Lovely Runner

An unexpected storyline

When I first started this show I expected a storyline where the FL would go back in time to save the ML and help him deal with this mental health problems. However it quickly moved in another direction with numerous time jumps as main storylines, as someone that usually doesn't like this type of drama, I really liked it in this instance.

The only thing I found lacking was that the ML felt a bit one dimensional at times with not a lot of character, besides his shoulder injury there are not really other storylines about him (that don't involve FL or her kidnapping/time jumping)

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THE MOST PERFECT DRAMA OF THE CENTURY

Sunjae. Sol. Two perfect characters and what a beautiful journey they took us on. Hooked right from the moment we realised Sunjae fell for her. Not a moment in this drama felt like a drag. They never wasted time on useless narratives (IM Geum is an exception). My heart is so full. Thank you for creating this beautiful masterpiece. We enjoyed this drama together, as a whole. Perfect acting, soundtrack, storylines, even the villain was perfect. The parallels were so beautifully crafted. The story never felt confusing even with 4 time slips. How will I deal with my Mon, Tue now? 😭😭😭

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i think people should appreciate Lovely Runner for a nostalgic romcom about fated lovers.

they keep everything as it should and balanced them all together. the romance is romancing, the comedic timing is excelent and the angst is there just for the right amount, definitiely the highlight of 2024 kdrama line I must say. this is truly one of the best drama i’ve watched in a LONG time.
anyway i feel BAD for the people WHO WATCHED THE DRAMA CUZ OF THE HYPE ALONE, because having that mindset would certainly reduced the experience itself. also to the hater down below saying this drama is overhyped you truly DON'T UNDERSTAND how long it has been for kdrama lovers to feel this kind of tingling feeling all over again the dopamine rush in my boring life?! just please skip this drama if it’s not ur cup of tea, don’t comment unnecessary things.

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Perfect Romantic Comedy with All the Right Elements

As someone already mentioned here, it's literally one of the rare gems of K-dramas. The series has everything that's necessary for romcoms and K-series in general:

✓ Great from start to finish
✓ Green flag main characters
✓ Interesting plotline
✓ Happy ending
✓ Suitable cast for the characters
✓ Focus on main characters with minimal focus on side characters
✓ Beautiful OSTs (Sonagi and Spring Snow!!!)
✓ Green flag second male lead
✓ Many more things I probably forgot to mention

It had many emotional scenes, but overall it wasn't depressing at all, so it's perfect if you want to watch something to feel entertained and feel like you're a teenager again, kicking your feet, lying in bed giggling, and blushing out of adoration for the characters.

literally 10 out of 10

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from a seasoned drama lover- this is just as good as they say

when i first encountered this drama, it seemed to me a typical romance drama that people had overhyped. i usually dont watch dramas involving time travel or anything similar either, so i was hesitant.
boy, i was wrong.
this drama is fabulous - each part of the plot is intricately mapped out and kim hye yoon and byeon woo seok's stellar chemistry is the cherry on top. the characters are lovable, the time travel element strengthens the bond between the main leads whilst simultaneously conveying real life emotions like nostalgia, heartbreak and gratitude.
not to mention my own personal reactions - i was kicking my feet and smiling at their romance and even let out some sly tears at their emotional reunion.
i like the aspects that each time travel results in different realities - by the end theyve experienced several realities together and somehow find a way to connect each time - this is truly beautiful.
i also have to shout out the comedy element - my favourite scene is when sun jae is zoning out and says something insulting whilst his friend is stealing his food and says 'i just wanted a bite...' - so many moments like these made me chuckle!!! i was laughing so much, it was really hilarious!!
i could nitpick, but honestly i dont think i can, ive had too much fun watching this drama, it was genuinely incredibly enjoyable.
dramas like these make me totally starstruck - as an INFP, i am guilty of being highly fantastical in my own head- their incredible romance makes me a little sad i cant have it in my own life.
WATCH THIS DRAMA!!!!! hopefully you will enjoy it as much as i did
everyone who worked on this needs a pat on the back, the director/s, cast and production crew, all personnel, everyone.

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Typical kdrama with a typical story

I don’t know which lovely runner everyone else is watching because the one I am watching is just a mid and typical kdrama story. I don’t understand what was soo good about the show !!
First episode showed a lot of potential which went down the drain just after a few episodes because there was nothing much to look forward to..
Time travel become a game( try try again) and sun jae died soo many times it wasn’t even serious anymore 😭 made me laugh the third time he died and that scene was in slow motion like wtf. Totally killed the serious vibe.
The female lead got on my last nerves, she was soo annoying ( forced attempt to be cute). Not to mention her dumb explanations, she was in her 30s and time traveled to her 18 year old self but acted like 15 year old. Soo much could’ve been done with the time travel plot but we got soo little. And the character development was nil.

Kdramas at this point have become soo repetitive with the same plots and storylines. Its hard to keep watching after few episodes. And the story gets too predictable just as with lovely runner.

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The More I Watched It, The More I Got Pissed Off

First and foremost, how the hell do you able to mess up such a beautiful idea like this? The idea for this drama is really good, but yet the writer decided to screw it up. To be honest, the first half is really good, with great addition of comedy. This drama should be ended in episode 12, even 8. The serial killer idea is really awful. Out of 9 million citizens of Seoul, why did the serial killer have to keep choosing Sol IN ALL OF THE TIMEFRAME like she is his nemesis? The serial killer in the third time travel already feels unecessary because Sol has dodged it in the second time travel, but maybe they need it because he kills Sun-Jae in the present. Yet the serial killer should not even show up in the present after the fourth time travel, because the timeframe have been changed! The third time travel is the worst. If Sol choose to avoid Sun-Jae from the beginning, then she may not survive the killer's first attack (he is the one who saves her). Those two premises are there just only to support the ending that the writer's intended, nothing more. This drama might be too long that they have to add ridiculous things such as the second watch, that one is horrendous! I understand that most K-Dramas has strong start and hollow ending, but I really don't expect this one became silly only after half of the season.

On the contrary, thanks to Hye Yoon, Woo Seok and Geon Hee who plays their characters excellently, they literally carry this drama. Overall, this drama is still enjoyable since it brings a lot of morale of the story, but you may get frustrated with the storyline after watching halfway.

EDIT: After watching several more shows, I noticed that this show has a good example of how a last episode should be.

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The Perfect couple do EXIST.

This drama was an incredible PERFECT surprise for me.
I already knew the actors were good but the plot seemed so basic and I really though the main lead would be another cold guy who slowly falls in love but not before pissing me off HHAHAHAH, turns out, I couldn't be more wrong.

Sun Ja really entered to my Top Green Flags ML in dramaland besides Jang Uk, Yong shik, Taek and a few guys.

Kim Hye Yoon did an amazing job portraying someone without any will to live and at the same time a determinate fangirl, definitely will keep up with her work more often.

The chemistry between the two is so strong that is impossible to not believe they fell in love in real life.

The story is absolutely incredible and well executed, nowadays I get scared when I see a drama with 16, the story just goes downhill after a while and AGAIN the prove me wrong.
Watching this drama brought me so many feelings... the feelings I used to get when I first started to watch dramas in 2011.

Lovely Runner I miss you guys already 😭😭 my Mondays will be sad for a long time. Glad they gave us an incredible OST to keep up 😃

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Honest Review: Not Perfect, yet one of the best of 2024!

There have been moments in my 18 years of drama-addicted life, where I have been obsessed with a drama - its plot, actors, characters, scenes - to the point that made people question my sanity. But never have I come across a drama, that too airing, that has impacted me so much from Day 1 like Lovely Runner! I hardly have time to sleep/eat managing my work-personal life, but for this show - I decided to throw it all away to engage in MDL theories, comment and even create a Insta page dedicated to this show!

Now that you have got an understanding of obsession, and I know this is going in the HALL OF FAME as one of the best K-dramas I have seen till date BUT it is IMPERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL. Hence, please read my un-biased review of this drama:

❤️ Ep 1-10 - Literal Perfection
Heart Fluttering Romance ✔ | Well-Timed Comedy ✔ | right amount of fantasy, suspense & angst ✔ | Music that heals ✔
Basically these episodes had sugar and spice - think of everything that you like in a drama, irrespective of genre, and Lovely Runner has it. The hype it initially created deserved every bit of recognition - and everyone in the cast and crew gave it their heart, which made the final presentation something to look forward to even on dreaded Mondays!

❤️ Byeon Woo Seok & Kim Hye Soon
I cannot even begin to describe the love & pride I feel for these two. Those who are acquainted with their journey would understand how long it has taken for them to be recognized as main leads in this industry. They literally breathed life into their characters - making the chemistry palpable that I won't be surprised if they share they are dating IRL. I think when we say that you cannot imagine anyone else doing these roles OR their character names is recalled more than their real names - it is a testimony of a job fabulously done. They were both amaJING and unbelieBUBBLE and I cannot wait to see them in new projects. Literally the example of #onwards-and-upwards - I am rooting for their success & happiness, and grateful that they took this project and gifted me with such a beautiful experience & memory.

❤️ Music:
I really love how they used the plot story and band - Eclipse and released the OST. Really love these kind of witty nuggets - am such a sucker for it. Thinking from a business perspective - this opens so many doors for BWS who has sung these tracks - to host concerts or sing in his fan meetings. I guess the sharp minds of the industry and agency must have already thought of it.

But I feel the main track - Sudden Shower (Sonaki/소나기) is so damn beautiful and I loved how catalytic it was in the plot.
Other favorites: Spring Snow by 10cm, Like a Dream by Minnie. Already a part of my playlist, and I know it will stay for long.

Now, onto what could have been better? Ep 11 and onwards
Please note that I write this with the mindset of "WABI-SABI" i.e. Beauty in Imperfection. The drama is still is great, but it is not without flaws:

✘ Character Development:
Harsh but true - the leads were uni-dimensional, having only one goal throughout FL wants to save ML, ML is all about puppy love for FL. Not bad per se, but by stretching this overkilled what was initially cute, heart warming, toe curling into fillers. Even the support characters (brother/best friend, In Hyuk, Tae Seong, FL & ML's parents) & villain were not judiciously used to their potential. They were enjoyable whenever onscreen, but the same kind of comedy due to repeating timelines killed the initial excitement thereby not leaving with the greatest impression.

Had this been a 10-12 episode drama format, it would have more impactful, as the repeats/fillers would have not been there. I quote this from a fellow MDL user, Kate's review: it did seem like that they ran out of what to create, in the second half and therefore repurposed many of the epic scenes in new timeline packaging. (Read her review here: https://kisskh.at/profile/Shini/review/363193)

❤️Overall
In the end - the anticipation and fun that we had as we watched while it aired might not be felt by those who binge it. Hence I am fearful the high ratings we see now, might dwindle. But honestly, this has been a very refreshing, feel good, guilty pleasure drama (thirst trap - included: BWS shirtless scenes, them veiny forearms & hands, long fingers, ability to catch a woman by her waist - OOOHLALALA!) but mainly a show that has after a long time: made me smile in a way that split my face in half or snort like a goofy person at the antics the drama characters played. And what else do you want from a drama : Other than the fact that it makes you feel happy from the bottom of your heart! Lovely Runner did that and more and hence recommend it to be watched at least once ❤️

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Overrated for sure

I didn’t know earlier that true beauty’s writer wrote this drama as well. I understand now why there were soo many similarities and even the order of certain events was same. The love triangle plot and the bad boy 2nd lead, Male lead being her saviour and all.
I want to mention some comedy scenes that were cheap and not funny e.g when ML doesn’t hold the bathroom door for a guy and he is exposed among all and FL’s friend pooped in her pants etc . I don’t understand why they degrade the supporting characters like that. These scenes were not funny they were just disgusting.

Female lead was super annoying, she was confused as hell. Made dumb choices and at times i didn’t feel like rooting for her at all. I wanted to tell the ML to just run away from her as she creates unnecessary trouble. She acts from the beginning as she is his girlfriend and not a fan bcz what fans act this way !!!
ML was attractive up to the point he had ambition other than being in love with the FL but it felt like his life revolved around her only. It made him uninteresting.
Episodes towards the end were boring, I lost interest after episode 9. Time travel become boring after she traveled back again and again. Not to mention watching ML die soo many times. And the show didn’t pick up from that point and goes further down.
Music was amazing. The couples cute moments made me keep watching the show but at some point they also become cringe.
Nothing surprised me about the story and it was predictable. So I would say Lovely runner is just overrated.

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