TvN's ongoing K-drama Love Next Door starring Jung Hae-in and Jung So-min became fans' favourite with the release of just the first four episodes. After the episodes aired, the K-drama lovers pointed out many similarities with other K-Drama which premiered this year including Lovely Runner, Doctor Slump and Queen Of Tears. Lovely Runner, starring Byeon Woo-seok and Kim Hye-yoon, was well-received despite its modest viewership ratings. The drama's storyline follows Ryu Sun-Jae, a former swimmer turned singer and actor, and his devoted fan Im Sol, with a narrative twist involving time travel that explores themes of love and destiny.
In Love Next Door, the focus shifts to Bae Seok Ryu, a woman who returns to Korea after facing personal and professional challenges, reconnecting with her childhood friend Choi Seung Hyo, now a successful architect and CEO. Starring Jung Hae-in and Jung So-min, this romantic comedy shares some similarities with Lovely Runner, especially in the portrayal of the male protagonists-both of whom are swimmers. However, the two dramas diverge significantly in their narratives, with Love Next Door featuring a romantic comedy angle rather than the time-travel elements of Lovely Runner.
Fans have also drawn parallels between Love Next Door and other popular 2024 K-dramas like Doctor Slump and Queen of Tears, highlighting recurring themes and character arcs that resonate across different series.
A X (formerly Twitter) user wrote, "Doctor slump/love next door parallels are keeping me up at night. I haven't seen anyone mentioning how these two scenes are so similar."
Another one wrote, "#LoveNextDoor is literally 2024 dramas combined into one. It has the Doctor slump's quits job trope, Welcome to Samdalri's childhood friends to lovers trope, lovely runners- the ML (male lead) wanted to be a swimmer but couldn't trope and possibly a queen of tears terminal illness trope."
While a tweet read, "just finished watching #LoveNextDoorEp2 and as expected even from the poster itself, this drama and #DoctorSlump are literally siblings, especially on that scene where female leads talk about their burn out and struggles," another one wrote, "falling in the pool, time capsule,"let's spend the night with me", ml changing career path because he can't swim anymore, the couple living opposite each other...idk about you but I think this is the recipe to the most top tier romcom you'll ever see."
Both Love Next Door and Lovely Runner are available for streaming on various platforms, with Love Next Door premiering on August 17, 2024, airing new episodes on tvN and Netflix every Saturday and Sunday at 09:20 PM (KST). Doctor Slump and Queen Of Tears are also available on Netflix.