Lovely Runner

Cheesy Fanfiction Loaded with Fanservice and a Side of Time Travel

I was really excited to watch this show after hearing all the great things about it. It seemed liked everyone was talking about it like it was up there with Queen of Tears, so maybe I had my expectations set too high to begin with because I was rather disappointed with how it turned out. The show isn't entirely bad, but it's very lacking.

I thought the overall tone of the show was fun. There were some funny moments and cute interactions between the leads, but most of it is overshadowed by the poor writing and lack of character development. The cast did good in their roles, though there is a bit of overacting that I suppose kind of fits with the quirky vibe but does seem out of place sometimes. First time seeing Byeon Woo Seok in a leading role like this, so I was excited to see how he does. I think he did good considering the poorly written character he had to play, but some of the overacting bits and exaggerated comedic expressions were a little awkward to watch. I do like how Seon Jae was not your usual cold and lifeless ML that we see a lot of in K-dramas, and he had a bit of a fun personality which was refreshing. Kim Hye Yoon did good as well, but I do agree with others that say her character could be a little annoying at times. The rest of the side characters were kind of just there to be there. They didn't really add much to the story, and I kind of wished the writers would have given a little more screentime to delve into the complexities around time travel and how that can impact relationships in Im Sol's life (something that Twinkling Watermelon did great on). Maybe more focus could have been on Seon Jae's depression and how Im Sol tries to help him through it (like the show "Seasons of Blossom"). The lack of character development for any of the characters, especially the leads, made the emotional aspect of the show suffer. I didn't really feel connected to any of the characters, so it just kind of felt like the writers were trying really hard to make me feel emotional and invested when I was anything but. Everything just seemed very surface level, like they had the potential to dive in way deeper when it comes to time travel and attempting to save a loved one by going back to the past, but instead they focused more on cliche fanfiction-like romance to make hearts flutter. But at the end of the day, even those heart-fluttery moments didn't really feel real or genuine since there was very little character to feel connected with and I wasn't even emotionally invested in their relationship. The time traveling was confusing at times and didn't really make sense. I wasn't a fan of how they kept switching between time periods and basically "resetting" everything multiple times. It got repetitive very quickly and the push-and-pull with the FL got boring.

The villain was kind of a joke. I still don't really understand what the point of him was, and I feel like the writers really tried to squeeze by hoping that no one would notice how poorly written his character is. He didn't seem all that threatening to me, especially when the script was rather predictable and I could tell based on the numerous dramas I've seen with similar villains that it was going to end up playing out the same way. He was just a crazy bad guy who was only there to progress the story when needed and add some conflict here and there. Every time he showed up on screen with his one bad eye I was like "oh great, I forgot about this guy".

I wasn't familiar with Lee Seung Hyub before this show, but he was surprisingly a breath of fresh air. He added that bit of comic relief while also not being too obnoxious or annoying. Im Geum and Hyun Joo were kind of funny and cute sometimes, but mostly just annoying and were clearly there to add comic relief. This wasn't really necessary since the show itself has enough comedic moments.

Then there's the love triangle with Kim Tae Sung. I read that his character was actually written specifically for the show and wasn't in the original. It seems like most people love him, but I felt more annoyed than anything else. His character was also not developed well at all, and he seemed kind of pointless until the last few episodes. He would just show up every now and then to add cheesy fanservice and jealous ML scenes. The dialogue in his scenes felt especially cliche to me when looking at it from a writing perspective. Like it's painfully obvious it was just fanservice most of the time, and of course they had to have the FL's past self be in love with the 2ML, while the present day FL is in love with the ML. Both Seon Jae and Tae Sung are constantly fighting for Im Sol's attention and love (more rivalry fanservice incoming), but both have very little character outside of this and this continues until basically the very last episode. It's hard to see how you could have 2ML syndrome when his character isn't at all interesting and very underdeveloped, added with the fact that he only has a few scenes here and there and doesn't really contribute much until the very end.

Sorry if my review seemed all over the place (I was really just typing whatever came to mind). Overall, if you're looking for a cheesy cliche rom-com that isn't necessarily groundbreaking but just as an easy watch, then this show could be for you. If you're looking for more of a complex story and deeper connections with its characters, then you might want to look elsewhere.

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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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This should have been just a movie. Finishing it felt like a task. Woo Seok is not yet a great actor, and I kinda rooted for the second lead more since Song Geon Hee was the more charming character. Kim Hye Yon acted well. I can't blame her for her less than stellar character. I know time travel is the trend nowadays, and that's fine with me, but the I had to turn my brain off so as to not get offended by the time travelling logic. I watched this with my wife because it's one of the top rated dramas "of all time" on this site. Never again will I trust a less than year old drama in the top 10. There needs to be more reviews to knock this down the list.

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The curse of the 16 episode Kdrama strikes again

For me, this show was a solid 8.5 when I first started it. I have to say, I had no interest in this show. Then I heard about the plot and how it's about a girl going back in time to save her favorite idol...I thought the plot was so pitiful and sad! I started this out of pity! I just feel like it's sad when you have regrets about people you can't save. And the show didn't disappoint. The start of this show was exhilarating. It was relatable and emotional and so sincere. Then after the sad start, there was the humor, and the love interest developed into one of the more endearing male leads of Dramaland as he wore his heart on his sleeve and was just dorky and handsome at the same time. Not many can pull that off so kudos to Byeon Woo Seok for that. In addition, our leading lady is a tried and guaranteed good actress. The chemistry was sizzling, the plot was engaging, the humor was delightful, and the second male lead was not too annoying...it was all too good to be true. And it was, in fact, too good to be true.
It is a truth, universally understood but everyone is too chicken to acknowledge it, that all kdramas have the potential to end on episode 12 but get dragged on for four more episodes until the show loses all its unique charm and rots away in the cesspool of cliched stereotypes. My only wish while watching a kdrama is either for it to end with 12 episodes or if it has to go on, at least go with grace. Very few shows do that.
I was really rooting for this show. I really was. But sadly, the show started to stutter around episode 10/11 and by episode 12, the plot was lost, dead, and buried.
Here's the thing, you need to let your MacGuffin macguffin! You need to let your plot device be a device to drive the plot ahead. Not for the plot to run after the plot device on a bicycle! What I'm trying to say is that a lot of Korean rom-coms add murder mysteries or thriller subplots to their shows both to make them longer and to spice up the plot. And I'm gonna assume at some point this worked but lately, these subplots are becoming so intense, convoluted, and clunky that they totally derail the show and ruin its final arc. Here it was no exception as the plot began to fall into a repetitive cycle, the female lead lost all her brain cells, misunderstandings and miscommunications ensued, and characters actively made choices to sabotage the progress of the story.
Girl, you're traveling back in time. Putting aside the ludicrous shock of such an event, after figuring out the rules (which the show took as guidelines, instead of rules as they frequently and shamelessly broke them for plot convenience) why do you keep repeating the same pattern of behavior, hoping to get different results?!
The plot really fell in a loop. It became exhausting. Then the murderer plot became too big and it was like the villain had extra superpowers because why was he absolutely undefeatable for 16 bloody episodes?!
It was just too much and then episode 15 rushed to close the plotlines while most of episode 16 was fan service. The pace of the show was a mess. They should've established better rules for their universe and stuck to them at least in important plot moments. Unfortunately, logic and narrative were sacrificed for melodramatic effect, ultimately ruining the second half of the show beyond repair.
Now the actors were okay. I would especially say just the mains stood out as good. The side actors were so-so. The subplot of the brother and best friend was really bad. It was boring and wasted time more than anything else. Every other character was written only as background decoration or comic relief, making them too caricaturish to be taken seriously.
Production was minimal but it worked. Music was tolerable I guess. But I was still tired of the ballad by the end.
I won't rewatch this. The second half ruined it for me but the first half will always remain an exceptional "One that got away" for me.
I wish they had done better by the show. It deserved better. It could've been so much better. I still think if you really wanna watch it, it's a good rom-com and the leads' dynamic is worth enjoying. Just maybe prepare to clench your teeth in the second half.

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Dissapointing and Overrated

So I'll be honest, I did not really enjoy watching Lovely Runner. I had really high expectations but it was just boring...

I thought the beginning was interesting as she had suffered a terrible accident and had to learn how to live her life in a wheel chair. She was unhappy and suicidal, but then suddenly, one call from some idol and some simple message like "live to enjoy tomorrow", would completely change her outlook on life. This does not seem realistic. One does not change from suicidal to suddenly a bubbly and positive girl from one moment to the next. After the concert in episode 1, he meets her at the bridge, which is a huge coincidence to be honest. Then it turns out he had been her neigbour, another big coincidence, he was actually the one who saved her at the bridge, another big coincidence... I know fiction always has coincidences and unrealistic occurances, but this was really too much! Also, I thought we would learn of his struggle with depression and suicide, and the plot twist was so dissapointing.

Additionally, I thought it was strange that the whole plot of his "suicide" would suddenly change to a murder case, which was connected to Im Sol's car accident. It is just so typical and predictable at this point. Furthermore, the serial killer does not have any personality and is just a chess piece for the plot.

The second couple in the drama were just so unnecessary. What did that add to the story?

All the problems in this drama are external, and the most important being that the murderer will kill Sun Jae. This is also boring, as there is no character development in the whole story. What did Sun Jae and Im Sol learn in the process? Nothing. Only that they loved each other.

The whole plot was based on saving Sun Jae, and there is literally nothing else the plot is about. He was in love with her from the beginning also making the whole "falling in love" process really gone. I usually love romance, but this drama did not make my heart flutter at all!

Well, throughout the drama until like episode 15 I was somewhat okay with the drama. Nothing exceptional but some light entertainment, but at episode 15, when the killer got hit by a truck, I was really shocked! This is it? That's it? The main characters were not even responsible for the catching of the murderer! I mean what did I watch this drama for? I watched it so that Im Sol manages would put the criminal in prison. So when episode 16 came, I expected something dramatic to happen cause episode 15 was so underwhelming and dissapointing. Turns out episode 16 is just one super long episode about Im Sol and Sun Jae being together. I really felt nothing when I finished the drama.

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sadly they messed up the second part

The first ten episodes were fine, the story had a clear purpose and there weren't many cliches. They flew, I was so captured by the plot and the time-travel thing. I was curious about what happened between the lead characters. Nothing was done or decided, everything could have been changed even by a small gesture. Sadly the female lead seems not really on track, especially with the mad taxi driver. Also, there were some unbelievable communication issues because the fl was herself, then not anymore, and again another time: a little bit messy I'd say. It should have been planned a little better. On the other side, the ml is slow, insecure, and determined to act "cool" with the fl. The beautiful thing is that everything is connected but at the end, the fl decides to reset everything. What was the sense of the first part of the drama then?

Then it became a classical rom-com like any other, although I appreciated the time they spent in the countryside, at the sea: all four of them were carefree, thoughtless, awesome scenes. I skipped episode thirteen, it was a mistake but it was predictable, I knew what I missed: firstly it wasn't crucial, also it was kinda obvious and ordinary. They meet again in the future. I found fine all the coincidences, the "destiny" that was calling. Then they rush things another time for example with the marriage thing.

From the first two episodes, I got the idea that the drama would have been about depression problems, stress caused by success and disabilitiles. It was disappointing. Also, the whole thing was maybe too much focused only on the main couple.
Other things are good: the acting, the music. Personally "grandma" best character ever, I loved her, she was the one who remembered everything. Kim Tae Seong my baby, I started rooting for him at some point, I was happy he followed his dad in life as a policeman. I was hoping he'd had a gf or that he wasn't in love with the fl anymore ...

P.S. I don't consider RW in my final rating.
Thank you for reading <3

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Such potential....wasted

This drama could have been wrapped in 12 eps. Alright with that out of the way I will confess that I had dropped this drama at Ep 12. I was so hyped about this drama back in the day and even visited the locations in Seoul of this drama. Super cute ML and bubbly chirpy FL was super fun to watch first few episodes. The chemistry was amazing. All of that lasted for the first 5 episodes. Then the repetition of the plot started to get boring. I felt sorry for the ML who kept chasing the FL and she kept wasting our and his time. :b
Around ep 10 the ML also figured out the time travel plot and even confronted the FL so they could have worked together as a team but she chose to once again do it her way and fail...again !!
So after a couple of years I picked it again and remembered all the reasons I had dropped it.....this time screaming, shouting at the screen, mostly at the FL. So much potential with the cast and story....!! ><

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Heart fluttering rom-com quickly moved downhill with another murder mystery *tsk tsk*

Finally, FINALLY I finished Lovely Runner.
Phew! That was a damn loooong ride. It should have ended with min 8ep max 12eps. But no, they exaggerated it untillll they couldn't. (⁠─⁠.⁠─⁠|⁠|⁠）

Plot:
# It was good, funny, cute, lovely until the murder mystery emerged out of nowhere. I properly watched until ep 12, after that I skipped a lot and watched only the important scenes.
# Lovey-dovey sweet scenes felt really monotonous and full of cringe.
# The amount of tears FL cried, she completed her quota of crying for a year.
# The number of times she said "Sun jae-ya⁸⁹; Oh Sun jae-ya.⁹⁹" is unhealthy.

Acting: 8/10, -1 for Im sol's occasional overacting, and -1 for dumb killer. (⁠٥⁠↼⁠_⁠↼⁠)

OST: 100/10! The best OST of the year goes to Lovely Runner. Woo seok's voice was really soothing and on top of that 10cm, ah, no words for him, just brilliant! (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

Re-watch:
Idk if I can. I mean idk if I can watch the thrill part, all the crying and bullshit melodramatic scenes all over again. But yes I do have my favourite parts that I will be replaying a few more times (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

Opinion about the characters:
Im sol: Girl! you can't change someone's entire life even if you change it thousand times. Learn your lesson, don't fuss, don't be oversmart and just move forward ┗⁠(⁠•⁠ˇ⁠_⁠ˇ⁠•⁠)⁠―⁠→

Tae-sung: Idk if you know this, this character only existed in the drama version cuz in webtoon there's no Tae-sung. But man he stole my heart with his charming appearance. He's a best buddy you can have in your life. But one thing I would say is stop obsessing over other people's girlfriend, especially if she's your ex. (⁠*⁠_⁠*⁠)

Sun-jae: Ah...the heartthrob. His dimple. I'll stop here. But man was he stupid? No, he was extra stupid! He was straight up obsessed with Sol. Why would you remember a girl you met 15 yrs ago, who didn't even bat her eyes at you and keep messing up your head thinking about her?! (⁠ノ⁠ಠ⁠益⁠ಠ⁠)⁠ノ

The killer: Dude, ahjussi find a better job in next life, it ain't worth it. What a crackhead dumb killer, do your research first, watch some crime documentaries and then think about doing something new ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ ͠⁠°⁠ ͟⁠ʖ⁠ ⁠°͠⁠ ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

My Rating: 7/10 (5 for overall, 0.5 for OST and 0.5+0.5+0.5 for Tae-sung, Sun-Jae and Im-sol's dimples) ♡⁠(⁠Ӧ⁠ｖ⁠Ӧ⁠｡⁠)

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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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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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