Strong Girl Nam Soon

A waste of time, honestly

This show gave me nothing. I had low expectations since I loved the first version, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, but this one was even lower than my expectations. I didn't care about the characters, most of the were SO annoying and I couldn't get past it. I liked the grandmas storyline and that was about it.
The drug plot was confused and weird and I found I got bored half way through and couldn't focus on what was happening.
The romance was boring and rushed at the same time. I didn't feel like the main leads connected at all and then suddenly they were getting married. It felt like they forced a romance plotline in to get the views but they didn't really want it in there.
The ending wasn't really satisfying for me. Nothing was fully wrapped up (possibly they want to follow the new trend of adding more seasons) but it's not worth a second season.

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Do Not Watch!!!!

Seriously, I finished this drama when it was coming out. Technically I didn't cuz i couldn't even bring myself to watch the last two episodes. I initially went into this drama because I love love loved "Strong Girl Do Bong Soon" and because I absolutely love Byeon Wooseok but unfortunately my love for either of them couldn't make me like this drama one bit!

First the story line and plot, what the hell was happening? Such a messy story writing cuz when did Heesik and Namsoon even started dating? The timing was so freaking off! And the whole Ryu Shioh plot didn't make sense at all! Now a lot of people came at me and complained about how its only because the villain is handsome and if it was an ugly actor then I wouldn't give a freak. Nope absolutely not, because what do you mean by Shioh being tortured all his childhood and abused then forced into this and is still the bad guy? What do you mean he bought the orphanage where he was kidnapped from and turned it into a boxing ring? What do you mean he opened a store for his father that abandoned him so that he could sustain himself? Please just start making villain actual villains if you are going to give them this kind of endings! Even if they choose the ugliest (I didn't wanna use this word but that's what people were coming at me with) actor for the role of Ryu Shioh I would have still feel bad for him and wished him a better future and a second chance at life.

Now I won't even talk about the mom because honestly she was horrible!!! What were those comments about Namin's weight and always criticizing him for the smallest things ever? Didn't like the grandma either. Namsoon's character was very cartoonish and stupid honestly, the only reason she became a cop at the end is because of her super strength and nothing else! What do you mean she and her mother saw the good in Hwa ja even when she tried to murder Namsoon but they couldn't use their brain to think for a single second about Shioh's situation and what might have caused him to become this person? I mean I guess Namsoon did think about that but when you might ask? The moment Shioh was holding that gun to his head.

The only tolerable characters were the dad and the whole reason why I watched this show was because of Byeon Wooseok. I also loved the Minmin and Bongbong Cameo but that's all, everything else was not satisfactory at all!

I hope that the whole sad villain backstory will stop in kdramas and I hope you all know that I am a hundred percent not hating the real actors and actresses, I am however hating on the director and writer of this story cuz how did you write this and read it and was like yes this is amazing like what part of it made sense to you for you to make it a drama? That plus making it a sequel to one of the best kdrama that exist? Lets get it together and not make a mistake like this again!

Honestly a big reason why I am so mad is because this drama had soooo much potential, like so much potential where if the changed the plot just a tiny bit this could have been a great kdrama. They could have not given Shioh the sad backstory, if they still did give Shioh the sad backstory they could have made him work together with the police in the end to take Pavel down completely. I just said it shortly and you might think it doesn't make sense but obviously they did need to change a few things like how Shioh was forced to distribute the dr*gs and that he was actually secretly making the antidotes and he also secretly wanted to take Pavel down but didn't have enough power alone because he knew that Pavel had connections with the police as well and Geum Ja, the mother, the grandmother, Namsoon and Heesik could have formed a secret group with Shioh to take Pavel down and distribute the antidotes so that people who took the drugs could survive.

Honestly I could go on and on but I'll just stop here, I have ranted enough, I got everything off my chest.




P.S If you loved this drama good for you, I am glad you enjoyed it but this is just my opinion. Or maybe you went into it with a lower expectation so it is not as disappointing for you, honestly that is great but as a drama that was promoted as Strong Girl Do Bong Soon season 2 and sequel it shouldn't have been this disappointing.

If you want to watch this drama I highly do NOT recommend it, save your time, save your tears that will go to waste and save yourself! Kisses~~~

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Totally incoherent “morality tale”

I’m writing this review partly to try to make sense of what I’ve just watched. I have NEVER seen a kdrama fumble it like this series did, to the extent that I genuinely wonder whether there was outside-the-story/corporate control influencing the story.

We all know the premise of (most) kdramas. There is the female lead, the male lead, second male lead, and often there is also a villain. The female lead and male lead are the OTP who are usually going to end up together, and their relationship gets the most focus. Second male lead doesn’t really stand a chance but he will get some other kind of happy ending. Villain is evil so they will be punished. You’re following me so far, right?

Now, for some reason, the writer of Strong Girl Nam Soon decided to spice up this formula, which is not a problem in itself — the problem is that the resulting story is totally incoherent. It is an insane choice to push your first male lead off to the sidelines and instead place the whole story/conflict/narrative drive between your female lead and “second male lead” who, in this drama, is actually the romantic villain. Meanwhile, the actual supposed main couple have barely any screen time together for the majority of the show (this is NOT an exaggeration), let alone any relationship conflict which is bizarre considering kdramas LOVE romantic melodrama. As you can see from most of the reviews here, this leads to the audience not being invested in the main couple and instead being more interested in the female lead/villain enemies-to-lovers storyline — only then to be disappointed by the show reverting to the status quo of hero+heroine 4ever.

There was literally no reason for the drama to do any of this, mind you. There was no *need* per se for the heroine versus villain storyline to become romantic — it could have just been about Namsoon trying to infiltrate the corporation and find out Ryu Sio’s secrets, while he becomes obsessed with her super-strength etc. without necessarily any romantic overtones. And yet, the show actually goes out of its way to put UST into this dynamic in the writing/acting AND direction, not to mention dedicates a really substantial amount of screen-time to female lead basically dating the villain (again, NOT an exaggeration).

Meanwhile, the ostensible male lead has no character arc, no internal conflict, and no actual flaws to overcome. The only significant things we know about him are 1) he’s a cop, 2) he had a brother who was shot, motivating him to become a cop, 3) he gets upset when his boss dies from the drug because it reminds him of his brother dying. This is all groundwork for character development that never actually emerges. He also likes and is overprotective towards Namsoon, but feels emasculated by her carrying him (booooooo get over it, you will never be Minhyuk).

The writing for the female lead is also disappointing. After reuniting with her birth family, Namsoon’s character development basically stops and there is no clear character arc where she has to question her beliefs/overcome her flaws. Some have commented here that they were disappointed Namsoon doesn’t try to help/sympathise with Ryu Sio. Firstly to be clear, Namsoon isn’t obliged to help someone who is actively trying to kill her family. That being said, I think the disappointment from viewers comes from the writer fundamentally misunderstanding the hero/villain archetypal relationship. The villain exists to challenge the hero, drawing attention to their similarities as well as differences; they are two sides of the same coin. In SGNS, Namsoon challenges Sio in that she taps into his heart which was long unused. However, for Namsoon, there is no point in the story where she questions herself/her own life/her beliefs due to her relationship with Sio. The only time that she acknowledges their similarities (i.e. being “adopted” one way or another) is after his death; imagine how much more compelling this would have been if she actually struggled with this internally while actively manipulating him. However, the writer isn’t interested in giving Namsoon any real struggles or flaws to overcome. She is meant to be a Strong Female Character (TM) and ultimately the embodiment of the show’s anti-drug/copaganda message.

As many here have noted already, Ryu Sio is the only one of the main characters who is well-executed — and this is because he is the only character with clear goals, clear flaws, a clear back-story motivating his present actions, clear vulnerabilities, AND a fully realised character arc (albeit a tragic one). It is therefore absolutely no surprise that his character is the most popular/beloved. I have a theory that Ryu Sio was the writer’s favourite too, as they actually put effort into his character while neglecting virtually everything else about the show. And it has to be said that Byeon Woo-seok kills it. He is both chilling and devastating and has The Range. Probably the best scene that demonstrate this is when he shoves a golf club down some guy’s throat then in the next breath calls up Namsoon with a completely different demeanour to ask how she’s doing and say he misses her. Now THAT’S a character.

IN CONCLUSION, this drama is a wildly uneven mess that seems mainly to exist as a ham-fisted PSA about drugs, which backfires as the drug lord is the most beloved character among viewers.

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You will never be glamour.

Due to the many storylines it possessed, it failed for us [as the audience] to connect with any character or story.

I found myself rooting for Ryu Sioh (played by Byeon Wooseok) simply because he was the only character to have had any depth and growth even if it felt short towards the end; he was not immune to the awful writing.

The writers ignored what made Strong Woman Do Bongsoon so special. Bongsoon (played by Park Boyoung) was just like anyone else — she was flawed. She made mistakes and was held accountable. She grew as a person as the story progressed and the supporting cast was vital to what we saw. Whereas Strong Girl had so much elements that ultimately failed to anchor each other (drug cartel, the Russian mafia, capitalism, poverty, addiction, scams, homelessness, and way more). We know we're supposed to care about these things, but it fell short in the end because it was just an overload of content that didn't make sense.

Hwang Geumjoo (played by Kim Jungeun) was lifeless. A terrible mother who cared more about this arbitrary belief that she was meant to cure the world of its wrong by throwing her wealth at it. She is a failed attempt at being Batman (wealth, black ensemble, adopting corrupt children?). She fails her son, Gang Namin (played by Han Sangjo), by fatshaming him and only caring when it comes to bite her in the ass. She fails her ex-husband, Gang Bonggo (played by Lee Seungjoon), by focusing on her empire, fundamentally, leading to their divorce. She fails Kang Namsoon (played by Lee Yoomi) the most. She loved the idea of her daughter and urged her to be a miniature version of herself.

Namsoon was a caricature of herself. There was a constant reminder that she was raised in Monoglia, but it was never utilized properly. "She's from Mongolia, so please excuse her Korean. She was not taught to speak formally." That was the only time it was brought up. I wish there was a storyline (we already had so many, what's one more) where she struggled to connect with her biological family and Korean heritage. Her Mongolian life (and most importantly, her parents who raised her) was erased. Geumjoo throws money at them as a thank you as that's the only thing her character does.

Don't even get me started on the forced romance between Gil Joonggan (played by Kim Haesook) and Seo Joonhee (played by Jeong Boseok) that got more attention and progression than anything [and anyone] else albeit leading to nowhere. Kang Hee Shik (played by Ong Seongwu) and Namsoon got less screen time despite being the main leads, which [to no one's surprise] had their development suffer.

There was way more emphasis on the responsibility of wielding their power (as seen as Do Bongsoon's mother losing it). Strong Girl's family uses it freely without consequence and there's never a moment where they're hesitant or mindful of their actions. It weakens the importance of Bongsoon's sacrifice. Almost completely retconning the history and gravity of their constitution. Why is there a lack of repercussions in Strong Girl?

Judging from the extra scenes in the finale, it seems that this universe will expand and given from what we got here, it will be even worse.

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Watch at your own risk

Okay first of all, im a really big fan of SWDBS. I love the min min couple, i mean PBY did an excellent job as a cast along with PHS but for this drama, i have to say otherwise. I’m watching for them as a cameo and BWS. The reason why i gave the acting a high rating is because of BWS. I really didn’t expect this show to be THE WORST DRAMA. I mean by worst is compared to SWDBS, this is just the worst. It is as bad as it can get. Please, read the warnings and watch it at your own risk.

Some things just doesn’t make any sense and everything is just cringey even the ML and FL.

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Strong Girl Namsoon: Great Villain, Everything Else Forgettable

As someone who loved Strong Girl Do Bong-Soon, I was genuinely excited for Strong Girl Namsoon. But sadly, this sequel turned out to be a huge disappointment.

The original had a perfect blend of quirky humor, fun action, and amazing chemistry between the leads. But this one lacks everything that made the first series memorable. The female lead and male lead have zero chemistry—every scene between them feels forced and lifeless. It’s hard to believe that the same writer who created the magic of Do Bong-Soon came up with this.

The main female lead’s acting is also a major letdown. She constantly pulls strange facial expressions that completely ruin the character. Instead of appearing strong and clever, she ends up looking confused or silly. It’s not charming or funny—it just makes the character seem foolish. And the superpowers have gone too far. Now she has ridiculous powers like super-jumping and supervision, which completely take away from the grounded fun of the original show.

But here’s the surprising part: the villain is actually the best thing about this series. He’s the only character who feels genuine and well-written. His presence on screen is powerful, and honestly, I found myself looking forward to his scenes more than anyone else's. The actor brought intensity and depth to the role, which made him stand out in a drama where most characters felt flat or exaggerated.

The plot itself goes nowhere fast. It starts off with potential but quickly becomes repetitive and uninteresting. There’s no spark, no emotional hook, and no good reason to stay invested—except, maybe, for the villain.

Also, the only moment that brought real excitement was the cameo of the original couple. That short appearance had more heart than the entire rest of the series.

Final thoughts: if you’re a fan of Strong Girl Do Bong-Soon, do yourself a favor and skip this. It doesn’t live up to the name and only damages the legacy of the original.

Rating: 3/10 (only because of the villain and the cameo)

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NOT WORTH THE HYPE ?

people put too much hype into a show like this, first the storyline was just messy and boring at the end only due to most peoples bae ryeo sio but i didnt even bother watching last 2 episodes so ill tell you its not worth it please stick to the original show the spinoff sucks😭😭
i hated the fact that all this season was about just more koreas how drugs are bad for you sort of thing including that so many instances where they talked about having kids ( koreas population problems which they wanna fix) like the whole plot couldv been so much kore interesting if they made the antagonist the male lead wouldv been much more fun and they had more chemistry,the female lead and sio gosh plus the screen time too but with the male lead hes just “the good guy” so ofc he would end up with her with barely any chemistry and screentime together (ill even say that he had more chemistry with FL’s mom 😭 ridiculous but seemed like that) and sio just proclaimed as the “bad guy” throughout and how you cant be forgiven for doing drugs and blah blah. I feel like this season was just Korea, trying to put their whole thing out for the korean public. all in all this season was boring i havent even finished ep 15 and 16 but eveyone just stick to the ACTUAL show.

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A big Disappointment!! I hate what they did to Ryu Shi Oh's character.

SWDBS is one of my favorite kdrama but SGN is bullsh*t. I give Strong Girl Namsoon 1 out of 10. Here are the reasons why…
Let’s talk about positive things in this drama;

1. This is a Comic drama where I wasn't expecting logic.

2. Min-min couple cameo:

Park Bo Young as Do Bong Soon and Park Hyung Sik as Ahn Min Hyuk are the cutest couple in the kdrama world. Their cameo is the reason for me to watch this.

3. Kim Jung Eun as Hwang Geum Joo mother of Namsoon:

Those who didn’t watch the drama might think that this kdrama is all about Hwang Geum Joo and she is the main lead cuz she lit the screen and we saw her as an ML instead of a supporting character.

4. Fans including me love the villain Ryu Shi Oh aka Byeon Woo Seok:

Yes, He is the villain so he should at least die like a villain and not just a side character. I was disappointed with the writer cuz they didn’t do justice to his character instead killed him pathetically. Cuz of his popularity he could have become the greatest villain of the Kdrama world but writers did him wrong. I wasn't shipping him with Namsoon obviously cuz he is the villain so make him bad but not pathetic, please.

Now the minus points and why fans don’t like this drama much;

1. Lee You Mi aka Kang Nam Soon acting is cringe-worthy:

She gained quite a popularity after the Squid game and All of Us Are Dead. In the beginning of the few episodes she was doing okay but in the middle, her acting was getting more and more cringe. she tried so hard to look cute that she forgot to act and in the last 2 episodes, she was so done with her acting.

2. No chemistry between the main leads:

Their romance was forced and not what we enjoy, they have no chemistry between them. There was also no love triangle cuz she was friendly with Ryu Shi Oh and some fans shipping them. The director and the writers could have made the main lead romance worthy to watch but they failed.

3. Lots of side characters with story and screen time:

My question is why? those characters have zero contribution to the story. There are lots of unnecessary side characters who are given screen time instead of creating chemistry between the main leads.

4. Namsoon's grandmom Gil Joong Gan has a much more interesting love life than her.

5. It’s not only Lee You Mi who did bad acting but other characters also do that and the fact that Hwang Geum Joo throws money on everyone's faces and they just accept it like Namsoon's adoptive mother she won’t even hesitate and happily accept it like a bagger.

7. The whole story roams around a drug case related to a Russian mob group and in the end, they still have not completely resolved it.

8. Creating Ryu Shi Oh emotional backstory with an extremely difficult childhood and then showing that he is doing that to find his friend (in the starting) and in the end, his same friend just came to kill him… is so messed up what writers wanted to do?

9. There were lots of plot holes and things which were not make any sense which we could have ignored if the drama gave us something to ignore.

The only reason for me to watch the whole drama was Byeon Woo Seok and it was so difficult to finish this drama… I had to force myself to watch the last 2 episodes It was unbearable. I give it 1 star please don't make Season 3. I will not watch it!!

I don’t recommend Strong Girl Namsoon even if you are a Strong Woman Do Bong Soon fan.

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The women are way too overpowered and that makes it boring

Namsoon is born with a superhuman strength from her mother's blood, but she went missing as a child in Mongolia. When she grows up she comes to Gangnam, South Korea to find her parents. Her mother tried to find her while also tried to live a righteous life with doing good deeds, but her family is involved in a drug case. A young detective join forces on the drug case to solve it together...

First impression 4 eps in, too much overacting in my opinion and I wasn't in the mood for it at that time, So I pause it and caught up on the final week it's airing because I do like how the story focused on the women. You get to see them all in their different personalities, and how they use their strength and how their strengths are perceived by other people in their lives and around them... Namsoon and her interactions with people in her life is beautiful. This part is cute and fun but it doesn't really move the plot. Apparently the women seem to always win and while it is cool to see it makes it kind of boring. No tension in the fights because she will definitely beat them, it's like Tom and Jerry. I need my hero to struggle a bit in dealing with challenges.

Ong Seong Wu… He's in his coming-of-age phase and wuaw, so handsome! His acting impressed me in Moment of 18 but unfortunately, his character here is not very interesting. I feel no romance chemistry between the leads – but they're very good as friends. The only character who is most interesting throughout is the villain. Some characters has no real purpose in the story. It's fun to watch if you enjoy a cheesy & campy superhero story, but that's it.

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I Refuse to Believe Beak Mi Kyung Wrote This

I can not stress this enough, quit while you're ahead. The story at first seems promising, but the added side quests, stupid character choices, and lack of having the ML & FL in the same room for more than 5 minutes doomed this to be the worst show I completed in 2023.
There is entire side quest with a homeless couple that goes nowhere. They dont stay close with any other member of the cast & break up after both receiving money from FL's mother for helping her.
The fake daughter had so much potential for storyline, but they fridged her in the end.
The FL had more screen time with the villain of the show as he was her boss and in closer proximity to the FL. Having her stay in the ML's apartment could have been a way to have them interact more, but he's almost never there when she is. They never take the time to flesh out the FL's feeling when it comes to her relationship to ANYONE. She has a long lost TWIN brother...has dinner with him 2 or 3 times.
I figured out who the "big bad" was during the first episode they appear.
If they wanted a story for 16 episodes instead of 20 like the previous series, they should have cut the fat. The uncle storyline wasnt necessary in the least. Why are we having multiple scenes with a doctor we never see again, and why do we need him to learn more about the secretary/anchor woman? Answer...we dont.
As a final note to end on...what senior detective, not just a cop but SENIOR DRUG DETECTIVE, touches an unknown substance that is known to KILL people with their bare hands and then proceed to stick the drug covered finger IN THEIR MOUTH! When the supposed smartest person in the room is too stupid to live I should have known to cut bait.

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I'll make it short...

Strong Girl Namsoon had a cool premise with the mix of the different approaches of feminism, but the story went off the rails.
Kang Nam Soon's search for her parents in Gangnam turns into this weird drug case involving her family, and it just feels forced.
The detective subplot is okay, but they threw in a villain, Ryu Si Oh, who's the only thing worth watching.
The writing is a mess, though.
No clear direction, and it feels like the writers lost their way.
The family dynamics are interesting, but the lackluster plot overshadows it.
Despite some cool action scenes and good performances, the show doesn't live up to its potential—just a letdown.
The series could have done better in delivering a more coherent and empowering feminist storyline.

( I'm being generous here so I gave 8 because I'll be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it a bit )

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I was so excided to watch this and so disappointed by the end of it.

With Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (Swdbs) being one of my favorite dramas and this one being a sequel written by the same person I thought this would be a great show but I couldn't be more wrong. WTF was this show?
P.S. For those of you who are going to tell me to look at it as a different show and not compare it to Swdbs, No, just no it's a sequel taking place in the same world, and Bong Soon literally has a cameo. So I'm going to compare.

This drama is supposed to be an action rom-com but there are no enjoyable action scenes and it doesn't help that there is basically never any suspense as the "heroes" in the story at all times have the upper hand. There is never a moment where it feels like Shi Oh is going to succeed in his plan. Then for the fighting scenes, I guess they are somewhat okay however this story is supposed to take place not long after Swdbs yet so much of this part of the family's strength is different and what's with their ability to know when the others are in trouble when that's not something that existed in Swdbs. As for the romance part of things literally, none of the characters who are supposedly in love with each other have any chemistry. As for the comedy, nothing was funny, there wasn't a single humorous moment.

On top of that, about half of this show feels like filler scenes. What even is the importance of any of the scenes with that homeless couple past the first few episodes? Anyway, this is overall a very disappointing show and while I would like to watch a better sequel, I think it's best if we stop here. This drama just shows why it's better to only have 1 season shows.

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