Lovely Runner (2024)

Best drama to exist

Lovely runner holds a special place in my heart. As someone who likes to binge watch dramas, I started watching this drama as it was airing and I was thinking oh I should've waited till it was fully aired. I usually drop dramas if I watch them as they're airing as I get bored of waiting and I watch spoilers on Twitter but with Lovely Runner, not once did I watch a spoiler. The excitement for each ep, watching the pre-releases were all part of the experience that I am so happy I went through. Not one episode was bad or laggy or whatever. Every moment was worth it. Both the leads are wonderful and I am teary as I'm writing this review because I am going to miss them so much. As someone who hated Mondays, I waited for Mondays every week and now I feel empty without them on my Mondays and Tuesdays from now on. All OSTs were beautiful but Spring Snow warms my heart. Please everyone do no hesitate and watch Lovely Runner, trust me, you won't regret it. I will never forget the impact this drama had on me. Thank you Wooseok and Hyeyoon and the rest of the cast for this amazing drama, it really healed me. Truly the best drama to exist.

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Lovely Runner: Almost there to the finish line

The cast of Lovely Runner shines brightly. The main leads deliver strong performances, and the seasoned actors hold their own, creating engaging dynamics. The supporting cast does a good job of...well, supporting the leads. However, the show stumbles in its writing.

Clichéd Cupid: The romance between the leads, while well-acted, drowns in a sea of overused tropes. What starts as cute quickly becomes repetitive, leaving viewers yearning for something more original.

Time Travel Troubles: The central plot device, the time-slip, is a missed opportunity. The show fails to explain its core mechanic, leaving a gaping hole in the narrative logic. This lack of explanation is frustrating, hindering the audience's ability to fully invest in the story.

Conveniently Ever After: The ending feels rushed and predictable, opting for a simple "happily ever after" conclusion that ignores the complexities established throughout the show. It leaves viewers wanting more depth and a more satisfying resolution... and explanation.

Overall: While the cast is commendable, Lovely Runner banked more on the cutesy romantic feels and that's it. Clichéd romance, unexplained plot points, and a predictable ending prevent the show from reaching its full potential.

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My New Favorite Romance Drama

This drama has to be one of the best kdramas ever. Originally, didn’t have any expectations for this, as I only started watching after seeing Byeon Wooseok was starring in it because I really enjoyed him in the movie 20th Century Girl. I also saw teaser videos online so I was intrigued. Right off the bat, I was hooked within the first episode and immediately fell in love with Kim Hyeyoon. Each episode kept getting better and better and I was always extremely excited whenever an episode aired. This drama has literally everything including romance, comedy, angst, melodramatic, and a bit of thriller. The story between Sunjae and Sol was also so precious and I loved each of their character dynamics. Kim Hyeyoons acting was phenomenal and was the perfect fit for Sol. This drama really made my Mondays and Tuesdays less gloomy and was so worth the watch. I hope to see more of the leading actors works soon!

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THE PERFECT BLEND!!! ( of romance, fantasy, emotions, comedy, suspense and thrill)

Lovely runner is a coming of age drama that managed to blend together different aspects and actually made it work some how, lovely runner covers the emotional aspects through its plot and then it goes ahead and adds romance which is heartfluttering and heart warming and then goes ahead and adds in a little comedy to balance out the heaviness of the plot and then it continues to add in many other different aspects such as time travel which is done in a way I found interesting and Intruiging...it then goes ahead and adds suspense and thrill...all of this mixed up together to give as a memorable story....now it isn't easy to balance all of this together without giving much priority to one affecting the other but somehow lovely runner makes it work till the end.

lovely runner tells the story of a fan who loses her idol and during her time of desparation finds her self travelling back in time to the time when her idol was in his highschool days....hence she takes it upon her self to protect him from harm....and make sure she lives to see the future.

I loved the build up of the idol and fan relationship, i loved how the idol was shown as some one who was their for the fan during her tough times and that added a specific emotion towards her bond with him.

We explore the story more and find out that there is more to these two's relationship than just then being fan and idol and that's when the fun begins.....

There are plenty of things I loved about this drama and I'll try to summarise them into five respectively....

THE PLOT : Any one would say that this story has been seen before and yes maybe it has but I loved how it was executed in a way that made it feel fresh to me as a watcher...like I said I love how they blended various aspects together to create something rather memorable.

THE ACTING : The acting was nothing short of being phenomenominal...every one gave their best and I love how they acted with passion, it was the kind of acting that draws you in as a viewer because you get to feel every little bit of emotion through these characters and it was really amazing....

THE CHARACTERISATION: The characters in this drama were made for the actors and actresses that took them on......my only flaw was that I wished that they fleshed out some of the characters a bit more for example I wanted to see the second male lead as more than just this cool guy but rather a glimpse of his personal life and his family something to get me connected to him as a person not that I wasn't but I needed a bit more...a other interesting character that felt wasted was lnyuk, his passion for music alone could have been a build up for his own story he would have shined.. because best believe he knows how to act but it felt like he was a guest role that only showed up when they needed some comedic reactions from him...I also kind of wished that his friendship with the male lead was fleshed out a bit...it would have been heartwarming to see their bromance...that felt lacking other than that the leads were written perfectly each felt complex and each felt like they had personality...the male lead being showed as this golden retriever and a string willed and headed female lead whose hate O wont entertain btw considering her actions and reactions to things were nothing short of how any human being would react......the characters were written well enough...

THE COMEDIC TIMING: This dramas strongest weapon was the spot on comedy..nothing felt un natural or forced..the characters them selves had amazing comedy timing..their reactions to things felt real to the point that some situations couldn't have really called for laughing but I did because the characters sold it...hearts off to the direction of the comedy scenes they added a charm to the story....

THE ROMANCE: what makes a good romance, the answer is being well written in a way that it doesn't cringe but rather gives you flutters and leaves you feeling single...and then the chemistry.. chemistry is such an important factor for me when it comes to romance having no CHEMISTRY ruins everything for me and thank God the leads had song chemistry..they had the tension, they had the cute interactions that felt natural it all felt right so I have to say in addition to the way their there romance was built I appreciated the chemistry that sold that romance to me...I also loved how their love story was a mixture of different genres...we had first love, live at first sight, he fell first and harder, unrequited love, friends to lovers, highschool sweethearts, college romance, adult romance, meet against, and many more....

THE OSTS: “ cause Iam falling slowly in love with you.." I have this on repeat....the osts were absolutely amazing.

This drama was the perfect blend...the romance was done well and so was the thrill and suspense in addition to the time travel and fantasy in addition to the comedy it was the perfect blend!!!

I'll wait to conclude my review before I watch the final episode.....

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I loved the story, and it had great lead actors and supporting actors.

IT’S MY FIRST TIME WRITING A REVIEW

I started watching this drama the day its first episode was released. I have been a big fan of Kim Hye Yoon aka Im Sol since her first drama as the lead in Extraordinary You. So I gave this drama a shot and it didn't let me down at all. She is a great actor, and her chemistry with Byeon Woo Seok aka Ryu Seon Jae was amazing out of the world. Byeon Woo Seok is also a great actor. I first noticed him in the movie 20th Century Girl, and I also saw his other works like Strong Girl Nam-soon and Soulmate. Both his acting and his handsome face left a deep impression on me.

Byeon Woo Seok as Ryu Seon Jae and Kim Hye Yoon as Im Sol was a great decision. They both look so great together that I can’t explain it in words and they did their part so well. Our Ryu Seon Jae being a loser in love with our lovely Im Sol was so damn cute and funny. Im Sol’s awkward laugh in episode 2 reminded me of Eun Dan-oh's character in Extraordinary You but man Byeon Woo Seok loves to play the character who dies or has a sad ending in dramas and movies.

The time traveling makes this romance drama more interesting even though many nowadays youth or romance dramas do have the concept of time traveling very often still this drama feels so fresh and makes me feel nostalgic. This drama has the charm to make you emotionally invested.

The kiss scenes were so good I was blushing the whole time in episode 8 and their all kiss scenes in the drama were good. They both together make me giddy in the cherry blossom scene even behind the scenes were making me giddy.

The poor Ryu Seon Jae died three times and I felt so sad for him and Im Sol. Ryu Seon Jae's POV of episode 2 was so beautiful.

The fictional band/group Eclipse was so handsome and so cool and the OSTs of this drama were so great like Sonaki (Sudden Shower), Spring Snow and Run Run etc. Ryu Seon Jae as an idol and a swimmer too good.

Song Geon Hee as Kim Tae Sung was good, he was a good second male lead but a great friend of Im Sol and I felt a little bit of second male lead syndrome for him. Lee Seung Hyub as Baek In Hyuk Ryu Seon Jae's best friend, Song Ji Ho as Im Geum Im Sol's brother and Seo Hye Won as Lee Hyun Joo Im Sol's best friend were funny and fun to watch.

This drama contains very funny scenes like Ryu Seon Jae mistaking Im Sol's nephew as her son, the whole of episode 11 was hilarious it was full of funny moments and the next episode 12 was funny too when Im Sol got to know about her brother and her best friend dating and cute Seon Jae fanning her face to calm her down.

The ending feels so surreal. At least Byeon Woo Seok's one character gets a happy ending. I am so happy for him.

I still can’t believe this drama ended yesterday now my Mondays and Tuesdays will feel so boring.

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This drama has consumed my entire being

I hated mondays and i look forward to mondays now. Ryu Sunjae and Im Sol appeared out of nowhere and took over my life with their epic romance. Their love story was like a whirlwind, pulling me into their world of passion, trials, and triumphs. Every moment they shared was filled with intensity, from their stolen glances to their heart-wrenching confessions. They navigated through misunderstandings and obstacles with a determination that made me believe in love's power to conquer all. I really cant put into words how precious this drama is. If youre wondering whether you should give a chance or not, please do. Trust me on this.

(How do i get over this drama y'all i literally dont know what im gonna do with my life when it ends next week 😭)

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Wonderful and believable chemistry that carried it

I’m not super picky with my dramas. I generally like tropes and enjoy a huge variety of styles.
For me, the two leads’ chemistry is what kept me watching. I loved how comfortable they seemed to be with each other and nothing felt forced. That part was endearing to watch (even during the happy couple moments I found myself smiling when typically I feel those lovey-dovey times in dramas can get over the top and annoying).
Overall the serial killer trope ruined a lot of it for me. I feel they could have had a wonderful story without that aspect entirely and I found myself rolling my eyes any time he was involved. As a result there were several large plot holes left that would have benefit from having more focus.
I don’t regret watching it. It was cute for what it is and I really appreciated the wonderful chemistry as well as the starring of some of my favorite secondary actors, but it lost a lot of points relying too heavily on tropes to propel what otherwise would have been a wonderful plot if given a bit more thought

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enchanted

Well, I confess that I became interested in this drama by reading the synopsis which, in short, talks about a fan who obtains the power to go back in time to try to save her favorite idol right after he supposedly committed suicide in 2023. To try to save him , Sol goes back to 2008 where she was still a student and Sunjae, the idol she admired so much, was also still a student. There are MANY plots (breaking expectations) that make you fall in love with each episode and the protagonists. I would never have imagined that both would have such a deep and interconnected story. The feelings they both feel are transmitted in such a pure and human way that it is impossible not to be moved. I cried in almost every scene (I consider myself very sensitive). So far, for me, Lovely Runner has become the best drama of 2024 in my opinion, Byeon Woo-seok (Sunjae) and Kim Hye-yoon (Im Sol) gave a show of chemistry, comfort and emotion in each scene they starred in together . I recommend it a thousand times and a thousand more if possible, it was wonderful to watch every second of this masterpiece episode ☔💛

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