THE BEST KDRAMA OF 2024: Lovely Runner (2024) - Kdrama Review

-May contain major spoilers-

Photo source: TvN

Lovely Runner (선재 업고 튀어 literally: Carry Sun-Jae and Run) is a 16-episode TvN romantic comedy and fantasy Kdrama based on Tomorrow's Best a web novel turned webtoon. Starring Byeon Woo-Seok and Kim Hye-Yoon.

Summary

Im Sol (Kim Hye-Yoon) is a big fan of the band Eclipse, more specifically of the main singer (and also actor) of the band, her idol, the top celebrity Ryu Sun-Jae (Byeon Woo-Seok). Sol has been a fan of Sun-Jae since, during a radio call, she found solace in his words after a tragic accident left her legs paralyzed. 

On December 31, 2022, Sol has concert tickets for Eclipse's first show in 5 years, but sadly, Sol arrives late to the concert, and on top of that, she loses the ticket before arriving at the concert. Although Sol has to cheer for Sun-Jae from outside the venue, she never loses her smile. After the concert, it starts to snow, and Im Sol's misfortunes continue when someone knocks her phone out of her hands, cracking the screen. On her way home, her electric wheelchair runs out of battery leaving her stranded in the snow on the Hangang Bridge. A black van stops on the bridge, and the person who gets out is her idol, Sun-Jae, who puts an umbrella over her head while asking if she is ok and if her wheelchair is broken, leaving Im Sol stunned. After talking for a while, Sun-Jae offers to take Sol home, but for her luck (or lack thereof), her best friend Lee Hyun-Joo (Seo Hye-Won) arrives to pick her up.

Later that night, Sol, who had fallen asleep on her desk, wakes up to a lot of messages as Sun-Jae's fans were discussing in a group chat that Sun-Jae had allegedly attempted to take his own life and passed away. Shocked, Sol decides to go to the hospital where Sun-Jae was taken, but on the way, the wristwatch that she was wearing (which belonged to Sun-Jae and she had won in an auction) falls into a creek. Sol tries to rescue it but also falls into the water, and when she manages to get the watch, she learns that Sun-Jae has officially been declared dead. While crying, Sol accidentally presses the watch buttons and gets transported 15 years to the past, where both Sun-Jae and her were 18-year-old high school students. 

Im Sol will try to prevent Sun-Jae's tragic fate from happening...

Thoughts

I know that making a declaration about how Lovely Runner is the best Kdrama of 2024 is too soon -we aren't halfway through the year yet- but I sincerely think that it will be really hard to top a Kdrama as perfect as Lovely Runner (which may become my favorite of all time surpassing TMETS). To be sincere, I was not going to watch this at first because I read some bad rumors about this Kdrama (that it was copying some real events...), but I'm glad to say that the story is not similar in the slightest. In the end, I dreaded finishing this Kdrama, not because I was afraid of the ending, but because I was going to miss it so badly. 

The story was perfect across all 16 episodes, and even though there were many angsty moments, they were balanced by the funny and heart-fluttering moments (which were a lot, thank God). The ending was perfect. The cinematography was also perfect.

The acting is marvelous. Kim Hye-Yoon and Byeon Woo-Seok embodied Im Sol and Ryu Sun-Jae so well that it's crazy to think that Woo-Seok was not the first choice for the role. I have read some complaints about Im Sol as a character and that something she did was wrong, but to me, it made complete sense [SPOILER] trying to keep Sun-Jae from meeting his killer the day she would get kidnapped. [SPOILER ENDS] I would have done the same. Woo-Seok was so perfect in the role, his acting was full of micro-mannerisms and I loved the differences between Sun-Jae in the different timelines. [SPOILER] His love towards Im Sol always persisted in all the timelines ❤ [SPOILER ENDS]. There has never been a male lead in a Kdrama that made my heart flutter as much as Sun-Jae.

Everyone from the supporting cast was also marvelous. There was no weak link. Tae-Sung (Song Geon-Hee) was a really good second lead and I found his friendly banters with Sun-Jae fantastic. I loved the families of the leads, especially Sun-Jae's Dad Geun-Deok (Kim Won-Hae), Sol's Mom Bok-Soon (Jung Young-Ju), and Grandma Mal-Ja (Sung Byung-Sook). Another favorite character is Sun-Jae's best friend Baek In-Hyuk (Lee Seung-Hyub) who did a great job, especially in the college timeline.

The soundtrack is truly perfection. I love all the songs in the OST, but my favorites are THE SONG™ of this Kdrama "Sudden Shower"(소나기) by Eclipse, "Run Run" also by Eclipse, "Super Ultra Man" (슈퍼울트라맨) by Deundeun Man, and "Spring Snow (봄눈)" by 10cm. All the songs by Eclipse are fantastic. I love Byeon Woo-Seok's voice. If Eclipse was a real band, I would be a fan.

I recommend this Kdrama if you like plots about time-traveling, to see characters through different life moments (high school, college, etc.), a fantastic and complete story, fantastic writing and acting, and lots of heart-fluttering moments.

Rating 

Acting - 10/10

Plot - 10/10

Romance - 10/10

Soundtrack - 10/10

Cinematography - 10/10

Overall Rating - ∞/10

 

Extended Drama Info.

Quantity of Episodes: 16.

Run Time: 70min/each.

Release Date: April 8, 2024.

Network: TvN.

Based on: Tomorrow's Best by Kim Bbang

Directed by: Yoon Jong-Ho and Kim Tae-Yeop.

Cinematography by: Yoon Dae-Young, Jeon Hyun-Suk, Shin Gi-Chang and Park Min-Hyun.

Written by: Lee Shi-Eun.

Edited by: Kim Ok-Sun.

Music by: Kim Jung-Ha and Choi In-Young.

Starring: Byeon Woo-Seok, Kim Hye-Yoon, Song Geon-Hee, Lee Seung-Hyub, Kim Won-Hae, Jung Young-Ju, Seong Byeong-Sook, Song Ji-Ho and Seo Hye-Won.

My feelings about Lovely Runner.

I liked Lovely Runner so much that while I was waiting for new episodes I made a fan edit using "Sudden Shower".