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Kdrama version of all that glitters is not gold
I usually watch kdrama after checking it’s rating and Lovely runner has 9.2 rating!! I have completed watching the show and am shocked as it’s rating is same as twinkling watermelon( that show is a legit masterpiece) and lovely runner doesn’t even come close to it. Still wondering what made people give this show such a high rating. The show feels like a low budget time travel.I am sorry but story was average and execution was below average. There were soo many timelines but hardly any character development in those timelines. Sol goes back in past many times and still can’t get things right. It felt like she didn’t care about her disability that much and was just obsessed with ML. She wasn’t in love with him in the beginning so why was she acting as his long lost lover.
Her actions made no sense and left me plain confused in the beginning episodes. I was expecting more because she is the FL not just any other character.
I have no issue with the SunJae as he was clueless and such a sweetheart. I kept watching the show for him.
The serial killer guy made no sense to me till the end. He was used only to drag the story as there was nothing else to add in the plot. The supporting characters weren’t used that much and felt irrelevant at times. The show could’ve been made more exciting by adding thrilling factors in it as time travel is soo vast and have multiple dimensions in it. I feel like the excitement factor was not there. The show is not bad but just not worth the hype and definitely not worth the rating.
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Lovely Runner: Almost there to the finish line
The cast of Lovely Runner shines brightly. The main leads deliver strong performances, and the seasoned actors hold their own, creating engaging dynamics. The supporting cast does a good job of...well, supporting the leads. However, the show stumbles in its writing.Clichéd Cupid: The romance between the leads, while well-acted, drowns in a sea of overused tropes. What starts as cute quickly becomes repetitive, leaving viewers yearning for something more original.
Time Travel Troubles: The central plot device, the time-slip, is a missed opportunity. The show fails to explain its core mechanic, leaving a gaping hole in the narrative logic. This lack of explanation is frustrating, hindering the audience's ability to fully invest in the story.
Conveniently Ever After: The ending feels rushed and predictable, opting for a simple "happily ever after" conclusion that ignores the complexities established throughout the show. It leaves viewers wanting more depth and a more satisfying resolution... and explanation.
Overall: While the cast is commendable, Lovely Runner banked more on the cutesy romantic feels and that's it. Clichéd romance, unexplained plot points, and a predictable ending prevent the show from reaching its full potential.
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Disappointment
I’ll start with the story. I liked the time travel concept as Sol gets to change the past and save herself and her idol. It seemed good at first but become boring and dragging by the end as same things were happening in a never ending loop. It felt like the writer didn’t put effort towards the end. The 3rd time travel was boring af and not progressing the story. At this point even their romance felt hollow. Also watching sun jae dying again and again made it kind of unserious. Like she will still go back and fix it. It makes even the emotional scenes unemotional since it happened soo many times.About the characters, i have soo many questions as to why the female lead made such dumb choices that led her in more trouble? She was given soo many opportunities yet she complicates the things even more.
I really like sun jae but his character hardly showed any development.Why did he not take the opportunity to go to rehab? That was dumb. I know writer wanted to keep him around sol but still that was dumb on his part . Also why did he allow sol to treat him soo badly! He could’ve shown some dignity at this point.
Anyhow all the other characters didn’t play any part in the plot and their presence seemed pointless. It felt like there was just 2 characters in the show, sol and sun jae.
I expected more but got even less by the end. It’s not the endings for me but the story that makes me want to watch a show and rate it well. Considering the hype I was just let down.
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Just a drama filled with all the cliched romantic scenes we have been watching for years
I am a Wooseok enjoyer so I decided on giving the series a try. As a fan of Wooseok, I am really happy he got his limelight through this show. But other than that there is nothing new or unique about this drama. Maybe the romance works well for new kdrama watcher. I am just so tired watching the show. The writers really didn't care to explore any other characters in this show. Except ml and fl, every other character are just there as a decorative purpose. The writers were hyper focused on fl saving the ml that they didn't even care about any character development in any of the characters in the story. Just bad writing and cringey fl doing random things leading her in trouble always. Don't know what's the hype abt this drama. Anyway Wooseok lets grab those awards for this year because he really was born to do this role and he played his part really well as always. Could have given better story for the sml, but unfortunately he is also just there to make the ml jealous and for decorative purpose.Also, The fl's disability got forgotten and after few episodes it felt like she/the writers just ignored it. The writers should have made fl taking time and relive her past like Twinkling Watermelon show. The story and the characters were so shallow which is the main drawback imo. The show had two great lead actors (BWS and KHY) with good side actors but never fully used their potential.
Positive things
1. The comic timing and lil expression variations of BWS and KHY were so good.
2. The chemistry of the leads.
3. The first 5 episodes were really good.
4. Music/OST
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A very ordinary time travel story
I had high expectations or maybe because the drama created such a hype, I was hoping for something phenomenal like something hilarious, some healing and a love story to remember but nevermind.it was an average rom com story with time travel twist which become very obvious and boring towards the end.I like the male lead but that isn't enough to be attached with a character or show. I couldn't feel connected to the main characters. I like sun jae at the beginning but his character became unimpressive towards the middle of the show. And I got out of his charms very quickly.
I felt the same for Sol, as someone representing a disable women, I had high hopes for her character but it felt like she didn't cared enough for herself. That was a let down. Both Sol and Sun jae lacked depth in their characters. And there was no relevance of the 2nd leads
Apart from characters, there was no extraordinary plot either. I was Hella bored in between the show. It got super slow. Nothing that amazing happened in the show as I expected. .
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my initial rating was 9, went to 7, went to 8, then ended at 5
it felt like a story inside of extraordinary you, totally "scripted", overly fantasy, bright, dreamy, with zero intellectual depth. one would say, it's a drama ofc it's scripted, but that's why mdl reviews need a "plot development" rating as wellas the story goes on, for a time traveling plot, one might be pleasantly surprised by the early twists and think, wow this is so well thought out, but reaching the halfway mark, and one starts to wonder, why is everything going in a spiral, new developments, but never any resolution
im sol, as a time traveler, was really really not smart. she never thought logically, and she was not really a teen to no think a bit more.
her first answer to anything was to run away, first cuz she didn't think she was good enough for him, then she thought he got swayed by her love and deluded himself into loving her, later she worried their love was the reason for his misfortunes...
so even when she could tell him about her truth, she still didn't think...
Some aspects are so frustrating, like both like each other but both act distant and cold
As if the writer controls them so they can’t be true to themselves, and later with their last plotmove, of making him forget her, she wonders why he's so cold when he was always a bright sweet person... did she have the amnesia as well? cuz literally he was cold to her from the start
Like her awkward “I’m not spending the night with you” just to see the bar sign two seconds later, just because it’s outside the shot doesn’t mean she couldn’t see it
or her saying "yes i'll stay the night" just to realize he wasn't talking to her... or him saying "so pretty" then say "i wasn't talking to you"
like he was happy she was there, and heard she wants to stay, yet he was the one who kept trying to make her leave
And every time he smiles outside the shot then acts cold in front of her
i hate that push and pull, cuz it's not cute flirting, it's bringing one down and embarrassing them, just so the confession looks sweeter
and it was fine for 18 year olds, but not for 34 year olds..
Like yeah sure he’s hurt about her young vr being so cruel to him and that also adds, if she didn’t love him as an idol she wouldn’t have cared for him as a guy and she’d have rejected him, so this drama wasn't about saving his life but about making sol stop being a self centered cringe fest to finally seeing the guy infront of her xD
but he’s not a teen anymore, again sure “being broken hearted and finding his true love” made him not date anyone even as a 30year old, but he doesn’t need to act like a kid, sure his pure hearted ness is cute but his coldness is such a kids behavior
This is what I like about this drama, it’s not just going back and fixing one or two things
It has consequences, unexpected elements and good back and forth that became too much by the end
Tho I do feel a bit of unfortunate lack of depth in character and friendships and connections but it doesn’t overshadow the good flow
I’m sensing a bit of the movie A Day from the taxi driver, but they never explained or explored it? literally no answers, he was just a random dude who randomly liked to kill random ppl and sungjae/sol were just some random ppl that randomly crossed his path?
Going back to a changed future is a cute touch and fun especially seeing sungjae is the same as always
Tbh I feel like sol accepting him as a friend and telling him to stay by her side would be sweet, cuz he’s not a creep and he can just approach her as if she doesn’t remember him and just be friends, but instead they had a whole reset, to "naturally" keep them away,,
They’re like dumb and dumber, solah as a teen was a handful, and not the cute na hido type
She was mean to her mom, she was clingy af, kinda like some day or one day’s young vr, you just can’t like her
Then comes her old self and some scenes it’s like she just freezes or faints, for the convenience of the writer
And sure he’s cute but he’ll also too obsessed about her, I don’t see them working out as teens, so at least not really meeting in the past saved him alot of cringe and heartache
The thing twinkling watermelon had that this doesn’t is the great characters, bonds and feeling of youth
Here the bro and fl friend are a snooze, the taxi thing is frustrating, his feelings are creepy and I now don’t like the “sol was the first love” it’s like now she only likes him cuz of his idolness rather than him as a person
Ironically if this drama didn’t have that ridiculous mystery element and just stayed as a time traveling romance drama where their worst struggle was her not being able to tell him anything and each thing she changed by being in the past made a new future, like anytime she changed the future, he dies, so ofc the answer would be keeping memories as memories and not meeting in the past so he can live
and I do have to say this, 34 year old sol, no matter how naive, kissing 18 year old sungjae, and the whole past romance parts, was eeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
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Didn't live up to the set up AT ALL
[We have to acknowledge Sudden Shower being the best OST of 2024. That song carries soo much emotion]PLOT - The synopsis def caught my eye. As much as I typically avoid shows that use time travel but I wanted to see this play out. The set up was too good: a young talented idol gives hope to a girl who seemingly has nothing to live for. She becomes a die-hard fan and attempts to attend his concert one night, but to no avail–That same night he dies tragically after giving one of the most touching performances I've seen in a kdrama. Soon after the FL is magically transported into the past and ends up back in high school with her beloved idol. She uses this strange situation as a chance to save him from the dreadful fate she knows is coming in the future. The pilot is one of the best in a while. It's Oshi No Ko pilot good. After that I expected an uphill trajectory...except that didn't happen. None of the emotional story elements were addressed, and the show had no interest in finishing what it started. Instead the heavier topics were sidelined and character development went out the window to make way for a cop-out happily ever after. Real ones know it was a disservice to all the good this had going for itself. The time travel aspect got more inconsistent the longer this played out. The show also had tone issues at times.
CHARACTERS - I agree about the mains being well acted. BWS IS Ryu Sunjae. Tho she was grating at times, you could tell KHY immersed herself in this role. But even with all the great chemistry neither character progresses. They became devices for fan service and boy was that fan service pushed. Ofc they were cute asf but I couldn't help but feel the shallowness of the relationship. I believe it was a mistake for Sunjae to fall in love with Sol. His first arc was written so well and we lost that so he could become a simp. Once we went from platonic love to romantic, my investment collapsed. I would've been fine with SJ not surviving in the end. That seemed like the natural course of events and would've made this show truly impactful. Had that been the case I'd prob be writing a different review... The SL seemed pointless and only existed as plot device for unnecessary conflict. Seeing more of SJ's dad and his relationship with him would've been nice. In Hyuk served his purpose ok as comedic relief. This show def needed it with all the crying scenes.
The screenwriter here is the same one for True Beauty. Both works mirror each other in the sense of setting up rootable characters and launching difficult subjects only to abandon everything for superficial romance that doesn't feel earned. What a missed oppurtunity to discuss depression and how it affects both regular people and celebrites. Where's the social commentary? Where is the payoff?
In conclusion, this ended up being a big ball of wasted potential. I'd be lying if I said parts of the show didn't still linger. The essence was good and I enjoyed the feels but this didn't live up to what was promised. This had the makings to be one of the best dramas of the year but ended up being just ok. Now back to those OSTs
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The curse of the 16 episode Kdrama strikes again
For me, this show was a solid 8.5 when I first started it. I have to say, I had no interest in this show. Then I heard about the plot and how it's about a girl going back in time to save her favorite idol...I thought the plot was so pitiful and sad! I started this out of pity! I just feel like it's sad when you have regrets about people you can't save. And the show didn't disappoint. The start of this show was exhilarating. It was relatable and emotional and so sincere. Then after the sad start, there was the humor, and the love interest developed into one of the more endearing male leads of Dramaland as he wore his heart on his sleeve and was just dorky and handsome at the same time. Not many can pull that off so kudos to Byeon Woo Seok for that. In addition, our leading lady is a tried and guaranteed good actress. The chemistry was sizzling, the plot was engaging, the humor was delightful, and the second male lead was not too annoying...it was all too good to be true. And it was, in fact, too good to be true.It is a truth, universally understood but everyone is too chicken to acknowledge it, that all kdramas have the potential to end on episode 12 but get dragged on for four more episodes until the show loses all its unique charm and rots away in the cesspool of cliched stereotypes. My only wish while watching a kdrama is either for it to end with 12 episodes or if it has to go on, at least go with grace. Very few shows do that.
I was really rooting for this show. I really was. But sadly, the show started to stutter around episode 10/11 and by episode 12, the plot was lost, dead, and buried.
Here's the thing, you need to let your MacGuffin macguffin! You need to let your plot device be a device to drive the plot ahead. Not for the plot to run after the plot device on a bicycle! What I'm trying to say is that a lot of Korean rom-coms add murder mysteries or thriller subplots to their shows both to make them longer and to spice up the plot. And I'm gonna assume at some point this worked but lately, these subplots are becoming so intense, convoluted, and clunky that they totally derail the show and ruin its final arc. Here it was no exception as the plot began to fall into a repetitive cycle, the female lead lost all her brain cells, misunderstandings and miscommunications ensued, and characters actively made choices to sabotage the progress of the story.
Girl, you're traveling back in time. Putting aside the ludicrous shock of such an event, after figuring out the rules (which the show took as guidelines, instead of rules as they frequently and shamelessly broke them for plot convenience) why do you keep repeating the same pattern of behavior, hoping to get different results?!
The plot really fell in a loop. It became exhausting. Then the murderer plot became too big and it was like the villain had extra superpowers because why was he absolutely undefeatable for 16 bloody episodes?!
It was just too much and then episode 15 rushed to close the plotlines while most of episode 16 was fan service. The pace of the show was a mess. They should've established better rules for their universe and stuck to them at least in important plot moments. Unfortunately, logic and narrative were sacrificed for melodramatic effect, ultimately ruining the second half of the show beyond repair.
Now the actors were okay. I would especially say just the mains stood out as good. The side actors were so-so. The subplot of the brother and best friend was really bad. It was boring and wasted time more than anything else. Every other character was written only as background decoration or comic relief, making them too caricaturish to be taken seriously.
Production was minimal but it worked. Music was tolerable I guess. But I was still tired of the ballad by the end.
I won't rewatch this. The second half ruined it for me but the first half will always remain an exceptional "One that got away" for me.
I wish they had done better by the show. It deserved better. It could've been so much better. I still think if you really wanna watch it, it's a good rom-com and the leads' dynamic is worth enjoying. Just maybe prepare to clench your teeth in the second half.
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long and boring and basic
i loved both FL & ML they are incredibly amazing actors and really good at what they’re doing, however, the story is too typical for a time travel dramaI feel like we have seen those type of dramas a lot, and there’s nothing really new in this one
only thing that kept me going are the actors I loved their chemistry together
but the storyline it just does not have anything special.
I feel like I have watched too much better time travel Kdramas with a better story( thats just for me at least ) And it was really unnecessarily long. It could’ve ended in 10 episodes, overall it’s not that bad I guess
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A wasted potential
It started off with quite sensitive content but soon the story turns into a joke. Female lead had no idea what she was doing. Very little development in the story with respect to the timelines. But that's okay as long as the comedy is good and making me laugh but there were some odd comedy moments. I was okay with that too but most important thing was how story got soo boring in the middle. I didn't feel like going forward with it as show was soo dry. Even the serial killer couldn't bring any thrill in the show. I found myself bored through many episodes.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
only stayed for byeon wooseok
gonna be honest, i did not feed into the hype that this kdrama had. just from the clips i saw online, it didn’t look all that interesting to me. just your run of the mill cheesy drama. and i was right.it was funny for sure and if not for byeon wooseok i never wouldve watched this. my main issue is with im sol’s character. she lacks depth and personality throughout the whole series, which is a fault many many kdramas are guilty of. they dedicate so much character development and realness to the male lead that the female lead is always overshadowed and unliked. her character was unnecessarily clueless, slow and overall, just stupid. literally in any scenario this girl was in, she chose to make the stupidest decision that negatively affects the people around her. made no sense and just left me resenting her character. also this immature/childish “personality” that theyre always giving to the female lead- get over it already. this 30 year old woman jumping around like a preschooler? really?
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Run away from this drama
The story is promising until it becomes unbearable, beginning with some interesting facets, highlighting issues of the wheelchair bound people, parasocial fan culture, mental health struggles, time travel and the rules of this particular version. Once Sol and Seon Jae meet, there is no chemistry though the engaging mystery of the lead figuring out her situation and how it works kept the pace going, but soon there is clearly not enough plot to to sustain 9 episodes, let alone 16 episodes of hour+ runtime because it just relies on tropes to pad out the runtime with all of the interesting set up just abruptly ending, unexplored and unaddressed. What the drama became was like the writer is actually desperate to write a comedy and is also really bad at it. There are so many shouty scenes of endless misunderstood moments, withholding information and intentions, stupid testosterone contests, side characters bickering that go on forever.The acting of the leads aren't good enough to elevate anything either. The second lead Tae Sung is comparatively better than the rest and the character is the only one that has growth and change throughout the story which helps to make his quirky scenes that don't involve the inane one upmanship with Seon Jae, actually funny. Sol has always acted immature even as a 34 year old adult and her entire focus just revolves around Seon Jae when she goes back in time. She doesn't get to have an substantial moments to develop her bond with other people like her family who were also facing some serious problems like her mom's health, her grandma's eventual mental decline, or even her friend and future sister in law. Everyone is just a comedy bit. Even Tae Sung with his father when he rushes to the hospital after his dad was nearly killed by the escaped serial killer, the show just leaves it at a comedy bit. Seon Jae is actually even more immature as a 34 year old in all iterations of his life and also doesn't have a single serious moment with his father. The leads have no dimension in addition to no chemistry, so their relationship has no weight. Truck sama wiping out the serial killer is the ultimate lazy conclusion. They should have had Sol behind the wheel at least. The show hates depth and characterization. The sky high mdl rating as of this writing confounds me, there are dramas that are way better that don't have anywhere as near high ratings.
I do not recommend this drama. If you want a well done time travel back to high school plot to save a guy, watch Love for Love's Sake.
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