Strong Girl Nam Soon

Major drop from OG

THIS time cop is male lead
i did not feel anything for second male lead in Strong woman do bong soon because he was IDIOT
Now I still don't feel anything for our COP because in this he is plain , there is no chemistry between leads at all, from OG where Park hyung shik admit to even fall in love with FL for real, this drama was so flat


Female lead is good with her acting skills and she is doing her best but story isn't doing anything to help her at all...
first time watching her and i am impressed by her acting
I was hoping for improving from wonderful DO BONG SOON but the degreaded wonderfully
Still 5/10 for cute FL

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After watching 20th century girl and seeing all the Ryu Shio edits, I was quite intrigued to watch this series, but decided not to due to all the negative comments. But now that I have watched Lovely runner, I decided to give it a try for Byeon Woo Seok. Unfortunately I couldn't finish it, even for him!

Why did I drop after ep 8 (+ep 9 only Ryu Shio scenes)?

- FL: I believe they wanted to make the FL innocent and naive, but she ended up being a 6-year old child in an adult body. At first I found her cute, but then when the whole spy thing started, she was just dumb! Someone mentioned that this series audience are kids, and that's really true! Who would hold a watch with hidden camera like that? And why didn't the cops give her any instructions regarding the computer, usually in movies they put an USB stick into the computer to get access, but here she is stealing the whole computer... I think it's supposed to be funny, but it just felt stupid.
It's so sad, she could have been a very cool & cute character...
- ML: The actor is cute, but character is very bland, boring and uncharming. Also he didn't have any chemistry with the FL. The romance didn't really make sense to me, like how & why did he fall in love with her?
- FL's Mother: It would have been great to show that she succeeded as a hero & businesswoman, but as a failed mother (not sure if that happens later in the drama), that would add more complexity to her character. And then we could have seen her redeeming herself.
- Villain: Him verifying FL's identity and ML being able to hide voice recorders in the building was very sloppy for someone who was part of Russian mafia. He also wasn't as cold as I expected him to be. However I didn't watch the whole series, so maybe after watching the whole drama it would make sense...

As for the rest: I didn't care about the grandma at all (was kind of expecting her boyfriend to be an enemy, but read somewhere that that wasn't the case). I was disappointed that FL's brother and uncle were very weak and had nothing to themselves than being "ill". At least her father showed some kind of character...

So, overall this series is not good imo (even w/o the comparison with Do Bong Soon). It failed to capture me. I'm actually a sucker for cute FL, but it has to be done right, which this series couldn't. I fail to see the good points of this series...

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I WAS DISAPPOINTED!

I wanna start off by saying that i really wanted to love this drama! I feel like there's something missing. I personally felt like it was rushed and could of been better. the only character we got to kind of know was Ryu Shi-Oh. i would have Ike to have a back story on how Gang Nam-soon was lost. Also I think Nam-Soon mom got more screen time than anyone. it started off kinda slow. i liked it after episode 2. in my opinion it was kinda hard to keep up with all the characters just because they were thrown in randomly for a short period of time. personally i felt namsoon had more chemistry with Ryu shi-oh than Hee-shik. also it felt like they rushed their love story and it felt cringy and bland. The only reason i watched until the end was because Wooshik! WHY DID HE HAVE TO BE KILLED OFFF!!???? Also whats up with putting half the characters in the hospital almost every episode? no ending has ever upset me more than this, I'm super disappointed.

One thing that i really liked was how they brought awareness to homelessness, drug abuse, sexism, and ageism

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Colorful spin-off

I loved it — the couple, particularly Ong Seong Wu (I love his jackets!), and just about everything else. The scenes in Mongolia, the secretive and wealthy environment (along with the Penthouse-like OSTs), the way it plays with capitalism (Geum Ju literally telling Nam Soon she'd teach her capitalism after getting scammed was perfect lol), the female empowerment through the mother, the grandma (who both had their own backstories), and Nam Soon herself, the great comedy, like the lazy brother (he was so funny and reminded me of the sloth in Zootopia), and the way it makes fun of misogyny.

This drama feels much closer to a superhero comic than a typical K-drama like Strong Girl Bong Soon. It wasn't trying to simply repeat Bong Soon; it took the concept somewhere else. Sci-fi, fantasy, action, crime, drama, romance, comedy, family — you got everything.

There were so many little moments I loved, like Nam Soon looking at Hee Sik dancing from afar thanks to her super vision (iconic scene), the rain falling above him with the rainbow, when he disguised himself as a woman, Nam Soon holding Hee Sik... Nam Soon keeping a picture of Eun Woo in her journal in Mongolia and saying she wants to date a good-hearted Korean guy, and then fate happening in such a fun way, was great too.

I also liked the open-minded take on old couples, contemporary issues, vulnerable people (the brother's wish to lose weight), the part about scams targetted at the elderly while using the identity of family members (including deepfakes), family relationships (some more complicated than others), adoptive parents and finding your biological family again, teamwork, and all the side characters: the homeless couple (who had a fate of irony), Mr. Bread and his OST, the semi-villain Hwa Ja who impersonated the real daughter, the detectives.

I liked how it was a big fight revolving around drugs and the Russian mafia, while Nam Soon had even bigger superpowers, as well as the "link" they had within their family. The production quality was high, the ending was great (a satisfying conclusion, then surprise), and Season 2 might even come out according to news.

About Shi Oh, I know Pavel is the big villain behind the drug operation, but Shi Oh had escaped Pavel in the past. If his implicit motive for becoming a CEO was that he feared being kidnapped by Pavel, it doesn't make sense because he grew up without them. And if he wanted power while taking the risk of getting involved with them, that doesn't make much sense either (and, like I said, Pavel finding him again isn't logical). But sure. We're not actually shown that he was forced to get involved with Pavel, by the way. And it's not that I'm unable to empathize with him; his last scene was sad for me too. (It was also exciting when he went full villain.) If he really was a victim, then his story is a bit different from what's actually shown, and despite any distrust he might have had, he could have sought help from Geum Ju.

His story is more about the irony that becoming a powerful figure ultimately made him a victim of Pavel again, and how he could have been a normal person if he'd had a different past (exactly what the leads say at the end). He still made his own choices until the end, including threatening Nam Soon's Mongolian family with death, threatening Nam Soon herself, and threatening a girl who was trying to redeem herself purely for his own satisfaction, even though she posed no danger to him. Yet when a REAL polarizing character comes along, rather than just a villain in what's supposed to be a comic-style drama (which doesn't mean it can't have deeper meanings), people direct all the hate in the world at them.

In the end, Shi Oh gets toxic supporters because of an incredibly immature approach towards fiction, obsessed by the actor's looks, turning into cyberbullies for his sake, writing paragraphs of ridiculous defense, shipping him with the girl and being mysoginistic, etc.

The leads themselves empathized with him, his last moment was tragic (his last words and Binbin), but that's also what makes the show good, and why in the end, Geum Ju is still pursuing Pavel after what she discovered. People implying that the leads/police should let that happen makes absolutely no sense (including when people close to them are dying lol).

I'll never forgive the haters for insulting the leads, saying the male lead is ugly and hating on them, even the whole cast and the fans of the drama. The k-drama community went downhill SO bad, especially on MDL. I was watching the drama with other people and we were disgusted at these behaviors to say the least. I had myself posted a review and it did well but I quit MDL afterwards anyway, not that we can do much here thanks to the downvotes and lack of filters. The few fans who dared to speak up would get bullied in the comment section, literal psychos lmao and most of them were obviously teenagers. Some even said, "Who cares about an old couple? I skip their scenes, only watching for the villain" — which is exactly the kind of superficiality the drama was calling out.

While the villain was a good casting choice because of his intimidating look, it's absolutely untrue that he carried the drama. Everyone did. It's an ensemble cast, unlike the prequel.

I've also seen people say, "There are too many characters/storylines, so we can't get attached to them except for the villain." Shi Oh barely had any screen time in the first episodes and not that much afterwards either as there were many characters, clear evidence they weren't paying attention. Even the music and acting would be rated a 1 by some because "everything was annoying and cringe except Shi Oh."

About the music: it had K-pop songs because that was exactly what the drama needed.

The prequel focused more on the rom-com/CEO romance. Hee Sik and Nam Soon had great chemistry too; it was just different. There was the typical love triangle, a popular male lead who acted all cutesy, and a more conventional K-drama structure.

And while the girl was childlike there too, people complain about Nam Soon even though you actually see how she grew up and understand her personality. Then they complain about Hee Sik because he's "boring" ??? Which he's not, but with that I would never be their friends for sure.

The romance here was more mature, if anything. I loved his acting throughout the drama. He always improves, and I think he showed his range especially well here. I was glad he got a role in a big drama like this. It was popular in Korea too — JTBC is a paid channel, and it got high ratings.

Important contrast between the two: Bong Soon struggles to accept her strength and feels that her mother values her mainly because of it, while also believing her mother loves her brother more. Nam Soon, on the other hand, is openly proud of her strength and is immediately loved and welcomed by her family after being missing for so long — instead, her brother is the one who feels left out. He became a victim of the drug, but he was saved. Meanwhile, Hee Sik lost his brother in the past, then his team mate due to the drug and almost Nam Soon.

One last thing: the romance isn't bad simply because Hee Sik got attached to her quickly. He was hot-blooded, hardworking as a policeman, had a good heart, and I loved how they got entangled. Their relationship was so cute, especially how she found her dream thanks to him.

By the way, you can watch it without having seen the prequel, although Bong Soon and Min Hyuk do have a cameo, and Nam Soon is Bong Soon's distant cousin.

P.S. There was a Parasite and Nevertheless reference too, which was awesome.

On edit: Two things I've learned: there is a spin-off manhwa, Strong Girl Geum Ju (about Nam Soon's mother), and the drama actually surpassed Strong Girl Bong Soon in the TV ratings. Imagine calling it a flop when it was thriving on Netflix and on TV.

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Skip unless you like Byeon Woo Seok

First and foremost, the breakout star of the drama is Byeon Woo Seok. I found myself watching only his scenes and skipping much of the rest. His portrayal of Ryu Si O is particularly well executed, especially in terms of facial expression and emotional control. In scenes with Kang Nam Sun, he conveys genuine warmth and care, showing a softer side for the right person, which adds depth to his character. I also appreciated the complexity of Ryu Si O, as the narrative offers insight into his background and personal struggles.

In contrast, most of the other performances feel overly performative, making them difficult to take seriously. I was especially uninterested in the grandmother’s romantic storyline, which felt unnecessary and poorly paced. The screen time devoted to this subplot could have been used more effectively elsewhere. The lack of strong performances also made it difficult to root for the protagonists, who lacked both depth and complexity. Moreover, the ending was unsatisfying; Ryu Si O, who had consistently been calculated and intelligent, suddenly acted in ways that felt contrived, as if the writers simply rushed to conclude the story.

The main character also suffers from weak chemistry with others on screen, resulting in interactions that feel forced and awkward. Interestingly, Lee You Mi displays stronger chemistry with Byeon Woo Seok, though not in a way that enhances the overall narrative.

Ultimately, the only standout elements besides Byeon Woo Seok are the special appearances by Park Bo Young and Park Hyung Sik.

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Loud, Chaotic, and Squandered Potential

This drama had strength, visibility, and momentum and somehow dropped all of them.

Strong Girl Namsoon aims for quirky chaos but lands in tonal confusion. What should have been a fun, empowering spin on the Strong Girl universe becomes a noisy mix of exaggerated humor, uneven storytelling, and underdeveloped emotional stakes. The energy is high, but direction is not.

The biggest disappointment is the writing. Characters feel more like caricatures than people, with jokes repeated until they lose impact and plotlines that struggle to build meaningful tension. The superpower concept, once charming, is reduced to spectacle without emotional grounding, making it hard to care about outcomes.

The pacing is erratic. Scenes jump between slapstick comedy and attempted seriousness without earning either, creating a disconnect that breaks immersion. Instead of clever subversion, the show leans heavily on excess, assuming louder means funnier and stranger means better.

Despite a capable cast and a premise that should have worked, Strong Girl Namsoon never finds its footing. It mistakes chaos for charm and novelty for substance, leaving behind a story that feels more exhausting than entertaining.

💣 2/10 for a concept with promise that collapses under poor execution and unfocused storytelling.

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Better than expected

Byeon Woo-seok is definitely the most eye catching thing about this show but overall I don't think it deserves all these low ratings. Story wise, it isn't as good as it's predecessor, but enjoyable enough. BW does a great job as the villain Ryu Shi-o. He manages to not fall into the pit of a 2D bad guy and his character was better written than that of Gang Nam-soon whose overly bright personality just got on my nerves after awhile.

BW really shows his range here as the character is a million mile away from his role in Lovely Runner. Wearing tailored suits and a menacing glare, there is no doubt he's a dangerous killer, but you are also given insights as to why he is like he is. He deserved a better ending to his story, but what got me about it was Ryu Shi-o was an intelligent character, but really it was so obvious Gang Nam-soon was a spy. She barely tried to hide it, which was something he surely would have noticed day 1.

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Could not match the Original

Strong Girl Namsoon started off on a great note and it was a breath of fresh air. However, it slowly started to lose sight of plot by focusing on an absurd number of characters that are not even secondary to the plot. They just don't contribute in any way.

Although I'm not writing this series off completely (at least not until the final 2 episodes have aired), I feel bad at how it went from being a wonderfully original and stand alone show to an inferior second season.

The highlight of the show was the Gang family's women and their super strength, their connection and how they handle their power. But the limelight should have stayed on Gang Namsoon since the show is named after her. The two MLs - HeeSik and Ryo Si Oh (which sounds a lot like Russia) were actually great for the plot and Namsoon's interactions with them was the only thing that made this show entertaining. Seeing some of the more lighter sides to Ryo Si Oh was enjoyable as was seeing Hee Sik falling in love and getting jealous. You could actually find yourself rooting for both guys are certain points.

Problem is all the distraction of the main plot with useless things like Namsoon's uncle being unrealistically weak despite having no real illness, Namsoon's grandmother's love story and annoyance with her husband, the Bread Song character and his assistant being almost unwatchable among few other moments that I only got through by speeding through the episodes.

There are some nice comic moments involving the 3 women showcasing their strengths along with cute moments involving Namsoon and the two men because of which I can still rate this series an 8. But it is a far cry from the original Strong Woman Do Bong Soon which is definitely one of my favourites. That's because they knew how to focus on the star of the show. It would have been okay to have all these extra characters if they had ensured that the focus doesn't shift too much to all these extra characters. Like the homeless couple who were interesting at the beginning but later became a chore to watch. These are the things that truly weakened the story and destroyed it's core value.

I hope there will be some redeeming qualities in the final two episodes. I'll be updating and possibly revising the review then.

The OST is nice. Sounds even better sped up. heh.

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It's a Drama

Okay At the beginning, we all tought this will get us hooked HOOKED ..............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At the end, we appreciate the effort and the patience of the actors themselfs for being part of this Drama,
We thank them for at least appearing. we dont want to criticize them actors, nor the writers or firectors, as we know this is just for entertainment, It might not be our generation age to watch this.... But im sure children will find it funny and well kinda refreshing, Ot has some LESSONS , avoid the DRUGS, do not take advantage of ELDERLY, which is important we all got the message. We all hope the story stops right there in THERE. No false hope. no cringy spinies sequel nothing,. I feel so empty after watching last ep.

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Poorly written drama!

A Badly written story with great actors who tried to atleast make it watchable.

grandmothers love story was unnecessary.
bread song story was waste. He could have been main villain and written as most dangerous.

Ryu Si O.. he was portrayed as tormented boy, they wanted us to feel bad for him and support him, but then instead of showing his redemption, they put him on killing spree, even trying to kill Nam Soon (the girl he loved and trusted)

Kang Sik and Nam Soon love story was just there. no development.

The Homeless characters are just there. no significance.

oof! writers messed it up!

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