Love in the Big City

"I wonder why you sleep in utter silence like you're constantly on tiptoe. As if you're never home, no matter how long you've lived here. "

You can't imagine how deeply those words resonated with me.

Raw, honest, and exquisitely crafted in both writing and direction. I've rarely seen a Korean drama capture realism this authentically. It feels like a snapshot of life-its highs and lows, the connections we build, the love we chase, and the way we drift apart.

The storytelling was masterful, following Go Young as he navigates through the complexities of the world around him, capturing the sense of belonging and alienation we all sometimes face. The narrative is heavy yet beautifully simple, a quiet reflection of what it means to be alive. I found myself laughing, yelling, feeling joy, peace, sadness, and despair. The bond between Go Young and Gyuho left me shattered.

Nam Yoonsu's performance was magnetic-it's hard not to be captivated by him. The entire cast delivered outstanding performances. I sincerely hope more shows like this are made.

This was a raw and realistic journey that has the characters plucking our emotional heartstrings. The tenderness of relationships, contrasted with the agony in lessons of self awareness breathes life into this series. I haven't read the original material and so I can only comment on the series itself. Our main lead did a beautiful job illustrating the cycle of growth within young love, attachment, ignorance, maturing and the painful art of reflection. The visceral nature of the content allows the viewer to reflect on their own life journey and relate to the characters - ah yes, I remember that stage of life. I loved the stationary thread of the group of friends that allowed us to weave in and out of the story of lovers, love, attachment and relationships - death, loss, regret and still come home to friendship. So many beautiful reflections that ultimately brings an appreciation back to how much we go through as humans exploring love, life and death. Wonderful acting, fantastic writing, beautiful story and well worth the watch.

Gosh, i love how this drama is really broke me mentally, and i also love how realistic this drama is, unlike other bl that's dont reveal the real life of being a queer in this society. Love in the big city also show some sort of things real gay people do like having another gay friend, having an ally girl bestfriend, hookup culture (not a nice thing to do tho), and having a religious parent (i cried a lot during some episode since its so relatable to me) yep, that's what you got from a story that written by a real gay man, pain and suffer... I need more realistic queer drama like this tbh, an absolute masterpiece 11/10.

Creating a movie or series based on a novel always comes with risks. How do you convey a story from hundreds of pages into a few hours, will the readers depiction of the characters align with the casting, and how far can you sway from the thread of the original story and still make it work?

Being gay myself, and spending some time in Seouls gay area of Itaewon, my mind already had very clear images while reading the book. Spending time in Korea also made me understand the culture and social constructs more. Understanding these things made reading the book a joy, but it also made me a bit sceptical of this production. Considering above mentioned, I feared that a series would be dull and lack details not seen as "appropriate" for Korean TV. But I was wrong: this is a total homerun!

The series conveys the story of the novel in a beautiful way. It's packed with details and direct quotes, only leaving out things that really does not impact the thread of the story. Even tho I did not really recognize the main characters physical features from the novel, it did not matter one bit. His bright but somewhat melancholic energy is on point, and all the other characters were depicted amazingly well. I found myself feeling a lot more watching this compared to reading the novel, which to me is quite unusual. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece when it comes to cinematography, but it does punch way above most other LGBT productions. Well done, hats off!

Love In The Big City is the best drama I've seen this year. The first of its kind to come out of a conservative and homophobic country like South Korea. A coming-of-age slice of life lgbtq drama that promises to entice viewers with its unique plot and outstanding cinematography. With an outstanding lead actor Nam Yoon-Su who portrays Ko Young and once again proved just how talented he is as an actor. Outstanding Casting and writing love in the big city is indeed groundbreaking. Absolute cinema that deserves accolades. I enjoyed this drama and it's on my rewatch list. Congratulations to the author for his creative work and success.