In all of my online creeping, Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo was one of the most anticipated BLs of the year for a lot of people out there. And in just four short weeks the whole Korean series was at our fingertips with equally high praise. I personally didn’t share quite as much love for this series, but still found it enjoyable.
Do Hoe is a talented taekwondo athlete living with his father at his taekwondo gym in a rural area, however, he stays quiet and keeps his head down most of the time. He’s laser focused on his studies to go to university Seoul and get away from his physically and verbally abusive father. Things start to get a little brighter when Ju Yeong arrives to train to become a national athlete. At first, Do Hoe keeps his distance, but Ju Yeong is determined to get through to Do Hoe’s cold center. The two eventually start spending lots of time together and their friendship starts to grow into something more.
All of that youthful innocence goes out the window on the day of Do Hoe’s university testing. He knows that Ju Yeong is getting beaten by his father in his defense, but he ignores that in favor of taking the exams and hopefully leaving their town for good. Ju Yeong endures, but we don’t meet the two boys until twelve years later when they are men living their own separate lives, seemingly to have never spoken to each other from that day forward. Ju Yeong is in Seoul teaching kids taekwondo, but you know he is there in hopes of finding Do Hoe again someday.
One could argue that Do Hoe has been doing the same thing, as one day they do finally meet after all this time. Whatever nostalgia may be there is quickly shattered when Do Hoe’s father dies and the two head back to the small town to bury him and sell off the gym. Ju Yeong is sent in hopes of being able to buy the gym, but in reality he is trying to get through to Do Hoe. As much as Do Hoe resists Ju Yeong’s efforts, you can tell he just can’t quite help himself around the other man, even after all this time.
The biggest thing that really seems to threaten their happy existence is their shared past and the abuse they suffered at the hands of Do Hoe’s father. Ju Yeong doesn’t really have any regrets about how everything turned out given that he couldn’t stop the abuse from happening, but he was hopeful that his efforts would help Do Hoe achieve his dreams. Quite the opposite actually went down, and Do Hoe has been living a lie since that day twelve years ago. Though it seems he resents Ju Yeong for it, he does not, so the two eventually are able to find their happiness after some painful episodes of communication.
The leads here had great chemistry and played the high school scenes with such earnest sweetness that I couldn’t help but feel a flutter in my tummy. It’s the future parts that really pissed me off. From my perspective, Do Hoe treated Ju Yeong very unfairly. And like most BLs I’ve come to watch, the communication is abysmal. I know that’s how these things go, but I’m still allowed to be mad at it. All an all, an interesting watch.