The first few episodes were kinda meh to say the least, not terrible, but not amazing. However, I always had an affinity for slice of life dramas and I continued watching. I think the shift happened right around when they decided to become 'Strongest Deliveryman' and that's when it started to feel like I was watching a whole new and exciting show. I will have to disagree with the majority and say that i absolutely loved Kang Soo and Dan Ah's relationship more than I did the second leads. Don't get me wrong though, the second leads were lit and sooooo funny but the first leads were more impactful to me, because I wasn't sold on their compatibility as a couple initially. In the earlier episodes I never felt the chemistry, but as the episodes progressed I fell for how well it was portrayed as a realistic relationship.
What I really enjoyed in this drama was how it made me feel as young adult who often felt like the world and everything was against me. Dan Ah calling Korea hell resonated with me so much because I feel that everyday here in America. I'm not rich, I'm not even "comfortable" in that sense. I have student loans and car payments and rent and its hard to not feel discouraged at times. Kang Soo was relatable to me because I'm the type of person that would give the clothing off her own back if it meant someone else was comfortable. Min chan, I saw myself in the way he was trying to live up to his parent's expectations; i also saw my friends who have graduated from college, but still cab't secure a job. This drama really was like a breath of air and a word of encouragement for me (so corny, I know!).
I appreciated Kim Sunho's portrayal of Jin Gyu so much because brought such depth to his character that it was ridiculous to even think that he was supposed to be a "villain" earlier in the story. Honestly, Ji Yoon's character was comedic, but that's really the extent of it which wasn't bad in the least.
I'm kind of rambling now, but yeah, I really digged this one. And I'll definitely miss it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Decided that it's been long enough and I wanted to watch another CSB drama so I fired it up. I wish i'd watched this one sooner, it was SO good. Watched the whole thing in a fairly short space of time (2 days i think) and was driven to keep going to continue to find out more about how the situations evolved and the characters developed.
There are lots of little stories going on in here, there's more than two couples - with two of them being at the forefront and another one or two sneaking in the sidelines. There's actual real development in the maturity and growth of at least two of the characters as they evolve from the way they are at the beginning to being better human beings. There's one moment that starts to smack of "oh god here comes the stupid breakup", but it's on something like Episode 15 so... you can kinda guess it's not going anywhere, but it does go further to re-enforce the strength of the characters involved and their resolve to help each other.
Chae Soo Bin is marvelous as always, a strong and independent character who takes charge of her own life and safety of it numerous times. It's always good to see when a story has both the male and female leads being strong, it's too easy to have one strong character (whichever gender) and one weak leaning on them. It's much harder to have two strong characters who lean or support as each situation requires - but it's so much better when it works that way I think, the best relationships have strong independent people in them.
Music - one track stood out, Must Have by Jang Jae-in, I need to listen to the rest of the OST but I love that track, it kept notably popping up and now i've listened to the whole thing on YouTube it's just a great song overall with a beautiful voice in some quieter moments without much backing track, and others with a much more full sound. Brilliant.
Hmm, another bit of the OST comes on in the background while writing this, The End of the Day by Na Yoon Kwon - that ones a cracker too.
The story overall is a bit of a david vs goliath. It's really interesting as they start out with the food alley in the situation it's in and then the evolution of idea after idea to improve and change things combined with the challenge and response coming from the "goliath" in the story. I really appreciated the business elements of this one and the creative (but quite reasonable) solutions they were putting forward, along with a reasonable reaction from the consumers to the idea.
There is a bit towards the start where she thinks that he's a transvestite which makes some some hilarious bits.
Definitely recommend a watch if you like romance, nothing really bad-heavy happens, characters emotionally developing - and if you're a fellow Chae Soo Bin fan, then it's really a no-brainer, stop reading this and get watching.
Was this review helpful to you?
First of all, I want to say that I really appreciate the idea of drama focusing on deliverymen’s life and struggles. It was a breath of fresh air to see something different. I’m not sure how realistic the whole drama is though – the four main characters’ life struggles really seemed too real, but other stories were very exaggerated. Which is not necessarily a bad thing of course, since everything in the drama was handled almost perfectly. The pacing was fine – it’s very slow at first but honestly, I was hooked since the first episode and I’m sure you’ll be, too. In case you are not, you’ll have to wait a bit, because the story picks up after episode 4. Well, the ‘’strongest deliveryman’’ part starts a bit later. It got a little boring though, around episode 12-13. But even during these boring episodes I always found something entertaining and the last two episodes were also good and satisfying.
One thing I have noticed while watching is that the show almost has no clichés. I mean, there were so many times when the writer could have go with the usual tropes and annoy the viewers, but she didn’t do it. I’m very thankful, because I’m so tired of same clichés and tropes. ‘’Strongest Deliveryman’’ has its own rules and that’s what differs it from other rom-coms. Despite being a very light and sweet drama overall, it doesn’t fail to bring depth and emotion to the narrative. It makes you think and feel. Don’t dig too deep though, the drama doesn’t take itself that seriously. It’s actually very simple but that’s why I love it so much.
Choi Kang Soo, our main lead, was a dream come true for me! He is sweet, lovable, kind-hearted, caring and sometimes playful. He is the definition of ''a good person'', but he didn't allow his good heart to turn into his weakness. He is always honest and doesn't like deceiving others. And Go Kyung Pyo's sweet acting made his character even more easy to love. He was just like a puppy, I loved him. Yeah, sorry for my bias lol.
Oh Jin Gyu completely stole the show. He is the character who developed the most throughout the show. He appeared as a spoiled, arrogant boy who didn't appreciate his life enough and relied only on his parents' money. But inside, he was just cute teddy bear and he was slowly showing this side of him. He learnt to cherrish his own life as well as to respect others' lives, too. Kim Sun Ho's acting was more that brilliant! He is one of the most underrated actors I've ever seen. He has so much talent and he showed it in ''Strongest Deliveryman''. He made me like Oh Jin Gyu even when he was acting like a complete jerk. Definitely my favourite character!
Our leading ladies are not so easy to like, at least at first. They are this type of characters that 90% of the drama community finds annoying. Lee Dan Ah is a person who detest her own country and since she doesn't like her life, she often acts too rude and she also hits people without a reason. I think I'm used to this kind of characters and maybe that's why she didn't bother me that much. Actually, I loved her sharp tongue and her passion for working. I loved that when someone looked down on her she didn't stay calm and responded immediately. Chae Soo Bin was good as always, I think this role really suited her.
Lee Ji Yoon is even more spoiled than Oh Jin Gyu and she is the most annoying character in this drama. She was sometimes very cute and innocent though and a lot of scenes with her were exceptionally funny. I was very pround of her at the end, so she definitely develops in a good way.
Overall, ''Strongest Deliveryman''is a drama with an entertaining story, good characters, fairly decent acting and pretty nice OST. It has romance, bromance and an unexpected plot twist in the middle which noone could have predicted. It has its own charm and is very easy to watch. I recommend it if you are not in a mood for a serious watch but you still want something gripping. I think if you only pay attention to the positive aspects and not search for the negative, you'll definitely enjoy it!
Was this review helpful to you?
How to sell unfolding love with Chae Soo Bin at her finest.
First, let me say that I don’t speak a word of Korean. When you rely on subtitles, the acting and facial expressions are even more critical. I’ve watched thousands of romantic based movies and TV shows because it’s a genre that fascinates me. Maybe I’m one of those eternal romantics. With that foundation, this is my review.The Strongest Deliveryman unfolds a unique storyline of two vastly different delivery people. Choi Kang-soo (Go Kyung Pyo) a strong-minded man who moves from place to place with a dream to become a CEO of a delivery company and Lee Dan-ah (Chae Soo Bin), whose only dream is to leave the country. These two characters drive the storyline and deliver one of the best shows I’ve watched in a while.
As you watch the interaction between these two, you begin to wonder how they will ever get together. But wait, how did I think these two would get together? Because of the facial expressions that changed as the story unfolded. Chae Soo-bin is one of the most compelling actresses I’ve ever watched. I don’t know if she has any MMA background, but she sold that part to me. Her portrayal of love emerging was mesmerizing. Her eyes seem to talk, and her smile lights up a room. I found myself watching her even when she was in the background. The acting was great all around, but she pulled it together with her very presence. The Strongest Deliveryman is a must-watch show that carries you through drama and love that will move your heart.
To give you an idea of how much I like Chae Soo-bin’s performance, I decided to watch some more of her work. So, I watched: I’m Not a Robot, Where Stars Land, A Piece of Your Mind, Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People, Love in the Moonlight, and If We Were a Season. That’s a total of 125 episodes I watched back-to-back. She didn’t disappoint me. Watch the Strongest Deliveryman and tell me if you see what I saw.
Was this review helpful to you?
Dont know why some people hate on this drama
Personally, I started watching, since I had watched shows with both leads in before. Right off the foot I really liked this drama. It had this sense of realism that it dealt with well. All the serious issues through real-life were portrayed fantasticallyI've heard some people say they like the second lead couple more than the main lead couple. In my opinion, both are amazing, but the lead couple is the lead couple for a reason.
It had a very satisfying ending that left me wanting more, but not needing more, as the satisfaction was enough
Would totally recommend it.
Shows like this:
The main male lead character is very similar to his character in Reply 1988. So if you like that, watch Reply
Another show that is very good, and portrays life issues, is Sassy Go Go, or rather, Cheer up. The main female lead from this show is also the second female lead in Cheer up.
Lastly, a very new drama would be Private lives, with the main male lead being the same as this show.
Was this review helpful to you?
In human lifespan, the period of early adulthood considered to be the most crucial time in shaping up a person’s entire future. Either they can destroy it by their own hand or can flourish it with good deeds and extreme diligence. Choi Kang Soo was represented as a young adult who despite of having difficult familial and financial situation remained unfazed throughout. He had been shown as an epitome of magnanimity and a valiant character. No amount of pain or sufferings could reduce his self-respect, determination and devotion towards achieving his dreams. The character portrayed by him is simply a person with tenacity of doing well to others, spreading wellness and reciprocating them. As they say, what goes around comes around. This world always revolves with this simple logic. Kang Soo was a simple guy who firmly believed that if he helps people, if he wants the good in people or bring out the good characteristics from the people one day or the other he would definitely get the result. He neither fed his inner greed nor tried to meet his own selfish needs. Along with all his friends, he unitedly delved into an endeavor which faces turbulences though for a short moment of time he was frazzled of fighting with the imposters but he again rose and shone. He was always thoughtful of his nearer and dearer ones around him which subsequently brought glad tidings for all combined.
Secondly, Lee Dan Ah. Another strong character. A sagacious, salubrious and undaunted character. When she puts her heart and soul to something, she made sure to stick to it till the end. Her devotion towards achieving her dream was laudable.
Oh Jin Gyu and Lee Ji Yoon on the contrary are not the kids from humble background rather born with the silver spoon in their mouth. The former was being excruciatingly tortured and slandered by his own father tried to take his own life but was saved. He understood the worth of life, independence and standing on one’s own feet. He understood contentment lies when a person owns and earns all by himself. The starting can be insignificant but at the end of the day self-worth comes from one’s own hard work and sincerity. Besides Ji Yoon rebelled from being forced or directed her life by her mother. She broke free her comfortable shackle and fled from the castle to become independent and achieving her own dreams.
From another view point the story was also a sort of tribute to the delivery people who were in many ways or the other pretty much neglected by the society.
I like the perspective of the story tellers. They have shown young people from both affluent and destitute social strata. Having being born in a privilege class doesn’t necessarily bring happiness. The affluent young people can also fight for making a life of their own individual choices.
Keeping “delivery service” as a base two factors are highlighted: a) life of youth b) life of deliverymen. The integration or the interconnectedness of both the subject was intelligent. However, the dramatization was a lackluster.
Acting by the ensembles are absolutely remarkable. Go Kyung Pyu and Chae Soon Bin was perfect for their individual role. Nobody could have done better than them. Also Kim Sun Ho, though played his first main role but he did full justice to it. Lastly Go Won Hee was quite natural playing out Ji Yoon’s eccentricity. The group of young lads of the delivery team also gave excellent performance.
Having said so much, the main theme of the story is excellent but there was some problem with the portrayal. The first few episodes were riveting but gradually it was losing its luster and became boring. The story kind of revolved in one business idea, eventually, along the line losing the dynamic essence as the episodes progressed. Definitely this was a huge disappointment for me. With outstanding ensemble cast and such great story, it could have been marvelous. Something was lacking of great deal which I could not pinpoint perfectly.
In deduction a good story with an uninteresting dramatization resulting into my lower ratings.
My recommendation whether to watch it or not would be …..you can try it’s not that bad.
Was this review helpful to you?
It didn't deliver for me
This show had a lot of good moments, but for me they were few and far between. Go Kyung-pyo (Kung-soo) and Chae Soo-bin (Dan-ah) played their parts well, but the script fell short, mostly because of how irritating and unlikeable the character of Dan-ah was. I did, however, love the character of Kung-soo. I was impressed by his strong feeling of right and wrong. I also loved the community he built with all the drivers he'd worked with over the years. That was the strong point of this show, the friendships. The demonstration of how people that are enemies can become friends, how friendships remain even after your geography changes. It was a testament to Kung-soo that he had all the friends he had, because he was genuinely a good and nice person.Dan-ah was kind of the polar opposite. She was not a nice person, and because of that, didn't really have friends. Everyone was either in awe of her or feared her. She apparently was never taught to use her words, because she is forever hitting or kicking someone, which sometimes worked for the sake of comedy, but certainly didn't endear her to me.
The ending tied things up neatly but wasn't especially memorable.
Was this review helpful to you?
But let's start from the beginning. The plot is pretty average, but juuuust interesting enough to keep you watching.
It's full of cliches from:
- child abandonment/mommy issues
- chaebol heirs of big corps + meddling parents
- the lead/leads need to leave (usually abroad or just abandoning responsibilities)
- accidents + hospitals
- blackmail
- "Ahjussi!"
But oh well, every drama has its own set of kdrama tropes so whatevs. But my favourite thing about this drama is how nice our male lead Kang Soo is. He makes friends wherever he goes, picking them up like flyers, I love it. When one of our big bads did a background check to try and find dirt on him (only to come up empty), the assistant was like “he got 5 Brave Citizen awards” and just started listing all his good deeds LMAO
And whenever he needed help and 380+ people helped him out, it was great - wholesome deliveryman community here.
But to summarise the show's plot, it's just a constant cycle of:
New Ideas™ ⇒ Beat the Competitor ⇒ Competitor Plays Dirty ⇒ Our Company is In Turmoil (Angst) ⇒ Don’t Give Up! ⇒ Start again
I swear, at the end of the day I feel as emotionally exhausted as the characters.
Onto the romance, the beginning was written so...weird? Can we just forget the first 4-5 eps ever happened? The male & female lead have like 0, nil romantic scenes until around Ep 5-6. To the point where I even had to go onto this website and check that they were in-fact: the main couple.
And THEN towards the middle, the leads do finally get closer BUT before they’d even confirmed their feelings or anything, everyone around them said they’re dating but when did they ever confirm their relationship?? They hadn’t even kissed? There is no confession, no sharing of feelings, it just…happened?? It literally feels like skipping a step (and the step is the best part!!)
But getting past all that, they eventually do confirm their feelings, kiss, etc so it's okay. And after they do get together (for reals) they are v cute and are honestly goals. It was a long haul to get there, but it was worth it.
And like I said before, I was so excited to find a rare drama where the couple doesn't undergo some bs turmoil and angst. There was even this line:
Dan Ah (Best Girl): “No matter what happens, let’s not break up in a stupid way”
[lol, even as she said it I knew it was too good to be true]
But the unnecessary break-up is over and done with fairly quickly so don't stress. It's more the fact that it was added it in there so last minute that it's like 'WHY you were doing SO WELL'
At least it was refreshing to have a female lead who throws some hands! Especially when people are making dumb moves and she needs to snap some sense into them.
Crap I just realised I hadn't even talked about the second leads yet. I almost forgot about them XD (they are easily forgettable) To summarise: Ji-Yoon (the red-headed girl), well.... couldn’t they have written her character less ..annoying? Especially in the beginning, she's such a pest. Jin-Gyu was slightly more interesting. At least he had creative ideas and didn't surrender to his dad or Ji-Yoon's mum (the evil CEO). Their romance was predictable but you get used to it.
On the whole, this drama is okay. It can be a chore to watch at times (especially when it drags towards the end) but still, I didn't mind it and it had some enjoyable moments.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The Story of a Nice guy betrayed by almost everyone he meets.
Feel-good, warm, easy watch, light-hearted on and on the adjectives are espoused in the comments section and while there is definitely levity to be found here, as well romance and friendly hugs, you need to be prepared for a lot of not so "light" fare in order to earn it.Suicide (Its SK Drama how could there not be) is a running theme. Corporate corruption, of course we have to have some villains, and multiple evil CEOs (One of which beats their own son with a golf club, tells him to kill himself, and then has him thrown out on the curb, because he can't walk.) Characters are ruined to actual homelessness and imprisoned falsely for attempted murder. And for half the main running time the plot centers around a single grandmother whose grandson is in a coma as she runs her small Ox Tail Soup business being targeted by the main big bad corporation to try and drive her out of business.
So, this wasn't a relaxing watch by any means.
However, the Male Lead Kang Soo (Played boyishly and bright eyed by Go Kyung Pyo) is one of the most refreshing, kind, gentle, nice, warm, and caring characters I have had the fun to watch in a very long while. This isn't an anti-hero, or deeply flawed individual story. No, it is the story of a hero in the truest sense of the word. He is a young man with a horrific backstory who has persevered with deep moral convictions that he holds to steadfastly. When he even opens up the Strongest Deliveryman food service in the second half of the series, its motto is "Be Nice" and you know that he really means it.
Our Female lead Dan Ah (Chae Soo Bin) is a rough and tumble beautiful tomboy who has had her own share of troubles. Unlike our ML she goes in the opposite direction, vowing to look out only for herself, remain disconnected from all, and save up enough money to get out of the hell that is South Korea. Nice and warm are not part of her vocabulary, at least at the start.
In the beginning each our leads blossom relationships with other characters, bringing in our second ML (Kim Seon Ho in a role switch compared to his fame) Jin Gyu and second FL Ji Yoon (Go Won Hee playing as cute and naive as she can). Both of these leads come from deep pockets of money and are the polar opposites of Kang Soo and Dan Ah.
Kim Seon Ho's portrayal of a truly nasty individual with very low self worth and even lower moral scruples is as shockingly believable and well acted as any of his heart warming characters. If you came to watch this to get your KSH fix, maybe look elsewhere because he is a pretty nasty character that causes a lot of issues. My stomach knotted up watching him snake his way through the first half of the story. Of course, his character is very quickly launched on a path of redemption, but there will be plenty of bumps along this road.
The first 7 episodes are taunt with drama, betrayal, character development, and wrist wringing story-lines. But after episode 7, where the story decides to let characters off the hook (In what is a troubling Kdrama trend) and resolve crimes and plot points in a matter of minutes (Thumbs Down Boo) it begins to slow and switch gears. Through to episode 10, there is still gas in the tank and there are some punches yet thrown. But after episode 10 it just sort of meanders around for a bit as it develops romances, somewhat awkwardly, and sets everything in place for the ultimate ending conflicts and showdowns.
As everyone becomes more desperate towards the end, our evil corporation decides to play illegal and dirty to get what they want. While doing so, characters who you thought were steadfast friends and loyalists betray our ML and the company he has built, which was done to save them from the start. It is rough road that will ultimately prove effective at tearing down our nice guy.
You realize the point of the show is to prove being a good person will prevail even though the world views niceness as a weakness. This will warm your innards to no end and is a wonderful message to get across, but it comes with some caveats. You do honestly see the flaws in this idea as well. Many of the trials and tribulations could have been averted with a bit of resolve, while still not betraying the core values on display. One of the largest problems of the series is how it easily forgives those that transgress against our hero. Only he bares the brunt and weight of wrongs. Everyone else gets a pass. Near the end a great betrayal by a close friend (Which grows as the friend hires more drivers siphoning even more from our ML failing business) is instantly forgiven and forgotten the moment the friend shows back up. Not only is this unsatisfying to watch, it makes you wonder what was the point of the story line while also painting the ML as quite the doormat and push over.
In the end you will be both satisfied and disappointed. The series leaves us on a high note with a bright optimistic future likely for those involved. But it is strangely unsatisfying. You will not get closure to any of the side characters. The relationships built between some characters seems to have not endured, and well, for me, none of the romances ever seemed to truly take flight. They were enjoyable enough to watch, but nothing to write home about, which is ultimately how I felt about the whole series. Happy I watched it, was enjoyable enough as I went through it, but nothing is honestly that memorable. 7.0/B-/ 3 1/2-Stars.
Was this review helpful to you?
I was worried that this show would be the usual love triangle (rich boy versus boy boy for the plucky poor girl's favor), but was happily surprised when they veered sharply away from that dynamic after the first few episodes. What played out was a good balance of light cheer and sad drama for a show that ended up being really comforting to watch. I was a little disappointed in the chemistry between the two main leads - but I put a lot of that on the writing and less on the actors. Dan Ah spends so much time being bitter and angry that it can be off-putting at times. There were a couple of places where I felt like plot threads were brought in and then abruptly dropped. I would definitely watch this one again.
Did I mention that I love Go Kyung Pyo? I just want to carry him around in my pocket all the time.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
this has to be one of my favourite dramas I have watched this year. From the relationships of the characters to the plot, I love everything about it. One thing I love the most is the relations plot twist. I thought Dan ah would end up with jin-gyu like in most drama and li-Yoon would end up with Kang-so but I was pleasantly surprised when Dan-Ah and Kang-So got together int he ends as I am quite tired of drama couples always having the same plot where the poor girl ends up with the rich guy or CEO. That alone made me enjoy the drama so much more. Was this review helpful to you?
Maybe good to watch when you nothing to watch ?
This story really had its potential to shine as a great drama but the direction and storyline just didn't do justice. For starters, the background, the set, and cinematography were not the best and many scenes just didn't feel like they belonged or had any meaning to the contextthe male protagonist is portrayed as a neighborhood delivery man who stands for the right and is very collected and someone who doesn't hold a grudge. All in all, he is a utopian human leaving no place for character improvement. He has done many good things due to which many are ready to sacrifice themselves for him but as we have not seen any of this before, it is quite difficult to feel connected to it
the female protagonist really doesn't have much of a character other than being straightforward and violent
the second male character is someone who I feel should have been the center of focus as he had a flawed character but he tries to fix it
the next thing I would like to point out is the content they tried to point out as outrageous or inhumanly behavior this might contain a bit of spoiler [I will put them in brackets so u can skip it if u want] but it's really all just so predictable in the drama so I don't consider it as such and neither does it play a major role
{{{{{[In the beginning, the second male lead is revealed as a rich guy who held a race on the highway, for which he closed it saying it's under construction. There happened to be a hit and run in a road next to this place and because the person was found late, he fell into a coma (like seriously??? why couldn't he just die or something. There would be more of a story there)
when the male protagonist finds about this he goes after finding the reason for the construction and not the hit and run guy!!! Like who would do that?!?! The guy responsible for it is still out there if u were wondering.]}}}}
So in short the whole drama is like this. Irritable logic, unrealistic ethics, etc.
there was even a scene where the owners were talking about business and the "good lady" was like 'how can u open a store with the same menu, same price but better infrastructure?"
THAT'S WHAT CALLED BUSINESS!!! I could honestly relate more with the antagonist of this drama since they actually felt like people from the same world as me
Having said that, it is a great drama to watch while you have too much time in your hand and you have no other drama on your list and you still missing Sonho 'cause of the second lead syndrome. It is great to roast and just not get yourself invested in another one of your "daydreams"
Hope it was useful, even if it's not, have a great day buddy
Was this review helpful to you?
