Strong Girl Namsoon (2023)

Strong Girl Nam Soon; One of The Worst Dramas of 2023?

While it is wrong to entirely compare the prequel and sequel as they do focus on respectfully different characters, due to the heavy similarities and world building between them, I will be using the original to compare the quality in writing and decisions taken by the screenwriter. ( Be warned this is going to be a long review.)

Strong Girl Nam focuses on a pretty much carbon copy setup to its predecessor, give or take with some new storyline and characters to make it “ different”. The main heroine is Kang Nam Soon ( Lee You Mi), a girl with super strength who grew up in Mongolia. Desperate to find her birth parents, she journeys to South Korea where she encounters billionaire and her biological mother Hwang Geum Joo ( Kim Jung Eun) and grandmother Gil Joong Gan ( Kim Hae Sook). Both women possesses superstrength as traditional with the matriarchal line of the family.

Despite a complicated reunion, Nam Soon’s happy ending is far from complete when she becomes involved in a drugs case and helps out Detective Kang Hee Sik ( Ong Seong Wu) who is gradually developing feelings for Nam Soon after his encounter with her early on. As Nam Soon becomes more involved in this mysterious case, she also encounters the elusively mysterious entrepreneur Ryu Shi Oh ( Byeon Woo Seok). Will Nam Soon be able to live happily with her family or she is in too deep with the investigation?

To give the shown one thing it could have been a pretty interesting premise.The first few episodes were interesting in setting up the rough concept of the series and did introduce our characters as potentially intriguing . In particular; the notion that there could be more representation of women across different generations was really fun also. The series’ major problem early on though came from not really knowing what it wanted to be. Strong Woman Do Bong Soon had fun balancing out mystery whodunnit, comic relief and romance in a way which worked well and gave the characters some room for development. Strong Girl Nam Soon tries doing the same but,unlike its predecessor, really struggles in balancing it out.

It would be understandable if the show was leaning more towards lighthearted fun, but the irony of the matter was that for the most part, the mystery element of the series was arguably just as dark in concept as the original. The series did attempt to offer some more “ dramatic tension” in scenes relating to the drug case setup, but a mixture of overreacting and being overshadowed by the comic relief sadly didn’t give the storyline that much of a punch.

Speaking of comic relief, the series is definitely indecisive . There are certainly a few jokes which occasionally land quite well ( one of my favourites being when Gil Joong Gan schools the cops and encounters Park Bo Young’s cameo), but for the most part, the series seemed to struggle with a mixture of gradually tiresome gags ( particularly directed towards male characters for no other reason other than trying to poorly imitate the situational irony from the original.)


Acting-wise was a pretty mixed bag with a mixture of overreacting and pretty wooden dialogue and characterisation . Byeon Woo Seok probably shone through the most in the series with his performance ( without spoilers) as a more ambiguous character, though was not given full justice either by reduced screen time either . Lee You Mi and Ong Seong Wu are both good actors, but the writing really didn’t give them a lot of justice.

Characters are another major post which has to be discussed. Kang Nam Soon was arguably one of the most underdeveloped character in the series and that is saying something for someone whose name is involved in the titles. Fundamentally, Nam Soon embodies the “ girl with a kind heart” trope. She is somewhat naive to the world but is ultimately out to do the right thing.

The problem is that Nam Soon doesn’t have a lot of focus or personality as a character. This is really ironic considering how much potential surrounds her. After all, there was so much possibility to talk about her experiences growing up in Mongolia more and her adopted family ( a notion Nam Soon quite happily seemed to forget in favour of the plot setup), possible complicated feelings surrounding her family abandoning her ( as well as evident insecurities surrounding her mother in particular) and of course trying to control her strength or experiences in the past. For the most part, Nam Soon pretty much breezes past with the idea of super strength or just happily moving on from a separate life and another culture (which hardly seems bothered by ) into another.

She always seems to win fights and rarely struggles with any major difficulties aside from a few “ tense” moments ( especially later in the series) which are rarely delivered afterwards. To give its prequel it’s due, one major development for the heroine was learning to control her strength and insecurities around it . While both characters have grown up in different circumstances, the lack of flaws or awareness Nam Soon actually possesses of her own situation or character , made her pretty one-dimensional in a way which shouldn’t have been the case. ( Her ending was particularly a bit of a last minute conclusion which just didn’t make sense considering her personal experiences and background.)

The next major character to talk about is Nam Soon’s mother, Hwang Geum Joo, who arguably had the most screen time for some inexplicable reason. ( More than the actual heroine.)There are some mixed feelings with this character. On one hand, her storyline was so heavily drawn upon it was had not to focus on her in the show. However, Geum Joo rarely struggles to be as likeable as the show wants her to be.

This seems to a major problem with some characters. The show wants us to like them, but in reality, it’s hard to really digress what it is about them which meant to be so intriguing when it was forced on viewers.It is a shame as Geum Joo had a potentially very interesting story; a woman who has made it in the world, living a separate life from her husband and son , struggling with the loss of a daughter and running a business could have all been excellent writing points to give her flaws.


It seems as though the series was heading in the direction at one point, but the writing had other ideas, by presenting Geum Joo somehow prevailing through it all as a “ cool vigilante” or rarely being questioned for her actions. For example, Geum Joo is meant to be a “ motherly” figure but is rarely involved in the lives of her children . It’s never really explained exactly why Geum Joo has a somewhat estranged relationship with her son, something which could have been developed a lot more, especially when Kang Nam In ( Han Sang Jo) pretty much hit the nail on the head in saying Geum Joo spends a lot more time with Nam Soon than him. While the show wanted us to feel pity for her, I couldn’t help but agree with Nam In’s point more . (Although not when we rarely see Geum Joo interact with the daughter she’s seemingly been searching for desperately beyond the first few episodes really.) More importantly, what was going on between mother and son to hardly be involved with one another to that extent ? Is this a bond which has just fallen apart naturally or has something caused it? Simple coverage on these matters could have been used well for her development, but were instead neglected and gave her little development onscreen.


Gil Joong Gan is more of a minor character in the plot but as the matriarch of the family, she does have a sideline plot involving a potential love interest. She has a good heart fundamentally; but her constant role in interfering and interesting or being used in the romantic setup does begin growing a bit grating. Her romantic setup did seem quite sweet initially especially as we seen an “ opposites attract” scenario, but Joong Gan’s lack of empathy at times, non consensual decisions and near-obsession over him did start becoming a little tiresome.


Kang Hee Sik has risen a lot of debate by watchers in being more of a background character than a male lead as he’s pretty forgettable. Hee Sik is made to embody the “ good detective” trope. He is kind-hearted and brave and committed to his job. Evidently his encounter with Nam Soon makes him develop feelings and that’s all there is really is to say about him. Hee Sik could have been a really interesting character considering his involvement in the case and going into more depth about his personal drive for becoming a detective. Instead, he’s pretty much really there for a potential romance with Nam Soon and a bit of dramatic incitement .

Romance in the show js a bit of a hard one to go over. The main leads do have some chemistry in more comical moments , but there wasn’t really enough buildup due to lacking character development overall. The ending conclusion was expected though felt a little old-fashioned in deliverance.

Speaking of main characters, there’s of course Ryu Si-O, an antagonist in the series and a major mystery. Ryu Si-O was arguably one character the series did get right in maintaining mystery and ironically had better chemistry than the male lead with Nam Soon. Sadly the writing didn’t give him full justice.

The series struggled a lot with having too many side characters and not enough time. For example we have Secretary Jung Na-Young’s ( Oh Jung Yeon) potential romance going on, Ri Hwa-Ja / Lee Myung-Hee ( Choi Hee -Jin) criminal backstory, vagrants Ji Hyun-Soo ( Joo Woo-Jae) and No ( Kyungri), and then HSC Finance Triple’s storyline and then the Drug Gang on top. There was too much going on in the background.Rather than trying to focus on just a few, the plot attempted to cram in multiple subplots without a lot of development or further conclusions.


Pacing wise the series takes a bit of an odd turn. The first few episodes were fairly brisk, but the halfway point really tried rushing through the rest of the series without a lot of thought over execution. The plot reveal on the “ big bad” was meant to be a big surprise but felt more like a last minute throw in due to feeling rushed and somewhat out of place .

Cinematography and settings were a strong point for the series though. Music was a little out of place, particularly the ending credits.

Overall, Strong Girl Nam Soon really struggles with coming of its predecessor’s shadow. It had so much potential to be a well-written series about lost family and coming together to uncover a case, but a mixture of poor writing decisions, characterisation and plain characters and poor pacing made the series feel like it could be arguably be one of the worst shows of 2023. While the series may appeal to some in its own way, it’s fair to say most kdrama fans are going to probably stick with its original over this. Overall, a poorly-written drama with few redeeming features.

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I just can’t get over the villain

Don’t get me wrong. The cast is really good and their acting is amaizing of course but for me the problem is the plot. First of all the main couple(Nam soon and the police officer) has no chemistry for me. Their romance has so little screen time and suddenly they’re a couple and kissing. It was so bland for me. The plot would be a lot more interesting if she fell in love with the villain. He fell for her and was smiling multiple times which shown that she could change him, but instead she broke his heart. The plot is to blant, like I can figure out by myself what’s gonna happen next. The only plot that I like is the romance of Namsoon’s grandma. It’s just my personal opinion. I guess I was expecting something else from this drama.

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Super women vs. useless men

I was really hoping to love this show and get the same emotions that I got when watching Strong Woman Do Bong Soon since this is a spin off of that show. Unfortunately I do not get any of the same emotions and it does not arouse much of my interest. Comparing the two is inevitable since this is marketed as a spin off and even has a brief appearance of the original couple. What drew people in was the amazing chemistry that the parent show had. The three main characters in it had unbelievable chemistry that left you often laughing or swooning effortless. The episodes never felt long and the story was well managed and paced.

This show, however, does not meet any of that same criteria. It also does not focus on Nam Soon either. The focus of this show is centered around the 3 generations of women in this family that are strong. But some of the principles you learned about the gift in the parent show is ignored in this show. Even overlooking that aspect Nam Soon is essentially a super hero while all of the men around them are reduced to ridiculous and useless characters that carry no significance at all. It is practically an extreme feminist reversal of gender roles. Then you have the love triangle with the main antagonist, who carries most of the interest in this entire show, and the 'good guy' cop who both fall in love with Nam Soon. Personally I don't see the chemistry in either pair. You are just told by the writer that these men like her but as a viewer you have no idea why since she behaves like a middle school girl and shows no interest toward either man either. There is nothing about their interactions that convince you that any of these characters really like each other which could primarily be because the story follows so many different characters that there is not enough screen time for them to get you invested as a viewer. The mother has more screen time than Nam Soon whom the show is named for.

The story line and pacing for this show is also poorly done and not well flushed out leaving you often bored. You will find yourself wanting to skip significant portions fairly often. Personally I think that all the scenes with her grandmother could be completely removed and instead could have been used to better acquaint you with the main triangle. I have continued to watch up until episode 12 and have found myself utterly bored with this. I will most likely finish this by skimming the last few episodes just to get the gist of how it ends.

I do not recommend this if you have seen Strong Woman Do Bong Soon but if you are going into this never having seen the prior then you may find it more interesting. Just go in with low expectations.

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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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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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Please don’t Disneyfy this beloved franchise, Mr Netflix

Edit: After watching 10 eps, I've revised this review (probably) for the final time. Enjoy!

I was looking forward to this show with anticipation. The original series was one of my favourites.

I knew it won’t be the same as the original, so I am willing to cut it some slack. The start of the show is certainly different, but the young actress was so cute and earnest I'm willing to jump onboard even though it is questionable if the way she uses her powers is canon, but I’ll give it a hall pass for now.

I wished this is the only issue. There are many more. In fact, the only thing consistent with this show is how inconsistent it is. In the original series, the rule around the use and abuse of their special power is well established. However, not only is the FL using her power without a care. Her mother and grandmother also abuse it without a second thought. How can this be?

On top of that, they should be internet sensations considering how blatant they are, but they ain't. It is as if everything can be hushed up with the click of their manicured fingers. However, the narrative contradicts itself repeatedly.

While the new FL is refreshing in her straightforwardness at the start of the show, after a few episodes, her portrayal is borderline grating. She doesn’t so much deliver her lines but fire them out like a gatling gun. She also moves with an exaggerated gangliness. Why? Her one-note performance is wearing. It is one thing to call her naïve but time and again, the excuse is that she is from Mongolia. Geez, I hope they are not streaming this in Ulaanbaatar.

The other female leads are not much better. The mum swings between playing Batwoman and Crazy Rich Woman. She throws money around like confetti. Come to think of it, the whole plotline involving the grandma is superfluous. It just highlights how pathetic most of the male characters are but she brought nothing new to the table. She is too cringey to be an effective comedic relief.

There are too many plot holes to list but it pretty much comes down to whatever needs to happen, happens. It feels like narrative logic and good sense have both packed up and ran screaming from da hood. The writer-nim doubles down on this from ep.7 onwards. It is now in the "see no evil, hear no evil" territory.

It also feels hollow when the show tries to tackle serious topics. The drug abuse problem is marginalised because most of the victims are faceless canon fodders. Until it hits too close to home then everything pales into insignificance. Ditto, the fat shaming of the brother is gratuitous while ignoring the root cause of his condition.

By the half way mark, it feels like plots are products of brainstorming sessions after one too many soju bombs. There is so much going on. Subplots darts off in every direction, most are inconsequential but distract us from the A-plot. There is actually a very insightful scene when the assistant to Hwang Geum Joo asks if one of the antagonist will see through her deception. Her reply was, "They are stupider than you think." Is she talking about me?

It is telling that the only person I'm interested in after watching 10 eps is the main antagonist. It is never a good look when the viewer starts paying more attention to the bad guy(s). From my point of view, the 3 FL's are unrelatable, and to a varying degree, unlikeable. The young FL leaps out of tall buildings, runs faster than a speeding car and drinks poison for LOL's. Yet she skins her knees by tripping over her own feet. Why? Because the ML is there to fuss over her. This is not dumbing down, this is frontal lobotomy.

This brings me to the most poignant moment of this show. In ep.3, we have the original OTP appearing in a cameo. OMG, I could cry. Every interaction, gestures, banter reminded me how good was the original. It also dismisses any claims that this show is a reboot with a clean slate.

I watch with dismay what Disney is doing to Star Wars and the MCU. I know Netflix has jumped on the k-drama bandwagon in a big way. I can see this show being turned into a gaudy super hero franchise. Everything is loud and cartoon-y yet there is little substance behind the garish facade. We don't need more of this.

I'm not saying the show is totally unwatchable. There are the odd cute or funny moments. The plots will test your credulity though. If you are hoping that this spin-off will recreate the charm and engagement of the original then you will be sorely disappointed.

I hung on with grim determination for as long as I can, but it is getting too tough. Maybe I'll speed watch the last few eps for the sake of completeness later. Peace Out.

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FORGET ALL THE HATE COMMENTS!

Don't expect a copy of Strong Woman Bong-soon.
(English isn't my first language, so there might be some mistakes)

Strong Girl Nam-soon is not only a sequel to Strong Woman Bong-soon, but also works as an independent story. There are many references to the original kdrama, but Nam-soon is unique. Lee Yoo Mi finally got her first leading role and showed why she is competent. It's extremely unfair to say that her performance is childish when her cousin Bong-soon was childish as well... People claim that the story is exaggerated, but believe it or not, the original was too! This saga of strong women has a great influence on comic book stories, so it's supposed to be exaggerated. If you don't like it, why watch it to the end?

Another crucial point: the relationship between the main couple. I agree that they had limited screen time, but the protagonists were Nam-soon, her mother, and her grandmother. Just look at the cast here on MDL and you'll see three main characters. I've seen comments that the couple is too innocent, but so were Min-Min and Bong-Bong... So what's the problem?

Strong Girl Nam-soon addressed important issues, just like its prequel, but with more contemporary issues like phishing. Ageism, fatphobia, homelessness, and drug abuse were also dealt with brilliantly. I'm curious to see how Geum Joo's investigation will continue next season! (Will we get a strong boy by accident? I was surprised and excited by this idea).

Finally, it became clear that if the villain's appearance attracts more attention than the male lead's, it won't matter to most people how cruel he is as long as he's handsome. It's absurd how many people shipped Shi Oh with Nam-soon! He literally wanted to kill her and her family! He was a sadistic psychopath! It's disheartening to read so many negative comments about Hee Shik when he was always sweet...

If you haven't watched Nam-soon yet, I recommend not to be influenced by malicious comments. Some people aren't open to new things outside of the cliché.

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The plot got lost along the way

Comparing this spin-off to the original series is kind of inevitable, given how different they are.

It feels like they were aiming for that natural cuteness we got from Do Bongsoon in "Strong Woman," but they've taken Gang Namsoon in a really caricatured direction. Her use of informal Korean doesn't make sense, considering she spent part of her childhood in Korea. It just seems like they're going for an overly cute vibe, and we haven't really seen her shine in any intense scenes yet - and we know that she can.

Gang Heesik feels more like a supporting character than a convincing romantic interest. Plus the female lead's childish personality, it's really hard to root for them.

This is a stark contrast to "Strong Woman," which hooked fans with the amazing chemistry between the leads.

However, the drama doesn't seem to be heading in that direction either. There are so many plotlines going on at once that romance seems to be taking a back seat. In the last episode, we saw more of Namsoon's grandmother than Namsoon herself.

We're already at episode 10, and there are so many ongoing plots and loose ends still hanging. I seriously doubt they can wrap everything up neatly in just 6 more episodes.

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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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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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