Strong Girl Nam Soon

GARBAGE ON STEROIDS!

***DISCLAIMER: These are just my thoughts on the show as a whole. We don’t have to agree and I’m not here to argue with anyone.***

AND THE AWARD FOR WORST KDRAMA OF 2023 GOES TO STRONG GIRL NAM SOON!!!!! (Except nobody is smiling, cheering or clapping and all you hear are crickets)

THIS SHOW IS SOOOOO BAD I WANT TO GIVE IT A ZERO BUT THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE SO I GIVE IT A ONE. It is the definition of unserious. Though this review may come off like I’m hating (which I most definitely am) it’s also plenty of shock and disappointment.

I had high hopes going into this and it just did not meet the mark AT ALL. Let's get into it...

This show lacked depth. The plot made no sense whatsoever and you basically have to turn off your brain to watch it. The focus shifted from Nam Soon to the mother, Geum Ju, and her heroic tendencies / saviorism, and unwavering determination to bring down Pavel and the Korean drug cartel. Even Nam Soon's grandma and her whole love affair got more attention than her. To say this drama did not live up to the hype or potential would be an understatement.

All the characters were unlikeable except for Nam Soon (earlier episodes) and Shi Oh… at least when he was around Nam Soon he didn’t treat her like a 5 year old. I sort of feel like her being childish / silly with him was healing his inner child so I was happy to see him smile and be content with her. I also liked Nam Soon's father... he was so supportive and seemed to genuinely care for his children unlike the mother who was always working / busy and could never see what was going on under the surface or spare five minutes of her time to get to know them better. Geum Ju was a horrible mother and I will not stop saying it. Her over the top emotions and tears coming out whenever her children were in danger and on the verge of death says so much. I don't even want to get into her fat phobic / insensitive comments and how that took a toll on her Nam In's mental health. While this show masked it as humor, it was in poor taste because it just was not funny at all.

It is safe to say I wasted almost 2 months of my life watching this tom foolery. That’s time I will never get back. The last 2 episodes were absolute bullshit and they lost the entire plot. Tell me why Ryu Shi Oh died by suicide within 20-25 mins of episode 16, Bread Song turned out to be Nozh, Grandma was supposed to die and didn’t and Nam Soon who is such a half witted, untrained and reckless girl became a cop? MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.

Ugh and don’t get me started on Hee Sik’s gold digging family, Nam Soon’s mom flaunting her wealth and the obvious lack of chemistry between Nam Soon and Hee Sik. That last kiss was an immediate no, no hate to Yoo Mi, but why did she kiss him like she was eating noodles??! Everything about that kiss seemed weird / unnatural and awkward. Anyway I know people who shipped them from the get go would have eaten it up, but it just was so cringe in my opinion.

It's the way they tried to outdo SWDBS and FAILED. Again, you seriously can't outdo the doer and this show is proof of that. The plot was lackluster / sucked big time, the acting was over the top and it seemed like they were putting on a comedy sketch (a seriously bad one) rather than a serious drama / tackling real issues. Except for Ryu Shi Oh, the characters were dull, one-dimensional, and devoid of depth. Nam Soon was even more childish at the end than at the beginning. When she received her award, she acted like an immature hyperactive toddler / a crazy person in serious need of a mental facility. Not to mention her continual lifting up of Hee Sik (bridal style) was another a major turn off. I need someone to me why she was always acting RIDICULOUS?! My goodness, it was like she didn’t have an off switch and was always behaving like damn fool or a deer in the headlights. She appeared to always be on drugs and that’s putting it LIGHTLY. If you told me she snorted 5 lines of COCAINE and also did METH or MDMA I WOULD BELIEVE YOU! In my opinion, Nam Soon doesn't appear mature enough for a relationship, let alone marriage... and when Hee Sik eventually proposed – it was so underwhelming. NEXT!

I could not feel anything for the main couple or root for their happiness because there was no development whatsoever, it felt like they just forced their relationship down my throat. Nam Soon clearly had better angst / chemistry with Shi Oh and it was easier to see their potential because they had so many good moments together. Even Bread Song and the mom had more tension filled interactions – which is saying so much. The way the proposal was at the same cherry blossom tree as in SWDBS was a major eye roll moment. Also, the stupid, overbearing heartfelt moments between the Joong Gan and Jun Hee like? PLEASE SPARE ME. LITERALLY NOBODY WANTED TO SEE THAT. Even in the end, they attempted to build up the suspense and make it appear as if it would be the death of her character after she had used a lot of her power, but they still let her survive. It would have been more dramatic if she had died... and Jun Hee and her ex-husband were obliged to mourn her together.

I still can’t believe Jun Hee was just a bland / flavorless and spineless character (literally such a freaking simp) had no connection to the Russian mafia and didn’t turn out to be a secret bad guy. THAT WAS SUCH A MISSED OPPORTUNITY. The fact that he was just there to be Joong Gan’s sidekick and lover sent me over the edge. The amount of screen time the grandma's whole arc took up just because the writer was trying to live vicariously through her character was so annoying!

Additionally when Nam Soon and her adoptive mom both happened to nearly be killed by bombs was just so predictable. Your telling me the writers couldn’t have come up with a better plot?! Even bringing in this new guy to play adult Bin Bin at the end was strange – he had no connection to the people we previously knew and never popped up in the story before (at least not as an adult), so it was difficult for me to feel pity or anything else for him. Yes, he spared Shi Oh’s life by not betraying him / killing him as ordered and that was the only bonus. Everyone literally thought Bin Bin would have been either Bread Song or the kind man at Opulentia helping Geum Ju out with her investigation. AGAIN, ANOTHER MISSED OPPORTUNITY.

The only thing I liked about this drama was the fact that the girl vagrant took the money back from the male vagrant after he discarded her / threw her to the waste side. I have been praying on his downfall ever since he broke up with her and I’m glad to see he lost everything in the end and ended up penniless and homeless while she was free to live her best life without him. I also liked when Nam Soon's father suggested that all the single males live together. I could definitely see it because they would have started their own "weak men" empire (for lack of a better name) or something like that! Now that is something I'd watch. When Nam In said te refused to live with them out of fear of ending up like them I DIED, he was so real for that!

Needless to say I really HATED this drama and would never watch it again. I would rather kill myself or rip out my eyeballs instead. Even banging my head repeatedly on the wall would be better than rewatching this ridiculous parody. I stuck around for Shi Oh and in the end they gave him the worst possible death, no redemption arc and completely ruined his character. He had so much potential to be a better person and a changed man but the writers destroyed everything. I still refuse to believe he actually tried to kill Nam Soon and her family when he found out her identity. Though, what is enemies to lovers without both parties trying to kill each other? (iykyk) It’s even more sad when you think about the fact that he tried to help his birth father out and even bought an orphanage and turned it into a boxing gym. I won't stop saying it but – RYU SHI OH DESERVED SM BETTER THAN THE HAND HE WAS DEALT!

Anyway, I guess they just couldn’t allow him to live after he spiraled, went off the rails and took so many innocent lives. What gets me is that Geum Ju and Nam Soon believed Hwa Ja was capable and worthy of being saved but they could not extend the same right or courtesy to Shi Oh. I mean seriously? Hwa Ja even tried to murder Nam Soon at one point…. just because she was unsuccessful in her attempt does not make what she did excusable or justifiable. I don’t care what anyone else says but the fact that Nam Soon’s mom forgave her after all that and basically adopted her as a daughter was absolutely insane and I will never understand it. This show proves that Geum Ju's and Nam Soon's empathy is conditional on whether they feel pity for someone's situation or not. Ryu Shi Oh never chose this life and it's unfair because he had gone through so much as a child to just hang on / survive. Literally everything he did was just so he could finally escape / find a way out from Pavel's control. He was a victim or circumstance but the stupid characters in this show could not even see that. It's ironic because when they were starting to realize at the end it was ALREADY TOO LATE.

My favorite character was and always will be Ryu Shi Oh. They could never make me hate him! I understood all his motives and rooted for him endlessly — even when he was on his killing spree. Honestly he was not evil enough in my opinion. I’m not gonna lie, if I lived his life I would’ve been worse. It’s unfortunate Byeon Woo Seok was not enough to save this drama and make me turn a blind eye to how horrible the overall production and acting was. If the writers had gone with an enemies to lovers plot / dark romance, this show would have been so much better. I mean – most people were watching for the villain and rooting for him instead of the ML or even Nam Soon and her family. This drama was way too childish, and it was difficult to find benefits or reasons to stay. Each episode progressively got worse, and I had to force myself to watch for the sake of completion.

I sincerely hope the writer gives up and just ends this TRAIN WRECK / TOILET FIRE IMMEDIATELY. This shit show does not need a part 3 or spin-off. Whatever she writes next she will ruin it even further and it would just be wise of her to stop now.

I could have lived my life without watching this drama or knowing it was a sequel to the original Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. If you are contemplating starting this because you liked SWDBS, I suggest and strongly advise you skip this drama entirely and watch some edits instead. Their five minute screen time is not worth over 18 hours of torture and misery. Please save yourself and quit while you are ahead.

If you think I'm lying / joking then watch this circus act and see for yourself.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you though.

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P.S. No hate to new watchers or persons who enjoyed this drama. I'm happy for you, truly. I'm glad some people were lucky enough to be warned beforehand and able to go into this with very very very LOW expectations.

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(If you actually made it this far ilysm!)

(づ ᴗ _ᴗ)づ♡


As always,

Thanks for reading & happy watching!

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

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Lower your expectations if you don't want to be disappointed.

BUT WHAT HAPPENED??? everything was going so well until episode 3, the ep cover launching feels like I'm watching a comedy that my uncles would laugh at, the story had everything to become interesting and the romance too, but it seems that the screenwriter wanted to try something new and now the story is uninteresting, boring, strange, a dubious comedy, and this HORRIBLE romance where ML seems to be fall in love with the girl in the second episode? like a drama made in 2023 with everything good, and yet the original drama crushes this poorly made work, the acting in this drama is HORRIBLE I thought that AT LEAST the acting could save this shit, but what happened to the actress? she does so many good works, all of are dead, your adults matter, her appearances are incredible, the Her productions are perfect, why did she have to put herself through that? the main character seems like a stupid and inattentive child, and on top of that the couple has no chemistry at all, i would rather have closed eyes and imagine that they never made a second drama of the original. simply despicable.

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I'm gonna be sick

The most I can say is
CRINGE CRINGE CRINGE CRINGE OMG the cringe!!
The acting is just bad. The female lead has the personally and
maturity of a 8 year old. From the moment she popped up till the last ep. The mother
and grandmother characters over the top especially the mother of the female lead. You got
a fake daughter come in and do all that and even go to the lengths to try and kill your real child and you
forgive her and want to treat her like your child. They were also full of themselves and the over
acting of both actresses is a joke and that's just sad for an actress like Kim Hae Sook. I saw no spark between
the female lead and the male lead. Nothing at all romantic. The male characters in the strong woman family
are have been written to be morons. I do have to say though that the acting of the
actor in the role of the villain was the only good thing I can say about this show besides the fact that
its over. I'd say his acting in the was the best out of all the cast. The acting from the rest of the cast was god awful!! The female lead was annoying and I have to say it again had the mentality of a I'm gonna go lower that 8 years she acted like she was 4. I guess that's how the director wanted the cast to act but
this was bad on so many levels and I don't see how he didn't have some noise cancelation headphones
while directing this mess. Having to watch this was bad enough but also having to listen to all that terrible acting was even worse. Now I guess they're planning on making another one LMAO
I hope its not going to be on Netflix. They can do better than that mess!

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Not SOOO Disappointing,Not SOO BAD.

First of all,i'm just seeing Very low rated reviews so i thought i should say something about this drama in a review.I'm actually rating it more than average but i know exactly why everyone is so disappointed at this show,i realized you have to shut off your brain and be in a particular state of mind to like this Drama! I also started watching it while ongoing and dropped after ep 7/8 and skipped many scenes later and just focused on Ryu Shi Oh (byeon woo seok was always my favourite) and finished it...That time i was actually very busy with my life and couldn’t afford to relate with the silly comedy scenes.

But what happened later was,in 2024 i mean in this year i was jobless and in a very Depressive state in early months so i thought i would just shut off my brain and watch something not-so-serious and started Re-watching Strong girl nam soon..& very surprisingly i quite loved it,the story was tight,but how It's shown has It's questions, they wanted to keep the show ''lighter'' but ended up being silly..but indulged in depression these silly comedies helped me to feel good actually ..The grandmother's love part was the only thing i couldn’t bear myself to watch but the rest of the cast actually did very very well..Ryu shi Oh's character, how It's written, how It's portrayed is SO good and sooo intriguing..(I miss this kind of well written villains' character in kdramas all the time).. Also, the ML & FL did well (FL has certain type of characteristics that people here on MDL really find annoying but that's actually how her character was written,naive,talkative,giving cutesy vibes)& she did good portraying that..the side plots were many and interesting too... ML's team members and related comedies were good.

I later searched on naver to see if it was popular in korea and not to my surprise, it was!! The ratings were good and it was well received by korean audiences.If you want to start this drama,start it,it is NOT THAT TERRIBLE, you might start loving it like me or end up falling hard just for the villain,just like everybody else.Happy Watching!

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Cringe at best, Insulting at worst

as a big fan for the prequel, this sequel just the WORST. i said this with all the amount of respect i could gather and it is almost nil.

The MC, cringe. the family, bad. the hero, bland.

and the one star i could give, all of it for byun woo seok. he alone carry the whole story. and I dont understand, for a character that you plan to kill at the end, why oh why, you give him THAT much depth and background.

and i know yumi is a better actor than this abomination, she could easily pull an innocent and naive character properly. but nooo, she gotta be an 8 years old the whole time. why?

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how is it so bad… literally

It’s both funny and sad how bad this kdrama is
unless it’s target audience was kids below 10, I don’t know how anyone could take it srs

…the absolute terrible plot that beats even the most unpopular shows, the cringe characters, the cringe backstory of every single character, the cringe dialogues…. I think its the first kdrama that made me feel absolutely nothing but rage and disgust
It gets worse when u understand russian, there was literally no reason for them to go out of their way to make this mafia thing up and speak absolute gibberish, I’m not even joking ☠️☠️☠️ even a tiny bit of effort would make it better but I guess the audience is supposed to eat it up anyway 🗿

u can just see it’s a low effort low quality piece of something no one needed in their life…. I was hoping it gets better since I had nothing else to watch anyway but now I just wish I never even knew this thing existed

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Read the comment discussion a must - SUPER HORRIBLE writing and NO CHEMISTRY

1.0 is already generous for this Drama and I always question why a member of mydrammalist would give such low rating to
Other dramas. And still finished it..
Now I know.. its like getting into bad relationship..
And you got trapped in the middle, you wanted to go back but then there's this thing call HOPE and you just kept on moving..
So you've been TRICKED, LURED and USED..

The worst written female lead..
Wait, she's not even felt like the lead, her fam members are..

This drama totally shook my belief for kdrama to the core..
Its like eating Raw avocado... do you know how does it taste?
Bitter than medicine..

Read the comments from the drama page, its all there before you invest 16 hours more or less of your time, your thought, your time..

You will be betrayed! Watch something else!

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What the hell was that show

If you’re thinking of watching this show, don’t. It’s a waste of time.
1) The plot is uninteresting and repetitive.
2) No one in this show had even a slightly interesting background story other than Ruy Si O.
3) The love triangle of the grandmother took way too much screen time.
4) Nam soon and the Kang Hee Sik rarely has any romance scenes, which would've been a way to save this godforsaken show.
5) The acting was over the top and CRINGEY

As someone who loved the classic Strong Girl Do Bong Soon, I had a lot of high expectations for this show, it was pure disappointment.

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Minus.

I'm not even going to compare this to the OG, because I refuse to count this as anything remotely connected to Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. Strong Girl Namsoon is in a league of its own. One of the worst dramas I've seen.

I wanted to drop it post ep4, but damn, Ryu Shi Oh is one fine character who has me captivated; 10/10 for that role? Maybe because he was the only one with some story going for him. 0/10 for everything else happening in this show hence, I've come to a generous 1/10.

The story and acting deserves a MINUS. The amount of rubbish they've stuffed into this show is mind boggling.
Could have been a 4-6 episode mini series and called it a day, because everything else was just fillers.

Absolutely nothing worked about this show apart from the Bong-bong Min-min cameo ❤️ and Ryu Shi Oh's character because at least he had a backstory going for him.

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Low stakes and oversaturation of characters

Before going into this, it was already pretty clear that Strong Woman DBS, which had one of the most iconic kdrama couples ever, was a difficult act to follow. I'm going to try and get all the comparisons out of the way first. While I wasn't a HUGE fan of the humor in SWDBS, it knew well enough to take serious moments seriously, and everything else was strong enough to make up for it; I loved the leads and the murder plot was thrilling and high-stakes. This drama has the same issue with its humor, but its other aspects are either weak or worse.

The humor just isn't my style at all. There's a lot of physical humor and over-acting; it might be fine if it was only used in select moments, but I felt like it permeated every second of drama, even big fight scenes and what should've been tense moments with antagonists. Overall it made the entire tone of the drama seem kind of off — as if nothing actually mattered because it was all for laughs.

The drug plot felt low-stakes not just because of the tone, but also just because of the way it was written. I don't think anyone going into this drama should expect any profound commentary on drugs or class issues in South Korea. The drama seems to try every once in a while with an offhanded comment, but it really doesn't go much deeper and it's even self-contradictory sometimes. There's parts where they touch upon it, but they also make its lead a "good billionaire" because she's kind with her money and because she pulled herself up by her bootstraps. It felt contradictory to any commentary, just so viewers could get some #girlboss moments.

In terms of characters — I'm not a fan of ensembles to begin with and this drama is a good example of why. It felt like there were so many characters and so many subplots that none of them got enough screentime to be complete, and less important subplots took over more engaging ones. The drama spent SO MUCH screentime on the grandmother's romance, which felt slapstick and unserious, while Namsoon and Heeshik's screentime began to dwindle. And as the drama went on it felt like more and more antagonists were getting introduced as random side characters, and because they served no purpose other than to trigger plot points and had no backstory or personality, they began to blur into each other.

The only antagonist that really had a good story was the villain Ryu Shi-O, but my bigger issue with him plays into my low-stakes criticism. He was just...a bad villain. He has physical abilities, sure, but his plans, goals, and motivations weren't that clear, and most of all I just can't believe that he couldn't piece together anything our protagonists were planning when they were being so obvious about it. I mean...Namsoon's acting...

With so many things going on, romantic lines didn't have enough screentime for good development. I'd already mentioned not caring about the grandmother's romance, and while Namsoon/Heeshik were the best in the show, it felt like they didn't really go deeper than both of them being cute.

Honestly, I think there's an audience for this somewhere out there — maybe someone who likes quirkiness and shenanigans — but it's not me. I'm giving this a 2 (and not a 1) just because it didn't utterly infuriate me as much as me just not really caring.

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