Eleison

Weightlifting Fairy still has the best "dating era" chemistry I've seen in a drama (in my opinion, at least, though there's also a REALLY great scene with fantastic chemistry in Dr. Romantic, Season 1, that secured a spot at the top of my mental list) after Hidden Love (which showcased mesmerizing chemistry overall, but their most exquisite moments together were during their flirting, pre-dating phase 😅).

We all have those dramas we fast forward portions of once we realize we won't make it through the whole thing if we watched every scene, blow by blow. 😂 (For me, these dramas were: Inspector Koo, My Country: The New Age, Lovers of the Red Sky, Princess Hours, and My Roommate Is A Gumiho).

Sometimes, though, I love the drama on the whole (Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, CLOY, Racket Boys, Warrior Baek Dong Soo, My Father Is Strange) but I couldn't/can't sit through the side characters or subplots, especially on a rewatch (the gimmicky gangsters in Strong Woman, the 2FL's mother and sometimes the gossipy North Korean villager ladies in CLOY, the Racket boys' neighbors, the boring assassin/villain side stories in Baek Soo, and in MFIS, the oldest daughter's mother-in-law drove me NUTS, etc.).

Right? I honestly feel kind of bad for them. Do you really have nothing better to do than to watch shows you don't enjoy, then come here to spread gloom and pick fights? 😳

Actually, I found a video with a few short clips. This is not great, but it's something (she shows up at 1:18, 1:46, 2:33, 5:43, 5:58, 6:48):https://youtu.be/pfYjQUUlpaY?si=jYEH0PFxSrjLboVm

BONUS: Includes footage of Dan Stevens when he was still a nobody.... 😏

The child actress who plays Ha Yul reminded me of someone, and I realized it's the British actress Lucy Boynton when she was a child and played Margaret Dashwood in the BBC's 2008 Sense & Sensibility. Margaret is a bit older and feistier/sassier than Ha Yul (who is more serious and somber) but their way of speaking (even though they're speaking different languages), their mannerisms and the way they carry themselves are very similar. There's not a lot of footage of Boynton as a child on YouTube otherwise I'd share a link. 😔

He's just being stubbornly optimistic that he maybe still has a chance and is being a bit moody about accepting that Sam Dal probably only has eyes for Yong Pil. He got hopeful when she came back that this was his second chance and he's upset now that it seems those hopes are getting dashed. Nothing major, but I think it's bothering some watchers that he's being so stubborn and oblivious. But hey, he's a 2ML, they're usually oblivious. 😂

She seems to be his Muse. 😉

Also, so cute that Baek Du's brothers noticed Baek Du's spark and deduced it was because a "lady friend" was watching and he was feeling inspired to show off his skills. 😂

Baek Du WOULD be oblivious about what "Want to hang out later in my room and have ramyeon?" suggests. 😅 (He knew what it meant but still said it and thought she'd understand his completely innocent intentions) Just too cute.

I loved Racket Boys! It's just a perfect feel-good, coming-of-age drama. Pure coziness. :) Run-On was one of those popular dramas I for some reason didn't get as into; I haven't seen Love All Play yet; don't currently subscribe to a platform that has access to it. But I really liked My Lovely Boxer and loved seeing Lee Sang Yeob play something other than a villain; 😂 he's a great actor. :) And of course, Weightlifting Fairy (which I thought was just adorable). Another favorite!

I did. :)

A mix! There are some MDLers who are enjoying it, and some who repeatedly return to this thread each week to update us on how awful they think some or all of the characters are and/or story is. Maybe a bit more repetitious negativity than is typical of an ongoing drama. Kind of a bummer.

Does anyone know whether CJH speaks Japanese, and will he speak Japanese in this (I haven't seen the trailer)? (He sounds so lovely when he speaks Korean, so I hope viewers get to hear it, as it pairs well with his deep, soothing voice.) Though I suppose it's fine for him to have an accent since he's supposed to be a student. I just cringe almost every time Korean actors speak English while trying to act in Kdramas (minus Ok Taec Yeon and Ahn Hyo Seop, who actually sound convincing), so I wonder how well CJH can emote and deliver while speaking Japanese... 🤷‍♀️

Also, doesn't Korea emphasize students learning English over Japanese or Mandarin?

Me too! It fell off the trending list, but I don't mind. My Lovely Boxer was never on the trending list either, but I really enjoyed it as well. :) It's fun that ssireum is unique to Korea, so I've got nothing to compare it to. I like that I have no idea what's going on and can't tell if the actors are doing a convincing job of portraying it. 😅

I get it! Sometimes I have dramas that I seem to like for reasons I can't articulate, despite having all the things I should like. The age gap could have been easily avoided, and would probably have been enjoyed a lot more by fans if the creators had gone that route. I would have definitely preferred her to be older!

Aw, I see. You should keep watching. Episode 5, 7 and 11 are very close to Episode 1 in the enjoyment factor so you will probably like the rest! It's up to you, of course. :)

Thank you so much!! Appreciate you responding. :)

Thank you so much; I appreciate the detailed, thoughtful reply!

Agree about the OST! The BGM is also fantastic; I was so sad when I discovered that the instrumental tracks are not on Spotity. I could only find covers of some of them, and they just didn't cut it. 😔

I think the age gap can be got over if you think about how old the ML is supposed to be, which is hundreds of years old. That's why he's more like a god (in the Greek god sense) than a human, and when you think about it that way, it makes him feel ageless and unaffected by time as typical mortals are. That's how I got past it, though the grooming in a romantic sense I do not agree with as some have commented on here (at least from what I remember). He was very resistant to her hanging around at first and only hoped she could remove his sword, and she was the one who latched on to him. She also knew he was not a typical 30-something man, because she could poof him into her presence by blowing out a candle. 😂