Lovely Runner (2024)

Entertaining but plot feels lacking

This drama was entertaining - the actors did a great job, the music was great, and it contained all of the classic k-drama elements. I loved the side characters! However, the overall plot is a bit disappointing. The plot required a lot of coincidences to occur for the story to go on - while I think some of them are fine and can add to the comedic aspect of the drama, some of them felt very annoying. I was constantly yelling at the screen because the female lead was doing something unnecessary, especially towards the beginning of the drama. I found the ending for the main thriller plot quite disappointing as well. There were so many attempts at catching the bad guy throughout the entire show, but the final attempt was very quick and lackluster in comparison. The romance scenes and character dynamics were cute though.

Read More

It's unnecessarily long

It was better off being only 12 episodes. It was dragged on unnecessarily with cliched plots, mindless second lead dumping etc. This is infact highly overrated. Sunjae is a green flag, yes. But Im Sol is not. She's jumpy, confused and very very annoying. I love watching Hyeyoon trust me! Extraordinary You, Sky Castle, Snowdrop etc, she was marvellous in them. But this was cringe, straight up cringe. There's no business of this having 9 rating. A 7 would have been fine honestly. And it was too much of overlapping issues going on. Conclusively this is same typical cliched plot, nothing else.

Read More

Just a drama filled with all the cliched romantic scenes we have been watching for years

I am a Wooseok enjoyer so I decided on giving the series a try. As a fan of Wooseok, I am really happy he got his limelight through this show. But other than that there is nothing new or unique about this drama. Maybe the romance works well for new kdrama watcher. I am just so tired watching the show. The writers really didn't care to explore any other characters in this show. Except ml and fl, every other character are just there as a decorative purpose. The writers were hyper focused on fl saving the ml that they didn't even care about any character development in any of the characters in the story. Just bad writing and cringey fl doing random things leading her in trouble always. Don't know what's the hype abt this drama. Anyway Wooseok lets grab those awards for this year because he really was born to do this role and he played his part really well as always. Could have given better story for the sml, but unfortunately he is also just there to make the ml jealous and for decorative purpose.

Also, The fl's disability got forgotten and after few episodes it felt like she/the writers just ignored it. The writers should have made fl taking time and relive her past like Twinkling Watermelon show. The story and the characters were so shallow which is the main drawback imo. The show had two great lead actors (BWS and KHY) with good side actors but never fully used their potential.

Positive things
1. The comic timing and lil expression variations of BWS and KHY were so good.
2. The chemistry of the leads.
3. The first 5 episodes were really good.
4. Music/OST

Read More

Let me just say...

I'll be honest, I think the reason people love this show is because of Byeon Woo-Seok's portrayal of Sun-jae. The fact that he's very attractive, tall, and is generally likeable makes this show nice to watch, lol. The love story itself is interesting, but there's a few things I think the show did a poor job at.
1. I WISH that we got a richer back story on all the characters
2. I wish more things tied the ML and FL together besides the FL's ability to go back in time. Maybe if they had known each other since childhood rather than high school? Idk. I just feel like the relationship itself sort of lacked depth.
3. It would have been nice if the themes of class or poverty or something substantial were highlighted. Casting such attractive characters is great but I wish the producers/writers also put more thought into adding more complexity to this plot.
4. The person who was trying to hurt Im Sol -- wish we had background on him? Like if the reason he wanted to hurt was for revenge idk I just feel like it was a weird plot twist that made no sense to me. I wanted MORE! 😭

I like the relationship between the leads, I think the love story itself is nice, Sun-jae is a good bf, etc etc. But I just wanted more. There's 1000s of romantic storylines, but very few are able to have substance and unfortunately, as adorable the couple is, thats kind of the extent of what makes this show memorable. Their on-screen chemistry made me want to continue watching and it got me hooked on the show for a bit, but that's about it sadly.
Great songs though, 10/10.

Read More

Overall boring and frustrating

The plot seemed very interesting to me.

But I didn't like the execution, Im Sol seems super desperate to me, a lot of things have happened to her in life but she is still very immature, literally their lives are at stake and she is not able to take things seriously.

It is super frustrating to see that the other male protagonist was only a decoration throughout the entire series.

It was not well explained how time travel works, and it is good that it is not explained in depth, but how is it possible that the two of them and the grandmother have memories but the other characters do not? If the murderer also had memories of him it could have been much more interesting.

Apart from the fact that the killer looks super out of nowhere. They don't tell you anything about his motives or his story.

The story of the brother and the best friend is not funny, it is super frustrating, no one behaves that way and if they do it would be super cringey

Read More

my initial rating was 9, went to 7, went to 8, then ended at 5

it felt like a story inside of extraordinary you, totally "scripted", overly fantasy, bright, dreamy, with zero intellectual depth. one would say, it's a drama ofc it's scripted, but that's why mdl reviews need a "plot development" rating as well

as the story goes on, for a time traveling plot, one might be pleasantly surprised by the early twists and think, wow this is so well thought out, but reaching the halfway mark, and one starts to wonder, why is everything going in a spiral, new developments, but never any resolution

im sol, as a time traveler, was really really not smart. she never thought logically, and she was not really a teen to no think a bit more.
her first answer to anything was to run away, first cuz she didn't think she was good enough for him, then she thought he got swayed by her love and deluded himself into loving her, later she worried their love was the reason for his misfortunes...
so even when she could tell him about her truth, she still didn't think...


Some aspects are so frustrating, like both like each other but both act distant and cold
As if the writer controls them so they can’t be true to themselves, and later with their last plotmove, of making him forget her, she wonders why he's so cold when he was always a bright sweet person... did she have the amnesia as well? cuz literally he was cold to her from the start


Like her awkward “I’m not spending the night with you” just to see the bar sign two seconds later, just because it’s outside the shot doesn’t mean she couldn’t see it
or her saying "yes i'll stay the night" just to realize he wasn't talking to her... or him saying "so pretty" then say "i wasn't talking to you"


like he was happy she was there, and heard she wants to stay, yet he was the one who kept trying to make her leave
And every time he smiles outside the shot then acts cold in front of her

i hate that push and pull, cuz it's not cute flirting, it's bringing one down and embarrassing them, just so the confession looks sweeter
and it was fine for 18 year olds, but not for 34 year olds..




Like yeah sure he’s hurt about her young vr being so cruel to him and that also adds, if she didn’t love him as an idol she wouldn’t have cared for him as a guy and she’d have rejected him, so this drama wasn't about saving his life but about making sol stop being a self centered cringe fest to finally seeing the guy infront of her xD

but he’s not a teen anymore, again sure “being broken hearted and finding his true love” made him not date anyone even as a 30year old, but he doesn’t need to act like a kid, sure his pure hearted ness is cute but his coldness is such a kids behavior





This is what I like about this drama, it’s not just going back and fixing one or two things
It has consequences, unexpected elements and good back and forth that became too much by the end
Tho I do feel a bit of unfortunate lack of depth in character and friendships and connections but it doesn’t overshadow the good flow

I’m sensing a bit of the movie A Day from the taxi driver, but they never explained or explored it? literally no answers, he was just a random dude who randomly liked to kill random ppl and sungjae/sol were just some random ppl that randomly crossed his path?



Going back to a changed future is a cute touch and fun especially seeing sungjae is the same as always

Tbh I feel like sol accepting him as a friend and telling him to stay by her side would be sweet, cuz he’s not a creep and he can just approach her as if she doesn’t remember him and just be friends, but instead they had a whole reset, to "naturally" keep them away,,

They’re like dumb and dumber, solah as a teen was a handful, and not the cute na hido type

She was mean to her mom, she was clingy af, kinda like some day or one day’s young vr, you just can’t like her
Then comes her old self and some scenes it’s like she just freezes or faints, for the convenience of the writer
And sure he’s cute but he’ll also too obsessed about her, I don’t see them working out as teens, so at least not really meeting in the past saved him alot of cringe and heartache



The thing twinkling watermelon had that this doesn’t is the great characters, bonds and feeling of youth
Here the bro and fl friend are a snooze, the taxi thing is frustrating, his feelings are creepy and I now don’t like the “sol was the first love” it’s like now she only likes him cuz of his idolness rather than him as a person

Ironically if this drama didn’t have that ridiculous mystery element and just stayed as a time traveling romance drama where their worst struggle was her not being able to tell him anything and each thing she changed by being in the past made a new future, like anytime she changed the future, he dies, so ofc the answer would be keeping memories as memories and not meeting in the past so he can live
and I do have to say this, 34 year old sol, no matter how naive, kissing 18 year old sungjae, and the whole past romance parts, was eeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Read More

The romance and music are great. PLot Holes. And characterizations greatly diminish the enjoyment.

The effervescence around this drama is excessive. If one can watch without a critical eye it is absolutely wonderful And I agree. If you are The type of k drama watcher, who likes cohesive plots and well developed characters.Then you may have issues with this drama. It may still be well worth watching for the emotional beats and the music. The acting is very good and the couple is amazingly cute. I do not regret watching this show but it was stressful at times.

This is my first review. I wanted to present overall a more balanced view. I rely in part on these ratings to decide whether to watch a show or not. If I relied on the ratings and reviews here I would have thought this is The absolutely Best drama ever and this is definitely not the case.

Read More

Never ending loop of same events

This is my take on lovely runner so you don’t have to agree with it.
I couldn’t help but notice alot of similarities in plot of the movie 20th century girl and lovely runner. I will be pointing out those similarities because there are just soo many. I almost thought lovely runner was a drama adaptation of the movie with a time travel twist.
Firstly, Sunjae death in lovely runner and woon ho’s death in 20th century girl.
Secondly sol’s character had resemblance with Bora who is effortlessly cute and cheerful in the movie. Unfortunately Sol didn’t make us feel that way. She was annoying to say the least.
Thirdly , we discover Sun Jae fell for Sol first and same happened in the 20th century girl. The aesthetics, the video rental shop and the neighbourhood are similar too.
Finally , the love triangle that builds confusion between Sun Jae and Sol and it continues up till the middle of the show. This also happens in the movie. i feel the writer was either inspired by the 20th century girl or it was just too much of a coincidence.(LOL)

I absolutely love sun jae and I was rooting for him but sol ughh. I don’t know why but she annoyed me throughout the show. I don’t understand what was she trying to do as her actions were abrupt and not thought through. Poor sunaje suffered much for her.
Anyhow i might not rewatch the show as story was lacking depth.. Sol’s time travel and sunjae’s death keep repeating in a never ending loop. It was bizarre towards the end.

Read More

Very interesting plot only for it to breakdown halfway towards the end

Just for disclaimer i was both of the leads fans, but being a fan doesn't mean i can't critic their work ok.

I already watched this drama before it became the hot topic over the neighborhood lol, it was because i like the fl and the ml previous work (sky castle and 20th century girl). I was so crazy about it when episode 2 was dropped, i was gagged and it got more exciting.

But the disappointment hits me at 10ish episode, because there was no character or even plot development at all. The plot losed it focus when they started to date i think. I know the main point in this drama is to save sunjae, and this drama is a romcom, but i really really hope that the fl and ml could have more bond with other characters too. I think it got to the point that other characters are pointless(?) and written just to fill the void. The ml's world is only imsol, he will do anything just to be with imsol, it's like he has no character at all because his decisions are easily influenced by his loved ones (imsol) (i know it's a romcom but come on... you can be lovey dovey while doing other things too). Same goes for the fl... It's like their character couldn't care less about other people if it's not about their gf/bf.

And the fl character is bad written imo, thank god hyeyoon saves it with her acting. She's supposed to be 30s yo woman trapped in higschooler body, but she even acts more childish than the highschooler could be. I know sol's character main purpose is to save sunjae, but she's too careless, has no plan, and just couldn't think straight (and i can't relate to it maybe that's why i can't empathize with her character).

Overall the acting was good enough, and the chemistry was fire. But there were probably some parts that's not really enjoyable to watch. Idk if it's because sol character is bad written or whatever it's, but sometimes the "i'm shocked" in sol's face kinda unnatural and i could tell that she's trying to act there, but other than that it was just great.

It's just my opinion, yall could try to watch it if you're interested, because i swear the few early episodes was dope tho ngl.

Read More

Interesting Story ruined by Annoying FL

I know is hard to explain and picture but I loved and "hated" watching this at the same time..
There were too many moments where I really just had to push through because of how exasperated I was at what was happening on screen. (and the only reason I enjoyed it was honestly because, in between all of the cringy worthy dialogue and incredibly unbearably annoying actions, there truly are some really funny moments in this and I liked all of the supporting characters (for the most part, the brother is annoying af and so is her best friend but I'll give her a pass))

The story starts out with a very interesting and promising plot. from the get go we get introduced to this once-bitter female lead that has now changed into someone brighter and more positive because she was inspired by the male lead. However the situation is very cringy since she does start out as an obviously obsessed Kpop fan. doesn't matter why she started liking them, she ended obsessed. and that obsession/love for her idol ruins like 75% of the dialogue between the leads in the first like 7 episodes. she can't say something that doesn't sound stupid or crazy for the life of her.

The way they wrote the female lead really made this unbearable to watch sometimes.
She was super annoying and lacked any common sense. She was supposed to be acting like a 30 year old that goes back in time but instead she acts like she is 13 the entire time. Like, miss girl, did you NEVER watch ANY time travel media?? like, there are so many movies and tv shows about time travel that it can be considered general knowledge at this point. it should be obvious that if you travel back in time you should try and at least act normal about it. SHE NEVER ACTS NORMAL!! she is so incredibly dense.

I honestly wouldn't rewatch this drama ever, not even for the "good parts". Seriously. A drama not worth a rewatch is not a good drama.

Casting 20/10 tho.. Loved the actors. ❤️


edit: okay, some of yall are not understanding. I personally, did in fact watch the whole thing and found it good. Simple as that.
There were annoying moments and things that I could, and have, nick-picked about the female lead because I can. It's my opinion and my take on my watching experience. that's it.

Read More