And unlike what the initial episodes led me to believe, it was fun. It bothered me that they immediately cut off and resolved Enrique's issues with his so called first love from the get go,among other questionable things. Can't exactly compare it to the webtoon since I haven't read it but it felt rushed in some parts despite the enjoyable cast. I really wished Watanabe-san had more screentime though.
The romance is lighthearted for the lack of better word. The way Go Dok Mi (Park Shin hye) made faces that broadcasted her thoughts to Enrique Geum is hilarious. All in all, I love Yoon Shi Yoon's portrayal of the childish but lovable Enrique Geum who offends people on a daily basis and Park Shin hye for making me focus on the social recluse Dok Mi instead of her real life image.The supporting cast, from the overworked and sleep deprived editor to the apartment's security guard, also helped a lot in the decision to not drop this.
The music is fun, I especially love Romantic Punch's Ready Merry Go! since it suited the drama's overall atmosphere. Special mention to Lee Jung's Wish It Was You.
Rewatched value? For Enrique Geum, maybe a five. I just love this forever smiling self proclaimed genius.
Overall, Flower Boy Next Door is exactly what it says on the tin. Though unlike its predecessors, I prefer this particular Flower Boy drama the most.
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First, I'm from Spain, so I was interested in the story of a main lead who comes from my country, talks about the Clásico (the match between the Barcelona and the Real Madrid), about a our food, our music... Second, I saw Yoon Shi Yoon in Hit the top, and I liked him very much...I don't know why , but the way he acts remembers me Yong Goo when he just started.
So... Positive things:
1. It's funny, I've liked Enrique a lot, with the exception of him talking in some weirdo Spanish (really, why couldn't they put somebody really speaking in Spanish?). He is supposed to have been living in Spain for more than 15 years, it's impossible he speaks soooo bad). But for the rest of the time, even if I'm aware he is kind of exaggerated, I loved his role.
2. The seconds leads are ok. I liked too the fact that although there's one lead who greeds for the girl, he's nice and there's no usual love triangle as in others k-dramas.
Negative things:
I'm sorry to say this, but I'm not a big fan of Park Shin Hye. Don't know why, but I have the feeling she has always done the same rol, as a crying baby who needs to be rescued. After some time it's kind of tiring. I don't say she is a bad actress, because I'm not, and she has a nice voice...but the three times I saw her (in You're beautiful, The heirs and this one) it was at I was watching the same drama, although with a different hairstyle.
I can't understand how a guy as cheerful as Enrique, so full of life, wouldn't get bored of her in 5 minutes.
There are more flaws in the story, and I can't say it's an amazing show, but it's ok to pass away the time.
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Downfalls of this drama was the fact that there was too many emotions at some points. I found that tears were shown on screen when they weren't needed, and I am a person who loves to see tears. Also a couple of the characters were just not to my liking, such as Do Hwi. I found her to be confusing at times and annoying. The biggest downfall I think is the fact that this show didn't have a big climax. Normally something happens between characters that lead them to stay apart and suffer, then come back together at the right moment and embrace the love. With Flower Boy Next Door it seemed like such a situation could have played out at many moments, but it never did. They fixed it within 5 minutes and they were in each others' arms again.
Things I loved was the comedy of this show. I found myself laughing out loud a lot and it contained a lot of joy. Once again the characters were very good. Normally I have a grudge against the 3rd man in a love triangle, but I enjoyed his character a lot and how his love for her was expressed.
Overall I think Flower Boy Next Door is such a great show, it left me laughing, crying and full of feelings by the end of the show. I couldn't stop watching it!
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If you are friends with me on MDL and regularly check your feed, you'll know how my feelings have changed as I watched through the drama. After watching the first two episodes, I was addicted. It had such an amazing start, and it felt very refreshing and lighthearted. My revision for exams was even at risk because I wanted to continue watching. And not long after that, I had soon found my main ship (with my editor-roommate couple in close second). When I reached the half way point, I still wanted more, but the episodes started to lack luster - it wasn't as inviting as it began. Even later, I got bored during most of the episodes. Sure, it had it's emotional moments, but it started repeating itself and the cliche started rolling in. Unfortunately, Flower Boy Next Door is one of those dramas which has a brilliant start but a disappointing ending (I loved who she ended up with though).
Okay, so the acting was generally pretty okay. Yoon Shi Yoon was definitely the best actor there, he was so brilliant to watch. He was able to pull off every single scene, he did not disappoint. I am planning on watching Mirror of the Witch because of him. Kim Ji Hoon was also quite decent, but his emotions while acting wasn't very varied and he didn't show his best potential. And with Park Shin Hye, I can slightly understand why some people don't like her acting. She didn't show much expression, but I'm hoping that was because she was playing the role of an extreme introvert. I don't dislike Shin Hye though, because I loved her acting in Pinocchio.
Usually I have a favourite track from each drama, but I don't with Flower Boy Next Door. Don't get me wrong, a lot of the tracks are quite good, but none of them had any real impact on me.
I doubt I would watch this again because I would rather just watch all the scenes with Enrique and the editor-roommate couple. However, it is a good drama to rewatch if I want something cute.
Overall, the story gradually got worse as more episodes rolled out, the acting could have improved but wasn't the worst I've seen and the music needs more impact. But I would recommend to anyone who wants a cute romcom to watch in their own time.
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Quirky and layered
This seemingly simple drama has some subtle layers that kept me interested.Topics that are touched on - lightly because this is a comedy romance drama in that order;
how someone can create a lie and use their position and influence to cause harm,
betrayal by a friend can have serious long term effects,
not facing your fears can be debilitating,
fans can cause damage in social media.
Even though our FL has chosen to live in seclusion her thoughts are beautifully written and conveyed as inner dialogue.
The ML is almost the polar opposite to her and like a burst of summer sunshine he invades her life and heart.
There are some wonderfully lol moments and cuteness abounds.
Supporting cast are terrific too and the character development of both leads is believable. He used his smile and optimism to mask hurt and learns to be more realistic and she learns to stop hiding and confront or challenge what hurts her.
I liked Enrique's character so much I am checking out his other dramas.
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This review may contain spoilers
I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum in my review.A detour before the actual review cause this has been stuck in my head for a while: As a whole, FLOWER BOY NEXT DOOR is phenomenal. It truly is of its time, I don't think it could have been made at any other point, from the aesthetics to the casting and tone. The early 10s (really any time before 2015) was a weird time for Korean dramas, at least stylistically. From the early to late aughts (07/08) melodramas were all the rage, so many dramas during this time were melodramas or melodrama-lite. This is not to say that there weren't any silly or cutesy dramas, they just tended to be less popular or not as critically successful; they tended to be backed less and associated with pre-teen/teenaged girls, who, as an audience, weren't taken that seriously. The dramas that did get made tended to bet on I'm-in-a-boy-band actors, who may be chosen for their looks or potential monetary popularity over their ability to act or suitability and chemistry in their role (this isn't just for dramas directed for teens during this time, but I don't want to do more research and work so let's move on), and who, most likely, didn't hold any prestige (this doesn't mean that they can't be successes, but the companies didn't necessarily care about the quality of the content so larger budgets tended to be allocated elsewhere). (Think of dramas like YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL or GOONG, things primarily targeted at a younger audience that have an extremely different aesthetic from something like A LOVE TO KILL or QUE SERA SERA.) This was the model until a little drama called BOYS OVER FLOWERS came out. I cannot stress enough how much of a surprise knockout hit BOF was, and then everything attempted to be BOF 2.0. It, for better or worse (I personally think worse), changed the way, for a period of time, dramas were made, from the tone to the overall aesthetic and editing of dramas, it even changed what were popular forms of acting styles. Corny dramas have always existed but BOYS OVER FLOWERS is in a category all of its own. Its influence can be seen in an earlier Flower Boy installment, FLOWER BOY RAMEN SHOP (can we all think about how insane this drama was for a moment). By the time FLOWER BOY NEXT DOOR came out (2013) the style popularized by BOF was starting to die down, though you still remnants in various facets of FBND, especially through the occasionally weird tone shift of straight melodrama that was slowly coming back (though in a different form) and the extremely goofy comedy popularized by BOF. So what I'm saying is that this drama is BOYS OVER FLOWERS impact.
Story: As I explained before, due to the tone shifts in FLOWER BOY NEXT DOOR from extreme comedy to intense drama, at times to the detriment to the show as a whole, lead to some of the less good parts of FBND. While I agree that some of the plotlines are 100% unnecessary, a number of the plotlines, even the ones I particularly hate involving the worst character on the show, add to the story the show is telling. This is the story of an extremely damaged woman, Go Dok Mi, who pushes the world away as a means of protecting herself and her learning how to heal and exist in a world that will inevitably hurt you through the help of her manic pixie dream boy neighbor and immediate best friend, Enrique. The drama adds to the tension and creates a contrast to the ridiculous comedy, going from the almost naive beliefs of not just Enrique but also Go Dok Mi herself, and even some of the other side characters, to the stark reality of their lives. This story is one of my favorites of all the dramas made during this post-BOF craze, and I personally think that it did the bubbly, eccentric aesthetic that was popular post-BOF the best.
Acting/Casting: FBND’s casting is phenomenal, it must be said. There is not an off choice in the main cast, even the side characters are well cast. I’ll go through the important cast members and work up to the main leads: First up, Park Soo Jin as Cha Do Hwi, the female lead’s ex-best friend and bully. Park Soo Jin was perfect for this role; not only did she portray this character as a genuinely not nice person but also as a complex person who has many, many flaws. You never necessarily feel like she’s a decent person but you do feel pity for her and how she became who she is in the show, trading her best friend for hollow happiness that did not last, desperately clinging onto the popularity she had in high school, It’s a shame that Park Soo Jin retired after 2013, I truly think she is an amazing actress and would have been the perfect villain-heroine lead. Go Kyung Po as Oh Dong Hoon is phenomenal in comedy and subtlety, which would eventually lead to him getting a slew of leading roles from 2015-2017. While he is great, let’s talk about the second half of his comedic duo on this show. Kim Seul Gi as the deputy manager. Can we talk? In one word: iconic. In many words: one of the best comedic performances of 2013. She steals the show; it is absolutely disgusting that she has not been offered the leading role in a rom-com yet. Kim Ji Hoon portrays Oh Jin Rak, the worst character on the show (like as a character, intentionally, not acting-wise). Even when I first watched FBND back when it originally aired his character did not appeal to me, the way his character acts and thinks, especially in comparison to the male lead, is repulsive. In part, this is intentional within the story, comparing him to Enrique, Oh Jin Rak is obsessive and possessive of Gok Dok Mi, not seeing her as a complex person but rather as a blank canvas to paint all of his fantasies onto. Let’s move on to the main leads - first up, Yoon Shi Yoon as Enrique Geum, the charismatic, silly game developer. This is a career highlight for Yoon Shi Yoon, he is so amazing in this drama, it shows how talented an actor he is. Listen, most actors would have not been able to pull off this level of comedy and still make it seem like you want them to be your boyfriend, but Yoon Shi Yoon was able to pull it off. Finally, Park Shin Hye as Go Dok Mi. There was no way this role would have been a bad career choice for her, it is meaty and makes her seem relatable. The year this came out, 2013, was also a career highpoint for her, as this is the year she also starred as a lead in HEIRS. I personally think it is a travesty that her work in this is overlooked for HEIRS, she plays a traumatized, anxious, bitter woman with such skill and it makes sense why she continually gets lead roles in dramas when you see her in this.
Music: This drama is an example of how music and sound design/editing can enhance the quality and experience of a drama. I wish I had a rant for this section, but when it’s good, it’s good.
Rewatch Value: Yes! 100% percent. Every time I rewatch it, I come away with something new; it is always engaging for me. (Keep in mind I'm biased, but this drama is genuinely fun so give it a try.)
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In Short: Super cute and insightful. Dragged a little towards the end, but it was all worth it for these two sweeties. I will never forget that panda hat. The rest of the neighbours were great as well.
Pros: Enrique is like the male Gu Mi Ho. Honest, adorable and always means well. The premise is great, and I do like the heroine.
Cons: The plot dragged a little towards the end, with no real conflict. Could have been 12 great episodes.
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I have a warning for those of you who are considering watching this: I was completely 100% fully, disgustingly addicted to this drama, and I just could not stop watching it. I started episode 1 at 8PM, and the next thing I knew, I looked at my clock and it was 3AM. I was horrified and going borderline insane, but most of all, I was elated and FREAKING out because the confessions were starting and I declared Dok Mi and Enrique as my shiny new OTP.
I loved every character and I became emotionally invested in the panda Webtoon boss, as well as Watanabe because he was fine. #TeamWata! Also I quietly shipped Watanabe and Enrique alone in the corner.
I may rewatch this drama again in the distant future: it was funny and endearing and it had YSY (who was amazingly casted btw), and also the soundtrack was top notch.
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The characters are interesting and the storyline is engaging.
You have Enrique/Que-Geum who seems to be ridiculous, hyper and childish on the surface, but is also kind, gentle and thoughtful. He's also a computer-game genius.
There's Go Dokmi, the 'urban rapunzel', whom I took a little while to warm to. I didn't quite understand the character, but you learn more about her as the drama progresses, and I suppose that's the whole idea.
Jinrak is handsome, brooding and serious. Donghoon is a bit of light, comedy relief with a heart of gold.
The 'chief' - I still don't think her character even had a name - with her dark circles and her love of screeching in English at Jinrak and Donghoon will have you laughing a lot.
There are little subplots that flow naturally alongside the main story, and you find yourself rooting for more than one possible couple.
All in all, this drama was well written, an original idea, and a light-hearted romantic comedy. I reccommend it to anyone who enjoys sweet romances, and a sort of 'will they won't they' vibe, as the drama leaves you guessing as to who Dokmi might choose until fairly near the end.
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