Lovestruck in the City (2020)

A drama that deserved more hype

I watch multiple kdramas at one time, but Lovestruck wasn't in my radar at all last year. I was busy watching super-hyped dramas like Mr Queen, Start-up, True Beauty, Run On, Uncanny Counter and then Vincenzo all at the same time while Lovestruck was running. I feel it's a drama that has suffered from poor timing and sheer bad luck as the other dramas were so over-the-top brilliant and successful!

This is a fantastic love story and deserved so much more hype, good ratings and reviews! It's probably in my top 10 romance dramas of all time (not just kdramas).

In summary, it's a feel-good drama with a modern urban setting and fantastic visuals. It's well-suited to the Netflix generation of slow, modern romcoms that explore realistic relationships. It seems to be better suited to a western audience than an audience expecting the structure and tropes of kdramas though. JCW is fantastic as always, but I absolutely detested FL's selfish behaviour. Despite that, the beach scenes, the cinematography, the romance, the openness of conversations, the music, etc make it a worthwhile watch. I might just take up surfing thanks to the series. It certainly deserves a higher score than it has on MDL!

PS: Check out the song "Kiss me" by Isaac Hong. So good!

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Heartbreak in the City

Likes
1. The Yangyang scenes were the best. It really made us feel Jaewon and Eunoh's summer romance. Plus the cameos of Lee Sang Woo and Lee Sang Yoon.
2. Ji Chang Wook as Jaewon is whiny and mopey but so cute. How can Eunoh break up with a great guy like Jaewon??
3. Every episode is only 30 mins so it's an easy watch, otherwise i would have dropped this earlier.
4. Great OST! I wish they release the OST with a photobook/poster.

Dislikes
1. Hard to really like a drama when you dont like more than half of the cast. I only liked Jaewon and Gyeongjun. I didnt like the 3 friends, and definitely disliked Sunyoung.
2. Eunoh was horrible. And this drama dragged the whole story about why Eunoh wont tell Jaewon what happened to her. It was so frustrating. I think the better ending was for Jaewon to accept the breakup and find another girl and Eunoh will regret everything she did.
3. The second couple wasnt any better. Rini was a pain and i cant believe she broke up with Gyeongjun and not the other way around. I think Gyeongjun was patient and supported her while she was too selfish.
4. Didnt really care about Geon and Sunyoung. They could not be in the story and it still wouldn't matter.
5. They said there's a possibility of season 2 with Minho's story but i think unless they come up with a better story and better cast, i wouldnt bother watching.

Rating: 7

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This drama is related, show us the complexity of feeling/mind from different POV

Lemme tell you first that I just happened to watch this drama because of Kim Jiwon is forever my bias, but after watched all 16 episodes, this is my honest review.

For the very first eps (about 1-5 eps), I had to agree that the story was kinda slow, and a bit hard to understand to the point some peeps dropped it or called it boring. But then, I remembered that this drama was just about 30 minutes for each eps which was only worth 2 eps of normal kdrama for its 5 first eps. And imo, it's too early to judge whether it's good or not. So, I decided to keep watching.

Surprisingly since ep 8, I'm hooked. I started to love the concept of IV format of each episode that told us different topic from any perspective (POV). It made me realise the complexity of human's feeling/mind.
It brings a vibe such as 'you'll never know how it feels, because you don't stand on his/her shoes'.

In summary, imo this drama is simple & fresh to be watched, yet it's related & show us different perspective about life, love & relationship.
And since it's already finished, better give a try to watch ya!

Kudos to nice storyline, great chemistry, great acting, great OST, great production, and all factor's involved!!

Definitely will rewatch!!

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Had potential

I gave it a 7 bc it was original, funny and focused on many ppl but didn't live up to its potential.
What I liked:
1.amazing photography
2.originality (interviews and flashbacks)
3.FUNNY
4.JCW ofc. He proved how talented he is w all the emotional scenes and not just in action dramas
5.The other couples and friendships were very cute and funny
6.it was fast paced and pretty entertaining
What I didn't like:
1.The FL. I hated her and her reasons for what she did made it even worse. She is extremely selfish and is Drowning in self pity, hurting those closest to her and leaving the guy she married without Context behind bc 'she is too ordinary and her ex cheated'???! This just gives me 'I was abused/oppressed, so I can do it to others' vibes
2.some episodes were just there as a filler so I think 12 eps would have been enough
3.Rini. In the beginning she looked sweet and all and in the end she broke up w her bf just bc he was worried about her? And yes it's her life and she can choose to do whatever she wants but she kept secrets from her bf and then expects him to know what happend without telling him... Idk
4.the friends. When eun o told them the truth they were mad she didn't tell them not that she did smth no one should do. They knew how Jae won nearly became an alcoholic and they were still like I'm so mad why didn't u tell me.
5. Jae won became just pathetic w no self-respect or dignity? I expected more from him and I don't think Eun O deserves him. AT ALL

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This show is great and horrible at the same time. Must watch but must also understand why it is bad.

It's gonna be a long one so please - read everything to understand my point of view.

First of all, this is the second drama where my favourite actor Ji Chang Wook plays a very nice dude - a man who is honest, friendly, fair towards everyone (Suspicious Partner being the first such a show) but as a "reward", he's betrayed by a woman he loves and by his closest friends. You read it right - it looks like a fluffy, pure, supporting, slice of life friendship but LITERALLY all of them are assholes and all have betrayed him a couple of times. First time - they betrayed him by being 100% passive, not believing him, pretending that they were doing something when they did nothing while they saw his suffering for a whole year - this is the first time - such people are not real friends. They should have listened to him, talked to him, helped him getting over his los or help him figuring out what really happened. The second time when they betrayed him is not as obvious but it is even worse - basically - after the big "reveal" from our FL culprit (somewhere around 14-15 episode), they should kick her ass and punish her for her behavior - not forgive her, not stupidly comfort her nor support her like we see here. Especially, since throughout the whole show, they seemed to criticize the "camera thief" when they did not know her identity yet. After getting to know - boom - magically she's ok, they support her because she "had her reasons"... It is a total bullshit. By doing what they did - being passive towards the only good guy here who does not betray anyone (all the rest had their stupid moments and they screwed up with their own relationships while the ML was totally pure throug the whole show), then comforting and accepting the stupid but more important - CRUEL! - behavior of the FL culprit - they betray both the ML and they show that they do not have any dignity nor any self-awareness about themselves. A truth is that a friend sometimes needs to punish another, scold another, not forgive another to teach a proper lesson. That is what true friends are also for. Friendship is worth anything if you can lose it due to your stupidity. If everything may be always forgiven, if friends will not scold you for being an asshole - those are not friends and this is not friendship. FL used her friends and used their mutual friend whose hart she had broken. She should have been punished by the real friends - real friends of her - not even him. The real friends should not forgive her, should take the ML's side and punish her heavily for what she's done. Here it's even worse because the friends are actually mutual - connected through another relationship. I've been in a similar situation where one of partners in my friends' couple behaved like shit and I fucking scolded him like hell, broke contact with him even though I did not personally know the girl he was with - it was my girl's friend - I still could understand who was wrong here and I did not want to support such an asshole even if he was my friend back then. But let's concentrate on the main heroes of the drama story.

The ML loved the FL but not only that. He was for her in her worst hour, he helped her, he saved her from depression and from breaking apart. She left him WITHOUT ANY REASON - just a stupid, ungrateful - you know who. She had a couple of chances to make things right, to repent for that and to solve things - but no. She was a coward - that's true. That may be something hard to overcome. Ok, I get that. But this man literally saved her in all the possible senses, she behaved as wrong as possible and she was mentally stable enough to open up a company, to live her life for such a long time, to use her friends after understanding their relationship with the man she betrayed. She changed to a better, stronger person because of the ML and there was literally no reason for her to not try and make things right. The worst part is however, that she was totally cruel. Not only wrong but cruel towards the ML. It was cruel, very cruel. He gave her everything, she gave him suffering in the worst way possible, then escaped any responsibility and still happily used their mutual friends to be her own support. How do you call that? Is there even a proper word?

Then our masochistic ML. There's literally not reason for him to forgive her. There's no reason why he suddenly starts working to rebuild it (again - he does it on his own, it's all his work in the end!). She did nothing. She did nothing to rebuild it. She was just forgiven and rewarded with a love she did not deserve but THAT IS THE WORST STUFF IN THIS WHOLE SHOW - SHE DID NOTHING TO REGAIN IT! IT WAS ALL DONE BY A ML WHO HAD NO REASONS TO DO IT!

Such a decision just kills a great potential of the scenario. The premise seems great. The general idea, the relationships, the characters themselves - totally ideal for a great drama. It might have had a lot of things - real friendship, happy ending, real love, a lesson of how to screw up things and then repent for them, work hard to finally make them right. It didn't happen. Nothing of this great potential has been actually brought into life. It was destroyed - by a stupid plot, stupid characters' decisions, no guts, no positive message.

In the end, it wraps up the negative behaviors in a package of a beautiful, true friendship and forgiveness. This is bullshit.

At the same time, the premise is so great and the technical part of this show is great. The idea stays too good to waste by not watching it but you should have all the terrible things listed by me in mind.

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Unique drama

I highly recommend this drama. It's got a unique format but it's done really cleverly. The stories are not exceptional but interesting enough. The acting and directing are top-notch though. And the OSTs are to-die-for too. This drama is not loud but if you've been in love, then the topics they pursue each episode is relatable. It sure brought back a lot of memories for me, mostly bittersweet. The story of the lead couple is not all that unique but it's interesting to watch. Not to mention the chemistry is hot and out of this world.

I rated it 10 out of 10 because this drama deserves an above 8 rating. Haters are just trying to bring the score down. It's 8.5 on Douban which is very high. If you know Douban, the reviewers are a critical bunch on quality. When they rate a drama high, it is good.

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Unexpectedly became one of my favorites

This drama was absolutely magical. I loved how ridiculous yet normal and realistic it was, and I’m so incredibly happy for Ji Chang Wook, who had 2 pretty disappointing dramas before this one. The beginning was quite slow for my liking, but by the middle of the drama, I was absolutely hooked and waited impatiently for each new episode to come out. The acting of all the characters was absolutely phenomenal, and I honestly can’t think of any bad thing to say about this drama. The flow of the plot was wonderful, and each story progressed beautifully - not too rushed but also not too slow. The only reason I can’t give this drama a 10 is because I’m very greedy with my 10-star ratings, and I can’t pick out anything exceptionally phenomenal about this drama to deserve the full 10 stars. This has definitely been an absolutely wonderful experience nonetheless, and I would absolutely recommend watching this to anyone. Lovestruck in the city had one of the sweetest, most satisfying endings of all time!

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An intriguing and refreshing drama

Ever since getting hooked in Korean Drama, I enjoy bingeing rather than having to wait for each episode to be released. But this drama made it so intriguing with the documentary style and 30-minute per episode, I don't mind anticipating two episodes each week.

In the beginning, I thought the interview/documentary part of the plot was a bit of a drag but it was paced well in the succeeding episodes. How the characters' feedback on the topic or theme presented in the episode is like me discussing with my friends on their personal take or opinion about it.

I am big fan of Jichang Wook and have never been disappointed in any of his drama nor movie. This surely is different and once again brings out the best in him as a lead character. He makes my heart flutter in every romantic scene he does.

The vibe of city life -- commuting, part-time / full time job pressure or demands, and hang out or friends past-time is refreshing from the typical rich and famous lifestyle or joseon living.

Lastly, this drama gives audience an opportunity to look at their personal perspective on the foundation of love or any relationship.

I like the build-up from episode 8 till the 13th so far. After watching all episodes, it leaves something to be desired. I wish the running-time was more than 30 minutes or more episodes.

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Take my advice and watch it.

It makes me so upset how people haven't talked about this. Ji-Chang Wook has really bought back my heart after his last drama which wasn't good as I had hoped. I love this so much and look forward to the new episodes. It's realistic and elegant while keeping a fun atmosphere. I really hope people will take the chance to watch it, it has by heart pumping every episode. People should be talking about it and the episodes are just long enough to keep you wanting and craving for more. I really hope that once I'm done with this drama I can forget it as fast as possible so I can watch it all over again!

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Enjoyable, Emotional, Character-Driven Drama with a Few Flaws

If you enjoy romance-centered KDramas where the focus is on the characters and their experiences dealing with their feelings, then this is the drama for you. When the show was airing, I stayed up until 3 am to watch the release in my region. Since then, I've watched this drama 3+ times all the way through and loved it each time. At the same time, I think there are some flaws, which may turn into complete dealbreakers for some people. It's a weird thing for me to review, since I am not giving this show a 10, but I love it to death.

Format-wise, it was produced as a short-form show for KakaoTV. With each episode having about a 30-minute runtime, and the entire series having a 17 episode length, Lovestruck is basically 50% of a typical KDrama, which is a good thing if you're busy or your KDrama backlog is too big. The main highlight of this show is the extremely touching conversations/heart-to-hearts that happen during a select few episodes. The producers tried to make this a really humanistic show, and I think the raw emotions of the characters really shines through. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but overall, I really empathsized with the characters when they were desperately in love, extremely frustrated, sad, or basically any of the capstone moments that define friendships and romantic relationships. For me, there are just so many snapshot moments in this show that I can easily go on youtube, watch a short clip, and immediately feel a strong sense of nostalgia for this show.

However, there are some flaws which bog down the show's quality a little bit. Firstly, the pacing is a little off: the first episode kicks things into high gear by establishing all the characters and the main narrative settings for the two main characters. The next two episodes flesh out the main story and also start revealing the backstory of the two side couples. However, following this, the show starts to get a little draggy until episode 8, when the main story speeds up again. Additionally, they were too ambitious by trying to cram into 3 love stories into a show that is half-as-long as your regular KDrama -- there is simply not enough time for all the stories to be properly established and resolved, and I would argue the side characters don't have a completely satisfying conclusion. One of the side couples actually has some "new reveals" at the end of Episode 16 which is never resolved -- without a Season 2, I'm afraid we'll never find out what happened. Finally, the mocumentary format is a little lacking: it starts off as intriguing, possibly inspired by famous mockumentaries like The Office, but very quickly devolves into nonsense -- in some later scenes, there are some "interviews" which are completely impossible for the "camera crew" to have captured unless they were omnipotent and/or being extreme creepers.

One extremely controversial point to discuss is that many watchers found the characters, especially the main lead female Lee Eun Oh, to be extremely unlikeable and/or unrealistic. My personal opinion is that Lee Eun Oh's character does suffer from SOME poor writing, but that overall, she was created to mimic a real-life human being. In real life, sometimes we do do things that make us unforgiveable jerks. Sometimes, we do obsess over loving people that we need to let go. Sometimes, we do say one thing, but our hearts make us do the exact opposite. At the end of the day, though I don't think the characters were written perfectly, I do think they were written to be people that you could meet in real life -- if you reflect upon your own acquaintances, friends, and family, I bet you might know guys who were obsessed over girls that they needed to drop like a bad habit or girls who weren't sure what they wanted so they kept teetering between self-confidence and love. In this way, I think it is very fitting for the humanistic theme of the show.

Overall, I think this series is underrated and you should give it a shot. I think you will know fairly quickly whether it is your cup of tea: it might be something you love like I do and if not, it's easy to drop it mid-watch.

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Interesting, Underestimated and Mistreat

This gonna be a short review because I think this show is underrated. Romance lover should give it a shot.


First of all, It was a pressure to Watch " Lovestruck in the City" ( 도시에서 남녀 사이의 사랑 wich mean How to love between men and women in the city ). This Show-tell a Story of how Park Jae won met Yoon Sun Ah and instantly fall in love with her playful, positive and beautiful look. He basically loves everything about her. What he didn't know that's she hide her real identity.

The show does a kind of interview with the protagonist. I've never seen anything like it. Yes, it follows us across the show. You don't have to like it. It is just a stylistic device from the director to tell the story. At first, it was used to explain the past and to bring the individual characters closer to us, later it is there to show the feelings, opinions and thoughts of the people. Like a diary.

The story starts quickly and is easy to understand with a long middle section full of highs and lows. The script just feels real, it could happen in real life. It's not cheesy or too applied and yet very romantic. There is not much more to say without spoilers.

Cast and acting were presented perfectly. Kim Ji won is a really charming , you just have to fall in love with her. After "Fighting for my way "and "Descendants of the Sun" amazing performance from her.
I want to believe every word from Ji Chang Wook when he looks at her. He plays the broken one so realistically that you can taste his pain. Overall really good performers a solid 10.

Music was my personal highlight of the show. The OST are very good especially "Kiss me Kiss me". There are a few moments where there is just silence, I also really liked that, sometimes less is more.

Overall, it's one of my favorite show lately. It was great fun when they made love and it was heartbreaking when they broke up / quarreled. While watching Lovestruck in the city I want to find my own Eun Oh with all of her mistakes, to fall in love so much that you can't think of anything else, to put up with the pain because it is worth it and to fall for her completely.

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