I watched Fight For My Way (2017) right after watching the lead actor Park Seo Joon in 2014's A Witch's Romance and falling in love with him. His career was pretty much just starting out when he made the earlier television series, so he brought a freshness that was new to the Korean drama world at the time. He made no excuses for his masculine appeal, which is nice when you grow tired of the usual flower boy genre of Korean storytelling. Feminized boy idols just don't float my boat, sorry!

Actress Kim Ji Won I was familiar with from watching her as second female lead in Descendants Of The Sun (2016). She is a very solid actress and had a lot of genuine chemistry with her leading man in this series. Their characters had known each other for a long time so they felt free to argue and fight with one another in their own special ways. Some viewers didn't care for that but I thought it was refreshing. It made this couple seem more real to me. Every real couple fights from time to time. To pretend otherwise is unrealistic. As long as they make up afterward (and they did!) where's the harm in watching a feisty couple?

The Story:

Our story focuses on four main characters: Aera (Kim Ji Won), Dong Man (Park Seo Joon), Seol Hee (Song Ha Yoon), and Jooman (Ahn Jae Hong), friends from childhood. As they grow into adulthood both Aera and Dong Man develop romantic feelings toward each other, and there is much comedy and sweetness in their relationship as it grows deeper over time, even after some eventual fights and disagreements. Both characters face disappointments in life, especially in regards to dreams for their desired careers, and even their best friends Seol Hee and Jooman do too, so those trials in life bond them together even more. Ultimately, what can be most appreciated is how relatively tame the plot is and yet how deep and impacting it can be upon viewers; it truly is a drama that addresses life's hard knocks in and of itself — though in a comedic, romantic, and serious manner.

In their school days, Dong Man took part in Taekwondo. Now he makes a living by working as a bored contract employee while preparing for the UFC title in his sport in his spare time. Aera had hoped to become a TV announcer, but she gave up her dream to make some necessary money, working at the information desk of a department store. As their relationship develops from friendship to romantic sweethearts they seem to grow more courage to work harder at their dreams, instead of just discarding them like an old pair of shoes. Their best friends are going through similar stresses but often don't handle them as well as our main couple. To me they became a little trite and boring at times. I much preferred to watch our main couple! Some of the other side characters, like a landlady, weren't that sympathetic either. Just keep focused on Dong Man and Aera and you'll be just fine with this series. As of this writing you can watch Fight For My Way at Viki.com.

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