Love Next Door (2024)

Too Many Messages That Want to be Conveyed.

From what I know, when we create a story, we should include messages that readers can take away after reading it. But we shouldn't tell readers what they should take from our story.

This drama explicitly teaches viewers what message they should take away after watching it.

That's what makes this drama quite awkward to watch as the final episodes approach. They want to convey so many messages and lessons that the flow of the story becomes rushed in their attempt to deliver these messages.

Honestly, the acting and chemistry of the cast were quite good in episodes 1 to 8. But as the end approached, the performances of the main characters JSM and JHI felt very awkward and forced. It even seemed like it wasn’t well written. They appeared to be acting, presenting disjointed scenes that seemed created just to convey specific messages.

Among all the characters, the second couple had stronger character development. Their arcs flowed well, and their story is what kept me engaged in finishing this drama. Honestly, the character with the weakest writing in this drama is Seok Ryu. His character seems not fully developed, making me, as someone who has watched JSM since "Playful Kiss," feel that his acting here is quite poor. It lacks naturalness, is overly exaggerated, and looks like acting. He has always succeeded in portraying characters well in previous dramas. JHI’s acting also felt very awkward; I've seen her perform several times, but here, her performance is the weakest compared to her previous dramas.

And the most disappointing thing is that, despite having four main characters in this drama, the first couple and second couple do not have a strong enough bond to portray a 'friendship' among the four of them. This is very different from watching dramas like "Fight My Way" or "Because This Is My First Life."

For this drama, I genuinely regret the writers and director for creating something like this. Both are quite well-known for producing quality dramas, so my expectations were high. Additionally, the genre doesn't fit the drama. I couldn’t find the romantic comedy elements in this show. Romance might be seen at the end of the episodes, but where's the comedy? This drama should have been labeled as a slice of life.

This drama actually has the potential to be good. The side character stories are well-crafted and not boring to watch. The issue lies in the main characters' stories, which are the most tedious, even though they are the core of the drama. That's what makes this drama less engaging.

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Bland and often boring

I watched this drama because of the leads, but the writing here really didn't give them much to work with. This is the kind of drama that drags a lot, especially towards the end. There isn't much of a plot (which on its own is fine), but it's made worse because the drama doesn't work on an emotional level, and it's not good as a comedy either. It's just not written in a way that makes you feel anything, and for all the talent/charisma that the leads have, they can't create magic out of nothing. Some of that is because this drama is simply too long - there are a lot of filler scenes that feel very predictable and boring.

This is what I imagine eating food without any seasoning feels like.

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Wasted Potential

I remember when I was super excited for this upcoming romcom with top actors Jung Haein and Jung Somin, especially because it was supposedly Haein's first romcom after starring in a long list of melodramas. Well, first of all let's mention the fact that this drama is tagged as a romcom, which it can't even be considered as - there was barely any romance until the very end of this drama, the drama never had any super funny or comedic timing of moments, and there are some heavier topics that make this feel like more of a slice of life than anything. Nothing wrong with this, but if you go into this expecting a light -hearted feel good romance similar to say, Lovely Runner, this is definitely not for you!! In my opinion, this drama was a bit disappointing and definitely wasted the potential to see the two leads shine together as love interests.

Again, with the drama, there are some heavier topics such as issues focused on families, troubles of being an eldest child, miscommunications, expectations coming from a lower class family, and illnesses. There is also a storyline on the leads achieving their dreams and working towards the life they want for themselves. While I do appreciate them delving into these topics and find it relatable myself, it seems the focus on this is what deviated them from showing the romantic build up between bae seokryu (jung somin) and choi seunghyo (jung haein).

What is supposed to be a childhood friends to lovers romance, we see that seokryu and seunghyo grew up together as seunghyo's mom travels a lot for her work and left him in the care of seokryu's mom. This led them to establish a long friendship from kids to adults (if we count their friendship being apart for 10 years before seokryu returns from the US). I like that after seeing each other again, there isn't any awkward interaction between them and it's like a friendship with a lot of banter, honestly kind of like brothers and sisters. We see that they are truly friends, always being there for one another when they need support, but the way they portrayed their relationship made it seem like seunghyo is stuck in an unrequited love. He is petty, childish, and immature with seokryu, which I guess they wrote him that way to show how different he acts towards only her, but it's a silly thing to have him be childish and not communicate in almost 10 full episodes, no development whatsoever. They're both almost 35 for god's sake. From seokryu's side, we don't see a glimpse or a hint that she ever had feelings for seunghyo other than friendly feelings. That's why to me, it didn't seem like a romance, as there were limited scenes of the sort of tension, and chemistry that we expect to see from friends who are slowly turning into lovers. Don't even get me started on the fact that their exes were in one episode too many - as much as it's good for them to get closure, we really didn't need to see that much of them and instead should have focused on seokryu and seunghyo. I would have rather seen more of the second couple's relationship. And finally, when the leads do get together, it's \the issue where their relationship changes too much from when they were friends - how do we go from teasing and insults to such loving comments and interactions between the two?? I honestly prefer them showing the same banter and teasing as before, but it's like they jump from 0 to 100 and changed their entire dynamic. It's cute but it's also a little boring? I would have loved to see how their relationship is SPECIAL because of the fact that they were friends for so long and knew everything about each other. Another thing, as top actors their acting is.. alright? I love them both and I feel bad for saying this but I expected romcom like Byeon Wooseok acted in Lovely Runner, where his romcom side shined, I wish Jung Haein had the same opportunity to show this side of him, but honestly I want to blame the writers for not letting us see this happen.

The second couple I really loved, in fact l liked their storyline more so than the leads. Moeum is a smart, energetic, and badass paramedic, and danho is a clumsy, calm, and kind journalist. From their first interaction I loved their dynamic and their banter, and it was so cute to see her fall in love when it seems like no man would have been good enough for her! I really wish we got to see even more scenes of them as the second couple (and less focus on both of the leads and their exes). One thing I would have liked is if we saw more instances of danho falling for moeum as well. We know danho is kind towards her, but he's presented as a kind and just man who's willing to help anyone with anything. I think I just wanted some indication that the way he felt towards her was more than supposed admiration for her occupation, and that his actions were special and not something he would do for anyone. The way they get together is also a little sudden without enough buildup, but I still love them. We should have gotten them together sooner though!!

Overall, don't go into this drama expecting an amazing romance and chemistry with hilarious side characters. It's a simple drama, nothing that special or fun, but still a decent watch if you want to watch attractive actors.

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Slice of life struggles of ensemble cast which was very boring.

Felt like a lot of story/plot was abandoned midway or concluded pretty quickly without proper explanations.

FML's ex plot line was horrible they made us hate him and then reveled he was actually the best bf and one comment lead to breakup. It made me feel bad for hating the ex, slice of life genre isn't supposed to make us feel bad.

Depressed FML was hard to watch but when she started being joyful after getting bf/ML it felt fake.

Best part of the series was 2nd ML and 2nd FML they had all my attention. Parents story was also fun.

In my opinion story ran 8 more episode than it should have been. Would have been a good series if they concluded all important stories within 10 hours.

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need to just get this review out

Just finished force-feeding myself episode 13 - I am committed to finishing this drama, but BOY is it one of the worst.

Don’t know who wrote and directed this, and I barely care to look it up, because it’s shocking how much of a step back in the modern rom com scene this is. Poor writing, farcical acting, nonsense plot, and terrible characters. It’s a really lame take on progressive themes, and honestly only brings us backwards in its message about relationships.

To be fair, I’m tuning in for the pretty people, to turn my brain off after work, and the bask in the glory of Jung Somin, but BOY does this drama not give her the wings to fly as she usually does. The directing, plot, script, character is so weak that I’m not surprised that even her performance falls flat.

The characters are absolutely nonsensical and awful, the writing is confused with itself, and all the directing is this weak attempt at being deep at exposing actually important concepts like career, esteem, social inferiority, and family.

The themes are right. The execution is wrong. I only kept watching for Moeum’s story, but even that one fell flat too.

It’s watchable if you just want to relax I guess, but it’s really Not Good. Also, the Netflix subtitles are not really exact translations, so not sure what’s going on there.

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A Slice-of-Life Melodrama That Could Leave You Feeling Drained and Disinterested

I tuned in expecting a lighthearted romcom about two childhood friends, but instead, I found myself in a slow-paced slice-of-life drama. While the series delved deeply into the characters, the plot often felt aimless, particularly regarding the romantic development between the leads.

The female lead's family dynamics depicted in the narrative added significant depth, especially through the characterization of the female lead's mother. Her aggressive demeanor and high expectations for her daughter, contrasted with a more lenient approach towards her son, effectively highlighted her internal conflict rooted in unfulfilled dreams. This projection of unmet aspirations onto her daughter led to unrealistic expectations that felt burdensome. Furthermore, the daughter’s efforts to hide her illness, coupled with her harsh comments and selective communication with friends and family, hindered empathy towards her character. While this complexity enriches the story, it also creates a barrier to connection.

As the series progressed, the unique tone I enjoyed in the first two-thirds shifted abruptly to disjointed melodrama. It tackled heavy themes like terminal illness, depression, and alleged infidelity, which overwhelmed me and disconnected from the earlier narrative. Watching the characters grapple with communication issues and unreciprocated love became exhausting, making the series feel like an energy-draining experience. After episode 8, I took a two-week break, unsure whether to continue or drop it altogether.

Things began to turn around in episode 12, with many issues resolved and the drama shifting back to a lighter tone. However, by that point, my interest in the main leads had waned, and the overall story seemed less engaging. Ultimately, I decided to drop it for good.

What captivated me most were the flashbacks featuring the young actors; they were charming and perfectly embodied the essence of the leads' characters. I also appreciated the relationship of the male lead’s parents, who acted like teenagers in love after their marriage problems were resolved.

Overall, while this drama had some emotional moments, it wasn't what I expected. I felt misled by the romcom premise, as it turned out to be significantly different from what I anticipated. As someone who typically doesn't enjoy melodrama, the heavy themes and disjointed storytelling were surprising and ultimately left me disappointed. The charming flashbacks with the young actors were a highlight, but they couldn't fully redeem the series for me.

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Not the best but not the worst

I really wanted to like this and had high expectations but sadly, my expectations were not. There isn't anything inherently bad about this drama. I actually really loved the first 4 episodes but it went downhill from there.

I did not like some of the family dynamics and the romance. Obviously, we all know that the FL's mom is kind of abusive to the FL. Like the way she repeatedly got mad at her daughter for decisions she made without even listening to any reason made me mad for the FL. Also, throughout the episodes, we clearly saw moments where it showed that the ML was in love with the FL but I feel like we never got those moments from the FL. We never saw moments where the FL started to realize that she saw the ML as more than a friend. Their romance was just not convincing enough because of this.

I loved the FL. I think she is a great character who loves and cares for her family and friends so much. She especially cares for the ML, someone who she grew up with and is like family. I think all the decisions she made in the drama were what she thought was best for her family and for herself. I don't think anyone should judge her for those decisions especially if they didn't go through what she went through. A lot of people in the comments mentioned that they didn't like that the FL strung the ML along after his confession but I think it was the opposite. It seemed more like the ML did not want to get rejected and was just delaying it by saying that she can respond to him by the milk expiration date.

I did not like the ML. Some people love the ML and hate the FL but for me it's the opposite. I did not like how he started to act cold to the FL after overhearing that she still loved her ex especially since he only heard part of it. I get that he wanted to protect himself but ignoring the FL and blaming how upset he feels on her was not it especially since they were just friends at that moment. I think he could have said he just wanted some space in a kinder way. Also the way he reacted to finding out her secret was absolutely horrible. How he questioned whether he was truly a friend to her for keeping such a big secret was just so irritating. The secret doesn't involve him at all and the FL's first thought in that type of situation was probably whether or not she would survive. If I found out my best friend went through something like that, I would just try to be there for them and make sure they knew that instead of making it about myself. I especially hated that he thought he could be mad at her for not telling him when he literally ghosted her because he saw that she had a boyfriend. He apologized for everything but I still think the ML is an immature and petty person. I just can't like the romance because I don't like him.

I also did not like the ML's parents all that much. They're in their 50s but still couldn't have a proper conversation. Their misunderstandings could've been resolved so much faster if they just talked to each other. Also, both of them are pretty bad parents. Misunderstandings a huge trope in this drama because the FL's parents also went through some. I think I liked the FL's dad the best. He was at least a bit understanding.

In regards to the second couple, they were definitely better than the lead couple. I loved watching them both realize they had feelings for each other. Also loved how the SFL was such a good friend to both the FL and ML. The SML is such a kind and caring guy to the SFL. I love the family they both created with each other.

Overall, I did not like this drama as much as I would have liked. The way everything was handled in this drama was just not how I would have liked. I think some people would absolutely love this drama but it's just not for me. Beware that this drama has melodramatic parts to it so don't go into this thinking it's a light and breezy romcom.

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MDL inflated rating

Where can I start with this mess?

- Watch it if you want to see Jung Hae In doing acting acrobatics, trying to make something out of nothing.

This is an example of a K-Drama that needed to be 10 episodes, not 16. There were many storylines, and some of them ended messy, and some others were wrapped up in a hurry. I think it is worse than Love Alarm.

Maybe I am missing more cultural context, but FL and her mom's relationship never made sense to me. She is a beautiful lady, but this is the character that needs a whole re-write.

I didn't think there was chemistry between the main characters.

If the whole message is to pursue your true life interest and leave behind a stressful job, the way this was presented at the end was underwhelming, because the scene immediately after focused on a silly lovers' spat.

The cancer and the dementia never made a point, and they were just devices to move on the story, but in a sloppy way.

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One word...DISAPPOINTING

I'll start off by saying this show was such a let down.
The production has the right ingredients( the actors) but cooked a subpar meal.
For some reason the ml and fl seem to have more chemistry off screen while they look so disconnected while on screen. I overlooked that at first when they were friends but it became unbearable when they got together and their interactions didn't get better or have that spark.
There's also barely any build up of the romantic feelings that they claim the ml and fl share especially from fl side. I love the second leads but their love also seems rushed especially from Danho's pov. Regardless i loved watching their little family with Yeondu.
The lack of music in certain scenes and then the wrong music too is disappointing.
The writer tries to be progressive in the multiple issues that they bring up but they some how taking a traditional resolve to it or barely doing it any justice. Their moms are also insufferable and the constant bickering between the leads at their BIG AGE??? Or even the lack of proper communication. The writing is awful and it shows in the way the writer constantly has to invoke a problem( whether is cancer or alzhiemers or cheating or grief)as a way of furthering the plot. Then they make this problem a big issue for like 2 episodes only for it to be Magically fixed withing minutes of the 3rd episode. I dont even want to get started on the ml's behaviour towards the fl. Do they think the constant shouting or brushing over her insecurities is cute? ?Simply tiring

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