Love Next Door

The only thing I hate: waiting a week for the next 2 ep

Nothing to say, this drama so far is just refreshing and has the potential to be drama of the year or even more.

I just want to point out one thing: for all the people annoyed and bored by the scene where the mother is beating and being upset over the FL quitting the job and her engagement, I think you should know the basic info and cultural beliefs of a country before speaking.
This kinda of behaviour may seem odd and overreacting to your prospective but I think 99% of people saying it are not Korean. For sure that can be a little exaggerated (ps: it’s a drama, it’s supposed to not be bland) but that is how it works in Korea, you need to find a good paying job and a good partner to marry then you’re settle for life.
The other mother’s reaction says it all, parents raise you up since you were born so they expect to see their child to have a good and healthy life as an adult.

It’s not the first and it will not be the last drama that portrays Korean parents and their cultural beliefs like that so before blasting on the drama and who wrote the script like this, try to understand other culture’s differences.

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Really really slow and ridiculous at the same time. . .

I'm finding the pacing and ridiculous story lines hard to stomach. The show has an identity crisis . . not wanting to be an indie slice of life, but not wanting glorious over the top drama style.

The only saving grace of this is the acting. But with every tragic event that can happen in ones life, happening to these 3 neighborhood friends, all in the space of a month, it's just hard to buy in. There is no realism in dynamics between family members or friends either. Adding to that, a romance that is moving at a glacial painful pace with no progress in decades, and still no progress episode to episode . . . I'm just not sure who is enjoying this.

I'm certainly not!

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Começou bem, terminou PÉSSIMO

Famoso prometeu muito, entregou pouco.
Na minha opinião, o enredo tinha muito potencial, mas pecou pelo desenvolvimento mal feito e lapsos na construção dos personagens.

Dos pontos que fiquei sem entender, destaco:
1. Como alguém pode esconder uma doença tão séria da própria família? "ah ela não quis preocupar ninguém..." gente, não era uma doença qualquer, era gravíssima. Não faz sentido algum.

2. O comportamento infantil do protagonista. Ambos eram infantis em alguns momentos, claro, e percebo que era meio enfatizando que eles tinham uma amizade antiga e de implicância, mas acho que pesaram a mão.

3. Quando o prota se declara e a prota diz NÃO, a reação dele é acabar uma amizade de 30 anos... Sério, eu odiei isso.

4. O casal secundário foi muito fofo, eu gostei muito da química deles, mas como assim ela pediu para SER A MÃE DA MENINA para logo depois passar 1 ano do outro lado do mundo? Não que ela devesse ter desistido do sonho dela, porém não gostei da parte dela enfatizar tanto querer ser a mãe da menina, bem menos do que demonstrou querer ser esposa do repórter. O que me leva a...

5. Não ter casamento (que foi bem aguardado, com todos aqueles pedidos), não ter viagem ao Polo Sul do repórter (era melhor ele chegando lá numa cena, do que a promessa por vídeo chamada, me senti roubada). Tudo isso numa correria para mostrar renovação de votos de um casal que passou 30 anos sem trocar 2 palavras, ah por favor.

6. Toda a briga entre as mães foi bem sem sentido e ridícula. Acho que dali se percebe porque os filhos também eram tão infantis.

Enfim, decepcionada.

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FROM FRIENDS TO LOVERS

This drama beautifully balances humour, romance, and some deeply emotional moments. The story revolves around the lives of three childhood friends, Bae Seok-ryu, Choi Seung-hyo, and Jung Mo-eum, with their relationships and family dynamics at the heart of it all. Each character is compelling in their own way, especially Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo, whose chaotic but charming relationship drives much of the plot.

What I really enjoyed about this drama is how naturally the characters interact with each other, whether it's the hilarious bickering between Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo or the quieter, more tender moments. Despite their teasing, you can feel the depth of their friendship, and it’s so heartwarming to see them always showing up for one another during tough times.

On the professional front, both Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo deal with challenges at work, and the way the drama portrays their struggles, along with their personal issues, makes everything feel grounded. There’s this recurring theme of facing one’s past, and it’s beautifully woven into the characters’ development.

The soundtrack isn’t overly catchy but complements the emotional undertones well, adding to the overall atmosphere of the drama. While there are plenty of heartfelt moments, the show doesn't shy away from humor, making it a joy to watch from start to finish.

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Not new, but still enjoyable

There was nothing new with the genre and show. It was still enjoyable and made me look forward to the upcoming episodes. There was lots of misunderstanding between the couples and the story lines however they gave exactly what we knew we would receive. A Friend to Lover troupe.

Best friends who have drifted apart and now fate has given them a chance to right the wrong and chase after their destiny. The chemistry between the main leads were great. I really enjoyed watching their scenes.

It was something that could or could not happened in real life. It made me think of people I might have forgotten or missed put on cause It wasn’t the right time.

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bickering friends into lovers?

I've watched lots of childhood friends become lovers dramas, but this drama impressed me because they bicker a lot and it's entertaining. 

It tells about Bae Seok Ryu, who was working in the US, coming back secretly to Korea to tell her family that she quit her job and canceled her marriage. From the first 4 episodes, I could tell that she has been hard on herself and has experienced terrible stuff in both work and relationships. It was Choi Seung Hyo, a childhood friend, who gave her the motivation she needed to start over in Korea. We will discover who has been in love with whom longest and since when in the meantime, along with those fleeting moments of spark that have occurred since they were young.

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Cute but not cute enough...

I'll start with the good - I like the actors and they have chemistry. I really liked that one flashback scene at the end of episode two. I think it's one of the only scenes I really enjoyed. Lol. So because of their chemistry and cuteness when they actually have a moment I won't make this a 0/0

And Dan-Ho. I like him. I'm interested to see where his character is going.

And now..
I really want to know what overcame the writers, who had two great actors in their hands, and decided to write a kdrama that has some of the most long and drawn out scenes that are so unfunny it's painful, (the entire scene where the mother is hitting the ML and screaming for ten minutes...what was that...) scenes that just don't make sense (why the heck her mother reacted to her daughters life choices the way she did?? What??) the weirdness of the second half of episode four...why are all the characters so dramatic? And violent??? It's getting weird?

Hopefully it gets better and an actual plot develops, yeah I forgot to mention, there is no underlying plot, at least not yet..

All in all it's cute, nothing more nothing less. The deeper messages are poorly handled and super forced.

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Pleasant ride that got bumpy

I like a good romcom and slice of life, it's of the genres I enjoy the most, but I very much dislike melodrama, and this show at points wanted to cross the line for the simple fact of having something to tackle in the plot. This was not necessarily bad and compared with other dramas I think it's was done quite ok, but there are certain elements in the execution of those situations that were lacking for me.
But first of all I would like to talk about the positives:

I liked the characters and I enjoyed that they were generally rounded and each had their own positives and negatives.
I know that Seok Ryu has received a lot of hate for her personality or the way she acted in the romantic moments. For me personally the only thing I disliked the most is the way how they made her roughhouse his brother and ML. I get they wanted to portray that closeness and with ML specifically that almost sibling kind of relationship but it was certainly a bit jarring and unrealistic for her age. Otherwise I could relate with her in many aspects both in her family dynamics as well as ending up being used in work environments because of working well and being a perfectionist. I totally get her. I also understood her reasons for not telling her family about the cancer considering how they treated her and the expectations put on her, she couldn't be weak and she didn't want to disappoint. This kind of upbringing just basically ends up giving you anxiety. When you become that level independent that you don't ask for help even when you're physically suffering it also takes effort to warm up to people around you, even those that technically you knew for your whole life. She might have been best friends with Seung Hyo, but that doesn't mean he actually knew the ins and outs of her that well. For that reason as well it totally makes sense from writing a character like her that she would need the time to get into the relationship fully, the weariness of something potentially going wrong or how much you can trust the person you like. I think overall her relationship with Seung Hyo and how it starts is very realistic and it's a breath of fresh air in terms of romantic developments in dramas because most times it's either love at first sight head over heels for someone, or if someone is shown as more reserved and initially distant is the guy, because it looks "cool" in society for guys to be that way.
I also loved the storyline of Seok Ryu quitting what she did previously and searching for what she wanted to do now and her growth to get there. That thing at the end when she's using her previous skills in programming for her restaurant was chef's kiss for me. That feeling that even the so called mistakes can come in handy at some point in the future. As someone in a complicated situation right now, it warmed my heart a bit.
Many people has also called Seok Ryu selfish for not telling about the cancer to anyone, both characters in the series like ML himself as well as viewers, but let me flip it, isn't it selfish to expect anyone to tell you they have cancer? It's their life and their privacy. I think it's selfish to be angry at someone for not satisfying your need to know and process it the way you want when it's the other person the one actually suffering. He was putting his emotions and his right to know above her pain (although this doesn't make his feeling not valid obviously). Also she tried to contact ML multiple times during that period and he never picked up the phone. I don't think anyone owes anything to a friend or family member that only wants to know the news if you're ill but they're not part of your life for the rest of it. There are so many times people can reach out to others before they understand they're ultimately alone and they have to deal with things alone, and FL be like that here, her independence and reluctance to reach out is because she has been burn out many times already. It's difficult in that situation to rely on others and open up. And this applies to her parents as well since they have repeatedly proven, especially the mother, that they only care about her success and her doing the expected thing.

It's a bit more difficult for me to say what I liked about Seung Hyo, I think his overall journey was interesting between what he wanted to be versus what he ended up doing because of his injury. His personality was frustrating at times and there are certain things that at points annoyed me a bit, like his jealousy. Yet, most of my complains about his personality added to the authenticity of his character and the realness of imperfection, but that doesn't take from the fact I do think he had some things to tackle that are a bit of a problem.

I really liked how the ex story line was tackled. Not only because finally we have a drama where the main characters have exes (sure, there are others but seriously I can't even remember the last one), putting an end to the overused troupe of 30+ years old character that has had no relationships ever and is waiting for the ML/FL of the drama, but also because of how the whole story line was presented on both sides. I enjoyed that Seung Hyo's ex while had certain intentions of getting him back she was not immature about it. Sure, she created a situation but was straightforward to ML about it, didn't beat around the bush and didn't get in-between the main characters, she stepped to the side in a mature way as soon as she realised the situation. I also really liked the flashbacks and the differences between what it was like and what kind of relationship they were looking for at that time compared to the present time. I liked her, and as someone that likes pottery I did enjoy her bits, I almost wish we got a main character in a drama whose main job is making pottery.
On the other hand while I do think FL's ex was quite toxic with his stalker behaviour, I did very much enjoy that their breaking and parting was not one based on typical drama and that it was acknowledged that there were still feelings there, because they just don't disappear from one day to the other. On the other hand though, I didn't like the ex much as a person. He was quite toxic with his stalker behaviour, not taking 'no' for an answer and he was very selfish in his incapability of understanding of FL's situation in the past and everything she was going through. He's the type that you tell him you're very unhappy and he tells you "just be happy then". Taking out his stalker behaviour what is crossing the line, I think his past incapability to relate or understand what the FL was going through was quite realistic as well as his automated and emotionally removed actions and responses when dealing with her cancer and her depression after.

I enjoyed the family dynamics sporadically here and there only and I also liked the relationship of the Lavender group in concept if somewhat repetitive at times with their bickering and I would have liked to see deeper or more development. I think generally it was presented quite superficially. FL's mother and ML's mother's arguments and fights were kind of boring for me and never funny.
I overall also enjoyed a lot the relationship of Mo Eum with Dan Ho and towards the end it was adorable, BUT I didn't like how Mo Eum approached her crush for him and she was very pushy and at times it felt she was crossing the line.

In things I didn't like:

- First and foremost the use of illness to excuse behaviours. It's used at least twice that I can recall and I found it quite problematic even if plausible in certain family dynamics, yet I wished for more growth.
I didn't like Seok Ryu's parents, especially her mother. I think her father was a bit of the funny airhead of the family what is ok, and I liked the insights about what he would have wanted to do in his life and what he ended up doing, but he clearly has an alcohol problem and it's never tackled at all, it's seen as the most normal thing. Points for realisticness I guess in a society where it be like that, but it's difficult to let it slide that much as a viewer.
But Seok Ryu's mother is so bad in my opinion and she never really changes in any way. The best part of her is that quirk of playing drums when angry, it was funny but everything else about her was so irritating!!! I absolutely despised that everything she had done (and by extension the father too, even if because of being an accomplice of the mother) is pushed under the rug once they know she had cancer. The mother learned absolutely nothing and she only cares about showing off and her position in the group of friends. It was not enough in my opinion, 30 years of treating your daughter like that and being the main cause of the way she is doesn't disappear because of a cancer pity party, but that's what they did. It's not even how she treats FL alone either, she treats her husband terribly as well, and spoiled her son so much that she wasn't really allowed to complain when he got into that problematic supplements business. Yet there is zero reflection or change in her, she was annoying to watch and it was annoying there wasn't any growth at all. Yet at the same time as much as I disliked it I have a feeling if they had tried to make a redemption ark it would have been pretty bad and full of excuses as usual because parents do no wrong in Korea, so maybe it's actually better they left her as she was. The father at least had a tiny bit of growth. But I still hate that the catalyst was the cancer, it was lazy and overused and overly dramatic.
Equally frustrating it was when illness (or potential one in this case) was used with ML's mother to sweep under the rug all the problems and miscommunication that had happened in their family dynamics. It was lazy in my opinion. I think if they were going to invest that much time in ML's mother as a character then there should be more direct resolutions than that. Hinting at illness for drama only is lazy writing again, and in this case the diagnosis in the end didn't even make sense seriously, it was weird. There is also never a resolution in the relationship between ML and his mother other than a couple of sentences, I think she mentions the necklace thing, that's pretty much it. It's just forgotten with the same thing of the potential illness and her falling in the woods.

- As mention previously Seung Hyo's behaviour at times was edging on problematic towards the middle of the show and although it brought a realistic and complete character I can't help but wish it was tackled more directly. I certainly think that in the course of the show Seok Ryu changed and grew more than Seung Hyo personally.

- FL's brother is not very explored but also I feel like he did the things that were expected of him in the end and they're showing me he has changed but not sure if because of the execution or what but it was hard to believe when he had spent most of the drama being a spoiled piece of work. It was unsatisfactory to me, as it was the introduction of that last minute romance with Na Yun, it felt forced even though it had already been hinted.

- As also said Mo Eum being so persistent with Dan Ho was bad, but also was they took so long to tell us Yeon Du was his niece. Mo Eum's relationship with Yeon Du was also pushy. I know that it's a big thing in Korea being with someone that already has kids and whatnot but it still baffles me, so the reaction and initial disapproval of Mo Eum's mother was kind of annoying.

- Special mention to the specific situation of FL's parents being annoyed at her towards the beginning for cancelling the wedding to the point of trying to push her to marry the guy against her will, calling him against her will, wanting to send her back to the US and the mother later trying to make her date and ultimately marry the ex. All that is obviously forgotten with the cancer but what did I watch seriously. They were treating her like she was 10 so many times, telling her what she could or not do.

- Somewhere between the resolution of the cancer/FL's ex plot and the end I found it a bit dragging at points and I do think they could have used those moments to explore deeper other things that were lacking, like anything written above.

- Generally I'm not a big fan of the childhood friends to lovers. I do think here it was decently well because they had lives and other partners in-between but as a concept I find it too overused.

- Some of the product placement was very on the face.


I would say if you don't want any drama avoid this since at points it has more drama than romcom. If you don't like long episodes and slice of life avoid this. If you want an explosive love at first sight this is not it either.
If you like the opposite of the above then watch it, it's enjoyable although bumpy ride. At points you love it, at others it gets a bit too dramatic and at others it drags a bit before you get another loving bit. It be variable like that.
Acting is good and the main actors did great for me, but when it comes to the main two actors I might be a bit biased since I've seen them in other stuff and I generally have liked all that I've watched of them. So if you want to watch because of any of them I would say to give it a go.
I think Yun Ji On is a bit stiff at times and I can't tell if it's the character that is supposed to be that way for certain or also his acting a bit. I think all the parents did good acting but certainly my favourite was Jo Han Chul.
I rarely rewatch dramas but I probably wouldn't this one if only to not have to relive Seok Ryu's mother as well as the more overly dramatic moments.

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