My Runway // 마이런 웨이 (Mai Reonwei)
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Youth, Drama, Supernatural
My Runway starts of with the energetic Highschool student Han Seo Jeon (Park Ji Yeon) who desperately wants to achieve her dream of becoming a model. With the support of her best friend Park Na Rae (Kisum), she auditions to be part of a show where young girls have the chance to become Koreas next top model. As Seo-Jeon walks down the runway, top model and general grouch Na Jin Wook (Kang Dong Ho) declines her a chance to participate. Frustrated, but still confident, she declares to never walk the runway with Jin Wook while at the same karaoke bar as her new rival, who is “celebrating” his friends birthday. But fate brings the two closer than they would like. Seo-Jeon finds herself trapped in the body of Jin Wook while Seo-Jeons body is occupied by Jin Wook…
Now listen: I will not spoil the plot of this series. I managed to finish it in one sitting, since My Runway only has six episodes à 20min.
My original thought before watching this series was that I needed a distraction from one of the bigger shows that I was watching because it was a rollercoaster of emotions. Watching the first episode I was kind of disappointed because the storyline is rather predictable, the characters did not appear that “deep” and so on. Even though the plot was still the same as I had predicted, they managed to turn the characters and story into something lovable and funny. As soon as episode two started they really turned the tables for me; I started giggling and gasping at everything they threw at me.
While the character of Jin Wook definitely developed, I am not to sure if I can say the same about Seo-Jeon. Don’t get me wrong: She is a loving character from start to finish but she never really developed from the first episode on.
Looking at the support characters: Seo-Jeons BFF Na Rae kind of gets lost. While the two main roles get sucked into the world of fashion and modeling, she really only appears as a… well, “support”. She’s just there even though she is the one who solved one of the series mysteries and found a solution to it. Unfortunately I can’t lose the feeling that the writers noticed half way through that she isn’t contributing that much to the story, so they wrote her that certain part in the finale. Maybe I am too harsh, in the end she is “just” a supporting role. What do you think? Apart from Na Rae the only supporting role that is worth to mention is the original love interest of Seo-Jeon: model and friend of Jin Wook; Jae Bom (Kang Chul Woong). Oh boy, where do I start? You see Jae Bom appears to be a stereotypical Idol. Polite, good-looking, popular among teenagers. Throughout the series we see him quite often with his rumored girlfriend. As I said, I am not going to spoil the story for you. That includes the story of supporting roles. But as the story between Seo-Jeon and Jin Wook continues, we get a few subtle hints regarding Jae Bom which were actually rather refreshing for me personally.
In conclusion I have to say that I really enjoyed this short series and found myself rooting for the main characters. I am not sure wether there will be a second season since I felt like there is much more to be told after this experience. If there isn’t going to be a second season, I would still be satisfied with how My Runway ended. The Humor was well written and never crossed the thin line of being too much or too cheesy. The actors were all in all perfectly casted for their roles and managed to make you feel connected to them and root for their fate.
It is definitely worth your time and has a refreshing touch to it! You can watch it now on Netflix.
