Love Next Door (2024)

why I don't do friends to lovers

Eh...the friends to lovers trope isn't my cup of tea so majority of this was tedious to get through. There were cute moments but there were too many scenes that dragged out far too long. Cut all the unnescessary stuff and this might've became 12 episodes. The ending was underwhelming and we were robbed of seeing an offical wedding.

There were characters I enjoyed--Moem and Danho stole the show for me. Why were they not mains?? Their storyline was way more interesting. Yeondu is painfully adorable. The drunk antics from the dads were laughter inducing lol. The main couple was just fine. I wasn't convinced of their chemistry and the constant bickering got on my nerves. Seeing Jung Hae In in a rom com was nice but I think I prefer him in more serious roles. Just get together already and roll the credits! Themes like the ripple effect and family showing up for each other were done well but a lot of slice-of-life dramas do this well so nothing unique here.

All in all, this was ok. noting more. I def liked this more the longer things played out but I'd never rewatch.

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An Endearing Romcom with Intriguing Characters

This show was so endearing, not just the storyline but also the characters!

“Love Next Door” quickly became my weekend fixation, the “Friends to Lover’s” trope doesn’t offer anything new. It has been overused so much, that you might wonder if this show is worth your time. Answering this question- Yes, it is. The enormous casting offers different plotlines, starting from our protagonists who have been next door neighbors and childhood friends forever. At times, it is the near ones that we take for granted. It is the same with Bae Seok Ryu, who has never considered the possibility of falling in love with her “FRIEND” Choi Seung Hyo. Jung Hae In & Jung So Min have the kind of indescribable chemistry which you get to see rarely; they embodied the nuances of their noisy, preposterous selves. The show is a light romcom which lays emphasis not just on the main leads but the strong friendship between their mother’s group. Friendship is the theme throughout; it could be our main protagonists and their own or the “Lavender” group who have been friends for almost 40 years.

Read the complete article here-

https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2024/10/07/love-next-door-series-review/#more-1245

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Vibe killed by overlong episodes and inflated runtime

Bae Seok Ryu and Choi Seung Hyo are played by very pretty people, but attractiveness alone is not enough to keep the sizzle going for these characters. Their lack of romance had been drawn out for decades already up to the point the show starts and continued to drag on for weeks and weeks of the 80 something minute episodes. They don't have the type of relationship with any kind of spice or sweetness to sustain interest for them as potential couple for that long. In the meanwhile, it's the family and family friendship lives that are explored in depth and the emotions of those storylines overshadows and engulfs all the screen time. It's relatable, but still ill balanced to the detriment of what should be the core relationship of the show. I do give the show props for the very believable reason to hide their relationship being their loving, but suffocatingly nosy collective family that will keep them on such a close watch and infantilized that they can't actually function as a couple of consenting adults. The second couple didn't take that long to get together, but they suffer from the very odd decision the show made to introduce them in a weird scene where the hot, amazing, adventurous, confident paramedic Jung Mo Eum grabs a drink from the shop freezer like a normal person only to have it yanked in her hand by the reporter guy who felt entirely entitled to take a drink out of a woman's hand when she already took it first fair and square. It's nonsensical and the show builds him up as a amazing guy that would help divert traffic for the ambulance and raises his niece who is the sole survivor of his entire family dying in an accident, but that kind of rude behavior is just too off putting to over look and I want Mo Eum to just keep going on her adventures rather than to obsess about that weirdo no matter how otherwise virtuous he seems. Let her be free.

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I found this drama very entertaining. It became my favorite drama due to the impressive portrayal of the lead actors; Jung Somin and Jung Haein are great actors, very versatile, and they have comedic timing. I'm impressed by how Jung herein act using his eyes. Song jumin can also have different emotion in a single act. I appreciate how the storyline does not solely focus on their love story. Many scenes will make you cry and laugh. So far good. I hope they will have a lot of projects in the near future. I also hope their ratings will improve. They have great chemistry.

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WHAT A LOVELY STORY!

Long time I have been waiting for this drama because I miss Jung Hae In in romantic vibes and here it is! I’m not so into Jung So Min but in this drama she succeed to make me fall for her instead of Jung Hae In. Their chemistry was superb and awsome!
Who dare to comment that they are no chemistry? Their friendship really touched my heart. I also wish I had a bestfriend/childhood friend like them!
All actors are good. From ML, FL, second ML second FL, all the parents, all are awesome. Thank you to the director for choosing the right actor.
So if you looking for a good romantic drama, you can watch this. I hope to see Jung Hae In more in romantic drama. Thank you for bring him back in love vibes. Enjoy watching!

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Its a bore

In short, the episodes are way too long, its filled to the brim with redundant tropes and its boring.

In long, I'm sorely disappointed with this so before get into the bad stuff let me mention some positives;
1. The actors. I think they're easily the strongest point if LND.
2. There are parts that hits you in the feeling. Mostly the ones involving Seokryu and her family. The family dynamic was an interesting one as a whole.

Now this series might have some good points but those positive points can be seen in many other dramas which aren't this boring. So many things are thrown in the mix here which had little to no pay off. For example the plot with their exes. None of them add anything meaningful to the story so why are they there? Or the plot twist about Dan ho and his kid? Or Mo eum mother disagreeing with her relationship so passionately just to change her mind so easily. Or even her moving to north pole. None of them had any impact whatsoever so why were they included?
The episodes where so long you could feel them trying to stretch out the story thin to fill up the run time and it was annoying. The slow burn wasn't a satisfying one. It was painfully slow. I used the skip button alot in later half of it.
The comedy bits are stale too honestly. Every woman was bickering and shouting over stupid misunderstandings that could've been resolved in minute had they talked it out but all the parents here are NOT comically immature.
This could've been a more enjoyable watch if it was shorter and had less overused tropes.

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