Lovely Runner is a bubbling triumph of a fanfiction-like romcom. The chemistry of the leads, or even just the whole cast was sizzling, the humor mostly great - the secondary couple were very grating to me. And the youthful, almost nostalgic vibes and the feel light and breezy that the drama managed to hold onto was delightful and echoes of longing and yearning tugged at your heartstrings. There was something quite old-school about this sort of rom-com that I could really appreciate.

Some stories do manage that suspension of disbelief just a bit more smoothly than others. And Lovely Runners seem to be able to introduce us to the logics of their little fluffy, rom-com universe quite seamlessly and therefor making the more unbelievable moments feel both earnest and earned enough that is just might work. Or you are willing to forgive it despite how much of a fan fiction this story feels like it is.

The drama has a tendency to use excessive amount of tropes in it's storytelling, like the clumsy heroine, noble idiocy, miscommunication and so forth. The amount of times the two leads fell into each other arms was way to excessive to become endearing after a certain point. It also does have a tendency to drag out the plot and the twists on a bit too long as we get further into the story resulting in some pacing issues.

Towards the end the story, the convoluted timelines and the murder mystery subplot does becomes more of a burden to the drama, causing it to lose some momentum - I feel like episode one and until around 10 is this dramas sweet spot. Things just seem to be happening to the characters without too much depth but the character have such a good emotional core within them, despite me wanting a bit more development from them as the timelines become more messy and annoyed as things are just happening to keep the plot going, no matter what you are rooting for them to get together in the end.

The actors certainly add more spunk and feelings into these characters than they have on paper and really sell the earnest of the story and keep you coming back for more. It's a fluff, it's tropy, but it's fun and bubbly and compelling enough and you never really get the sense that the drama is trying too hard to be something more than it is. It's a breezy, cute watch with very likeable leads and characters that you enjoy spending times with despite it's flaws - I just wish we could have gotten more scenes with the second male lead.

The drama manages to blending humor and cliché with heartfelt moments and I do think the drama does a good job making you feel very at home in it's world and therefor invested in it and so light and airy that you just enjoy these moments with the characters. The drama creates a narrative that is light-hearted yet earnest, as it finds the most absurd situations and gives the characters enough stakes that you want to cheer them on and make sure that they finally get their happy ever after.