Lovely Runner

Worth binge-watching

What I loved the most: AMAZING OSTs!

I'm kind of glad I watched this after it ended and not while it was airing. It would have honestly bored me out and would have frustrated me.

This drama was hyped too much that I had to see it for myself. Consider that it had been years since the last time I watched kdramas, and this was my second kdrama during summer — with a late rating. It gotten me out of my kdrama slump to be honest. But I remember while watching, around episode 9, I thought to myself, “okay, they could've ended this here? Why make it 16 episodes long?” and during the time I was watching, it made sense to me. But looking back, the plot was actually unecessarily dragged for too long.

Did I enjoy it still? A lot. It's the type worth binge-watching (I finished this in 2 days) because some parts still keep you at the edge of your seat and make you crave for more (me personally, because I saw some say that they almost dropped this because of those twists.)

But honestly? It looks like the hype was only because of Wooseok and his loserism, which watchers these days love. I doubt this would get the same hype if it wasn't for the twist in Episode 2 too.

It also had plot holes, lots of them. Why did the taxi driver badly want Sol and Sunjae killed? I also don't get how the watch worked.

To conclude, I have a love-hate relationship with this drama. It's a good watch, especially for those who love romcom and the “he fell first trope”! I also loved how they got to meet as highschool students, college students, and as adults who have jobs. The time travelling concept was tiring, but Sol and Sunjae's relationship was cute and heart-fluttering.

The OST for this drama is my favorite! The songs used here are so beautiful, especially Sonagi / Sudden Shower. Ugh, favorite! Also, the N.Flying song, Star!

Also, Hyeyoon deserves more recognition!

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The show that gave me the biggest comfort in 2024

I don’t trust anybody who finishes this kdrama and doesn’t like it. Lovely runner gave everything I have ever wanted from a show:
Comfort green flag characters (even when sonjae was jealous HE WAS JUST SO CUTE it wasn’t a bad red flag move)
Hilarious scenes
Absolutely adorable romantic scenes
Beautiful cinematography and ost (and literally every song in the show was a masterpiece)
Outstanding acting from literally everyone
Some adventure and fantasy (and because of that we got so many protective cute moments, they were protecting each other all the time I wanted to scream)
Nice little plot twists and attention to the details,
A clever script
An ending with no loopholes, just comfort and happiness. And something really important? NO boring episodes! I finished this in 2 days, while in most kdramas I take (at the very very least) a week (or even months tbh).

All the unrealistic and cliche moments were because it’s based on a webtoon like come on if they got rid of some unnecessary trippings etc you would be like “but you erased scenes from the webtoon you ruined it” WELL here they are!!!!!!!

Overall 10000/10
Please watch it you won’t regret it. Now I gotta see how I’m going to move on from my post masterpiece show depression cause it’s hitting hard right now

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"Lovely Runner" becomes one of those timeless dramas

Review by : flowerbby

"Lovely Runner" weaves a storyline that is not only aesthetic and beautiful but also deeply enjoyable. The tone of the drama is enriched with a graceful aesthetic and charming, lighthearted comedy that delights. Every actor delivers a remarkable performance, with Kim Hye Yoon in the lead role truly shining. Her portrayal is exceptional, reaffirming that she fully deserves the title of an actress whose work you can always trust. Byeon Woo Seok is equally captivating, bringing Sun Jae to life with such profound and heart-wrenching emotion.

Each episode masterfully keeps the audience on their toes, with a plot that surprises and stirs deep feelings, making it impossible to move on easily. "Lovely Runner" leaves an indelible mark—it’s a drama that is hard to forget and will be cherished for a long time. This work is truly a gem, and I sincerely hope "Lovely Runner" becomes one of those timeless dramas. As a devoted fan, I know I will never forget this series, and I’m deeply grateful that it concluded so beautifully.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to the screenwriter, director, and every crew member who collaborated to create this masterpiece. Your dedication and hard work have brought this wonderful story to life, and it is deeply appreciated.

#solsunsubeom 💙💛

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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 Yellow Umbrella At Its BEST

Do you believe in The Yellow Umbrella? This must be THE ultimate YELLOW UMBRELLA drama, putting ones faith in the power of the yellow umbrella in dramaland to the ultimate test

The drama has some of the best parts of Twinkling Watermelon meets Some Day or One Day . All covered in a yellow umbrella. And while it does have a lot of the good parts of these two excellent dramas it does not fully reach the greatness of both.

I love the different timelines, the friendships and the grandmother. The female lead has a lot of fun lines, at times a really cool attitude and is fun to watch about 70% of the time however the remaining 30%offer a few to many moments of annoying/ second hand embarrassment for me to fully understand what our fantasy to perfect to be perfect male lead sees in her. As for the other male lead male leads are a blast to watch, they are sweet, have great interactions both among themselves and with the female lead and aside from a few moments of jealousy really seem to be to good to be true. Also the girl tries to run away from the male lead so many times that I am sure that is why the drama is called Lovely Runner, but it should have been lovely umbrella...

There are a lot of twists (some better than others), sweet fun moments between all of the characters, eye-candy for as far as the aye can see and I do believe they have a thing for men (the male lead) getting out of the shower, pool, rain showing the viewers his very well chiselled abs in most of the episodes. So if you are sensitive to abs you may want to look away or make sure you are in a safe environment while watching.

Besides the abs, the cinematography is gorgeous, the use of umbrellas breath taking and the plot was wrapped up a lttle bit to fast towards the end, and it may have a hole or two but is overall pretty decent. Kisses are top, top all in all definitely one of those dramas that I will rewatch scenes from now and then.

An easy binge that will-indeed cater to all your romance, umbrella and watery needs

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soo good

i have no absolute idea how am i gonna live my Mondays and Tuesdays without lovely runner.
it's probably one of the best dramas that i watched in general.
i loved the acting,the cast,the whole plot,music and the whole drama in general.every time that i think about lovely runner i just wanna smile.
the relationship they had is just unreal ,he fell in love with in every timeline its just so sweet. i am sooo glad that ml was this actor he fited the image so good and just like that ge definitely became one of my favourite actors I have zero idea how did i never really noticed.Anyways i just loved the chemistry between them and everything else truly good drama worth every second loved it

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More over-the-top comedy than I expected, especially from a supposedly 30-year old woman.

Subjective Gut Rating: 8.25

My expectations of the drama might have ruined “Lovely Runner” a little bit for me. I was expecting a back-to-the-past sweet and innocent romance with some longing, angst and uncertainty due to the fantasy element of the show. But in reality, this drama is full of over-the-top comedic moments and loud characters that I was not prepared for. I am not adverse to comedy. There are actually a few very funny laugh-out-loud moments that I enjoy tremendously through the creative writing of the team. I just had some troubles adjusting and re-calibrating to the tone difference (expectations vs reality) and I believe this dampened my enjoyment a little. Of course, this is all on me.

My main criticism of the show (maybe a little more objective than my preference of the tone) is the decisions made by our female lead, Im Sol. I have a hard time believing a 30-year old woman would act quite immaturely and without a plan. I understand the initial shock of going back to the past. But once that wears off, and you have a mission to change the past, all you could come up with is to bulldoze your way into Rye Seong Jae’s life? There’s no plan of action. Instead of behaving like a mature adult (who has gone through some really tough times in life), Im Sol behaves like a teenager. The only way the drama shows her ‘maturity’ is when she yells at the kids for misbehaving.

I also feel that the drama could be shorter. After a while, it feels rather repetitive going back and forth. There aren’t enough intimate moments between the leads during their high school days. The only I could think of is in ep 12 when the leads were lying in each other’s arms and professing their love. These are the moments I want more. I would have loved to see more of the present-day timelines stories and how the leads fall in love with each other all over again. Therefore, I was especially happy in the last few episodes. That’s what I was looking for. That’s the tone of the drama that I was expecting. The last few episodes probably bump the rating back up to an 8.25-8.5.

Having said all that, there’s a lot to like about this drama. First of all, I think the acting is pretty good. I was a little unsure of Byeon Woo Seok’s acting at first, but he did a good job, especially with the more emotional scenes. He’s so tall and lanky, and really does have the body for a swimmer. The drama doesn’t shy away in showing us his perfectly toned torso and abs. He also doesn’t mind showing his sillier and pettier side. Kim Hey Yoon is such an experienced actress at a young age. I realize she’s not the young high school girl in “Sky Castle" anymore. She has matured and her acting as well. Does she look different to you? Her role as Im Sol has a lot of comedic moments. I think I like her emotional scenes more enjoyable though. Song Geon Hee plays the role of the second male lead, Kim Tae Sung. Tae Sung is a lovely bad boy character, but a typical second male lead in a K-drama. I think I would have developed second lead syndrome if I found the actor, Song Geon Hee, attractive. Well, no second lead syndrome from me. It’s Seong Jae all the way.

The supporting cast has some amazing veteran actors such as, grandma Sung Byung Sook, FL’s mom Jung Young Joo, and ML’s dad Kim Won Hae. FL’s best friend is played by Seo Hye Won. Her pairing with FL’s brother as a couple is just a little too much for me. They provide a lot comic relief, but they are too loud and annoying for my taste.

I don’t mind the mystery/crime element of the drama. At least I felt that is justified to start this whole going-back-to-the-past process. However, as mentioned earlier, it felt repetitive. I was never sure why he’s so dialed into our leads. Is it mainly because of the cell phone or a mentally ill, psychotic state of mind? The drama never really fully explains how and why the fantasy element. One can only guess from the last episode who started it all. It’s OK, I won’t judge the drama too hard for that. I am more bothered by the illogical decisions and loopholes of the drama.

“Lovely Writer” was really hyped up in the Feeds during its airing. Everyone is in love with the drama and especially how cute Byeon Woo Seok is. Because of that, I might have expected a lot more. At the time of this review, “Lovely Writer” is rated 9.1 on MDL. That’s really high for a drama from any country. I have an enjoyable time watching, especially the first ⅓ and the last ⅓ of the drama. But I could only give it an 8.25 (rounding up to 8.5) rating.


Completed: 7/7/2024 - Review #458

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Great pacing and chemistry

If you are debating whether you should watch this drama or not, it's better to just start watching the first episode, then decide whether you'd like to continue or not. And just a piece of advice, if you don't like the actress/actor playing the main characters, then you might wanna double or even triple think about watching this drama. Because if you already dislike the actor/actress, you'll just find everything that they do (including their acting) annoying.

Now here's to everything that I love about this drama:

OST - Honestly there's no skip with this one. Everything's great - the lyrics and the melody. One of reasons why I fell in love with this drama.

Cast - We're not going to fight who carried the show here. They all did! No one really fell short in terms of acting. The chemistry between Hyeyoon and Wooseok - amazing. The chemistry between their friends and families - amazing. They're all funny!

Plot - Well, I wouldn't really call it a masterpiece. So if you are looking for something with an award-winning masterpiece, it's not here. Also, if you are someone who overanalyzes everything in a story, I don't think this drama is for you.

But the plot is decent, okay? Cliche? Yes. But here's the thing about cliche, it still takes great writing in order for it to be enjoyable up until the last episode. As for the storyline, I promise you'll understand it if you don't overthink it so much.

Just one thing that I'd really like to commend the writer and director for is the pacing of the story. It has great pacing. Usual kdrama would get boring around episode 8, it'll pick up the pace around episode 13 and 14, and then that's it. The ending is either meh or good.

But Lovely Runner has no boring episode. I don't even think that there are filler scenes in this drama. 60 mins for one episode wasn't even enough. The ending was so LOVELY. I even want more of it, but you know too much of everything is really bad.

Anyway, the success of Lovely Runner is well-deserved. It's one of the best romcom I've ever watched. No wonder why this drama helped a lot of people from their slump.

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