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Love on a Single Log Bridge
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Star crossed lovers reunite years later, but the younger versions steal the show
A drama about second chance romance will always get me, and this was a cute watch. 18 years after they broke up, Yoon Ji Won and Seok Ji Won, born on the same day and to rival families, are reunited when the ML is the new chairman of the school that the FL works at. While they both pretend to hate each other, the love they had in the past is right at the surface.The drama doesn't just show us brief flashbacks of the ML and FL, we get to spend half of some episodes with them. Usually this would be a negative, but the HS versions of our ML and FL are absolute show stealers. They have ELECTRIC chemistry, and I was so captivated by their acting and story. It's truly remarkable how well they played these roles, and they were the highlight of the show for me. If I were to rate the flashback section of the show, it may just be a 10/10. These two need to be cast in another drama together, they are that good.
The supporting cast is likable and make the story even better, they play a great role. The antagonist, the FL's friend, doesn't get what she deserves in the end. I also think that the FL had TOO much tragedy in her life. She had a fight with the ML and then didn't see him again, and her friend prevents the ML from contacting her, her parents die in a car crash, her "uncle" was responsible and didn't save them, she loses her job because she stuck up for someone who was sexually assaulted, and now she's a PE teacher, when she was the top student in the school. I feel like they just did everything to make her life miserable, when they didn't need to do all that to her.
The students in the school had their own story line too, and I loved the romance between the top student and the bottom student. Very reminiscent of our ML and FL, I wish they had a show too. This writer does a great high school romance!
The older version of the ML and FL are good, especially the ML, but they really don't have the chemistry the younger versions do, which is a shame. They style the FL really terrible in the beginning, which wasn't necessary. The story lost some steam in the last 2 episodes, which made completing it a bit of a chore.
Overall this is a cute, short drama that's not super remarkable, but enjoyable nonetheless. It's really worth watching just to see the younger versions of the ML and FL, they really stole my heart and enhanced this drama.
Rating: 7.7, rounding it up to 8/10 for the younger ML and FL (cast them in another drama!)
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Lovely Runner takes all the tropes and runs across the finish line for a spectacular finish
Lovely Runner was marketed as your run of the mill drama about a kpop idol and a fan falling in love after she traveled in time to save him. But what should've been an average romance drama became a worldwide phenomenon, thanks to three things: the actors, the writer and director, and the story being told.Kim Hye Yoon as Im Sol and Byeon Woo Seok as Ryu Sun Jae are standouts, both portraying their characters perfectly. They are their characters, Kim Hye Yoon was able to showcase several versions of Sol across time, each one different enough to be distinct but still recognizable as the same character. High school Sol, college Sol, and adult Sol are all different, even though they are all the same person. The writer apparently wrote this role with her in mind and it was the right choice, as KHY displays a wide range of emotions wonderfully. Byeon Woo Seok was a standout, his first leading role and he became a fan favorite, with everyone wanting their own Sunjae. A role that no one wanted to take on, but BWS made it his own. He played pop idol, high school athlete and college student, and made him every girl's dream. I couldn't even imagine some big names in this role, BWS is the perfect Sunjae.
The story is pretty simple (for a drama). A girl loves a kpop idol and when he suddenly dies she is able to time travel using his watch back to high school, when they were neighbors and she never knew, giving her an opportunity to save him. Using her knowledge of the future, and of her bias, Sol attempts to save his life and is given 3 chances to do so. At the same time she is given a chance to save herself from an accident that paralyzed her in high school, giving her another opportunity at living her dreams.
Watching Sol travel in time to save Sunjae over and over was full of angst, but at the same time the writer soothes the angst with heartwarming moments between Sol and Sunjae. The benefits of the time travel allow us to see three versions of their romance, high school, college, and adult. Writer Lee Si-Eun doesn't let up on the romance either, giving us multiple, multiple scenes of romantic moments - every romance kdrama fans' dream. So many dramas fall into the trap of getting characters together only to break them up for a nonsensical reason until they get back together at the very end. This cycle is overdone and not really fun to watch. We're here for the romance, so give it to us!
In the end this drama is perfect not because the story has no flaws, any story does. It's perfect because it does what it sets out to do, it gives us a romantic comedy that delivers on the romance and the comedy. So many dramas fall into a slump at the end, losing the momentum from the first half, but Lovely Runner never lets off the gas. Just when you think it's going to linger too long or introduce a new character to throw a wrench into things it doesn't.
Now who is this drama not for? People who need their time travel rules to be explained and function perfectly, who need the killer's drive and motivation to be explained, and those who want realism. This is not a sci-fi or crime drama, it's not realistic, so if you go in wanting these things you may be disappointed.
If you like romance, comedy, star-crossed lovers with some fantasy thrown in, this is for you. The last hour of this drama is mostly fluff and romance, a dream for any romance fan. Writer Lee Si-Eun avoided all the common pitfalls of kdrama writing and instead of sputtering out at the end, Lovely Runner goes out with a bang. It takes all the tropes and runs across the finish line for a spectacular finish. There's a reason this drama went from unknown to number one across the world so quickly, why Netflix is trying to capitalize on its success, and why people can't stop talking about it. This is the romance story we want more of, an organic (and orgasmic 😉) success that has become the best drama of 2024, and one that will be remembered for a long time.
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