# Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo (2016)

> A determined weightlifter and her childhood friend, a competitive swimmer, navigate sport, pride, and a tangled romance.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/60005

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 65 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, romance
- Created by: Yang Hui-seung, Oh Hyun-jong, Kim Soo-jin
- Network: MBC
- Cast: Lee Sung-kyung, Nam Joo-hyuk, Lee Jae-yoon, Gyeong Su-jin, Choi Woong, Ji Il-ju, Cho Soo-hyang, Cho Hye-jeong
- TMDB rating: 8.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6157148/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: breezy, sincere, hopeful, comforting, witty

## What critics say

Audiences broadly acclaim the series as a warm, funny and inspiring romantic comedy with strong lead chemistry and sports-drama energy.

## Synopsis

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo (2016-2017) is a South Korean romantic comedy series created by Yang Hui-seung, Oh Hyun-jong, and Kim Soo-jin for MBC, a single-season run of sixteen episodes. Lee Sung-kyung plays Kim Bok-joo, a rising weightlifting star whose ambitions on the lifting platform collide with her long-standing friendship with Jung Joon-hyung, played by Nam Joo-hyuk, a competitive swimmer. Jung Jae-yi, played by Lee Jae-yoon, complicates the picture as Joon-hyung's cousin, and the heroine's feelings grow tangled around the two cousins. Each episode mixes gym-floor training, college campus antics, and friendship squabbles with the awkward push and pull of a romance that refuses to move in a straight line. The show leans on the bright, warm energy of a Korean college comedy while letting real sporting effort and self-doubt give its laughs some grounding. Its tone is breezy and sincere, with a hopeful, feel-good glow. Fans of Crash Landing on You, Racket Boys, and Hwarang will find resonance in its mix of romance, athletic striving, and youthful camaraderie.

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