Who else saw the trending kdrama "Bon Appétit, Your Majesty"? I did a review of it some weeks back. I can bet that most people who saw the series couldn't get enough of the male lead, it's like a debut for him as this series brought him out on the spotlight more than the other series he had been starred on. "Lee Chae-Min" is the actor.
So I was one of the viewers who totally loved how he executed his role in "Bon Appétit, Your Majesty" and I went on a search for his previous works. Honestly, I knew I shouldn't have expect much from the other series he starred in but I couldn't help it but thankfully, he turned out to be a great actor even in the midst of boring actors.
I found two recommendations of the same actor and I decided to check them out... "Hierarchy" released in 2024 and "Crushology 101" released in 2025. The storyline, the cast, the twists were nothing like in the series that brought me to them but I saw them mainly for the actor who caught my attention and my decision didn't turn out bad.
Hierarchy (2024)
"Hierarchy" is a revenge-based series casted by Lee Chae-Min, Roh Jeong-eui and Kim Jae-Won. A story about a guy who transferred to an elite school to find out who killed his twin brother and to take revenge on them. He falls in love with the number one female student and learns of the truth about his brother, he found hard to accept.
I've seen a lot of revenge series in a school setting and I couldn't help but say, there was nothing new about this storyline for me. What I admired through out the series is the cute uniforms especially on Lee Chae-Min and the second male lead, I also liked his brave and nonchalant attitude at the beginning of the story.
Honestly, I wouldn't have seen this series if not for the actor in it and if I was told about how boring a revenge story can be. The female lead was so boring to watch as she was on a quest to keep her loved one safe by hurting him, it didn't make any sense to me. Made me kinda angry that she played our main guy at the beginning.
The other cast were good in their roles, the reason behind the death of the twin was quite silly and very unnecessary to me, but I liked the little comedy touch and of course, the lead actor finding a closure at the end. All that made this series worth watching. Aside that, it's highly not recommended from me. It's just 7 episodes tho.
Crushology 101 (2025)
Talk of "feeling butterflies" and having crushes, this series is a perfect watch for it. I liked how they portrayed the crush at first sight, where the female lead met two handsome guys in one day after her horrible breakup with a guy who didn't value her. Even though we could see all the crush, there was still the long wait to see them together.
It's a very ordinary storyline with the usual showing hate to hide true love feelings. But I got tired of the female main character in this one too. Yeah, they are same female cast in both series and it's sad that I couldn't get to like her in any of the series, this one was worse for me. She was more like a pushover or sucker for love in this lol.
The series has 12 episodes and believe me when I say they could have been able to finish the story in less than 8 episodes, it felt like the story was being dragged unnecessarily especially when the main leads broke up and got back together for a reason that could have easily wouldn't have been an issue for breakup. Chae-Min was slow here.
If I must choose between these two series for a recommendation, it's definitely going to be "Crushology 101" and it's mainly because of the actor and the comedy. Since it's about having a crush, I'd expect that one who doesn't mind cliche scenes will enjoy it. The main actor of Bon Appétit, Your Majesty, made me see these series.
Images are from Imdb.