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I'll start with the actors — The actors did a really great job portraying their characters. It's like it was made especially for them to act. From the female lead crying and acting tough and the male lead acting like an idol, swimmer, etc.., to the antagonists annoying the hell out of me. Bonus point to that is the chemistry of everyone.For the plot — I have seen other K-Drama with the same "time-traveling" plot, but this one added some twist & turns on it. It kept me on edge until the end. Usually, when I watch K-Drama, I skip 1/4 of its scenes as there are of course awkward and cringey scenes but this one, if you're into sweet, kind-of childish couple, you would find yourself watching almost every part of it without skipping.
Finally, for the storyline — Of course, this isn't a perfect one. You would still find holes in the story such as "why is the grandma like this" or "why is the watch the "portal"" but I guess that might get answered by the Season 2.
Overall, it's not a new concept of K-Drama, but it does deserve the hype.
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Run away from this drama
The story is promising until it becomes unbearable, beginning with some interesting facets, highlighting issues of the wheelchair bound people, parasocial fan culture, mental health struggles, time travel and the rules of this particular version. Once Sol and Seon Jae meet, there is no chemistry though the engaging mystery of the lead figuring out her situation and how it works kept the pace going, but soon there is clearly not enough plot to to sustain 9 episodes, let alone 16 episodes of hour+ runtime because it just relies on tropes to pad out the runtime with all of the interesting set up just abruptly ending, unexplored and unaddressed. What the drama became was like the writer is actually desperate to write a comedy and is also really bad at it. There are so many shouty scenes of endless misunderstood moments, withholding information and intentions, stupid testosterone contests, side characters bickering that go on forever.The acting of the leads aren't good enough to elevate anything either. The second lead Tae Sung is comparatively better than the rest and the character is the only one that has growth and change throughout the story which helps to make his quirky scenes that don't involve the inane one upmanship with Seon Jae, actually funny. Sol has always acted immature even as a 34 year old adult and her entire focus just revolves around Seon Jae when she goes back in time. She doesn't get to have an substantial moments to develop her bond with other people like her family who were also facing some serious problems like her mom's health, her grandma's eventual mental decline, or even her friend and future sister in law. Everyone is just a comedy bit. Even Tae Sung with his father when he rushes to the hospital after his dad was nearly killed by the escaped serial killer, the show just leaves it at a comedy bit. Seon Jae is actually even more immature as a 34 year old in all iterations of his life and also doesn't have a single serious moment with his father. The leads have no dimension in addition to no chemistry, so their relationship has no weight. Truck sama wiping out the serial killer is the ultimate lazy conclusion. They should have had Sol behind the wheel at least. The show hates depth and characterization. The sky high mdl rating as of this writing confounds me, there are dramas that are way better that don't have anywhere as near high ratings.
I do not recommend this drama. If you want a well done time travel back to high school plot to save a guy, watch Love for Love's Sake.
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"Memories don't disappear. They are smeared into your soul."
This drama fully entertained me. It has some very good looking actors, lots of laugh out loud moments, an interesting storyline and all of the characters have different quirks which makes it a very enjoyable watch.This was also the first time when the OST didn't bother me. Most of the time if an OST is repeated several times I just get bored and it soon starts to annoy me, but in this drama (even though I don't remember the name of the song) it made me happy every time I heard it.
The story itself was really good, although I feel like some moments need a little more work on them, like for example, when Im Sol went back in time and she could walk again, she only acknowledged it for an episode and moved on. I think that if a character truly spent over 5 years (and most likely more) in a wheelchair, they would need more time to readjust.
Also, I feel like this drama could have been a tad bit shorter. The time travelling kind of reset all of the progress that Im Sol made and it frustrated me at times, but the ending truly won me over and I couldn't care less anymore, they were happy and so was I.
Also, it is never explained how every time Im Sol went back in time, her grandmother hinted that she knew about it and didn't tell us further.
Besides a few characters that need a bit more development and a few story loop holes, it's an entertaining watch that finally got me out of my drama slump. If you want to watch it, go for it.
Side note: don't form your opinion based on a random persons review. Whether I liked it or hated it, you need to watch it for yourself and form your own opinion.
Happy watching!
Thanks for reading and have a good day.
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The Hype is Real, at least to me!
This is my first ever review on MDL. I am writing 3 days after LR ended because I needed to make sure that the hype is real, at least to myself lolI love this series but I don't believe that 100% of everyone will agree with me. It is true to any series. As such, for anyone looking for a recommendation, mine is to just give this 2 episodes. At the end of episode 2, if it doesn't excite you, please drop it and count is as your gain, not even loss because you just saved 14 hours of your life to do stuff that you want.
For myself, I started following this series from the very beginning, before all the hype started. I was sucked in after the very first 10 minutes, before BWS was even properly introduced. KHY was the reason I stayed on and BWS made the ride that much more exciting, together with her. I cannot remember the last time I ever cared so much about 2 fictional characters, to the point where my heart aches just imagining the amount of grief that Sol had to go through each time she loses SJ. Even now, 3 days after the end, my heart still aches despite it being a HE because that was just how vested I was in them.
I am so grateful to be alive to have witness such a beautiful love story. It is also a gentle reminder to myself that even though I am in my 50s, it doesn't mean I can't continue to give my very best in everything I do, even if it's simple things like preparing a meal for my family or seeing my husband off to work, just like what SJ did so joyfully for IS.
Thank you to the team that made LR possible. I truly do not think it will be easy to find another series that will be able to capture my entire attention right from the start. I am just grateful that I was able to experience one this lifetime.
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Skyrocketed To My All Time Fave's List
PLEASE. THIS DRAMA WAS SO GOOD. I mean its' ratings literally speak for itself. This became such a top drama globally without even being on Netflix or anything. I was watching it from the start as it was always in my planned list, and then suddenly people are me were mentioning it and I was getting shocked at how everyone is suddenly knowing this drama. Honestly so well deserved. The actors did a great job. And usually time travel dramas become a little iffy while watching, but this has got to be my absolute favorite in how they depicted it. Their love story was beautiful. And the ending was chefs kiss. I was laughing, crying, stressing with the characters. This really has been so fun to watch. I will definitely be rewatching this as a comfort kdrama in the future. PLEASE WATCH THIS!!!Was this review helpful to you?
Mesmerizing, emotional time travel drama
I’m adding my review because that’s one of the dramas that I have loved this year. English not being my maternal language, please accept the mistakes in this review.Describing "Lovely Runner" as a rom-com is simplistic : this is a romantic drama, using time travel to tell a love story spanning 5 timelines. Kind of a « variation on the same theme ».
So it allows the viewers to follow the same story, but at the same time, not the same story. Like a « what if » drama with the same characters. What if one turns left instead of right ? But at the same time, fate plays a part because no matter what the changes brought by the different decisions taken by the characters, they are always a victim of it.
Add a mix of mystery, thriller and boulevard comedy, and voila, you have "Lovely Runner".
So the mystery is how the time travel is possible. Not going to answer that one, viewers will discover the answer quite soon, but at the same time, the mystery remains as to why, even if it’s easy to guess if you follow the drama.
The thriller is the dangerous part of this drama, one that unfortunately, can strike everyone at anytime, anywhere, leaving broken characters. The two main characters are emotionally impacted by the consequences of the thriller part : depression, suicidal thoughts, loneliness, handicap (I admire how the FL overcame that one !)… That doesn’t make LR a depressing watch : the FL is one of those excentric characters, always on the move and always causing catastrophes and humiliating moments, mostly for her but sometimes also for the ML. It made the drama hilarious, at least for me.
That was the comedic boulevard part I mentioned, although it’s even more accentuated with the FL’s brother and sister-in-law : those characters are clearly portrayed as actors in a comedy on stage, or in sitcoms. Their facial expressions are exagerated. I suppose it’s a directing decision. So don’t expect them to be more serious characters. But they don’t have a too large part in the drama.
I found the actors to have chemistry and to fully embrace the story, with all the twists and turns it brought. Kim Hye Yoon portrays in a wonderful way the FL, radiating warmth and « joie de vivre », despite everything and her impulsiveness. That's part of her charm.
The ML is more reserved, and so easily… enthralled by the FL, because she is so different from him, embracing life, always running right and left (hence the title). I was surprised at how easily Byeon Woo Seok's played the role of a fool in love. But I guess that’s because I had seen him in more serious roles before. Here, he doesn't hesitate to appear weak or an idiot to his entourage, leading to some funny scenes.
I was sad to see this drama end, because I had grown attached to it. I had watched it twice so far and I will rewatch it in the future. I will recommand to watch it in a few days, to enjoy it and to brainstorm about what could happen in the next episodes : it’s always fun to think about theories when watching a drama.
Plus, the OST is magnificent.
"Lovely Runner" was a huge success in South Korea despite the fact that the drama wasn’t heavily promoted and the success a surprise one ; and also a success with international audience judging by the well deserved rating on MDL.
To end this review, I would say that "Lovely Runner" is a succesful mix of different genres and I wouldn’t put it in the rom-com section because that would be misleading to compare it to a rom-com like « Business Proposal » (I loved that one, and it had a little of boulevard comedy in it).
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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 .Was this review helpful to you?
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Amazing Youthful Entertainer - Clean Hit of 2024
I'm a big fan of time travel dramas; I watch time travel dramas most of the time." But after watching Some Day Or One Day," the time-travel rom-com caught me on the spot to explore these dramas. But I don't get enough dramas to freeze in those cute rom-coms, except for last year's "Twinkling Watermelon.". So I waited for this drama to breakout from the time-travel slump, as well as for the cast of Kim Hye Yoo, Byeon Woo Seok, and the trend of webtoon adaptations.I watched all the episodes at once (I did not watch them when they were airing because I had exams), so I think I'm late to the party. The start is as good as I expected. The time travel aspect watch is another new element joined in the time travel mission. The synopsis tells the entire plot of the drama, so now it's up to the makers how they will keep the audience engaged with the plot, but it makes the drama watchable, like, Let's see how she will save him. Every episode is purely made as a youthful entertainer, especially the chemistry of the main leads, Kim Hye Yoon and Byeon Woo Seok, which makes the drama even more beautiful. The scene settings are impressive, and the use of the element "If the time traveler talks about the future or about the time travel, then the time will stop and no one in the past could hear anything from the time traveler '' made the plot engaging, but it will disappear suddenly from the drama. No love triangle; it has one but is not a complete one. The construction of a drama without a love triangle in a teenage love story is really something that we could appreciate from the from the director and writer because they focused on one story progression rather than love triangle points. With that unnecessary love triangle, sometimes the story progression is ruined. Emotional character development is pretty good. Kim Hye Yoon from funny lovable to emotional caring. Byeon Woo Seok a student with dreams to protective lovable. Song Geon Hee is a free-bird student and an understanding friend. The comedy plot is really a good entertainment aspect, and the execution of the comedy is also reasonable according to the story; there are no unnecessary side tracks, especially the comedy scenes of Kim Won Hae, Jung Young Joo, Seo Hye Won, and Song Ji, which will make the drama more enjoyable.
My only disappointment :-
This is not a thriller—time-travel—but they attempted a plot twist in the thriller zone by using a mysterious man (a killer), but the execution of that point is weak for me. If they try to give it some valuable scope and make it interesting, then the output is even better than this. Put the villain character only in boundary to show his face and drive a van or car. The director and writer got the friendship element to create a friendly environment around the male lead, but the protection point of the main lead was overshadowed. I agree; drama had the friendship moments between the main lead and his friends, but that's not enough for me. Even though it was a short time, it was good (male-led friendship).
ACTORS :-
One of the biggest elements of this drama's success is the chemistry between the main leads and the short girl tall guy troop. It was a classic troop in Kdrama Land, and we are missing it. So in the correct time this drama dropped their weapon, short girl tall guy love, it quickly gained the attention of every kdrama lover (also plot). Their acting is simply charismatic. Kim Hye Yoon I've been watching her dramas since "Extraordinary You," and she explored different genres, from dark to lovable, in every character she did an extraordinary performance. And in this drama, she really made me cry and laugh again, but this time more. She gave life to the Im Sol character; her superb emotional acting and ability to make you cry in funny scenes also contributed to her character development. The first half is totally funny, and the second totally emotional—multit character portrayal in a single-layer character—which is what made her one of the best actors in the upcoming generation.
Byeon Woo Seok, although this is my first main work of him, did great as Ryu Seon Jae. He caught me on the spot with his acting and I am now going to check out all his works (movies and dramas). And the supporting characters of Seo Hye Won, veteran actor Kim Won Hae, Jung Young Joo, Song Ji Ho, and Song Geon Hee gave complete decent acting performances in their respective character roles. They will make us laugh. Feel pain and emotion. What I found interesting is that, except for veteran actors Kim Won Hee, Jung Young Joo, and Seo Hye Won, no other supporting actors had a known face. Yet, this drama was a big success with them.
Writing - Direction - Screenplay - Sound Track Departments :-
Since it's an adaptation, the writer Lee Shi Eun's splendid script works very well. Attractive dialogues, lovely lines between the main leads, and hilarious conversations between supporting characters shine in every scene. Director Yoon Jung Ho, this is what made me excited because his previous masterpiece "Flower of Evil" is one of my favorite dramas, so I'm really excited to watch his other work, which is a Rom-com. He did pretty well his job as director. Every scene is stunningly beautiful, and no wonder I got thriller vibes with the killer plot in this drama. The scene settings are absolutely amazing, and his bold move for casting with limited big supporting actors and Byeon Woo Seok, Kim Hye Yoon is really appreciated. The screenplay in this typical drama is a really important aspect, to give the detailed drama structure from going in time backwards and forwards. There is not a lot of scope for the screenplay in this drama, but it is pretty good when it comes. One of the strongest pieces is the melodramatic sound track; it was amazing and fresh from the start to the end.
I would like to recommend this drama to every kdrama fan.
Note :- I’d like to notify that the following thoughts and words in my review are purely my own and not intended as criticism of any actor or drama.
Thank you - @Shinnosuke_Lee
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The defniton of mood swings
I started watching this on Sunday and I was hesitant to watch it due to the drama around but hey yoon is my favourite actress so why not, i really enjoyed it and that's the suppressing considering i don't really like unexpected twists in dramas it was very emotional ( i didn't cry though ) i enjoyed this drama however there are a few things that could've been different.1. The chemistry I didn't think their chemistry was bad or awkward it just didn't feel natural, especially in the last few episodes
2. i felt like they could've gone in more depth like what does the grandma know? Why does she change time or world or whatever? which world or time is the real one? It feels like it needed more than 16 episodes and there were A LOT of things that were left unexplained
3. i understand why the fl was frustrated but why did she have to lie and pretend like she didn't like him or shout at him because he got her a gift... like girl be happy after changing time and dimensions about 100000 times you would think would realise there's no reason for her to lie or pretend to be okay.. or act like she hates him right? but no
but yeh watch it i haven't watched a drama without dropping it for months so it must've been good
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One of the most well-rounded and enjoyable watches EVER
I considered writing a well thought out review for like a total of five minutes, but I can't. So, allow me to just yap.This drama had very quickly made it obvious to me that it would become my all time favourite. There are so many core reasons as to why, I'm not sure how to list them all. First off, the casting was splendid. I wouldn't change a single thing. The acting was impeccable. The emotions were so real. I adored that this drama started out with a focus on high school life, giving me that cute high school romance that I love so much. The fantasy undertones were the root, yet they did not take away from the sweetness of their youth. There were so many times when I genuinely forgot that this was a story of Im Sol going back and forth. It feels like she lived so many lives and we got to witness so much of it. I am also so glad that it wasn't a situation in which Sun jae's feelings were hidden for an unnecessary amount of time. You know how sometimes it'll be that the female lead likes the male lead and then you find out later that he liked her all along, but they tell you rather than showing you? I loved that this drama showed us his perspective so early on. There may have been some back and forth with him and Im Sol about their feelings, but we knew. However, I believe the miscommunication was just the right amount. It wasn't like they were going crazy trying to hide their feelings... Even in the last few episodes as Im Sol tried to stay away, it was obvious that Sun jae was just ignoring her completely because he could see through her efforts.
I loved seeing their youth, it just gave me butterflies the whole time. I'm glad we spent time in the past, seeing them all build bonds and grow together. Everyone's story was touched on well, we got see how In Hyuk, Tae sung, Sun jae, and Im Sol had come together as well.
Tae Sung became a very beloved character and somehow one of the most sensible of them all. I appreciate how his intellect was something present even in his youth and he learned how to better channel it as he grew older.
Sun Jae was just a green flag all around. I have so much to say but my mind can't pinpoint a single thing. He was great.
All in all, this drama really touched my heart. It truly was about making sacrifices and learning to sometimes be selfish and give yourself a happy ending. I think the saddest part was knowing that even though Sun Jae and Im Sol have their memories, those experiences that all the characters shared in the past are no longer part of their timeline. It's unfortunate to know that in some ways, they missed out on a very pretty life filled with sweet moments. That's why episode 13 was definitely the saddest for me.
Anyways, this was a 10/10 kdrama with amazing romance, beautiful moments of the past, and really makes you appreciate the privilege of time.
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Happy Pill
It’s hard to put perfectly into words just how amazing Lovely Runner is, but it is without a doubt, one of the best ones out there. Aside from the fiery chemistry of the leads. The storyline and narrative itself is just top notch. The way it could just make viewers like me feel so giddy in one second and fearful and stressed on the next is just perfect. I also loved how the ending unfolded. How it stressed that memories are etched in the heart. I just wish we had more time to uncover if and how is Grandma connected to the time traveling that’s happened. Speaking of Grandma, big kudos as well to the great family dynamics of this show. Within all the timelines all the family interactions where great. The love showcased within was truly heartwarming. Ahh~ would definitely rewatch this again.Was this review helpful to you?
