A Fada do Levantamento de Peso, Kim Bok Joo (2016)

I got pretty far into this before I dropped it. Just a head's up.

Here are my observations along the way:

PRO
- This was the first drama with Nam Joo Hyuk in it that I ever watched, and I have to admit that I didn't expect much, but he was really great it it. He really shone as an actor, very enjoyable performance. I'll be watching more of his stuff.
- The main couple had really good chemistry. In a lot of kdramas the main couple often feels stiff and distant around each other (mainly bc skinship and kissing shown on romcom kdramas is very limited for reasons I don't quite understand. Maybe it's culturally, and Korean couples really don't touch as much as I'm used to? I genuinely don't know.) But those two felt very close and comfortable with each other and they touch each other in more ways than just the occassional hand-holding or the typical parrallel parking hugging routine. I liked that.
- I quite enjoyed the subject matter. Bok Joo struggling between her love for weightlifting and the damper that this interest puts on her dating life (or life in general) was believable and interesting.
- I really liked Bok Joo's friends and the relationship that these three have with each other.
- Finally a main character who doesn't get bullied and stands up for herself and other people!! Yay!!

CON:
- I just hate when movie or shows try to sell me some obviously gorgeous woman as ugly or otherwise undesirable. In this case they put an incredibly pretty, naturally very thin actress in oversized clothes and gave her an unflattering haircut and told me to believe that that's not still a very thin, very attractive woman?
- I was honestly kinda bored after the main couple got together. I felt like their arc (and thus the story) was kinda done after that. They tried to introduce some new conflict with the mother showing back up, but it felt contrived to me and that's where I ended up dropping the show.

Overall very cute, very enjoyable show that would benefit from being a few episodes shorter.

And that's my two cents!

Leia Mais

10 out of 10!
WHY?

First time out, I was not expecting anything. Very. I just think, 'let's give this a try because it was new. " Then I saw this. The first episode went smoothly, and tbh at that time, I did not get the hype, yet. But this is addictive, you know? I continued to watch it every week since it first comes out. Then, BOOM !! EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL HERE. I PROMISE.

THE CHEMISTRY? (Checked)
THE FRIENDSHIP? (Checked)
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS? (Checked)
OTHER RELATED CHARACTERS? (Checked)
MUSIC? ? (Checked) My favorite is -> From Now On - Kim Seung Min

I cried when it was over. Not the one "literally" kind of cry. But the real one. The One You have, when you watch something beautiful. It ended well bruuh!

Leia Mais

WOW!! I can't believe it finished. This drama was infinitely more than just a typical love story. It is a story of Youth. In fact, it is completely different from most Korean dramas in many ways. There was no love-at-first-sight incident. It was much more than holding hands, hugging, gazing, kissing...It was a sublime demonstration of a true emotional connection between a young man and a young woman struggling with achieving their greatest dreams, but at the same time dealing with the problems of youth- stress, family, friends, and romance. No matter what anguishing situation either Bok Joo or Joon Hyung were going through, they were always at each other's side to give one another the support and advice desperately needed. Even before they began dating, they sorted their problems out and got to know their true personalities, goals, and dreams. And that's how they fell in love. Just like the way it should be.
When Joon Hyung realized his feelings, he didn't deny it like it is typically done in kdramas. On the contrary, he made many sacrifices to prove to Bok Joo that he was the charming, caring man worthy of her love. What started out as a hilarious, cutesy friendship transformed into a beautiful romance. They shared their sorrows and celebrated their victories together.
Moreover, this drama emphasized Bok Joo's relationships with her father, uncle, friends, classmates, and inspirational coaches. Her strong, enthusiastic, (and awkward!) personality shined throughout the whole show. So did her obvious flaws, but that's what made it all the more relatable for all of us. Issues such as eating disorders, mental health, and the dilemmas of young womanhood were realistically portrayed. The characters' fight to realize their dreams was far from forgotten; it was magnificently intertwined with everything in between.
Most of all, congrats to Lee Sung Kyung, Nam Joo Hyuk, and the rest of the cast for breathing life into this lovely drama! Their facial expressions and overall acting was priceless! What began as a comedic drama had a supremely sweet and emotional ending that has managed to engrave this show in my heart.
Now for the final words of the drama that sums everything up perfectly...
"Everyone spends their youthful years. It's a time made more beautiful...because we are immature, awkward and clumsy. We're not afraid because we have nothing to lose and our hearts flutter because we can have anything, everything. I am a 24 year old youth. I'm not complete yet, I am still uneasy and nervous...But I'm more than perfect already"

Leia Mais

It was going great, until episode 7!

The first 6 episodes are fantastic, but it becomes really toxic on episode 7. In episode 7, the female lead, father is verbally and physically abusive. No matter how angry we are with someone, physical abuse is not the solution unless we are defending ourselves from an attacker. Additionally, the female coach, punish the female lead (who btw, is a college sophomore) with a broom stick because she arrived late to exercise. Instead of disciplining a grown woman with abuse, why not just suspend her from the team? I dislike the fact that episode 7 normalize physical abuse.

I really really really enjoyed the first 6 episodes of this drama, up until episode 7, which is toxic (it sends the message that physical abuse is discipline and thus, it's okay). I will update my review once I finish watching the rest of the episode.

Leia Mais

I was honestly not anticipating this drama much but what an amazing surprise it has been! Even though there were some flaws in the earlier episodes, this drama has constantly gotten better and better and now at the 13th episode, I can't seem to stop smiling at the gorgeousness that is our main couple. It captures the essence of first love so beautifully and without using the numerous usual cliche tropes we see in k-dramas. Watching Bok Joo start to like Joon Hyung and both of them falling for each other more and more as their relationship advances is so reminiscent of similar experiences everyone has sometime or the other in their lives. To people who've fallen in love before, it is the best kind of nostalgic ride, letting us live those small, defining moments once more and marvel and grin at how once, we were exactly like our 2 leads. Moreover, to all those who are yet to experience love, it's a wishful dream for an experience like Bok Joo's and Joon Hyung's. And for everyone who once had love and now yearns for it, this drama is sure to make you ache even more for the giddy, passionate and unforgettable feeling of 'first love'.

I absolutely love Lee Sung Kyung and Nam Joo Hyuk in this drama! They've breathed life into their characters and made them their own, so much so that I can't imagine anyone else ever doing these 2 roles more justice than them.

Looking forward to the coming episodes! Hope the drama keeps on riding this momentum!

Leia Mais

I saw this title on so many lists I thought it had to be good. What a surprise, what a let down. I suggest you watch something else. If this was about weightlifting then why not hire an actress who looks like she has actual muscles! or even muscle tone!! This show was the epitome of why I quit watching kdramas a couple years ago, guess I should have paid more attention to the year it was released. The characters are all stock, interchangeable, boring characters. I thought the story was dumb, e.g: see MC winning a medal on tv then next scene; her struggling to carrying chairs to gymnastics hall & having a childish fight with a gymnast. Male handsome, lofty MC teases (bullies) female MC & flashes back to childhood falling out of a window & landing on female MC who is a fat ~eating~ young girl. The shame......... that anyone that doesnt look frail is portrayed poorly.

Leia Mais

It’s overhyped

I immediately started watching after seeing all the big hype about it and I was so excited but became quickly disappointed after properly seeing the reviews on this website and I’m happy I did because I decided to them read all the summaries and watch a few more episodes and I was quite annoyed and I don’t understand why people r so impressed by this drama when really it wasn’t great

Acting:
I love both actors and I’ll admit it wil be hard seeing them with others I loved their chemistry and they did well in portraying the script well

Plot:
Started off really well I liked it and found it really funny and was looking forward to seeing their romance unwind after finding out they went to school together but was quickly disappointed when she began to hv a crush on Jae Yi. Now I love the guy he is such a gentleman truly an amazing character but I just didn’t like the idea that this crush lasted for so many episodes and that he is the ml brother I find that so weird that u go between brothers I just don’t understand that idea. I generally thought it would be like other dramas where she would shortly find out he has a gf and then give up on him but this lasted for ages and really annoyed me as it took away from the potential of an extremely nice friendship the ml and fl could hv made in the mean time. There’s nothing wrong with her liking someone else but I find it took ages for her to get over him and the fact Jae Yi is the ml brother made it kinda annoying. Kim Bok Joo is amazing in her own way she’s a strong woman who fights for her dream I don’t like how she hid that from Jae Yi to make her seem like a more feminine person that took away my respect for her in a way as she before kept saying she has no interest in guys but the sec she meets Jae Yi she tails after him and acts completely different there was too much juxtaposition in her character which was not helping with the plot as well as the offer for her to go higher in weightlifting kept seeming further and less important due to Jae Yi and she wanting to impress him.
I hate how it’s like she didn’t care about her career at that point just wanted to impress him I don’t like this kind of plot at all it makes a woman seem like she will do anything for a man which this was directly hinting in the storyline.
The ml was a very intriguing character from the beginning clearly talented slightly cocky but knew that he must respect others. The storyline of him losing his mother was also very interesting and I liked that quite a bit he also made sure to set boundaries immediately when his ex showed up he refused to make others uncomfortable because of her and avoided her as he did not care much of her after the break up which I found admirable as majority of the dramas have it where the ex is like welcomed back and it’s as if nothing happened but here he clearly set a boundary and was vocal about anything he disliked so she would stop. Only thing I didn’t like about him ig is that he teased the fl a bit too much which isn’t really a big issue ig so it’s not a big deal.
Second lead characters were all awesome I liked them all very much.

Overall the plot was the issue had the scriptwriters made a more sensical approach this drama would be much more entertaining.
So here is what I would change. Firstly keep the story around the development of both main leads as friends to lovers and also their career. A side story could easily be the unravelling of the mystery about Joon Hyungs mother as well as Kim Bok Joos father as he was in hospital quite a bit and that would hv been enough for plot.
Had their needed to be a rival thing the appearance of the ex gf is fine as Joon Hyung clearly set boundaries and disliked her.
If a crush at the beginning was extremely necessary they should hv maybe chosen someone that isn’t Joon Hyungs older brother I’m not Korean so maybe this isn’t odd for Koreans but I think generally no one would fall in love with one guy and then after that’s over his younger brother that’s just odd to me and causes potential issues within the brothers.
Romance scenes r cute af so their rewatch value is good but the whole thing I wouldn’t rewatch again

Leia Mais