I’d like to start this Run On review with an analogy.
Watching Run On was like trying out a new spice rub for a dish. You find 4 completely different spices that you’ve never used before. You don’t know if they’ll work together, but you put them in a blender and blend them together. Then you apply the spice mix to your dish and surprisingly find that the dish taste awesome.
The 4 spices are the 4 lead characters of the drama: Ki Seon Gyeom, Oh Mi Joo, Seo Dan Ah, and Lee Young Hwa.
This drama started out really slow. I almost gave up on it, but I’m glad I didn’t. Alright enough is enough. Let’s jump into the Run On review.
*** WARNINGS: SPOILER AHEAD ***
The quick synopsis
Run On primarily follows the lives of the 4 lead characters. The drama goes through their daily lives and interactions, what each of their careers looks like, and how their personalities mash together to either become friends or potential lovers.
Ki Seon Gyeom is a national sprinter and son of a Presidential candidate. He meets Oh Mi Joo, an orphan and a movie translator, at a sprint showcase. Seon Gyeom gets involved in a bully incident, which ends his career as a national sprinter; however, he still finds himself hanging out with Mi Joo during his retirement.
Seo Dan Ah is the CEO of a sportswear company – her company sponsored Ki Seon Gyeom during his time as a sprinter. Lee Young Hwa is a college student studying art. Some of his artwork is hung at a coffee shop that Seo Dan Ah goes to on a daily basis. His artwork catches her attention.
Alright let’s jump into the good and the bad of this Run On review.
The good
Insane second lead couple chemistry
If it weren’t for the second lead couple, I don’t think I would’ve finished this drama. Their chemistry was top notch. They brought so much good energy and laughter when they were on screen.
Their relationship was incredibly dynamic due to their opposing personalities. You have the super strong and independent female CEO who falls in love with a poor starving college student. When you first meet the characters, you’d think that there was no way they could fall in love. There personalities are so different, but the drama made it work by:
- combating the fierceness and sassiness of Dan Ah with the calming and confident Young Hwa.
- having Dan Ah’s social and emotional weakness be Young Hwa’s strength
Even though most of their interactions were more comedic, they definitely brought the fluttery emotions of love when they had their romantic moments.
Probably my favorite second lead couple of all the Korean dramas I have ever watched.
Great character development for all 4 characters
The drama did such a good job showcasing each of the main cast character’s growth over the 16 episode journey.
Ki Seon Gyeom – from awkward to less awkward
Ki Seon Gyeom started out very awkward, aloof and selfless. He wasn’t good with girls or with making friends because he was boring and really introverted. He let others use him for their own gain.
The first person to really break him out of his shell or comfort zone was Mi Joo. She was the one who challenged him emotionally. He definitely struggled trying to open up to Mi Joo.
Then came Young Hwa, who was an extrovert and had high energy. He challenged Seon Gyeom socially by getting him to talk more and be more comfortable with “touchy” or “huggy” people 🙂
Over the course of the drama, we see Seon Gyeom speak up for himself and express his emotions more.It was a delight to see his character growth.
Oh Mi Joo – from loser to winner
Oh Mi Joo…oh Oh Mi Joo…she starts out almost as a loser. You can’t help but feel sorry for her.
She’s struggling to find work and often has to sacrifice her pride to get a job. She’s used and abused by the rich people she interacts with as a translator.
Her character growth started when she got involved with the richer or more powerful people of the drama. First, she rejected the bribe from Seon Gyeom’s Dad. She knew how powerful he was and struggled with the choice of keeping the money, but she ultimately chose her morals over money.
Her interactions with Dan Ah, who often looks down on people, really sharpened her character. She often challenged Dan Ah’s judgmental attitude toward her character and relationship with Seon Gyeom.
By the end of the drama, she becomes more emotionally confident in herself. She wins the respect of Dan Ah and Seon Gyeom’s Mom (even lands a job to work for the Mom). She even stops carrying the prop gun she used to protect herself in the beginning of the drama! Overall, I’d say that she came out a winner.
Seo Dan Ah – from robot to human
I just have to say – I have a huge crush on Choi Soo-young. She played Dan Ah so well.
In the beginning, Dan Ah was portrayed as somebody who didn’t know how to handle human emotions. Whether it was dealing with people or even her own romantic interests, she came off as somebody without a heart.
She despised her own family and didn’t know how to treat people like Young Hwa with respect (she calls him a kid and a vending machine constantly rather than by his name or as an artist). She toyed around with Mi Joo financially and emotionally.
Over the course of the drama, her interactions with Mi Joo and Young Hwa make her question her own feelings toward people. Does she want to be Young Hwa? Does she accept that people like Mi Joo are not as weak as they look? Is it okay to accept emotions as part of being a strong person?
Slowly but surely, she becomes more vulnerable with her confused feelings. She accepts her feelings of love with Young Hwa despite their break up. By the end of the drama, she becomes closer friends with the rest of the lead characters. She even acknowledges her younger brother as her brother!
Lee Young Hwa – from starving to driven artist
Young Hwa was a starving artist both artistically and financially. No real need to explain the financials as he was clearly working multiple jobs just to afford rent.
I thought he was starving artistically because it seemed like he didn’t have much direction for what he wanted to draw or paint. Of course he had to draw for school, but we see that most of his paintings were splotchy and chaotic in some way. Even Dan Ah said it when she saw some of his paintings – they were “noisy”.
When he meets Dan Ah, his artistic direction changes. As he develops feelings for her, his paintings have a clearer subject and focus: Dan Ah. By the end of the drama, he gives her an absolutely stunning piece of art that signifies his love for her. He even admits at the end that his goal was to be with her.
Even though they broke up, his time with Dan Ah taught him so much about love and gave him more drive to become a better artist.
The bad
Some of the supporting cast
There are 3 supporting characters that I thought had way more potential to make the drama better.
- The gay friend / coffee shop barista
- Seo Dan Ah’s younger brother
- Ki Seon Gyeom’s Dad
The gay friend / coffee shop barista
I thought making the coffee shop barista gay was a confusing move by the drama. I felt like the drama tried to use him to create some chaos in Dan Ah and Young Hwa’s relationship, but it didn’t quite work out. He confessed his love to Young Hwa but nothing happened. Things just fell flat.
While him coming out as gay affected his Mom, I felt like they should’ve repurposed his character to focus more on how being gay affects a Korean family because homosexuality is quite taboo in South Korean society. The side plot with the Mom realizing how screwed up her kids were really could’ve taken off if they had revealed the son being gay earlier.
Seo Dan Ah’s younger brother
I’ll be honest…just like Dan Ah herself… I was pretty annoyed at his character. We figure out he’s an illegitimate child and his only role in the entire drama is to annoy Dan Ah and Young Hwa. There wasn’t much character development with him.
I think the drama could’ve developed his role more by using him to spice up the relationship between Dan Ah and Young Hwa. If he exposed their relationship on social media or to the family, I think that would’ve added another obstacle to our second lead couple’s relationship in the drama.
Ki Seon Gyeom’s Dad
I thought the Dad was very weak as the main antagonist of the drama.
As somebody whose running for President, I thought his actions and verbal threats of ruining Mi Joo and Seon Gyeom were weak. Had he actually done something like ship his son off to another international team or ruin Mi Joo’s career, that would’ve added another dimension or spontaneity to our main couple’s relationship and made the Dad’s role that much more impactful in the drama.
Music
I thought the music was great for each of our two couples.
The music that played during the lead couple scenes felt more fast paced and cute-sy in a way.
The music that played during the second lead couple felt a little more mature and deep. It wasn’t slow but it also wasn’t fast.
For those reasons, I’m selecting two favorite songs for this Run On review. The first one is Run To You. It’s upbeat and got some hopeful feel to it.
The second song is Falling by Yuju. The slow burn and the theme fit the second lead couple. I mean even the lyric “From the moment I first saw you I’m falling” explains how the second lead couple came together.
Life lessons
Don’t give up on your dreams in a relationship
Your dreams are part of who you are. They help define who you are and they are probably a reason why the other person fell in love with you. If you give that up, you will hurt not just yourself but the other person as well.
Seo Dan Ah and Lee Young Hwa taught us this life lesson really well. Young Hwa wanted to go to the States to train and be a better artist. Dan Ah really wanted to be the vice president of her Father’s company. Even though they loved each other, they both knew that their dreams were too important to them to sacrifice just to be with each other. Their dreams were enough to convince me that their breakup was justified.
Quotes
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the drama.
- You can slow down if you’re struggling. Just don’t give up. You can do that as an adult, right? – Ki Seon Gyeom
- Don’t do it if you don’t want to. You don’t have to always overcome everything. So if you don’t want to do something, just don’t. – Oh Mi Joo
- You always put a wall around yourself, and now this? You act as if you don’t have any walls and climb over mine so easily. Then you shouldn’t have climbed over the wall I had put up. – Oh Mi Joo
- Why are you thinking about ending it when you’ve only just started? – Secretary Jung Ji Hyun
- Unwanted love is the same as violence – Ki Seon Gyeom
- Of all the things I’ve loved, why have I never loved myself – Ki Seon Gyeom
- It probably allowed you to lay the foundation. A future with her may not happen, but without her, you may not have been mature enough in the future” – Ki Seon Gyeom
- Why not include your failures as part of the process? It’s also part of your journey to success. – Oh Mi Joo
- Who do you think will end up living with me forever? No, it’s me. Myself. And in your case, it is you. So, you need to take good care of yourself and fix yourself whenever something breaks. – Oh Mi Joo
- Why do we fall? So we learn how to pick ourselves up. – Oh Mi Joo
Should you watch it?
To be honest, I’m going to say 60% yes and 40% no.
I say 60% because it’s a light slice of life drama that anybody can pick up; however, it was just really hard for me to stay engaged with the drama. The only reason I would tell somebody to watch it is to see the second lead couple. Their chemistry was fantastic and I really looked forward to when they were on screen.
I would recommend other slice of life dramas that also have a focus on career development but slightly better main lead romance. The 2 that come to mind are 25 21 and Record of Youth. I wouldn’t watch this again unless I watched it with friends or with a significant other.
What I watched last
I watched the Record of Youth. I’ve been on this slice of life run with a specific emphasis in characters who are trying to grow their careers. I thought Run On was a good drama to watch after Record of Youth.
Overall Rating
I give Run On a solid 7.7/10.
If you made it all the way to the end, thanks for reading my Run On review.
