The Killer Next Door

a lot of potential

Overall: I wish this was released on an official international platform with high quality subs but even then, the story would still have felt choppy - too much was left unexplained. 50 short episodes between 1 and 2 minutes.

Content Warnings: murder, attempted murder, blood, beaten up off screen, past intimate partner abuse

What I Liked
- the premise
- tension
- visuals

Room For Improvement
- too much was not explained, what exactly defined 'scumbag', did he keep doing it?, scenes sometimes jumped from one scene to something totally different
- nonsense stuff: how did he not have any money because it seems that he would have money if it was requests from people, police hadn't caught him?

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vertical series are a pain to watch...

Besides vertical, the story is also not thought trough. The question my mind asked from the beginning is, why does Nam know that Han is a killer... And why is the title "next door" when they live together. There is no explaination or background.

Acting was decent, the "BL" parts are ok, but besides that, is quite stereotypical. There is not much to say, besides that the episodes are too short, the shortest just 45 seconds, that you NEED to binge-watch all of them otherwise it makes no sense and the better option would have been to make them at least 8 minutes long.

This is a series nobody needs to watch, if you do, you might like it and it's for sure not terrible. But I would have prefered much more episodes to explain the background and of course a better storyline. For a Korean productions this was weak.

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Thrilling Storyline, Strong Chemistry, but One Unbelievable Plot Twist

This series really surprised me. Both male leads are stunning and have amazing chemistry that carries the story beautifully. The acting is strong, the emotions feel raw, and the plot is thrilling enough to keep you hooked all the way through.

However, there is one part of the storyline that feels unrealistic to me. Jin Hyeok’s father is portrayed as a terrible man, constantly asking for money, never caring for his son, and being a complete burden. Still, at the end of the day, he is his father. Without him, Jin Hyeok wouldn’t even be alive. If he hated him that much, I feel it would have been more believable for him to ignore him or pretend he didn’t exist.

But what I found most unusual was the twist where Jin Hyeok asks his lover to kill his father. After his lover actually kills him, Jin Hyeok still kisses him. In real life, if my partner killed one of my parents, no matter how bad they were, that act would haunt me forever. It’s an intense and bold plot choice, but one that felt a little too far-fetched.

Overall though, despite this flaw, the series is captivating, well-acted, and visually stunning. I definitely recommend it if you want something emotional and dramatic. Solid 8.5/10.

P.S
I’ve seen so many negative reviews just because this series is 60 episodes of only 2 minutes each, and honestly, that’s unfair. The actors, directors, staff, and crew put in countless hours to bring this project to life. It’s not easy to film and produce something of this scale, and their effort deserves respect, not dismissal.

Yes, I get it, 60 vertical, scrolling episodes at 1 to 2 minutes each can feel annoying. But can’t we focus on what actually matters? The acting, the plot, the cinematography. Why not enjoy the story for what it is instead of nitpicking every little thing? Being negative about the format only takes away from the effort, talent, and heart that went into making this series.

For me, what matters most is the quality of the show itself. And here, all three deliver. The plot is engaging, the acting is strong, the cinematography is stunning, and the story flows so well that the 60 episodes flew by. I genuinely enjoyed every second of it.

What frustrates me even more is seeing people rating it 1/10 without even starting the series. Are we really going to rate every short format series a 1/10 just because of the structure? That’s not criticism, that’s dismissal. Many great shows have been unfairly judged because of unusual formats, like Love Mechanics which began as a short project before becoming a full series, or Seven Project with its one episode arcs. Once people gave them a proper chance, they saw the value behind the structure.

And to everyone leaving negative comments, let me ask: do you even realize how much effort the actors poured their heart and soul into? Is it fair to blame them for the production team’s format choice? They don’t decide the length of each episode. Imagine working endless hours, giving everything you’ve got, only to be slapped with lazy, negative comments from people who can’t look past the runtime. It’s ridiculous and honestly disrespectful to the entire cast and crew who made this possible.

All I’m saying is: give this series a chance before judging. Watch it with an open mind, you won’t regret it. For me, it’s an easy 8.5/10.

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Good drama but hate the 2 minute episodes.

I liked this drama, it has a good story. Unfortunatly it came in 2 minute episodes and i really don't like that, it's anoying! Maybe because of that some scenes felt very cut off. The english subtitles were bad so at some moments it was hard to follow the story.
I now found a new one with great subtitles and the episodes were linked as one so it was a much beter way to watch this. The episodes also didn't feel so much cut off as before. The second time watching this was still very good so definatly worth to rewatch.
The visuals were good and the music was good.

The acting was good, the mains had good chemistry and the kiss was great.

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A killer setup that retired too early !

From the synopsis alone, I thought this was going to be a twisted little story because one character is literally a killer and the other has been saving his targets while fully knowing the guy is a murderer. That sounds like tension, angst, maybe even bit of a dilemma, right? Well… the drama apparently forgot its own premise about five minutes in.

The whole “killing” part was abandoned almost instantly. What we got instead was a soft, slightly awkward love story between an early retired baseball star and one of his fans who took that retirement very personally. It was cute but it wasn’t what was advertised. The killing /muder mystery was awkwardly crammed back in during the last 5–10 minutes with NO consequences. I still have so many questions as to what and why's...

Now, I am not usually into vertical dramas, but even with that format, 1.5+ hours is plenty of time to tell a coherent story. If they had just leaned into a cliché romance properly or fully committed to the killer plot, this could have worked.

On the acting side, it was fine. Just passable and pretty enough to keep me watching without cringing.

Overall, it was an okay watch. I had literally no expectations so I wasn't disappointed but it wasn't impressive either.
Would I recommend it? I won't bother. There are better mini-dramas and short films out there that use the same runtime better.

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This was a good story with a lot of potential, but the romance never developed to where it should have been to be compelling. It had all the potential with the build up of their relationship and feelings, but the climax, where Yoon Je kills Jin Hyeok’s father and they finally kiss, was just lacking. The emotional intensity just wasn’t there, and I think the actors must have been uncomfortable. It didn’t help that while it wasn’t a dead fish press, it was mostly blocked by shots of their shoulders and backs. It was kind of downhill from there. We pretty much get a two minute montage of them being a happy couple, then Yoon Je goes after his father’s killer, the police come, he disappears for a full year, then appears again. Their reunion was so lackluster. No emotional desperation or excitement whatsoever. They don’t even hug, just hold hands. Then it’s revealed that Jin Hyeok has started killing too, and then it’s over. If the actors had been more comfortable with casual physical intimacy, and if they’d really played into emotionally intense scenes, it would have been so much better. The actors were good though. Much better than I’ve seen in any other shorts series, outside of the actual romance aspects.

No consent issues. Boundary issues: touching his face while he’s sleeping, going to his workplace during the separation after he explicitly said not to.

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Killer of love or a seriekiller? :P

What I thought of the series: I really wish there were longer episodes. The series would have been so much better then.
#koreanbl

You can find more of my reviews on Instagram. :D See my homepage about my Instagram account. Some of my reviews are under five hundred words so I can't post them here. (*^▽^)/★*☆♪(*^-゜)vThanks!

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Its not awful but its far from great.

It had potential to be interesting if someone had invested in making this into a proper drama with a fleshed out story-line instead of some easy to digest, simple, 2 mins or less per episode drama designed to watch on your phone. Maybe i'm just too old to appreciate a format like this but to me it was just annoying. The acting was fine, nice to see more recognized actors delving into LGBT+ characters in Korea but the story did them dirty. Too many cliche ideas and just not near enough time to create these characters, and make them believable, its all very shallow and no substance which is a shame.

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? Mini Review: The Killer Next Door ?

When I first saw the trailer, I expected something really wild — and honestly, it delivered if you actually follow the story. Since this is a vertical drama, each episode is just 1–2 minutes long, which makes everything feel super fast ⚡. I think that’s why some viewers might not connect with it right away.

Personally, I found it interesting and unique, especially with Nam Yoon Je (Cha Hak Yeon) in the cast 👏. It may not be for everyone, but once you get the flow, it’s definitely a fun watch despite the short format 🎬✨.

⭐ My take: Quick, different, and worth trying if you enjoy short-form dramas!

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Had Potential, but Unfortunately Fell Flat

I don't mind the vertical format, but so much was left unexplained or went too quickly that it felt off-putting. The story lacks cohesion in my opinion, with strange and abrupt storytelling elements.

The cinematography also felt strange at times, that it felt a bit amateurish throughout the viewing experience.

The acting was pretty well done so I don't have any major complaints about that compared to other elements.

This had so much potential, so I can only hope that in the future when thriller BLs are made that there's more attention to cohesive storytelling.

I mainly watched this being intrigued by the thriller BL aspect, and N being one of the leads.

I wouldn't say it's a waste of time, I did enjoy various parts of this series despite me having an overral critical review of this show.

The show had its comedic moments, and some nice chemistry moments between the leads but I wouldn't go into this with high expectations.

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