This review may contain spoilers
I was pleasantly surprised that the romcom and time travel aspects went well together, but the serial killer scenes were a bit off due to the abrupt shift in tone- the scenes would go from warm and sunny to cold and overcast with menacing background music in one instant. The villain was also flat and caricature-like, but given that this was just a plot device to keep the leads apart longer, I didn’t expect an interesting antagonist as if I were watching an actual thriller. It wasn’t a deal breaker though, and I found myself enjoying this for the most part. The female lead was spirited and charismatic, the male lead was lovable and warm hearted. They had a cute, adorable chemistry.
I also like the creative way the drama used time travel, like when the female lead blurted out spoilers to be able to pause time so she could get from one location to another. Im Sol's determination to protect the male lead, Sun Jae, was endearing and admirable, but it could get frustrating at times; the results of her efforts would tell her time and again that trying to change certain events would only make things worse, but she kept making the same mistake. Then again, I understood why. If you knew your loved one would end up getting murdered, I guess you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself from trying to prevent it either, even if your efforts were in vain.
This is a female centric show, but I don’t think of this as a flaw, more like a preference. If you want to see something that has an equal focus on both the leads, or is male centric, this may not be your cup of tea. Most of the story is from the female lead’s point of view and you only get bits of Sun Jae’s perspective later. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a preference for one trope or the other, but if one automatically dislikes a drama because of that one aspect/trope, it might be more practical to just choose another drama that has what they like. There is no point in watching a sports drama if you hate sports, anymore than it being counterproductive to watch a detective story if you hate that genre. I have my own set of preferences and tropes which I normally go for, but if another drama didn’t have what I liked but was still good, I wouldn’t rate it badly either.
Regardless of a drama being female centric, equally focused, multi-perspective, or male-centric…I want a drama to be good at what it does (be good at what it's trying to do), entertain me, be fast paced and have likable characters.
I think Lovely Runner succeeds for the most part. The plot didn’t slow down from beginning to end and while the leads were an odd couple- not just in terms of how they looked together but also how opposite their personalities were (manic, headstrong female lead, shy and vulnerable male lead) they were likeable and sweet together.
My main gripe is that I dislike the drama's over-the-top, slapstick humor. I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the jokes and gags, which were exaggerated. The male lead’s father getting stuck in the bathroom for a whole day because he was too weak to open the door... the second couple (the female lead’s brother and her best friend), were excruciating* in their courtship. They would jump into ponds in plain sight in the middle of the their school campus to avoid being seen, hide in lockers and cabinets, talk in extremely high pitched voices even a deaf person could hear…the toilet humor incident they had which got the best friend to like the brother...I felt that these scenes were plain unfunny and just added filler. They did more to detract from the drama and did nothing to enhance it.
The female lead herself, while spirited and charismatic, was a bit grating at first; she was way too over-the-top for me (shouting at the top of her lungs, etc), especially during her “high school” days, however, she gets better and mellows down during her college years. I don’t particularly care for her voice. I was trying to pinpoint what exactly bugged me about it. I’ve watched many an anime and asian drama with an annoyingly voiced female lead (ex: Orchid in Love Between Fairy and Devil, Sang Zhi from Hidden Love, etc) but they didn’t bother me…finally I realized that it’s because these female leads have high pitched girly voices which fits their age/character type.
The actress playing Im Sol has an old lady voice which doesn't sync with her appearance. It was like watching a 70 year old woman (with a syrupy sweet voice) talk in the body of a 30 something year old. The scene were Im Sol dresses in a monk’s costume with her face covered where she warns Sun Jae not to become a swimmer…I could really imagine an old woman as the embodiment of that voice.
The actress can’t help it though. It's her natural speaking voice and that aside, both she and the actor did fine; their performances weren’t extraordinary or anything like that. I could easily imagine another actress or actor playing them, but they delivered well and entertainingly. The rest of the cast were alright. There’s also a love triangle here, but it’s mostly played for laughs. I think the story does best when it focuses on the leads.
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This review may contain spoilers
Role Reversals
WARNING: major spoilersLove Beyond The Grave hasn't surpassed Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (TMOP) as my favorite, but it's definitely one of the best xianxias. Many asian drama actors/actresses are good looking, but aside from that, it's equally important to be convincing in the type of roles they play. Dilraba Dilmurat does not just look like a goddess, she acts like one. While I've enjoyed her performance as the girlish and cute Feng Jiu, I think He Simu is her best role to date, because it is in this role that she shows the most range. Her facial expressions go from cute and playful in one scene to cold and vicious the next. There is an episode where she plays her own doppelganger which shows that she can also play a crazy character. Her sitting on a throne as the sovereign of the Ghost World feels right, because she has a commanding and regal presence. Her character is also filled with contrasts. When discovering the senses and enjoying the mortal world she appears almost childlike. When dueling with other spirits in their yearly tournament, she is all powerful, but just...allowing each immortal, even when defeated, to surrender and try again next year. She also respects their wishes if it's a duel to the death they want.
I used to think Arthur Chen was cold and stiff, but I really like him as the playful and cunning Duang Xu. This cheerful type of sly male lead suits him and he is both dashing and dynamic. I like how the drama does not diminish the male lead, even if it emphasizes that the female lead is more powerful. When he's in his element as an army general, he is shown as effective in winning wars (sometimes even single handedly and alone in an enemy camp); he's also ruthless as an assassin and I thought it interesting that he fought like a berserker in some scenes and wasn't afraid to get bloodied and dirty. The story also shows that he is at a severe disadvantage when dealing with immortals and is very vulnerable, which makes sense. It would have been too unbelievable if he could suddenly stand toe to toe with hundred something old spirits who have been cultivating power for ages. That type of plot armor I do not care for. What's good is that, even if he's almost always at a losing end when dealing with immortals, he still handles himself well. When he enters the ghost world, he is able to take down two zombies using a magical sword. Later, he is able to defend himself (even for a few minutes) against Yan Ke, the main antagonist, using the same weapon Eventually, he does get help from a sorcerer. The male lead suffers a lot in the series, but he is able to accomplish everything he sets out to do, whether it's winning the female lead's heart or regaining back the 17 lands that were taken by the enemy. He gets a lot of help along the way, but in a way that is believable and human.*
One of the things this xianxia has which makes it different from others is the role reversal. There are scenes where the male lead actually gets himself in trouble (in stupid shoujo girl style) so the female lead can rescue him (which she does, she even literally carries him out of trouble) ; the villain Yanke is basically a white lotus (a male Sujin) who is over-the-top but very entertaining to watch (how can you doubt he is the bad guy when he literally has black smoke coming out him- like Sujin he basically loses it as a result of being unable to accept rejection from the one he likes); there are scenes in the Ghost World where all the dancers are male and all the customers being served/massaged are female.
I like how LBTG also looks different. In other xianxias like TMOP or LBFAD (Love Between Fairy and Devil), the world of immortals looks like how one would imagine heaven, with white clouds and set in the sky. The spirit world in LBTG, which is called The Void, is set in the bottom of the ocean. It is dark with bright lights. Everything looks luxurious, but corrupt. There is a curfew because zombies roam the world at night; there is an element of horror about it. There are dark forests, an immortal prison in a mountain overseen by a large, Sauron-like eye, main streets that resemble the underworld in that pixar movie, Coco...and yet, the Void looks like an Asian version of blade runner, with eastern style palaces and bright lanterns. I'm not necessarily implying that it had a better design than other shows, only that it was unique in its own way. Not just in terms of the set design, but also in the way the characters behaved. In other xianxias, all the other immortals are depicted as afraid of the King of Heaven and they never go against him. In the Void, He Simu fends off daily assassination attempts by other immortals, not to mention the yearly tournament designed to unseat her.
The OST in this drama is also one of the best I've heard. The catchy, upbeat tune somehow made things more exciting.
One of the flaws of this drama are its endings. There are actually two happy endings...the problem is that the first ending is cut short. It's a common theme in xianxias for an immortal or a mortal to die and then to resurrect. But when they resurrect, it's usually as a lower life form. In LBFAD, Orchid dies and then resurrects into a plant. DongFeng resurrects into a bone bracelet. They cultivate in this form for years before they are able to take on their human appearance. LBTG's first ending follows this established Xianxia trope where newly dead beings become jellyfish like creatures before taking human shape. There is a minor character, a human general who died saving his village, but when we see him, he is already in his human spirit form. One can assume that he didn't take this form at first. It would have been better if they showed the spirit of Duang Xu getting to cultivate into his human spirit form, just like they did with the other characters, so he can reunite properly with He Simu and they can live their spiritual afterlife together.
The second ending is the one that is canonically accurate to the book, where He Simu becomes a human (which is technically all she wanted) and lives out her life with Duang Xu. I honestly don't have a problem with this version either, since this is the author's intention.
When I first saw the trailer for this drama, I didn't think there would be any chemistry between the leads (I don't usually go for noona romance) but surprisingly, there was. Arthur and Dilreba are adorable when they finally get together. Their characters also suffer a lot. Duang Xu suffers as a result of sacrificing his senses for He Simu. He Simu ends up killing someone who tries to hurt Duang Xu and as a result, loses her powers for 5 years and gets imprisoned by the obsessive Yan Ke. Given that they suffered enough for their love, the happy endings (especially in the first version) should have been clearer.
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