This drama was recommended to me previously and I watched it because of Nam Joo-hyuk. However, it was not that much of a hit for me. Will explain later on.
Shown in November 2016 - January 2017, it starred Lee Sung-kyung and Nam Joo-hyuk. The show is loosely based on the life of one of Korea's gold-medal weightlifting athletes, Jang Mi-ran. Though it did not rate much in Korea, apparently, it gained a cult following here in the Philippines which lead to the recommendation.
I first saw NJH as the 13th prince in the much lambasted Scarlet Heart series. It was a treat seeing him again here. It was sad that his recent visit here was marred with reports of him being "maltreated" by fans. Unfortunately, it's a common thing across all fandoms. In my previous fangirling life, we would be incensed when our LT would be pinched, prodded and poked by over-eager fans. Though I would want to understand where they are coming from (they claim "nanggigigil lang sila" or they just can't control their excitement), there is such a thing a personal space. I remember the first time I saw my idols, I just stood there and cried. I had to ask permission if I could hug and kiss them which they gladly obliged.
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT
Moral of the Story
In a society that's obsessed with physical looks, this drama exerted effort to break the stereotype.
In the story, Kim Bok-joo (Lee Sung-kyung) fell in love with a doctor, Jung Jae-yi (Lee Jae-yoon). Being a weightlifter, she didn't care much about her looks and scoffed upon those who were always on a diet. Thus, they were always at "war" with the ballerinas. However, she suddenly felt self-conscious about her looks. She discovered that the doctor was actually an obesity doctor and wanting to be closer to him, lied about who she was and even enrolled in the clinic where the doctor works.
Jung Jae-yi turned out to be the older brother of Jung Joon-hyung (Nam Joo-hyuk), a swimmer in the same sports university where Bok-joo studies. The two athletes became close when they found out that they went to the same kindergarten together. It is there that Bok-joo first "saved" Joon-hyung when the latter fell off the second floor and the former caught him in her arms. Back then, she had shown innate physical strength which lead her to take up weightlifting.
For the longest time, Bok-joo pretended to be a simple student and not a athlete. All hell broke loose when Bok-joo's roommate tattled on her and "reported" her to her coaches. Her team thought that she was trying to lose weight so she can be thin and thus be considered attractive to other men. They could not accept that she's just a teenager who fell in love. She could not tell the doctor who she was because she was ashamed of her calluses and the big figures that seemed to define weightlifters.
Throughout her confusion, Joon-hyung was there to save her from the embarrassment and even offered a shoulder to cry on. During one of their talks, he said this to Bok-joo, "Who will love you when you're that ashamed of yourself?"
There is so much truth in that simple one line. Though it is important to love other people, you can never do this until you learn to love yourself. It's so apt that this series has teenagers/students as lead characters as this is the age where they are impressionable and finding their way in the world. Even if this drama did not do well commercially, the lessons imparted are very much appropriate for the age demographic.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT
I Could Not Relate
I realized that I like dramas that has character leads who are already working or at least out of school. I can relate to them more compared to this where the characters are still in university. At my age, I tend to gravitate more to mature themes thus it took time for me to really get through this series. I do however, appreciate the theme and the story. If I have a teenage daughter, I will definitely watch this with her.
RATING
Giving this three tissue boxes. It's not that bad but at the same time, nothing that I would rave about.
Watched: August 27-31, 2018
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