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

Age of Youth

Age of Youth

8/10

Age of Youth

Genre:                               Episodes: 12                         Year: 2016

Melodrama

Synopsis:

Five university students live in a share house, and each girl lives with their own dreams and struggles. The story follows the five girls and their friendships as they learn about each other and the secrets they each keep hidden.

Cast:

Han Ye Ri (Yoon Jin Myung)

Park Hye Soo (Yoo Eun Jae)

Hwa Young (Kang Yi Na)

Han Seung Yeon (Jung Ye Eun)

Park Eun Bin (Song Ji Won)

Shin Hyun Soo (Yoon Jong Yeol)

Yoon Park (Park Jae Wan)

Ji Il Joo (Go Doo Young)

Son Seung Won (Im Sung Min)

Yoon Jong Hoon (Seo Dong Joo)

General Thoughts:

While in no way perfect, the drama still manages to capture hearts, tug at your emotions, and leave in a sadly satisfying way. It’s not often that I find myself sad to watch a drama go (especially not with those longer ones that drag on for more episodes than necessary), but it was a tad sad having to say goodbye to these five wonderful girls.

Our glorious heroines

The writer did such a great job with these characters, as did the actresses who portrayed them. While each girl was distinctly different and had their own quirky characteristics, they never fell into a typical K-Drama heroine category. While the girls definitely had overarching qualities that you could use to label them (studious, shy, glamorous, bubbly, loud) there was so much more to every one of their characters.

Girl friendships are where it's at

To add to how amazing our five heroines were, we had the splendid friendship that was shared between them. The show really hit the nail on the head with the way it began. We enter into this share-house with Eun Jae, who is as new to the situation as we are, so it gives us time to observe the other girls that will be in our story. Then as each episode goes by we have a different main narrator for the hour, with one girl taking centre stage for that episode. Yet the other girls were always present, sometimes coming in with snippets of their own story, sometimes being completely involved in another’s story as either a support, a friend, or an obstacle. As for each girl’s story, they were all unique and different. While most of the stories were a little too dramatic to be considered ‘everyday’ stories, there were always aspects of our characters and their situations that felt similar and relatable: feeling isolated, lost, confused and scared as you try to make your way through the world as an ‘adult’. While none of the storylines were exactly new, the writing and characters were like a breath of fresh air, and completely invigorated the story, making it seem totally original again. I loved that the show felt very ’20’. I haven’t watched a heap of shows that focus on this stage of life, so it was nice to have a drama that was so focused on this period.

Welcome to the 20s- where we drink away our problems

Most dramas tend to go for late 20s-30 and focus on an everlasting love, or on the teens and first love. But ‘Age of Youth’ focuses itself on that weirdly messy period of time in between. Our characters have all made mistakes and have pasts that they have to deal with, but they also have such a question-mark over their futures. Plot-wise I do wish we’d got into some of the stories a little quicker, as while the pacing of the show never felt drawn out (yay for 12 episodes), it did feel a little rushed at the end in regards to Eun Jae’s story, and Ji Won didn’t even really get a story at all.

There were some great love-lines flying around

And while I love that the series focused mainly on the relationships between the girls, I do wish we’d had just a smidge more on the boys. Jae Wan and Doo Young had the perfect amount of screen time and story, but I wouldn’t have been mad if the other three boys were given a little more attention. Jong Yeol had a cute love-line, but did disappear in the middle there as the drama only focused a lot on Eun Jae in the beginning and then at the end. Our other two boys, Sung Min and Dong Joo, were hard to catch a glimpse of. Blink and you might miss them. I do wish that a little more effort had been put into Dong Joo and Yi Na’s relationship, as I found Dong Joo such an interesting character. It’s pretty common to see the ‘sugar daddy’ card played, so I enjoyed that this drama branched out a little and had a male gold-digger. It’s not a new or unheard of concept, but it is rarely seen on screen. His feelings for Yi Na were pretty heavily hinted at, and I dearly wish we could have seen some sort of reciprocated feelings on Yi Na's part. Son Seung Won caught my eye as the young version of the villain in ‘Healer’ and I’ve eagerly anticipated seeing him in more roles since then. Sadly, his character here is pretty blasé and relatively unimportant- but he did sparkle nicely in those scenes he was given.

If you'd made some moves on her maybe you would have gotten more screen-time

The cinematography was beautiful and really gave the whole show a melancholy, reflective feeling. The shots and angles were lovely, but what really caught my attention was the colour of this drama. It’s very soft and clean and gives off a bit of a dream-like, nostalgic quality that was simply stunning. The music helped support this weird (yet totally likeable) melancholy but heartwarming vibe, and really gave the show a sense of endearment. 

What Was Great:

Our Girls:

The characters were great and the actresses were great. If you have both of those things, it’s pretty hard to dislike the characters. Every girl had both likeable and dislikable aspects, and the show really capitalised on that, showing how relationships must overcome these less than wonderful parts of a person in order to be able to continue enjoying all these other wonderful things about them.

You can't not love these girls

What was really sweet about the relationships between the girls is that it wasn’t super in-your-face that they were making a drama that focused on female friendships. While the heart and soul of this drama was definitely all the gal pals, the lovely friendship moments came about in beautifully unforced ways. It was sweet and natural and never overplayed, which only made it that much more rewarding to watch.

Oddly dark for a slice-of-life drama

Rather than having great acts of friendship to display the love between the girls, the show opted for rather mundane, everyday, yet totally heart-tugging ways for the girls to show that they cared, and this made all the relationships feel wonderfully real and authentic.

Our Stories:

I was thoroughly invested in all the different stories going on in this drama. The romances were adorable and you couldn’t help but root for our heroines in all their endeavours- romance or other. The drama shined light on every one of our girls (though Ji Won definitely got less light than the others), and as each story slowly played out, we learned more and more about our different girls, their pasts, and what shaped them into the people they were in the present. It’s a wonderful example of beautiful, fluid writing that keeps the series completely engaging from start to finish. 

Our Visuals:

It’s so pretty to watch. Obviously the girls are all gorgeous and stunning (especially Hwa Young- I mean really, how can anyone be that attractive?), and the boys aren’t bad to look at either. But what really set the drama apart from others visually was the beautiful way it was shot. Even in the funny moments the drama managed to snag a rather thoughtful, pensive tone. The whole thing was just so, so pretty.

It was so nice to look at

What Wasn’t:

Some Unanswered Questions:

While all the stories were loveable and engaging, there were some aspects to them that left me wanting a little more explanation. My main question-mark after the series ended was what the deal was with the ballerina ex-roommate.

Please give me my answers now

It felt like the drama had more mysteries it wanted to go into regarding her character- it felt like she was going to be used for more than just a tool to have Eun Jae suspect that her roommates weren’t very nice people. I kept expecting her to make a reappearance (maybe as a part of Ji Won’s story as she was rather story-less, and is ballerina the Hyo Jin that Ji Won called out to in one of the epilogues?). But alas, she never returned. I felt a little disappointed that this question wasn’t answered- simply because the drama had set her up like some big secret. None of the girls seemed comfortable talking about her and it just seemed like one big lie that she left because she got knocked up. After learning more about each of the housemates, I seriously doubt they’d cut ties with someone just because she got pregnant. But unfortunately for us, we’ll never know. Another unanswered question was the ringing in Ji Won’s ears. Seeing as she was supposedly lying about seeing ghosts and reading auras, I wondered if maybe she did have some supernatural power she didn’t know about yet. But that seemed to eventuate to nothing, and the drama ended without really explaining Ji Won’s ringing ears. And then there’s Doo Young. While we do get to see occasional instances of him being a giant jerk, he mostly just came across as a boyfriend who took his girlfriend for granted.

From uncaring to crazy in one fell swoop

While I appreciate that the show did go into domestic violence, I would have liked to see a gradual buildup to Ye Eun’s kidnapping, as it just seemed to be a bolt from the blue. I think it would have had more effect if his violent behaviours started of small and we saw Ye Eun ignoring or explaining away his actions until it climaxed at the kidnapping. As it was, it was a tad random to have him turn into a deranged, psychopathic kidnapper when he’d really been played as a disinterested boyfriend who cheats for most of the show’s run.

Re-watch?

I would love to go back and revisit this drama when I have the time. The relationships (both friendship and romantic) were just so sweet, and the drama has managed to snag a rather unique niche for itself where there’s nothing else quite like it around. It’s truly a very, very enjoyable drama.

Super satisfying