Notes from the Last Row: Is Yeonseo Based on a Real University?

Helmed by Kim Gyu-tae, Netflix’s ‘Notes from the Last Row’ begins with Heo Mun-oh, a one-time novelist and present-day grumpy professor, taking out his frustrations on the students of Yeonseo University. Apart from his literature lectures, Mun-oh also assigns them weekly homework, in which they are to write about anything notable that happened during that time. Though most of these assignments leave him unimpressed, Mun-oh is taken in by the works of one of his students, Lee Kang, who writes a vivid account of his friend’s family life.

As one week turns into many, color begins to appear in the professor’s time at the university, and slowly, both he and his student embark on a journey to truly understand the craft of storytelling. This Korean psychological drama series, also known as ‘Maen Kkeutjul Sonyeon,’ is a loose adaptation of a Spanish play, ‘El chico de la última fila,’ and as it delves deeper into the narrative, Yeonseo University almost begins to function as a mirror of the characters’ psyches.

The Fictional Yeonseo University is a Spin on a Spanish Play’s High School Setting

Yeonseo is the name of a fictional university created by writer Jang Myung-woo for the world of ‘Notes from the Last Row.’ As one of the main backdrops of the show, the university reflects the larger themes of the narrative in a way, with almost every episode weaving classrooms, libraries, and staff rooms into Lee Kang’s storytelling. While Yeonseo may not be based on a real-life location, its conceptualization can be traced back to a Spanish play, titled ‘El chico de la última fila,’ which serves as the inspiration for the show itself. The play, penned by dramatist Juan Mayorga, mostly takes place in a high school, which the show reimagines as a sprawling university to fit in a different scope.

While Yeonseo University may be a fictional construct, the place where it is filmed is, in fact, a real-life university, named Keimyung University Daemyung. Situated at 104 Myeongdeok-ro in the Nam-gu district of Daegu city, the university campus serves as the base for several interior and exterior shots, and many of its iconic fixtures can be spotted in the series. This includes the university gates, its main halls, amphitheaters, as well as indoor auditoriums, all of which were dressed up while filming to feel like Yeonseo. To make the effect as immersive as possible, the crew also created a new logo and custom-made apparel for the fictional university, and these designs can be spotted on students’ jackets, bags, and paperwork.

Yeonseo University Complements the Show’s Commentary on Literature and Academia

Interestingly, the school depicted in ‘El chico de la última fila’ is itself full of literary references, and dramatist Juan Mayorga lingered on this aspect while discussing its French film adaptation, titled ‘In the House’ or ‘Dans La Maison,’ in a conversation with El País. In the movie, the high school setting is retained, and the school is named after the acclaimed French novelist Gustave Flaubert. In the interview, Mayorga also expressed his desire for a Spanish adaptation in which the school could be named after legendary Spanish novelists such as Miguel de Unamuno and Pío Baroja.

It should also be noted that Mayorga was himself a secondary-school teacher at one point in his life, and those experiences likely influenced how he designed the story around academia. In ‘Notes from the Last Row,’ the university name, Yeonseo, doesn’t appear to be a reference to any acclaimed figure from Korean literature. That said, the absence of a literary reference doesn’t necessarily undermine the show’s connection to the craft of storytelling in any way. Instead, it’s likely that the arcs of Heo Mun-oh, Park Hyeong-jong, and other professors or students are all crafted with the environment in mind. While Yeonseo may not be a real university, the creative team’s ability to make it hyperrealistic is what keeps the narrative structure intact.

Read More: Notes from the Last Row Ending Explained: Did Lee Kang Make Up the Story?