Thumping Spike 2

Even though I had never seen the original I decided to give the webdrama Thumping Spike 2 a try because… well, because I was in the mood for something short and light and this looked like it would do the job. And it did.

While crossing campus on her first day of school, Han Da-Woon comes very close to being hit by a car but she’s pulled into the safety of a dashing young senior’s arms. Startled, she looks up just in time to see a cute face before the man strides off, his physical education jacket giving her a hint on how to find him again. Da-Woon’s twin sister had given her strict instructions to not fall in love at first sight, but the warning goes unheeded as she is swept away in the romance of the situation. A little later on, as she’s registering for classes, a teaching assistant recognizes her name and says she’s so happy they finally have a top student in their business department. Dong Hae-Sung, a former professional volleyball player, happens to be sitting nearby and overhears the whole thing. As Da-Woon leaves, a paper with her schedule written on it falls in front of Hae-Sung. Bingo! Now he knows what classes to take. He’ll sign up for every class brilliant Da-Woon has, sit by her, and ace each one. Great strategy. In the mean time, the captain of the volleyball team, Go Yi-Ra, finds out Hae-Sung has just enrolled at the school and decides he’s just what their loosing team needs to dig themselves out of last place. He’ll make sure Hae-Sung joins the team, or die trying.

Han Da-Woon may be smart where books are concerned but she’s a novice when it comes to love. All her crushes in the past have been one sided but she’s determined to make the man who saved her life, Go Yi-Ra, notice her and what better way to do that than to become a cheerleader and cheer at this volleyball games?

Although Dong Hae-Sung strategically placed himself near Da-Woon for the purpose of academic help, he soon comes to realize there’s more to her than just being a good student. The problem is he likes her too much to get in the way of her happiness and she’s told him she likes Go Yi-Ra. So instead of confessing his feelings to her, he promises to help her get closer to Yi-Ra. And as for sports, well, he was a professional volleyball player and gave it all up to go to school so he’s not about to join a college team, especially one that always looses.

More than anything, Go Yi-Ra wants his team to take the championship but how can that happen when they can’t even beat a high school team? While trying to convince Hae-Sung to join their team, he decides to try dating the girl that Hae-Sung’s so often with, Da-Woon. That’s a dream come true for Da-Woon, or has she fallen for her best friend, Hae-Sung, in the mean time?

Can you picture Kim So-Eun, who plays Han Da-Woon, as a professional skier? Well that was the way her life was heading until she was scouted to be a professional model for a junior advanced skiing and snowboarding competition in 2003. Although she chose acting as a career she didn’t leave the sport behind completely. In 2012 she appeared in an instructional video for a ski resort. I’ll be honest, she’s not one of my most favorite Kdrama stars. I think she does just fine when the director tells her to smile and be happy but she has a long, long way to go in making sad look believable and she has no idea how to cry convincingly. Now, Kim Go-Eun (in Goblin) and Jung Ryeo-Won (in Which Star Are You From?) know how to cry. Those gals sob their guts out to the point of actually making me feel bad for them. Sorry, Kim So-Eun is cute but she’s not a finely tuned dramatic actress, in my opinion. However, I have to take a minute and praise a drama she was in entitled Liar Game. The show is absolutely fascinating, edge-of-your-seat entertainment which got a 10 rating from me. Yeah, Liar Game!

Lee Won-Keun has been acting since he played the young Kim Jae-Woon in Moon Embracing the Sun in 2012. Although he’s been in several Kdramas and three films, this is the first time I can recall seeing him act. He was in Hyde, Jekyll, Me, which I loved, but I don’t remember his role at all. He’s best known for his starring role as Yeol, the president of the “Baek Ho” club in the drama Cheer Up! He has a darling smile and quickly won a place in my heart as pro volleyball player Dong Hae-Sung. And boy, oh boy, the man can kiss!

Twenty-five year old Kim Sun-Woo has been a member of the Kpop group Touch since 2010. He’s been in quite a few Kdramas I’ve seen – Fated to Love You and Blade Man in 2014, and most recently Cinderella and Four Knights. However, how I remember him best is as a guy posing as a girl in 2012’s Ma Boy. His acting skills have improved quite a bit since his starring role in that show, though. I thought he did a fine job with his Go Yi-Ra character in this webdrama.

There’s a fair amount of decent “skinship” in this show – natural stuff – like holding hands, walking with arms around each other, pecks on the cheek, hugs, and of course kisses – real ones. The actions and reactions of the college age characters are very realistic. I give the director most of the credit for that.

This five hour webdrama is 20 episodes long at about 15 minutes a piece. It’s long enough that things didn’t need to be brushed over quickly and short enough that the storyline didn’t drag at all. Was I totally engrossed? Well… no, but it’s better than a lot of other webdramas I’ve seen (like Bong-Soon – a Cyborg in Love, To Be Continued, and Love Cells).

Unfortunately, nothing about the music stands out, in fact, I really can’t even remember anything specific at all. I tried to find some songs on YouTube to refresh my memory but there wasn’t anything there. So I’m not able to give you any information on the soundtrack. Sorry.

Scenery? Well, we do get a quick trip to the beach at the very end of the show but other than that it’s mainly school, Da-Woon’s house, and volleyball courts. I’m not a huge volleyball enthusiast (never played it, never watched a full game) but I did enjoy watching the practice time and actual games in this show. If you’re a fan of that particular sport I think you’ll like those scenes.