LOVE LOVE LOVE ITTT
“Cause I'm falling slowly love with you”every time that line played, my heart MELTED
I don’t like yapping a lot, for someone who wants to read a short review before watching:
Watch it if you’re looking for a cute light hearted drama. It’s not too complex, yet very intriguing to follow. lots of lovey scenes that gets you kicking your feet, (the second lead in this one is less miserable so you won’t get a heart wrenching feeling lol) also if you’ve never experienced teenage love watch it, because it healed something in me.
the cast did such an amazing job that I laughed with them and cried with them.
THE OST are very emotional and beautiful, they have been playing in my head ever since I finished it
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Lovely RomCom
TLDR version:I'll preface this review with this drama is not perfect. If you're looking for some in depth analysis on how time traveling works, a complex villain with a fully fleshed out back story, or strong social commentary on disability or mental health, this drama is not for you. If you're looking for a kdrama that has heart and the nostalgic feels of kdramas back in the day, then check it out. It reminds me of Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, where there were a lot of plot elements that didn't make sense, but the drama and leads are so charming. The OST is one of the best I've heard in a long time. The drama picture shows the lead in their high school uniform, but their love story spans high school, college, and adult era. There are many comedic moments that made me laugh out loud as well.
What I enjoyed:
(1) The leads chemistry is fire. They really make you believe they're in love and you have to reel yourself back from shipping them in real life.
Sol seems weak on the outside (I think she cries in pretty much every episode), but she's strong on the inside. I don't think I could go through even half the stuff she did without shutting down, but she powers through to save people important to her. Sunjae is a loser through and through. I like how they didn't make him a male lead where everyone swoons over him. He doesn't get popular until after his idol days. Girls in high school barely notice him and second male lead was more popular with the ladies. I tend to like dorky green flags, and did not understand why everyone was swooning over him in Strong Girl Nam Soon where he plays a villain.
(2) The second male lead doesn't create a significant love triangle and is super supportive. I like their friendship a lot. One of the best second male leads out there in kdrama world.
(3) There are some poignant messages mixed in with the silliness here and there. My dad has Alzheimer's and something grandma said near the end gave me a lot of comfort.
(4) The OST is my jam. I have it on repeat on spotify. I am super impressed that BWS sang all the Eclipse songs himself and actually hired a vocal coach to prepare for the role. I think a good OST is a very important ingredient to a great drama because the music they choose to play when an important scene happens will really elevate the moment.
(5) There are many great comedic scenes that I found to be very creative. The writer takes a lot of kdrama tropes and puts a funny spin on it. I literally laughed out loud a lot, and I don't do that often in dramas. I will also add that there was some low standard toilet humor used here and there that I did not love, but I could count them with less than one hand.
(6) I like that we weren't spoon fed information all the time. Sometimes, small details are given to us and we have to fill in the rest of the blanks. As a time travel drama with 3 chances, it's bound to get repetitive, so it's better to not overdo it. Some people may have issue with this as some things aren't directly explained. It just depends on your preference.
(6) Cinematography is very beautiful. I love their use of blue and yellow to represent the leads.
(7) There's no PPL. I get so irritated when I have to watch them drink instant coffee, vacuum with a dyson, or eat at subway.
What I didn't love:
(1) There's definitely noble idiocy in the drama. While the FL did a lot of smart things, she also made a series of rash decisions that I felt weren't the best. Similarly, the male lead, while dorky and loveable, also tends to rush head first into things. I give the FL a lot of grace though because she has limited time in the past and is making decisions under high stress situations.
(2) I found some of the characters that are in there for laughs were just too annoying, in particular her brother is a complete idiot.
(3) The villain. I understand he was added to raise the stakes, but I could've used without him. He didn't have a lot of screen time but his existence basically lasted through the entire drama. The inability of the cops to do their jobs was frustrating. Fortunately, the real life actor is hilarious and always posts funny things on his IG. While I didn't like his side arc , I found him less annoying than some other villains in recent dramas. Having a murderous subplot isn't anything new though. We've seen it before in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, When the Camelia Blooms, Crash Course in Romance etc. Some definitely do it better than others.
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Highly enjoyable romantic comedy!!
Wooseok and Hyeyoon really did amazing work in LR as their chemistry is what made LR so much more enjoyable.The drama had me gushing, blushing and all of the above while also stepping on my heart at the end of every episodes
The progression is very satisfying as theres always something happening in every episode whether its romance progression or storyline and it makes it fun to watch.
Only gripe I had is I wished the scenes of the killer were more smooth but I guess not all serial killers require a motive.
Super glad LR gave BWS a really amazing rise in popularity as Ive loved him ever since Record of Youth, and Hyeyoon did phenomenal as per her usual!
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Not Perfect But Super Cute and Super Fun
My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.I really like Kim Hye Yoon (김혜윤). She stars in the drama Extraordinary You (which is in my top 10) so I was excited to watch another drama with her as the female lead. I was also interested in seeing Byeon Woo Seok (변우석) as a male lead. I had only seen him a bit in Strong Girl Nam Soon before I ended up dropping it. I heard he was the only good thing about that drama.
Acting/Cast: I really love the three leads. They’re perfect and they have great chemistry together. This was such a funny drama. I was smiling and laughing throughout each episode. Byeon Woo Seok (변우석) in particular -- his comedy was on point. The biggest issue I had with this drama, however, lies in this category: I hated the female lead’s brother and best friend with a passion. They were so irritating that I literally wanted to deck them both in the face…repeatedly (which was a wish that was partially granted). Their acting was so incredibly obnoxious (and their characters in general) to a point that I didn’t even think was humanly possible. The annoying side characters in My Demon paled in comparison to these two. Even the handicap brother in The Third Charm is likeable when compared with these two and even the obnoxious political figures in Snowdrop can’t hold a candle to these two. It was so bad, in my experience, that they are the sole reason as to why this drama didn’t make it into my top 10. A drama hasn’t earned a place in my top 10 since Extraordinary You. I thought this drama would be the one to break the curse. I’m so disappointed… I don’t know who in their right mind told those two actors to act like that (I did notice that Seo Hye Won [서혜원] is actually just playing her annoying character from Nevertheless,…ugh). 7/10
Writing: I really enjoyed the plot. It kept me guessing, kept me on the edge of my seat, and gave me a lot of good laughs. It’s actually a pretty emotional story, too. I think they did a good job balancing the darker aspects of the plot with the lighter, comedic aspects. Although I worried for the main characters, at no point did I feel like the situation was hopeless, which was nice. However, there is a pretty big plot hole that I think could have been easily prevented. It has to do with the time-freezing ability she gains but never uses. She doesn’t use it to escape the villain. She doesn’t even use it to prove that she’s from the future. My solution for this would be for her to not even have that ability in the first place. Whenever she tells someone something about the future, instead of having time freeze, the person should hear it and react to it, but then after their reaction, time should reverse back to the moment right before she told them. I think this method could have resulted in some funny interactions, as well. I think the two obnoxious side characters’ stories weren’t entertaining at all or important to the drama and should have just been cut out completely. I will say that the resolution to the main conflict at the end was a bit underwhelming. However, the ending in general is pretty good. I love how the grandma character was utilized throughout the drama, too; It was really sweet. 8/10
Direction/SFX/Music: The pacing, the production value, and the OST are well done. The music fits the vibe of the drama. No complaints here. 10/10
Entertainment Value: This drama was so fun and cute and funny the whole way through. It’s not easy for a drama to genuinely make me laugh, but this one succeeded. I loved watching the three leads interact with each other and I liked their sweet, innocent vibes. This one had crack drama vibes for me. I watched this as it was airing and I was excited for Mondays because of it. 10/10
Overall, I gave this drama a 9/10. It would have been a 9.5 if it weren’t for those two side characters. There is so much nostalgia with this drama, similar to how I felt watching Extraordinary You. These dramas feel like a callback to the classics (without the toxicity). I would definitely recommend this drama if you're in the mood to watch a fun comedy with green flag male leads.
I made a short music video for this drama featuring the main couple's antics. It’s on YouTube and it’s called “Lovely Runner | Sucker For You” and my channel name is The Enablers (@theenablers3846).
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This drama has the best premise in a Kdrama!
I just completed ep 16 few minutes ago and this is my honest rating.First, the drama is exceptional. The story is refreshing, the leads' acting was spectacular. The premise of the drama was everything! The first episode was just so perfect, it instantly drew me in and got me addicted to the drama. In fact, this drama got me out of kdrama slump. It replaced the void Queen of Tears left in my heart. I had thought that after QOT, I would be stuck in a kdrama slump for a long time but Lovely Runner proved me wrong.
For the first four weeks that this drama aired, I was literally obsessed with it. Unfortunately, I stopped feeling it so much after the eighth or ninth episode when Im Sol travelled to the past for the third time. The first and second time travel were all interesting and captivating, the storytelling was wonderful honestly, but the third time-travel, their college days were boring for me. Too boring. I literally had to fast-forward some scenes because I kept dozing off.
Also, the whole plot thingy with the serial killer was overdone. It was annoying, like what's his deal? Why won't he leave Im Sol alone? Why is he after her? Can't believe we had to wait until the very last episode to see his end.
Finally, the last episode was nice. It was just there for me. Because I saw their beautiful ending coming. It was cute, funny but still cliché. I don't know what rating to give to this drama overall, so I'll have to break up my ratings between the first and second half. The first half, I'll rate 9/10. Trust me, it was PERFECT! I was literally obsessed.However, the second half will be getting a 6/10 from me. I just wished they did better in delivering the resolution and end. I loved the drama so much, at first I thought I'll love it more than I do Queen of Tears, but due to how disappointing the second half was to me, I'll have to still rate Queen of Tears higher.
Now unto my next drama, The Atypical Family. I haven't started yet but I hope I'll love it.
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not a typical time-travel drama
lovely runner has a lot to give. romance, comedy, slice of life, mystery, drama, action you name it. i haven't been this entertained for a very long time. this drama became my cure for Monday blues. made me realised that Mondays isn't bad after all. i dropped a lot of kdramas previously but never this one. every minute of each episodes is worth it you wouldn't want to miss a single thing. the OST is damn good i added most it to my playlist so i can listen to them all day. lovely runner is not perfect at all it has its own flaws and loopholes but overall for me its the masterpiece that i've been craving for a long time. it awakened my love for kdrama. this was even delayed for three years almost got cancelled so i am grateful for everyone who made this drama possible.Was this review helpful to you?
Our main character Im Sol, has her heart in the right place, but I don't know where her head is. If I had to describe her actions throughout the series, it would simply be "Doing The Most". Sure, it added a lot of comedic effects and I definitely laughed a lot at her shenanigans. The actress Kim Hye-yoon also helped portray her as "cute" rather than "annoying", but by the end of this story, I was honestly questioning this woman and her poor decision making ability. That's the main reason why this story dragged out. I feel like this could be a great 10 episode story if she just stopped and used her head.
The main lead Ryu Seon Jae was pretty much golden retriever energy through and through which I don't like usually, but the actor Byeon Woo-seok made me change my mind for once, and I thoroughly enjoyed his character. I found him charming and cute when he's being smitten.
Most of the side characters annoyed me and I couldn't care less about the Side Lead. I didn't find them funny, nor cute, it was kinda way too much. They just got on my nerve and it was really difficult to pay attention to the screen when they showed up. Loved the grandma and the begrudgingly supportive friend Baek In Hyeok. The prize goes to Kim Tae Seong. It's worth repeating how much I liked his character. One detail I liked in this show, how she liked the "badboy" image when she was a teenager, but when she grew up she fell for the "nice guy" who gave her life. A bit cliche, but I vibed with it.
There were brilliant directive choices that kept me hooked in the begining, they really tied everything cleanly in the first half of the show. They didn't need an antagonist, the show managed to make everything interesting with small details and bits and pieces that were revealed at the end of each episode. Then, after the "villain" was revealed, it just got... bland. It was mostly due to Im Sol not having the word "wise" in her dictionary, but I felt like it could have been more thrilling and engaging. Instead, it was a disappointment. I want to drop my rating every time I think about it.
The humor in the show is a hit and miss. Some scences got me laughing so hard I had to pause. Other times, I was cringing so bad, I was close to skipping so many times I had to physically stop myself. But strangely, I'm not mad at it.
The music was great. Not much to say but the OST [10CM - 봄눈 (Spring Snow)] was my favorite. I found myself singing along by the end.
This show started out really strong. By episode 3, I found myself easily hooked. Halfway, it kinda went downhill, and as sad as this sounds, I'm kinda used to this pattern in K-dramas. Still, it was definitely an enjoyable watch and I don't regret picking it up.
Overall, I had a fun experience. It's the kind of drama that I wouldn't rewatch fully, but I'll definitely repeat my favorite scences and watch multiple FMVs. So, there's that.
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simply amazing
I’ve been watching kdramas for about 3 years and when I tell you I literally just made an MDL account last week just so I could review this drama. I'd stopped watching dramas set in high school but decided to give this a try 'cos I didn’t have anything else to watch. I didn't expect it to be this good and emotional. I thought it would be a surface-level high school drama but it’s so much deeper than that. It’s about finding the will to keep living even when it seems like your whole world is falling apart because if you choose to live one more day, things will get better. By only episode 2, I could already tell this was gonna be my favorite drama of all time.Was this review helpful to you?
The show that took over the storms, the lazy Mondays and tired Tuesdays
In a narrative that transcends the mundane and explores the depths of human emotion, this show captivates with its seamless blend of humour and heartache. Through a time-twisting plot and complex characters willing to make ultimate sacrifices for love, it weaves a powerful story of devotion and unwavering affection.In the midst of the unfolding events of the show's initial segment, uncertainty loomed as to its ultimate direction. The interwoven red thread connecting two characters evoked a profound emotional response, leaving viewers yearning for further exploration. The show seemed almost sentient, a distinct entity inviting us to delve deeper into its mysteries. While presented as a time-travel drama, it subtly hints at deeper layers waiting to be uncovered.
The show's characters are depicted with such exquisite depth and humanity that it is impossible not to be drawn in and captivated. The actors' talent in embodying these characters so completely that they become inseparable from their real identities is truly remarkable.
Every character in the narrative plays a crucial role in the intricate tapestry of the story, with every event and detail carefully crafted to serve a purpose. The show is filled with subtle nuances and symbolism, such as a petal representing a character's hopes and dreams slipping away only to be returned to them in the end. The cinematography and attention to detail in this love story are truly enchanting to behold.
The most captivating aspect of the show, in my opinion, was Sol. As someone who has a deep appreciation for female characters, Sol stood out to me as a character who defied norms. Her essence seemed to transcend gender, drawing me in to her soulful eyes with every smile and tear she shed. Her choices do not diminish her humanity in comparison to her male equivalent. Yet, one could argue that her inherent qualities, akin to precious diamond dust, warrant a level of devotion and sacrifice from those around her.
Sol and Seonjae's Love is often described as pure, but I believe it transcends mere purity. Their love is meant to be shared, never to be concealed into their hearts, likened to a red or invisible thread connecting them in a way. It is as if they were fated to complement each other, like clouds to the sun, rain to a parched land, or a gentle breeze on a sweltering day, reminding us of the beauty and vitality of life. Such is the essence of their love.
Their souls were clearly visible and pure. I have yet to encounter a love as profound as theirs in any form of media, and I say this as a devoted connoisseur of art.
The brilliance of Lovely Runner lies in the Writer’s ability to intricately craft each character with their own unique struggles, traits, and lives. While many romance dramas often overlook the supporting cast, Lee Sieun masterfully ensures that every character is given depth and significance, even across various lifetimes. Ultimately, each character's choices shape their own destiny in the most profound ways.
The captivating allure of "Lovely Runner" has quickly earned it a spot among my top favorite shows, a position previously held by only one other. I am drawn to return to this show time and time again, seeking solace and finding myself filled with joy. The depth of emotion and care portrayed in dramas like this reminds us of the amount of love and care a human can hold. Watching "Lovely Runner" sparks a realisation of the profound connection and fulfilment that comes from loving another more deeply than being loved in return, a sentiment that is truly unparalleled.
It is my belief that the unique brilliance and artistry of Lee Sieun as a writer cannot be replicated. The only way to capture the magic of this drama once more would be for the entire cast and crew to reunite. My heart yearns for another production under her guidance with the same actors, as her exceptional talent truly deserves all the praise and recognition it can receive. It is impossible to discuss this drama without acknowledging her invaluable talent.
I am grateful for the solace you provide, Lovely Runner, during the challenging days. May we cross paths once more under the cover of night, allowing your radiant presence to guide me once again.
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Wooseok-ah deserve best.
To: Hye Yoon-ah & Wooseok-ah ♡Thank you for bringing to life one of the best love stories ever told. A love so true that it transcends through fate and time. Lovely Runner prove once again that true love , may it be fiction or reality will always be kind, patient, and selfless.
Thank you for being Sol-ah and Sunjae-ya and touching our lives and hearts. We will remember you always♡
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A fun rom-com
You must suspend all notion of reality to really enjoy this time travel fantasy about a girl who wants a do-over to correct past mistakes. This romantic comedy will make you laugh out loud and really appreciate the efforts of the production team, even when the writing gets hard to follow. After so much mental gymnastics trying to follow the numerous timelines, I gave up and decided to just enjoy it.What I love most about this rom-com is the chemistry between our main leads and the wonderful acting of the entire cast. I am especially impressed with Byeon Woo Sook's performance and feel he is really growing as an actor. The way he looks at his FL is just endearing. That twist from cold to hot had my head spinning. It was a total gotcha moment. Well-played! The supporting cast, particularly Kim Won Hae as Rye Seon Jae's dad, were hilarious and a joy to watch with their antics.
The darker elements used in the writing felt unnecessary, as the writers could have come up with an equally effective way of justifying the time travel without going to such lengths to make the stakes higher. Depression and suicide are dark enough and I think that would have been a sufficient plot device to want to travel back to change the past, all while learning a few things about yourself along the way. The writers, however, chose to make this even darker, giving it Strong Woman Do Bong Soon vibes. This felt too dark for a rom-com, in my opinion. Plot becomes a little hard to follow after subsequent forays into the past and the hasty explanation to it implausible---but it's fantasy so you have to forgive them.
OST is great. Looking forward to adding them to my k-drama hit list. I recommend this one for the fun story and exemplary performances.
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