Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo is a Must Watch

by Devina

The past few months, due to my midlife crisis (or quarter, but then I’m not planning to live that long), I have been watching Korean drama. And of course, being a cynical nerd, I’m super picky when it comes to the drama I watch. I’m used to blood and gore, lack of romance and a lot of mystery, so I avoid drama that revolves around love only.

I mean, how boring would that be?

However, despite me sticking to a certain type of drama, I have now found them boring. They have patterns, and it’s like you know what’s going to happen.

There’s always a villain, a lot of the times there’re rich families involved, almost in every drama there is at least one rich kid, and there are twists everywhere too. The main character is probably the missing child of some rich family or something, and the romantic interest is related to that mystery. And there’ll be some crazy whatever else happening.

Then last week I decided to give Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo a chance. I heard from some people that it’s a good show, so why not?

And I am hooked. Like, really hooked.

 

It’s about a weightlifter named Kim Bok Joo who fell in love for the first time with a kind stranger who helped her one day. She felt flattered that for the first time in her life someone treated her like a “lady.” Then she started seeing the guy wherever she went, and one day followed him to find out that he was a weight loss doctor.

Despite having no money and being a weightlifter, Kim Bok Joo registered herself as a patient and started getting close to the doctor. And he was everything Bok Joo thought he was: kind, smart, patient, caring, and very gentleman. Bok Joo then started series of lies to the doctor and to everyone she cared about. She didn’t want anyone to know about her going to a weight loss clinic, and she didn’t want the doctor to know that she was a weightlifter.

Meanwhile, she didn’t know that her childhood friend Joon Hyung was the doctor’s little brother. When Joon Hyung found Bok Joo at his brother’s clinic, he started using Bok Joo’s secret to get closer to her. However, being a kind friend, Joon Hyung ended up helping Bok Joo to get closer to his brother.

Fixated on the doctor, Bok Joo didn’t notice that Joon Hyung was falling in love with her. However, Bok Joo, who was always secretive and kept things to herself all the time, found it easy to open up to Joon Hyung and showed him parts of her life without feeling ashamed. They relied on each other and started trusting each other, becoming best friends. Through bad and good times, Joon Hyung was always there for Bok Joo, even when he couldn’t understand why himself.

And it’s just the matter of time before Bok Joo realized that true love had been right next to her the whole time.

There are issues in this show that are just so relatable it’s crazy. Insecurities, first love, heartbreak, depression, trauma, etc, etc. So many of them are addressed, and we can’t help but feel the pain of Bok Joo and Joon Hyung. We understand them, and we fall in love with them. I, for sure, have fallen in love with Bok Joo.

When she cries, I feel like my heart breaks with hers.

And I love it, I love how invested I am in a character. I’m cheering for her when she takes a step forward and sees things differently. I want her to grow up to be a strong woman she wants to be. I want her to not be ashamed of being a weightlifter just because of a man. I want her to know that she’s adored and loved just the way she is. That the man who can love for her for what she calls her “ugliest moment” is right there with her this whole time.

It’s such a simple story told that I am hooked. It’s also hilarious. So funny that I re watch scenes just to laugh more. Bok Joo and Joon Hyung are mad hilarious together.

And to watch Bok Joo come to age, maturing, is such a bliss. I love it, and I can’t wait to see more.

I am recommending this drama to everyone, just because it’s so funny you shouldn’t miss it. It’s not done yet, so I can’t rate it. But it’s already one of my favorites, if not the top.