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Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo korean drama review
Completed
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo
0 people found this review helpful
by Zoe
Sep 30, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 9.0
Story 10.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 9.0
The start of this show is shaky, with really in-your-face montages. The characterisation was pretty weird too. I mean, now I know what people talk about when they say inexperienced actors. But everyone gets better!

I enjoyed the strong sunbae culture and it was also nice to see the protagonists being the sunbaes instead of the hoobaes.

I like the show deals with mental health issues. And that people don’t just become depressed because they break up. It’s very rare for a heroine to have a breakdown over something or someone that isn’t the romantic line.

The character have sad back stories, but they just suck it up and deal with it simply without drama.

Random note: I like the different names of the characters, instead of ones that I’ve already known from other dramas.

Joon Hyung - male lead
Nam Joo Hyuk’s acting gets better. In the beginning, I really wasn’t sure what face he was trying to pull. He has some really great one-liners throughout the drama.

“People either really like me or hate me, y’know.”

He’s used to people being pissed at him that he’s come to the point that he just shuts it out.

“Relationships aren’t like sports. Effort does not guarantee success.”

“I’m yours, so I have to listen to you.”
 
I like that Joon Hyung was only a little adverse to therapy and it showed how he was challenged but he just got into it quite easily. He’s really a very gentle soul and the actor who played him when he was a kid was just perfect. Nam Joo Hyuk also has a very puppy dog vulnerable expression. I appreciated his shyness when it comes to emotions, but also how he is quite in touch with his.
Joon Hyung’s relationship with his bro is so funny. I like how well he knew his brother and wanted to support him. Joon Hyung has a very middle aged man personality actually.
I liked the way he acted towards his parents, maybe it’s because of his inexperience, but it felt like his character was also acting a certain way, putting on a show for his parents.
His stand out trait is his loyalty. I love how kind he is to lots of people but of course the way he cares for Bok Joo and is concerned for her is beautiful. He really goes out of his way to make sure she’s ok. And he thinks about how to approach her and puts thought into how to talk to her or make her feel better. He has some of the best moments of sincere gentleness and kindness that I’ve seen in dramaland.

I love the swimming pool analogy and what it means to Joon Hyung.
 
Bok Joo
I like that Bok Joo wears really unflattering clothes constantly.
Usually I would dislike a storyline where the heroine is in love with the wrong person for a majority of the show. But Joon Hyung’s gentle and kind support of her made it ok. It’s a bit funny how scared Joon Hyung is of her.
It’s unusual, for me to see a heroine really go for her misplaced love, and in a way it felt a bit more realistic that just because he’s not the hero of the show, doesn’t mean that it’s not hard to get over him.
I like that Bok Joo is so good at what she does. That Joon Hyung has to work hard to keep up with her athletic achievements in his own field.

Romance

“Is this a home shopping channel? That sounds ridiculous.”

I like that you can see that Joon Hyung is so polite to his family to the point that it’s stiff. So it’s really meaningful the way he can relax around Bok Joo.
Bok Joo’s way of comforting Joon Hyung is really genuine and I like that she avoids cliches, and is so real about what she says to him.

Best Friends
The best friends of both Bok Joo and Joon Hyung were borderline stereotypical. But they had some nice stand out moments.

“Did she eat ginseng or something? What’s wrong with her?”

And it was funny to see Joon Hyung’s best bud get involved with Bok Joo’s girl friends.

Female Role Models
Coach Choi was a great character and I loved the way she yelled at people like a lion. Not your usual high pitch barrage that you get with female characters but a very guttural roar haha.

Ah Young
“It’s good to love someone, but you need to be loved to boost your self-esteem.”

Si Ho
Also, I like that I got to love the crazy ex-girlfriend too. There’s something really cool about her.

Jae Yi
It was a bit funny to see the nice guy, “second lead syndrome” personality get a bad rap for hurting people with his consideration.

“Seriously, I had no idea that treating you well would create more distance between us. Agh, do I have a disorder?”

Jae Yi - “You were quite scary when you got angry. I thought you’d punch me.”
Joon Hyung - “I may seem sweet to you, but I can be quite tough.”

Cameos
We have some beautiful scene stealers! This show had the best cameos – all my favourite actors. LJS didn’t even try and act, but come on, it’s LJS. Ji Soo, however, put his whole heart into his little scenes. Love that guy! And had to squee when I saw Kim Seul Gi too.
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