One advice before I start: DO NOT read anything about the story. Especially not the synopsis. Most of them spoil the first few episodes. And I advise that you watch it without knowing a thing.

Yeah, I almost didn't watch the drama because of the not-so-interesting poster. But I decided to give it a go for the cast. Imagine the mistake I could have made. And good thing I did not read the synopsis.
By the way, this is my first completed 10/10.

Before finishing the drama (after 9 episodes)...
It is unexpectedly so so good.I cannot describe how much affection I unintentionally have for this drama. I usually avoid this genre and type of drama as it is not my cup of tea. But from the simplest things as the sound effects quality to the overall feel of the story, everything is amazing.
I love everyone in this drama and I love everyone’s relationship as much as I hate it as well. I love what has come and what is to come. The sadness of the story makes me smile. Plus, Jung Kyung Ho knows how to play a miserable character in so many different ways (see Life on Mars, etc…).

After finishing the drama…
The acting is so so so heart-wrenching. Everyone’s!
Not a single boring moment.
I forgot how much I liked dark sad twisted dramas.

I made a mistake. I stayed up all night watching it all. It was because I seriously couldn’t let go of it. I don’t know how it could have turned out if i didn’t do it, if I was a little more patient and paced myself. I can’t say that I don’t regret it or that I do. But what I know is that I ruined my standards of ALL upcoming dramas.
The biggest fault and disadvantage from binge watching it was not that I could not grasp enough feelings, quite the opposite; it was TOO much for me to handle, really overwhelming. I don’t know how to deal with the grief and grievance.

It is probably the saddest, most miserable and most sour and frustrated a drama has ever left me. The heart ache is no joke. It has been a while since I genuinely last cared for the fate of characters. I think I need another heart-full noir to get over this. ( months have passed since I finished it)

The thing that makes it superior to other similar dramas is not the romance; the romance is usually much better in some good similar dramas (but also good in here), but it is the friendship that everyone had, the relationships they managed to build, It makes my heart even more sour and hurt. It is so maddening; that fate of theirs and how things turned out. It is the only reason I wasn't going to give it a 10. I keep clenching my fists in anger. It is serious. The state I was in was not normal, after finishing it.
It was so simple; it could have gone well. Anyways, I retreated to self therapy and I am going to believe a lie that I am going to repeat to my self. I'll believe that it is the truth.

But, there will always remain this questions in my mind:

Will there ever be a drama of the same quality as this one??

My heart feels sour once again as I remember that it was released in 2013. I guess it was when drama industry realized the deficits of prior ones and fixed them, by removing unrealistic drama, but keeping enough necessary drama, the quality of picture and sound, the nature of the environment, ignoring few details that are okay to ignore in order to shed light on other important details.
And also, it is was before dramas lost their original touch and were revolutionized into something that is supposed to be modern. I agree that some new dramas are so well done, but scarcely it is that you find something that has the essence of old dramas; that dramatic effect, though slightly, but bearably unrealistic. They focus too much on visuals. It is overdone nowadays that it is distracting from the essence of the story.

By the way, I kinda sensed it beforehand the stuff that happen to Kyung Mi . I consider it one of Cruel City's charms, that I was able to put things together before events occurred. It happened few times. I realized so many things before they happened or they told us about it.
Call it sixth sense but they were really good at hinting with emotions.
The directing is fantastic. The music is so fitting. The cast is irreplaceable. The writing... is from a different world.
This is no ordinary drama. It is one timeless drama!

This drama has my favorite characters that I like the most. Jung Kyung Ho slayed it. And I really really liked Jin Sook, Safari (Sapari), Soo, even Scale, and everyone.

I’ve changed my mind after I watched episodes 18, 19 & 20 again, and the last ever second of the last episode plus a statement that I read, supposedly made by the production crew about the ‘open ending’ made me change my mind. I decided make this my first 10 out of 10 completed drama.

This concludes the longest review I have written in my life so far.

P.S. I watched the 1990s movie 'Leon: The Professional' for the first time, and the instrumental OST 'The Man' in Cruel City sounds so similar to Leon’s popular soundtrack 'Shape of My Heart'. I am not sure how this relates but...