Lovestruck in the City (2020)

An honest review of an underrated series

Hi everyone!
First and FOREMOST the plot summary does no justice to what a beautiful refreshing drama this is.
Lemme explain why,
1. Don’t judge the rating, As a person who enjoyed- it’s okay to not be okay , DOTS, crash landing on you, RIAB book, what’s wrong with Secretary Kim I ENJOYED THIS DRAMA.
2. This is one of the most REFRESHING Korean dramas I’ve seen in a while. I just feel like people aren’t used to this kind of new aspect. The interview format is lovely. Love the different kinds opinions to taboo topics.
3. I LOVE LOVE THE CINEMATOGRAPHY. No words. Just breathtaking.
4. Even though there is a flashback and present- it’s so beautifully and carefully executed so that it’s always refreshing. LOVED THE BEACH SCENES.
5. There is a bit of a mystery to it and the plot slowly develops but I LOVE THE MOMENTS. THE DRUNK GIRL MOMENT , THE COKE MOMENT AND SO MANYYY MOREEE
6. Another thing I loved is how we don’t have to wait for a kiss between the main leads forever.
7. The tribute to some of the best kinda music out there is fabulous! The rock bands.
8. This drama is an entirely different vibe, you might be scared to give it a try but do go ahead and watch the first 3 episodes. It might be your cup of tea.
9. Gotta love my confident side couples as well. That is a Why a 9/10. I’m waiting for more on them as well.
10. I just strongly believe this is not a 7.9/10 kinda drama. I got super sad looking at the rating. THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT. And the actors deserve so much credit for going ahead with producing something new. I REALLY LOVE THAT this is one helluva COMFORTING UNIQUE WATCH. (Atleast for me) It’s really got a very nice energy to it! Watch it!!
Hope you enjoyed the review,
Good day pals;) <33

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*** Lovestruck was unbelievable, electric, and TRAGIC. Don't hate the ML and FM for their flaws

I have watch 100s of kdramas, american shows. Lovestruck in City first to hit my heart the way it does.

You need to watch 15 straight episodes to see the progression. Every episode is entertaining because you get a perspective never seen before in kdrama concerning relationships. You will be mad, cry, intrigued the entire time. *****Don't judge you opinion about characters. They are flawed, relationships are messy.*******

I don't hate the FL (EUN OH/ KIM JI WON). She made me teary-eye the entire show because I know the feeling of hating yourself. She is selfish I agree, but her wanting to "FIND HERSELF, and to LOVE HERSELF", I completed understand. She abandoned him, but this relationship was destined to fail. She ghosted him and should have just dumped him properly. But ML himself was superficial in YangYang saying he wouldn't love her if she was not who she was without the tattoo and carefree style. She was scared and ML was superficial to start. Both made the relationship NOT WORK. *****Kim Ji Won is the most charismatic, expressive, and REAL female actress I have ever seen in this drama. The emotion she depicts in her eyes is .... incredible.

The absolute sadness that the ML (JAE WON/ JI CHANG WOOK) shows is real. You might not like it, but it is REAL. Dwelling over a girl he fell in love with, the anger for being abandoned. After every moment and flashes to the past, you root for him even though he is not perfect. ****Ji Chang Wook getting criticism for this drama is wrong. His electric chemistry with Kim Ji Won was breathtaking. Throughout show he was energetic because he is passionate and has anger problems, which I relate to. Many people I know have these spurts of emotions. Don't hate someone people they are displaying weakness in character. I appreciate the REALNESS OF IT.

But breakups are ALWAY messy. I have been ghosted in the past as well. Relationships ending in a flash. So I understand this. I have also ended relationships due to my own insecurities and still dwell about them.

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DON'T JUDGE BY THE RATING, THIS IS THE BEST ROMANTIC DRAMA

This is my honest review. At first, I am not really into in to this drama because I thought that this is just an ordinary romantic drama. But I tried to continue watching, and now I can say that "THIS IS THE BEST DRAMA". The story is amazing, kind of realistic relationship between two people. How do you find a love, loving each other, how to love our self, to understand the partner, and yea maybe there is a part a little bit frustrating of the story, but you have to watch, why there is a "frustrating scene". There is a reason for that, so don't stop in episode 2, you will get nothing. The line of this drama is so deep, really.

The concept of this drama is fresh, like an interview. The way they tell us about their story just funny for me, like they are talking with us. Some people can't accept this new concept, but this is good concept. I mean it. Beside the good story, the ost of this drama just beautiful. Every scene has their own music, so you seem carried away into that emotion.

Ji Chang Wook is the best actor for this role. You can see by yourself from ep 1, how the emotion change every scene every episode, so does with Kim Ji won. If you watch episode 8 you can see that they are the best actors. They are perfect couple for this drama. The chemistry, the emotion just amazing.

Overall, this drama is amazing. The story, the cast, the music, cinematography, color, the view are really good. So don't judge by rating. You have to watch it first.

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Frustrating....

There were times while I was watching this drama I was wondering why I was still watching it, that is how frustrating it made me feel.

I think the main problem was with the writing. I know Jae Won and Eun Oh were the main characters, but they went around in circles with their story, (I was really getting tired of hearing about those damn cameras) and a bit more of that time could have been spent on the other two couples stories, especially that of Rin Yi and Gyung Joon. I felt like I never fully understood the two of them, and while their story was the most realistic - there were things about Rin Yi's personality and past I wished they had discussed instead of throwing it out towards the end of the drama.

The second problem came with the characters. They drove me crazy. Jae Won spent most the drama as a complete mess (at least they addressed his alcoholism), and while I understood Eun Oh's insecurities she kept refusing to admit to her mistakes and hurt others in the process. Rin Yi was not developed enough. She could be seen as carefree, but there a few moments were I felt like she was using her lifestyle as a excuse to ignore things she didn't want to address in her life and they never really went past the surface with her. And Gyung Joon was so blindly in love her he didn't want rock the boat. Sun Young came off as cool in the beginning but her behavior towards the guys she dated was not okay at all. Gun is the only character I have nothing bad to say about, he was mostly just chill the whole time, and I think he got lost in everyone else's chaos.

The acting was one of the few positives, especially from Ji Chang Wook, who was in top form here (along with the OST). I enjoyed the "introduction" to Dong Shik, if they do make a second season I might tune in to find out more about them, but I won't be rewatching this mess again.

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Lovestruck in the City is simply not for everybody who only loves watching KDRAMA.

You have to be open-minded on how the writers wrote those (flawed) characters and scenarios because if you’re not, it’ll much harder for you to understand how the story built. And if you know Park Shin Woo as a director, he is not someone to please viewers.

It’s actually weird to see that half of the internet world(twitter), people hyping this up but on the other side(mydramalist & tumblr), dropping this. Ha!

If you review this drama based on the storyline and characters, please state your age and who resonates with you most. If you review this based on mockumentary type and how it delivers the story, please watch until episode 8.

Let me say this again, THIS DRAMA IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY, it’s for the people out there who know what love can do on and for them.

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It's been a while since a drama annoyed me this much. I'm not even sure why I watched every episode of "Lovestruck in the City", but I definitely could have skipped this one. This drama tries to be different by being more self-aware and mimicking a reality TV format. The main characters confess to the camera throughout the show, which got old for me fast, and then we see slices of their lives in reality, how they all connect, and how reality contradicts what they tell the audience. If I'm honest there is only one reason I kept watching... Ji Chang Wook. Sadly, the last drama I saw him in was equally awful "Melting Me Softly", but he is always so charming that I'm willing to watch a terrible drama just to watch him smile and be in love. If this drama had a less appealing actor in his role I would have dropped this after episode one.

So how was the rest of the cast? They were good, but it was hard to separate characters who were badly written from the actor. Kim Ji Won is a perfect example. There was nothing wrong with her performance but her character irritated me for the majority of the drama. She had pretty good chemistry with Chang Wook, but I honestly didn't understand what made him so obsessed with her. The chemistry wasn't enough to carry the weak storyline.

The other main characters did a good enough job of being distinctive but bad writing made their stories pretty dull. I won't spoil how the stories connect but I guess the point was to explore different kinds of relationships (the good and bad) between men and women... friendships, crushes, long-time commitments, encounters with exes, casual relationships, and summer flings are represented. For the entire drama the only character who didn't annoy me at all was Kang Gun, but I was honestly bored by all the other interactions. The women characters is particular are often irrational and make frustrating decisions. I think I was waiting to relate to the characters as I got to know them but that never happened. I was just constantly waiting for the "story" to start. Sadly once it started it turned into one repetitive episode after another.

If I could describe the plot in one word I'd say it felt pointless. If you like the idea of non-sequitur relationship snippets then maybe you will like this more than I did. To me, it felt like filler interrupting the main plot which didn't have enough substance to fill all 16+ episodes. Then there's a weird resolution at the end that feels thrown together, that's interrupted by another random story with random minor characters. I think I would have liked it better, maybe, if there was a different story each week because this just felt like I was watching an unscripted mess. That didn't make it feel more authentic to me either, in fact, it felt more fake, especially with the awkward product placement moments.

Would I watch this again? Hard Pass! Not even for Ji Chang Wook's smile.

Also, the random old school rock "theme" song with the unnecessary music video was equally irritating.

Overall, this drama felt like a concept without a plan. I guess I can piece together moments that I liked enough that it kept me watching, but there were far more frustrating moments that made me wonder why I didn't drop it after every single episode. More than anything I didn't care at all about who stayed together and who didn't, which is bad for a romance-themed drama. There are intimate confessions that seem out of place, especially since the characters seem to have no idea who is listening and responding. Do you enjoy watching people act irrationally in relationships, and drag out misunderstandings, or drive people they care about crazy with their unresolved issues... then enjoy. I can't imagine sitting through this for another season myself, although I can see there being a possible setup for one. Since there were many times I was literally rooting for the main couple to never deal with each other again, I can't recommend this drama. Yes, eventually there are reasons and amends but the frustration to get there made it very anticlimactic. I definitely wasn't lovestruck with this drama. It almost makes "forever alone" seem like the better option.

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Something refreshing and unique – a must watch!

“Lovestruck in the City” brings some fresh energy into the world of K-Dramas. The story follows the love life of six people, who participate in a show where they get asked several questions regarding their view of love and their love life. Their stories are visualised with throwbacks till the drama reaches the point where the actions actually take part in the presence.

The format of the drama may seem a bit odd at the beginning or may even scare off from continuing watching. It is in an interview format, which I personally normally don't like. But they managed to really make something good out of it, which is super fun to watch and not even a bit weird or annoying. I really did enjoy it and since it is something different from all the other dramas out there, it felt like something fresh. The characters actions are understandable most of the time. I feel like they all struggle with things a lot of people can relate to in one way or another. The drama did a really nice job in showing those feelings. I also really liked the friendship between Kang Gun, Rin Yi and Eun Oh. Who doesn't want a friendship like that?

I won't go into too much detail when it comes to the actors, because I think they all did a great job. Ji Chang Wook did a excellent job in portraying Park Jae Won and I personally really loved the role of Ryu Kyung Soo as Kang Gun. I haven't seen many characters like Kang Gun or Oh Sun Young in other dramas. In general, seeing the different characters of each was very interesting because they are all so different.

The soundtrack of the drama is excellent. I have been watching the drama while it was ongoing, and was desperately waiting for the soundtrack titles to be released. The choice of the songs in each scenes is really good and there was not one time I thought it was not matching the scene and feelings.

The last episode showed a bit more of the support role portrayed by Choi Min Ho. It was interesting, but I wished they had shown a bit more of the main characters in the last episode. There are some things that I feel are not yet figured out in their stories, so I was a bit confused. It may be they wanted to introduce the side character in order to make a second season – which I hope they will do.

“Lovestruck in the City” offers you something fresh, interesting characters, some laughter and a lot of joy if you are willed to give it a try and not let yourself be scared off of the format or the bad comments about it you might have read! Must watch for me and I will definitely re-watch!

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Just okay for me....!

I was really loved very first episode and was hooked the concept was different and very unique. It was a great start but I didn't enjoyed the journey that much. Though the concept was new from my opinion they failed in the execution and it gradually became draggy and meaningless for me.

It really had much potential with a really great cast but poor writing was one the reasons why it wasn't impressive for me. They literally ruined both ML and FL's character to the point where I wasn't interested them in ending together. Why did they make ML such a immature and pathetic and FL cruel and unreasonable. I mean there might be ways to portray it in different way but at the end we didn't even get satisfied reason FL's actions. I really felt bad for him but don't you have any self-respect man? and those two other couples didn't got that screen time which I was expecting to be all would be focus of the drama.

So yeah it was okay for me. Not must watch, but do watch it if you are big fan of leads.

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Really different production and direction make this one stand out a bit

Short: A small (17 x 30 min episodes) collection of interlinked stories about a group of people living in the city. The main standout difference with this is the production and direction, leaning more towards "fly on the wall" type approach but done in a clever way so it won't put off those that don't like that style I think. Good stories, interesting twist in the last episode, it's fun and light for the most part.

Detail:
The style is that this group of people who may or may not know each other at the start are followed around by a cameraman and asked for answers to various questions relating to life and love. It's essentially following people from different walks of life with different outlooks and comparing their answers to various questions, but done on the backdrop of an underlying story that really nicely ties it all together.

I thought the relationship between the two leads was really nice, both in the start and then as it goes through various complexities through the story. There was a clear chemistry between them. As with life, it's not all roses though for everyone. Good to have on the whole strong characters throughout, showing that you don't need a relationship to be strong and you don't need lofty goals or money to be strong.

Wish it was a bit longer perhaps but also worried that if it was longer then it would have felt slow - which this didnt, the 30 minute episodes combined with multiple stories developing made it feel like it was constantly moving.

It's complete, and has an ending, which seeing the shorter overall runtime and the fact it was on netflix made me a bit concerned about starting it in the first place (was tempted to wait until the end and see how many people started posting "cliffhanger cant awit for season 2" etc etc) but happy to report this is complete and while they could do a season 2 perfectly nicely it is absolutely not necessary based on the conclusion of this one.

The cast are all really good, lots of actors and actresses i've seen in many other dramas - some less than others so it was good to see them here with perhaps more important roles than previously such as Han Ji Eun who i've only seen in one or two dramas previously and find her to be really unusual and interesting to watch!

Definitely worth a watch, it won't take up much of your time but it will make it fun :)

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I LOVE this show so much and I NEED a second season.

This is my first review here so I'm not sure how to go about this... But I LOVED this show! A lot!


I finally got to see post-military service Ji Chang Wook shine in a show! As someone who fell into the kdrama rabbit hole and loved his shows when he was in the military, I was kind of disappointed with his last two outings but OhMyGod he brought his A-Game. I didn't watch Arthdal Chronicles so I loved seeing Kim Ji Won return on my screens with such a great role. I absolutely adore the whole cast and have enjoyed all of their previous performances so that added to my enjoyment.

For the uninitiated, the show follows a mockumentary style filming format, kind of reminiscent of The Office, but instead of a workplace, it is about the love lives of individuals in the city. To no one's surprise, our main cast is participating in this and their lives are all somehow connected. The 30-minute episode length with the new editing and filming format is a refreshing detour from conventional romantic dramas but still brings on all the feels!

I loved all the couples, even the extra fourth one in the bonus 17th episode. Ji Chang Wook and Kim Ji Won look great together and their chemistry is off the charts! On another level! Kim Min Seok and So Ju Yeon are so cute individually and even more so together! Han Ji Eun and Ryu Kyung Soo's characters have an unconventional relation but they make it work so well!
Janet Suh's opening theme song and all the other OSTs were perfect for this show.

I just finished the show, I loved it, and I know that I'll miss the whole dynamic and I'll definitely come back to it.
I need a second season, if you finish it, trust me, you will too!

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