K-Netizens Divided On Criticism Of New K-Drama For Its Similarities To SHINee’s Jonghyun

Previously, the new K-Drama Lovely Runner was accused of allegedly referencing the life of SHINee’s Jonghyun. With this, many fans called for a boycott as they felt it was disrespectful and were using the idol for entertainment.

소신발언 좀 할께요.

종현 생일인 오늘 첫방하는 TvN 드라마 '선재 업고 튀어'

아이돌 사망 소재에 메인포스터에 민트색 옷.
아이돌 사망 전으로 돌아가는 년도 2008년.

팬들은 너무나 큰 아픔이라 방송중지 요청도 했는데 고작 드라마 소재로 쓰고, 의견 무시하는거 정말 무례하다 새생각해요. pic.twitter.com/5J5H57rPRi

— 퐁당 (@nammise_S2) April 7, 2024

Let me say something. The new tvN K-Drama, ‘Lovely Runner’, premiered on Jonghyun’s birthday. They used the topic of an idol’s death and a mint-colored outfit in the main poster. The story goes back in time to 2008. Fans have asked for the show to be stopped as it is a painful event for fans, and I think it’s rude that they ignored our opinion and used it as drama material.

However, most recently, some netizens felt that the criticism didn’t really have solid reasoning and stated differing opinions on the drama.

Netizen post | theqoo

Q: Why did it air on his birthday?

A: It was initially set to air in November, but it was pushed back to now due to production changes. The production team cannot control this.

Q: Why does the story go back to the debut year of 2008?

A: The production team wanted to write about the Beijing Olympics because the male lead was a swimmer. Plus, the band’s debut year is set for 2009.

Q: Why did they add the episode of the female lead listening to the male lead’s radio?

A: Honestly, what singer doesn’t appear on radio? And in the drama, he isn’t the DJ but appears on the radio show as a guest after debuting.

Q: What about the suicide setting?

A: It’s not. The original webtoon shows drug misuse, and in the drama they introduce the character with the question, ‘Is this extreme choice really true?’

Q: Why do they show his death after the concert?

A: It’s already hard enough not to show a concert scene for a character who is a singer. And there are many celebrities whose last moment is on stage at a concert.

+ They changed the storyline from a five-member idol group to a four-member band and took out the male lead’s trainee setting.

Netizens also felt that there was really no connection with the idol member and the drama.

Netizen comments | theqoo Netizen comments | theqoo

• “What’s wrong with the fans…”
• “I don’t see any correlation.”
• “What’s wrong with them…”
• “I understand how unfortunate it is for the fans, but using that to criticize every little thing is going a bit far.”
• “It’s only the fans that will see this and think of a certain person. The public doesn’t see any connection.”
• “The person who posted it is a SHINee fan and all the quote retweets about this are SHINee fans.”
• “This story has an original webtoon…what do you mean they are trying to fit the setting to a certain person.”

With this, CJ ENM has also released a statement regarding the controversy surrounding the drama.