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I loved this. Unique twist on time travel with a heart warming love story
10/10 is my rating. This is a 2024 romantic comedy drama that centers on time travel. There are 16, 70 minute episodes. It is based on a webtoon titled “Tomorrow”s Nest.”First I provide a unique synopsis then review.
Synopsis
An accident leaves Im Sol (Kim Hye Yoon) paralyzed and wheel chair bound amd ready to end it. Ryun Sun-Jae (Byeon Woo Seok) calls her “randomly” from a radio show where his band “Eclipse” is being interviewed. His call reaches Im Sol on one of her lowest days but his words inspire her to go on. She becomes his top fan and it is one of the brightest days in her life when she meets him through a “chance” encounter. On that same day she is devastated to learn he ends his own life. Perhaps the universe gets her devastation and responds to her desperation as a magical watch takes her back in time 15 years when they both went to adjacent high schools. During her many attempts to garner Sun Jae’s attention in order to change their future, she is indifferent to most people around her which catches the widely popular Song Geon Hee’s attention (Kim Tae Sung). Tae sung is used to girls vying for his attention. Im Sol’s utter indifference sparks his competitive nature and he finds himself falling for this unique girl. As Im sol travels back and forth through time, her teenage self vascilates between a girl that is in love with Geom hee to an embarassing extent, to the 30s year old version in a teenager body that finds him ridiculously bad boy narcissistic. And as she changes from one persona to another depending on which stage of life brain is driving the teenage body, she changes between idolation and indifference of Sun Jae as well. Which makes for some very comedic moments. Can Im sol fulfill her heart’s desire and change both of their grim destinies?
Review:
This is a unique twist on time travel with a very heartwarming love story. After this series ran Byeon Woo Seok became known as the nation’s boyfriend and it is clear why. The main lead character was so sweet, steadfast, and loyal to the main female lead character, that most would want to have a boyfriend or girlfriend that had all the qualities he had. You will also experience second lead syndrome as second guy is awesome as well. While there are some sad moments, I would not consider it sad at all on balance. Though if you have been impacted by anyone having ended their life, be aware it could be tough emotionally in the first episodes. It dragged me down a bit because anytime that topic comes up it brings things back. For me the emotional drain around him seemingly ending his life was not severe enough to avoid a really good story like this, but it is good to be aware and prepared. I always check before and most indicated it ended happy. I can confirm that it does have a very happy ending. I would highly recommend this to anyone that loves really good romance, likes time travel, or is a fan of any of the actors. All the actors did an incredible job of portraying the characters. I would watch this again and would recommend it to anyone without hesitation.
Spoilers
My daughter said it would be slightly rated down in her opinion to maybe a 9/10 because she felt like it was super confusing how often it flipped around in time. I completely agree. It did get very confusing as she traveled back and forth to know if certain events happened in that particular timeline. Not only did she travel 15 years back and forth but, at times, they would flashback within the same timeline. Lead guy even, at one point, thought Geom Hee had dated Im Sol and she had not dated him in that timeline. So, the writers were acknowledging that even the characters would have been confused. But, I differ from her in that I do not think you could have portrayed the complexity without it being a little confusing at times.
There were some things I wish had been better explained. Like, how exactly the watch was working. How did she know how many times she could travel? How did she know when she was going back? What about grandma? Was she controlling some of the events? It also did not explain whether Sun jae actually ended his own life or if it was the killer got to him, drugged him, and he wound up falling off the balcony and it looked like he had ended his life. At times it seemed the killer had some awareness, like he knew things he should not have known, and it wasn’t clear why that was the case. I think it had to do with something the grandma said that memories do not go away that they become embedded in your soul. And then there was Sun jae’s puffer jacket stalker. That was really developed as a key event in one timeline but then it was like they just dropped it. I thought it might play out on all the timelines in a very essential way but it seems the only point of it was for him to have these frustrating passing moments, where he misunderstood Im sol and they almost but not quite got together.
I got really frustrated with her for pushing him away. I understood she was doing it because she became convinced he would die or get seriously injured from being around her. But, her original purpose for traveling back was to keep him from ending his life. So, if you are worried about someone being sad enough to make that horrible decision, why would you do things that would make them depressed? Even understanding her concern about the killer targeting him, I wanted her to realize she should not make him sad. But I did finally agree with her when he was stabbed and fell off the cliff. I know I would make the same decision in that case. I might talk to others around him to get them to check in on him more and make sure he was doing emotionally well, but I would likely conclude that he need not be around me if I couldn’t get the killer to stop no matter how things changed.
#LovelyRunner #KimHyeYoon #ByeonWooSeok #SomhGeonHee #LeeSeungHyub
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Great pacing and chemistry
If you are debating whether you should watch this drama or not, it's better to just start watching the first episode, then decide whether you'd like to continue or not. And just a piece of advice, if you don't like the actress/actor playing the main characters, then you might wanna double or even triple think about watching this drama. Because if you already dislike the actor/actress, you'll just find everything that they do (including their acting) annoying.Now here's to everything that I love about this drama:
OST - Honestly there's no skip with this one. Everything's great - the lyrics and the melody. One of reasons why I fell in love with this drama.
Cast - We're not going to fight who carried the show here. They all did! No one really fell short in terms of acting. The chemistry between Hyeyoon and Wooseok - amazing. The chemistry between their friends and families - amazing. They're all funny!
Plot - Well, I wouldn't really call it a masterpiece. So if you are looking for something with an award-winning masterpiece, it's not here. Also, if you are someone who overanalyzes everything in a story, I don't think this drama is for you.
But the plot is decent, okay? Cliche? Yes. But here's the thing about cliche, it still takes great writing in order for it to be enjoyable up until the last episode. As for the storyline, I promise you'll understand it if you don't overthink it so much.
Just one thing that I'd really like to commend the writer and director for is the pacing of the story. It has great pacing. Usual kdrama would get boring around episode 8, it'll pick up the pace around episode 13 and 14, and then that's it. The ending is either meh or good.
But Lovely Runner has no boring episode. I don't even think that there are filler scenes in this drama. 60 mins for one episode wasn't even enough. The ending was so LOVELY. I even want more of it, but you know too much of everything is really bad.
Anyway, the success of Lovely Runner is well-deserved. It's one of the best romcom I've ever watched. No wonder why this drama helped a lot of people from their slump.
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Their acting is good, I just guessed the plot. So if only I knew what the cast would do.As for the song, it's good but there are many that are better.
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IMSOL CHARACTER IS NOT ANNOYING!
She's doing anything that she could to make everyone's life better, and not only focus on Sunjae only like yall try to said. Girl preventing her house from burning and saving her mom's hand from getting burned, treating her mom better than her old self before, making his brother get the lottery so that he can have a better life, asking Tae Sung to focus on his study and not being a bad boy as he used to be, like cuz of Im Sol's advice, boy graduated high school and became a policeman, and obviously saving Sunjae's dad from becoming depressed from losing his one and only son yet yall saying her character is too much, annoying or only focus on a man lol what a joke.PLUS
I won't tolerate any slander against Kim Hye-yoon, either her character or her personal life personality. She's endured a lot of mistreatment and misogyny throughout this drama. BWS solo stans have been trash-talking her since the show started when their oppa was unknown in the entertainment industry, while Hye-yoon is already recognized as a rising star and being given future Chungmuro nicknames already. It's ridiculous that his new fans belittle her, saying BWS is too good for her. If yall just wanna watch cuz of him,then just shut ur fucking mouth and watch quietly no need to talk trash about hy. This drama is told from Im Sol's perspective, as the title (Piggyback Sunjae and Run) literally coming from her fanclub nicknames,so of course she'll protect her love interest no matter what happens. Also, both her character and Sunjae are sunshine and bubbly, yet people find her annoying while yall worshipped and idolizing him lol.
Sunjae character is annoying too, always prioritise his lover without thinking his own health and his dad's advice, doing anything for a girl she just met, ignoring everyone advice just for a sake of a girl, always being an overdependence towards imsol, lack of personal growth but of course yall not gonna say anything about that since the thing yall care is hot man only.
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It's a good watch
First of all, I don't get why this kdrama got so many negative reviews. I just finished it and it isn't bad like some said. I just think that the people who gave bad reviews didn't read the tags at all. It wasn't mentioned in any place that this drama will focus on the mystery side that it is in it. I do understand where people come and I would have liked some answers at some questions but I also understand that the mystery part wasn't their main focus. They probably added that part to have a bit of drama in the series.Second, I started this kdrama with the thought of watching some cute and lovely. And they indeed delivered that, and a few comedic elements. The relationship between Im Sol and Ryu Sun Jae was very cute and I enjoyed watching them together. I cheered for them so much. I wish they were developing their relationship more in the last few episodes though. The ending was feeling a bit short and rushed indeed.
This kdrama also reminds me of old kdramas back in the days of 2016-2018. It gives that nostalgia vibe and it really threw me back in time which was also a nice aspect that I liked.
The acting was very good from both Kim Hye Yoon and Byeon Woo Seok. I'll look forward to their other kdramas as main leads because they played their own part very well. You could really see the difference between their characters' young selves and their adult forms, as well as their emotions and feelings.
The music didn't stand out to me beside the main song that the series is focused on but it also didn't bother me. It was okay.
All in all, this kdrama is a good watch if you want just a cute and lovely drama to watch with the main leads and if you miss the old kdrama days, with their classic humor. It delivered what they aimed for. It isn't in my top kdramas but for sure it has its own place because of the nostalgic feeling. Instead of not giving this kdrama a chance because of the negative reviews, I say to watch it and then judge for yourself.
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Story and Acting was superb...
Loved the chemistry between the lead actors. The story was well put together. Just didn't like the way the Im Sol had to keep putting off telling the truth to the Ryu Seon Jae. It just made me irritated, but however, it was all part of the suspense of Kdramas.Communication is always the most important in any relationship, and there was so many loopholes in this regard.
Loved this drama. Well done.
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Only review of people that hate
Everybody have there own taste for sure. it’s not the problem. I am just sad that only people that dislike or hate it review this one and the one that love it don’t say anything.cheesy, cliche, Deja vu for sure, but it’s done the perfect way !
I love how it can be unserious and also very moving at some point, I was searching this kind of kdrama for a very long time. finally I find what I wanted and I will watch it again !
It feels like an old kdrama with today production, it feel like a real kdrama with non US, Hollywood like coded kdrama that we found in most kdrama nowadays.
Kdramas used to be unperfected, with plot hole it’s true, but with an amazing vibe and emotions.
I love this one so much and I recommend it to people that love old kdramas.
I watched it twice now and actually there is no plot hole, everything is so much clear on second view, but even the first time I wasn’t lost.
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Love transcending time and timeslips
✅️ Nostalgic kdrama feels✅️ Leads bursting with chemistry
✅️ Lots of gushing, blushing romance
✅️ Unexpected plottwists
✅️ Lovely OSTs
✅️ Beautifully shot scenes
✅️ LOL comedic moments
If you thought you are in for the usual fluff, then you're mistaken.
For all the cute previews and fluff fanservice, you find someone stick a hand in your chest and squeezed your heart. First was Im Sol after she lost mobility. The helplessness and lost of hope. Then theres ML and his depression. Lots of teary heart wrenching moments. You will ache for them.
Then my greatest surprise was the curveball at the last 5mins of ep2. Didnt see that coming. That was d ML point of view I didnt know I needed but was so glad director/writer gave us this. Then theres the onpoint acting. Always a fan of Kim Hye Yoon. We wouldnt be this hook without the good acting and the leads' chemistry.
In an afterthought, I just realised its like reading a novel with an epic love story. Theres the sweet romance build up that makes yoi giddy and reminds you of first love. But then theres the grittier bits, heavy emotion from darned fate and stakes against the CP. You watch your leads struggle but ultimately their hearts lead to each other. You feel healed in the knowledge that there's this kind of love.
Ps: Have bumped up the ratings. Its hard for a drama to hold my interest and make me a fan of their love. Even rarer that it has such a high rewatch value
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PHENOMINAL
AHHHH !!! You should watch this when you get the chance !! Its literally so amazing and haa such a unique storyline (so far as it is ongoing). Lovely Runner had me hooked with the first few minutes of episode 1.I may or may not be biased since I don't watch a lot of k-drama or dramas in general, but this is one of the most interesting takes I've seen on the time travel plot line. It adds just the right amount of suspense and satisfaction!!
Even if the genre's arent your cup of tea, just give it a try. You seriously won't regret watching Lovely Runner.
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Handsdown one of the best drama in 2024
I am proud to say I am one of the few people that started the drama way before the craze and hype, all because I was excited since last year when Wooseok and Hyeyoon were announced as the cast. Frankly, I don't particularly care about drama theme when my fav actors or actresses star in it and in this case, it was Hyeyoon.I started it out not expecting any great or perfect drama, I simply expect a usual romcom. Man was I wrong, episode 2 was absolutely magical and I knew right away I had to promote tf out of this drama to every single of my mutuals.
I just finished watching finale and my thoughts are jumbled up lol I'll comeback when I have sorted out my thoughts and feelings and will write a proper review.
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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? ???Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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This drama has been smeared into my soul and will be ingrained in my memory forever.
Favorite line: "Memories don't disappear...They're smeared to my soul."[LONG Review ahead]
PERSONAL: I've been a Kdrama fan for so long. We didn't have Netflix back then so we bought DVDs and downloaded free videos online - more or less 15 years already. Being a Kdrama and even Jdrama for so long, everything becomes predictable, you often see troupes being used here and there, and predicting it is also fun but at some point you get tired - I have become JADED. Not that I don't watch dramas anymore, it's more of a pastime rather than devoting myself to it - like in the early years of my Kdrama watching.
This drama RENEWED my love for Kdramas. I became more engaged and immersed in the fandom in and out of the drama. There are so many things I haven't done before that I did for this drama, like creating my X account. I'm not fond of social media websites so it was a whole new experience for me. Waiting weekly was TORTURE but CELEBRATING new episodes, previews, and unaired scenes with fellow SUBEOMS* (official fandom name for LR created by Knetz ) was SO MUCH FUN. It created a fan community I never thought I would find. You won't be able to create a community like that if the production, writing, story, and acting are not good.
*Quoting it from our un/official president Byeon Woo Seok in his You Quiz interview: ("Subeom! it's from our name, 'Sol' & 'Seon' from seonjae so it's solseonsubeom (*korean idiom means lead by example /to set an example*). It feels SO nice when the actors themselves are BIG FANS of their work, like Byeon Woo Seok for Lovely Runner and his character."
ACTING: Im Sol and Ryu Seon Jae were MEANT TO BE FOR Kim Hye Yoon and Byeon Woo Seok AND FOR THEM ONLY only. After all the trouble this production faced in the beginning - casting problems, lack of promotion, and the K-entertainment industry sleeping on them, I'm so glad it went to the right hands. I can't imagine other actors other than them in these roles. Reading/watching their interviews, this role was LIFE-CHANGING for them. It was for ME TOO.
Our dear SOL was the best character for me. While viewers often questioned her actions, in the end, she changed everyone around her INTO THEIR BETTER/ BEST SELVES. The character Sol having to experience the death of a loved one several times can be mentally and emotionally exhausting for KIM HYE YOON, but she portrayed these emotions so beautifully and also heart-wrenchingly well. You can cry, but not every performance REACHES THE AUDIENCE the way hers did.
There were a lot of Subeom shippers because of their INSANE chemistry on and off screen, but whether or not they'll be together, I'll be supporting them in future projects. My only wish now is for them to reunite in another great drama/project. I look forward to seeing them GROW AS ACTORS and AS A PERSON/INDIVIDUALS. (❁´◡`❁)
Special mention to Kim Tae Sung (Song Geon Hee) for being the best second lead /friend to Sol and Baek In Hyuk (Lee Seung Hyup) for being the best middleman for Seon Jae - in all of Kdramaland.
STORY: You NEED TO REWATCH episodes whenever new episodes come in because new information/context would change your perspective. There may be times when you feel that nothing is happening or that it's too sad but EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON, so you'll later see in the next few episodes why it happened. Of course, some side character stories were not as necessary but it adds to the fun of a romcom. I've never felt SO INVESTED in a story that I so badly needed them to be happy in the end.
I also want to thank the DIRECTORS for being so detailed. You can feel how they took special care in the behind-the-scenes. Dir. Yoon was in charge of the crying scenes of Sol and Dir. Kim Tae Yub (dubbed as Mommy figure for cast) for the happy scenes. So glad they made reshoots as well because they made it more visually appealing.
And to our QUEEN LEE SHI EUN (writer). You dropped this ? (Crown). You elevated the webtoon Tomorrow's Best and made it your own. You even thought of the music (Younha's Umbrella) and best actress for the role (Kim Hye Yoon) while writing this masterpiece. The parallels in the show are god-tier! I'm glad to somehow hear you speaking through Sol in Ep 13.
Talk about going up and beyond.
OST: You FEEL EMOTIONS even better because BWS himself sang the main OST of this drama and even charted in the top 5 in Korea while it was airing. "Sonaki (Sudden Shower)" is now the first love/ rain theme. I love every other Eclipse release with a special liking for "You and I". The drama also started with NOSTALGIC songs I knew before the drama - "Umbrella" by Younha and "Loveholic" by Loveholic. "I Think I Did" by Kim Hyung Jung (the original singer) was especially nostalgic and like a PUNCH IN THE FEELS in Ep 2. "Like a Dream" by Minnie was the KISSING ANTHEM. >3<
They also PERFECTLY-TIMED RELEASES the OSTs. People have been waiting for the release of "Spring Snow" by 10 cm ever since it was heard and they released it in Ep 11 where the memorable petal-catching scene was aired. "Monologue" was an underrated OST for me. I believe it's a theme for Sol and her life realizations. Being the only one who's capable of time skips - unable to share her thoughts with others freely, there are a lot of times she reflects on herself/journey thus I thought the title Monologue fits perfectly (hope there was a female version though). "Gift" was like a promise of a happy ending despite what had happened in Ep 13. "Please Don't Leave Anywhere" was released last which I thought was for Subeoms who are afraid to part with the joy of Lovely Runner / Carry Seon Jae and Run has brought to their Mondays/Tuesdays and lives including mine [already miss you (┬┬﹏┬┬) ].
I already ordered the OST Album. ^_^ (Update 060524: “Lovely Runner OST” breaks the record for highest pre-ordered Korean OST album in history.)
PRODUCTION/ VISUAL FX: Living in the 2008s as a high school student, I love that they also BROUGHT BACK fashion, hair trends, and technology during those times. It's nostalgic to see 2G phones being used and how people were not as reliant on phones compared to now. Everything was simpler back then but I'm not complaining about the present tech now. There were a lot of memorable items in this drama that they made a Pop-up Store to exhibit and/or sell them. Starting from the umbrella and watch, there are so many more that I would want for myself, I just don't have the money. One thing's for sure is that I'm going to get the Director's cut BLU-RAY whether it has English Subtitles or not. I want to learn more from the production and behind-the-scenes. The best motivation to learn the Korean language haha. I'm not usually the type to buy merch, but I want to SUPPORT and CHEER FOR THEM until the end!
I'm so happy to be alive and be a witness to all the miracles this drama has brought me and my fellow Subeoms over the past 8 weeks!╰(*°▽°*)╯
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