Strong Girl Nam Soon

The writers didn't know what they wanted out of the story.

As the headline says, the writers either didn't know what they wanted, or decided it was okay to create a story that is very distasteful to the complexities of life and people.
They chose to portray a world that was black and white, where having incredible strength gives a person the right to judge, jury and executioner.
They decided it was okay to allow people never wronged by life to judge the fate a person who was only ever wronged.
To decide who does and does not get a second chance.
The only thing they gave depth to was Shi-oh as a character, and even that they messed up, by tossing him aside as common garbage, simply for the methods he ( had no choice but to use ) so as to avoid dying.
He was a bad person, but he was a person that wanted to live, and the dramas only message was that he should have just died to begin with, rather then become a bad person to survive.
If this character was in a different drama, i wouldn't mind, but in this drama its insulting.
The drama is a joke, in a very misguided and tasteless way, with shallow characters and an even more shallow representation of people and the struggles they go through.
In the end, the (good) characters were worse then the villain, because what good is a good heart when its conditional upon a persons actions.
They justified their own actions because it was for the good.
Many people thought that, and they were seldom right.

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Different but good

I admit I was more than a little bit apprehensive about watching SGNS because it shared nothing with SWDBS which it is kinda based off of and I really enjoyed. But after the first episode I was like, " this is incredible". It's an interesting combination of kdrama 2016 and marvel movies, something that I've never seen in a K-dramas. It's new familiarity, it gives you that nostalgia that old K-dramas give but at the same time it gives you that thrill, that excitedness with the wonderful made special effects thats marvel movies give. ..I'm honestly excited for what's to come.

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The female lead was so annoying and had the maturity level of a kindergartener. She was extremely annoying and it was so hard to watch the scenes with her. The only thing that saved this drama was Byeon Woo seok who played Ryu Si-o so well! The villain was brilliantly portrayed, by him. He was evil, heartless, cruel, and so good looking and the actor made the audience somewhat sympathize with his situation and what made him that way. I wish they hadn’t ended his character that way and he was still alive. Very disappointed. I would prob rewatch with only his scenes. I could look at Byeon Woo Seok all day. I hope to see him in more roles.

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Just save yourself and don't watch this.

oh gosh, where to start.

Like the majority i was also really looking forward to this drama and boyyy was i disappointing. i was in no way comparing this to the prequel, it was just objectively a really bad drama.

- In my opinion the whole premise had great potential- who doesn’t like strong female leads! But even from the first episode i was side-eyeing the entire time, nothing made sense. For e.g. Namsoon initially getting lost in Mongolia was stupid anyway- but her rich family’s inability to find her was even more ridiculous. Having all that money and resources to be able to find someone anywhere, and they decide to hold a strength competition¿? within KOREA when your child went missing in MONGOLIA. how would a literal CHILD make her own way back to korea??

- though the first few episodes were silly it was still enjoyable, but as it went on it was just ridiculous and the humour seemed very exaggerated to a point it got me skipping most scenes.

- the plot in itself felt like there was too much going on. The writer could've done something profound and hard hitting with the drug storyline but it just turned out to be lacklustre and lame. There so many subplots that it actually took away from the interesting ones. and then more characters were added without any backstory or any real purpose other than highlighting certain plot points.

- Namsoon lacked the charm the writers intended for her to have, there was no use for her to be ‘childish’ considering she still had a good upbringing and had been around civilisation. Her initial lack of formalities was confusing considering she did spend her childhood in korea.

- unnecessary side characters i.e the homeless couple. What did they even bring to the story. I even thought the dad and brother were useless- i wish they gave the brother some sort of strength and substance. ANY sort of use tbh.

- min min couple were the saving point lol

- Even though i saw the charm of Ryu Sio, and i admit i had high hopes for him, but even his character was poorly written. Lets be honest, he was a sh*t villain, seriously how can you be so dumb to let his girl anywhere near you and your secrets? however he was just the best of the bunch, the only character that had some depth and a background story which made viewers like the guy, knowing damn well that he’s a murderous pyschopath. And even after his death they still added some MORE backstory. What do we now do with this info??

- gave all that character development to Ryu Sio to then have him kill himself in the first 20 mins of the episode and then have the other characters continue on with their day like nothing had happened. There was no real closure for his character.

- Heesik was just…THERE. lol ok he’s a cop and he's inherently good, he had a brother that died. WHAT ELSE?? PLEASE TELL ME MORE. He’s one of the main characters but there was nothing interesting about him. just bland.

- no chemistry between the leads in my opinion, It was cute that they liked each other from the get go, but as the show went they had less scenes together to a point that their ‘love’ seemed random and unnatural at the end.

- why did the grandma and her lover need all that screen time. Unnecessary and unwanted.

- how did Namsoon’s mongolian mum pass airport security with a BOMB? is the security in korea that bad?

- The mothers acting was just too over the top. Billionaire and secret vigilante, who gets their hair and makeup done before any heroism can take place.

- the women in show apparently had some connection when great strength is taking place but couldn’t use that connection to find their lost daughter.

- how did Namsoon become a police office when she evidently lacks any knowledge of the law or any form of training for that matter.

there’s so many things that i found ridiculous whilst watching this that i can continue the list but let me finish here. It was implied that there might be sequel… PLEASE NO. just stop right here lol

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this drama is awful

the beginning was good and everything seemed pretty well until the reunion of mother and daughter. the show turned cringe, no proper plot twists, bad acting and no chemistry between the leads at all! the ending was weird as well. the only plot twist was very predictable. the focus was more on the mother and the grandmother and there were so many plot holes. overall i would never recommend and yes please dont waste ur time watching this. i watched with the hope that it can turn good at any moemnt but alas it didnt. disappointed by the female lead. and there is no comparison between this and the og

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SO FAR A GREAT REBOOT

I was a bit sceptic but mostly excited about this show. I was scared they were gonna stray away from the original vibe, but so far, it brings back so many references and memories from the original show. I laughed so hard, just as I did with Bong-soon. So far, I'm loving every second, and can't wait for the rest of the episodes. Casting is great, newer actors are included which is expected since that was the case with Bong-soon aswell. Excited for Byeon Woo-seok as the villain, we were used to seeing him as this sweet, loving guy, so this is a great change. I know Lee Yoo-mi from 'All of us are dead' and it'll be great to see her as this complete opposite. I'm loving the overall feminist vibe, it has gotten even more noticable in this show. Also, I'm so, so, so excited for cameo of our favourite Bong Bong & Min Min couple.

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Such a disappointment.

I watched this drama because of my love for the original.
First episodes were good, the story of Namsoon and his mother was touching... then everything went down.
Namsoon was too infantilized, so much so she was annoying. Added to this, the main couple had little screen time and in my opinion lackluster chemistry, it was boring to watch them.
I stayed until the end just because of the only character that I still cared enough for, Ryu Shi Oh and his ending was an unfunny joke.

I only rescue from this drama the performance of Byeon Woo-seok and the cameo of Park Bo-young and Park Hyung-Sik.

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A good show with faulty plot

I didnt have the same problem as the other viewers had. I didnt think Ryu Shio was my favorite character like everyone else. And also, i liked all the character and the side stories. I liked the mom & bread song the best, and even namsoon's youthfulness (which turned off a lot of viewers early on). But the main plot which was the drug angle could have worked better if it made sense. Like why did the drug make Shio strong but not make Namsoon even stronger in the beginning of episode 16. Why are so many people taking a drug that doesnt even taste good. It weakened the overall story and i basically skippes the second half of the last episode where everybody is happy and one big family. Would have rated an 8 if it all came together. My rating 6.5 stars.

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Strong in the Wrong Way

Sequels can be suspect especially after a very successful original. However, this series had a nice start with all the unique connections and developments and then it started to become a cheesy, bad, awkward, silly mess. The romance between the leads felt not only forced but unrealistic at times due to the quirkiness of the FL. After a while, I found myself more interested in the villain plot than any other part of the series. It started to drag even when there was action. The choppiness of trying to link everything together missed the mark. OST was forgettable. This fell flat. NOT WORTH THE WATCH!

Suggestion: Watch the original IT IS WAY BETTER!

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I just wish it was better

as soon as this was announced I was so hyped and excited because SWDBS is one of my absolute favorite kdramas of all time . I can’t believe this is written by the same person who made SWDBS .
the writing here is so so bad , first 3 episodes were promising , well start - also with park bo young and park hyung sik appearance that literally made my entire year better . but then the storyline became so weak and messy .
too many side stories with so many screen time???? tell me tf why the grandma and her bf had more romance and screen time then our main couple??????
and the mother made me so mad sometimes I couldn’t stand her behavior , the way she treated her son was too much . she only talked and cared about namsoon , she definitely has favorite child and thats so messed up .
the only thing I liked since the beginning was main leads romance that we didn’t even get much of .
I wish main lead - hee shik had more back story and storyline other than just been there as the hot cop bf of namsoon .
in SWDBS the romance also wasn’t the main focus but it’s was done so beautifully in the drama , and the powers of bong soon , and her personality and her actions and just bong soon in general was a good character . the mystery in SWDBS was so much more interesting than the drugs shit in here .
i couldn’t care less about the drugs 😭😭😭

now for rye shi oh - woo seok did amazing here .
rye shi oh he had an interesting backstory and mostly because of that people liked him more . I really think is the most interesting character here and that’s sad that he had to get that ending but that’s also what he deserved as the villain .
for the people who shipped nam soon and him - that’s a big no . namsoon might felt a little bit sad sometimes for him but for most part she hated him , he tried to kill her mother 😭and also her at the end . so definitely not romantic relationship there for me . but the actors do look good together on screen.
but that’s just my personal opinion

it could have been so much better .. the romance between hee shik and namsoon - I wished we had more . our main lead hee shik - more screen time and story for himmm because he’s literally the main lead .
namsoon - firstly why cut her hair ??😭 , I wished she didn’t act most of the time like a child .
THE GRANDMA DIDNT NEED THAT MUCH SCREENTIME WITH HER BF I JUST HATED THIS IM SORRY . IT WASNT INTERESTING OR CUTE .
the mother was just annoying but the actress is fire
nam in was the cutest brother loved him and the father was a good one .
and the drugs storyline was not done properly , it was boring , not interesting or moving at all .

there’s people who might enjoy it more than I did , maybe if it was one of the first kdramas you watch or something it might be fun but just very very disappointing for me as someone who waited a lot for this and had high expectations . might be the biggest disappointment for me in 2023

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Jack of all trades, master of none.

While it occasionally deals a lot of fun with a large and stellar cast, Strong Girl Nam Soon suffers from trying a bit too hard to be many things: romantic-comedy, thriller/action, social commentary, and superhero fiction. It’s all of these things but also not really.

The thing is, one can see the story the show wants to tell: Strong Girl Nam Soon is about three generations of powerful women, each with an arc of their own. The grandmother, Gil Joong-gan (played by legend Kim Hae-sook) finds love, K-Drama-esque style, subverting the idea that cutesy rom-coms are only for the young. The mother, Hwang Geum-ju (played by the beautiful Kim Jung-eun) is a self-made woman who climbed to the top without getting her hands dirty, and now uses her wealth and power to save the country from drugs. The daughter, the titular Gang Nam-soon (played by the effervescent Lee Yoo-mi) is a combination of both: the hero and the lover, who wants to be the light in the dark for the people, and also to marry a Korean man. The premise is interesting! And it could have been powerful had it been executed well: a message that women, of all types and ages, can do anything.

The main storyline seems to drive towards Geum-ju and Nam-soon reuniting, and then taking down a mafia-backed company responsible for selling deadly drugs across South Korea. Helping them in this quest is the handsome cop Kang Hee-sik (played by the versatile Ong Seong-woo), who develops a bond with Nam-soon.

And it’s fine at first. But then the show kept adding subplots and elements: the homecoming of Joon-gil’s estranged husband to break her engagement bliss, the conflict between Nam-soon’s formerly homeless friends, and everything about the chronically fatigued uncle, to name some. And the way these subplots are placed in the episodes, it feels like they hinder the main story more than help it, so there are times when there’s a lot happening but nothing seems to be moving forward. You just have to deal with the shifts from action to fluffy romance to comedy. To use a line from an episode, Strong Girl Nam Soon, much like Nam-soon’s family’s conversations, ‘tend[s] to bounce around topics without warning’. This abrupt bouncing around actually lessens the impact of moments that are supposedly emotional or romantic, because before the audience can sit with the feelings and immerse in the mood projected by a particular scene, it cuts to a completely different scene with a different mood.

One redeeming quality of this drama is its villain, Doogo CEO and mobster Ryu Si-o. But when the villain is stealing the show, you know there’s something being done wrong. And it’s not just because Ryu Si-o is played by the ridiculously handsome Byeon Woo-seok, who has the acting chops AND carries himself so well any scene where he walks looks like a fashion runway. It’s because the writers made Ryu Si-o a complex character, instead of a straightforward villain who is evil for evil's sake. He was given a backstory: an orphan who grew up literally fighting for his life. His motives are revealed: he wants to be his own man, to be Ryu Si-o and not Pavel’s Anton. And he’s not just a cold, dangerous guy either. He’s open to love, and easily trusts people he likes. Some of the best, most emotional beats in the show actually come from him: a personal favorite is his confrontation with his childhood friend Binbin, telling him “I was abandoned three times. Once by my birth parents. Once by the woman I had trusted. And once more by the only friend I’ve missed. I wish to go out only having been betrayed twice.” This particular moment shows Si-o at his most vulnerable, the human behind the villain, and there is so much potential for his character that the writers are apparently aware of (judging from Nam-soon and Hee-sik’s commentary in the final episode) and chose to ignore because well, the story needs its villain.

And it’s true for this drama. Ryu Si-o is also a compelling character because he’s quite literally the only one dangerous enough for Hwang Geum-ju to see him as a real threat and challenge. Geum-ju, who can basically accomplish anything with her insane wealth and power. But even with Si-o’s best attempts, the whole investigation seems to fall almost perfectly into place for Geum-ju’s team, because they’re the epitome of good, and good always wins. Which is nice, except it seemed too easy and predictable. After Si-o’s death (which was 20 minutes into the final episode), everything was wrapped up pretty quickly, which left me wondering what other interesting things does the story have left to offer?

The romance between Nam-soon and Hee-sik is cute, but it’s really not anything to talk about because it wasn’t the center of the story (I’m not even going to talk about the chemistry between Nam-soon and Si-o, because I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop. But yes, I saw the vision but it was also a delusion).

As for the Strong Woman/Strong Girl lore, I think they shouldn’t have tried to expand on it only to force a romance at Nam-soon’s age or for a character to be overpowered. There are things that are much more interesting when they remain mysterious.

The women get their happy endings, which they deserve, but it doesn’t feel as satisfactory as I would have liked because again, it was expected and not really that hard-won.

Since Strong Girl Nam-soon is a spin-off, one cannot help but make a quick comparison to the show's predecessor, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is a quirky rom-com. It has its subplots and twists, but essentially, it's clear that it's a love story. In the series, Do Bong-soon and Ahn Min-hyuk develop a strong connection to each other, and along the way, they also grow individually as characters. It's memorable because of them.

For Strong Girl Nam Soon, it’s just a lot at once, and there’s no balance to the plotlines and emotions it offers. It does send home its message that women are awesome and can accomplish anything, but it loses impact because of messy writing choices and poor execution.

Also, they’re already losing me in the teaser for Season 3, because what do you mean a man now has the super-strength ability that should have been passed down the matrilineal line? Strong Woman/Strong Girl worked because they shattered the stereotype that women are weaker than men, so what will Season 3 try to prove?

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