Lovely Runner (2024)

An amazing start, but...

1. Something about "fix me" stories as it relates to people with disabilities just doesn't sit right with me, I was hoping the part of the story about the FL being a wheelchair user would return, at the very least because it was wrapped very quickly, but instead it was mainly used to further the plot, with few moments focused on representation, which was disappointing.

2. The serial killer plot dragged on for sooooo long and it ended in such an anticlimactic way, it felt like in the end the writer didn't know what to do with the guy.

3. The constant timeline changes killed the momentum, especially the last one because I absolutely despise the amnesia trope, I find it usually useless because it puts a stop at the character/relationship development.

All of that means that if the drama was shorter, around 12 episodes, some of the issues with the storytelling could have been resolved, at least for me. All in all though, I did enjoy the lead couple immensely, no matter the little things I disliked, their chemistry always made up for it in the end.

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Overdid the time travel

To my surprise there wasn’t much to the story. It was quite plain. The writer didn’t overcomplicate the time travel theme which is good but it doesn’t mean there can’t be interesting factors in the plot. The writer didn’t think out of the box much Simply put I lost interest several times while watching the show.

I don’t care about how the time travel(the watch) worked. I liked the simplicity of it but story was too monotonous. There were no “wow” moments. Sol could time travel many times as she wanted so what’s the catch here? Time travel lost the charm simply by overdoing it and coming back with the same problems. Why drag the show for that long! It could’ve easily been a 12 episode drama. Too many filler episodes.

The 2nd lead guy didn’t had much relevance in the story or on sol’s choices same as many other characters !! The comedy had off timing. One moment something serious was happening and the next moment something totally lame. Sol herself wasn’t serious. As the main character she was lacking and wasn’t doing anything sensible that will make you support her.
Sunjae on the other hand was portraying a “boy in love” and we loved him. Mostly bcz he was unaware of what was going on. He was loveable character. But I can’t say that about Sol. Overall it was okay but bit boring.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Still undeserving high rating. Show has a negative message

9.1 is crazy high. Show still needs a rating for what it truly deserves

This show being in the same position like some of the few 9 above rated shows in this site seems like an insult. Try checking the other 9 above rated ones here and I wouldnt complain. God, there's even lower rated dramas that deserved a 9 but didnt make it. I recently just rewatched Story of Yanxi Palace too ( best c-drama) and that show is stuck at 8.8 here. Then i'll just give my own opinion of what I've digested from this show as to feel validated for this trouble.

The Good:
OST, Attractive and talented main actors (BWS is the clickbait of the show), good editing. Thats it.
The Bad:
Storytelling, Characters, and Moral story.

Storytelling:
No need to talk about the good, let's start with the bad. The plot of lovely runner has been done many times and is simple as it gets, I was actually curious how they would execute it as long as it holds out. Story was solid, not unique but alright. It wasn't a standout time travel plot like taiwanese drama 'Someday but Oneday' but Lovely Runner need none of it since all they had to do was to be consistent in story telling, but thats the first disappointment. Storytelling of the show was dead and non cohesive. They introduced our depressed female lead had a disability, then our kpop idol male lead who had a mysterious regret. Great start but for some reason they abandoned this part to the point where everything later on is just shrugged off literally because everything becomes solved with our plot device called time travel.
Throughout episodes 2-16 the show literally forgot the story introduction and became a forced love till death do us apart story instead of like showing us how our main leads cope with their initial problem then later on learning how to love because it was instantly solved with the continuous time travel. She had a disability, well one time travel later it's fixed! and goes on to never ponder about it again. He had a troublesome regret, well one time travel later it's fixed! and never ponders about it again. Same goes to the side characters, they had a problem before, well one time travel later it's fixed! Sure. Genuinely theres nothing wrong with time travel and making it as a solution to the plot's conflict and LR isnt the only one doing it but LR is taking the wrong path and it's proven towards the end. Our main leads literally did not suffer consequential matters that were done by time travel cause it was fixed again and again. It's like LR is a water filled transparent vase that keeps on getting broken and the writer keeps on putting a patch to seal it. As to why this is problematic, I talk about it later down on the moral story of the show. Let's move on to the characters.

Characters:
One dimensional characters to the point where they were written to be perfect for each other. Too perfect perhaps. When they genuinely have interaction, we never get a gist of their human thoughts because it will be used as filler time to put fluff romance and unintelligent dialogue, same goes to the other characters. Like I said, the story itself wasn't difficult so the plot should've been the characters but they were just given dead and unrealistic characteristics. What goes on FL's mind besides the ML? and etc. Basically they were written to be fated and meant for each other 'cause they gave us the reason why but the show spare zero effort to give us a reason how.
Let's not even start with the villain. It already has the trope that is rampant in Kdramas, the mysterious killer. But the mysterious killer isn't so mysterious because he's literally a random with no background that was given an excuse to be psychopathic but turns out to just be lazy writing. Atleast other kdrama dared to give their mysterious serial killer to be mysterious and even given a acceptable motive.

Moral story:
Earlier I mentioned how time travel was used as a plot device for fixing the problems this show has and why it's bad. The main reason is because Lovely Runner's story and conclusion made us feel that way. Time travel dramas would give the viewers a message that going back in time would be consequential and morally give a message.
Last year, Twinkling Watermelon aired and also introduced time travel. There, the main leads get caught up to the past of their parents. This experience led them into their character development and eventually the conclusion of the show. The leads wanted to change the present but was lead to the inevitable. None of the things that happened in their time travel changed the literal present timeline but instead what ended up changing is our main characters and how they view themselves and their parents. This is how you leave positive a message for your story. Think again, why did China ban time travel dramas, they did it to not confuse the mass as they think it leaves a bad message. So recent C-drama time travel would come up with ways to make sure it doesn't conflict with the ban.
Lovely Runner's plot has an unhealthy message. The biggest no was when they bypassed through Im Sol's disability just like that using time travel and never to be explored ever again. The story couldve used this opportunity to simply give Im Sol the moment to cope and live on through this disability to leave out a positive message. It's such a negative outlook to such problems that if you're ill fated then all you need to basically change your fate is with a simple time travel and fix problems easily like that, no room for acceptance whatsoever.

Still Lovely Runner, without the criticism should still be a solid 7.5. Despite all, the fluff and romance is definitely the best in recent k-drama release. I just hope people carefully digest a show before easily handing out 10s in MDL.

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I Feel unsatisfied

The storyline started off great for the first 5 episodes. I was thinking "Wow this is great, I am invested in this" Then for some reason, it took a nose dive and I ended up fast-forwarding from episodes 8- 16.
Reasons:

1) I saw and felt ML love and obsession for FL. He was too into her if you ask me. Every time he saw her name, saw her, she called him or she seemed to be in trouble he would drop everything and go with her or stalk her.
Kind of weird how a cute/attractive teenager and adult never likes or has a crush on another woman in all that time.
Anyway, I felt his love for the FL. He portrayed the love, obsession, and angst very well.

2) The FL lead did not portray the love nor I don't think she said it ( as far as I can recall from all the fast-forwarding I did) that she loved the ML. She said she liked him a lot during the college time frame I believe and he said " I love you" but I never heard her say she loved him.
She treated him as if she was still just a fan, just like him as a fan, and wanted to, of course, save him from being killed. The FL portrayed the crying emotions, worry, teenage crush on that 2nd ML, and anxiousness to find the killer very well. But, to my eye and feeling she did not seem to portray the love it seems they were trying to portray she should feel even in the present time frame.
She did not show angst/yearning for ML when they could not be together or were apart. It was like they have cutesy moments, she gets distracted with a shiny ball/interest, and then she puts him out of her mind. It is the ML who is constantly making an effort to contact her to stay in her orbit.

3) Also why does she still seem like she has only the thoughts/experiences of a teenager when she went back in time as a late 20's/30 year old. I know she was in a wheelchair for a while etc.. but her hearing/seeing and experience of human experiences should not still be of a teenager. Romantic relationships yes, she did not have those experiences in the present time. I don't know. It frustrated me how they wrote the FL lead lines and how she acted it out. Did she put her " savior" ML on a pedestal as an adult when she was a fan and did not have romantic fantasies about him? I know she was in a wheelchair and did not think it was possible to date anyone, but most female fans still have romantic notions about male celebrities. That is where her " liking' him should have a head start in the feelings moving on to love when she goes back in time with all her memories and feelings intact.

4) Also are they trying to say that teenage FL and adult FL switch places in the same time frame when the adult version goes back to being a teenager? Like the same day? That is why she dated and still has a soft spot for 2ML? They could have kept that just as friendship and developed her feelings for ML even more. It just made it weird/icky that she kept hanging around ML, while dating 2ML and ML did not mind ( actually sought her out ) doing activities together knowing she was dating 2ML.

Anyway, it was okay, I don't get the hype. I am waiting for the ML to have a costar who complements him well as his partner and gives their all. Strong Girl Book Soon (or whatever it is called) and this one, did not have a good FL chemistry and or storyline.

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