Love Next Door (2024)

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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Cute but not cute enough...

I'll start with the good - I like the actors and they have chemistry. I really liked that one flashback scene at the end of episode two. I think it's one of the only scenes I really enjoyed. Lol. So because of their chemistry and cuteness when they actually have a moment I won't make this a 0/0

And Dan-Ho. I like him. I'm interested to see where his character is going.

And now..
I really want to know what overcame the writers, who had two great actors in their hands, and decided to write a kdrama that has some of the most long and drawn out scenes that are so unfunny it's painful, (the entire scene where the mother is hitting the ML and screaming for ten minutes...what was that...) scenes that just don't make sense (why the heck her mother reacted to her daughters life choices the way she did?? What??) the weirdness of the second half of episode four...why are all the characters so dramatic? And violent??? It's getting weird?

Hopefully it gets better and an actual plot develops, yeah I forgot to mention, there is no underlying plot, at least not yet..

All in all it's cute, nothing more nothing less. The deeper messages are poorly handled and super forced.

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No

Should you watch this drama? No.
Is the plot interesting? No
Was this drama comedic like it states it is? No
Did the leads have romantic chemistry? No

Basically, this drama has absolutely nothing to offer as a romantic comedy. TVN should have given this drama 12 episodes, since clearly the writer and director had no idea what direction they were going. The same two people who created hometown cha cha cha, giving us the worst drama of 2024? Unbelievable. I am convinced the people who enjoyed this drama are either fans of the actors, but so am I, and will love any drama with romance and a hot kiss scene. It is indeed my opinion that they are all in denial about what a huge disappointment this was, but I believe one day they will accept how bad it truly was when the actors go on to be in an actual romantic comedy that is good (fingers crossed!).

Jokes aside, your time is precious, and this drama is way too boring and wishy washy for you to spend hours watching it. the writer wrote the FL and ML in such a weird way. In the beginning, the ML really hated the sight of the FL, and somehow the viewers are supposed just to accept it when he actually has always been in love with her? The FL on the other hand, never seems to ever like the ML in a romantic way, its kind of like she just feels sorry for him and gives in to the thought of being with him. Oh, and apparently they're both in their mid-thirties, but show absolutely no signs of it. The way they acted in high school and in the present is the exact same...

All in all, you are better off closing your eyes and dreaming of Jung Haein in your dreams than watching this. I'm sure your subconscious brain would come up with a better romance.

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Absolutely Disappointing and Annoying

This is another disappointing KDrama that I have seen. The storyline is horrendous and the FL is very annoying. I do not understand how a man can love a woman who screams at people, kicks others and throws her shoe at him. This is so disrespectful it is not funny. In the majority of cultures in the world, this is unacceptable. The FL’s English intonation is some of the worse I have heard. The entire premise of the story does not warrant 16 episodes. They could have ended everything in four episodes. The ML’s character is very pathetic and childish and borders to the point of being considered a loser. The FL’s character attitude is so schizophrenic - meaning that she can shout and scream, be aggressive and physically abusive to the ML but when it comes to other situations, she is quiet as a mouse. I also hate her dishonesty. The writers could have done a better job in this day and age of writing better and more realistic storylines. I also find that kdramas pretend that characters do not sleep together after being in a relationship for several years and that is so unrealistic and moronic. All these thirty something year old virgins - so laughable. Don’t waste your time to watch this.

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cute

very cute, the cancer plotline made the quality decrease slightly imo but i understand that with 16 episodes something's gotta happen lmao
there were other things that i didn't love as well, mainly the mom. it takes her daughter having cancer for her to realize that she's treated her like crap yall who does the worst mother award go to
also missed oportunity to have a single parent storyline with the secondary couple but this is still a kdrama so what did i expect
the main couple were very very cute but she annoyed tf out of me on the latter half, it just felt like he was doing everything and she didn't care
but yeah the best character was the ml's mom, she was so cute and pretty and stylish and her husband and her were adorable and i just loved her sm

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Could have been better

This drama had so much potential and the story was going on good until the 5th or 6th episode. The ending was quite satisfactory, the cast was the best. I understand it had a simple concept so there wasn't much to the story so they included some completely unnecessary plots. The second lead romance was the best, much better than male leads. Also I guess they forgot to show the third lead i.e Seokryu's brother's romance.
The Ml, had already realised that he liked her in 5th ep ig, but to extend the storyline, he had to realise it again in the next episode only to ignore her in next few.
I understand the slump part, somehow the stomach cancer part was unnecessary, but still made sense.
The ending was little bit rushed, neither they showed their wedding, not the second leads meeting again and I mentioned the third leads.
FL's mother was a really annoying character but the character development was okay.
The storyline was predictable and very simple. It would have been a comforting drama but left traumatising, the only thing I probably liked was the cast, definitely not the storyline. Their chemistry was great. The romance was okay. It could have been so much better, I had alot of expectations from this but I was quite disappointed.
Also I felt like this drama was really similar to Doctor Slump, byt Dr. Slump was better
Kudos to the staff and actors who worked hard on and off screen ❤

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boring series, main couple with no chemistry!

Lots of marketing for little delivery!
Lots of marketing for little delivery! Before this series premiered, they did huge marketing! I started watching, but it didn't captivate me enough for me to continue, the main couple is simply boring, without any chemistry, I even thought they were two children, what boring characters! Only the secondary couple that stood out in the series, their performance was incredible, but I stopped watching because overall the series didn't captivate me, I had a lot of expectations for this series, but it's a really bad series!

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My own personal, unpopular, opinion

I was fully on board for this one. I love all of the actors in it and was chomping at the bit for a decent rom com. Here's what worked for me -
1) Visuals. All of the actors are just so attractive.
2) Bickering main couple (at the beginning).
3) 2ML's daughter was just precious and not a brat.

It started out well for me, but slowly but surely went downhill for me. I'm all for a good trope, but this show was just too tropey for me. Some things were good, some just had me shaking my head and talking to the tv. It seemed to me that every episode brought in a trope to further the story.
1) He's loved her for a long time - I'm always in for this.
2) Their bickering was chemistry-ing, but I didn't buy their chemistry once they decided they liked each other.
3) Physically/emotionally abusive parent. I know this is used for comedy, but it was too much and went on too long.
4) Miscommunication - this applied to the main couple, the second couple, and both sets of parents.
5) FL's brother was pretty much a waste of time.
6) Of course, there was a woman that liked him that he worked with. Thankfully, she wasn't overly irritating and realized that she had no chance "They might as well start planning what schools their children will be going to" - what a great line.
7) Ex-girlfriend that wants him back. They redeemed themselves by having her come around to what was going on quickly.
8) Ex-fiancé coming back into the picture. This felt like manipulation to further the story, because why else would he randomly show up out of the blue?
9) "Let's keep our relationship a secret".
10) Parents trying to marry off the kids to others.
11) Parents against their relationship.
12) Parents against her career choice.
13) Secrets - 2ML has a daughter that we don't find out about for a while and then she's not really his daughter. Why?
14) Illness. Cue noble idiocy and not wanting to be with someone to save them from hurt.
15) 2FL going away for a year. A paramedic going to Antarctica for a year?!?!
16) ML's mom is a total bi-atch through the entire show, suddenly we think she has Alzheimer's. But no, her forgetting where she is, that she resigned and where she sent her suitcase is all due to stress?!?!
17) FL wanting to put the wedding on hold because she wants to focus on her career. Women are better than that at multitasking.
18) Wedding red herring. It wasn't the OTP.
19) The leads walk into the sunset, bickering as they go.

I would definitely recommend this show since I'm totally in the minority, but it just didn't work for me.

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Some of the Most Horrible Women Ever Put on Screen!

“Love Next Door” endeavors to be a light, sweet romantic comedy with some drama thrown in for good measure. What we end up with is a bunch of women who are barely tolerable, and sometimes, not even that. We get some domineering, controlling, meddling women who snap at the smallest of things. They are also selfish and cowardly in how they act toward each other as well as others around them. Frankly, I’m not sure how or why any reasonable person would want to spend five minutes alone with any of them. They are about as appealing as a pit of vipers.

Choi Seung Hyo and Bae Seok Ryu are childhood friends who grew up together because they lived next door. Their mothers have also been friends for a long time as well, although there are plenty of times throughout the series when we wonder how and even why. Their mothers and two other women get together in their “Lavender Club” to hang out. What ends up happening is they spar, argue, and compete over everything. Believe it or not, this is how many women in Korea interact with each other. Everything is a competition and a fight for status. What’s especially sad is that they often use their own children to acquire that status. They’ll brag to others about what schools they go to, what educational academies they’re enrolled in, what grades they get, and even what areas they excel in. These are women who live vicariously through their children. They use them as pawns, which is why many of these so-called “mothers” aren’t even fit to be parents at all.

Seok Ryu has returned to Korea from being in the US with a prestigious company. Of course, her domineering, twisted mother, Mi Suk, can only think about how this impacts her, especially after bragging to her friends about Seok Ryu. Things become further complicated when Seok Ryu announces that she’s also broken off her engagement. Mi Suk nearly disowns her daughter right there on the spot. Mi Suk uses the pathetic excuse that, “I don’t want my daughter to live a hard life like me!” This is a lie. Mi Suk is only concerned about how Seok Ryu’s decisions reflect on her. Her anger is out of pure spite and selfishness.

Seok Ryu isn’t exactly an angel herself. We find out that she was diagnosed with stomach cancer and refused to tell anyone about it. She claims that she was sparing everyone the pain. Whenever someone pushes others away, it’s never to spare others the pain, but to spare themselves of their own. Seok Ryu is a true coward, and when Seung Hyo finds out, he justifiably berates her for her thoughtless and selfish act, even going so far as to call her a hypocrite and a coward which is 100% on the nose!

Seung Hyo is a young man who’s making his way in the architectural world, opening up his own firm and doing quite well. However, it’s obvious that he’s in love with Seok Ryu, even though he puts up defensive walls and refuses to let her know about it. When he finally does, Seok Ryu can only think about her own failings and problems, and she promptly refuses his advances. Seung Hyo laughingly buys a small carton of milk to be used to give Seok Ryu time to think it over. The stupidity of such an act is this: love isn’t about thought. If you actually have to think about it, then you’re very obviously not in love. What we have are two 34-year-olds acting like 16-year-olds. It might be endearing, but it’s actually quite pathetic. Even when they finally do end up together, Seok Ryu is too scared to tell anyone about the relationship, and so she begs Seung Hyo not to tell anyone. If you’re too ashamed to tell anyone about the relationship, then you have no business being in one. They scurry around like two kids worried about getting caught with their hands in the cookie jar!

We also have the third member of the childhood trio, Jung Mo Eum, who is my favorite character of the series. She’s a paramedic who doesn’t apologize to anyone for who and what she is. She unapologetically wears her heart on her sleeve, especially after meeting journalist Kang Dan Ho. It’s funny watching Jung Mo Eum berate Seok Ryu for being silly about her feelings for Seung Hyo, but after kissing Kang Dan Ho, she’s suddenly a 14-year-old girl hiding and running away from him. That was the only annoying thing about her. Kang Dan Ho has a cute little girl (his niece, in fact) that he’s raising all by himself. Korea still has problems accepting single parent families, and after finding out, Jung Mo Eum’s pathetic mother refuses to allow Jung Mo Eum to see him. Luckily, Jung Mo Eum lovingly tells her prejudiced mother that she has no say in the matter and that she fully intends to continue seeing Kang Dan Ho. Jung Mo Eum is the only strong female character of the entire cast! I would have preferred the series revolve around her rather than Seok Ryu.

Seok Ryu is very immature, but suddenly, like a light switch, everything is suddenly “okay” with her in the last four episodes or so. The writers must have had something against women to write them all to be such horrid people. It made me miss “Business Proposal” and “Our Beloved Summer” where we got good, strong female characters who knew their own minds, acted their age, and figured out for themselves how to navigate the pitfalls that came up before them.

Seok Ryu’s mother, Mi Suk, is about as cold and vindictive of a woman as I’ve ever seen in over 47 years of watching shows. I’m not sure how anyone was dumb enough to marry this woman. When Seung Hyo’s mother, Hye Suk, offers to pay for a trip to Europe, Mi Suk erupts angrily at her because she feels inferior to Hye Suk. The truth is, Mi Suk has very low self-esteem, and she feels inferior to everyone! It’s no wonder she feels the need to brag and show off her children. She’s a very pathetic character. One of the worst I’ve ever seen. And even when Seok Ryu desires to leave programming for a cooking job, Mi Suk explodes all over her! Her daughter, Seok Ryu is barely any better. Her own self-esteem is so low that she prefers to hide away rather than face her problems. I laughed out of pity each time Seung Hyo wanted to talk things out and Seok Ryu would scurry away like a rabbit saying, “I don’t want to talk about this!”

What’s truly sad is that the performances in this series are very good. I’ve seen Jung So Min in several series, and she’s always very good. Her only problem in this series is that she’s terrible at kissing scenes. Her mouth is always tight-lipped and it’s painfully obvious that she doesn’t like doing them. If that’s the case, she needs to stop doing romantic dramas. It hurts an actor’s performance if they’re unwilling to be genuine and get into a scene, no matter what it is. Also, it’s stated that Seok Ryu lost 70% of her stomach to cancer. I’ve known people who’ve had their stomachs stapled in order to lose weight. There is no way Seok Ryu would be able to eat as much food as she does based on that fact. This was something that the writers clearly overlooked.

The series definitely didn’t live up to the hype with mostly unlikeable characters, especially the women. While there may be many truths, it would have been nice to see these characters grow and evolve naturally rather than simply having the “light bulb” go off to suddenly fix the situation. It just wasn’t believable or realistic. It’s also sad to watch grown ups acting like children around their parents rather than having the guts to stand on their own feet. That’s not appealing either, especially in today’s world where women are finally becoming more empowered than ever before. Overall, this series was disappointing.

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