Love Next Door (2024)

One of the Best RomCom of 2024

Love Next Door is one of the best romcom k-drama that has been released this year. It easily became my number one favorite drama of the year. I will never forget the emotional rollercoaster ride this drama had made me sit through with each of its episode. It is not a typical romcom k-drama because of the realism of its storyline and characters. It is a wholesome romcom drama that will reach to every deep corner of your heart and touch you because of its beautiful storyline. There were a lot of lessons in this drama alone, aside from that there were no hate-able characters which is why I have been immensely hooked to this drama. Although one may find some tropes familiar at first, but as you watch further, you will realize there was no similarity at all to begin with because of how well and fresh they were executed and used as plot devices in the drama. I also love how the characters are easily relatable, I relate the most to Bae Seokryu and her character had comforted me in many ways. This drama is not perfect but I love almost everything about it. The family, friendship and neighborhood stories aside from the romance that were told here were definitely not filler scenes but adds so much substance to the storyline, therefore, making it even more meaningful and heart moving. I watched this for Jung Haein as it is his first romantic comedy and I commend him because of his excellent performance yet again, he amazed me with his talent and he obviously can pull through romcom genre dramas, so I want to see him in more romance dramas. Ofcourse, I fell in love with Jung Somin too. As someone who had witnessed Haein with his other FL's, I must say that for me, his toptier chemistry is with Jung Somin. They gave me so much butterflies even if their characters weren't in a romantic relationship at the beginning but I already felt the impact of their chemistry. The main leads and all the other characters' performances deserves an applause and writernim is well appreciated for giving us a wonderful storyline that I will never forget. I will definitely rewatch this again next month.

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best 2024 friends zone to lover, slice of life vibes

heartwarming, blooming in kind of way, no up and down, characters are not toxic and stable, they have their own stand points which bring out the good characters between their personalities (I guess the MBTI plays a big part in this plot)

throughout the story, Jung Hae In and Jung So Min never disappoints, they sure delivered! they did such a great job while bringing out the best of both sides of stories, I praise them for that. Director has got vissionaire that helps run the story smoothly (which made me finish the whole series in one day)

the pictures/scenery are really nice, I enjoy all the pictures frame and colors working in different scenes a lot
well done 💕

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A Slice-of-Life Beyond Expectation: Love Next Door Delivers by Surpassing Them

Love Next Door did not disappoint; it turned out really great and became quite a decent melodrama with elements of a slice-of-life drama. Not everyone might like the story since some people could expect something else from the genre, but I was deeply satisfied and grateful for what this drama got me through.

The actor played the iconic role of the father to Bae Seokryu. I just couldn't help but cry in so many scenes because he acted so well. His naturalness and well-acted performance gave so much weight to those emotional moments in the show, much like the theme itself-a truthful theme in general. This is quite a drama that heavily relies on realism, and given that, it's bound to receive a mixed bag of opinions-some good and some not quite as great. However, I definitely stand on the positive side here, since the strengths of the series far outweigh its flaws.

But while it may prove slow for some viewers, the slow-burn romance develops organically and further adds to the drama's feel of realism. The way Seokryu and Seunghyo transitioned from childhood friends into something more flowed naturally and paralleled the subtlety of real-life relationships. It is a very realistic tale of family dynamics, friendships, and all those little yet strong moments that mold our lives.

There are those, of course, who would have liked a more conventional ending, but for me, this open-endedness worked. It allowed the characters to move on from what we had been seeing on screen. For anyone who can appreciate a drama that actually focuses both on emotional growth and subtle, significant moments, Love Next Door is rewarding.

Ultimately, it is a series of delicacies regarding everyday life, emotions, and personal ties. Although it may not be up to everyone's standard, the positives surely outweigh the negatives in this beautifully portrayed story.

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Close to Perfect

This drama was as close to perfect as you can get. It was laugh out loud funny, pulled at your heartstrings, and just felt smart. The leads had amazing chemistry and excellent banter. I truly believed that they were childhood besties who had grown slightly estranged because one of them had developed a massive yet poorly timed crush. The family dynamics felt very real and like many Korean families I know, from the types of expectations they have for their kids to the way they can bottle up emotions until they become explosive to the love and guilt and hopes they cherish for each other. The story really nailed all of the friendships, too - for both the parents and the children. There was a lot of affectionate arguing (which is extremely common in Korean households), the type where familiarity breeds affectionate insults (which could have been translated better, IMO, thank you Netflix) as well as unintended slights. It felt consistent in its themes and wrapped most everything up with a soft set of final episodes. I couldn't be happier!

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Lively start. I love these two main protagonists. One is fantastic as a black panther model, the other "rebel way" with a naive air. Truly a beautiful pairing.
He acts superior but it's clear he cares a lot about her. He advises her, protects her from her mother's blows, meanwhile she is like a wounded, soaked puppy who wants to make it seem like she doesn't feel bad and everything is OK.
Really good tune.
But also their friends and the journalist are good characters too.
The series could have ended with the tenth episode.
First 8 episodes are more dinamic with querrel beetween the 2 old friends than the story become more "serious" with issue like cancer, divorce, rejected proposals...
Then when women push things too hard I get impatient and lower my rating. This poor boy....

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A BFFs to Lovers well done

JSM & JHI ate this up! They have such natural chemistry, it's overflowing XD They both looked so gorgeous and pretty in this show. I am so curious and dying to see their story furthermore even after the show ended. The dialogues, emotions were so powerful, they seemed real. The story arcs from their childhood to their thirties was so eventful and I was rooting for them. Side note: The kid actors were so cute.

The older ladies group dynamics was lovely and beautiful. Dads were pretty fun too. The whole idea of a community and their stories over a period of time is something that tugs at your heart. Second leads had a great presence in the story. For a change though, I was not so invested in their story, usually second leads take over my brain. XD Also, the exes were not your average exes, which was a big positive. The other supporting actors were really good as well.

Also, the area they shot this show is so beautiful. That part of Seoul must be breathtaking. :)

This show deserves much more love!

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A fun journey in which we cherish the friends we made along the way!

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The Feeling
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A week has gone by since the finale of the drama has aired and I have a bittersweet memory of watching this drama throughout its entire run. I started watching it when it had already aired 6-7 episodes and was getting all the buzz from viewers and rightly so. A heartfelt Rom-Com with great cast is a sure shot success these days at least internationally.

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The Phases
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Now, coming back to the drama, it can be divided into 2 phases. The first phase comprises of all the episodes till end of Ep 11 where a major conflict is resolved and all build up tension fades away and the second phase is all about the remaining episodes from Ep 12 till Ep 16. Fortunately the best phase of the drama from narrative and drama point of view is the former one that lasted longer than the weaker latter phase of the drama which only had fluffy romance and felt like a epilogue of some sort.

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The Title
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The drama superficially might look like as the title of the drama suggests it is "Love Next Door". But I can assure you that its more deeper than that. Currently, in India I live with my college friends in a high-rise apartment having 10 floors in which I don't even know about who lives next door. This is in stark contrast to my family home where everyone knows everyone and are deeply involved in everyone's lives to the extent that all trials and tribulations are faced together in the society.

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The Setting
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Similar to what I described above, at the very start of the drama we are introduced to a bunch of women who live in the same neighbourhood and have been friends for last 40 years. Not only them, many of their children went to the same school and are really close friends for past 30 years as well. Mainly we focus on the trio of childhood friends :-
a) "Seung Hyo" played by the very handsome Jung Hae In who is an lead architect in a start up
b) "Seok Ryu" played by the gorgeous diva Jung So Min who is a project manager and I can't tell further without going into spoiler territory
c) "Mo Eum" played by my current crush Kim Ji Eun who is a paramedic and works along side firefighters. Apologies in advance as I will not be able to give objective views when it comes to her as I am currently completely floored and enamoured by her beauty, sassiness and personality in all of her recent dramas.
Latter a fourth character "Dan Ho" also comes into the picture who is played by Yun Ji On and works as a reporter for a major Korean media outlet.

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The Plot
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The plot is a good one actually and you will be at the edge of your seats in certain moments and episodes praying for K-Drama Gods to save the day. I don't want to give any spoilers regarding any specifics but I will say one thing : there are many serious emotional themes and issues that are dealt very maturely in the drama which could trigger some strong response from the viewers. So keep that in mind that its not only about the 2 couples and their fluffy romance and waiting for when they will end up together. Its also about some issues we are facing as a society which we all need to work together to solve and make it a better place. Show some empathy and support your closed ones in their darkest times.

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The Jobs
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All 4 leads have different kinds of professions and due to very solid writing, we are able to deep dive into what motivated them into taking up that profession and we are also given first hand knowledge of how a normal day goes for them. I already knew much about the profession of news reporter, paramedic (from other K-Dramas) and project management (I work in the field of Computer Science) but this drama gave such a great portrayal of how architects work and the thought that goes into their creativity and theme of their designs. Its such a cool profession and the writer did a good job at peeking interest of the viewers into something which may look very mundane from outside but which is actually very challenging and interesting from the inside.

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The Chemistry
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Main Leads : Its not as explosive and electrifying as you want it to be. Its subtle at the start and slowly and slowly blooms into a mature flower which then blossoms as if its spring season. There is one swoon worthy scene in which the level of intimacy is severely levelled up for a K-Drama and for obvious reasons none of the viewers complained about it. The drama showcases the beauty of a childhood friendship that always had love and care embedded into it. Where 2 individuals support each other in their darkest as well as the brightest times together unaware of the fact they have always felt for each other but didn't bother to give a tag or name to this relationship and feeling.

Supporting Leads : They are hella cute together and their back and forth with each other complements the show so well that sometimes we as viewers are more interested in their relationship than the main couple for the reason that they form a bond from scratch in front of us and didn't had any past between them. As I told before, I am currently simping for Kim Ji Eun and can't take my eyes off her when she is on the screen and Uff! her personality as a paramedic is so likeable and respectable that in real life I would have completely devoted myself at her service as soon as we became friends. Apologies for the corny lines. Yun Ji On is one lucky MF who gets the chance to romance her on screen. I can't write good stuff about my love rival anyway. Ha Ha :-)

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The Family
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To be honest the USP of the drama is the relationship dynamics between the main characters and their family. Everyone playing the parents are veteran actors and they did their work wonderfully. The arguments, the quarrels, the drama, the making up after a verbal fight feels closer to my heart as it reminded me of my own family especially my parents and my elder sister. The strong bonds within a family and sometimes the situation when everything is pretty loose and tied by a thin thread of trust which if broken could lead to irreversible damage leading to collapse has been captured beautifully by the writer Shin Ha Eun.

There are scenes in the drama in which parents and their child are fighting over career decision and it is very similar to what we face on day to day basis in middle class Indian households. Even in India, stability of a conventional job after college takes priority over unconventional jobs that passionate kids want to pursue which leads to struggle between parents and their rebelling kids.

Shoutout to both Park Ji Young and Jun So Min for their stellar and heartwarming acting while performing as mother & daughter in some scenes where we as viewers were so engrossed in the drama feeling for both sides.

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The Shortcomings
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The longer length of the episodes (almost all are 80 min) is a serious issue here as in most of the cases you feel that the episode drags on unnecessarily and it would have been prevented by either chopping off the runtime of the episode or by recompiling the drama into a 21-22 Ep series each having 1 hour episode. The pacing is an issue and since this is a slow burn romance for the majority, the longer length will make you impatient quite a few times.

As already mentioned the first phase of the drama is superior to the second phase as the latter phase has no major conflict to resolve so it just becomes a feel good slice of life drama in the last few episodes barring few scenes. So, if thats your cup of tea then you will not mind but seriously for me it was too much. They could have structured the story in a better manner for the latter half in my opinion.

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The Review
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Overall its a good one time watch, nothing special about it apart from the family dynamics shown in the first 11 episodes and for people who likes romance its a stellar drama having great character writing which guarantees all the feels and swoons you expect from K-Dramas these days.

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Should you skip? Watch Now? Watch Later?

Love Next Door is a heartwarming Korean drama that beautifully explores the transformative power of childhood friendship and the delicate dance between love and companionship. The series revolves around two lifelong friends, whose paths intertwine once again after years of separation. The female lead, having recently returned to her hometown after a long stint working abroad, finds herself drawn back due to unforeseen circumstances. Little does she know, a whirlwind of emotions awaits her. Meanwhile, the male lead, who has secretly harbored feelings for his childhood friend for as long as he can remember, is eager to reconnect with her. Their reunion ignites a complex interplay of emotions, as they navigate the delicate balance between friendship and love.

Their on-screen interactions feel natural and effortless, capturing the nuances of a deep-rooted friendship. The storyline is grounded in reality, exploring the challenges and joys of reconnecting with someone from the past. The writers have skillfully crafted a narrative that is both heartwarming and relatable, allowing viewers to connect with the characters on a personal level.

The series offers a refreshing departure from the typical romantic dramas, focusing on the gradual development of feelings and the complexities of human relationships. If you're looking for a heartwarming and emotionally resonant drama,

Love Next Door is a must-watch.

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Heartwarming Romance and Endearing Characters Make Love Next Door a Must-Watch!

"Love Next Door" is a refreshing and heartwarming romantic comedy that brings charm and humor in every episode. The story revolves around relatable characters, making it easy to get emotionally invested in their lives. The chemistry between the leads is undeniable, and the subtle moments of romance and tension are beautifully executed. The supporting cast adds depth and warmth, making the neighborhood feel like a character in itself.

What really stands out is the balance between lighthearted moments and meaningful lessons about love, friendship, and personal growth. The pacing is perfect, keeping you hooked without dragging the story unnecessarily. It’s the kind of drama that will leave you smiling and wanting to see more.

Though it follows some familiar tropes, "Love Next Door" puts a fresh spin on them, making the series feel original and full of heart. A must-watch for any K-drama fan looking for a feel-good, romantic escape. 9/10!

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