Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

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

Fight For My Way

After falling in love with Park Seo-joon in What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, I searched for his other series to watch and I chose this to start with.

Starring, of course, Park Seo-joon and Kim Ji-won, with Ahn Jae-hong and Song Ha-yoon as second leads. It premiered on May 2017 and ran until July 2017.  It’s a story of four childhood friends who grew up together and how they struggled to achieve their dreams.

Park Seo-joon, as Ko Dong-man, was a taekwondo athlete who because of a painful past was stuck doing part-time jobs but later on became a mixed martial arts fighter.

Kim Ji-won's character, as Choi Ae-ra, wanted to become an announcer but ended up as a department store employee welcoming customers. 


WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT

Park Seo-joon
This is a given considering that the reason why I watched this was because of him.
Here's a clip from Episode 8 and you'll find out why he's adored by many.

This was PSJ's last drama before he started on What's Wrong With Secretary Kim. He really buffed up for this role and a lot of his fans are thankful for it (and he gained more!).

The Story
I'm still not sold on the partnership of KJW and PSJ but I did love the story. The lessons there are very appropriate (although I'm still not totally sold on living recklessly). I did love the part that it's not too late to follow your own dreams.
Moreover, all loose ends were properly tied up and knotted. And I loved how things resolved at the end.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT

Though I have a lot of friends shipping the love team of PSJ and KJW, I'm not really into it. A part of me is still shipping him with Park Min-young (but then, I'm shipping PMY with Ji Chang-wook...oh this is so complicated) because of their chemistry in Secretary Kim. But I have to give that KJW was adorable in this series. She does aeg-yo very well.

RATING

Giving this three tissue boxes because of PSJ.

Watched: June 30-July 2, 2018

My Love from the Star

This series came out earlier compared to the previous three dramas--December 2013 to February 2014 to be exact. It again stars Jun Ji-hyun and Kim Soo-hyun as leads with Park Hae-jin and Yoo In-na as second leads.

I watched this next after Legend of the Blue Sea because I wanted to give Jun Ji-hyun another chance. And also, I was curious as a local adaptation of the series was recently shown here in the Philippines with Jennylyn Mercado playing Ji-hyun's role. In case you're curious, the first episode can be found below.


Like the previous drama, there were romantic fantasy elements in the story. The male lead, Do Min-joon (played by Soo-hyun), was an alien trapped on earth more than 400 years ago. He lived a solitary life with only one person whom he called as friend. With only 3 months left before he leaves, he meets the character of Ji-hyun, Cheon Song-yi, a top Hallyu star who became his next door neighbor. They got embroiled into each others lives and eventually falling for each other.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT

Kim Soo-hyun
To be honest, I didn't like him at first. He was so stoic and detached. There was no way I could empathize with the character which was so disheartening. But in the last few episodes, he was able to show emotion which managed to make me shed some of my frustrated tears.
And could this boy cry. When he cries, he really does give it his all. It was an unapologetic waterfall display of tears, snot and saliva. He's not your typical "beautiful" oppa but his acting is definitely stellar.

Joon Ji-hyun
Now this is one character that suited her to a T. She was able to play it well and being a top Hallyu star in her own right, she was able to portray this as realistically as possible (though I doubt she's as this kookie!). One thing's for sure, she was hilarious as Cheon Song-yi and she really pulled it off.

The Contrabida

Shin Sung-rok as Lee Jae-kyung

He was really scary. One of the best contrabidas I have seen in the world of K Drama. You will hate him as his evilness had no reproach. And one thing I appreciate about it is that there was a reason why he turned out that way. My pet peeve on TV or movie characters is if they are bad just because the script calls for them to be bad. I want them to be atrocious for a reason--whether its because of their childhood or for revenge or whatever--as long as there is a sense why.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE ABOUT IT

The Ending
I really felt unsettled about how it ended. Actually, I myself had no idea how it should end. I've been wracking my brains on how the series should close (well, if I had it my way), but could not come up with anything satisfactory.

Kim Soo-hyun as Do Min-joon

Kim Soo-hyun's Hair
I swear, I wanted to cut this guy's hair. I don't know if the style was called for but I could barely restrain the urge to reach into the screen and pull his hair out of the way. Why are they covering their beautiful foreheads? Come to think of it, most of the dramas I've watched had the guys hair styled like this. Is it a cultural thing? Please help me understand as it is frustrating me to no end.

Shower Scene
I love shower scenes in K Dramas especially if it features one of my favorite oppas, Park Seo-joon. But the shower scene in this series made me double over in laughter. It was just so ludicrous! I mean, ok, he has an awesome torso but who takes a shower wearing a towel?  I don't mind if they did away with this scene but I think they just did this for fan service.

RATING
I give this three tissue boxes. The two leads were just awesome and the drama parts were well acted out. The ending though, was just not gratifying enough.

Watched: June 25-28, 2018

Descendants of the Sun

2016 was a good year for Korean Dramas. This also came out the same year as Goblin albeit a little earlier--February-April 2016 to be exact.

I was a bit wary when this was suggested to me as I'm not a fan of military themed movies or series. But when I saw that the writer is the same as Goblin, I started watching it.

The series has the Song-Song couple as its main stars -- Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-ko. They were famously known to have gotten married October last year bringing the KDrama fandom into a tizzy. I remember asking why their marriage announcements sounded so apologetic. Apparently, they're very sensitive about bashers or those who do not agree to their pairing. Nevertheless, I was happy for them as apparently, theirs was sort of a secret relationship even if they have people shipping for them due to their chemistry in this drama series.

Joong-ki (who I belatedly realized was also in another movie called A Frozen Flower but he was quite young then) played Captain Si Jin, while Hye-ko was Dr. Mo-yeon. They had an accidental first meeting at a hospital and their attraction (or probably the persistence of Si Jin) lead them to start dating only to break-up because of their "schedule" and different expectations.

I was impressed with the opening sequence where Captain Si Jin (aka Big Boss) was in a fight with North Korean soldiers. I first thought that he's too pretty to be considered a soldier but when he had a topless scene, I reconsidered my opinion.

The second lead stars, Jin Goo as Master Sergeant Seo Dae-young, the best friend of  Captain Big Boss and Kim Ji-won as First Lieutenant Yoon Myung-ju, the (ex) girlfriend of Dae-young. Her father happens to be a general who the two soldiers reports to.

Throughout the drama, there was thing which I uncomfortably recognized, getting foreign actors to play foreigners can iffy. Since there were scenes which were shot abroad, Greece specifically, I understand that they had to get locals to act as "locals".

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT

The Song-Song Couple
I now got it why people are shipping them and were ecstatic when they got married. I saw their chemistry here and I found them such a beautiful couple.

I remember they had a kissing scene at the back of a truck. I was wondering how that must've felt considering they bouncing along rough country roads. That must've not felt romantic at all.

The OST
I've been watching Kdramas already for 3 months and by far, this drama has the best OST of them all. The songs are so catchy and You Are My Everything was the first Korean song that I "memorized". I had to put it on repeat and read the romanized version of the lyrics so I can at least "sing" to it.


The Conflict of Ideals
Though the job of a soldier and a doctor meant saving lives, their methods of doing so lead to conflict. A doctor saves lives regardless of race, religion, or nationality. However, a soldier has to put his country and her people and would die to protect them.

I remember this poignant scene where Dr. Mo-yeon wanted to operate on a foreign official as by not doing so, he will die. However, if he dies during the operation, Korea will be blamed and that would lead to an uncomfortable relationship between the two countries.

Capt. Si jin had been ordered not to interfere as if the official dies, at least Korea will have nothing to do with it. But Dr. Mo-yeon was stubborn enough to insist that she can help. Si jin then said something which lead to stand off between the official's guards and the soldiers, "You do your job, the doctor will save her patient, and I will protect what I have to." Of course, he was reprimanded and disciplined afterwards but the dignitary survived.

The Earthquake Story Arc
This was the part that struck me the most. They managed to capture what really happens at ground zero which is so different than what you see on TV--the chaos, the injuries and death. It was literally in your face. The reactions portrayed by the actors were spot on. Some would spring into action while some will just be shell-shocked.
There was also a scene there that highlighted one of the worst decisions that a doctor can make--deciding who lives and who dies. Dr. Mo-yeon was crying the whole time that she had to make her judgment and I cried along with her. I'm not a doctor so I'm not sure if she could even make that call. But for all intents of purposes called by the situation, she did what she had to do.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT (Possible Spoilers)

The Last Few Episodes
There were too many things that happened in the series and the last part was just too much already, in my opinion. They already survived a damn earthquake and that itself was the best part of the drama already. Why did they have to make the important people go missing? I felt that it was no longer needed or maybe they just added it to give people more reason to cry.

RATING
I give this three tissue boxes. Actually was tempted to give this a rating of 2 tissue boxes but the OST saved it for me.
Edit 8/4/21 - changing the rating to four tissue boxes. It somehow grew on me when I rewatched it. 

Watched: June 12-15, 2018