As someone whose scope of Korean dramas has been heavily broadened the past few months, I`ve learnt to categorize most in this helpful, albeit generalized way:Dramas that will make you feel something for years to come and dramas that serve a much shallower, yet more colorful purpose:to simply entertain you. Most, if not all dramas, fit into one of these two categories. It`s very seldom you`d find a drama that encompasses both sentiments, but I hoped "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo" would be that drama. Unfortunately, my expectations were half met. This drama certainly can be categorized and it falls in the category of pure sweet entertainment.

As I like to preface all my reviews by saying that I`d first like to highlight positive sides of every drama, I`ll do the same here. I`m a firm believer of firstly giving praises to the cast, director, writer and everyone else involved because it is not easy to make a drama(this coming from a writer). So, what did I enjoy in "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo"?Well, first of all, the cinematography is clean and very competent. It`s bright and fits the overall mood of this drama excellently. The OST also does a great job of amplifying the vibe this drama is striving for. It`s fun, at times eclectic and it`s just on the cusp of being repetitive, but not quite. The characters of Bok Joo`s father and her friends are definitely the best for me when it comes to comedy. As most people can guess by my watchlist, I`m not big on slapstick or drama comedy in general, but there were a few moments I found genuinely funny and it was coming from the aforementioned bunch. And I also appreciated that they used actors of all body types, which I rarely see in Korean dramas(wish they had the same approach when it came to choosing our main character but alas).As for the chemistry between our leads-it`s free-flowing, mostly natural and clearly generated(meaning that the chemistry wasn`t underdeveloped nor forced, which I greatly appreciate). I did hear it was due to the fact that these actors were dating for a few months while filming this drama and it shows. Their moments of romance, though stereotypical, range from serviceable to your-cheeks-hurting cute. Joon hyung is a great male lead and I related to him the most throughout this drama. He`s charming, but emotionally intelligent enough to not be discarded as just another bland flirt. Their relationship reminds of those high school sweethearts links. Which is cute in isolation, however, my mind suddenly came to a conclusion that these people were supposed to be around my age. Thus shock settled.

Now we come to my gripes with this drama. And many come from the title character herself. Kim Bok Joo. And this is a weird one for me. The character of Bok Joo STARTED OFF as somewhat of a female version of Dongman(from "Fight My Way"). They are both impulsive, easily excitable and quick to fall deeply for someone. And then, along the way, she became this unidentifiable identity. And I`m convinced that this is due to some questionable writing we are presented with. While I can admit that she is not a typical female drama lead, to say that Bok Joo`s a good posterchild for breaking stereotypes of femininity and female form in dramas is an overstatement. While skimming through some of the comments previous reviewers left, I realized that even I semi-agree with them. And I say even, because I like to think I`m not extremely difficult in suspending belief if need be. But, um Lee Sung Kyung was not a good pick for this role, when it comes to the character herself(again, couple chemistry-GREAT). She simply does not look nor is she convincing as a responsible weightlifter who`s (extremely) immature for her age. And I get that casting plays a role in this, there aren`t a whole lot of muscular women(none well-known) who could play the main character. Even still, having her dress in oversized clothing to push the idea of someone who she`s clearly not really weirded me out. And that`s even before diving into her actual character, who`s so, so confusing. As an established responsible character with a hardworking family, it really rubbed me the wrong way how easily she settled for paying exorbitant amounts of money in order to just see her crush. But I chalked that one up to messy first love(I guess). But then she also hid her budding relationship with Yoon hyung for no actual reason. Like, it actually thematically makes no sense and it made me sad for Yoon hyung who was actually great in his pursuit. Finally, instead of empowering me and other women who do not fit the society`s and much less drama`s version of femininity, Bok Joo simply came off as a confused child, prancing around aimlessly. Another complaint I have, and is the main problem for me, is unfortunately the length of this drama and how much they decide to focus on the ex-girlfriend to fill this empty time frame. IT`S RIDICULOUS. Even I, who is all for character development, had enough because they weren`t presenting any new facts by episode 10-they were just reiterating what we already know. Again, this drama would`ve been much more enjoyable if it was a 10 or 12 episodes show, rather than 16. For the kind of story it presents and level of character development we do get, it`s too, too long. Not to mention they lose a bit of momentum with our main couple because they get together in episode 11. I`m all for slowburn romances but for the type of drama this wound up being, it`s too longwinded.

In the end, "Weightlifting Fairy Bok Joo" was a mess, but an enjoyable one. However, it definitely deserves a lesser spot, because the one it currently holds is kind of ridiculous. Would recommend for an easy watch, but not much beyond that.