Lovestruck in the City (2020)

SO SO different.

Lovestruck in the city breaks SO many stereotypes I think it well and truly creates a record of some kind. Right from the kind of non-linear storytelling, to breaking the fourth wall, to the candid nature of discussions held and topics spoken about, to the honest truth about relationships (not the same fluff we're used to seeing on screen), to the camping and surfing and unique interests and personalities of characters. This show is a breath of fresh air.

Not saying that the show is perfect. But the pitfalls are made up for by the relationship that Park Jaewon and Yoon Seonha have in two months and it's the most relatable, wholesome, adorable, natural, quirky, real thing I have seen in any KDrama. Wook and Won are seriously #kdramacouplegoals.

PS: Choi Minho in a guest role was the icing on the cake for this Shawol!

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Had potential but it failed.

Good things first :
Ji Chan Wook. This man can act. I think that's what kept me going with this drama.
The "documentary" format they tried to follow was interesting, it didn't affect the story thou. Could've been better.
The three couples storyline was fun because they were different and "realistic" .

Ok. Now the review. I never write reviews but honestly I just finished the drama and I have a lot to say.
I understand what they tried to do. Yes, it's not the typical series, the time jumps keep you with your eyes open, there's a good chemistry between the leads and JCW's extremely awesome histrionic abilities. But there's no more.
It had all the potential to become an amazing romcom but it failed. The leads' story started to go in circles and then suddenly they were just together. They built all this tension and angst for a two minute conversation at the end.
The Rin-in and Kyeong-jun couple was cute and it seemed like it would develop with an interesting plot but WHY they did them dirty at the end. Srsly???!!
And the other two characters were SO interesting but SO wasted.
Plus WTF was that final episode? I mean, I love Cho Minho but what about the other characters?
I don't know. There's a lot of things in this drama that were just meh.
If you wanna watch it, do it. It's not for everyone but it's entertaining.


Note:
- I hated the female lead so much, I'm sorry.
-I appreciate the 30 min. Episodes

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It’ll leave you a hot mess...

First of all, I’d say that JCW and KJW gave an amazing performance.
Yes, JCW chem with PMY and JKW chem with PSJ are unchallengeable but this, THIS, 😭
I’ve finished this like 2 months ago, but only recently decided to write a review because I really can’t forget the feels this drama gave me.
I’d really say MDL rate doesn’t give it justice, but ofc, it wouldn’t be an underrated drama otherwise.

The storyline gives you so many relatable plots and makes you wish you can actually do what the characters does in the drama. But this is coming from a city girl, so I don’t think it’s going to apply for everyone. BUT. JCW’s performance specially as a clingy I-can’t-forget-her guy really makes you have someone like him too. Personally JCW always gives you that hot-passionate boyfriend feels no matter if he’s a bodyguard, a producer or a *cough* healer *cough* but this time, THIS TIME, he reached a new level. 😭😭😭
And yes, at this point, I don’t have much to say about KJW only that her character is a total wreck and may or may not reflect the norm city girl problems (I’m saying her character is a wreck, not her)

Let’s just say this drama has been on my number 1 recom list for a while now, specially if anyone is looking for a passionate romance, yes this is the one,

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CHEMISTRY AND REALISM

Ji changwook delivers a performance that is both charming and emotionally nuanced his passionate architect struggling with the aftermath of a short-lived but intense romance is compelling and heartfelt.

Kim JiWon brings depth to her character. She effectively conveys the complexity of a woman who grapples with her identity and past while navigating a complicated relationship.

Their believable chemistry and the relatable storyline have resonated with many viewers, making it a notable entry in the romance genre of Kdrama.
Their acting in Lovestruck in the City is widely praised for its authencity and emotional depth.

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If you're an adult you might have met these people (or be one of them yourself)

I loved Lovestruck in the city! I love that the people in it, feel like people: they're flawed, stupid, insecure, lonely... It's so refreshing to see a kdrama where the couples look like couples who are in love and comfortable with each other: they hug, kiss, laugh, play, have sex... No dead-fish kisses here, if a couple wants to kiss, just like that and I find that more romantic than the typical slow-mo where I end up wondering if the FL is consenting.

The show explores love from different perspectives and how people react to different things, even though it uses the main couple as a way to lead the story. The characters are fleshed out and, even if you don't agree with their reactions, you end up understanding where they are coming from. All the couples have great chemistry and the friendships look great too.

In a way, it's everything I expected Run On to be based on the reviews I read before watching it (my fault for expecting something it wasn't). I know the fake documentary doesn't work for some people, but I love that it gives an excuse for the characters to talk out loud about themselves and to interact with each other unknowingly.

The acting, direction, photography, OST... is absolutely fantastic. I have no words about how beautifully this is filmed and how well everything works.

Also, the PPL is one of the funniest I've seen.

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Lovestruck in the City is a romance about the dating lives of young people including a passionate architect (Ji Chang Wook) who meets a freelance marketer (Kim Ji Won) posing as a free spirit in a new city.
Ji Chang Wook plays Park Jae Won. He is an architect who takes a long vacation to the beach to stay in a camper. There he meets a free-spirited woman who captures his heart…and then destroys it.
Kim Ji Won is Lee Eun Oh. She is a freelance marketer who experiences some difficulties in life and decides to reinvent herself in a new city as a free-spirited woman. She falls for Park Jae Won, but he falls in love with her fake identity which creates a big problem for her.
We then have our other couples which consist of Kyung Joon (Kim Min Suk) and Rin Yi (So Ju Yeon) as well as Gun (Ryu Kyung Soo) and Sun Young (Han Ji Eun).

Lovestruck in the City was a bit of mixed bag for me. It had some elements that I really loved and some that I didn’t care for it. Let’s jump into the positives first. I really loved the main love story between Jae Won and Eun Oh.
Ji Chang Wook is made for roles like this where he gets to be adorably awkward, and Kim Ji Won was great at showing two sides of her character as well as the pain she was experiencing.

Their story was told in flashbacks as well as in the present. I was completely drawn in to their whirlwind romance on the beach in the past. They had great chemistry and were very engaging. We don’t get to see much of them together in the present until a good way through the drama, but their individual journeys were nice to see. Things then get very interesting when they reunite. So all in all, I really enjoyed their romance and was completely engaged in that part of the drama.

I had one big problem with the main romance too. Eun Oh’s story was a fascinating one for sure, and I did like seeing her character growth from start to finish as she finally came out of her shell and found herself, but she really was terrible to Jae Won. It was understandable how she acted when they first got together at the beach and unexpectedly fell in love.
Her actions in the present were awful though. The hoops she jumps through to keep her secret are next level. And then when she is discovered, she won’t even explain anything to Jae Won. Not just once either, but for quite a while. The drama did do good at diving in to why she acted the way she did, but there just really isn’t an excuse for the complete shut out of information from her.

Overall, Lovestruck in the City was a quick and easy watch with 17 half hour episodes, though it could have definitely told its story in less time. I didn’t love the format, but I thoroughly enjoyed the main romance that provided swoony moments as well as some nice character exploration. It was a decent watch.

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lovestruck in the city is not for everyone

This drama is not for everyone you will either like it or dislike it, there is a bit of room in between but most people have strong opinions. The drama is one where you would require a lot patience to watch/continue watching.

I'm not going to lie when I watched the first two episodes I was not interested that I left it on hold for seven months and only decided to pick it back up to get it out of my on-hold list lol. But, the drama is not as bad as people make it out to be, it is just the plot was not that well written and the characters have many flaws. There were many inconsistencies within the plot that could have been addressed better but only made the main characters frustrating to watch. I understand the female leads insecurities but they should have portrayed them differently so that we could actually sympathize with her reasons for not contacting jaewon for a whole year. As for jaewon, it was good they actually addressed his alcoholism, but they made him way too pathetic even without the alcohol. I was not rooting for the twos' reunion to be honest, they lacked basic communication and I really wanted them to get closure then develop themselves separately. This drama could easily have been 12 episodes instead of 17, because there is so much filler, and maybe that would have forced the writing to be better. But if a second season did come out just about the side characters I would probably watch it.

Now yes I gave this drama a pretty high rating despite not liking the writing because I enjoyed the cast, acting, and the music. Maybe I'm way too biased towards ji chang wook but he really carried with his acting, as pathetic as jaewon was I was still rooting for him for some reason. Overall I enjoyed the drama and I will most likely rewatch it because I skipped a lot of the filler episodes and don't remember much other than how good chang wook looked lol.

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The ML is an adorable Teddy Bear.

When you put yourself in the ML shoes, all you can think of is that the guy is a saint and so damn mature. Even after all the things FL put him through, he still loved her and went out of his way to understand where she was coming from.

We get that FL was coming off a lot of hurt and the reasons she chose to escape her life, but at some point she should have told him the truth. She made selfish decision to protect herself from the hurt and allowed the poor guy to go crazy. He was so damn worried about her. While ML is 10/10, I do wish the FL would have put him first and at least told him the truth about her life. So what if they had went there separate ways, at least he wouldn't torture himself like that. Knowing the ML, they might have reconciled sooner.

Now, as a viewer, I completely enjoyed the style of the drama. I also had fun watching how frustrated the guy was and all the things he shared so freely. I honestly wish more people were this brave. I also liked how the FL gradually shared how she felt but she clearly was the more loved by the ML.

The supporting characters were also pretty good and fun to watch.

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So underrated, worths more!

This is the 2nd kdrama I've watched where Ji Chang Wook is the main character and I loved it as well. It was so full of intense feelings. He can reflect all the pain/happiness etc so good and the rest of the cast had the same energy (+their chemistry) which was ideal.

As for the plot, firstly this type of documentary/interview was so unique compared to other dramas. All this "everyone's possible to be connected" scenario is so realistic. You never know who you'll meet or if your paths will cross each others again. The uncompleted (summer) love is the second realistic case. Ppl suppress their feelings often, are feared to express or trust their heart and sometimes the timing is so wrong.

The ring situation reminds me of a very personal experience and it broke my heart. I knew exactly how she felt and why she had it saved.

As for the other two couples the first one is based on a slow burn/"waiting for you till the right moment" which is so innocent and cute (I'm so jealous over that) and the second couple broke up bc the fem character doesn't believe in a boy/girl friendship. Which is sad. There are genuine friendships out there between both genders and ppl still don't believe in them. The couple clearly didn't communicate it correctly to understand each other's side and perhaps try to solve this situation or any other possible prob rather than break up.

Overall, it was an enjoyable series. Perhaps it could've been a little more short but its still really good and more ppl should recognize its value. This isnt the rating it deserves!!!

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