Love Next Door

Crashing into awkwardness

Contemporary subject, where the need for understanding and self-satisfaction envelops the entire story. Anchored in reality, although with some exaggerated cups, for example when all the romantically linked pairs have their ability of understanding their partners emotions and needs reduced by more than half of it; or when there was a character in need, almost 9 out of 10 times their where saved even though they didn't want.

The chemistry between Jung Hae In and Jung So Min is one of the keys that helped to outline such complex characters that could be seen trough multiple layers each of them showing the importance of listening to our inner voice, because even when we don't know, we know as Bae Seok Ryu demonstrated us.

Although the main focus is the relationship between Bae Seok Ryu & Choi Seung Hyo, each fighting their one betels or rather what others project on them, the series brings to light the need for change and its acceptance by the people around them.
It showcase the vitality of the social status and how children symbolize the upscale or downfall or their parents in society. The stigma of failure is cruel with those who do not follow a conventional path or have mediocre results, as well as for those who brought them into this world, the shame of what others will think about them and their children' meaningless achievements.

Although the comic moments are more visible than the tense or emotional ones, the depth of the theme is visible. We can say that sometimes it's like a defense mechanism, it's easier to laugh than to stay in touch with each other emotions.

The build is done gradually, with a slightly predictable course for Bae Seok Ryu & Choi Seung Hyo. Even so, there were quite a few surprising moments, like the time when Bae Seok Ryu had the space and time to cautiously see if there is more than just a friendships that keeps her pulling towards Choi Seung Hyo; the pull and push moments of Choi Seung Hyo trying confessing his feelings after bottling them up for so many years, putting at stake his friendship; or the moments of insanity when sharing the burdened is inexplicably worse than going alone trough it in order to not hurt others.

Although I appreciate the sweet and down on earth ending, I was expecting something bigger very hilarious with fireworks a total Cinderella happy ending. My favorite scene is by far the proposal, the awkwardness and clumsiness made me feel like I was part of the story, I burst in tears of joy because I was feeling for Choi Seung Hyo.

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It's more about family, friendship and long lasting love rather than a typical romantic drama

Finally finished this kdrama and as much as I enjoyed it, was greatly disappointed with the ending. No spoilers, but how they tidied it up was sweet enough, but it could of done with a couple of more episodes to really give the story the happy ending we all wanted. In the end I was routing for the second couple's (best friend and single dad) happily ever after more than the male and female leads. I think they wasted a few episodes just with each other's exes. Also not being confident enough to speak up about how they felt about each other. They danced around that for a couple of episodes too. They have supposedly known each other for 30 years, how can they be so unaware of their feelings.
The saving grace was the supporting cast. Loved the families and friends. Loved their relationship with their kids and each other. Especially loved the Lavender girls. It showed that long lasting friendships may have their difficulties but overall their love and dedication spans the decades. Maybe that is what we should get from this series. Not a romcom, but a beautifully acted and written kdrama about love in all it's forms and how it can whether whatever trials and tribulations that can come their way.
Overall it is worth a watch just for watching those dynamic relationships. If you want a childhood friendship to adult love, romantic kdrama, watch Fight for My Way, this kdrama is so much better at portraying this theme.

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A Journey Worth to Ride

It is an amazing story. The build up is slow, but that is life! It is not even a build up, it is a journey of pain, struggle, sorrow, failure, joy, smile, success, everything you have got through that makes you who you are today. It tells us to share our journey with the people around us who loves us, people who we can lean on, people who are willing to hit the rock bottom together with us, and rise back to the peak. It also shows that love is not always about happiness. Sometimes you have to squeeze you blood, sweat and tears to love!

The conflicts in the beginning are really complex and a lot. However, the writer's put everything in mostly correct place. The struggle of each characters: Seok-Ryu's, Seung-Hyo's and even each of the family members are highlighted well. And it really depicts the struggles of a normal person, normal family in real life. They cried for help, they helped each other to solve their problems, and once again, that's life!

For all the comments saying that the romance is dull, I think it's not. It just a different form of romance that they were on. For someone who had known and lived next to each other more than 30 years, I think you can't expect them to have a passionate affection as in other romance dramas. Still, I love how Seok-Ryu could compare everything she has in mind with foods!

On the contrary, I don't really like the character build up of Kang Dan-Ho. He does not seem to have a consistent characteristics. One day he would be very kind and affectionate, the next day he became reluctant and mean and on the other day he became passionate again towards Mo-Eum without any valid and strong reason. I mean people can change, but for someone who had a personal experience, it was too easy for him just to change his mind like that.

The storyline near the end of the series are a bit thin and slow, compared to the complexity at the beginning. I think the storyline was intended for 15 episodes. However they were forced to make it into 16. Also I feel like the writer failed to explore some chance to be developed. I was looking forward to see the result of the school gym renovation. As that place meant a lot to the journey of Seung-Hyo and Seok-Ryu, I was hoping they will create a new moment together there, but nothing happened. Same thing happened to Seung-Hyo's time capsule letter. He picked it up from the trash only to be forgotten! As for the soundtrack, they didn't highlight it well. They should put it more in the important scenes so that it can be more memorable.

For someone with younger age, I think this drama may be boring. But for the older group, a lot of the scene in this drama may relate to your real life. Overall I would REALLY recommend this drama, but for you may have to consider if you want to rewatch, unless you want to feel the pain again, lol.

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In the abundance of roses, you're my sunflower!

Childhood friends to lovers bickering story done right. From the announcement to the release, it was much hyped and created a lot of anticipation among the drama fans. Was it worth it?
 
Definitely worth it. It is a family-orientated love story with which everyone can relate. What makes it different than any other drama is its's dynamics of characters.
 

✔️Likes:
 
• spotless chemistry between the leads. Single-handedly, they hold the series together.
 
• Sismance! Lavender Group's friendship is something we all aspire to. From school friends to neighbourhood moms, they've always stayed together and supported each other.
 
 
❌Dislikes/Room for improvement:
 
•The episodic length; oh my my... 1hr 20mins X 16 eps?! That's too damn long! I had lost all my patience waiting for it to finish.

• Resolving problems because of medical conditions. I know they love their family to death, but was illness the only thing that could vanquish all their problems and unite them again? Even if it was, then when they were so sick, why put so little importance on it? The issue came up all of a sudden and resolved too quickly.
 
Sometimes the characters were too childish and selfish at times, but I get it. As an adult, you think you can fix all your problems on your own without any help, but sometimes a reassurance is all you need to carry on in life. 
 
It wasn't something phenomenal and over the top, but something you watch when you're craving some fluff with a lot of angst and adults whining like children in frustration. It was not bad not good either, but just ok.

I think for me it comes once in a while that I fall in love with the rom-com kdrama; unfortunately, this is not the one.

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Just finished it. Objectivley spoken, it was good and well executed show.

But of course, some things can be criticized and could be done way better:
1. The stomach cancer theme. It was unnecessary and way over the top for a show which doesn't focus explicitly on this topic. (like 39 for example)
2. The lavender-gang took too much screen time. Yes, they were funny but they didn't contribute to the overall plot progression and rivaled the 2nd lead couple in screen time.
3. The last episode or better, the ending was needless and not satisfying.
a.) the whole Mo-Eum / Dan-Ho / Yeon-Du part was rushed in the end and the last major scene they got, was the decision making process of Mo-Eum where she was unsure how to tell Dan-Ho they south pole thing. Comparing this to the screen tim, the lavender-gang got, it's kind of underwhelming. I mean, it feels like Mo-Eum / Dan-Ho / Yeon-Du was the support while the lavender-gang was the second lead.
b.) on the last meter, Seok-Ryu and Seung-Hyo decided to postpone their wedding and the final impression is an argument and a walk together. In general, not a bad idea, but the built up to this scene was unfitting. First, the expectation for the wedding was risen (not only in ep16, but also in ep15 AND ep14 (!) where it was the major cliffhanger), then it was dropped and then the lavender-gang had a never ending scene and then, only a couple of minutes were left to set the correct mood. The lavender-gang scene should set the mood, but that works only if the viewer likes them. Usually, the second lead should set the mood and these are also the characters and actors the viewer want to see, not the support group.

The 3rd bullet point is interesting, because they did fairly well on the individual endings and cliffhangers of each episode. I can only explain it that way, that the second leads were really unpopular or the support cast was super duper popular. Or, the audience shifted to a different group. (maybe an older group) It would be interesting, to see statistics about that.

What was good?
The rest. It lives from it's high production standard. Good cast, good music, good settings, good camera work etc. But to be honest, it wasn't exceptional in any form.

I would rate it 8/10.

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OK For What It Is ....

I ran into this one based off all of the raving reviews and I should have known better.

As with all dramas, I go into one with zero expectations, because in most cases they're so predictable, I don't want to immediately be disappointed.

I was sold for the first 10 episodes, leading to the first kiss. After that, everything seemed to be messy. Focus became on all of the side characters so much, that I more invested in Mo Eum and Dan Ho's relationship than the actual leads. It honestly felt like it was bottom of the barrel scraping to get this drama to 16-episodes.

The acting was great for what the story was given. The over-exagferated proud parents, the long ago lovers. The actors portrayed them well and convincingly. Despite the messy story, the relationships were convincing, minus Han Joon Woo's portrayal of the ex. Something didn't fit with all the other characters.

"What Are We" by Ha Sung Woon and "Reaching For You" by ZEROBASEONE immediately went on my regular rotation. I loved the array of songs and how fitting they all tie into the drama.

If I did re-watch the drama, it would be ONLY to fast forward to Dan Ho and Mo Eum's relationship.

Overall, it was a drama with a lot of potential, but instead of pushing it in the focus of a the 30-year old romance we were all led to believe it was about, we were sent on a wild goosechase with all these other characters with a sprinkle of "Oh, here's the leads, but we lost the plot."

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Great Chemistry but Predictable Plot

“Love Next Door” is a decent pick if you want something light and relatable.

What really stood out to me was the strong and natural chemistry between the main actors. Their interactions felt genuine which made the story believable and enjoyable. I also liked how the story used everyday situations like neighbour misunderstandings and awkward first meetings.

But honestly, if you’re only here for the romance, I’d suggest watching the first half of the episodes on 1.5x speed. The early episodes felt a bit boring to me, but I get that they were needed to build up the story. The plot follows a lot of typical romance dramas, so it’s pretty easy to guess what was coming. To me, the supporting characters, especially Mo Eum, Dan Ho, Dong Jin and Na Yun, didn’t get much development and I just felt like I needed more.

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Friends to lovers a favorite trope. Sweet and heart warming romance

10/10 is my rating. This is a 2024 South Korean romantic comedy drama with 16, 70-80 minute episodes.

First, I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis


Bae Seok-ryu (Jung So-min) seems to be living the perfect life abroad as a upper manager in a global company.  Her career appers to be going well and she is doing well in her personal life with a prestigious international lawyer fiancé, Song Hyeon-jun (Han Joon-woo).  Her mother, Na Mi-sook (Park Ji-young) has a lot to brag about she feels to her friend and rival Seo Hye-sook (Jang Young-nam).  Hye sook is the mother of Seok-ryu’s friend, Choi Seung-hyo (Jung Hae-in), who she grew up with.  When Seok ryu decides to return to South Korea suddenly to “reset” her life, she finds herself interacting with Seung-hyo frequently as their mothers are friends and they are in the same social circles. Mi sook is not happy with her daughter’s decision to upend what she perceives as a perfect life path. Can Mi sook convince her family and friends she made the right choice? And what about her childhood friend who suddenly sees her as more?

Review

I read a lot of reviews before watching this and, there were a lot of positive reviews but there were also some more negative reviews. I have watched over 300 dramas now, mostly Korean but some Chinese, Tiawanese and Japanese dramas as well. I have watched all of the outstanding dramas so I am really picky when it comes to new dramas. But I loved this drama from start to finish. It has everything I love about a good drama. There are so many heartwarming moments with the family, the friendships, side romances, characters overcoming difficult situations, and of course, with the main couple that it is just a spectacular drama. I would watch it again, even seek it out, and I highly recommend it to anyone that is a fan of any of the actors (they all did outstanding, this type of drama, or are just fans of Korean drama in general.

Spoilers

Let me just say if you haven’t watch this yet and are looking at reviews to decide if you want to, I envy you. Because, if you decide to watch this, I think you will very much enjoy it. You could be among the few that enjoyed it less. But I can see why the majority that I read, really loved it.

It ends very happy. The main couple are together, obviously well on the path to marriage, but, more than that we can see what their future life will be like together. They have a little fight in the end and we see how they will come through conflict like that. All of the side romances are either together or you can see very easily where those relationships are headed. There are some sad moments, but we don’t live through the sad, it’s just telling what happened in the past with her illness. So, it’s what I like to call a happy sandwich. It starts happy, there is some sad event in the middle, but it ends happy. I do not like sad content and will avoid it like the plague but can deal with a little saddness as long as everything resolves and ends happy. I don’t need a rehash of life where that is not always the case, life is usually what I am trying to take a mental break from in watching dramas.

So many nice bonus romances in this. There is main guys mom and dad. Where she was an ambassador so focused on her career she forgot about her husband and son. They are on the verge of divorce, because they aren’t communicating what is really going on with either of them, and then she has that alzheimer/dementia scare that brings home what their true feeling for each other are. That family had to do so much healing and the drama did a great job of taking us on that journey. Surprisingly the mom Seo Hye-sook (Jang Young-nam) was one of my favorite of the older, female characters.

Lead female character’s mom, Na Mi-sook (Park Ji-young) and her emergency medical technician (EMT) friend’s mom, Do Jae-sook (Kim Geum-soon) were what, through so many dramas, we come to expect with a drama mom. They are hyper controlling of their child’s lives even into their 30s. I do not know how true to the culture that is. Asian friends have told me their moms are like that but I don’t know if that is still super prevalant. I found lead female’s mom infuriating at times. Even I, sitting in the 4th wall, knew there had to be something more to the female lead’s sudden return thatn just a “reset”. So the way she treated her, when she first came back, seemed abusive. But, it was a true character type. I knew an American mom that was very much like her. She so did not want her children to make the mistakes she made in her life, that she was completely intolerant of them trying anything remotely similar. They feel like they know the outcome. But two people can do the same thing with different results. It is just harder when you watch one of your children roll those type of dice.

I thought the romance between Jeong Mo-eum (Kim Ji-eun), and (Kang Dan-ho) was on par with the main romance. Not quite as good but reqlly close. She always liked superheroes and the whole “Mudflats Man” concept was cute. They were really very much alike. It was such a wonderful story and the thought they would both be raising the little girl was very wholesome. I felt annoyed when Moeum’s mother was originally opposed to their relationship and even a bit cold to the little girl, but was glad she quickly came around.

I don’t have to spend too much time on just how endearing lead guy was. One of my favorite tropes is the friends to lovers trope because friendship builds such a strong base for a relationship. He was just so there for her it was completely sweet to watch. Yeah he had that error, where his jealous feelings got the better of him and she was reaching out to him during her cancer and he was ignoring her. But he didn’t know she had cancer and she seemed to be clearly with someone else. In a lot of other dramas that would be second guy. Second guy who is her friend, but has feelings for her, but then always misses the timing to tell her. Then, when he tells her, it is too late. What we essentially got to see was second guy successfully get the girl. And I love that. Sweet, loyal second guy is usualy the loser in those situations. It just doesn’t feel as much like he is second guy because we only see her relationship with her ex fiancé in flashbacks. I love the actor. He has the smiliest eyes. And he just portrayed all the emotions so well

I loved Jung So-min in “Alchemy of Souls” so I am biased that it will be good whenever I see her in something. And this did not disappoint. The way she brought out all the emotions in a character that went through something like she did, and the ways she showed the hidden love with lead guy blossom, I loved every minute of it. She is one of my favorite Korean actresses.

The friendships was what set this apart from a mere fuzzy feel good, no depth romance. Thise long standing, with you through it all friendships is the type of connection we all aspire to. The dads were funny drinking buddies. The moms were as volatile as you would expect with a group of close female friends. Watching the bromances and female friendships was like flavorful icing on an already delicious cake. You think you do not want or need it but it is there and it is nice.

This is the type of drama that, when it ends, you miss people that don’t even really exist. It makes me understand, a little, how the actors may feel as they dive into a character and interact for months in another world. As they bring it out and we are feeling all the emotions of events they have to play that through their actual emotions too. I imagine this was a harder one for them to move past as it was so immersive. So I am always so thankful when there is a good drama to everyone that worked so hard to make it possible. I saw an interview with Jung So-min where she talked about this and how much she enjoyed acting with Jung Hae-in and it showed. I though they had amazing chemistry and could see them as a real life couple.

When we learned the real reason she had suddently departed the United States and returned to South Korea, it was such a highly emotionally charged moment. The writers and actors did an exceptional job of illustrating how each family and friend would feel when something that important was kept from them. And yet they were able to make us understand why the main character would have withheld that, in that moment. I wish they had heard more on the way they treated her as someone beneath them because she was a foreigner. Only lead guy really knew that. Because for her to work through not only the fight for her life with cancer but that completely toxic work environment, it was a wonder she didn’t break sooner.

I thought I was going to dislike her ex fiance, Song Hyeon-jun (Han Joon-woo), but was pleasantly surprised I did not. At first I was annoyed he pursued her to South Korea. How dare he come disrupt this beautiful relationship. But, as they built their back story, and he revealed his character it was evident he was not a bad guy, she had just unknowingly had been in love with main guy nearly her whole life. The way he let her go without bitterness showed that he did love her enough to just want her happiness. Same with lead guy’s ex girlfriend, Jang Tae-hui (Seo-hyo). At first I am like who is this love killer but they told their backstory and why she liked him as much as she did that I understood. She also let go of him at the right time and exhibited that she loved him enough to want him to be joyful.

#LoveNextDoor #JungSoMin. #ParkJiYoung. #JangYoungNam. #JungHaeIn #HanJoonWoo #KimGeumSoon #KimJiEun #YoonJi-on

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Watch the show - But just for the second leads next door!!!

Love Next Door started off strong with its realistic portrayal of burnout, sickness, family struggles, particularly the pressure faced by the eldest child—especially when she’s a girl. It really hit home for me, as I could relate to the cultural expectations and emotional weight that comes with those roles. FL is someone who constantly strives to be perfect for her parents, never allowing herself to make mistakes or ask for help even when she's sick, pushing herself to a breaking point, that really felt seeing my own reflection in this aspect of her. But it lost it's charm along the way for me.

What I loved : *SECOND LEADS*. A strong female second lead and such a supporting soul male second lead. Their storyline had depth and the slow-burn friendship to romance? Goals. I was more invested in their story than the main leads, not even gonna lie. Throw in the adorable kid, and you get a heartwarming mix that makes you smile every time they’re on screen. Chef's kiss.

What really sucked : The show did lose some of its charm in the later episodes. The constant arguments felt forced, and I found myself fast-forwarding through parts just to get to the good stuff. The emotional investment in the show started to wane. Also, I just couldn’t vibe with FL’s mom—her character felt a bit too frustrating and hard to connect with.

Overall, Love Next Door had a solid start, and the second leads were the highlight of the show for me. But unfortunately, the later episodes took a toll on my enjoyment. It’s definitely worth the watch if you’re in it for the childhood bffs to lovers troupe, slow-burn relationship, discovering your dream and family dynamics, but don’t expect the charm to hold up throughout. It has it's highs and lows.

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