Love Next Door

Wasted Potential

I remember when I was super excited for this upcoming romcom with top actors Jung Haein and Jung Somin, especially because it was supposedly Haein's first romcom after starring in a long list of melodramas. Well, first of all let's mention the fact that this drama is tagged as a romcom, which it can't even be considered as - there was barely any romance until the very end of this drama, the drama never had any super funny or comedic timing of moments, and there are some heavier topics that make this feel like more of a slice of life than anything. Nothing wrong with this, but if you go into this expecting a light -hearted feel good romance similar to say, Lovely Runner, this is definitely not for you!! In my opinion, this drama was a bit disappointing and definitely wasted the potential to see the two leads shine together as love interests.

Again, with the drama, there are some heavier topics such as issues focused on families, troubles of being an eldest child, miscommunications, expectations coming from a lower class family, and illnesses. There is also a storyline on the leads achieving their dreams and working towards the life they want for themselves. While I do appreciate them delving into these topics and find it relatable myself, it seems the focus on this is what deviated them from showing the romantic build up between bae seokryu (jung somin) and choi seunghyo (jung haein).

What is supposed to be a childhood friends to lovers romance, we see that seokryu and seunghyo grew up together as seunghyo's mom travels a lot for her work and left him in the care of seokryu's mom. This led them to establish a long friendship from kids to adults (if we count their friendship being apart for 10 years before seokryu returns from the US). I like that after seeing each other again, there isn't any awkward interaction between them and it's like a friendship with a lot of banter, honestly kind of like brothers and sisters. We see that they are truly friends, always being there for one another when they need support, but the way they portrayed their relationship made it seem like seunghyo is stuck in an unrequited love. He is petty, childish, and immature with seokryu, which I guess they wrote him that way to show how different he acts towards only her, but it's a silly thing to have him be childish and not communicate in almost 10 full episodes, no development whatsoever. They're both almost 35 for god's sake. From seokryu's side, we don't see a glimpse or a hint that she ever had feelings for seunghyo other than friendly feelings. That's why to me, it didn't seem like a romance, as there were limited scenes of the sort of tension, and chemistry that we expect to see from friends who are slowly turning into lovers. Don't even get me started on the fact that their exes were in one episode too many - as much as it's good for them to get closure, we really didn't need to see that much of them and instead should have focused on seokryu and seunghyo. I would have rather seen more of the second couple's relationship. And finally, when the leads do get together, it's \the issue where their relationship changes too much from when they were friends - how do we go from teasing and insults to such loving comments and interactions between the two?? I honestly prefer them showing the same banter and teasing as before, but it's like they jump from 0 to 100 and changed their entire dynamic. It's cute but it's also a little boring? I would have loved to see how their relationship is SPECIAL because of the fact that they were friends for so long and knew everything about each other. Another thing, as top actors their acting is.. alright? I love them both and I feel bad for saying this but I expected romcom like Byeon Wooseok acted in Lovely Runner, where his romcom side shined, I wish Jung Haein had the same opportunity to show this side of him, but honestly I want to blame the writers for not letting us see this happen.

The second couple I really loved, in fact l liked their storyline more so than the leads. Moeum is a smart, energetic, and badass paramedic, and danho is a clumsy, calm, and kind journalist. From their first interaction I loved their dynamic and their banter, and it was so cute to see her fall in love when it seems like no man would have been good enough for her! I really wish we got to see even more scenes of them as the second couple (and less focus on both of the leads and their exes). One thing I would have liked is if we saw more instances of danho falling for moeum as well. We know danho is kind towards her, but he's presented as a kind and just man who's willing to help anyone with anything. I think I just wanted some indication that the way he felt towards her was more than supposed admiration for her occupation, and that his actions were special and not something he would do for anyone. The way they get together is also a little sudden without enough buildup, but I still love them. We should have gotten them together sooner though!!

Overall, don't go into this drama expecting an amazing romance and chemistry with hilarious side characters. It's a simple drama, nothing that special or fun, but still a decent watch if you want to watch attractive actors.

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Have a good story, but keeps being a rom com

I LOVED IT SO MUCHH! a lot of people said that didn’t liked but I loved, the story is very entertaining, have some good plots that keeps your eyes on the drama, the couple is perfect, is a friend to lovers drama which follows their story from their childhood to adulthood, the ML is a TOTAL green flag, and the little secrets they keep gives a touch of tension in the drama, but it keeps being a light and funny drama, you laugh so much while watching it, and the secondary couple completes the group perfectly, in the end you wants to be their friend, my confort drama forever!

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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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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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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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Missed the mark: a rom-com turned melodrama with failed comedy and messy storylines

Despite its popularity, ‘Love Next Door’ feels like a failed attempt at narrating an already messy plot, lacking in many aspects that make a show captivating and overall underwhelming in terms of production. I found the series unmemorable, and was especially disappointed by the lacklustre chemistry between leads, slow-moving storylines, and jokes that felt uncomfortable from being misplaced. As a result of these flaws, the romance the main leads shared felt bland, and its comedic scenes would most-likely only appeal to those with an eccentric sense of humour. Its comedy and romance were insufficient to carry the series from its start to its end, which is why it makes sense as to why it progressively leaned more and more into melodrama territory rather than the rom-com that it had promised viewers ahead of its release.

The many tropes that have come together to bring the characters’ stories to life—such as childhood friends to lovers, the discovery of oneself, reconciliation between family, the annoying banter and quarrelling of siblings, and obviously, as the title suggests; a lover next door—are carried by a unique mix of emotion that highlights the series’ authenticity. Although it often shifts between the lives of different characters, the lead’s pure affection towards one-another threads the episodes with a consistent warmth, stopping viewers from getting lost in these constant changes. Their ever-deepening relationship blossomed slowly over time, navigating them through the incessant waves of trial and error faced by young adults while going through their period of self-discovery. This enabled the series to deliver a slow-burnesque type of love story with its leads, taking away from all the other aspects of their relationship, such as its simplicity, softness, and juvenile innocence. Not only did the romance fail in bringing a smile to my face mostly because of its painfully slow progress, but so did the comedic moments, heavy from the serious matters brought to light. Though the series's depth brought meaning to even the most lighthearted interactions shared between characters, it ultimately stole the show from its playful and humorous nature. If anything, the only good this did was bring out their rawest sides by presenting them using an approach that highlighted their faults and flaws. This tactic gave a realistic and emotional face to the characters, but also contributed to my disliking towards them.

The characters have each endured countless struggles, of which the worst have been Dong-jin’s early heart surgery, Mi-suk’s childhood in poverty, Seok-ryu’s cancer and depression, Seung-hyo’s near death experience and past car accident, and Dan-ho’s loss of family members. These dark times that have been presented shows that the series relies on tragedy to highlight the fragility of life as well as the preciousness of love. This deepens the bond shared between characters, and gives room for forgiveness and reconciliation. The technique used in bringing the story to life with strong emotions also worked in accordance to the viewers’ desires, because not only did it fortify the bonds between the families presented, but it also helped bloom the flawed but precious relationship that Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo shared in the last episodes of the series. Through living and reminiscing encounters that each held the possibility of a sad fate, the characters realised the importance of these relationships that may seem trivial, but of which are a necessity in overcoming trauma and accepting oneself. This vulnerability from fear and uncertainty, combined with exasperating hope for fulfilment of dreams, blurred the line between hidden secrets and spoken words. This combination of emotion created intimate scenes of verbal communication where love danced and pent-up emotion spilled.

From the very beginning, the series started on a rather serious note, rendering its advertising misleading, especially with the poster’s fun and colourful vibes. Its viewership ratings, of which have dropped exponentially since the airing of the first few episodes, only serve as confirmation to this claim. The concept photos put an emphasis on hopefulness, and contentment, though these themes are only truly present in the last episodes of the series. It introduced viewers to its main message with the first emotional moment shared between the main leads, which is the importance of having a shoulder to lean on. After this emotionally heavy moment came a pause in the unfolding of secrets. The series circled around the series’ main event—which was Seok-ryu’s stomach cancer—with little bits of comedy and metaphorical insight before cutting through the main storyline with angst, denial, loss, and other strong emotions that contradict the series’ overall image of light-heartedness.

Because of its heavy themes, the entirety of the show’s lightness seemed to revolve around its aspect of comedy, and yet, even the laughing matters were arguably put in inappropriate context, leaving some viewers uncomfortable with their watch. Moments like these included Seok-ryu’s Mom, whose physical actions such as hitting to express her anger and displeasure were overused and could be seen as abuse. Secondly, they tried to make out comedy of an awkward moment between Seung-hyo’s parents where the couple was together with one of the wife’s higher-ups, who was forced into his confession of being gay. The series brings attention to this moment being the first time he openly stated his sexuality to an individual he wasn’t close with because of the homophobia present in South Korea. There were also a few times where Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo’s fathers were out for a drink, both talking about how they felt miserable and hopeless for their lives, and yet each time ended up turning into a laughing matter because of their particular drinking habits. So, overall, the series’ comedic aspect was a let-down, save for Seung-hyo’s Dad’s hidden hilarious personality that overshadowed the series’ other comedic moments that landed flat in failed attempts at being funny.

The plot development was overall mediocre, with significant parts lacking between the journey Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo took to get from being friends, to lovers. Though its structure was evidently present due to the outcome of their relationship, the plot itself was messy and hid behind characters that distracted all else with their unserious dialogue, consistent personalities, and strong feelings. The series’ flow wasn’t very structured, and the episodes delved into different ideas that branched off without intersecting or building on each other and of which didn’t end up anywhere or support any of the series’ main ideas. For example, it didn't delve into an exploration of the pressure to become successful and start families in South Korea, like the first few episodes suggested it would. Instead, it skimmed the side with a mere generalisation and brought it to life using the toxicity of Moms that loved to brag of their childs and childs that competed against each other.

As for the acting, although Jung So-min and Jung Hae-in succeeded in bringing the story to life, their facial expressions were unvaried and at times lifeless. With chemistry that fell short and the lack of focus on the female lead’s backstory in falling in love with her partner, their relationship seemed forced. Despite this, something I was able to appreciate in the development of their relationship was Seung-hyo’s confession of love. It was nothing grand, and took place in a familiar setting, which mirrored his feelings that were hiding subtly in their almost-30-year-old friendship. These hidden feelings of his simply yet slowly installed themselves in his heart, allowing him to accept them and let them grow before being certain in his action to confess to her. The lead couple was accompanied with a second romance that, although wholesome, got messed up by the confusing relationship between Dan-ho and Yeon-du, and insensitivity on Mo-eum’s side. When viewers learn of Dan-ho’s ‘daughter’ in the beginning, it is assumed he has a wife, so the scenes he shares with Mo-eum before the revelation of his relation with Yeon-du seem inappropriate. There also could have been reconsideration on Mo-eum’s side regarding the way she chose to act in Dan-ho’s presence. For example, her questionable choice to kiss him during a conversation they shared where Dan-ho expressed his sadness for the loss of Yeon-du’s Mom, and her persistence in making her feelings for him known even though they made him uncomfortable.

Another notable aspect of the show worth mentioning is the abundant amount of product placement. ‘Love Next Door’ advertised a wide variety of brands, dedicating multiple scenes per episode to product advertising. Its constant habit of veering off into commercial territory was distracting, and combined with its poor-production qualities and mediocre acting, it really decreased my level of appreciation for the show.

10/27/2024

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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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Too Many Messages That Want to be Conveyed.

From what I know, when we create a story, we should include messages that readers can take away after reading it. But we shouldn't tell readers what they should take from our story.

This drama explicitly teaches viewers what message they should take away after watching it.

That's what makes this drama quite awkward to watch as the final episodes approach. They want to convey so many messages and lessons that the flow of the story becomes rushed in their attempt to deliver these messages.

Honestly, the acting and chemistry of the cast were quite good in episodes 1 to 8. But as the end approached, the performances of the main characters JSM and JHI felt very awkward and forced. It even seemed like it wasn’t well written. They appeared to be acting, presenting disjointed scenes that seemed created just to convey specific messages.

Among all the characters, the second couple had stronger character development. Their arcs flowed well, and their story is what kept me engaged in finishing this drama. Honestly, the character with the weakest writing in this drama is Seok Ryu. His character seems not fully developed, making me, as someone who has watched JSM since "Playful Kiss," feel that his acting here is quite poor. It lacks naturalness, is overly exaggerated, and looks like acting. He has always succeeded in portraying characters well in previous dramas. JHI’s acting also felt very awkward; I've seen her perform several times, but here, her performance is the weakest compared to her previous dramas.

And the most disappointing thing is that, despite having four main characters in this drama, the first couple and second couple do not have a strong enough bond to portray a 'friendship' among the four of them. This is very different from watching dramas like "Fight My Way" or "Because This Is My First Life."

For this drama, I genuinely regret the writers and director for creating something like this. Both are quite well-known for producing quality dramas, so my expectations were high. Additionally, the genre doesn't fit the drama. I couldn’t find the romantic comedy elements in this show. Romance might be seen at the end of the episodes, but where's the comedy? This drama should have been labeled as a slice of life.

This drama actually has the potential to be good. The side character stories are well-crafted and not boring to watch. The issue lies in the main characters' stories, which are the most tedious, even though they are the core of the drama. That's what makes this drama less engaging.

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