Lovestruck in the City (2020)

Take my advice and watch it.

It makes me so upset how people haven't talked about this. Ji-Chang Wook has really bought back my heart after his last drama which wasn't good as I had hoped. I love this so much and look forward to the new episodes. It's realistic and elegant while keeping a fun atmosphere. I really hope people will take the chance to watch it, it has by heart pumping every episode. People should be talking about it and the episodes are just long enough to keep you wanting and craving for more. I really hope that once I'm done with this drama I can forget it as fast as possible so I can watch it all over again!

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Enjoyable, Emotional, Character-Driven Drama with a Few Flaws

If you enjoy romance-centered KDramas where the focus is on the characters and their experiences dealing with their feelings, then this is the drama for you. When the show was airing, I stayed up until 3 am to watch the release in my region. Since then, I've watched this drama 3+ times all the way through and loved it each time. At the same time, I think there are some flaws, which may turn into complete dealbreakers for some people. It's a weird thing for me to review, since I am not giving this show a 10, but I love it to death.

Format-wise, it was produced as a short-form show for KakaoTV. With each episode having about a 30-minute runtime, and the entire series having a 17 episode length, Lovestruck is basically 50% of a typical KDrama, which is a good thing if you're busy or your KDrama backlog is too big. The main highlight of this show is the extremely touching conversations/heart-to-hearts that happen during a select few episodes. The producers tried to make this a really humanistic show, and I think the raw emotions of the characters really shines through. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but overall, I really empathsized with the characters when they were desperately in love, extremely frustrated, sad, or basically any of the capstone moments that define friendships and romantic relationships. For me, there are just so many snapshot moments in this show that I can easily go on youtube, watch a short clip, and immediately feel a strong sense of nostalgia for this show.

However, there are some flaws which bog down the show's quality a little bit. Firstly, the pacing is a little off: the first episode kicks things into high gear by establishing all the characters and the main narrative settings for the two main characters. The next two episodes flesh out the main story and also start revealing the backstory of the two side couples. However, following this, the show starts to get a little draggy until episode 8, when the main story speeds up again. Additionally, they were too ambitious by trying to cram into 3 love stories into a show that is half-as-long as your regular KDrama -- there is simply not enough time for all the stories to be properly established and resolved, and I would argue the side characters don't have a completely satisfying conclusion. One of the side couples actually has some "new reveals" at the end of Episode 16 which is never resolved -- without a Season 2, I'm afraid we'll never find out what happened. Finally, the mocumentary format is a little lacking: it starts off as intriguing, possibly inspired by famous mockumentaries like The Office, but very quickly devolves into nonsense -- in some later scenes, there are some "interviews" which are completely impossible for the "camera crew" to have captured unless they were omnipotent and/or being extreme creepers.

One extremely controversial point to discuss is that many watchers found the characters, especially the main lead female Lee Eun Oh, to be extremely unlikeable and/or unrealistic. My personal opinion is that Lee Eun Oh's character does suffer from SOME poor writing, but that overall, she was created to mimic a real-life human being. In real life, sometimes we do do things that make us unforgiveable jerks. Sometimes, we do obsess over loving people that we need to let go. Sometimes, we do say one thing, but our hearts make us do the exact opposite. At the end of the day, though I don't think the characters were written perfectly, I do think they were written to be people that you could meet in real life -- if you reflect upon your own acquaintances, friends, and family, I bet you might know guys who were obsessed over girls that they needed to drop like a bad habit or girls who weren't sure what they wanted so they kept teetering between self-confidence and love. In this way, I think it is very fitting for the humanistic theme of the show.

Overall, I think this series is underrated and you should give it a shot. I think you will know fairly quickly whether it is your cup of tea: it might be something you love like I do and if not, it's easy to drop it mid-watch.

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Interesting, Underestimated and Mistreat

This gonna be a short review because I think this show is underrated. Romance lover should give it a shot.


First of all, It was a pressure to Watch " Lovestruck in the City" ( 도시에서 남녀 사이의 사랑 wich mean How to love between men and women in the city ). This Show-tell a Story of how Park Jae won met Yoon Sun Ah and instantly fall in love with her playful, positive and beautiful look. He basically loves everything about her. What he didn't know that's she hide her real identity.

The show does a kind of interview with the protagonist. I've never seen anything like it. Yes, it follows us across the show. You don't have to like it. It is just a stylistic device from the director to tell the story. At first, it was used to explain the past and to bring the individual characters closer to us, later it is there to show the feelings, opinions and thoughts of the people. Like a diary.

The story starts quickly and is easy to understand with a long middle section full of highs and lows. The script just feels real, it could happen in real life. It's not cheesy or too applied and yet very romantic. There is not much more to say without spoilers.

Cast and acting were presented perfectly. Kim Ji won is a really charming , you just have to fall in love with her. After "Fighting for my way "and "Descendants of the Sun" amazing performance from her.
I want to believe every word from Ji Chang Wook when he looks at her. He plays the broken one so realistically that you can taste his pain. Overall really good performers a solid 10.

Music was my personal highlight of the show. The OST are very good especially "Kiss me Kiss me". There are a few moments where there is just silence, I also really liked that, sometimes less is more.

Overall, it's one of my favorite show lately. It was great fun when they made love and it was heartbreaking when they broke up / quarreled. While watching Lovestruck in the city I want to find my own Eun Oh with all of her mistakes, to fall in love so much that you can't think of anything else, to put up with the pain because it is worth it and to fall for her completely.

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It is the raw surreal relatability that pulls

No spoiler! Where do I begin? Is it the raw relatability that pulls? Yes for me. It takes you on a journey. A journey you wish to go on but perhaps are unable to. A journey you can only feel, a story that can wring out those anonymous tears and smiles from within you, only if you are infact a Yoon Seon a/ Lee Eun-O yourself. I don't know what else to say. What can I say about the performance? Ji Chang Wook, Kim Ji Won and the entire cast lived their roles magically, beautifully. Surreal camera work, beautiful music, beautiful story telling. Tip : Don't listen to people saying ..ugh its boring. Just jump in, and decide for yourself.

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Realistic, beautiful, heartwarming and full of romance

This drama was beautiful and so full of love from the very start to the very end. I absolutely loved it. Very relatable and realistic, it depicts how love isn’t easy and it’s full of twist and turns and bumps but eventually love finds a way. The format of the drama is a little different as it’s supposed to depict an interview between people but overtime it became less confusing and very enjoyable to watch. I love love love Ji Chang work and to see him acting in this drama was so refreshing. His chemistry with Kim Ji Won is off the charts, they legit look like an actual couple, some scenes it doesn’t even look like they’re acting. All the characters portrayed they’re roles very naturally, and each character’s personalities developed and shined brightly.
Storyline and plot were so well written that it killed me waiting several days to find out what happens next. This drama will make you smile, laugh cry and give you butterflies. All the romantic scenes were so fluffy and it made my heart really warm. It keeps you tingling and yearning for more every episode and the drama delivers. You will feel all sorts of emotions watching this but trust me it’s worth it.
The OST is incredible, I’m just waiting for it to be on Spotify. Each song was perfect for each scene and it made the show even better. I truly loved it and enjoyed it and it made me wish I had a significant other to experience what love really feels like. It is well crafted and well acted out. Watch it. Don’t even hesitate, just watch it. So worth it and not to mention Ji Chang Wook is super handsome here, the drama showed his maturity well.
All in all, it’s great, I’d definitely put this on my list to rewatch. And here’s hoping for a second season because I don’t want to see what the future holds for these couples

Lire davantage

Zakochałam się tej dwójce! ;)

Ogólnie porwała mnie ta drama ;) Cała historia była bardzo ciekawa, różniła się od dram, które oglądałam, skojarzyła mi się trochę z amerykańskimi serialami romantycznymi, ze względu na fabułę.
Historia głównej pary bardzo mnie urzekła, ich aktorstwo było fenomenalne, chciałabym zobaczyć tą parę jeszcze w innej produkcji ?Oczywiście nie wspomnę o postaci Ji Chang Wooka (był cudowny), który jest jednym z moich ulubionych aktorów ?
Muzyka w dramie aż tak bardzo mnie nie wciągnęła ale była spoko, po skończeniu dramy OST obowiązkowo jeszcze raz przesłuchałam ?
Jeśli chodzi o to czy obejrzałabym ponownie, to odpowiedź brzmi: TAK! Polecam
Drama super, jedna z lepszych ??

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Loved it all the way until the last episode

I loved everything about this drama. Some of the music was a little comical but it grew on me. I’m not a huge fan of JCW or KJW but this the the best JCW drama I’ve watched so far and definitely the only one where I actually kind of like KJW’s character. I couldn’t stand her in everything else I’ve watched her in. This drama had me all in my feelings and was pretty strong until the end. The last episode was a big wtf. I feel like it was rushed and I was left hanging. Would’ve loved to see some development of Dong-sik’s story. I feel so cheated. Maybe we’ll get a season two. Who knows?

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If you're an adult you might have met these people (or be one of them yourself)

I loved Lovestruck in the city! I love that the people in it, feel like people: they're flawed, stupid, insecure, lonely... It's so refreshing to see a kdrama where the couples look like couples who are in love and comfortable with each other: they hug, kiss, laugh, play, have sex... No dead-fish kisses here, if a couple wants to kiss, just like that and I find that more romantic than the typical slow-mo where I end up wondering if the FL is consenting.

The show explores love from different perspectives and how people react to different things, even though it uses the main couple as a way to lead the story. The characters are fleshed out and, even if you don't agree with their reactions, you end up understanding where they are coming from. All the couples have great chemistry and the friendships look great too.

In a way, it's everything I expected Run On to be based on the reviews I read before watching it (my fault for expecting something it wasn't). I know the fake documentary doesn't work for some people, but I love that it gives an excuse for the characters to talk out loud about themselves and to interact with each other unknowingly.

The acting, direction, photography, OST... is absolutely fantastic. I have no words about how beautifully this is filmed and how well everything works.

Also, the PPL is one of the funniest I've seen.

Lire davantage

A different but amazing drama you should consider watching!!

I feel like I've seen a lot of mixed reviews on this drama but let me keep it short: watch it.

- The interview format thing is really funny and original, and I feel like it perfectly fit with the story.
- The acting was so good I felt like I was intruding their fights and romantic scenes. The way he would look at her made me feel like I was standing there, bothering them in their intimate moments, whereas even though Kim Ji Won's character is the one creating the problems: i just couldn't hate her. her emotions were so realistic and relatable.
-The flashbacks to the beach were so calming and well-filmed, it made me miss summer and made me wanna take up surfing.

Overall it's just so refreshing and realistic. I myself loved popular dramas like CLOY but this one should really receive a lot of love as well, the story and the characters broke me and I'll definitely remember it for a while.

Lire davantage

Ehh.

First things first, for me, the first two episodes of Lovestruck in the City were so slow I think I would have preferred to watch paint dry. I was heavily considering to drop it after watching the first two episodes - but decided to give the next episode a chance before I did. Thankfully from the third episode onwards - improvement! While I still was never really truly brought into the universe of Lovestruck in the City there were good parts - most notably the acting and chemistry of the cast.

I don't think there should be a second season, but it's possible. I might check it out but it won't be a high priority for me. Also, I think people who watch romance dramas on a regular basis compared to someone like me will enjoy this more, so check it out!

Lire davantage

Simple, different and quite good.

The first episode felt really weird to me. Breaking of the fourth wall is not something every show is capable of pulling off. I never really understood what was the reason for these "interviews" or "interactive lives" and how it actually worked... I guess they could've just talked directly to the audience instead, cause if not, then logically, i don't quite understand in what terms does the camera crew follow these characters xD like are they stalking them 24/7? You know? Doesn't really make sense.

But if i don't put too much weight on how that would actually work, and view it more like them talking to the audience, it get's easier to follow along. And after the 1st episode, i can comfortably saythat i liked this kdrama a lot. Not one of my favorites, because we didn't had enough time with all the characters (due to all these interviews). So instead we got a lighter way to convey these stories.

I liked all storylines honestly. Every couple has it's own and i like the adult feel a lot! i've been feeling sick and tired of innocent YA romances lately, so dramas that are about people reaching their 30s sounds a lot cooler to me now. Many say how the FL is too cold and weird, but i understood her feelings completely. After you lose yourself to a point of not even knowing who you are anymore, it's not easy to accept love from someone else, no matter how bad you actually want it and need it. As for the ML, we all have different ways of falling in love, so for him, he fell hard into it and couldn't give up on it for anything. So in some degree i also understand why he behaved like he did.

I would like love to always be cute and simple, but in the middle of having to pay your bills, family drama and personal crisis, dating can be smt really triggering. I liked these stories a lot. Unfortunately, it was too short to fully explore everyone's feelings, cause i actually wanted it to go even deeper than this. And that's why this is a 7 for me. If this kdrama didn't had this 4th wall thing, perhaps they would have more room to explain a few more things in a different way, but i appreciate the creativity.

From what i can tell a S02 will be in place! Even if the main focus will change, i think all these characters will keep popping into the screen from time to time, so i am hopeful for different outcomes later on for some of these characters.

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