It's a Rom-Com Summer!

For my July/August K-drama watch list, I delved into a couple of fresh 2025 releases and finally caught up on a highly acclaimed 2024 drama.

Head Over Heels

Completed ep. 12/12

Based on the manhwa, Gyeon-woo and the Priestess, it was the promo banner with Choi Yi Hyun wearing her fairy shaman outfit that piqued my interest; a shaman fantasy story combined with a high school romance. I loved the drama's casting, particularly Cho Yi Hyun portrayal of Park Seong A aka Fairy Cheon Ji was a standout, perfectly emboding a charismatic, cheerful and optimistic high schooler who secretly moonlights as a shaman priestess. The story centres on her quest to save her first love, Bae Gyeon U from a pre-destined death. Choo Young Woo's performance as Gyeon U is particularly moving, capturing the profound sadness of a soft-hearted boy scarred by childhood trauma. His journey, marked by a series of heartbreaking events early on, certainly brought tears to my eyes. His vulnerability and kindness, in my opinion, was best portrayed with Kil Hae Yeo who plays a guest role as his grandmother. Their incredibly touching relationship, where she fiercely protects him and he leans on her unwavering support, is pivotal for understanding future events in the story. She is his sole supporter after he is abandoned by the rest of their family at a young age for being "cursed and unlucky" and the driving force behind Seong A's desire to save him from his tragic destiny beyond her own initial superficial crush. Beyond the lighthearted rom-com, the story also deals with some mature topics of the duality of good and evil through the shamanistic fantasy lens and themes of loss, depression and self-acceptance.

The theme of friendship is undeniably central to the story and for me, friendship is largely embodied by Seong A's childhood best friend, Pyo Ji Ho, whose portrayal by Cha Kang Yoon as the epitome of a supportive and kind "green flag" character was perfect. Even within the familiar love triangle dynamic, his friendship with Seong A consistently rose above any jealousy or his initial wariness of Gyeon U, showcasing a compelling instance of second lead syndrome. His burgeoning friendship, initially reluctant but in the end, a heartwarming "bromance," with Gyeon U was also a source of both humor and tenderness.

In the last episodes, the story takes much broader strokes and attempts to conclude many plot points, most definitely a case of having too much to fit in the last two episodes. The pace felt incredibly rushed and out of place, though it does eventually find footing towards the last half of the finale. I think it's a great shame that the story seemed to completely sideline Choo Ja Hyun's role of Yeom Hwa at the end, she played a fabulous antagonist! Her portrayal of a complex character in emotional turmoil, whose destructive actions were fueled by a deep-seated grief was incredibly moving. She really deserved to have more screen time in my opinion to come to terms with her mother's death and rediscovering her deity, which I believe is hinted at, as the butterfly lands on her shoulder in her last scene with Gyeon U.

Overall, this high school romance proved to be incredibly charming and largely well-executed with it's story and characters, I had a lot of fun watching this show. Its compelling supernatural shaman twist perfectly blended rom-com elements with engaging plot points, delivering a fun, heartwarming tale of young love, friendship, and family bonds.

Lovely Runner

Completed ep. 16/16

This drama was massively popular last year, it won so many awards including the Prism Popularity Award at the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards and People's Choice Award at the Asia Content Awards 2024. It's clear there is a huge fan base for this show and many viewers consider this rom-com among the very best of it's kind. Given this immense hype, I couldn't help but approach it with high hopes, and thankfully, the opening absolutely did not disappoint. I was immediately absorbed by Im Sol's story and felt fully invested in her undertaking to change Ryu Seon Jae's fate and that of her own destiny. I enjoyed how the time travel aspect was handled narratively as well, seeing the same event played out from the different characters' points of view gave a fuller picture of Seon Jae and Im Sol inner feelings through their own narrative perspective. The two leads, Byeon Woo Seok and Kim Hye Yoon played their teen romance so naturally with buckets of charm and chemistry; moreover, the excellent supporting cast added tremendous comedic value and heart to their story, especially Im Sol's grandmother and her best friend, Lee Hyeon Ju, who had some of the best laugh-out-loud moments in the drama.

However, from episode 8, the show's consistency completely changed and the pacing suffered. Plot holes, inconsistent actions, and Im Sol's repetitive reactions became clichéd. The villain was a huge disappointment, as the main plot obstacle, he felt incredibly "one note" with no psychological or background character complexity except an unchanging desire to kill and be "evil" with his silent menacing stares. There were also a lot of comedic "filler" scenes towards the end which didn't feel integral to the story, as much as I love the support cast and enjoy the comic relief, it felt like the frequency of these scenes negatively impacted the flow of the main story. I think a much better story could have been told in a condensed 10-12 episodes, the story suffered from a 16 episode structure with little plot revelations to keep the momentum going from the first half. Both main actors had undeniable chemistry, but even their great acting started to become a little one dimensional towards the end; the last few episodes were a little slow to get through, what started as a solid rom-com lost its shine for me in the latter half.