Lovestruck in the City (2020)
Review of Lovestruck in the City / 도시남녀의 사랑법 (2020)
I first saw this drama and was intrigued not by the title, but because of the main pairing. I didn’t think at first that it was going to work.
The male lead was Ji Chang-wook, playing a role I haven’t seen him in awhile—he was more lighthearted in this drama, and played an architect who had his heart broken by the female lead.
The female lead is played by Kim Ji-won, who I fondly remember from my very first K-drama ever, The Heirs. She’s also in Descendants of the Sun. I haven’t seen her in much else, but she also was playing a very different role than what I’ve seen her in previously.
Lovestruck in the City is about breakups. And your world colliding with your ex’s in the strangest ways possible. I will say, if you had a traumatic breakup and get triggered by watching these kinds of things in-detail, this is 100% not the show for you. I myself was triggered a little at times because I’m sensitive about the topic and had to pause and distract myself to avoid bringing back unwanted memories.
Besides that little disclaimer, let’s jump into this review!
Content
What’s very unique about this drama is that the actual narrative unfolded is originally presented in a narrative format. Each of the main characters, all of six of them, are interrogated about what’s about to happen in the episode, providing thoughts from the future about what’s happened.
Our male lead is a passionate architect. A year before the events of this drama, he met a girl on the beach of Yang Yang, who is our female lead. She is working in a ramen shop and is operating under a fake name, which is the name he gets to know her under.
They fall in love, but, one day, she disappears and never contacts him again. Betrayed, he never got over his feelings for her and still searches for her and the camera she stole from him.
Fast forward. Our female lead is a marketer, while her friend’s boyfriend is an architect working with our lovely male lead.
This leads to them meeting again, him discovering that she was using a fake name, and a whole mess of feelings that arise out of the situation. But, at the same time, we’re witnessing the gradual breakup of the other two friends and another breakup between a novelist and a gym teacher. Love is truly in the air y’all, I swear.
It’s a nice series with good, scenic shots that provide visual candy. I liked the shots of Seoul at night and in the snow, I thought they added to the slightly bleak atmosphere being brought on by the breakup concept.
I also totally understand the female lead’s dilemma, although Ji Chang-wook’s character acts like she’s nuts for operating under a fake alias and for lying to him in that way. But I understand her, I think this is a situation you really need to emphasize with and go in with an open-mind.
I honestly didn’t like the interview format though? I thought it broke the natural rhythm and pacing of the story. Perhaps if it was something that was sprinkled in at the end I would’ve been more on board with it, but because it was cutting into the actual story and transitioning between the two, I found it slightly jarring and unnatural. All in all, wasn’t not a fan of the way that was presented.
Overall Thoughts
I didn’t think the main couple casting was going to work, but, at the end of the day, it worked out a lot better than I thought it was going to.
Outside of it following what may be a hard topic for some (cough cough me), I think this was a pretty decent drama that was more realistic than a lot of dramas I’ve consumed in the past year or two. It doesn’t really rely on any tropes and it feels so real.
So mature. I also cackled at Min-ho from SHINee giving a grand performance at this. He did a solid job in his few parts.
