Longing for You (2023)

A fancy, unusual treat for crime thriller fans

"Longing for You" offers crime and more at its best. Nice to have along the way: a bit of salt in the fresh air of the coastal town where two of the protagonists grew up in.

The public prosecutor's office and the police form a special investigation unit in the case of a serial killer. Solving the case is one thing - an that is overrun by further victims. The internal dynamics within the team as well as emotional complications between further characters are another. Both crime case and complex personal dynamics being jointly combined within a splendidly explosive mixture make “Longing for You” a fancy, unusual treat for crime thriller fans.

We abruptly stumble into an opaque spider's web. The KDrama thrives on its bizarre, strangely interwoven relationships. Abyssal. A bit chilly at times. Mostly harsh and brusque. But sensitive and touching in well-placed spots, too. Suspenseful until the end. Whenever you think you have a clue, the story takes a new, unexpected turn. As I said, a fancy, unusual treat for crime thriller fans.

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Heart !

when you get to watch the drama you will definitely know why I chose that word as the headline. before starting to actually review the drama, I would like to say that
* YOU SHOULD NEVER EVER LISTEN TO THE HATE COMMENTS AND LOW RANKING VOTES THAT PEOPLE POST ABOUT A DRAMA! I saw many hate comments on this drama but when I started watching it I was 100% drown to it that I finished it in two days !!!

* to whoever say that the plots are predictable and all, you guys should distinguish between an interesting plot and a boring predictable one!!! LFY's plots were very interesting for me and even tho some are predictable it doesn't lessen their value !!
with you the help of the acting of the actors you will enjoy every scene and every emotion will be felt deeply!!!
I salute all the actors for their hardwork and the way they made LFY a great drama to enjoy ❤️

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A blend of heartwarming and intense moments

"Longing For You" is a Korean drama that I eagerly tuned into, mainly due to my growing admiration for the talented actor Na In Woo, whose remarkable performance in "River Where The Moon Rises" had left a lasting impression. Once again, Na In Woo has showcased his acting prowess in this drama, proving his versatility as an actor. His portrayal is a delightful blend of fun and seriousness, and he effortlessly captures the essence of his character.

The story of this kdrama is engaging, and it tugs at your heartstrings, particularly in the case of the second male lead, whose character is a good-hearted individual with a fractured family background. This character's journey adds depth and emotional resonance to the overall narrative.

One aspect that stood out to me was the pacing of the drama. With just 14 episodes, it moves at a brisk pace, keeping viewers hooked from start to finish. The storytelling is well-crafted, and I found myself invested in the plot and characters from the very beginning.

In summary, this is a must-watch for fans of Na In Woo and anyone who enjoys a compelling drama with a blend of heartwarming and intense moments. It successfully delivers a captivating story and outstanding acting, making it a memorable addition to the world of K-dramas.

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Obviously not a thriller

It started out promising with the serial killer mystery then it was poorly executed on so many levels.

1. Plot was predictable and there was no mystery even before midway.
2. "Romance" Why bother with the romance if you are not even go build the connection . That "I like you" came out of left field
3. No stand out likeable characters .... well there was 1 and he was killed.
4. Excessive yelling - ML cop character's yelling didn't make the drama feel more intense but rather it was just noise.
5. Mounting evidence ..... That's how they wrapped the obvious crime.
Do you admit your crime? no? here is a recording
Do you admit your crime? no? here is a video
Do you admit your crime? no? here is a witness
Do you admit your crime? no? here is a video of you ... in the act .............................

Just watch "Children of Nobody" instead

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Terrible in more ways than 1

It's highly unusual that a drama would rile me up as much as Longing For You has. I had such high expectations after the first episode but it was a let down very soon into the show.

The Good:
The idea behind the plot was good and it started off as an interesting mystery with the serial killings.
The OST is great. I love the intro theme song.
Some of the beginning and later episodes are good but not enough to make up for places it lacks.
Some of the loose ends are tied.

The Awful:
Predictable - by the 4th episode, you will know exactly what has happened. The rest of the episodes is just the rest of the characters being oblivious and not able to guess anything and it is beyond frustrating to watch them run around like headless chickens.
Poor acting - Usually I can blame the writing for ruining a show. But not here. The actors have done such an unconvincing job at every stage. I felt like not a single person cared for Jin Woo. Not his brother, not his mother, not his adoptive mother, not his friend, Young Joo. He had no one! Even towards the end, I didn't feel like anyone cared in the courtroom. Nor when they were first watching the videos. A normal mother or family member would cry and scream in such types of situations. They would be out of control. Nope. Not this family. They, at best, could muster a teary-eyed shocked look on their face. That was the most heart-breaking thing. I've seen extras in other dramas react more than this group. I, in fact, was feeling more emotions than those family members.
Humanizing the villains - This was beyond annoying. Making killers and psychopaths "look" remorseful. People can't just take lives without a thought if they were humane to begin with. It's not like they were acting in self-defense. The writers should have let those characters stay villains. You made them look pathetic by the end. And some were doing comedy. Really? And Dr. Choo gets no punishment after what he did? How can the family even trust this man, let alone be normal with him?
Romance - well, there is no romance. Also, there is no chemistry between the two people who apparently like each other. When they confess their feelings, I went, "huh? what?". I couldn't believe it. This is a very minor point though. I don't care if there was romance or not. But if you are writing it into the plot, at least make it believable.
Convenient evidence and confessions - again, this is a minor point since most shows that want to take down villains end up finding all the evidence necessary. It was just the brazenly tight-lipped murderers all decided to confess one by one. The evidence that was supposedly non-admissible was suddenly allowed in the courtroom. At least stay consistent with your own arguments or explain why they were allowed in court.

One should usually be satisfied when things are wrapped up but looking at everyone joking around and happy till the end, I felt like beating those characters up for never once fully mourning when they should have. They frustrated me throughout the series.

I would like to forget I ever saw this show with how disappointed I feel.

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Longing for a great, but just OK

I've been waiting a long time.....to finish this drama. very happy I'm done. Longing for you had so many mixed feelings. at first, it was slow and unamusing and then it picked up and then died down again and then picked up AGAIN. The writing was very inconsistent. it made me feel like the writers were confused and didn't know what they wanted to achieve or what they wanted their audience to take away. Not only was the writing subpar, but the editing didn't make any sense. The sequence of scenes was a bipolar affair. we would go from seeing bloody ankles to being at a fish restaurant cracking jokes. And while I love a good detective drama this one was sooooo underwhelming. the investigative methods were mediocre. 90% of the time they would boast on very very circumstantial evidence and were always saved by "physical evidence" appearing from nowhere at the eleventh hour. It felt like they gathered the C-tier detectives and prosecutors and put them on the case. The acting was....left to be desired. for such strong themes, they would have picked a stronger actor. Now I love Na In Woo, but he's not versed in this type of stuff. nonetheless, it was really great to see him branch out of his comfort zone and build his craft. I wish he would have done better but there's always other dramas. For the rest of the cast, it was okay, nothing stood out. TBH Kim Ji Eun was okay. I felt like she would have done better if given better source material. Kwon Yul was okay too but those outbursts and monologues at the end were just a lot of screaming. I didn't hate it but I didn't like it either

There were good parts to this title though. The chemistry between them was nice. I loved to see platonic relationships being represented (even if they spoilt it at the end). I really like the way the investigative team worked together. I liked the relationship with Jin Sang's Mum, Yeong Joo's mum & Dr Choo, it was funny and cute. I also think they tried their best to make the plot work. were there holes?? MANY. but at ep7-8 it became way much fun and didn't sizzle down as quickly, it managed to retain some of that charm. OST also smacked. A lot of English songs (which i think is a theme this year) and the scores were great too. Overall it was a decent watch, I won't recommend it but if you want a passive & casual drama to watch with half your brain cells i would say watch it :)

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What was this??

Oh My God… here we go.

I have watched probably most Kdramas in which Kim Ji Eun starred lately, if not all. And I must say this one is a disaster. This was worse than ‘One Dollar Lawyer’.

There’s so much wrong with this that I don’t even know where to begin from? Let’s start from the Plot? If this even had one.

If you have watched any medical Kdramas 2015 onwards you can guess the plot of this drama right from the very beginning. And I mean it. I guessed the plot in episode 1. Watching episode 2 just solidified my theory and the remaining episodes were pure torture.

Now you might be thinking, if it was so bad why the heck did you not drop it? Well, 2023 was a bad year for crime-thriller so I was making do with whatever crumbs I could find, okay? lol

The ML… was he so annoying because his character was written like that or was it because the actor didn’t do a good job?? I have never watched any other project from this actor before so I’ll cut him some slack and pretend that it was just bad writing at play. It does have lots of issues when it comes to writing.

His character was the ML but trust me if you remove his character from the storyline it won’t leave an impact at all. That’s how useless he was. All he ever did was shout, act like a brat and beat people up for no reason. I know he’s supposed to be the countryside one but c’mon… wth?? If you compare his character to the ML from “Bad Prosecutor” you’d say D.O probably did a good job there. Both characters are supposed to be typical Kdrama-ish bratty, hot headed, annoying characters but the way the screenwriter in “Bad Prosecutor” handled the storyline and character development, it made it bearable. While this was just utter nonsense.

Coming to his family, his brother was probably an Angel and I’m sorry I just don’t buy how someone can be so nice. Their mom was horrendous ? not just her, the friend and their so called polygamous relationship with the doctor guy was so uncomfortable to watch. Why did they even feel the need to include that?? Whyy??

The countryside scenes were unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the progression of the storyline. Instead of adding those scenes they could have easily skipped those and made this a 10-12 eps drama. (which is still too much considering the plot).

The Fl… *sigh* Good Lord. She was just there. Existing. Her character wasn’t too unbearable but it wasn’t something extraordinary either. You could easily forget about her. But she’s smart, which our ML isn’t.

The other characters were very stereotypical. Talking about stereotypes, wth was that Arab representation?? I’m not Arab but I am Muslim and although the writer did explain our faith. They did not do a good job. Kdrama writers should stay away from religions. Please I beg you.

The episode where the FL and her coworker gets kidnapped was so unnecessary. This drama dragged on for eternity. Once you figure out the plot in ep 2, there’s nothing left to watch (unless you want to see justice being done… which we didn’t see much of in this drama).

The plot twists weren’t even plot twists because you can guess what’s about to happen… *sigh* why am I still typing this review? guess I’m just very annoyed..


I can go on and on about the plot holes and bad writing. But as a writer there’s one thing I must say, whenever you’re writing a character please give them backstory. No matter how minor of a character it is, give them a backstory. Add their traumas, the scars they carry within and how the lessons they’ve learned shapes their perspective and outlook on life in general. It’s very important or else your character will come off as bland and dull.


PS: why can’t I keep the rewatch value 0? This app really expects me to give this a 1 star rewatch value? It’s too much.

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Captivating

This is one of the best series you will ever watch very captivating and trilling I recommend this to everyone you won’t regret watching and the cast are very good too they played their roles well music was top notch very soothing to the heart ❤️ I love this series so much that it got me glued to my tv one of my best 2023 series don’t know why some Muslim are downgrading this movie cause of one scene they never said or show anything bad about their religion cause k drama are not the only ones that shows that so they should stop downgrading this series is one of the best

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