Love Next Door

Disappointment of the year with awful kisses on top

[This was actually a pretty long rant, but I had to remove 2/3 of it because MDL limits reviews to 10 000 characters]

Started well, then turned into a crying fest, then went back to what it should have done from the beginning but in such an unearned, nonsensical and jarring way, that this supposed 'rom com' turned into a parody of its genre : Terribly formulaic, no satisfying closure to any of the conflicts raised and a final cop-out twist in episode 13 that definitely cemented this drama into the mediocre and forgettable category.

Final ratings 4.

My love for both leads saved me from giving less. The show was weak but the performances were strong but alas my frustration level got so HIGH and the over-the-top “fake sweetness” of the last episodes prevented me from giving this a passing grade. In fact given how annoyed I got… had it been other actors, I’d probably would have given less.

When a show is not consistent with itself, that’s were I draw the line.

But let’s start with the good... err 10 000 characters limit so let's forget it, there's plenty of other reviews for that.

Now..

On to the long rant (sigh...)

This show doesn’t know what it wants to do. Is it Melo, Slice of Life, Rom’ Com? Choose what you want to do and stick to it. You want realistic problems with realistic solutions ? Sure. Then follow through with all characters.
Every single problem these characters faced apart from Seok Ryu’s were magically resolved overnight.

Absentee parents ? No problem, let’s all hug, and over 30 years of neglect are swept under the rug. Estranged couple with NO COMMUNICATION whatsoever notably because of the assumption that one is cheating the other ? No problem ! The dude with whom she is supposed to have cheated is gay. So all of these years of not talking disappear overnight after some dramatic night in the forest !
Also the husband who has been shown to always be busy because of his work at the hospital, has now all the time in the world to get drunk literally everyday with Seok Ryu’s dad. Makes no sense, but since these two were the only ones that truly made me genuinely smile/laugh by the end of this drama, I’ll give them a pass.

Children are not stupid, if they see your careers are more important than they are in your eyes, they learn the hard way to become indifferent very early in life. Seung Hyo caring about your divorce?At 34? Seriously? As if! If he even cared about the both of you at that point that would be short of a miracle.

Ah… but it’s a rom com’, why so serious? Why? I don’t know, ask the show. They went into a full cancer nightmare, work harassment, blaming shit, crying fest and so on and so forth for more than 6 episodes, so I feel entitled to get the same amount of care for issues foreshadowed since episode 1. Is that too much to ask?

Wife gas-lighting her husband literally every day ? Let’s put some drama in so that she makes a grand declaration because even if she gaslights him, she’s got his back so everything is forgotten. She doesn’t need to change because « her heart is in the right place ». And I’m not even talking about her hitting literally everything that moves.

Little Brother is spoiled and want easy money. Got scammed one more time, made his parents loose some money AGAIN, but poor dude is crying because he’s just a victim of circumstances. Big sis is doing a small talk and we’re all back on good terms ?
NOPE. Doesn’t work show.

Journalist’s got a daughter so you can see how Mo Eum and him can’t be a couple because of South Korean’s society… BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT NOPE. Plot twist, his daughter is actually his niece so there’s no longer any real obstacle because this show HAS NO BALLS !!!

But we do need to have the mother opposed to it for I don’t know why, because there’s 3 episodes left, and by God do we need to fill the minutes… with these overly long-ass episodes.

As for the romance…. My God, let’s just forget how it started. I don’t even know were to start, and this review is already too long…

The good : Seung Hyo and his ex. That was actually a pretty satisfying and realistic part of the drama. Not overly dramatic just pretty natural and nice. Gotta give praise where it’s due.

The VERY bad: Seok Ryu, her ex and her present


The ex comes to visit South Korea and win Seok Ryu back. At that point, Seung Hyo is not yet going out with Seok Ryu. Yet, he feels entitled to act jealous, is extremely rude to her ex who HE DOESN’T KNOW, acts like he’s got dibs on her when she hasn’t even agreed to be with him.

WHAT.A.TURN.OFF

But it’s Jung Hae In, he’s the male lead so we’re supposed to give him a pass. So Ok. I’ll give a pass to this MAJOR RED FLAG.

Any man acting in such an overbearing way when you’re not even going out together yet is to be fled from immediately. You can be sure it’s gonna be worse once you get together. In fact, you can smell the wife’s beater from miles away.

He’s not like this because he likes you. He’s like this because you’re his thing, and you need to stay in line.

But it’s a K drama so don’t worry, once he gets the girl, he’s gonna turn all nice. And you bet he is going to get her because at some point after having declared his love, he tells her  « I don’t do friendship with you no more » meaning if the dude can’t be her boyfriend… he’s decided he’s going to put an end to their 30+ years of friendship.

Another Minus for the Emotional Blackmail.
Also, INCONSISTENCIES anyone ?

Wasn’t the reason why you didn’t want to say your feelings in the first place was because you were afraid of losing your FRIENDSHIP ??? Why are you so willing to flush it down the toilet now ? Are you 13 ? I don’t mind the childish banter but at some point a 34 years old do need to show the maturity of a 34 years-old WHEN IT COUNTS.

Ultimately Seok Ryu gives up Mister Green Flag for Mister Red Flag because of… K Drama. She cries at the airport and I wonder why.
Either you still have some feelings and you cry because you’re realizing what a gigantic mistake you’re making or you don’t.

It wouldn’t have been nice for the fiance to say : " I realize you never loved me as much as I did. I supported you through your darkest time, put my career on hold for a year, you threw me away for one dispute, I crossed a whole continent to win you back, only to realize your heart never truly belonged to me. It’s a good thing we broke up. I deserve better".

But it’s a K drama so, we can’t make the FL look like she acted terrible towards a man who’s only crime was to love her so he apologizes for "not helping her the right way" and "realizing she needed other people by her side". And I’m not saying he didn’t make mistakes, but it takes two to tango, and he was the only one who tried to dance.

The truth is, you never loved him enough, you didn’t want to live in the US, you hated your job, you missed a certain someone that wasn’t your fiance. You had plenty of reasons to go back to South Korea, but show decided to put the blame on the break-up YOU initiated instead of on all the elephants in the room.

As far as feelings go, I was never sold on her being with any of them.
It’s difficult to sell a couple when one party was, until recently, engaged with another man who supported her through her cancer ordeal, who she had a five-year intimate relationship with, and who cried crocodile tears when said man left. Obviously you need all these EXTRA SWEETER THAN SWEET scenes to make you believe this relationship is more solid than the one the FL left behind ( THE CRINGE is through the roof)

It was too melo before so by episode 11 it’s in sweet overdrive – to the point of turning the show utterly ridiculous, boring and cringe. As soon as our lead are together they sleep together. As soon as they sleep together, we’re speeding to the marriage proposal??? Girl got engaged after ¾ years of dating with Saint Ex, but not even half a year has passed since she broke off her marriage that she already has another dude’s bracelet around her wrist. .

It would have been good if all that sugar had been peppered throughout the whole show instead of drenching viewers in it for the last episodes... Also since they need to make us feel some empathy for the other characters we get all the conflicts I talked about above, resolved in speedy, unsatisfactory and ridiculous fashion. Even when there was supposed to be legitimate issues, the show treated it as a 'non problem' and I would have given an example if there was no 10 000 characters limit.
This writer needs some fake dramatic plot device such as: husband being scammed by V-tubers, Little bro being scammed by fake protein company, Mother who thinks she’s got Alzheimer and gets lost in forest, Seok Ryu breaking his arm and so on and so forth... in order to get some great empty declaration of love or other BS, so that the conflict is resolved.

The drama concludes with a very neat (and predictable) but dissatisfying little bow. I slugged my way to the end, only managing to finish because I cut each episodes in 4 to 5 parts alternating with more engaging shows or surfing online.


Last but not least… WHY do I have to commit to 3 HOURS EACH WEEK for a ROM COM’ ?!
A FUDGING ROM COM DOESN’T NEED 3 HOURS A WEEK!!!
ARE YOUR DRAMAS ANY BETTER ‘CUZ THEY’RE LONGER?

NOPE. THEY.ARE. NOT!!! WHY TVN WHY?

So please, for the love of all Drama gods Past , Present and Future, STOP THIS INSANITY!

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Friendship, Family, Love

The story was nothing over the top, but it was so pleasing to watch. It is so simple but the acting of the cast was awesome. These kinds of dramas mainly rely on acting & chemistry between cast members and how the story is executed.

Loved Jung Hae In & Jung So Min's acting. The chemistry between Choi Seung Hyo & Bae Seok Ryu plays a pivotal role in how engaging the drama feels.

Loved how, in the beginning of the drama, Seo Hye Suk & Na Mi Suk bragged about their children's success but by the end of the drama it changed into bragging about each other children.

Laughed how Choi Seung Hyo & Bae Seok Ryu cussed at each other. I wish it had not been muted.

First time I have seen exes being good guys. Both the leads ex were so supportive & understanding. Loved how Choi Seung Hyo ex gave him the push to move forward & confess his feelings. She mainly encourages him to open up to Bae Seok Ryu. Bae Seok Ryu's ex, was so supportive of her. He was there for her when she needed someone. I get that his behavior in the end wasn't proper. But won't you also get frustrated or upset when you see your loved one surviving, but you have no idea what to do or how to comfort her?

But the scene where Bae Seok Ryu throws her shoes at Choi Seung Hyo, I didn't like that one. In reels, people are going gaga over it that Choi Seung Hyo is such a green flag he didn't react or help her out to wear the shoes etc etc. But he would've been a red flag if it was him who threw the shoes at Bae Seok Ryu. Such a double standard view society have.

People might find it similar to Welcome to Samdal-ri & Queen of Tears. But it's not internally similar. These dramas' main plot is the sub-plot in this drama. Welcome to Samdal-ri & Love Next Door both the FL hit rock bottom in their professional career. They had to start all of it all over again. One was bullied & another was accused of bullying others. Also, Queen of Tears & Love Next Door both FL had terminal illness.

I enjoyed watching it a lot.

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The plot wears off quickly. Lack of deeper storyline and character connection.

"I've seen it thousand times"..
The beginning is promising, I thought "This might be the best one this year actually"..
Around 8th or 9th episode you notice how they lack ideas and innovation, as if they took 100 other dramas and took parts of it and tried to adapt it to this series. It doesn't go well together, 99% of characters are over 30, they all act if they have an teenage alter ego. It doesn't fit when it comes to serious scenes because you can't take them seriously. They threw scenes one after another, but gradually deepen the plot and having a rich ending was not an option. As if they didn't have ideas or material for continuing the original idea (the first few episodes). The drama is alright, but it reminded me a lot of many (seriously, many) things that I've seen already. I'm used to typical k-drama acting and some repetitive scenes, but this was too much.
The acting was fairly good in general.
Since it's a series I can't really comment on how realistic some situations and facts are, they could have been made more accurate, but it was okay without getting too much into facts.
For me personally, I've seen better.

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로코퀸 & Tteokbokki

It's loud. Warm. Messy. Viciously human. A story about choosing your own life and the people who love you enough to argue you back into it. I've watched this at least five times now and only now feel like I can start writing about how this show buried itself in my chest the second I saw it. It's still in me, planted from the very first second, and it hasn't moved. I don't think it ever will.

Jung So-min… my bias… my chaos… my 로코여신… my 국민 첫사랑… I would follow her into hell if she asked, so seeing her burn everything down as Seok-ryu just to keep herself warm felt like someone ripped the air out of me. She is transcendent in this role. Watching her here doesn't feel like watching a performance. It feels like being dragged directly into her nervous system. When she feels anything, I feel it immediately. When she loves, I love. When she laughs, I laugh. When she cries, I cry. When she is sad, I am sad. She doesn't act emotions. They explode out of her. Tiredness, irritation, grief, relief. She makes exhaustion feel specific. It is that heavy Reiner Braun/AOT energy. The psychological exhaustion of being consumed by a role so long you don't know where the character ends and the person begins.

Her letting feelings exist before they are named assaults my psyche in the best possible way. Angry before it's reasonable. Soft before it's safe. Hurt before she's willing to admit it. Her body tells the truth first. When Seok-ryu is pretending she's fine, I feel that lie sit heavy in my chest. When she finally snaps, it feels like pressure releasing that I was holding. She isn't unraveling for spectacle. She's burning down the version of herself built to please everyone else. Surviving matters more. She spent years in the US like Tanjiro, carrying kindness and endurance while suffering alone, dragging the weight those that loved her should have cared about.

I love that when Seok-ryu finally comes back to Korea, she and Mo-eum just seem to fit right back together. No manufactured drama, no "why didn't you call" for ten episodes, just the immediate reality that they are together again. Pure friendship.
No one's a villain here. Sure, there are a couple of assholes. The co-workers in the US. The fiancé. But the people who matter, the ones this show is actually about, they just exist, make choices, hurt and confuse and fail in ways that feel unapologetically human. And the more you watch, the more you see it. Sometimes no one is wrong. Sometimes people just don't match. The timing is off. Life is heavy and messy. You can't meet the expectations. You can't fix the impossible. You just… live through it.

Families here are a mess. Both Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo grow up carrying invisible backpacks stuffed with expectation, longing, and enough trauma that was always going to add some weight. Seok-ryu’s mother is loud, demanding, certain about what a good life should look like, and those expectations press straight into her daughter’s spine. Seung-hyo’s parents are mostly gone, a mother chasing a version of herself overseas, a father always working, so he drifts next door and grows up under Seok-ryu’s roof without ever fully belonging to it. The Korean title says it outright. Mom’s Friend’s Son (엄마 친구 아들). A label that freezes him in place long before either of them gets a choice. He is fed, watched, worried over. Loved. And that is exactly the problem. To her mother, he is a child she helped raise, not a boy who could ever stand beside her daughter. That misalignment sits at the center of everything. It is why love feels dangerous before it ever feels romantic. The parents orbit each other awkwardly, the fathers trying to keep the ground steady, the mother unable to see past the shape she assigned him years ago, and the kids stumble under the weight.

That cussing scene in the room is everything I love about this show. Seung-hyo is sitting there in the dark, romanticizing his own misery, clinging to the wreckage of his swimming career like it's a moral obligation. She doesn't soothe him. She explodes. She knows exactly what he's doing. Loves him too much to let him lie to himself. The anger is sharp. Intentional. She knows where to aim it. That isn't chaos. It's control. She isn’t trying to hurt, she is trying to heal.

Watching her carry the reality of fighting stomach cancer alone, far away in the US, while still reaching out again and again and being ignored, is brutal and it wrecked me. She fought and defeated the cancer on her own, and that loneliness put her halfway in a coffin instead. She survived the cancer but was still dying inside. Then add her co-workers. They weren't overtly racist, but wow… the stereotyping, the assumptions that because she was hardworking she'd do anything, the way they never took her intellect seriously, the way they took advantage of her. It is infuriating. It's humiliating. It is exactly the kind of quiet cruelty that makes her perseverance feel even more impossible. She doesn't dramatize it. She doesn't ask for sympathy.

The hurt just exists. Heavy. Unresolved. Like something she learned to live around. It gave me that Kaori/ Your Lie in April vibe. That desperate, frantic energy of wanting to leave a "good" impression and smiling through the absolute wreckage of her health so she wouldn't be a burden to the people back home. What makes my blood boil is the fiancé. He was there for the surgery, sure, but he checked out the second things got messy. He treated her cancer like a project with a deadline, and when she didn't just "get over it," he grew impatient. He was at work parties and moving on with his life while she was drowning in the depression of her recovery, basically asking her why she wasn't "fixed" yet. That emotional abandonment is a different kind of rot. The show doesn't sensationalize it. It just lets the loneliness fester.

When Seung-hyo learns the truth, the story doesn't collapse into excuses. The reality is that while she physically survived, she was mentally and emotionally dying, reaching out to him over and over, pleading and begging over text, and he just never responded. He takes the hit for that. He stays with the guilt. He doesn't center himself. It is like Frieren realizing the weight of the years she wasted while someone was waiting for her, but unlike Frieren, he thankfully gets the chance to fix it. He finally understands the gravity of his silence while she faced the end of her world alone.

And because of that history, their relationship doesn't suddenly turn soft and poetic. It stays sharp. Their bickering is the heart of the show for me. It's healthy. It's earned. It's intimate. They insult each other because that's how they're honest. It hits like legendary Inuyasha and Kagome energy, where all that loud, constant yelling is just a massive shield to hide the fact that they are the only people who actually understand each other's trauma. That rhythm, that trust expressed through irritation, is everything I want from a romance.

The relationships? They're everything. Parents who love in completely different ways. Childhood friends who drifted apart and somehow find each other again. Neighbors. Colleagues. People you meet as adults and immediately recognize as part of the rhythm of life. Every connection feels alive. All of it has weight. All of it matters.

Jung Hae-in acts the part perfectly as Seung-hyo. His energy, presence, and choices play off Seok-ryu and the world in exactly the right way. He's a foil, a chemistry partner. Another perfect casting.

Her dad, Jo Han-chul as Bae Geun-sik, is completely magnetic here. The way he wants to provide for his family, the way he has been making tteokbokki for decades, and how he kills himself working those extra delivery app hours just to recover from being scammed. He is steady, warm, human in a way that makes my chest ache. Watching him is like watching someone live with love fully, quietly, and stubbornly. I want to be near that energy forever.

Her mom on the drums is ridiculous and glorious. Watching her hit every rhythm to process her chaos is absurd and hilarious but it works. It is like a tiny explosion in the room that makes everything feel alive, human, and uncomfortably joyful.
The second couple is chaotic, alive, and impossible not to adore, and Kim Ji-eun as Jeong Mo-eum is the engine that makes it work. She first encounters him in the park on a medic call and doesn't see his face. Later she realizes he is the same Mudfish-nim she had a tiny crush on and she is embarrassed, stunned, and can't believe it. The tiny moments like Mo-eum finding a young girl searching for four-leaf clovers in the park and jumping in to help, not even knowing yet that the girl is the niece he is raising as his own, are absurd, funny, and sweet. They make every second feel alive. Every awkward flinch, every ridiculous "oh no I like him" moment hits me in the chest. They are living, breathing magic.

The Lavender Club is a typhoon. They fight, they laugh, they argue, they plan, and somehow all that chaos makes the neighborhood feel alive without ever stealing the spotlight. The mothers? God, the mothers. Subtle, quiet, perfect. They fight, they bicker, they drive each other crazy, but when one of them needs something, the others are there without a second thought. No speeches. No drama. Just instinct. Just care. It hits you in the chest every time.

The dynamic dad duo? Their drinking sessions were among the funniest things about this show. Watching them huddle over soju to escape the torrent of the Lavender Club provided the perfect, ridiculous relief. They were the steady, quiet ground that held the neighborhood together while everyone else was exploding.

The ending is existential. She does not just choose herself. She drags her whole history into this moment and says I am done apologizing for surviving. The way Seung-hyo works with her father to surprise her with Rainbow Kitchen in her dad's old spot is beyond sweet. It is them taking the wreckage of her past and building a physical space where her passion can finally live. And when he starts talking about designing their actual house, it's the cherry. It's a blueprint as a love language.

But the show knows better than to end on a sunset. It ends on a bicker. Of course it does. She says that whenever they argue, they have to hold hands. So there they are, clutching each other in the neighborhood while she sarcastically adds "honey" after every jab just to follow the rules while still being herself. It is a loop. They haven't fundamentally changed into different people. They've found a way to be themselves together.

They grew up next door to each other. Their families were neighbors then, still are now, and life just sent them in different directions. That history is the only thing sturdy enough to hold all the silence and resentment and distance. The pain mattered because it happened. Not because it was fair. Not because it was good. Not because it was required. Not because anyone told them it had to. It's just what they lived through. Just what they survived. Everything they lost mattered. And it made them who they are here, now, together.

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Starts Out Strong But Tanks in the Middle, Recovers in the End

My thoughts after watching to the end---I have to say that I almost dropped this after the 12th episode. You can read why below. It was slow getting to the end, but I'm glad I finished it. In the end, this is a feel-good story about the importance of family, friends, and community over status and money. Who doesn't love a story with this type of message? If you're going to watch this, be advised that there are moments within the series that are exaggerated, unrealistic, and are frustrating for the viewer. I would say overall the writing of this drama is good, with really bizarre weak areas built in, most likely to get it to 16 episodes. My favorite of the series were the 4 friend/moms. To have such strong friendships throughout your life is truly exceptional and these 4 actresses added so much to the storyline. The FL and ML were nice. I think the writing and the way they acted showed a relationship of two people who grew up together and pretty much knew everything about each other, except that they loved each other. It was not exceptionally romantic, but I'm not sure 2 friends turned lovers would be all that romantic. Lastly, the dad friendship was funny and great. Just 2 bros hanging out trying to help each other understand their wives and children. The supporting female and male actors and their storyline was really precious too. It reminds me of Queen of Tears because there was this dip in the middle where the storyline just got stupid, but it is redeeming in the end. Just beware of this as you watch it.

Watched up to the 12th episode --- I started watching this for the two main leads who are a couple of my favorite actors. It started out strong and promising, but somewhere around episode 8 and 9, it just went off the rails and fizzled. There are some things I'm getting so tired of in Kdramas and unfortunately this had too many of these annoying qualities.

First, the writers forcing adults in adult situations to act childlike. Why are legal consenting adults hiding their relationship from others? Why do they have to come off as so stiff and awkward during a kiss? Do South Koreans have to take a vow of celibacy? Actually, considering the birth rate is so low, I think I just answered my own question.

Second, an adult facing a life altering illness, but telling no one about it. When Soek Ryu is diagnosed with cancer, she tells no one in her family.....really? One of the first things doctors ascertain about their patients when dealing with a serious diagnosis is "do you have a support network around you." This same thing played out in Queen of Tears and it was so, so, so very unbelievable.

Third, lack of communication between married couples, close friends, colleagues, you name it. Everyone just stays silent so misunderstandings abound. Why would a married woman be able to share secrets with her gay boss, but can't say 2 words to her husband?

Fourth, why are the females portrayed as physical abusers? Why are they always hitting everyone around them? Are women in South Korea that mean? And, why are the men forced to act like trained dogs? I really don't think this is how it truly is in South Korea, but for the life of me, I don't understand why people are portrayed as such.

Can't say for sure if I'm going to finish this or not. But for now I'm moving on to something else.

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Personal growth, overcoming pain, communicating better, and strengthening bonds that last a lifetime

This one actually held me captive til the end as an eager viewer, not a casual turn it on and zone out sort which is kind of how parts of No Gain No Love hit even though Shin Min Ah is captivating… (don’t get me wrong; I still really enjoyed it, many of its characters [the writer especially] charming and just beautifully written and portrayed, but it doesn’t have quite the balance OR critically the lasting power of Love Next Door for me… still, the weeks LND had hard, faucet-breaking episodes, NGNL was a big comfort to mend my soul after aching so much-they have their places, this one just digging its lil heels more deeply in my heart).

I keep saying this here and there, but JSM creates amazing chemistry with EVERYONE. If her next costar is a silent but sentient rock, I will be like that rock and yearn to speak to her. I will be sold because how-can-you-not?

This isn’t romcom territory. There is plenty of romance. There is plenty of comedy… but fluff it ain’t. These are people with real struggles, real pain, and most of all real, deep friendship, enviable most all the time though occasionally quite frustrating like the real life stuff it represents…

People wanting a romcom surely felt a bit frustrated at how many times this triggered a mess of tears in non-sociopath viewers. (I imagine this didn’t get on the radar of many sociopaths unless as a study of humans without their affliction in which case it is a solid one though I can imagine being infuriated at the illogical way humans tend to be in the face of intense feelings and even pretty shallow ones sometimes).

The way families come together is just gorgeous. Episode 15 was one I watched happily til I left for work then snuck away during break to watch the last 20 minutes… I kinda knew I would probably choke up, and boy, I went from laughing at someone else getting smacked with onions to being slapped with them right in the eyes myself because of this tiny bit of dialogue: “ Seok Ryu was sick; how could I not be worried? She's your precious child, the apple of your eye. She's the daughter of my best friend. You know how much I adore her. How could I not care about her? ... I'll protect her with you. Just like you raised Seung Hyo, I'll love and take care of Seok Ryu, too.”

Geesh, just smack me with all those onions you used a bully ahjumma’s face to peel and split in half already, Hye Suk!

The only thing that could get to me more than that followed immediately… how sweet is it to promise that boy (whose face still looks 8 when he gazes lovingly at his only one forever) that despite it being tiring, hard work requiring a lot of devoted energy and making her become one with the oil… she will make him rainbows to eat forever?! Tell me ANYONE who wouldn’t be just as smitten in that moment whether she was acting or confessing to an actual lover? She makes just about EVERYONE fall for her over and over. It is just impossible to not love her (even though some early *cough*Playful Kiss*cough* titles were severely lacking)! If I got promised rainbows from such a unicorn-like mythical creature of beauty, I would be quite at risk of having organs harvested as I followed her entranced.

The parents and Mo Eum (and Yeon Du-ahhhhhh she calls soooo sweetly, awwww) are absolute icing on a delicious cake. Some bites of the show are bitter and salty from my tears, but okay, we’ll have salted caramels a while! In this case, nothing at all felt particularly forced/fabricated thanks to acting that really is above and beyond expectations even with mine rather high for the veteran cast playing the parents especially! It felt like every single character grew immensely through this… and HEALED… and crucially went from holding on somewhat bitterly to really charging forward embracing life HAPPILY as they sorted out their own very real-feeling issues.

The finale had a lot of predictable moments, but I savored them because this is THE LAST show I wanted another surprise from! I was kinda annoyed that the thing I knew would happen as soon as she was in cooking classes, her ultimate future, took SO long to even mention when it was so dang obvious what would happen… but I was okay with how they rolled it out even if literally no one was at all surprised by anything but how long it took lol.

Ultimately, this became a story about growth, overcoming a whole lot of pain as well as COMMUNICATING BETTER WITH THOSE YOU LOVE DANGIT, and strengthening the bonds that last a lifetime. I was not envious of their situations overall, but man oh man, their friendships-FAMILY regardless of blood ties, truly-were enviable and honestly pretty rare in this day and age. The more people in my generation and particularly my pretty spread out nation succeed, the further away from our roots we tend to get, so I live near NO ONE I grew up around. Makes me glad I don’t have any real issues socializing with strangers anymore (kind of interesting that the super quiet introvert from my hometown, me, seems like an extrovert in this place I live now where they even say there is a massive “freeze” because outsiders have so much trouble finding their people here. Who knew being a nerd would make it EASIER to find community?! Still, when I think back to the people I grew up playing with like the young adults here, nostalgia hits and I realllllly get homesick. This did bombard me with that more than a few times, but it’s been actual decades since I’ve seen ANYONE who knew me before I was 18. I wouldn’t recognize any of them, it feels safe to say, since even their faces are hazy memories (bad thing to say as the managing editor of the yearbook, but they really are hazy memories, even the teachers caricatures at this point, most all of them long gone from the living realm).

Since I am hiding this behind a spoiler, I’ll say one big spoiler detail that made me so grateful: thank you, writer, for not killing anyone off! That early “renovate a funeral home” thing really was getting under my skin with comments about it all the time and them teasing that it could be the FL of course but also the ML’s mother. I am so glad they had them instead mend wounds from the past and go forward closer and more full of love than they ever had before. My heart doesn’t have to weep. I don’t even mind sad or mixed endings, but this one I really just did not want to be manipulated emotionally by in that particular way-don’t take (probably her) away just when our forever 8 ML has finally said all he needs and grown close to her how he has wanted all these years (be it the FL or his mom, as it happened with both so beautifully)!

Wonderful lovely watch. For all the moments characters were frustrating, they were fully understandable and realistic in the ways they made me wish they were different… That is a pretty big feat to accomplish between words and location details scribbled on a page and a human carrying out the instructions and saying the lines!

Solid 9.5… the writing not always perfect necessarily, it was more than made up for by the cast embodying people I know as if the writer spied on, well, a LOT of real life humans I’ve known over the decades in all kinds of capacities… sometimes, the “flaws” become strengths of their own in scripts… in real life, though, still do your best to not be perfect, no, since that will just make you awful, but at least don’t, like, acquire new problems like crash test dummies acquire displacements of their parts!

Gonna miss this show a LOT.

(PS Kate told me to post this lengthy feed entry as a review, so all meanies who want to argue with or fight me, you gotta go through her first, and our cult leader has lots of weapons and magic curses for people that mess with her minions!)

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The second lead story steals the show again (part- 464661664464)

*The actors and acting*. The FL Jung So Min, I've personally never liked her much and have dropped every drama of hers that I've come across (Because This Is My First Life , alchemy of souls playful kiss) maybe it's because of the characters she's played, maybe I didn't like the story or whatever. However, the ML Jung Hae In I love him and so many of his dramas I think he peaked in Something in the Rain and then in DP but his performance in Love Next Door is disappointing it's not bad but disappointing compared to his other romantic genre dramas He always has flawless chemistry with his female counterpart but it lacked A LOT here. He was cringe and seemed more friends than lovers with her. overall the chemistry was nothing special

*The actual drama*, to put it in one word was cliché and lowkey cringe. The genre is Romcom, there's rom in the story but no com or to put it better there was comedy in the form of dad jokes. the story is nothing new she got tired of her life overseas and decided to go back to her hometown where she discovered and pursued her true passion and also fell in love with her childhood best friend. (This is to all K-drama makers out there please stop using the childhood trope in dramas it has been OVERUSED).Other than that, the romance tropes such as the physical romance parts were especially cringe. Even though the story is simple they could've made it better but it was the same old same old, a homely neighborhood where everyone knows everyone and a school trope. OSTs weren't special either, very forgettable

*The good parts*. The second lead story. it was the best part it made the story interesting and bearable. those two were soooo cute and the chemistry was 100000. I want us all to take a minute and just realize how cute that kid was.
The friendship between the ladies it was very cute and interesting to watch i felt like more things could've been done with that but overall it was a nice spin in the story.

In conclusion, 'Love Next Door' falls short of its potential. While the drama offers moments of charm, its reliance on clichés, underdeveloped characters, and lack of originality ultimately hinder its ability to stand out. The performances by Jung So Min and Jung Hae In, while competent, fail to elevate the material. The storyline is predictable and lacking in emotional depth. While the second lead story provides a welcome distraction, it's not enough to salvage the overall viewing experience. For those seeking a fresh and engaging K-drama, 'Love Next Door' may disappoint. I would probably not recommend this to a friend as there are many other great dramas with similar storylines.

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O que aconteceu com esse dorama?

Sério, o que aconteceu aqui? Prometia tudo, mas do episódio 8 da frente tudo começou a desandar??? Eu agradeço a existência desse dorama, pois me apresentou a uma base de fãs que eu converso até hoje, mas eu me senti burra vendo o final.. tipo...???

Quem conhece sabe as teorias que tavam rolando, quando a gente acertou sobre a doença da Seok-ryu foi uma festa.. mas... O doramas só abandonou isso? Sinceramente pode pegar pra ver dps do ep 8, NADA se encaixa o que me deixou com um gostinho..

Não é que o final é ruim, só parece que no meio do dorama eles criaram outro dorama

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When you think childhood friends can't find love

It was a really rocky road with this one. A lot of these romcoms or romantic dramas, you can always predict that the ML and FL will end up together, that's if one of them doesn't die.

This is one where I wasn't sure if the two will actually be together in the end, since both sides of the family has known one another for 30+ years and the two mains have known each other their entire lives.

I was hoping they wouldn't pull a thing they do in the west where most people thinks it's better to just remain friends since they were friends their whole life and they think it just won't work out.

Well, SPOILERs... there's a happy ending for these two to end up together, but it took some rejections at first, more from FL because of certain issues she had to deal with.

Watch this anyway, it's a fun watch and has a lot to do with family as well. Seeing the charimsa and bickering between ML and FL and loveable and great to watch as well. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you like some good old fashion and traditional Kdrama romantic dramas with a new spin on it.

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It's been a long time...

It's been a long time since I wasn't hipped with the drama like Love Next Door (since the disaster of Lovely runner...)

How to start... It is simple: I loved this drama with my heart: it has everything ... trauma, fear, love, dreams...
It is very realistic, a simple story and I loved how they overcome everything at the end. The sickness and depression topic are well developed which made the drama even more touching.
All the characters were well written and had their own stories and I loved them all. You could really see the improvement of each one at the end...

I loved it .... And the chemistry between the ML and FL? WOW, I still replay the love scene in my head even today, I never felt that.. Jung Hae In will always be my favorite. I fill a void now that I finished it .. It was my comfort show for weeks.
Bref. If you're hesitating: JUST WATCH IT. You will not be disappointed.

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