Drama Review: WEIGHTLIFTING FAIRY KIM BOK JOO

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

Original Title: 역도요정 김복주
Language: Korean
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Watched On: Viki
Number of Episodes: 16

Overall: ☆☆☆☆☆

Summary: What else could there be to life than barbells and heavy weights? Kim Bok Joo (Lee Sung Kyung) is a weightlifting phenom who has only focused on barbells her entire life while growing up with her father, Kim Chang Gul (Ahn Gil Kang), is a former weightlifter. She attends Hanwool College of Physical Education, a university full of top-notch athletes who are driven to succeed in the hopes of representing their country in national and international competitions. She went to the same elementary school as Jung Joon Hyung (Nam Joo Hyuk) but reunites with him in college. He is now a competitive swimmer who is having trouble recovering from the trauma of being disqualified for a false start in his first international swim competition. Song Shi Ho (Kyung Soo Jin) is a fiercely competitive rhythmic gymnast who won a silver medal at the Asian Games when she was 18, but the pressures of her sport drive her to break up with Joon Hyung. Bok Joo’s tunnel-vision life starts to change when she falls in love with Joon Hyung’s older cousin, Jung Jae Yi (Lee Jae Yoon), a former athlete who became an obesity doctor after suffering a career-ending injury. Will Bok Joo learn that there is more to life than weightlifting? “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo” is a 2016-2017 South Korean drama series directed by Oh Hyun Jong. The story is inspired by the life of weightlifter Jang Mi Ran, who won the gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics, the gold medal in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, and four world championships.

I'll try to write this review without being completely gushy... but let's be real here! I honestly didn't know how well I would like this drama, I only went into it because of Lee Jae Yoon--who isn't even a lead--and Nam Joo Jyuk. But dammit if every single character wasn't just 👌!!

My first issue with this drama was the casting of the female lead; she does not look like a competing weight lifter, and I thought that would annoy me the whole time. But Lee Sung Kyung's acting made up for it on so many levels. The writing of the drama made up for it. Bok Joo is a kind, caring and hard working person. The lead male Joon Hyung does nothing but support her and their friends throughout the entire drama. The family dynamic behind the drama is A+ as well.
I can only find one thing to fault this drama and that's the lack of actual schooling considering they're college students...but everything else is just so so good that there's no point!
I cried so many times in this drama, laughed, squealed and just felt the intense feels! One of my favorite parts of this drama from any drama ever is the portrayal of someone being depressed--what that feeling is really like. And the fact that the people surrounding this character didn't shun her for it, but supported her so much was absolutely beautiful! That's the best way to describe this drama...beautiful. I highly highly recommend it!

I looked into the other dramas that this writer has worked on and two of them are also some of my all time favorites (Oh My Ghostess and High School King of Savvy), so it's no suprise that this drama was as good as it was. I cannot wait to see more from Yang Hee Seung.

Have you seen this drama? What is one of your recent faves, please let me know!