Minyangi

QOT had prime time weekend domestic time slot, as opposed to LR which aired on Mon/Tues domestically. Prime weekend time slot = more viewers. Plus, KSH and KJW are currently “bigger” names in the industry, so more people were likely to tune in casually. Netflix was also QOT’s int’l streaming service, which is much more globally expansive than TVVing, Viu, and Viki combined.

LR did amazingly well, its success and popularity for a Mon/Tues drama is unprecedented. Despite its status of not being on Netflix, its viewing numbers are fantastic! Don’t forget the salty Netflix SNS posts trying to scramble on BWS’ popularity haha (although it was CJ Ent’s decision to not select distribution on Netflix for LR). LR is the little drama that could, truly had 5,000 won and a dream 🥹

Even using the old/retired Korean age system, she’d only be “29.” 🥲

I do understand your point, however. I think the hair, makeup, and costume teams did well to portray the characters as 19, 20, and 34 year olds. Each era had a distinct look that signaled to the audience where the characters were currently at in their lives.

Kim Hyeyoon is beautiful inside and out, but she’s not over 30 😭 She was born in November 1996!

Byeon Wooseok however is 32 (international age). His birthday is in October 1991.

Pre-order benefit 😊

According to the info page of the script book: "As the drama is loved worldwide, English translations of newly written additional scenes and interviews with the writer and actors (Byeon Wooseok and Kim Hyeyoon) will be included."

However, the shooting script (used for ep 1-16) will be in the original Korean without translation 🥲 Depending on which retailer the script book is sold, pre-orders will ship with POB photocards or postcards.

You can do global purchase from places like gmarket or ktown4u!

This 💯!!

I agree that this show may not be for everyone, and that's okay! Different strokes for different folks. You so eloquently described a common issue in those particular reviews that truly out themselves for not having paid attention to the story, or don't have the ability to take context clues and make inferences.

I've said this on other LR discussion spaces but one of the things I appreciated about this show was that the director and writing team didn't hand hold the audience the entire time. They trusted the audience to make inferences and draw their own conclusions. Regarding Kim Youngsoo and his lack of backstory, Taesung quite literally discusses with his dad how KYS was a loser and does not deserve to be put on a pedestal. Sometimes a villain is simply an unhinged serial killer who holds grudges.

It's just sad that media literacy continues to diminish amongst audiences and if things aren't explicitly pointed out to them, they'll find undue fault in a body of work.

The blu-ray is still cheaper than taking a trip to SK in order to try for a chance to have been part of the audience live stream, visiting the pop up store (insane queues where people lining up before 6:00AM only entered in the late afternoon!), and wandering around Seoul and Gyeonggi-do neighborhoods while visiting the filming locations 😅😭

I too can nitpick on specific plot threads and story decisions made by the show, and I can empathize with your feeling of frustration on how certain story elements have been handled (or not handled).

Despite my absolute love for this kdrama, I still wouldn't call it a "perfect" show. Almost no kdrama has received such an accolade from me, because to me, perfect suggests that there's nothing to be done to further improve a show - no notes, no changes, the media is perfect as is. Yet IMO, the little issues with this show are just that - they're little and small enough for me to ignore that they didn't drastically detract from my viewing experience.

I respect that not everyone will have as glowing an opinion on Lovely Runner as myself and countless other fans of this show do. Yet even for non-fans, or for viewers who watched till the end and still felt lacking, I think it cannot be ignored that this show resonated positively with millions around the world. To be able to achieve this feat, surely Lovely Runner must have reasons for this.

I wish you a great day and that the next kdrama you pick up may bring you as much joy and comfort as Lovely Runner has done for me :)

We can agree to disagree. The fact of the matter is no one expected a Monday / Tuesday drama to become so beloved not just in its domestic country, but all over the world. The talent of the cast alone, especially the leads Kim Hyeyoon and Byeon Wooseok, just oozes from the screen.

The director and writer kept the pace tight and the primary focus on the main couple for the most part. They trusted the audience's intelligence to interpret context clues in the story instead of hand holding the entire time. What gaps did remain were infinitesimal enough for the majority of the audience to set aside, as it wasn't important to the overall story.

Some people just don't vibe with romcoms and that's okay. But this romcom handled deeper themes quite well IMO: what does it mean to truly love someone in every sense of the word? If you could go back and change something, would you do it or would you follow your original course, knowing it will eventually bring heartache? Some may write off this show as a silly fangirl following her idol but to those paying attention, it evolved into something so much more than that.

The mass appeal can't be ignored, although as is the case with every media, there will always be people who didn't enjoy it and that's totally okay. But to disregard the positive effect that this show has had on millions of people around the world is a disservice to the fantastic actors, director, writer, and staff that put a lot of love and care into this project.

Anyway, no one can convince someone who's already made their opinion on this show. The majority of viewers had positive reactions with the kdrama and the characters' stories have resonated with them. Again, different strokes for different folks, and if this kdrama wasn't it for you, that's totally fine! I have my share of shows that I didn't vibe with at all despite their mass popularity, yet I can concede to recognize game when it's due.

Different strokes for different folks, but I don't think the score is misleading :)

For those interested in pre-ordering the blu-ray! Lovely Runner's official daum fan cafe has links for domestic (South Korea) and global purchase - these are found at the left sidebar. The pre-order period is from now until 2024.06.30, 23:59 KST.

cafe.daum.net/lovelyrunner

Many times, these sasaeng stalker "fans" straight up follow the artist from official events all the way to their residence. Sometimes, even shady staff members will sell the artist's info and schedule to these sasaengs to pocket a lot of money. Sasaengs have entire twitter accounts and group chats trading info and locations. It's crazy how delusional these people are! Companies need to step up and fully protect their artists from situations like this!