The title Dangerous Romance is very much an oxymoron. There's nothing dangerous about the romance in this drama unless you want to very loosely connect it to the fact that it's an enemies to lovers story. It's Thai title, Heart in the Wind, is far more suitable and poetic. The name aside though, Dangerous Romance is a fairly fluffy drama with a few doses of angst and a touch of drama towards the end to spice things up. It's not complicated, it doesn't break the mold, but it's fun and I was mostly entertained by it.

The drama follows the fairly common enemies to lovers trope. Kanghan is the school's rich boy bully whereas Sailom is the school's scholarship whiz kid. Predictably and quickly, the two clash and then fall in love. Too quickly for my taste. Kang and his friends aren't just your garden variety bullies. They're not only physically abusive, but Kang takes things several steps farther by threatening Sailom's jobs and even takes a gun, albeit not a loaded on, to threaten him with at his home. However, when Kang saves Sailom from getting beaten up by debt collectors, suddenly all the issues between them dissipate and their relationship starts to develop. While Kang does acknowledge and take ownership of his actions, he never really faces any consequences for them and it all gets swept under the rug so to speak. Given how Sailom was willing to stand up to him, it felt a bit out of character that he so easily forgave Kang. Their romance, while at times a tad dramatic, is never dangerous. There's nothing forbidden about them being together, there's no impression that either of their families would object, and while they do have several instances where they're in danger, it's not because of their love. Aside from the first and last couple of episodes, the rest was mostly filler. Kang's moment of teenage rebellion lasts a couple episodes in the middle but doesn't really accomplish anything other than some very slight character development and a few sweet moments. The plot line with Name and his boss and cronies at the end was very nonsensical and generally just a mess. As a side note, the series is rife with tropes, from having actually met when they were younger to the accidental falls to the ever present sponge bath and on it goes. The pacing left something to be desired. The beginning was fairly fast paced, but quickly mellowed and became almost laggy at points before picking up again in the last couple of episodes. Part of the issue was the number of time jumps. It make things seem like they were happening faster than they were, like the development of Kang and Sailom's relationship.

I struggled with Kang's character in large part because there were aspects that made no sense. He clearly started developing feelings for Sailom early on, and then quite suddenly seemed to be torn between his feelings for Sailom and the sudden development of his feelings for Pimfah. Now whether he actually had feelings for Pimfah or he just didn't want to acknowledge his feelings for Sailom and so was deflecting, who knows. Regardless, it didn't work and was confusing to watch because up until that point, we'd had no indication that he viewed Pimfah as anything more than a friend. Similarly, after Saifah confessed to killing Kang's father, Kang distanced himself from Sailom and was, at times, quite cruel to him, despite obviously still caring about him. When he and Sailom reconcile, he tells him that he never wanted to leave him, etc., etc., however, no one ever forced them apart, it was his decision. There's also the underlying current that his family life and the issues with his father somehow justify his bullying others. It does not and it didn't sit well with me how quickly his actions were overlooked. And once he and Sailom did get together, he was almost too sweet. I would have liked a better balance between the sweetness and the bad boy persona he had. Sailom was enjoyable just for his razor sharp tongue. He had some fantastic comebacks to Kang's bullying which immediately increased his appeal. I appreciated how he stood up for himself and his friends and refused to back down. Some of his sass though was lost once he and Kang got together. There were moments where I expected him to fight for their relationship, but instead he just moped. In general, his character just became less compelling as the story progressed.

As side characters, I really enjoyed Auto and Guy. They were good, solid friends for Sailom and I enjoyed their interactions. Max and Nawa left me with mixed feelings because while I did enjoy the development of Guy and Nawa's relationship, neither character ever acknowledged their part in the bullying started by Kang other than to joke about it. I would have liked to see them owning up to what they did rather than it, again, just be swept aside. Pimfah was generally likable, although her inexplicable crush on Sailom came out of nowhere and was so quickly resolved that it felt almost pointless. Saifah left me feeling a bit frustrated, because he was obviously not dumb and yet some of the things he did made no sense. The hinted feelings between him and Name were sweet, but ultimately left underdeveloped and not needed. Same with Pimfah and Napdao. Kang's grandmother was a queen and I'm so glad they didn't kill her off as I was afraid they would. She was one smart cookie and I really appreciated how even though she loved Kang and clearly doted on him, she also didn't just brush aside his misdeeds and she didn't just view him through rose colored glasses. Kang's father, on the other hand, was a disappointment. His reasoning for how he was raising Kang was incredibly weak and he just came across as someone with weak character. I will admit that I did cheer when he showed up to Kang's football game though, if for no other reason than it made Kang so darn happy.

Perth and Chimon are both incredibly talented actors, but this was not their best work. Their chemistry lacked consistency and there were more than a few awkward scenes. The kissing scenes in particular just did not work and were almost uncomfortable to watch. Chimon also seemed to struggle with several of the more emotional scenes where he had to cry. It felt forced. The acting wasn't bad, I've just seen stronger performances from both.

There were several episodes that were unnecessarily flashback happy. I'm generally fairly ambivalent towards the sound effects used, but there were instances where they really didn't fit and stood out. The wind/windmill analogy was cute the first time or two, but then just got repetitive thereafter. One thing I did like though was the costuming, particularly the school uniforms. While not shabby, you could definitely tell that the scholarship kids' uniforms were older and less pristine. It added a dimension to the characters that was appreciated. I also liked the music, particularly the theme song although it was overused per the usual. I liked it enough though that it didn't get too annoying.

Based on the trailer for Dangerous Romance, I was expecting far more from it than I got. I was expecting it to be more fast paced and, based on the title as well, to have more at stake. Instead, it turned out to be a fairly generic piece of fluff that, while entertaining, didn't give anything deeper. It's underlying theme, Do you think all people are equal? poses an interesting and compelling question, but ultimately doesn't give a particularly satisfying answer. Nevertheless, if your expectations aren't too high and you go in with an open mind, you may find it to be a pleasant diversion.