Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (2017)
Unapologetically fun, lighthearted, downright comically nonsensical. The premise is pretty unique as you really don't see this type of setup all too often. Though some aspects such as the evil plotline and the "laugh at gay stuff" felt a bit iffy, to say the least. The slapstick comedy is wacky, chaotic, over the top yet makes sense here. The show is not meant to be taken too seriously--- which is weird because the overarching "big bad" plotline was oddly dark and unusually serious which leads to an odd viewing experience at times. I can't help but wonder how the show would fare if we subtract the darker bad guy storylines and downgrade it to a simple romantic comedy and toned down wacky hijinks.The cast's chemistry is good, a bit unbalanced, but good nonetheless. The casting for the female lead was strangely perfect to be honest. The small-framed, petite, 5'2 Park Bo Young, is such a contrast to serve as the almighty strong woman, Do Bong Soon.
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It’s funny
Humour is nice and drama is light hearted . I loved watching it as cast was quite nice and running is relatively less . Story was also nice and exciting. There was suspense that hold you up to complete whole drama . Casting and acting is quite applause able. . But still out of all points I gave above it was definitely humour that entertained the best. As it was the factor that makes it different from rest all Korean dramas .That all I would like to say . It is must watch because watching female leads dominating the screen means a lot to female audience . Watching women taking all the things in their hands is definitely worth watching .
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Funny, romantic, sweet, and with the right amount of action and danger
I think this series is one of my all time favorite K-Drama series, at least in top 3 or 5.First time I watched it earlier in the year, and just recently re-watched it. It was fun to watch it again.
Park Bo Young's performance in this series is amazing, it is one of my favorite character in all the series I've watched, just about 80 series. It is also my favorite character from all the character that she performs. She's just so cute, sweet and funny, totally adorable. Yet when push comes to shove she can easily go into kick-ass mode.
The chemistry between her and Park Hyung Shik, the other main lead, is amazing. He acts the right character for this series, a guy that is just flabbergasted of her, just like anyone would be.
But I've rarely laughed so much and so deeply, the humor is over the top. The romance is strong and everything just seems to click perfectly together in this series.
Perfect series.
Worth noting, the soundtrack for this series is also my favorite soundtrack from all the series. There are many great tracks and I can easily listen to the whole album over and over.
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This review may contain spoilers
A complete Package....
Actually, I'm not a RomCom lover unless I love the Lead Actors or it blends with crime story just like Strong woman. Parkk Bo-Young was one of my favorite Korean Actress coming from Oh my Ghost and Abyss, she is one of the best but I was surprise with Park Hyun-sik , I started to love him in this drama. His acting and visuals in this drama were level up. I love how the Writer pull of the series. Their love story blends well with the crime part in this series. Although, in the crime part, the Culprit doesn't really justify why he is committing the crime, I don't mind at all, Bong Bong and Minmin's love story was enough for me already plus the OST here was 10/10. I made it as my ringtone actually. This is why I love Kdrama over other series, aside from the lead actors, distinct stories, expensive productions and amazing cinematography, you can also look forward for the OST's.Was this review helpful to you?
Must watch
It's so good like a healthy relationship between them also their bear hugs and how their chemistry is.... Plus the supernatural story line. I can say it's one of the bestest rom com kdrama. Tge plot is also cool.All together it's best.
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Most hilarious Korean Series ever made!
This still tops my most hilarious korean series ever made. It is light, uberly hilarious and sweet too. I like how the lead male let do bong soon be herself and support her all the way. I specifically like the mob boss and his right hand's characters they really made the show intensively hilarious! I like the development of the love story. It was gradual and progressive. The lead actress was so perfect for the role. Sweet, innocent-looking and too fragile-looking. You will really have a hard time believing that she is super strong indeed! All the minor characters really popped out, they all contributed to the rolling-on-the-floor-laughter this show evokes. There was never a dull character in this show. Until now, i highly recommends this to my friends. Watch it and you will never regret it!Was this review helpful to you?
Characters/Acting:
I am all for the female heroine vibe, no damsel in distress drama. Bong-Soon's character and her powers only being used for good does send an overall good message. Park Bo-Young as Bong-Soon did an incredible job portraying a cute, tiny lady who no one would suspect to be so strong. Her emotional scenes were very good and her 'cute' acting was just that...very cute.
As for the lead guy, Park Hyung-sik, he did a good job portraying that young, cool, gamer CEO character vibe. Min-Hyuk as a character is never too serious and is actually funny at times and Hyung-sik did great acting out that comedic side of the character but still kept him very cool and CEO-like. Although he didn't have much emotional/serious scenes, when he did have them, he did them very well that it almost brought me to tears.
His 'cute'/'flustered' scenes however, were exaggerated far too much that if it wasn't for the genre of this drama, it would've been cringe-y. But since a lot of the side characters were also exaggerated, this part of his acting blended in and somehow actually worked well.
For the 2nd lead guy, Kim Ji Soo, there wasn't really a lot of variety to his acting and that's because of the character he had to play. His character, Gook-Doo, was meant to be serious and is the total opposite of Min-Hyuk. There wasn't really much to him besides being serious and a couple of emotional scenes. The way Gook-Doo's relationship pans out with Bong-Soon was also a bit silly in my opinion. He seemed to have this big brother vibe with Bong-Soon as he always yelled at her. Later on he realises his real feelings and it just seemed silly when he says he never realised Bong-soon's feelings for him because he was too into his own feelings. It just sounded stupid to me, if I'm being frank.
Aside from the 3 main leads, all the supporting cast were all pretty decent too. I have to especially mention Kim Won Hae who played both Kim Kwang Bok and Oh Dol Pyu. I actually started to get annoyed with his character portrayal of Kwang Bok as it was waaaaayyyy to exaggerated but then when he came on as Oh Dol Pyu, I was just impressed. The way he acted that character was spot on. Though, it was still exaggerated, it just seemed to suit Oh Dol Pyu more.
Story/Plotline:
There really wasn't much of a story to this drama. It's very very easy to follow. There's the main 'thriller' story and the love triangle going on beside it and that's pretty much it. Some of the scenes didn't even make sense in the drama and were literally there to just be the 'in-between' scenes. It wasn't necessary as it didn't really add anything to the story and most of them tried to be funny but instead got a bit annoying.
I did however enjoy the romance side of the plot and the way it progressed between the main leads. It didn't feel rushed and it seemed pretty realistic/relatable in terms of how one's feelings towards someone else can eventually expire.
The best thing about the story/drama for me was the ending. I'm a 'happy ending' / 'and they lived happily ever after' kinda person so I was very satisfied with the ending of this drama.
Music/OST:
The OST was alright. There were a couple of good tracks but they are quite forgettable. If I heard them again, I probably won't remember it came from this drama.
Would I recommend:
Yes, but only if you don't mind exaggerated characters/acting and a few cringe-y moments. This drama is not meant to be taken seriously. It's a slapstick comedy with a side of thriller, that says it all. If you just want to watch a fun, cute romance drama then I would definitely recommend this one. P.S. It's worth watching for Bo-Young and Hyung-Sik's on-screen chemistry and visuals to be honest :D If you're a fan of either of them, then I would give this one a go.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama made me start to think about all the dramas I have watched in the past, especially the ones I have rated 5/5. And yesterday was the day that Xiao Nai had been overthrown by Ahn Min Hyuk as my drama boyfriend. It was a hard decision and Nai will always hold a place in my heart, but Ahn Min Hyuk was everything. He was funny and silly and when he needed to be serious, he was one of the most professional CEO I have ever seen. But most importantly, from the moment he saw Do Bong Soon, he knew that she was his soulmate. And I am not going to lie, In Guk Doo deserved sooooo much better than what he got, and I did tear up during most of his scenes towards the end when finally realized that he's always liked Do Bong Soon, but at that point, she was already in love with another man. It was heartbreaking, and I want him to find his happily ever after, but he can't have Do Bong Soon because her and Anh Min Hyuk were soulmates. After I finished binge watching this drama, I went into this little depression knowing that I had to say goodbye to perfect Anh Min Hyuk. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE deserves to find someone like him in their lives. Yes, he was a little childish at some points, but it added to his charm. He was who is was because of a broken family, and once he found out what real love was, he didn't want to let go. He was super extra and honestly an amazing hype-man and I mean all of this in a good way. I've watched dramas where there has been a dramatic and extra character that I found annoying, but I don't know if it was because of the writing or the actor, but I didn't find this character annoying whatsoever and thought it added to his charm. Also, you knew how in love he was with Bong Soon. It wasn't a fall hard fast and get bored with you in a few months or years. Anh Min Hyuk, solely based off of the looks he would give her...it was EVERYTHING. You could read him like a book. He was so in love with Bong Soon. Plus, the things he would say to her when they were alone were super romantic and he opened up his entire soul to her. I still remember, and cried, the words he spoke when he asked for her father's permission to marry her. When he asked Min Hyuk what he liked about his daughter, he said something so simple, yet so moving. That he loved her because she was simply Do Bong Soon. "The feeling that I only exist when she does, and I don't if she doesn't." Yes...I am super deep in this korean drama hole, but honestly, I don't care. And yes, it sounds super extra and cheesy, but after watching this drama, I fully believe him with my entire soul. Throughout this whole drama, he gave her his entire soul and even knowing that she had this super strength, he still told her that he would protect with with his entire being, either be emotionally or physically. And let me tell you, homeboy kicks some serious ass. He shines in multiple, different ways in this drama. And don't be fooled - he is not all talk.I also believe that this drama has some of the most emotional scenes in any drama I have ever watched, including a lot of american dramas. There is one scene in particular (ep 14), it was super heartbreaking, where he did everything in his power to try to save her and when he failed, he didn't run away to try and save himself. He still tried to emotionally comfort her and told her that she was not alone and he wouldn't leave her side. And I wish I could tell you more about this scary af scene that broke my heart but also showed me what being completely in love with someone looks like, but it would spoil how raw this scene was.
Honestly, I am super jealous of everyone who hasn't seen this drama yet because the moment you do, you will experience everything in this show for the first time. You will fall in love with Min Hyuk for the first time. You will experience hating Buk Doo and then learning to love him. You will experience Bong Soon's struggle with learning how to love herself and learning that she wasn't born with a curse, but a gift. And you will experience how fucked up the villain of this drama was. Such a solid villain - one thing that can make or break a story is a villain.
I loved how the romance in this drama did take up a chunk of the story line, but it wasn't the main plot of the drama. I loved how this was a coming to age story for Bong Soon about learning how to love herself and loving her gift. There was this emotional and powerful scene with Bong Soon and her mother and grandmother and they talked about how the women were gifted with this strength because they are the leaders of their households and the communities and they, as woman, were born to protect the people they love from harm, and then pass this strength onto their daughters and teach them to be strong. It was such a girl power type of drama, but it was also great because it didn't belittle men at all. This drama showed that men and women were both strong in many different as well as in the same ways. But I must say, poor Buk Doo, somehow was the smartest, yet dumbest cop I have ever seen. His character annoyed me, but this drama was so good that even though I didn't like him because of the way he treated Bong Soon and how he never stopped to think about how his actions affected other people, I stilled cried for him at the end when you learn more about his character and how much love he also had to Bong Soon. He he def on the top of my "they deserved better" team.
One last thing, over the course of a few months, I have watched a few dramas, and for the first time in a long while, I didn't hate the main character. Going back thinking about Weightlifting Fairy, Hot Girl, Love @ Seventeen, and even Sweet Combat, this is the first time that I was completely on homegirl's side. Yes, I thought she was being annoying when she was in love with Buk Doo and not Min Hyuk, but I think that is the beauty of this show. When Min Hyuk saw her one-sided love that wasn't one-sided, he didn't shove himself in the middle and make her fall in love with him. He just continued to act like himself and knew that eventually she would fall for him. Or maybe she wouldn't, but he didn't try to pretend to be anyone he wasn't. He knew that he was this broken person, but he wanted to be a better person for himself as well as a better person for the woman who stole his heart. And I loved the slow burning romance of Bong Soon realizing that the guy that has always been on her side, helping her, accepting her fully, was the guy she loved. And you got to experience that shift with her which is why I loved her so much. There was this one half episode where I was like...homegirl...wtf...why are you pushing him away, but Min Hyuk stayed by her side and kept his promise that he would always protect her, even if she was too stubborn and didn't think she needed to be protected. He took the time to understand her and her situation but also treat her like a normal girl.
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Now for the Fluff Factor-- this was a slow burn (in my opinion, though I've seen slower) with cute moments sprinkled throughout, which is just how I like it! It wasn't too long, and it didn't add unnecessary stuff after getting together just to make it longer, and I was never really bored. Sweet and satisfying ending with a great aesthetic and great characters! Overall, pretty much the best one I've seen so far. Definitely recommend!
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Honestly, this show was able to pull on my heartstrings harder than most of the previous shows I watched. It was cute and had some light comedy, but what made it give me a lasting impression was the romance. In fact, the romance was so adorable that I won't be surprised if I find myself on YouTube rewatching certain scenes so that I can fall in love again. But hey...... there is more to this show than just romance. A few other disappointing elements...
Story 〆(・∀・＠): This is where the majority of my problems lay: the story. In short, the story was extremely messy at first. So much was happening to so many different characters, and you just had to follow along. Not that it was necessarily confusing since each plot point was straightforward, but it instead started to hurt the show in the long run. Because of all the side stories, the writers had to try and wrap them up to make way for the main plot. But that instead just left us with unsatisfying closures and a plethora of characters that have nothing to do. It's these very unwanted characters that stopped the show from being much higher on my list. When a side-characters story is over, they just hover around and do stupid things to try and keep the comedy alive. In the beginning, the humor was so strong. I haven't burst out laughing as many times as I had during the first few episodes (a major feat since I don't consider myself someone who laughs a lot). But as the show went on, some parts got heavier to match the darker plot. Yet to the writers, that just seemed like a call to add as much humor as they possibly can. So now we get needed characters doing stupid things that neither farther the plot or keep you interested. It was a huge downer and bored me so many times. I would have brought the story score down much more if it wasn't for the main couple. They were the most well-written and sweetest little things! Everything they did was so meaningful without the writers forwarding their relationship via troupe checklist. The main rich guy, Ahn Min-Hyuk, is a prime example of the show creating something new and enjoyable. Yes, he was the rich and lonely character, but at the same time, if we were to strip him from his wealth, not much would change. He did have his shopping sprees and cool gadgets, but his character was so much more than having a company and a bank account. His personality was so likable and flowed so nicely with the story. There were other characters that were written well like this, but he is just the first person that comes to my mind.
Acting ｡゜(｀Д')゜｡: I honestly love/hate the casting done on this show. I have no problem with any of the main characters. Park Bo-Young played the little King Kong, Bong-Soon, so well. Bo-Young just naturally can make any character so cute you just wanna hold your heart and never let go. But despite her everlasting cuteness, she was able to pull off serious and heavy moments as well. I think she was the perfect fit both physically and personality-wise, which made you want to root for right-of-the-bat. I already talked about how much I loved Min-Hyuk as a character, but without Park Hyung-Shik, I don't think it would ever be the same. Similar to Bo-Young, Hyung-Shik fits his character perfectly to the point where I can never see anyone else in that role. Just his smile alone was enough to melt me twenty times over. That smile partnered with Bong-Soon's cuteness just killed me over and over again. Those two did so well in the romance aspect, making them probably my favorite couple to date. Ji-Soo also did an outstanding job with the gold-hearted police role. He was humorous at the start and heart-wrenching at the end. Which only ended up making the love triangle harder to watch. With my praise out of the way... I need to make light of a few casting issues. Like seriously...... in the world of Korean actors they couldn't find someone who didn't look over 30 to play a high school character!? That was one of the funniest things for me. And on top of that, all the gangers were also a little odd. Not that they didn't fit the appearance, but none of them really caught my attention and just seemed like actors trying to get through the script without showing much. And the ones that did try their hardest were just a little too much for me....
Music ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪: I usually hate talking about the music since I am no expert and struggle to evaluate it properly. Yet I can confidently say that I loved the music from this show. Well.... love is a strong word. I wouldn't go and look for the soundtrack, but when I was watching the show, I enjoyed listening to it so much. It was so unique to this show that if I were to be asked which show does this song belongs to, I would be able to identify it in a heartbeat. Not just the main opening theme was recognizable. Many of the background songs helped the scene carry more meaning and were just as catchy to listen too. It's in no way near the most spectacular music, but it is incredibly delightful to listen while watching.
Other (ง°ل͜°)ง: *sigh* ...... that's really all I can start with. I loved the idea of a tiny girl having super strength, so It was delightful to watch play out. But - I'm sorry to bring it up - the rules just didn't make itself apparent to me. As I always say, I am a stickler for supernatural laws and love knowing what can and cannot happen. But it's just super strength, what else needs to be clear? If it were just strength, then I wouldn't have an issue. It's just that this show made the idea of losing one's powers a terrible thing. And I get it. They have to stop people like Bong-Soon's mother from using it in the wrong way. But how exactly is the meaning behind an action judged? I initially thought one would lose their powers if they did something with a dark intention behind it, but apparently, that isn't the case. That brings to question about all of the stuff did with previous strength holders. Did the ones who kept their strength really not accidentally harm a person? It's just the show tried to make some kind of line to keep the supernatural women in check, but it just left me a bit more confused. Nothing to pull your hair over, but something I would have definitely loved answered.
Time to wrap things up! This review is a bit long, so sorry about that, but I just needed to get some things off my chest. All in all, the story was enjoyable. I wouldn't say this is my favorite show, but I will say that this had my favorite couple. The love story was the main saving grace and kept me with the show when I was starting to falter. Without such a well-written duo, I would have never enjoyed it as much and would have most likely considered dropping it. So if your a romance fan (more specifically a fan of cute and fluffy love stories) than this show is for you!!!
Will there be some tedious and frustrating things? Yep. But it's all worth it to see Bong-Soon and Min-Hyuk smile at each other with the most sweetest puppy dog eyes.
Happy Watching <3
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I Love this show
this show generally is good the romance plot is so cute I’ve seen a lot of people who disliked the thriller aspect of this which I honestly agree I skip a lot of those parts but I don’t think that ruins the entire show and eb says the the humor is childish and middle school humor so I guess I’m a middle schooler lol I thought it was funny not hilarious but funny nonetheless to do with the main characters this show made me love both the actors because I really do think they portrayed their characters so wellWas this review helpful to you?
Bottom line, I don't think one could go wrong watching this series! I bet you'll be hooked after a couple of episodes, at most!
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