"Crushology 101" Faces Challenges Despite Positive Reviews Abroad
The latest K-drama, Crushology 101, featuring rising star Roh Jeong Eui alongside male leads Lee Chae Min, Cho Jun Young, Kim Hyun Jin, and Hong Min Gi, premiered on April 11, 2025. The show airs every Friday and Saturday at 9:50 PM KST and is based on the webtoon Bunny and Oppas, which explores a young woman’s complex emotions as she navigates a four-way campus romance following a breakup.
Despite being positioned in the highly competitive weekend primetime slot, the series debuted with a viewership rating of 1.3%, peaking at 1.8% before experiencing a significant decline. In a concerning turn, Crushology 101 hit a low of 0.7%, marking a historic low for programming from MBC. This rating was recorded during episode eight, leaving the production with time to improve before the series concluded.
After the twelfth episode, the show managed to climb slightly, finishing with a rating of 0.8%. However, this still fell short of expectations, hovering close to the 0% rating threshold throughout its airing.
In spite of these domestic ratings, Crushology 101 has received a more favorable reception internationally. The drama currently holds a rating of 6.9 out of 10 on IMDB, with a notable portion of its reviews, 127 out of 217, awarding the series a perfect score of 10.
As the series wraps up, it will be interesting to see how the production team and cast respond to the critical reception, both at home and abroad.
