Lovely Runner

Very good, although not perfect

I thought this drama was very well-done and highly entertaining. Was it perfect? Of course not. But I don't get the hate I read in some reviews and in the Viki Timed Comments while I was watching. It is surprising to me that this drama provoked such extreme reactions, with people either calling it the best of the best (which it isn't) or hating it to bits (which I don't think it deserves). Personally, I lean more towards the positive, although I found some weaknesses, that I will describe below.

The time travel

I happen to like dramas with second and third chances, where the character travels to the past trying to change things and, if it's done properly, I don't mind at all seeing the same things happening in different ways. It is exciting to think about the implications that changing one single thing can have to the future of all those involved.
I loved "Operation proposal" with Yoo Seung-ho, I also liked "Tomorrow with You", I hated "Manhole" with a passion. I loved "Twinkling Watermelon", except for the finale. I felt really let down and cheated of my happy ending. After all this desperate struggle of the son to save his future father, the accident happens anyway - although the outcome is significantly better. I felt like the writers went for the politically correct ending, with all its absurdities (he gets an executive job, of all things, in a company selling music instruments where everyone learns or at least understands sign language, just to accomodate one person who is not even close to them).
I was afraid of this here as well. I was afraid that they would have her end up paralyzed anyway, but with the love of her man, saying "there's nothing wrong in being disabled, it's just as good as not being disabled, you can be happy anyway". I've heard the argument that her ending disabled anyway would have been more realistic? Realistic? What on earth is a realistic outcome in a time-travel k-drama? Does time-travel exist and does it have real rules, realistic or otherwise? What are our criteria for calling something "realistic" in that context? Thankfully they didn't go that route.
Although I thought that overall "Watermelon" was a better drama, this one had its own charm.
I liked that the female lead does not travel to the same moment in time, and also that her visits are not always in chronological order. This gives variety and freshness, and helps us explore different moments of the characters' lives.
I didn't like that the reason and rules of time travel were not explained properly (was the grandma the Heavenly Granny after all, as was hinted at the end?) Just because the clock showed 3 o' clock and the next time 2 o' cloth, she assumed that there were three tries? That's random. But then, time travel dramas usually are a bit vague about that part, you're expected to just suspend disbelief.

Was the main lead a "loser"?

Someone said that it was unnecessary that the male lead is revealed to have liked her since the beginning. That he has no reason to like her. Yes, it wasn't indispensable, yes he could have grown to like her little by little.
But that revelation makes it much less one-sided, it made for a nice twist to see everything from his point of view. And, more importantly, given her crazy antics the first time she travelled, I don't know whether it would have been reasonable to put up with her if he didn't like her beforehand. He would have brushed her off as a weirdo. I know I would have! And, okay, let's be real, teenagers don't need very deep reasons to like someone. Consider that he went to an all-boys' school and wasn't very exposed to females, dedicated to his sport as he was. And at that age where hormones are raging. He saw a pretty girl with a radiant smile and he was smitten. At that point, it was just a generic liking, someone you would wish to meet again and make an acquaintance with, not the great love of his life, for whom he would be ready to give up his own - this came later, in a much more organic way.
There was the criticism that the main lead only thinks about his love and not enough about his career. He forgets about swimming too easily only because of her. Yes and no. The way I understood it is that while he was young he did like swimming and it was his life, but he was also encouraged a lot by his father, and he was happy to be able to excel somewhere. The time he had taken away from the sport led him to explore other interests as well. He did get interested in singing after that first time he got on the stage. He did write a song (inspired by his love, yes, but aren't 95% of songs love songs anyway?) Let's not forget that we're talking about 18 or 19-year-olds. They can change interests. I think that he really didn't want to go the the US for rehabilitation. First he was afraid that he wouldn't make it anyway and he would have raised his and his father's hopes for nothing. I didn't feel that was an excuse, it was a very realistic fear he had. Yes, not going to the US had a lot to do with his love, we know that. But I don't think it's the whole story. Not everyone goes on to do what they did when they were very young. So I don't find this a flaw. Otherwise, yes, he is ocncentrated on her a lot, but aren't we all like that when we are in love? Why call him a loser, as so many people did? Are you a loser if you are able to feel deep love and show it to your beloved? I know, she rejected him so he should move on. But we also know that in reality she liked him a lot. Her eyes often gave her away, her care for him etc... Why not assume that something within him sensed that, he felt that he was loved back, that while her lips told him to go away, she was unconsciously sending him messages to stay, and that's why he couldn't move on? It wasn't spelled out, but that's a factor to consider.
Was it unlikely that the male lead had no other relationships in every possible timeline, even in the one where he had never met her and didn't remember her? Of course it was. I agree with that. But we're watching a k-drama, and this is a k-drama trope. In k-drama world this is the normal thing. Being an idol, it's slightly more likely, as they are closely watched and fearful of scandals, but we know that real idols have relationships anyway, secretly.
The Viki comments consistently called him a loser. How can you call a man a loser when a woman goes through all of this only to save his life, even to the point of risking her own? Just because she doesn't show it and he does, he's a loser? What a shitty, old-fashioned mentality is this? She doesn't play hard-to-get because she's playing games, but becasue there are very important things at stake.

In defense of the female lead.

While I was watching at Viki, many Timed Comments were very critical (nasty I'd say) of the female lead, especially every time she rejected him. And here on MDL, at least two reviews criticized her for not using her time in the past to enjoy the company of her family, instead of making him her only pursuit. People, did you forget? The goal of this trip was not to have a cozy time with friends and family but to save a person's life! And especially once she got the information that the man dies because of her, it's absolutely normal that this desperate quest takes top priority. Moreover, she doesn't seem to have been the sort of person who didn't spend time with her family anyway, one who didn't appreciate the grandma while she had her with her mind intact. So there was no special need to do something extra to make up for lost time, because there was no lost time. That would have been an important thing to do if she had a weight on her conscience that she took her mom and grandma for granted, that she did not spend enough time with them or give them enough affection. But we were shown that they were a close-knit and loving family anyway, so this need would not have overriden the mission to save the life of an innocent person who died unjustly in the prime of his youth. That's all. I don't think I have to add more to this.

And what? they mock her for crying in every episode? How couldn't she cry? When her desperate attempts to achieve her mission fail, time and again, when she's chased by a murderer and she has to witness this young man's death not once but multiple times? Who wouldn't cry, in real life? Then others criticize her for being too bubbly. Make up your mind, is she too sad or too bubbly? There's no satisfying people. As for me, I found the bubbliness forced in some scenes where she's pretending to be carefree and wants to hide something. She's very obvious. The actress is actually quite good but the character was not necessarily a good actress and they want to show us, the audience, that she's lying, doing it in a less than subtle way.

Did Im Sol always make good choices? Of course not. I thought it was careless of her, the last time, to assume that because the man hasn't met her, the killer is no longer a problem. She should at least search the news of the year 2008-09 to see whether he committed some crime and what happened to him. Because Ryu Seon Jae's fate of being killed by that man did not depend on his connection with Im Sol, as was shown at the end, where the criminal is about to kill him without even knowing who he is.
But if we found ourselves in that situation, would you and I make perfect choices every single time? Probably not. Right? The audience sometimes seems to think that the character knows what we the viewers know - what other characters are thinking or doing, where the killer is and so on. Of course this is not the case. The poor girl has to wing it, to do all she can with the available information she has, and with the chances she is given. She is bound to make mistakes. It's also for the sake of drama. The "hero's quest". Drama is made by overcoming obstacles. If there were no obstacles and she solved everything the first time around, the drama would be over in five episodes!
I kept reading "why is she breaking his heart, why is she so hard on him? Just date him and be happy". Those people seem to forget the main point of the travels her main goal, is to save his life.

My opinion on Im Sol's character? I found her very brave, she had the strength to stick to her main goal without wavering. Of course she longed to do what viewers wanted her to, of course she wanted to confess and throw herself into his arms. But if she did, she might have to face the trauma and heartbreak of his death again. After her first time travel, every time she went back with a very specific plan, and she stuck to it faithfully, no matter how much she was hurt, no matter how much he was hurt. And no, "telling him everything and figuring out solutions together" was not possible. We saw what happened the time before the last, when he understood her plan and said , "I don't care, let's love each other anyway and if I die I don't care". Which happened. He came back to the cliff to save her and got killed. So we were shown how this was not a good idea at all. She wasn't planning to blindly sacrifice herself. She had asked for backup from the policemen. She had a plan. Until he ruined it because he thought she was stupidly sacrificing her life.
This was a very smart heroine. Not perfect, but smart and loyal, and as much in love with him as much as he was with her, although she wasn't allowed to show it for most of the drama.

Secondary characters

Side characters are not well-developed and do not have any development arc, they don't mature, they don't change, they are one-dimensional. Yes, that's true. And, unfortunately this is too often true in k-drama (should I say most of the time?), it's one of the most frequent flaws. They are stock characters (the supportive friend, the goofy friend, the fat friend, the nagging but affectionate parent...) there only so that the leads have somebody to confide in, or just for comic relief. And it's a pity.
The second male lead is also not developed enough as a character. I agree with that as well. His family history and relationship with his father is only hinted at, and there's a sweet scene between them towards the end, which sort of mends things, but it could have been fleshed-out much more, since he does play an important role in the story at the end.
The killer. Yes, we would have needed some more of his motives, what his deal was. Not a lot of time spent on him, just a few hints on how and why he did what he did. Not that all serial killers have real reasons, but for dramatic balance it would have been nice.

Slapstick I hated

I was especially furious at how they used the ML's dad. Kim Won Hae is an amazing dramatic actor (as we saw in many many shows, for instance Good Manager and While You Were Sleeping). But since his role in Strong Woman Do Bok Soon in 2017, they have often been using him for heavy slapstick of the most vulgar kind. Since Strong Woman Do Bok Soon is another inspiration (together with Watermelon) for this show, they thought they would make supposedly fun scenes where he hurts himself and has to wash his soapy eyes with toilet water. I wanted to slap the writer for doing this. And yet people in the comments were saying it's so funny. I really don't understand these primitive people who can laugh with those things. Anyway, the actor being awesome as he is, he still manage to injet some humanity to his puppet-like character and show us his good heart and great love for his son. I thought this serious enough a flaw to take one star from my rating. There are more refined ways to make comedy, and we had some of those moments in the rest of the show.


Tropes.

Were there a lot of k-drama tropes? There were quite a few (way too many) "the female falls and the male grabs her to arrest her fall", there was also an accidental kiss if I'm not mistaken, there was the interruption of intimacy by an unexpected visitor and hiding into the closet, there was the botched proposal, the amusement park date and a few others. Although they were not overwhelmingly bothering, I wish they weren't there. And I was happy to see our old friend the white truck of death, for once in the role of the good guy. He deserved that break, after years of loyal service.

Product Placement

I was happy to not notice blatant product placement. Maybe the ice popsicles and a few others, but it was seamlessly woven into the narrative, so it didn't bother me. No female displaying all the range of a certain brand of cosmetics and suddenly starting to extol the virtues of some lotion out of nowhere. No Subway either. I didn't even notice the brand of the jewellery when Seon Jae went to buy the rings, so thanks show, for not being too pushy with those things.

The ending

One thing I was really grateful for is that the resolution didn't happen in the last five minutes, and we had a whole episode of happiness to enjoy, and we also were given the time to learn what happened to most of the other characters. That was super-refreshing. Some people found it "underwhelming" because the show didn't finish with a big dramatic splash. Personally I prefer them that way, rather than angst until the very end or, God forbid, an open ending, leaving you with all sorts of questions.

Music:

The Shower song was pretty good, I liked it, and there were a couple of other good ones. Not a score that will remain forever in my mind, but it served its purpose well.

All in all, I think it was a good drama. Not one of the ten best of all times, but a very good one nonetheless.

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Yes watch!

This show was great!
When i first found out about it, i was super excited and was waiting for it to come out and the first Tenish eps were good and such a roller coaster. the first weekly ep was happily ended, but the second weekly ep was always sad, but left me wondering what was gonna happen next week.

after some time the plot was kinda like everywhere and it started getting abit annoying how much the FL would refuse him, and the amount of times she kept going back in time was crazyyyy.

I think the show could have been like 12 eps or maybe even 10.

Though there are complaints, i would say the ride and the fandom made it worth it, and i barely finish shows when they are released weekly, but this one i did! overall the chem was good and so was the acting.

I would say a 9/10 is great for this show, would i watch again, def, but idk if ill be able to fully finish it since it's quite long and dragged out.

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Lovely Runner is DEFINITELY worth watching!

I haven't come across any k-drama where I had literally cried my heart out for every single episode, until I started watching 'Lovely Runner'! Every episode is engaging and has a detailed storyline. When it comes to acting, 'Lovely Runner' is top-tier for sure! It gave me so much joy and warmth, yet also made me cry myself to sleep. The chemistry and bond between the 2 leads (Byeon Woo Seok & Kim Hye Yoon) is exceptional too! So many actors/actresses with massive potential were casted for this drama even though they were quite under-rated prior to the film, and it's so great to see them finally getting the recognition and love they deserve. I'm honestly quite worried if I'm going to find any other k-dramas as good as 'Lovely Runner', because this series is already so close to my heart!
During the releasing of this drama, it had made my Mondays from being the start of another tiring week, to being one of my favourite days of the week! Now that the series has already come to an end, I'm definitely going to rewatch this series over and over again, and show it to my future children, their children, and grandchildren. I can proudly say that 'Lovely Runner' is my all-time favourite k-drama! As of now, I am eagerly anticipating for any more dramas that will live up to the standard this series has set for me! (Well I know for a fact it's going to be a hard!)

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The Spring of Lovely Runner 2024

For : Lovely Runner
How did I watch: From the first premier, religiously waiting for every new eps.
Why did I watched: Kim Hyeyoon & Lee Seunghyub
Themes that I like in the drama: capital ROMCOM, Timeslip, doki doki, Both lead redemption, Fate, Fan Culture Meta,

1. Most favorite character: Baek Inhyuk ( The cherry blossom scattering living rent free in my head). I think he inspired me to do more for my friends.
2. Most favorite interactions:
> Im Sol and Ryu Sunjae. OTL. Im Sol my sunshine, the reason why yellow is so warm and the love of my life. Ryu Sunjae my adorable loser. Together they are explosion.
> Drunk Sunjae and Inhyuk: Inhyuk expression is the point.
3. Most memorable scene/ plot point: The part where inhyuk spill the beans, sol listening hehe.
4. Why did I stay for this drama: The couple chemistry is so good. The way the writer and director construct the show to lean more into the romance. The ost really speak to the drama and each other it felt like going on a journey.
5. What I would like to see more: THE DELETED SCENES and the life after.
6. What I would like to see less: I am sorry im geum and hyunjoo.And someone i love but kept dying, i love you but plsssss plssss.
7. Would I watch it again? YES!
8. When will be the best time to watch? When it's spring somewhere in four season country. When i need
9. Radar alert for the future watch: Kim Hyeyoon ! Lee Sieun ( The writer i have doubts, but she really leaning heavy on the chemistry and the romance and the comedy), but now im excited for her next work.

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Memories don't disappear. They're smeared into your soul.

It's 3 a.m., and I just finished this wonderful drama. It's been a while since I appreciated a contemporary genre. Actually, I tried avoiding this kind of genre because most of them were cringey and the story was not that deep.

However, this one surprisingly had an interesting plot in terms of timeline; going back and forth is easy to pick up. The way they show the POV of both leads was one of the highlights. It's annoying when we only see one side of the story, but here it was done right. They also meticulously crafted the connection between the characters.

Sometimes they show cringey moments, but I don't care. They deserved those cutesy and happy moments after what they experienced. 

Finally, hats off to the leads. They both did great here, especially when they were crying. It will hit you. Just wonderful. Don't judge it by the comments. Indeed, at times, the story progressed slowly, but this was necessary for the story's development.

I love it..and one of the best that I watched this year.

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It was cute, but lacked in some areas

Now don't get me wrong when I say that this drama was absolutely amazing. But unfortunately, I feel like it lacked in some areas or was dragged out a bit. I loved watching every second of this drama, but I couldn't help but think of how it could of ended 3 or 4 episodes beforehand.

Im Sol and Seon Jae's relationship was absolutely the cutest, but I kept thinking I felt sorry for Tae Sung. There was just something about him that made me feel like Im Sol could have had a better relationship with him. Although, when Im Sol chose to change the past by never meeting Seon Jae, then it seems like Tae Sung's future had changed for the better as well. So I guess it wasn't such a total loss.

The one thing I loved about this drama was that Im Sol didn't keep it a secret entirely that she was from the future. But it would have been so much better if she had told Seon Jae a long time ago. Then maybe they wouldn't have kept dealing with the same thing over with him being confused with how Im Sol truly felt about him..

It would have been SO MUCH BETTER if Im Sol was able to just tell Tae Sung and Seon Jae about the kidnapper. I know she wasn't able to talk about certain facts and such, but there truly wasn't any reason why she was keeping them in the dark so much. Seon Jae and Im Sol could have had a better future if she had been honest about everything (that she could explain of course) and there wouldn't have been so much pain and constant change of events.

I loved this drama.
But I can't stop thinking that it could have been so much better if they changed a few things and it would have been a complete masterpiece.

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My top #1 2020s drama for sure

I never been this OBSESSED by a drama ever since I started watching kdrama from 2012. Every episode has their own magnet, I end up rewatching more than 3 times. The main leads acting and chemistry are just top-tier. I will always believe in Kim Hyeyoon choice of works, and I’ve watched most of Byeon Wooseok’s works before this. But Sol and Sunjae just bring the most of them. I can see myself in 10 years to come, still rewatching this series.

I’ve always been a fan to romcoms but Lovely Runner just hits my soul deeper than ever. This series just made my whole standard for kdrama way way way up. I don’t know if I ever be this obsessed by a kdrama anytime soon.

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Great cast and acting, great chemistry, good story (one slight spoiler called out)

Overall
I urge you not to take the super low ratings to heart. This show has a lot of trauma, but also a lot of humor that really works. Watch it!

Give me those two leads and the same level of trauma as in Touch Your Heart and it’s a classic worthy of an 11 rating.

The Good
- The cast is great. especially leads.
- The leads are a beautiful couple and their chemistry is off the charts.
- The FL’s smile is dazzling.
- Comedic elements landed and were not over the top. Both leads (and the secondary characters) pulled the humor off very well.
- Tenderness between leads, during the happy times, was inspiring.
- There were some really nice Mercedes cars (LOL even though I am a BMW guy :-)
- We got some decent amount of happy times at the end, not just the last 15 minutes like in some series.
- The story was interesting, with the caveats below.

Sub-Optimal
- There are at least one too many time slips. It did get repetitive and frustrating, as others have noted.
- There was also too much trauma, which accompanied the too many time slips. I would have rated this a 10 if there was less trauma and at least one fewer time slips.
- Those two things almost pushed this down to a 7 or 8. But my love for the leads and the comedic elements saved it for me.
- The villain (I feel sorry for the actor, who did his job well) was somehow not compelling for me.
-v(Kind of a spoiler) They dIdn’t really show a marriage - well they kinda did, but not for reals. I’ll leave it at that.

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Consistent Good Scene writing and Humour.

This show has good cinematography, consistent excellent scene writing, and humour.

I thought after reading that there would be repetition of time travel many times which would make the story repetitive so it would end up boring. Turns out I was wrong. There were 4 times of time travel to the past, but 3 of them came to different times. The fourth (last) is just a flashback. The story telling in the future is also the same, the 4 futures have different situations and atmospheres.

There are some minor plot hole.
From that time travel situation.
But just minor plot hole.
And, Its typical Rom-com fantasy drama.
What do you expect?
Some minor plot hole sometimes necessary too exagrate the scene.

As long as it serves the purpose it was created for and fulfills its function and is "served" well as a rom-com. I won't expect more, let alone go beyond their's goal.

Watching this, I was giggling in my room while blushing at the scenes in each episode. This drama is one of the rom-com dramas that I rarely "fast forward".

I personally have watched a lot of rom-coms, this drama is one of the best. All scenes are presented well. There are many romcoms that try to be funny and want to depict a romantic atmosphere. But they failed miserably.

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