romance near the end, leaving none of them feeling properly fleshed out.
If you’re looking for a Korean campus romance, I’d recommend Blueming, which had released around the same time as the first ‘Love Class’ show.
Love Class 3 is on Viki, Prime Video (Channel K), and GagaOolala.
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