Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

9/10

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

Genre:                                Episodes: 16                              Year: 2016

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Kim Bok Joo is a promising young female weightlifter at an athletic collage. As well as being a star athlete on the track to becoming an olympic medalist, Bok Joo is also a young woman who struggles to balance her olympic dreams and current desires to live as a regular 20 year old. Jung Joon Hyung is Bok Joo’s friend from elementary school, and a swimmer at the same school. Like Bok Joo, Joon Hyung struggles to separate his athletic career and his personal life.

Cast:

Lee Sung Kyung (Kim Bok Joo)

Nam Joo Hyuk (Jung Joon Hyung)

Kyung Soo Jin (Song Shi Ho)

Lee Jae Yoon (Jung Jae Yi)

Cho Hye Jung (Jung Nan Hee)

Lee Joo Young (Lee Sung Ok)

Ji Il Joo (Jo Tae Kwon)

Kang Ki Young (Kim Dae Ho)

Yoo Da In (Go Ah Young)

General Thoughts:

Well this little drama was unexpectedly delightful and came out of nowhere to smash its way into my all-time-favourites list. I expected it to be cute and fluffy, but what it was is cute, substantial and wonderful. It’s very quietly extraordinary.

I love this. I love this so much.

It’s a fantastic story about a bunch of kids hitting that age where they’re suddenly adults, and everything matters, yet nothing does, and it’s still the stage of life that makes you into who you’re going to be. It’s nostalgic and fun without ever becoming juvenile. Despite not getting phenomenal ratings, it’s defiantly one of the better dramas to come out of 2016.

She's a weightlifter, but she's not just a weightlifter

I didn’t expect it to be nearly as good as it was, because really…weightlifting? Is that going to be fun? Answer- yes. Yes it is. Because the drama very smartly doesn’t choose to hone in on the athletics. Sure it’s about weightlifting, but more than that it’s about Bok Joo. Bok Joo happens to be a weightlifter, so the drama has weightlifting in it. By only focusing on the athletics every now and then (it was always present, but not in your face), the drama remained very relatable, and Bok Joo became a heroine that everyone could see themselves in. I’m not a weightlifter, and I’ve sure as hell never had the adoration of someone like Nam Joo Hyuk thrust upon me (though I totally won’t count that out just yet), but I understood all Bok Joo’s choices, and could totally see myself being buddies with her. Likeable male leads are about a dime a dozen- it’s the likeable female leads that come as a bit of a surprise. But Bok Joo wasn’t just likeable, she was so darn loveable. She felt every emotion so strongly whether it was embarrassment, heart-break or happiness, and it’s pretty much impossible to dislike someone who’s that honest and innocent.

Bok Joo gets me

Her struggles were so universal despite her very unique circumstances. Everyone has worried about not being attractive enough to get the notice of the person you fancy, we all worry about our family, and can anyone forget the mortifyingly embarrassing mess we were when our first crush didn’t work out?

Where do I get one?

Bok Joo’s so relatable because we can all see parts of ourselves in her- like ‘oh yeah I remember when something like that happened and she’s right, it totally blows’. The part that most of us probably didn’t have was Joon Hyung- man of total devotion and adoration But that’s what makes the series fun. He’s not so ridiculously perfect that it’s unbelievable that a romance like theirs could occur. It’s exactly the type of romance that ruins all us regular people because it’s dreamy and almost perfect and could totally happen one day, right? The friends to lovers dynamic was hit so perfectly, and meant we got to see every stage of Bok Joo and Joon Hyung’s relationship- general dislike, begrudging friendship, friendship that’s way past friendship but they don’t know it yet, total lovebirds. It’s so darn cute. It’s always a bonus when the guy falls for the girl first, because there are so many dramas where the girl pines for Mr. Unattainable or they fall in love at the same time. Watching Joon Hyung realise that he was in love with Bok Joo was really the best thing ever. Because suddenly all their interactions, phone calls and skinship mean something different. It’s adorable, and I really couldn’t get enough of it.

He fell for her so hard, so fast

The supporting cast and characters were all brilliant too. Each of the characters had a turn in the spotlight as part of some sort of conflict, then gradually went back into the background so the next conflict could arise.

I love the humour, I love the tone, I love that Nam Joo Hyuk gets to be in a swimsuit

The way it was handled was very smooth, and evidence of the director and writer working in total harmony- none of the characters disappeared entirely, and came back every now and then- very clearly still the stars of their own lives. The little bits we saw of the side characters did an excellent job at establishing them as actual people, and we often saw how their lives continued even once Bok Joo was no longer super actively involved. Jae Yi also realised he’d been in a relationship masquerading as a friendship, Shi Ho quit competitive gymnastics and turned to coaching, and another weightlifter-swimmer couple was born. Another thing that was truly excellent about the series and fit its vibe perfectly was the soft pastel tones that the show seemed to take on. It’s almost as if they chose the colour scheme just to fit Lee Sung Kyung, because it complimented her beautifully. The whole drama just seemed to have a bit of a pastel wash over it, that made it seem a bit softer, a bit prettier, and a bit more romantic than life actually is. Its a stunning drama to look at- it’s surprising how many dramas forget that the scenes have to be just as appealing as the actors, but ‘Weightlifting Fairy’ totally nailed it.

Everything is so adorably pretty

What Was Great:

Casting:

The casting is spot on, which is probably one of the more surprising aspects of the drama. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Lee Sung Kyung is a brilliant actress, but I kind of wondered if the casting directors had actually ever laid eyes on her.

Lee Sung Kyung officially brought her A-game

Because that girl probably can’t lift 10 kilos- she’s tiny. But I was super impressed to see how much effort Lee Sung Kyung put into looking the part. Sure, she’s still probably not close at all to actual weightlifter proportions, but she no longer looks like a gentle breeze could blow her away. I actually hope she stays this weight, because I’ve always found her to look a bit on the unhealthy side of skinny, and really liked the way she looked with a bit more muscle and weight on her. The stylists also did a fabulous job of downplaying Lee Sung Kyung’s supermodel good looks under a dorky haircut and clothes that were loose but not too baggy. It made her seem much more like a normal person and less like the ridiculous beauty she is. Bok Joo was still very pretty, but pretty in a way that was easy to overlook- which was the point. I myself caught myself thinking that Bok Joo was too pretty to be a weightlifter before realising that there’s no rule that weightlifters can’t be pretty, and that was one of the issues that Bok Joo was constantly fighting against- because she was a weightlifter people assumed she couldn’t be pretty and she couldn’t be feminine. It was really a perfect way to tie in the actress’ looks into one of the points the drama was trying to make. Another brilliant way they used casting to really sell the series was to use Lee Sung Kyung’s height to her advantage.

Look at them other shorties

She stands at around 175cm (I think), which is pretty tall for a Korean girl, and the drama used that to its advantage to sell her as a weightlifter. Once she was no longer stick thin, it became more plausible that she was a weightlifter as her height made her seem bigger (and thus stronger) than others. The show emphasised this further by casting short around her. Both of Bok Joo’s close friends and her rival-roommate were significantly shorter than Bok Joo, and made her seem bulkier in comparison.

I am so emotionally invested in our Bok Joo

And not only did Lee Sung Kyung look the part, but she totally smashed the role. I was completely sold on her as Bok Joo and she did an astounding job in her first leading role. She’s previously taken on rather dislikable roles, so I was worried if I’d be able to warm to her as our heroine. My doubts were completely put to rest by her enjoyable take on Bok Joo. She was able to turn the crazy energy she’s put into making interesting, unique second leads into a much more likeable, but equally interesting and unique energy for Bok Joo. Bok Joo was really unlike any other heroine. She was fun, straightforward and energetic, and it was obvious that so much of that came from the way Lee Sung Kyung acted her. Despite my initial misgivings, I’m so, so, so glad that Lee Sung Kyung is the one who landed this role, as I highly doubt I would have loved Bok Joo as much as I did if it was someone else playing her. Next to Bok Joo we have our male lead, Joon Hyung, played by Nam Joo Hyuk. And hasn’t he just improved dramatically! He’s been on my list of people to look out for, but it was this drama that cemented that he’s probably going to end up being one of the house-hold names in Korean acting in a few years. He’s been catching eyes in smaller roles, but smashed the ball out of the park on this one. He was also someone I was tentative about seeing as one of the leads, because while I’ve come to like him as an actor, the last time he was a male lead was a bit of a mess- and he was a swimmer then too. But I was happy to see that he entered the role with confidence and conviction and delivered an insanely loveable lead.

Not to mention that the chemistry was all kinds of delightful

There are cases of actors seeming to be tailor-made for roles, and while I do think that this was an easy role for Nam Joo Hyuk to take on, I think it’s just as much him growing as an actor as it is finding a role that suited him. His natural playfulness really showed in Joon Hyung, and he brought the aegyo in the best ways- there’s just something so fun about the man being more inclined to cutesy voice and shoulder shrugging than the girl.

Nam Joo Hyuk also brought his A-game

The reason that it was obvious that Nam Joo Hyuk’s acting was improving was that it wasn’t just the fun, cute or loving scenes that he excelled in. Scenes that required him to show vulnerability he acted out perfectly, and even managed to show that some of Joon Hyung’s jokey nature was actually him covering up his insecurities. Nam Joo Hyuk perfectly expressed Joon Hyung’s emotions, and handled the transition from friends to lovers excellently. The way he linked arms with Bok Joo when they were friends was totally different than the way he linked arms with her after he realised his feelings. The supporting cast were all brilliant as well, particularly Kyung Soo Jin who made Song Shi Ho an understandable second female lead. Sure, we didn’t always like her, but it was easy to see what led her to make the decisions she did, and Kyung Soo Jin acted her downward spiral and eventual acceptance wonderfully. Ji Il Joo was super adorable as Joon Hyung’s roommate, and I hope his spike of activity in 2016 means we’ll be seeing more of him in the future. 

Progress:

The way the drama flowed was just picture perfect. No conflict was dragged out too long that we got bored or irritated by how easily the problem could have been solved, and our characters all...wait for it…they actually communicated with each other!

Just look at them adulting betting than all the adults in other K-Dramas

By the time the series ended I could hardly remember a time when Bok Joo was crying her eyes out over Jae Yi. And wether directly or indirectly, the drama’s progression was another way it highlighted how time really is the cure for most heartaches.

Time heals all

Just as we take some prompting to remember how tortured Bok Joo was over Jae Yi, that time is such a distant memory for Bok Joo- no matter how crushing and soul-destroying it seemed back then. The way the drama flowed was so natural, and made it feel as though we were growing with our characters. Both Bok Joo and Joon Hyung are slightly different people at the start of the series than they are at the end, and the series is really all about how they came to be those confident young people as much as it’s about them falling in love with each other. Of course their love is part of why they became the people they were, but it wasn’t the only reason. While the drama didn’t really have one huge overarching conflict, it was made up of many smaller conflicts. Sometimes the conflicts overlapped, like Bok Joo’s love for Jae Yi happening at the same time Shi Ho was gunning to win him back, but every conflict had its moment to be The Conflict in the drama. And while all the conflicts did tend to get wrapped up pretty neatly, it never came off as unrealistic. It was more that our characters had to face the issue, come to terms with the results and move on, rather than the situation getting tied up in a perfect little bow. A lot of the resolutions came from our characters simply learning how to deal with what was happening to them. More than being a drama about things that happen, ‘Weightlifting Fairy’ is a drama about characters, their emotional growth, and their relationships. And when done well (as it was here) those types of dramas can be the most endearing, because the characters really find a way to snag your heart and become unforgettable.

Romance AND friendship- it's got it all

All the Cute:

It’s adorable. As much as it’s a drama about growth and characters and all that, the fact of the matter is that none of that would be all that interesting if it wasn’t wrapped up in a package of cute. It was never ridiculous, cringeworthy cute, but a nice, sweet atmosphere where two loveable people found each other and were adorable together. It’s not a drama where there are nasty villains, or hideous murders- but that’s okay.

Oh my God it's cute- someone please show me the magic portal through which I can enter into this world

Cute dramas are needed to give you a rest from all the life-or-death ones, and when they’re structured as well as this one, it’s just plain fabulous. Bok Joo and Joon Hyung are so cute all the time. And just because the drama is cute, it doesn’t mean it’s simple. The characters were well fleshed out, and I cared for their happiness just as much as I care in any high-stakes drama- maybe even more so.

What Wasn’t:

Forgiving Mum:

Joon Hyung’s big conflict in the series was having a Mum that abandoned him. Sure, he had a loving Aunt and Uncle who became his adoptive family, but it doesn’t stop it hurting when your Mum buggers off to Canada to start a new family. It was an issue that was set up pretty early on, so we new there was going to be a big blowup at some point.

If you make our hero sad, you're going to have to pay (except she didn't)

It even raised its head a few times before emerging completely, like when Joon Hyung fought with Jae Yi because he felt like he was treated too nicely to be a real younger brother. Then Mum came and Joon Hyung found out it was for money and not him, and you b*tch how dare you make our baby cry.

Screw you, lady

While the build-up and peak of the conflict were brilliant, I did find the resolution a little lacking. While I agree with Bok Joo that Joon Hyung’s Mum could love both him and her new child, I’m more on Joon Hyung’s side because there was really no explanation as to why she cut of contact and ignored Joon Hyung for 10 years. There’s no way that can be twisted into something that was for Joon Hyung’s benefit. I was kind of disappointed at how easily Joon Hyung forgave his mother after years of her abandonment. I would have preferred (and this is probably just my vindictive nature) that Joon Hyung got to a point where he was no longer angry at his mother, but politely told her that she’d forfeited any rights of being his mother when she took off. She had a new family, he had a new family, so thank you very much but he’d prefer not to meet her again and they could just get on with their lives. But no, he sees her off at the airport and says he wants to meet his younger sister and that he’ll see mum again. Mmm, kinda lame, but I guess it is fitting with the happy, rosy vibe of the series.

Re-watch?

Yes. Right now. You heard me, I’m going to watch it all again right this very moment.

I want to live in this drama