Lovely Runner (2024)

Cheesy, thoughtless, incomplete details

I'm sorry my dear friends - I truly tried to be fair and complete the episodes. But from ep.10 itself it started dragging so badly that I barely managed to torture myself till ep.12.
It had so much promise so I waited for all episodes to be released then decided to binge watch. But alas!

Maybe the story/ screen play writer went back in time and forgot to come back??
Or they flew into the future and left the balance script for amateurs to fill in the gaps??
Whatever.....it's an irresponsible story with vague events, one sided chemistry from the ML, worthless romance etc etc.

Is someone beating you guys up that you have to produce such high quantity at the risk of poor low quality dramas?

I have not seen one decent romance k drama to date in 2024.

Your country, culture and wonderful entertainment has taken the world by storm - hope you can go back to making high quality dramas with some time, effort and love ?

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He may be the most successful Stan in history

This started off pretty depressing. Based on the massive amount of love and fluff posted in socials, I was taken a back by the first scenes with our leads. While it was unexpected, I do wish they would have leaned more into that plotline. The first episode was a great foundation to open up the depth of the characters, especially Sol. I was disappointed by the lack of development in her character. Her logic matched that of her teenage self more than the 'grown woman' who was traveling back and forth in time. I think we were all annoyed at her attempts to help Seon Jae but push that poor guy away.

Seon Jae. The newest tree in the forest of green men. A cinnamon roll. As stated in the above title, he is the most successful Stan in history. This man not only pined after her as teens but held onto her (mentally) in just about every timeline. I would have loved to see more about his side of the world as things changed. He really provided the community with unrealistic bf expectations. From the hand scene in E4 to the apologizing to her when he couldn't remember, when SHE removed herself from the narrative.

The side characters didn't add much but I really enjoyed them. I would have loved some more screen time for Tea Sung, In Hyuk, and Hyun Joo (minus the husband, he was aggravating as all hell.)

I see a lot of people ranking this at a 4/5 or a 10. I'm somewhere in the middle. I liked the storyline and characters but they took an interesting idea and watered it down.

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breaking my silence ( i put whatever in the star rating because i want to finish it first)

The drama started out fun and great but it started going down hill after the "highschool arc" , she avoided him in the most absured ways giving me second hand embaressment instead of talking and making it clear she wants nothing to do with him tf . But i still had hope, a part of me did'nt want this show to go even further down the drain , i had hope that they will salvage it somehow and pick up the pace when they made up . I really waited and suffered through out the whole collage missunderstanding thing , the light at the end of the tunnel started shinning and i was as hopeful as i can get when they he finally figured out the future thing , i ran till the end of this tunnel following the bright hopeful light and when i finally reached it it turned dark and all i could feel was the despair of the fucking disaster of episode 13. it was so bad i just finished watching it right now and started to write this . Episode 13 was so bad it made me write a goddamn essay , and the thing that makes my blood boil is the fact that people LIKED the episode , am i the problem ??? i don't wanns say too much about the episode because i already reviewd it in the episode 13 review , but the ending actually made me almost cry ........out of anger lmaooo beacuse please tell me why did she do that , now all the other 12 episode mean nothing quite literally .

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Writers gave more effort on the fluff than the plot

Personally, I enjoyed it. The leads are engaging, and I love chemistry. It's cliché, yes, but the same cliché wouldn't work if the actors didn't have the same chemistry as BWS and KHY. Heartwarming and fluttering, not as heavy as the first episode suggested. (Although my expectation was the show would deep dive into mental health of idols and tackle the issues with great careness)

If we're talking objectively, the time travel aspect could've been executed better:

1.) They shouldn't have made Sol able to do a time freeze. That power alone could've helped Sol escaped so many bad and life threatening situations, but they didn't utilize it other than her sneaking into SJ's room. That was such a wasted opportunity and big flaw in Sol's characterization. Everytime Sol is in a bad situation, that's all I could think of in my head "Time freeze!"

2.) They were doing well with minimizing plotholes until the last quarter, when they decided it'd be a good idea to break the time travel rules they'd established in the beginning. Once a show breaks its own logic, plotholes keep piling up that'd be hard to patch, and that's what happened here. It almost felt like the writer had a good idea of an ending but not the path to get there.

3.) Villains do not need a backstory, but with how deeply entangled the serial killer is in Sol and Sunjae's fates, it didn't make sense that we didn't even know his modus operandi. We don't need the killer's backstory, but at least understanding his motives would give layers to his almost never ending deep fate entanglement with the leads. The whole fate concept fell flat and came to an underwhelming conclusion.

Rewatch value is low for me because the show is riddled with editable slow mo scenes of the leads and they're all over social media anyway. The plot itself is too underwhelming to sit through again.

The show fell into the typical romance tropes trap after a great introduction. If you're here for the cuteness and fluff of the show, this drama is filled with that. This is a feel-good drama all around so I'm not surprise people resonated with it.

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Started off well , ended up a cliched mess

I guess i am also one of the very few who cannot rave about this show and this review will not be liked by most of the current (young) audiences but well since i watched i will provide my thoughts

I was attracted by clips of first few episodes and story line thinking it will be "we. will cross all hurdles including time and space" type of love story which i am up for watching anytime but i was disappointed big time.
First two episodes was gripping. First wave of disappointment came in when there was fire in Im Sol's house . What was it ! why that sequence which did not make sense and its utterly annoying to see such stupidity. Its not comedy if it does not fit into the flow of the sequence. Randomly these sequences are integrated. There are some comic scenes which is really good but most just falls flat and importantly it does not contribute to the story in any way.

But what really doused my interest is ML already liking her and with just one look and no interaction in original timeline .Liking her to the point where he cares nothing but her. That just destroyed the premise for me .
ML cares about swimming for first few episodes then he doesnt give a damn. After that its like a list of cute scenes or crying scenes but really what is their relationship if we dont see them sit and talk and discuss other than saying they are happy !. He was a student who worked hard for it and now he is just a romantic goof .
If only their relationship was built with more substance where she comes back to save him , bcs she saw him as a person who gave back her spirit of life but then slowly turns into something more and the same with him but no.. it all stays in a very superficial level.
Even FL does not show any maturity when she is supposed to be 34 year old in the body of 20 year old and that too for a person who has gone through so much and when she remembers all of that! Being full of life is not same as acting all teenage like!

Psycho story line is a mess as well. A criminal attacked police officers and how come he is still roaming around and police officers are listening to a teenage girl what to do!! No wonder they could not keep a criminal in hand cuffs in place lol.
And then later he also manages to come to a 5 star hotel to attack the ML. wow! thats hell of a security and policy system this world has!

Same with SML and ML's friend . ML did not even know where his friend lived. And SML one day became buddies with them and enjoying in the beach ( another beach scene cliche thats a must i suppose) when he had his own gang which disappeared ?
Point is none of this characters or the relationship is built up on a solid base that you care about them (Cant help but think of SOOD here)

Only good thing is the leads and the actors who do have a good comic timing ( but sadly all are over the top or out of place)

This plot had the potential to be as good as Someday or one day. Sigh ..

PS : i am still giving ratings more than what i think it deserves

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I guess this drama would be best if it is watched one episode per week, at least for me.

Not a hate review. You should give it a try and make up your own mind and DON'T TRUST A REVIEW.
I always gonna say I like Kdramas BUT still I have some problems. People loved this drama. I got it when your watching an on going show every week, it keeps your curosity BUT when you watch a show which has been released, it's not that mesmerizing anymore. Same with this show. I liked it but still it has no story except she went back to change SunJae' fate. THAT'S IT. SHE GOES BACK TO CHANGE FUTURE AND NOTHING. I mean she said it herself in the 14th episode: "That our fate was just going around in circles". I got through the 8 episodes and I was like what they gonna show us in the remaining 8 episodes. But it was same old story. She goes back. No side story.
I know they (writer) have a way of telling their own story but hate me if you have to but it seems like parents has no play in it neither their friends. I hate it how they put aside Tae Sung character like he has no future for atleast 13 episodes. Kim Won Hae (SunJae' father), great actor but I don't know why he accepted this role. He was just their for entertainment. Like in episode 12 they gave him a "stuck in a bathroom" scene like they had nothing to show more. What's with that?
Of course it was interesting but still not addictable. I think it got my attention from 1rth episode and I finally found the stability I was looking for.
All in all you guys give it a try if you haven't because everyone has a different perspective. I liked it but expected more maybe, I don't know ?.

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"First Love Again."

First and foremost, Lovely Runner is a rom-com. Meaning that if you came to watch some science fiction fantasy drama which is a stickler for rules of time travel, this drama isn't for you. [The title of my review is from a 2021 CDrama, which has a very similar plot, but with the laws of nature governing the whole thing.]

But, if you are looking out for a real wholesome one, Lovely Runner is just perfect for you. It's a well written, well-paced, romantic, comedic and heartwarmingly satisfying.

Im Sol, a wheelchair bound 34 year old woman, is an avid fan of Ryu Sun Jae, the lead singer of a boy band Eclipse.
It's not a simple relationship either – His words had inspired her to keep living on, and to add to that, he also had happened to go to the high school close to hers. In spite of her disadvantages that hinder her from applying for her dream job, she still maintains a cheerful demeanor.
However, her life takes a drastic turn when she finds out that the person who had encouraged her to live on had committed suicide. When she is stricken by grief, fate gives her another chance – Ryu Seon Jae’s watch, which she had bought for a hefty sum at an auction becomes a time machine and she hurtles to the year 2008.
Now, stuck in her high school self, Im Sol snatches the chance to befriend the teenage Ryu Seon Jae (whom she had ignored in her youth) and change his fate. This also meant that she has the chance to avoid the accident that crippled her and distort the future.
But, as she begins to change the past, she realizes that there are some things just can not be altered.


☆ The Plot + Romance:

Lovely Runner is nothing new in terms of plot. What I loved were the characters and the relationships between them. I think this is what most people loved about it and hence the drama's sky high ratings. I have mixed feelings about the “plot”, but as it's a rom-com, I'll try to overlook it.

Romance is a strong building block; yet at the beginning it's evident that Im Sol treated Sun Jae as her “idol” rather than a real person.

But, the transition to love and the absolute possibility of their relationship was genuine.
An Idol meeting a fan and falling in love?
In the case of LR, Im Sol and Sunjae were already neighbors and had met before, it was just that he was a person who passed by her life without ever influencing it ‘directly’.

It was both sad and comedic to see Im Sol attempt to rescue Sun Jae from his fate, particularly when she couldn't tell him anything about the future.
[This plot point got lost somewhere after EP10… or did it?]

Both Sun Jae and Im Sol were innocent people to begin with. Heck, even their friends and relatives are funny and nice people in general - hence, there is absolutely ‘NO’ additional drama.
Also, it was an added bonus to see a ML who was for once, not an all knowing God. Dude was legit dumb.

In Hyuk and Sun Jae’s bromance, Sun Jae and his father’s antics, Im Geum’s dreams, Sol and the relationship with her grandmother, mother, Tae Seong (the 2nd ML and my favorite character) and her best friend together were just heartwarming to watch.

I did feel that there was a distinct difference between the original timeline and the altered version where Sun Jae dies.
In the original timeline, it looked like the scriptwriter went with the way of the webtoon and had Sun Jae actually commit suicide. (It might be because of the way it was shot.) The other timeliness however, showed a stark difference from EP1 and followed the ‘thriller’ aspect.

I still feel a bit irked about a quote that never became a reality. But, hey, the drama was fulfilling.

☆ Also, this is one emotionally draining drama. Hats off to Kim Hye Yoon for managing to bring about both comedy and tears in a seamless manner. She had that Song Yi Ren kind of energy and was very flexible as a 34 year old grown woman stuck in the body of a teenager, which might've
become awkward had it been any other actress.

I had never heard about Bye Woon Seok, except in passing after the ‘Strong Girl’ drama but, oh dear. Both his comedic scenes as well as the emotional ones were spot on.
[One of my friends was contemplating whether to watch this or not after it aired, and another one advised her that it's ‘either death or villain’ when it comes to him.]

I'll definitely be checking out their future works. Even In Hyuk and Tae Seong had their moments.

☆ Soundtrack: KDramas rarely disappoint in this department. Every song went well with the scenes, but if I could listen to a song all by itself, then it would be ‘Monologue' by Jae Eon and ‘You & I’ by Eclipse.

It's been a long time since I watched a KDrama while on air. It reminded me of those times when they actually managed to grab my attention and continue watching them. I've been serial dropping KDramas a lot since the one hour runtime and emotional investment is much more than CDramas. This one is a surprise from 2024.
It reminded me strongly of ‘Legally Romance’ and ‘First Love Again’ both of which were memorable dramas I liked and had similarities to.

A solid 7.5 from me. I cut off points as I felt that something went ‘missing’ with the story after a couple of episodes. The characters were the only thing that kept me going. [Updated the score from 8.5 to 7.5 because I don't think I'll be revisiting this drama anytime soon. Perhaps I might change the rating if I rewatch it.]

Anyways, one thing I learnt from time travel dramas is that I'll be single for a very, very, very long time unless someone from some other parallel universe risks everything to travel through space and time to meet me.

All in all, it was a wonderful journey. I hope that both Im Sol and Sun Jae manage to meet each other in every universe, however slim the chance is. (And that Kim Tae Seong never changes.)

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Unnecessary dragged

The first episode had me hooked but as the show progressed the story became just like any other Kdrama. Don’t know why some scenes and characters reminded me of true beauty. The character tae sung had uncanny resemblance with true beauty’s seo jun. Anyhow i wish there was more depth to the characters as female lead seemed shallow and same with some other characters. The female lead got on my last nerves with her stupid choices. The more chances she gets to go into the past the more dumb and careless she behaves and gets herself in trouble. I do feel bad for sunjae.

I still continued to watch it but Episode 8 is when it all went down. I was okay with the cliches too but episode 8 completely ruined it for me. Time travel become a joke at this point. Even sunjae’s feelings become a joke based on how conveniently Sol expressed her feelings 14 years later and he didn’t ask for an explanation? Like his feelings literally become so irrelevant after this point because no matter what sol does he kept clinging to her like a puppy. I hated to watch her travel back into past again. I wish they had ended the drama at episode 8 where they confessed feelings and got together. THE END but noo the writers had to drag the story even if they have nothing new to add to develop the plot.
I can easily guess what the final episodes are going to be about soo not curious at all.
Ps I know it’s seems stupid to drop a drama soo close to the finale but it cringe so bad when things get lame. I gave this drama a fair shot but…

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