Pretty Tough: Thoughts on Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (2016-2017)

Directed By Oh Hyun-jong

I wasn’t going to watch this one since sports dramas aren’t interesting to me but I gave this one a chance because of Nam Joo-hyuk, who played Baek-Ah from Scarlet Heart Ryeo, is in it. 

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo is a coming-of-age drama that focuses on the lives of college athletes, particularly Kim Bok Joo.

While watching the series, I felt lost. Every student-athlete has some sort of internal conflict that they must overcome by the end of the series. Yet when it came to the main protagonist, Kim Bok Joo, she has multiple issues in her life, but there was no overarching conflict threaded in all the episodes. Instead, every minor conflict she had such as finding her passion for weightlifting once again or learning how to become more feminine for boys is a step towards maturity.

One of the praises I have for this series is the characterization of Kim Bok Joo. She is a complete tomboy. She constantly wears baggy clothes, talks rough, and eats a lot which isn’t very feminine. However, when she develops a crush on an obesity doctor, named Jung Jae-yi, Kim Bok Joo risks her weightlifting career by being a dieting patient in his clinic, just so that she can talk to him. At first, I thought she was silly to do that but then, I realized how socially awkward she is in which she doesn’t know how to talk to guys. Also, her mother passed away a long time ago, so she doesn’t have a mother figure to teach her how to be feminine. So her absurd antic is her way of expressing her feelings to the man she likes. Eventually, she learns that true beauty is on the inside and she doesn’t have to change her personality or physical appearance because one day a man will love her for who she is.

Aside from the lack of an overarching plotline, this drama has its charms. Every time the catchphrases of “What?” and “SWAG” was heard I laughed. If you aren’t looking for a drama that is heavily focused on plot, but rather for humor and fun, check out Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo. I also didn’t know that both main stars, Lee Sung-kyoung and Nam Joo-hyuk starred in Cheese in the Trap. Lee Sung-kyoung played the crazy girl, Baek In-ha. I must say, Lee Sung-kyoung, is really good at portraying eccentric characters.

3.5/5