This review may contain spoilers
Not Exactly The Strongest Comeback
The 2017 classic “Strong Woman Do Bong Soon” was a sleeper hit simply because of the fantastic chemistry between the main leads Park Bo Young & Park Hyung Sik. It’s quite difficult to come across stories where a female lead and her superpowers are glorified. This edgy fantasy element became the reason for the show’s success. As such, I wasn’t admittedly excited about the new reboot. It may be attributed to the entirely new cast that has no connections to the characters in the prequel. “Strong Girl Namsoon” finally premiered last week. The million dollar question that piques our attention is this- Is the spin-off as well as the prequel? I will answer this question as we analyze the first two episodes and dig deeper into the storyline.Read the complete article here-
https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2023/10/09/strong-girl-namsoon-first-impressions/
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This review may contain spoilers
Super Fun Story - v cheesy at times
Underrated gem. I suspect a lot of the negative reviews come from how Byeon Woo Seok's character ended, Ryu Shi Oh, ended up because honestly Woo Seok stole the show and was the most fun character. This show has a lot more cheese and cringe that the prequel. It's still a super fun ride with a couple very empowering women leads who have confidence and care.Was this review helpful to you?
idk what to say honestly
consider its the sequel of strong girl do bongsoon, i thought it was gonna be AWESOME! but this is so cringe istg. the say the actress for gang namsoon is acting idk if its her or the role but I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT. the overly extra dramatic facial expressions makes it so cringe. I'm liking ong seongwoo and will be PISSED if he turns out to be second male lead cuz HE'S SO SWEET. i think he's the only character i liked till now. im still gonna keep hope fof this show and watch it until I can't haha. they need to lower the cringe levels...Was this review helpful to you?
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I enjoyed this series despite its flaws
Never planned to watch Strong Girl Nam-soon but yourdramachingu's clip on YouTube convinced me to give this series a go. I watched Strong Woman Do Bong Soon after this series so I had no expectation of Strong Girl Nam-soon. I see a lot of negative reviews for this series before writing this review. Here are my thoughts.What I liked:
1) Family - This is the central theme of the show, which sets this series apart from its prequel. The FL had different upbringing because she went missing when she was a child but lucky for her, her adoptive parents were kind people whom raised her well. I also liked that Hwang Geum Joo felt secure of her role as biological mother of Namsoon. That scene when she brought Namsoon's adoptive mother to meet Namsoon was really touching - I cried.
2) The romance - I enjoyed watching the relationship of Namsoon and Kang Hee Shik. They got off the wrong foot the first time they met but later they became allies and eventually lovers. Despite Namsoon's childlike mannerisms at the start of the series, she didn't act like a child or played coy when it comes to romantic relationship. I like her take charge behaviour!
3) Kang Hee Shik - I like his character and as a romantic interest, I am more team Hee Shik. This is my first time watching Ong Seung Wu's drama. I think he did well in his role.
4) Homeless friends - I like both Ji Hyun Soo and Teacher No because of their kindness towards Namsoon when she was struggling in her environment. They also had story arcs.
5) Byeon Woo-seok - His visuals are insane, his high cheekbones and height amazes me. He is very handsome with that styling.
6) Music - I like Itzy's song for this drama.
What I disliked:
1) Comedy - There are too many slapstick comedy scenes in this series. I think this drama would rate better if the writer had focused more on the origin/genetic side of superstrength power in the format of drama rather than the use of the superstrength power in the format of comedy.
2) Characterisation of main female characters - There was so much potential with the developments of side characters such as Hwang Geum Joo, Gil Joong Gan but then they became bland. A lot people were turned off by Namsoon's characteristics which is the writer's fault. Perhaps the writer wanted Namsoon to exhibit similar characteristics as Bong Soon (childlike) but I think this is the wrong move because it led stronger comparisons and harsher comments.
3) Gil Joong Gan's love story - I don't have problem watching a love story of aged individuals. However given that this series focused too much on comedy, the love story of FL's grandma did not add any value to this series. Well other than creating suspicion of that guy's intentions.
4) Hwang Geum Joo - I hate that she fat-shamed her son. It was obvious that she favoured Namsoon because Namsoon was welcomed with open arms. Good thing Kang Nam In didn't harbour any negative feelings towards his twin sister. I also disliked the way Geum Joo treated her husband and brother.
5) Ryu Shi Oh - He's a clear cut baddie from the start but there was too much screen time for his character that people romanticised him. He did not fall in love with Namsoon, he was obsessed with her powers which is a total red flag. He has a fitting ending.
Favourite scene
When Hwang Geum Joo reunited Namsoon and her adoptive mother
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Strong Woman Do Bong Soon but different...
If you like strong woman do bang soon then this might be the show for you. The parallels between be two shows is very apparent. The mother is the star of the show for my she is an amazing actress and I enjoyed it every time she was on screen. The plot twists can be slightly confusing st times but with a quick rewind to grasp the concept it's nothing to worry about. There is a romance angle, it was alluded too all season but felt rushed at the end. The actual crime execution is interesting though.Was this review helpful to you?
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Strong Girl Nam Soon: A Compelling Story with Room for Better Relationship Building
As a huge fan of Strong Girl Bong Soon, I was eagerly anticipating Strong Girl Nam Soon. Although it didn't quite live up to its predecessor, I still found many aspects of the show enjoyable.While there were some issues with the show, such as too many small storylines that took up too much screen time, I appreciated the effort to develop the characters. The characters of Ryu Shi-oh, Lee Myung-hee, Nam-Soon's father and brother, and Nam-Soon's Mongolian parents were well-developed, and I found myself invested in their stories.
However, the show could have done a better job of developing the relationships between the characters. For example, the mother-daughter relationship was not fully developed, and the relationship between the main couple was rushed and lacked buildup. The death of Lee Myung-hee did not have a significant emotional impact on fans, as the relationship between Lee and Nam-Soon was not well-developed.
On the other hand, the relationship between Nam-Soon and Mongolian Mom is better established, making it more impactful when they attempt to kill her. However, this also leads to the problem of resolving the conflict too quickly without proper buildup, which may leave fans feeling unsatisfied.
I think the romantic storyline of the grandmother could have been minimized or removed entirely, as it did not add much to the show. The hints dropped about Bread Song were interesting, but there could have been more small reveals throughout the season to build up curiosity about his character. It had a huge payoff in the end without any buildup.
Overall, I appreciated the effort put into the show, and I enjoyed watching it. While it may not have been perfect, I still found myself invested in the characters and their stories. With some tweaks to the writing and character development, this show could have been even better.
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Come for Lee Yoo Mi, stay for 3 generations of women living their best lives
Look, this drama won't be for everyone. It's an unapologetically over the top fairy tale/comic book mashup with a barely coherent plot that requires a generous suspension of disbelief, and much like its predecessor, the writing and character development are mediocre and the treatment of the men in the family feels mean-spirited at best and downright abusive at worst.And yet, I enjoyed it so much more than I expected because, for all its faults, this drama absolutely nails it with Lee Yoo Mi as Nam-soon. She is utterly incandescent as our titular strong girl and I know not everyone is a fan of the bubbly and naive female lead, but I loved her and her cheeky grin and her unwavering sense of justice SO much. Lee Yoo Mi truly carried this drama on her back (pun intended) and she was an absolute delight to watch and I can't wait to what she does next.
The rest of the main cast is a total hoot as well, Kim Jung Eun and Kim Hae Sook are both fabulously campy, chewing every scene they're in with aplomb, and I genuinely love that we got to see a 60+ year old woman with a romance subplot and doing more than just being a granny. Ong Seong Woo is endearingly earnest as the long-suffering good guy cop getting bridal-carried all over the place by his super strong girlfriend, and Byeon Woo Seok took "if evil why sexy" and dialed it all the way up to 11 and we thank him for his service (somebody needs to create a mafia bromance drama with him and Lee Hong Nae ASAP).
In short, this is not a drama you watch for the plot, this is a drama you watch for the actors hamming it up in the silliest situations. It's deeply unserious but pretty fun if you throw logic out the window, and above all else, I love that we got to see these 3 generations of brash, bold women who fearlessly pursued their dreams, protected their loved ones, and used their powers to do good with reckless abandon.
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Kinda mid
First few episodes weren’t bad, I didn’t find any of the characters as engaging as the first iteration. The OTP whole cute enough had no real chemistry.Yes the SML/baddie has more substance but still left me underwhelmed. He does however fill out his suits really well.
The one point where this series trumps SWDBS is with the secondary characters, they were a lot less silly.
I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it. Unsure if I will rewatch this where as I have rewatched SWDBS multiple times.
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You can watch but don't expect to much.
Personally, I'm still enjoying some scenes in this drama despite some serious scriptwriting issues and I give this drama a big minus because of the scriptwriting.I actually have no complaints about the side stories in SWDBS because there weren't many of them and they were all really fun characters, but in this drama, there's so much focus on other stories and too many side character stories that the writer neglects our main couple story.
Grandma's story is my favorite out of all of them. She has a lot of scenes but doesn't overshadow the main characters' stories, and her love life is seriously hilarious.
As for the main couple's love story, I'm neither a villain team nor a male lead team.
The writer appears to be forced to cram their love story into this investigative comedy drama. I'm still puzzled as to why the writer gave the villain to have some feelings for the female lead. Logically, he was not supposed to feel kind toward other people and certainly wasn't supposed to have put any trust in other people, since he was raised by other villains.
Regarding our NamSoon, I genuinely enjoy her outgoing nature. She loves herself and is an optimistic girl. It is unfortunate that her mother's story overshadowed her own because the author is overly fixated on the mother.
Anyway, I'm still looking forward to their third season. Despite the fact that there appeared to be less plot in season 1 than in season 2, the first season was a lot of fun. I just hope the writer writes better characters and a better script that focuses more on her main character's story.
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Very entertaining, fast paced and not boring
I was hesitated to watch the prequel, although Im a big fan of the first sequel SGBS , the supernatural power and the fluffy sugary cute romance plot of the Park couple that made me adore that drama .Im afraid here in prequel they might not do it right and it will only disappoint me. Maybe because the synopsis wasnt really appealing to me. But then again there goes the saying
"Dont judge the book by its cover" , this is exactly what i felt in the first 2 episodes of this drama. I was surprised how I really liked it! The cinematography is jaw dropping! The flow of the story is fast paced , very enjoyable to watch and there's no minute that i didnt enjoy nor bored , i actually really enjoyed it and these are just only 2 episodes.
Now it make sense why it just only came in in Netflix for 2 days now and it's already trending and it reached to top 10 # 6 in US Netflix today. I think i found my favorite show this year!!
Will update this review once i completed the drama.
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Is it disappointing ? Yes but good
Okay to be honest if I watched till ep no 08 i would have given even better review but between the ep 09- 13 it was really hard if you ask they should have cut short those episodes.The power was over the top but for its okay it's good until ep 8.
But last three episodes again so good not best better than all other episodes of the show.
Many say it's over the top and I agree but it's what you expect from this series i think wasn't much of a problem to me. Only problem we have three characters doing same silly use of power which made lot of cringe factors kick in.
I think main couple has same chemistry as orginal only problem they won't allowed to shine except they were using the villain which is also working but why ?
Problem will go on but as i said first half is good and finally three episodes is better middle part rough as going in desert if you don't dig in the villon because main point of the story and grandma love triangle which is by far is super hard to pass on.
I don't think acting as no problem every did there role better but seriously the production team or make up team as series problem on cloth choice they made sometime it horrible to watch the actor wearing those.
They made first episode epik and lost all intrest and made a too hard to fallow ( I mean in character wise) character story
Thank you for reading 😊
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Jamie Choi
Honestly, the beginning of this drama was amazing! I would rate it a 10 if i only saw like the first 2 episodes. It ultimately started to digress after ep 10. Nonetheless, it was an easy watch and extremely comedic.The plot holes DID become more evident after ep 7, but nothing too bad to scare me away from the kdrama.
Overall, i think it was half decent! The actors were really good, and its such a fun watch! Anytime things got serious or scary, mc would whip out a joke.
Lighthearted drama, nothing too bad or too good, but i would recommend if you like comedic dramas!
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