Time Walking on Memory (2024)

Very disappointing

I had really high hopes for this show because of all the hype that was going on around it. I have one more episode left but so far I'm very disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it has some really sweet moments and their chemistry is really good. There are also lots of funny moments and the humor is very good too. The story really had a great potential but I just feel like they had no idea what to do with it.

First episode really had me hooked and the plot was portrayed as very unique and deep with FL being disabled and also talking about ML who is a famous celebrity with depression problems. After that the show became very shallow and predictable. I don't even understand why they portrayed them like that, because that was never mentioned again for the rest of the show.
For me it got good again around 8th episode, when they meet as adults, but that lasted only for that one episode and after that it became progressively worse. I was expecting the story to develop around their adult life but she went back in time once again. I don't understand why tho because they showed him being hurt but they never said anything about him dying. At that point I was very tired of all the time travel because it made no sense.

Talking about time travel, I don't understand how was she able to change the fate and prevent her home from burning but wasn't able to save ML, not even once and it happened three times.

The more I watched the more I realised that her only goal was to save ML and nothing else was important. All other characters weren't important at all and they never got the chance to develop. At some point, during her time travel, she found out her mom was in a hospital because she was sick but they never explained what was going on and they never mentioned that again.

Also, in the first half of the series they never really explained how she became disabled and it was obvious we would find out during the show. Then they decided to make the second half all about that and her kidnapper and also her saving ML form the kidnapper. It gave a feeling as if they didn't know what to do with the story so they just decided to put that there.

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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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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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if you don't want some draggy confusing drama plot with cliché leads, don't watch

the ost and acting for this drama is actually a banger. all of these actors really doing great with their characters. but im so sad the plot didn't doing great

i think there's just too much unnecessary plot. there's a lot of plot hole where watchers didn't get much proper explanation of the story. like when im sol jumping from one to another timeline, there must be some explanation where im sol got every memories from each timeline. when im sol time traveling for the last time, why suddenly im sol traveling using sunjae's watch instead of the one in her hand, and why she can traveling in traveling time mode(?) when she's not even ended her time travel era first before traveling again??? and it seems like there's no end to her last traveling era? is she living in the past?? and by calculation im sol's soul's age must be around 47 years old by the time she met sunjae again?? isn't it weird?? idk there's just too much weird things and didn't make sense even if you called this fantasy genre.

and there's scenes where it repeated heavily, draggy, and the female lead character getting more annoying as the time goes by (no hate to kim hyeyoon. ik she's just doing amazing acting, im criticizing the writer).

maybe if the writer cut some unnecessary plot and make this drama into 10 or 12 episodes only, the drama would be less draggy and less depressing.

overall i just want to take back all the time I've spent watching this drama... im here just for byeon wooseok 😒😒

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A drag to watch

As you can tell by the number of episodes watched(13/16 at time of writing), I'm having a hard time finishing this show, with about 3~ hours worth of content that I still need to get through to mark it off my list.

The same occurred for me with the shows 'Destined with You' and 'What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, and it's not because I don't like romantic drama series or that those two shows are bad by any means, it's just that all these shows have one thing in common, and that's that their stories are non-existent or shallow.

What baffles me is that this show seems to be highly favored on MDL and I still have to find what is so great about it. The majority of people seem to adore the couple, which isn't strange, but aside from that... if you take away that couple and replace them by literally anybody else, what does this show have to offer? It's a highly forgettable show that has the couple carrying it's entire existence, which is telling as a great show overall doesn't need actors carrying it, as great storytelling and great acting ride the boat together down the stream.

The story is shallow and while it starts off interesting, it becomes more and more frustrating to watch..... At the start she has a disability, after 3 episodes it seems that never occurred or existed, they never talk about it again. There is no backstory on the serial killer, nor is there any information on previous killings, nor is there any reasoning given up till episode 13 on WHY exactly he's so hard focusing on this couple, transcending time and space seemingly to get to them at all costs. The serial killer is 1-dimensional, there is nothing else to the character besides being a serial killer.

Personally I think you can remove the serial killer and the time travel and the series would be better for it, as you would have removed two of the weakest elements of the show.

If I had to give an apt description of this show I would say it's similar to eating a single bland cracker, while it may quench hunger for a moment, it leaves a lot to be desired.

If we're going to compare this to other shows with time travel and/or romance elements my personal opinion is as followed:

Time travel romance better done in:
Mr. Queen
Twinkling Watermelon
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
My Perfect Stranger
Chicago Typewriter (Not exactly time travel but timeskips)

Mystery/Crime better done in:
My Perfect Stranger
(Don't recall other shows at the moment, would have to scour through my list of watched shows for that)

Romance/Chemistry better done in:
Gyeongseong Creature
My Dearest
Our Blues (Multiple couples but I'd say this couple the most - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_xuO7s06Tc)
Chicago Typewriter
Tell Me That You Love Me

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Because maybe, before that, there was a more interesting drama.

I don't know, I've only watched dramas with the same story. Even more feelings and sadness can be felt. I watched it just because of the actor and it went viral.

So, in my opinion, the story is easy to predict, because it is the same as the drama from the neighboring country which was previously released. Even the drama made me cry, but when I watched this I felt normal. Except my heart is happy to see the actor.

Apart from that, most people watch it just because of the actors, it would be too much if this was the best drama. I'm surprised that even the previous drama was much better. This story is too common, come on, really

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Never ending loop of same events

This is my take on lovely runner so you don’t have to agree with it.
I couldn’t help but notice alot of similarities in plot of the movie 20th century girl and lovely runner. I will be pointing out those similarities because there are just soo many. I almost thought lovely runner was a drama adaptation of the movie with a time travel twist.
Firstly, Sunjae death in lovely runner and woon ho’s death in 20th century girl.
Secondly sol’s character had resemblance with Bora who is effortlessly cute and cheerful in the movie. Unfortunately Sol didn’t make us feel that way. She was annoying to say the least.
Thirdly , we discover Sun Jae fell for Sol first and same happened in the 20th century girl. The aesthetics, the video rental shop and the neighbourhood are similar too.
Finally , the love triangle that builds confusion between Sun Jae and Sol and it continues up till the middle of the show. This also happens in the movie. i feel the writer was either inspired by the 20th century girl or it was just too much of a coincidence.(LOL)

I absolutely love sun jae and I was rooting for him but sol ughh. I don’t know why but she annoyed me throughout the show. I don’t understand what was she trying to do as her actions were abrupt and not thought through. Poor sunaje suffered much for her.
Anyhow i might not rewatch the show as story was lacking depth.. Sol’s time travel and sunjae’s death keep repeating in a never ending loop. It was bizarre towards the end.

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It's unnecessarily long

It was better off being only 12 episodes. It was dragged on unnecessarily with cliched plots, mindless second lead dumping etc. This is infact highly overrated. Sunjae is a green flag, yes. But Im Sol is not. She's jumpy, confused and very very annoying. I love watching Hyeyoon trust me! Extraordinary You, Sky Castle, Snowdrop etc, she was marvellous in them. But this was cringe, straight up cringe. There's no business of this having 9 rating. A 7 would have been fine honestly. And it was too much of overlapping issues going on. Conclusively this is same typical cliched plot, nothing else.

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cringy romance with an interesting time travelling plot

i was initially interested in this drama because i followed the leads and those actors were ones who usually didn't get main roles but when i saw that it was an idol-fan romance i instantly got the ick and abandoned it. the rumors of it being based on real life situation also didn't help much. now this is one of the most talked drama of 2024 so i made it a point to watch it and see what the hype is about. it certainly won't be bad if that many people like it right? i was wrong.
i would say the main reason why this drama was so successful is because it had pretty main leads who were down bad for each other. no proper/solid plot.

i was very creeped out by the fan-idol thing in many of the first episodes. the reason for her becoming a fan was genuine but her behavior was borderline obsessive. there were many times where she did things for him because she is a fan in 2023, which kind of creeped me out. also the fact that she was a 30 something year old in a highschooler's body chasing another highschooler was creepy to me.

my biggest complaint is how one dimensional both the main leads are especially sol. whatever we know about them revolves on the fact that they like each other. sun-jae likes sol but why? he likes her so much he is willing to die for her, what made him like her so much? i understand crushes but doing all this? in the first timeline it makes sense cause the accident is kind of his fault but after that? what is about her that he likes/loves so much? his whole personality was being in love with sol. at least taesung had a reason to like her. she was oddly mature with him and he liked that.
sol was so childish for majority of the show. it wasn't until the end she acted like an adult. during her first few time travels there was no difference between 30 year old her and high school her. she absolutely did not think before she acted.
so much of the comedy depended on sol making dumb decisions, it cringed me out. they could have shown sol and sun-jae better by avoiding all those cringy scenes between the brother and the best friend. sol got her ability to walk after 15 years yet it was barely acknowledged. she never seemed to spend time with her family nor her friends. same with sun-jae. u would think someone whose grandma lost her memory due to old age would be more emotional at getting her back. also how did sun-jae and sol end up in their respective careers. we don't see sol being so in love with movies nor sun-jae with acting. they could have given the characters more depth.

the time travelling plot was the most interesting part. the change in timelines and the effects they had were interesting. they were honestly what kept me through the series. even though the rules of time travelling and everything was weak it was nice. them being connected in every scenario was a nice touch.

the director/team could have just made a highschool romance with
Byeon Woo Seok and Hye Yoon and it still would have been a hit. they were the best parts of the show and did their roles well. them being casted might be one of the sole reasons the show is successful.
i would have preferred to have the idol fan thing out and make them like neighbors or something and not have the female be obsessive with the male lead, especially in the fan idol sense.

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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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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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