Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo is the single most annoying drama I have ever watched. My biggest problem with the drama was with Bok Joo and her story arch. First I will address my earlier claim of pandering. Bok Joo, in my opinion, is nothing more than a compilation of most girls' deepest insecurities. Portraying insecurity is not in itself a bad thing, in fact it is usually fantastic, but by giving Bok Joo so many, and so many overly common, insecurities it becomes less an uplifting message of self love and more a marketing gimmick to play to your intended audience. Bok Joo is self conscious about her appearance, weight, family, aspirations, career, personality, body type, height, strength, skill, shortcomings, etc. The list inevitably goes on. And it is the fact that the list goes on that I take issue with. Everyone, including myself, is insecure about something, maybe even a few things. But to be insecure about nearly everything about yourself...really??? No one with that much self loathing can be as happy go lucky and set on their goals as Bok Joo is. That much insecurity amounts to depression in most real people, and while Bok Joo does display sadness over her various insecurities she always overcomes them with relative ease. Her indecision, a major character trait that I find infuriating, stems from these insecurities. She has no idea who she is or what she wants but is fine with dragging others down with her regardless. Her relationship with Joon Hyeong is, in my opinion, nothing short of toxic on her end. How can she enter into a relationship built on mutual love and respect when she doesn't even like herself or believe he likes her for the first half of the show? To me that is not healthy romance. It is an insecure girl's fantasy of a white knight who will ignore all the things she hates about herself, ask for nothing in return for his love, and require no effort to grow on her part all while loving her unconditionally. This is simply too much like a children's story for me. I understand that part of what makes successful TV is knowing your audience but the romance in this show makes me seriously question whether or not it was lifted from the diary of a lonely teenager. Joon Hyeong himself was one dimensional and lacked any real depth outside of his love for Bok Joo. Though it was refreshing to see the female lead be the more developed character for once I think they sacrificed too much of Joon Hyeong to compensate. The side characters too were boring and forgettable. I honestly could not even tell you their names and it has not been that long since I finished this drama.
Overall I hated Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo. The plot, characters, music, costumes, sets. All of it was awful and mundane. The obvious pandering to teenage girls' insecurities was off putting and Lee Sung Kyung fails as an actress. To this day I do not understand the hype surrounding this drama and I wish I could erase it from my mind.
Was this review helpful to you?
An Untypical Seoul Love Story...
Revisiting Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo with additional years of knowledge about genres, actors and tropes, it’s intriguing to note exactly how this series has attracted such a cult following , and why certain issues can still be correlated with it as a failure in mainstream South-Korean popular culture as well.
It first must be said that Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo doesn’t necessarily have an original idea within its concepts of love triangles and trauma in college , but its characters and comedy are surprisingly well- rounded and relevant for its “ youth” sub genre.
Our main female lead is the eponymous Kim Bok Joo ( Lee Sung-Kyung); a self-conscious and kind-hearted female weightlifter who ends up falling for obesity doctor Jung Jae-yi ( Lee Jae Yoon). Her affections become complicated , however, when she meets Jae-yi’s mischievous younger brother and swimmer Jung Joon-hyung ( Nam Joo Hyuk) who in-turn shares a deeply traumatic past and a complicated history with Bok Joo’s new roommate, gymnast Song Shi-ho ( Kyung Soo-Jin).
Perhaps the most appraised element of the show is its sensitivity and portrayal of mental health issues as well as sexism; Joon-Hyung suffers from trauma , Bok Joo lacks self-esteem and is often cited as “ less feminine” (by both genders) for sport choice and despite her nastier flaws, Song Shi Ho is heavily implied to struggle with an eating disorder .
Yet against the more angst-ridden moments of the show, one of the most surprisingly well-portrayed relationships in the drama is shown through Bok Joo and Joon-Hyung. From teasing to an eccentric friendship to something more, it is still fairly refreshing watching this drama again that Bok Joo’s feelings weren’t something which magically ensured she was “ head over heels in love “ with Joon-Hyung ( even by the ending of the show), but something she learnt gradually and naturally . This is for once a touch of freshness and realism to a relationship in a drama; feelings are complicated and whilst it is romanticised to find one’s true love at first glance, it isn’t always a reality .
Yet getting to the more pressing issue , it’s important to note that often there are several “inconsistencies” which are glossed over by drama fans when it comes to this show. The biggest being pacing- whilst viewers get to know the majority of our main characters in the first few episodes, the show sometimes did hit a slag in terms of story development often either being dragged out or just incredibly slow.
Additionally, the other issue is whilst the issues around the characters are fairly well-tackled, some of our characters were lacking depth including our female heroine. Bok Joo did defy a lot of stereotypes compared to many Korean dramas as a female athlete who stands her ground , but is still conscious about makeup and boys, however, this didn’t initially define her as a character. When it boils down to it, Bok Joo always felt a little too roughly drawn-out for her own good. She had all the right elements of being an intriguing heroine but besides being used for angst and comedy during the show, Bok Joo lacked a lot of actual character depth.
Admittedly this isn’t just Bok Joo. Whilst Joon Hyung’s trauma and past were surprisingly well-delivered, Joon Hyung was often played too much as the farce character with Bok Joo- sweet, but lacking an inner core of depth as an individual.
Overall it’s fair to say that Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo will always have its lovers and haters - whilst undeniably brilliant due to its portrayal of relationships , mental health and youth issues, it’s easy to see why the show is overrated to a certain extent with certain glossed-over issues, poor character writing and slow plot. A fun show and certainly worth a watch, but not flawless.
Was this review helpful to you?
Questionable Casting
So, it's kind of ridiculous how highly praised this drama is. I enjoy the lightheartedness of the show. Lighthearted shows are my favorite kind. There something to not take too seriously, you can just relax and watch as the story unfolds. My headline is "questionable casting" because lets be honest, Lee Sung Kyung looks nothing like a weightlifter. She's slim, tall and gorgeous so whenever she's eating or lifting weights it just takes me out of the show.I understand that the main point of the show is to be seen as a woman no matter what career path they may go down but at no point can I look at her and not think of her as a woman. If they had cast someone who actually looks like someone who lifts weights I would have enjoyed the show more. If you can look past the casting you'll enjoy it a lot more than I. Her character doesn't add up either, during flashbacks of her childhood she's fat and seems to only have an interest in food. So how she becomes skinny and tall doesn't make sense. Her character isn't really overly feminine, she's not particularly girly or anything but at times she can be over dramatic in my opinion, she cries a lot. I guess that's how they decided to display her femininity.
The side stories felt like filler mostly, there was no real reason to care about them aside from the ex-girlfriend. Her problems seemed a lot more serious in comparison to the female lead. Other characters didn't really get much screen time and weren't fleshed out but I think that's a good thing. There's quite a few characters, too many I think, so much so some were pointless.
The romance between the two leads is the best thing about the show. That's mainly because Nam Joo Hyuk plays the perfect boyfriend. When he pursued Lee Sung Kyungs character he wasn't obsessive, he just cared for her and was always there for her. It developed naturally and there was chemistry between the two, the romance is the biggest strength of the show. So if you love romance then I suppose you can ignore all it's flaws and just enjoy it for that.
There were moments I found funny but there were very few of them, the "what" was a nice addition. The music was okay, sometimes it was noticeable other times it simply wasn't. I don't have much to say in this regard what I can say though is that this drama doesn't have the a crazy amount of montages so many dramas do sometimes.
I made an account and wrote this review because the ratings weren't justified. There are much better drama's with a lower rating. If you only care for the romance though and can ignore all the flaws I mentioned then you'll enjoy like many others have.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Have you ever watched a show where you just hated the main character?? This was that show for me. Kim Bok Joon came off a a smart girl in the beginning; it seemed that everyone in her department was just a meathead, while she actually had some common sense, but the more we got into the show, she's proved to me that she was just a different kind of dumb. She seemed very motivated by her dreams, until the day she met the doctor. After, she went on this WILD journey thinking that she would get away with (1) losing all this weight through the doctor's program and still be able to compete without anyone noticing that she was lost a ton of weight, and (2) form a healthy relationship with a man who thinks that she is a classical music major and basically stalking him. Nothing about this was going to end up going well, and I was annoyed that Jung Joon Hyung helped her. I didn't like his character at the beginning. Jung Joon Hyung has a really messed up past and after finding out a huge secret that his "parents" kept from him (and no, not that they weren't his real parents, he has always known that they were his aunt and uncle), he started experiencing temporary deafness whenever he got anxious which ultimately made his swimming suffer. But instead of trying to fix it, he become bored and careless which is why I think he got super involved with Kim Bok Joon's life and drama. Other than that, he is a caring guy who loves his parents and brother, but he doesn't seem to have any motivation with anything else until he meets Kim Bok Joon. Once he figures out that he cares about Kim Bok Joon as more than a sister, this is where the story started to take off for me. Everything up to that point was honestly painful to watch, and til this day, I'm still super confused why Jung Joon Hyung liked Kim Bok Joon so much because she was kind of an entitled asshole (as seemed to be everyone in this drama tbh). But, once you get past that, this drama was honestly a really cute story about first love. And maybe it was because that these two are a couple in real life, but their chemistry was probably one of the best I've seen in a drama. I don't know how I feel about this drama. I think that it doesn't deserve a 9.7/10, but it did have it's moments. Episode 15 was honestly the only episode I enjoyed because shit hit the fan for Jung Joon Hyung. He ended up being the only character I truly liked about this show because even when he was his bored self, he was super bubbly and always cracking a joke and I really enjoyed his acting style. It seemed very personable and I would honestly love to be his friend. Even when he was an asshole, you couldn't help but giggle. Which sounds weird now that I am saying it out loud. Even though Jung Joon Hyung struggled a lot (he decided to take his brother's advice and see a therapist), throughout the show, we always see him taking care of his family and Kim Bok Joon. It wasn't until episode 15 when all of his fears came to light and we got to see him in a completely new light and it was everything I honestly wanted in this show. Not saying I wanted to see him hit rock bottom, but it made his character more relate-able and real and it honestly showed a different side to Kim Bok Joon that we haven't seen before. Then we got episode 16 which was complete crap until the the final 10 minutes. It's like, we went through episode 15 together, and honestly nothing can break you two, and then you are going to play out this stupid scenario and it actually have it get to you Kim? Really? But besides Jung Joo Hyung being a total dork and babe, the ending was really sweet between the two of them at graduation. I am not sure if I enjoyed the last few minutes of this show or if it was because I suffer from "the last episode" curse, where even if I am watching to stupidest thing, the last episode will always make me tear up because...well...it is the last episode!! But it was really cute thinking about if he had never ran into her that day and dropped that lace scarf, they probably would have never "met" and they wouldn't be chasing each other on the grass at their graduation talking about their goals which included winning gold at the 2020 Olympics in swimming and weightlifting as well as getting married Was this review helpful to you?
Annoying and Disappointing
I was excited to watch this drama since there was so much hype around it and it is considered one of the top kdramas. I was disappointed to be disappointed in the show.STORY
Like any show it needed drama and it made that "drama" out of insignificant, minor situations. Often feeling exaggerated, unbelievable and ridiculous. And while those three attributes are common in kdramas, they are not normally to such an extreme, genuine level. I sat there watching it thinking "why are you crying now?? Why are they making such a big deal of this? No one would react that way to something so small!"
Without any genuine, believable drama happening, this show was slow moving and boring.
CHARACTERS
Lee Sung Kyung spends far too much time sulking, pouting, yelling and whining.
Nam Joo Hyuk was one of the highlights of this drama, though that was probably due to having the only well written character.
The supporting cast wasn't very strong. Most of them were there just to fill space.
CONCLUSION
I definitely wouldn't re-watch it. While I wouldn't tell you NOT to watch it, I also wouldn't recommend that you watch it.
It's not a "bad" drama, but it was annoying and disappointing.
Was this review helpful to you?
Being a sport theme drama, it could be a turn off for some of you. But don't let that affect you, just skip that and watch it because sport is there just a setting for real plot. Okay, you have sport university and some competitions in swimming and weightlifting but it really doesn't get boring or concentrate on that. The main focus is on one girl and life around her, her family, friends and love life. How she with help of all those people gets to become confident, mature brave young woman who strives for the best and with hard work make her dreams come true.We follow her journey through all that, her first crush, her first pain, her tears, sweat and fail, her smile, happiness and excitement, her confusion and realization what is actually love and whom she really loves and finally her will to accept herself fully and be the best in weightlifting.
I enjoyed in watching all her journey, in all the details this drama gave me in past two months- Kim Bok Joo with her friends who are best friends one could have- three of them are indeed an epitome of AWESOMENESS, their firm friendship full of trust, care, adventures and funny moments; Kim Bok Joo with her family, her dad and uncle were highlight of this drama and I truly loved watching them love each other that much, one of the best family relationships shown in dramaland; Bok Joo wih her coaches, those two people who helped her and were beside her all the way, who encouraged her and were there in both celebrating and bittersweet times; and finally Bok Joo with Joon Hyeong.
I dare to say that this couple, these two amazing living creatures are one the best characters written out there, couple that really became a synonym of trust, respect, love and untypical uniqueness. I loved them separated and I loved them together, I think both are truly good people who, like any of us have their own insecurities and fears, and who simply wish the best for their loved ones. They really care for their family and friends and they really try and work so hard to become good, better and the best at what they're doing. In the end they left me with feelings of full admiration and love for them. Their relationship is one of the healthiest I've seen, if not THE healthiest. Filled with humor, funny moments, teasing, bickering, great chemistry, with such natural and easiness, trust and without any stupid misunderstanding, whenever you think "oh now they're gonna mess it up like in every other drama", they surprise you with simple and normal way of dealing with all the problems, writing is just too good. And that is the best part of this drama, original, refreshing, atypical, great writing.
The actors are great too, each of them fitted the role perfectly and each of them tried to give a good performance. I really liked them all with some of them who stole my heart in a second -Nam Joo Hyuk, Lee Sung Kyung and Lee Joo Young as Sun Ok, those three somehow stood out the most. The leads were indeed great, actors did a wonderful job in portraying all right emotions when they should and actually they kinda surprised me which is good, I'll be looking forward seeing their work more and more, definitely won me here. But I guess everyone in this drama won me over, that's how much I loved it. ;)
Plus with some positive vibes and melodies, and some great outdoor shots, beautiful sceneries, I think this drama has it all. And it really deserves to be praised.
Where you have friendship that is so raw, real and pure, where you have family bond where nothing could destroy it and where you do all that you can for your beloved creature, where you have a guy who is probably the most untypical male lead in dramaland and who is literally the best guy you could ever meet and when that same guy loves you in such a normal, natural, feel good way, where you have a team that actually cheer for you without any backstabbing, when you have all that plus your own strength and will, I think you have the whole world under your feet. This is the message that Kim Bok Joo left me, simple yet heartwarming lesson- that all the people are ordinary people and that we all with the power that comes from our hearts and from the hearts of our loved ones, we can become extraordinary. Just believe in yourself, never give up and SWAG.
Was this review helpful to you?
To start off, Joon Hyung was the most kind, caring, and sweet boyfriend I have ever seen in a drama. He cared about Bok Joo so much and wasn't a jerk like other kdrama male leads. And Bok Joo was adorable, even though she played a weightlifter and wore some pretty nerdy clothes at times, you can still see how pretty and true to life she really is. Their chemistry together is one of the best that I've seen; no moment they were together was dull. There were so supportive of each other and they depicted a love that was very realistic and pure without any cliches like other dramas.
And there were also so many supportive characters and I loved every single one of them. Bok Joo's friends were always so supportive of her, and it really made me realize how important it is to have such amazing friends like them, and at times made me envious of Bok Joo for having such great ones. Not to mention, Joon Hyung's friend was hilarious and I loved watching his interactions with Bok Joo's friends.
I have to admit, at first, when I heard that this drama revolved around weightlifting, I had my doubts about watching this drama because personally, I don't like that style because most dramas I watched with sports themes don't turn out very well (but I decided to give it a shot bc Nam Joo Hyuk). But gosh did this drama prove me wrong. The sports theme added elements of hope and ambition that wouldn't be there otherwise. This drama just proves that not every drama has to have a complicated storyline or evil characters that get in the way, because this one had none of that and was still so amazing, and the high rating is really justified by it. I definitely hope that more dramas have pure romances and happy stories like this one!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
DISCLAIMER: I am a straight guy who is a fan of k-dramas. I don't know if there are guy fans out there like me whoooo. Well, I don't know if this will make any difference, but here it is.A GUY'S PERSPECTIVE 101:
THIS DRAMA IS DAEBAK! IT CONTAINS S-W-A-G THAT I HAVEN'T FELT SINCE WATCHING ROM-COMS. THIS REALLY IS WORTH WATCHING!!
Story: Simple, but warm. The first parts were good, although I haven't had high hopes that the story will be better as the week progressed. BUT BOY WAS I WRONG! I have seen how the story becomes better and better while keeping track of what really is going on. The plot was good and simple. The characters were relatable, and they matured and grew a lot as the story unfolds. The friendships made were incredible. The supporting characters were not forgotten. As the writers wrote the main characters' story, they also made interesting side stories. I only gave it a 9.0 because of Sung Si Ho. I felt that the writers have struggles as to how they will prolong her character in the story. After that bad deed (spoiler lol) that she has done, she became a problem-carrier all throughout the drama. Nevertheless, I liked how her character achieved closure from everything. :)
Acting: LEE SUNG KYUNG WAS GREAT. As a guy fan, I really felt and loved her great personality in the drama. She portrayed the character very well. I will not remember her anymore as those portrayed by her in CITT and Doctors, but she will be forever KIM BOK JOO!! Saranghaeyooo
Nam Joo Hyuk was also great. He really improved here a lot. Th supporting characters were great, esp the best friends. I have felt that I am also with them as I watch the show.
Kim Dae Ho was awesome!!! He always makes me laugh in the dramas that he's in. All in all, the characters deserve four thumbs up (though I only have 2 haha)
Music: It has an element of warmth and lightness that complements the drama.
Rewatch Value: I will watch it again, but first, I must graduate hahaha. But, if I have time to spare, I would put it as my number 1 in my rewatch list.
Overall: This drama bothered me for nights! I always thought of my own Kim Bok Joo coming into my life haha. This also gave me lots of realizations about youth and about how it progresses so fast. That's how good this drama is! I have laughed a lot, smiled a lot, loved a lot, shouted a lot (YES, I SHOUT). If you have doubts, let go of it. Just WATCH THIS MASTERPIECE AND BE S-W-A-G!
A GUY'S CONCLUSION 101: I RECOMMEND IT A LOT TO EVERYONE.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
For a show that I had no intention of watching because it didn't sound like anything I'd remotely enjoy, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo turned out to be a really sweet romance and I enjoyed it so much. It was warm and full of heart. The awkwardness of youth and first loves felt real. The characters were on point. There is nothing to complain about in this drama. For a fluffy youthful rom-com, this is up there as one of the cutest and sweetest ones I've watched.I loved both Kim Bok Joo and Jung Joon Hyeong. They were spectacularly adorable together. Joon Hyeong is like a puppy that just wants Bok Joo's attention at first. Or a little boy that likes a girl so he pulls her pony tail. But, as their friendship grows, he realizes that he is falling for her. And he moves from being the pesky puppy to an adoring boyfriend. He respects Kim Bok Joo and her dreams. He admires her strength. The problems they and the side characters face all feel very real. I enjoyed each character in this show, not just the main leads. There were no missteps in this story and they cleared up misunderstandings quickly and do not drag anything out needlessly. It also perfectly showed the nostalgic days of ones youth and how we grow and mature.
I'm not a big re-watcher, but I could totally see me watching this again one day. It is just a completely feel good romance that isn't just pure fluff. If the whole weightlifting thing is putting you off, don't let it. Just give it a chance and I believe that you will be pleasantly surprised at how this show and the characters touch your heart. Everything flowed along so nicely and each episode made me feel good and happy to watch it. I'm not saying that it's some masterpiece that broke the mold on dramas, just that it mixed all the right elements to make a fairly flawless romance and friendship story.
***ETA - slight spoilers ahead***
Rewatched end of 2022. This one didn't hold the same appeal on rewatch. It was still a sweet romance, but there was so much crying in the first 2/3 - I didn't remember it that way. I also thought the ex-gf was completely unnecessary and a bit boring.
Was this review helpful to you?
But, I kept on through the first two episodes or so where the romance was very slow and at first did not seem to be what the story was going to be about. But, I was so dead wrong. Yes, there are parts of the plot just about the sport they are in, but, that just gradually became like the background to the romance.
The romance is best friends finally becoming more than friends, which comes off as really sweet and I just love the relationship they have. When they struggle they lean on each other and it is a really good example of a real relationship in real life. I felt like they were truly in love with each other and definitely I would love to see them in a drama again with each other.
The music was sweet and awesome and I love listening to the music all the time. For sure this is a romance to rewatch.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
music:
nothing special or memorable really
acting:
so freaking good, the two mains were so natural and believable
everything is perfect here
story:
not THAT original, but the whole weightlifting aspect was really fresh and new
also I like how they focused on eating the whole time lol
also loved how Nam Joo Hyuk's character loved the fact that she was a strong woman w/ some meat on her bones
overall:
SO GOOD! this is probably in my top 5 best dramas list. the love story is also so natural and believable and wonderful and warm and fuzzy and just too cute for words
if you haven't watched it yet, you should. definitely worth your time
Was this review helpful to you?
