Weight Lifting Fairy - Kim Bok Joo

Show in a Nutshell: 
Language: Korean
Subtitles available in: English, Chinese, Filipino, French, German, Thai, Arabic, Indonesian, Turkish, Malay
Audio: Korean
Year: 2016
No. of episodes: 16
Where to watch: Viki, MX Player, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video
Category: Sports Romantic Comedy 

About the show:

If I have to describe this drama in one single sentence, I can say that this is an "Inspiring Sports Romedy" i.e. Inspiring Sports Romantic Comedy. This is a coming of age story where a university girl aspires to become a professional weight lifting champion and during this journey, meets her crush, struggles with low self esteem, faces a love triangle, meets her true love, fulfils the duties of a daughter and finally achieves her dream. In short, this is a complete package of entertainment. This drama is loosely based on the life of the Olympic gold-medalist; weightlifter Jang Mi-ran.

This story takes place in the beautiful Haneul Sports University where Bok Joo is a student. The drama encompasses lives of weight lifters, gymnasts and swimmers. While weight lifters have a heavy build and are "big eaters", the gymnasts have slender figures and are always on a strict diet to maintain their weight. Weight lifters look worst while performing best in their sport. Gymnasts are always a feast for the eyes. Due to this, Bok Joo has low self esteem and even tries to hide her true identity from her crush. She is a good- natured and dutiful daughter. 

She meets a swimmer, Jung Joon Hyuk who is the talk of the town due to his good looks. He is struggling with his childhood trauma, which is affecting his performance in the game. While saving Bok Joo from an accident, both of them realise that they were childhood friends. 

Shi Ho is an ex-girlfriend of Joon Hyuk and a budding gymnast. She is constantly under pressure for securing place in the national team which is aggravated due to family expectations, financial burden imposed by her sport, and her deteriorating performance. She has developed eating disorders. 

We get a glimpse of a sportman's life which is glamorous, if successful, but at the same time, tough due to competition, family expectations, constant pressure to perform, big financial investments, obligation to maintain a certain weight, developing disorders and social stigma.

This drama depicts evolution of these 3 main characters. It's a journey of self acceptance, keeping their aspirations alive, hard work, overcoming their hurdles and finally, realisation of their dreams. Their family members and friends  add touch of comedy and lighten the atmosphere.

Overall, it is a refreshing story and a must-watch show for viewers who are expecting a little more than romance from K-drama. 


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