Fight My Way K-drama Review – Heartwarming Friends to Lovers Story
I love dark-horse dramas! You don’t really have much expectation going in since there wasn’t much hype before the drama started, but then you decide to watch just one episode. And one episode soon becomes the entire series. Because you unexpectedly fall in love.
Fight My Way brings that dark-horse delight with a refreshing story that breaks from the usual K-drama tropes. Instead of the poor girl, rich guy (chaebol) staple, a group of four friends struggling in everyday life greets us. And our main couple actually start out as best friends!
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The story starts out with four besties. Along the journey of life, they experienced a lot of disappointment, heartache and the loss of dreams at an early age. Now they muddle through life working jobs like pest control or a greeter at a shopping center. But secretly they want more. Secretly they know their potential remains untapped. As they start to pursue their dreams again, despite the difficulties, their relationships with each other begin to change. We cry as they suffer, cheer as they overcome and swoon as the sweetest romance blossoms.
The show is truly about the characters and I fell in love with the unique set of friends and people in Fight My Way.
Characters
Go Dong-Man
Basically, a precious little puppy who protectively watches over his friends especially his bestie Choi Ae-Ra. He’d do anything for her and is only ever a phone-call (or a knock on the door, cuz they’re neighbors) away. Wondering where the sweetest, most insanely compassionate young man that ever-existed lives? He lives in Fight My Way. Seriously, Dong-Man captures hearts with the portrayal of a strong, yet tender hero. Sadly, Go Dong-Man buried his dreams of returning to taekwondo after a terrible scandal destroyed his young career. Can he ever return to fighting and find redemption?
Choi Ae-Ra
If only every heroine could be as awesome and utterly lovable as Ae-Ra! Ae-Ra’s voice was made to be heard. She’s opinionated, loud, tough and proud – but also compassionate, earnest and sensitive underneath all that prickly hardened skin. She has Dong-Man’s back at all times. She dreams of her voice being heard on TV as an announcer.
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Baek Seol-Hee
An angel in the form of a girl, Seol-Hee is the sweetest cotton candy puff. Extremely kindhearted, sympathetic and patient, Seol-Hee never complains and enjoys her life as it is. At work, she and her boyfriend/coworker Kim Joo-Man keep their relationship a secret.
Kim Joo-Man
Very quiet and reserved, Joo-Man’s compassionate heart both blesses and complicates his life. He struggles with his desires for success and to have more in his life while attempting to just get by in work. Seol-Hee is his longtime secret girlfriend.
Hwang Jang-Ho
Go Dong-Man’s former taekwondo coach and the most adorable, hilarious coach that ever existed!! The bromance between these two rocks!
Hwang Bok-Hee
The mysterious landlady who combines her sophisticated worldly side with a grumpypants, no-frills attitude.
What You Will Love
Seriously there is so much to love in this drama! So many delightful characters make this drama so much fun. I absolutely adore the friendship between Dong-Man and Ae-Ra – one of the cutest and perfectly believable friendship stories that leads to romance. I felt like the growth of their romance was wonderful and authentic and a joy to watch.
Whether Dong-Man and Ae-Ra bicker like cranky friends or beat up losers who messed with their each other, you believe in the solid foundation of their friendship spanned 20 years. Seriously, these two were made for each other!!
I also love how we have all sorts of personality types in Fight My Way. That’s why we can enjoy both the sweet, sacrificial Seol-Hee and cheer her on with all her hearts and we grin from ear-to-ear when Ae-Ra fights like a boss and gives crappy people an earful (or worse, lol) if they cross her. Ae-Ra captured one of my favorite moments when she told off a total loser who tried to coerce her romantically with money. She takes off the expensive shoes he bought her and basically tells him she won’t be his little Cinderella story; she’s a hardworking woman who will fight for her own success.
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Of course, our four friends must overcome the difficult road to finding their dreams. They meet obstacle after obstacle, humiliation after humiliation, but the story only becomes richer as we see them eventually bear fruit despite their struggle.
I do admit there were a few missteps in the drama. I found myself disinterested in the large amount of time spent on Kim Joo-Man’s many mistakes. His story eventually picks up but not really until the end of the show. A few of the secondary characters remained annoying for most of the drama like Go Dong-Man’s ex-girlfriend (or stalker, honestly) but rarely did their scenes overhaul the episodes and eventually, they faded out as the drama continued.
Seriously, if you love friends-to-lovers, adorable besties, and heartwarming tales of underdogs succeeding, then Fight My Way is a delightful K-drama that will pull out your heartstrings and remind you to dream big again! Because who knows – if you shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’re gonna hit the stars! You can check out Fight My Way on Viki!
What did you think of Fight My Way? Sound off below!
Photos: KBS2
OVERALL RATING
“The stuff that dreams are made of.”
ROMANCE RATING
“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.
I have loved none but you.”
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Thanks for the review. I’ve been looking for another k-drama to watch and it looks like this one will be great!
Awesome! This was a super adorable and sweet drama!
I think this is Park Seo-Joon’s best role yet and seeing Kim Ji-Won as Ae-Ra after Descendants of the Sun was so fun! Their individual story-lines and their relationship throughout the show were such a pleasure – both heart-warming and hilarious to watch! Such a fun drama, with so many great moments about the hard realities of life, yet still achieving your dreams. (And those wigs in beginning high school scenes made me laugh!) 🙂
Agreed! Park Seo-Joon’s best role. And so much fun seeing Kim Ji-Won again! The show was such a pleasure (tears, I miss it already!!) I wish every drama could be as heartfelt as this one 😀 (haha yes those wigs!)