If you loved true beauty, lovely runner is the ideal K-drama.
Though it has a time travel twist, Lovely Runner is a lovely yet sad K-drama with many traits of True Beauty. Lovely Runner centers on the narrative of aspirant movie producer K-pop superfan Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon), who travels back in time to save Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon Woo-seok), her beloved K-pop idol from death. Lovely Runner's idea first looks to be fan fiction. But unlike True Beauty, Lovely Runner challenges convention by offering a narrative rich in heart and fun.
Though True Beauty's Lim Ju-kyung and Lovely Runner's Im Sol are at quite different places in their life—lim Ju-kyung is a high-school student and Im Sol is a lady in her thirties—their very similar attitudes bind True Beauty and Lovely Runner. The foundation of each of these K-dramas is their relentless optimism. They always intend well even if their inept methods sometimes get them into similarly funny circumstances. Though their hardships loom over them like a gloomy cloud, they never let them define them; so, their efforts to alter their futures are more and more inspirational.
Every Connection Between True Beauty and Lovely Runner
Though their K-dramas are somewhat similar, True Beauty and Lovely Runner are also closely related in several direct ways. The most clear link resides in the writer Lee Si-eun. Lee Si-eun wrote both of their on-screen adaptations; True Beauty and Lovely Runner is K-dramas based on webtoons, while Lovely Runner is directly follow-up for True Beauty. This helps one to understand how tonally similar they are given the infusion of Lee Si-eun's writing ability. But it's also fantastic to watch Lee's growth as Lovely Runner's feelings reach far deeper than True Beauty.
Second both Lovely Runner and True Beauty feature Kim Hye-yoon. As the female heroine of the program, Kim Hye-yoon drives Lovely Runner; her wish to save her beloved K-pop idol drives the entire rest of the plot. Kim Hye-yoon reprises her role from Extraordinary You in a brief cameo in episode 4, hence her appearance in True Beauty is rather minimal. This is a great homage to the popular fantasy K-drama that honors enthusiastic K-dramas fans by tying Lovely Runner and True Beauty with the wild Extraordinary You universe.
What Makes Lovely Runner Different From Real Beauty?
Though they examine K-pop's impact on artists and fans in different ways, Lovely Runner and True Beauty have numerous parallels. Lovely Runner centers on the supporters since Im Sol sees Ryu Sun-jae as a ray of hope following her car accident paralysis. This enhances the narrative of Lovely Runner as Sol seeks fervently to save the person keeping her alive. On the other hand, True Beauty's concentration on the artists generates criticism and disagreement. Critics of the impact scandals can have on young artists break the friendship between Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo) and Han Seo-jun (Hwang In-youp).
Furthermore profoundly affecting their stories are the extremely distinct underlying messages of lovely runner and true beauty. First of all, True Beauty tells a tale mostly on bullying and the effects on young people of beauty standards. This is especially evident in the character of Lim Ju-kyung, who covers her natural look with makeup because of severe bullying she endured in her former school. Conversely, Lovely Runner wonders what would happen if one could alter their fate since Im Sol decides to negotiate the past to shape the future of both her and idol Ryu Sun-jae.
The Legacy Of True Beauty Endures After Four Years
True Beauty's legacy lives on in a new time-travel K-drama even though four years ago it ended. True Beauty has evolved into a must-see K-drama based on the well-liked webtoon by Yaongyi because of its poignant narrative, deftly rendered with humor, romance, and quarkiness. Though initially simplistic, Lim Ju-kyung's (Moon Ga-young) search for "pretty" seems shallow. Examining the causes behind her extreme need to modify her appearance makes True Beauty far more than a Cinderella tale and one that expertly handles adolescent, bullying, and romance with ease.
Recent popularity of K-dramas has seen several live outside of one season. Squid Game season 2 will at last arrive on Netflix just this year, as will Son of Netflix Song Kang's Sweet Home, which returns for season 3. With Strong Girl Bong-soon's universe rebuilt in last year's Strong Girl Nam-soon and Hospital Playlist's spin-off series slated to arrive early next year, spin-offs are also becoming rather trendy. Though True Beauty season 2 doesn't seem to be happening any time soon, this new time-travel K-drama vividly brings True Beauty's world to life in a whole fresh manner.
Looking Ahead: What could Lovely Runner bring?
Though Ju-kyung and Sol endeavor to overcome their problems embodies the main lessons of Lovely Runner and True Beauty. Though Im Sol's search is apparently quite literal, she must fight some of the worst tragedies in her past instead of fleeing them. Ju-kyung's transformation in the high-school K-dramas, on the other hand, helps her to fully embrace her inherent attractiveness and act as her own self, not as what others want her to be, therefore lessening the intimidating nature of her future. True Beauty and Lovely Runner are the ideal match even if their messages differ since their methods are comparable.
Viki carries both True Beauty and Lovely Runner.
