Lovely Runner

Plot is quite weak and repetitive it's an alright drama I don't know what is all the hype about it

Alright let me tell you there is already a lot of dramas with second chances time travelling and going back to save there loved ones but this one just gets on my nerves the plot just keep repeating they keep time traveling it's quite annoying it's like they keep serving us the same dish in different plates and I don't know I found the female character quite cringe trying to act cute not only that her character is quite dumb and she does everything without thinking I felt second hand embarrassment for her even in the last tae sung saved sun jae she just time travelled for nothing plus what was that truck driver motive for killing sun jae like writer just wanted to end the drama so bad she left so many plot holes and cliches and the only thing I can say is that the drama hype is all because of byeon woo seok just check insta and half of the edits of this drama is about him

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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

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Strong start, then spiralled downwards

May 2025
This started strong and I was quickly invested, however, sadly it started to go very askew from ep9.

It got much too stretched out for me, with the story becoming far too convoluted. The writer should have kept it simple.

I soon grew tired of the FL character's increasingly questionable thought processes, and decisions/actions. No thought seemed given to the effects of the past on the future, with their love encompassing everything.

The leads were nice to watch. I loved BWS in Moonshine, which I started watching to get a break from this 🫣 His character in this was more likeable (possibly because none of the scenarios he was drawn into, were of his making). I have to say, BWS really has great screen presence, with a great aura, whatever his part.

Supporting characters were OK. No one really stood out, although the way Kim Tae-song's (actor Song Geon-hee) personality was bounced around, gave me whiplash.

I didn't get the urge to drop it, didn't use the FFWD button (tempted, but always worry I'll miss something crucial), but did get bored. Such a shame the writer took the story back, more than once too often.

So disappointed.

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Time travel gone wrong

The world setting was done fine where it was explained that the time will stop if the FL talks about an event that happens in future. Half way through the story, this is not the case - she is able to sing a song that is not yet out in the public , she is able to explain that she is from future and many other issues with the overall screenplay. During the third time, she is even able to see the future .
It is a mix of many other time travel series like 'Some Day or One Day', 'Blue Birthday' and many other series, but I felt it doesn't have a proper story which is convincing enough. It is the same villain who is coming back again and again even though there is no issue between the protagonist and the villain. Screenplay could have been better to include the different possibilities of butterfly effect , but the whole series turned out to be a mediocre.
In case of 'Some Day or One Day', the time travel is happening via the doppelganger and not to the past of the same person so it is understandable the difference in the character and memory loss etc, but here it is the same person ; I agree that a person may have a different point of view once they mature but here it is shown as if she is a completely different person.

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cringy romance with an interesting time travelling plot

i was initially interested in this drama because i followed the leads and those actors were ones who usually didn't get main roles but when i saw that it was an idol-fan romance i instantly got the ick and abandoned it. the rumors of it being based on real life situation also didn't help much. now this is one of the most talked drama of 2024 so i made it a point to watch it and see what the hype is about. it certainly won't be bad if that many people like it right? i was wrong.
i would say the main reason why this drama was so successful is because it had pretty main leads who were down bad for each other. no proper/solid plot.

i was very creeped out by the fan-idol thing in many of the first episodes. the reason for her becoming a fan was genuine but her behavior was borderline obsessive. there were many times where she did things for him because she is a fan in 2023, which kind of creeped me out. also the fact that she was a 30 something year old in a highschooler's body chasing another highschooler was creepy to me.

my biggest complaint is how one dimensional both the main leads are especially sol. whatever we know about them revolves on the fact that they like each other. sun-jae likes sol but why? he likes her so much he is willing to die for her, what made him like her so much? i understand crushes but doing all this? in the first timeline it makes sense cause the accident is kind of his fault but after that? what is about her that he likes/loves so much? his whole personality was being in love with sol. at least taesung had a reason to like her. she was oddly mature with him and he liked that.
sol was so childish for majority of the show. it wasn't until the end she acted like an adult. during her first few time travels there was no difference between 30 year old her and high school her. she absolutely did not think before she acted.
so much of the comedy depended on sol making dumb decisions, it cringed me out. they could have shown sol and sun-jae better by avoiding all those cringy scenes between the brother and the best friend. sol got her ability to walk after 15 years yet it was barely acknowledged. she never seemed to spend time with her family nor her friends. same with sun-jae. u would think someone whose grandma lost her memory due to old age would be more emotional at getting her back. also how did sun-jae and sol end up in their respective careers. we don't see sol being so in love with movies nor sun-jae with acting. they could have given the characters more depth.

the time travelling plot was the most interesting part. the change in timelines and the effects they had were interesting. they were honestly what kept me through the series. even though the rules of time travelling and everything was weak it was nice. them being connected in every scenario was a nice touch.

the director/team could have just made a highschool romance with
Byeon Woo Seok and Hye Yoon and it still would have been a hit. they were the best parts of the show and did their roles well. them being casted might be one of the sole reasons the show is successful.
i would have preferred to have the idol fan thing out and make them like neighbors or something and not have the female be obsessive with the male lead, especially in the fan idol sense.

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SO MANY HOLES

Lovely Runner had me at “time-traveling fangirl saves her idol,” but by the end, I was laughing through my tears, not always for the reasons it intended. Starring Kim Hye-yoon as Im Sol, a paralyzed superfan, and Byeon Woo-seok as Ryu Sun-jae, the doomed frontman of the fictional boy band Eclipse, this drama promised a swoony mix of romance, thriller, and time-loop shenanigans. It starts with Sol, whose life was upended by a childhood accident, clinging to Sun-jae’s music for solace, only to learn he’s spiraling into depression, a career-killing shoulder injury, and a gut-wrenching suicide in 2023. Then, poof, a magical watch drops into her lap, letting her zip back to 2008 to rewrite his fate. She dives into her high school days, armed with future knowledge, dodging a creepy serial killer, and trying to save Sun-jae from shady managers, overwork, and his own dark path. The setup is a nostalgic love letter to the early 2000s with flip phones, skinny jeans, and all, blending romance, comedy, and a dash of menace. The first half is pure magic: Sol’s fangirl fervor is adorable, Sun-jae’s brooding charm is catnip, and their chemistry crackles like a K-pop banger. Kim Hye-yoon plays Sol with a mix of pluck and pathos, while Byeon Woo-seok makes Sun-jae’s quiet pain achingly real. The supporting cast like Sol’s quirky family, Sun-jae’s bandmates, and Taesung, a sweet cop’s son, adds warmth, and the glossy visuals, paired with Eclipse’s catchy tunes, hit all the right emotional notes. But oh, how the mighty fall. By the end, *Lovely Runner* is a mess, tripping over its own time loops, drowning in plot holes, and leaving me chuckling at its absurdity while mourning what could’ve been. With weak worldbuilding, characters who forget who they are, and a narrative that feels like it was written by a committee of confused time travelers, I’m giving it a 6 out of 10: a bittersweet watch that’s equal parts charming and infuriating, like falling in love with someone who keeps forgetting your name.

The tragedy starts with the worldbuilding, or lack thereof, which is less a foundation and more a crumbling sandcastle. The magical watch that powers Sol’s time-hopping is a mystery wrapped in a shrug. Who owned it before her auction win? Why does her grandma act like she’s in on the timeline secrets, only to vanish into narrative limbo? The watch’s rules are a cosmic joke: it triggers at midnight one day, at Sun-jae’s death the next, or maybe when Sol’s feeling extra regretful, with a supposed three-attempt limit that’s more suggestion than law. It’s like the writers tossed a coin to decide how it works each episode, leaving me giggling at the sheer audacity. Sol’s time-freezing trick is even more maddening. She uses it to sneak into Sun-jae’s house or dodge his dad, but when she’s stuck in a kidnapper’s car, does she freeze time? Nope, she runs in front of it like a sitcom character. Or when Sun-jae’s stabbed and tumbling off a cliff, she’s got 10 seconds to act but just stands there, as if her superpower took a coffee break. These moments are so contrived I couldn’t help but laugh, but it’s a hollow laugh when you realize the stakes are supposed to matter.

The characters, bless their hearts, are a parade of missed potential. Sol’s arc is a tearjerker that never quite lands. Her growth, especially around her disability, happens mostly off-screen, leaning on sappy manipulation instead of depth. Kim Hye-yoon tries, but the script gives her little to work with, leaving Sol feeling like a plot pawn rather than a person. Sun-jae’s bandmates and family are reduced to background noise, their arcs so incomplete I half-expected them to wave at the camera and say, “We tried!” Taesung, the second lead, is a walking plot hole: suddenly Sol’s bestie in altered timelines, despite no prior connection in the original, and the show doesn’t even try to explain it, which had me snorting at its laziness. The serial killer, a taxi driver with a vendetta, is the biggest joke of all. His obsession with Sol, his random possession of her phone at a reservoir (maybe tied to a dead homeless guy, who knows?), and his motives are so vague that when he leaps off a bridge to end his arc, I cackled at the anticlimax. It’s like the writers said, “Eh, close enough.” Younger Sol’s behavior in resets, going from wallflower to cigarette-snatching brawler, feels like a comedy sketch gone wrong, with no bridge to her original shy self, making me laugh and wince at once.

The pacing and tone are where the show’s soul truly shines, or rather, stumbles. The first half zips along, balancing romance, humor, and mystery like a well-choreographed dance. But the second half? It’s like the show got stuck in a time loop of its own, repeating the same beats until I was begging for mercy. The endless cycles feel like a writer’s room prank, dragging the story into a slog that’s both exhausting and absurdly funny in its refusal to move forward. The tone is a disaster: slapstick comedy crashes into gut-punch drama, like a clown stumbling into a funeral. One minute, Sol’s chasing a goat in a goofy gag; the next, she’s sobbing over Sun-jae’s fate, and I’m left with tonal whiplash, laughing at the absurdity while craving coherence. The thriller subplot is a forced mess, like someone tossed a serial killer into a rom-com and hoped for the best. And don’t get me started on Sol’s baffling choices: she sees future visions (like tripping during that goat chase) but lies about them to Sun-jae, who already knows she’s from 2023, stretching misunderstandings into a sitcom-level farce that’s equal parts infuriating and unintentionally hilarious. The romance, initially so tender, gets buried under these repetitive loops, with too few intimate moments to keep the heart fluttering, leaving me chuckling at the irony of a love story forgetting its own spark.

The plot holes are the cherry on top, a laundry list of absurdities that make you laugh, cry, and question your life choices. Sol’s ability to walk in 2023 after erasing her connection to Sun-jae is pure nonsense. In the original timeline, he saved her from drowning post-accident, so without him, she should be paralyzed or worse, but the show just shrugs, tossing in vague butterfly effects like a bad punchline. The lottery ticket Sol gives her brother with 2024 numbers somehow wins across resets, even when those events are erased, which is so illogical I snorted. Her family’s move to dodge dangers like a fire or redevelopment is a head-scratcher. Some timelines show no burn marks on her mom, suggesting the threats aren’t consistent, and how Sol pulls it off repeatedly is anyone’s guess. Sol’s consciousness during time slips is a comedic riddle, is her past self on auto-pilot? She keeps skills like driving but needs triggers for memories, blurring whether it’s parallel universes or a single timeline, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the confusion. The timeline count, maybe five, from handicapped Sol to erasing links, is a chaotic mess, with returns flipping between morning and midnight like a drunk time traveler. The police arresting the killer is a farce: handcuffing him in front, not securing him in the car, and letting him escape for no reason other than drama, which had me giggling at the sheer incompetence. Sol writing a script about their romance after swearing to avoid Sun-jae is a contradiction: it jogs his memories, undoing her plan, and she’s somehow surprised, which is both sad and absurd. The watch’s random reappearance in timelines where they don’t meet, with no explanation of how Sun-jae gets it, is another laughable gap. These holes pile up, turning the story into a circus, equal parts exasperating and unintentionally funny.

In the end, *Lovely Runner* is a K-drama that woos you with its big heart and bigger dreams, only to trip face-first into a pile of its own plot holes, leaving you laughing through the pain. Kim Hye-yoon and Byeon Woo-seok are the saving grace, their chemistry a beacon in the storm, making those high school scenes and early romantic beats feel like a warm hug. The visuals, dripping with 2000s nostalgia, and the Eclipse soundtrack are pure joy, tugging at your heart even when the story doesn’t. Themes of regret, fate, and idol pressures could’ve been profound, but they’re lost in the shuffle, like a poignant line in a bad comedy sketch. It promises a masterpiece but delivers a messy love story that’s as frustrating as it is charming. I wanted to adore it, but I ended up laughing at its stumbles while sighing for what might’ve been.

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I wish I could travel back in time to stop myself to watch Lovely Runner!

ABSOLUTE MESS! DON'T SHOW THIS TO ANYONE WHO NEVER WATCHED A KDRAMA!!!

Other than the two main lead being cute (and cringe) together, and the OST, what else is good in this show? Honestly, I can't mention anything else.

I don't understand how this drama can have a 9.0 rating. Like everyone is blinded by the eye candy?

I watched a lot of movies and shows about time traveling, but oh my God, this has one of the most inconsistent writing EVER! If you want to write a story about time traveling, and create your own rules, at least don't change it in every episode!

1st: We NEVER get any explanation how can she travel back in time. I'm not talking about the method, I'm talking about the whole reason why she can do it. Who made it possible?

2nd: If she can't tell anything about the future, because the time will freeze, how did she manage to tell multiple people still? The writing was so sloppy! The fact that her past-self don't remember anything, just made the whole plot meaningless. The fact is, she never loved the guy, she was a fangirl, and she falls in love with him in the past, but her past-self didn't even know the guy.

3rd: Sol is THE DUMBEST female character I've seen in a Kdrama! Like, she never tells anything to anyone. Not even her kidnapping. How is that even possible, I don't know. I mean, the police just thought: "Let's not say anything to her family, even tho she's a minor, and a guy wanted to kill her, it's not important!" No wonder he was outsmarting the police for 15 YEARS! Absolute JOKE!

What's more irritating is that, Sol isn't even trying to change the future. She knows exactly how it's gonna happen and where, yet she goes to the same place rather than just travel to another city or a country. If I know how my loved one will die, I'm not gonna act like Supergirl and fight with the killer. To be fair, it's not like the police can handle anything. Even a toy version is more reliable.

This isn't all, the worst part in the story is probably the last couple of episodes when she removes herself from the memory of everyone, except her family, but of course, somehow her grandmother with dementia still remembers, and the guy will slowly remember as well, because why not, right? They can remember the past that never happened!

So, yeah, this show doesn't deserve the hype or the high score, at all!

I mean, I could say, if you can ignore everything, it's a fun show, but what's the point of ignoring everything? You could just watch the paint dry on your wall. Same experience, without the cute female and hot male lead!

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You Guys Gave This A 9.1?

This review is for those who've already seen it. You may enjoy it as it's just a compilation of notes I made watching this drama.

Let me start off by saying this drama is like Twinkling Watermelon meets W. W is one of my favorite dramas and Twinkling Watermelon was amazing. This, however, is really hard to watch. Like really hard. I'm sticking with it, but fast-forwarding quite a bit. I've only quit one drama before because I couldn't stand the FL and I'm trying not to have a repeat of Kill Me, Heal Me.

FL, Im Sol (Kim Hye-Yoon) was really cute and sweet in the first episode. Then when she travelled back in time she became really annoying and kind of ditzy/stupid. ML, Ryu Sun-Jae (Byeon Woo-Seok) was weirdly nice in episode one, despite his clear depression, but past him was a bit odd. In his defense, Im Sol was being a creep and a half.

Someone in the comments (on Viki) said that Kim Tae-Sun (Song Geon-Hee) was the 2nd ML, but when searching the names, I see a different male billed above him. Never seen this guy in any drama before but he looks too old for high school.

Okay, now it's just annoying. He keeps trying to confess, and she's either the world's biggest moron, or she's deaf. Maybe both.

This whole her rushing home to stop the fire, whilst dumb and dumber, her best friend, Lee Hyun-Joo (Seo Hye-Won), and brother, Im Geum (Song Ji-Ho), is not only stupid, it's infuriating.

Her teenage self took over? Ugh. This is going to be exhausting and drawn out for no reason, I can tell.

I feel really bad for 2nd ML. She needs to end it with that poor guy. Also, harsh take but maybe she didn't deserve working legs because the amount of times this girl falls, trips, gets knocked over, etc is annoying.

Omg. He keeps saying "I like you" and she keeps running away. What even is this plot and how on earth was it rated so highly on this site?

Oh good. And now we're at the "I can't accept your feelings." dumb *#&@^$(#& crap.

Baek In Hyuk (Lee Seung Hyub) is completely right. It's been like 15 years and suddenly he just falls for her all over again? Especially after how ungrateful and shitty she was the last time they met in the past.

Her losing her mind about the watch and screaming, "I should have died instead!" like he's not even dead. Go be with him in hospital instead of doing all this nonsense.

"I can't die before I save him!" proceeds to close her eyes and make no attempt to save herself. God she's infuriating.

2ML is definitely my favorite character. He's keeping me hanging on. Much like the bromance in Goblin was the only thing keeping going through that because that girl was obnoxious and acted like a child.

"Hey my dad said the killer is stalking you, shouldn't you tell your family and move everyone somewhere safer?" No. That would be intelligent, why would I do that?

So they both learn the killer has escaped, she breaks down to Tae Sung's dad about catching him and then her boyfriend is cautious about everything and she's like "What's up with you?". Good god she's insufferable.

I struggled to get through this drama and the only reason I did was because I skipped a lot. I'm glad we got the happy ending for everyone. The last episode was pretty sweet. And I will say, unlike other dramas, it wasn't a super rushed happy ending so I will give them that.

Justice for my man Tae Sung though. lol

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Im Sol is a villain. Ryu Seon Jae is a cardboard cutout.

Im Sol is a villain. She treats the experiences, the memories, of everyone around her, most notably her younger self, as disposable. She treats their feelings as trivial, meaningless except in context to her own. She is selfish and has no character growth, no improvement to her personality, no expressions of remorse, aside from when not getting her wishes fulfilled, and no action demonstrating regret. She is the pleasant face of the casually destructive personality increasing common in this world, but no less repugnant for it.

Ryu Seon Jae is a cardboard cutout. He has no personality beyond he likes sports and singing and must always and forever, no matter how badly he is treated, love Im Sol and be willing to die to her. It is truly disheartening to see such a non-entity as a leading man.

As to the secondary characters, her mother and his father were mostly background noise, and their moments in the spotlight felt like forced distractions from the plot. His friends and band-mates were even less three dimensional then he was, if you can imagine. Her brother and friend were obnoxious, though their future scenes were actually lovely and one of the few purely pleasant parts of the show.

Her grandmother and Kim Tae Seong are special case. Dementia is portrayed as imbuing her grandmother with additional cuteness and wisdom, which is just wildly inappropriate. And Kim Tae Seong is underdeveloped despite being one of the few engaging personalities in the cast of characters.

Lovely Runner is not a great show. It isn't even a good show. It manages to get by being inoffensive to most modern sensitivities and offering fans an unhealthy fan fantasy to feel encouraged by. Regrettable.

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