Strong Girl Namsoon (2023)

disappointed

I was looking forward to this drama as swdbs was the first drama I've watched and my fav. I have been disappointed.

The first episodes were so good! I kept looking forward to saturdays and sundays. But I feel like the story was focused more on the grandma's love life than nam soon's. The chem was so much better with the villain than with the ml, that I started to lose interest. At ep 10-12 (I think) the relationship between nam soon and hee sik started developing too fast that it was superficial. I was team ml but i hated the fact that it was so focused on the villain. I understand that they did that to enhance the effect of breaking the villains heart, but it overpowered the chemistry between nam soon and hee sik. + I didn't like how the fl acted like a child. at first it was cute or wtv but later it felt like hee sik fell in love with a child.

I'm not saying Its super bad, but I wouldn't waste my time watching it if I were you.

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Decent but lacking in many ways

Strong Woman Do Bongsoon is one of my favorite dramas, so I was really excited when they announced Strong Girl Gang Namsoon. Unfortunately, they did not really deliver with this follow-up series.

For one thing, why is it called Strong Girl Gang Namsoon when for a majority of the show it feels like her mother, Hwang Geumju, is the protagonist? While I liked that we got three different storylines with three different generations, I often felt they preferred Geumju over Namsoon for the main story.

Namsoon was incredibly irritating to me for half of the show too. She was so headstrong and never thought before she acted, but there was rarely a consequence to her actions. It was annoying to just see her doing what she wanted with no repercussions despite being constantly warned. She felt very much like a Mary Sue.

I hated the storyline with Bread Song. It felt so disconnected and annoying for the entire show and for it to lead up to a cliffhanger in the final episode was even more irritating.

The only good thing about this show was Ryu Sio, played by Byeon Wooseok. His character’s backstory was incredibly interesting and made him very sympathetic to me. I kept hoping there would be a bigger evil that would give him a chance to become a hero, but it didn’t happen. I was disappointed especially in the way that his character ended and finding out that Binbin, his only friend, was alive and still evil.

The romantic bits between Namsoon and Heeshik were cute, but it felt like they instantly fell in love within 3-4 episodes and no time was spent directly developing their relationship. While it worked for me, it was not the strongest. Also, why did they never come back around to the fact he got hit in the head with her horse’s bell?

I really am disappointed that the show ended by setting up for another one. It left too many loose ends, which is not something I’m used to with k-drama. I’m blaming it’s rising popularity in the West that’s leading to things being done in parts or seasons instead of just finishing up a show in one go like they used to.

Overall, this series is quite funny and had some great storytelling, but had too many plotlines going on that made it convoluted and silly. The final episode feels like a speed run to tie up loose ends and also set up a follow-up series which left me feeling disappointed. Aside from the name and concept, this show is really nothing like Strong Woman Do Bongsoon and it barely deserves to be considered related to it. If you are a fan of the original series, you really won’t miss anything if you skip this one.

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VERY ENTERTAINING SLAPSTICK ACTION

I started this about a year ago and dropped it within the first episode, only to be pulled back through YouTube clickbait, deciding to give it more of a chance, and found it very very entertaining. Leave the film critic in your brain behind and just relax to have some deep belly laughs. Ignore all the reviews and just enjoy it.

If you suspend disbelief and accept it for what is - a live-action cartoon, it becomes very enjoyable. It's a battle between the forces of good and evil, all the superheroes being women, from a dysfunctional family that still manages to stay together despite all their disagreements - what's not to like? It's a bit of a spoof of Marvel superhero movies with an inverted Adamms Family - Morticia becomes a red-headed do-gooding siren in leathers on a fast bike, Wednesday becomes a cute 'not as naive as she looks' returned orphan from Mongolia, there is the fat brother, the weakling uncle, the formidable grandma (shades of Kung Fu Hustle, one of the best cult movies I have ever seen), the quite normal dad who is a little bemused at finding himself in the midst of all the chaos, and assorted other support actors, with a brooding, mysterious, conflicted villain that one almost hopes will get redeemed towards the end.

Of course - it IS all over the show, with a lot of secondary characters each with their own quirks, and considerable ham acting, but it does not take itself too seriously. You can see the actors mentally winking at the audience.

Having watched Bong Soon (?) some time ago, I can't compare side by side, but I enjoyed that very much too. This one is not bad, just very different. It's a pity so many people just make it out as garbage, and it got so many bad reviews, because there's a bit of a cliffhanger and the series has potential for follow-up seasons, IMHO.

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So much potential

I’m not sure what happened because the first 2 episodes had such potential! By episode 4 I was tired of the “10,000” additional and unnecessary storylines that it definitely destroyed any possibility of this show being any good. I couldn’t help but start to cringe at On Seong Wu’s acting. As talented as he is, there was no way he could salvage it and the rest of the cast (minus Byeon Woo Seok) was less than entertaining too. It was disappointing for all the actors involved.

The only redeeming character was the villain and Woo Seok did a good job bringing that character to life. Sadly, he deserved a better show with a better villain role. Honestly, I skipped through most of the episodes just to watch him and still know the whole story in the end.

Bottom line, it was predictable, and tried to play the “cute” card that honest Park Bo Young and Park Hyun Sik are masters at, too many story lines and no originality. Please let this “franchise” end with this one.

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Not a very good Marvel version of K-drama franchise

This marks the second K-drama from Netflix that I've found myself unable to finish. The first was "King The Land," a series that turned my favorite actor into a rather bland Disney character.

"Strong Girl Namsoon," on the other hand, feels like a Marvel show with a Korean twist. While the original show placed a heavy emphasis on character development and their emotions, this one seems to prioritize the superhero aspect without delving into substantial character growth.

The male lead and the grandmother are undeniably talented actors who manage to shine with the material they are given. However, the female lead feels one-dimensional, lacking any significant depth or emotional complexity. Surprisingly, she doesn't even have any abandonment issues, despite being left with adoptive parents.

My breaking point came when I witnessed the antagonist resorting to a blue drug for superhero abilities. It felt like a significant departure from the tone and direction I was hoping for, leading me to decide to drop the series altogether.

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Hero or Villian

Firstly i was very excited for this show because i love both the actors for the hero and villian however i was also a little doubtful if it would be as good as the 1st strong woman or not.

Now having completed this show it was a weird journey. I started it late and was shocked to see why everyone only liked the villian for his looks and didn't care for anyone else. While watching it myself i really enjoyed it and the main leads couple definitely did have the same vibes as the 1st strong woman couple. Really loved Heesik and Namsoon couple alot and they got their happy ending too:)

However, i didnt like the plot at all. Everything was so low quality and childish. I was honestly skipping through everything except for the 3 main leads scenes. All the actors did a wonderful job but honestly speaking the side characters were way too much and taking too much screentime. While the actually supposed leads got least screentime and I hated that. The mom's character was too much and the grandparents and uncle totally unnecessary.

Also no doubt Ryo Shi-o was the best villian and Byun Wooseok acted fabulously. And yes indeed villians can have sad back stories ofcource. But that doesn't mean he was a good person or that he could be forgiven. People who take drugs literally get immediately arrested and imprisoned in korea atleast. And this guy killed and hurt everyone around him. He only liked the female lead for her power that's why he was attached to her. It doesn't mean the girl would like him back too. Especially not after how he tries to kill her mom!

Our hero however was honest, truthworthy, handsome, cute and caring towards Namsoon from the very beginning. He genuinely fell for her and She genuinely fell for him. Then it was totally obvious that they'll be the perfect endgame. Even her family openly accepted him and actually he was the one to reunite that family:) I hated how the screentime for Heesik got lesser.

So in the end I'll say this show was a ok watch but lacking in many things. Wouldn't watch it again

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EXCELLENT ! Very catchy series, with humor, action & special effects

PLOT: FL, a daughter from a family where the women have super strength, was lost in Mongolia as kid, and returns as a young adult to Korea. She finds her family, and fights with the ML, an anti-drug police officer, against the villains who are testing a new devastating drug.

The good points:
- FL (actress I didn't know) is great.
- The mother looks like she came out of a Marvel movie
- the special effects are excellent
- The story is well written, with clues given at the right time to maintain suspense,
- The ML (Ong Seong Wu) is convincing, very endearing.
- The villain is perfect in his role : we love to hate him :)
- the touch of humor is brought by the 2dary characters and the astonishments of the FL who discovers life in Korea :)

The faults:
- lots of action scenes, humor, but very little romance and no sweet moments! That's what's missing in this season...
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EXCELLENT ! Série très accrocheuse, avec humour & effets spéciaux

PLOT: La FL, fille égarée en Mongolie d'une famille où les femmes ont une super force, revient en Corée. Elle retrouve sa famille, et combat avec le ML, policier anti-drogue, contre les villains qui testent une nouvelle drogue, dévastatrice.

Les bons points :
- La FL (actrice que je ne connaissais pas) est géniale.
- La mère a l'air de sortir d'un Marvel
- les effets spéciaux sont excellents
- L'histoire est bien écrite, avec des indices donnés au bon moment pour maintenir le suspense,
- Le ML (Ong Seong Wu) est convaincant, très attachant.
- Le villain est parfait dans son rôle.
- la touche d'humour est apportée par les personnages 2aires et les étonnements de la FL qui découvre la vie en Corée :)

Les défauts :
- beaucoup de scènes d'action, d'humour, mais très peu de romance et pas de sweet moments ! C'est ce qui manque dans cette saison...

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Favorite aspects/not so favorite aspects

Okayyyy, I just binged watched strong girl nam soon and I need someone to talk to about it lol. Overall, I really enjoyed watching it. I love that it was a different story with nam soon, how she got lost and was brought up in Mongolia. Absolutely loved that they meshed other cultures, it was refreshing and different. Wish they had kept her long hair tho, cuz do bong soon already had short hair, nam soons long hair with the braids was so pretty.
The whole cast had great chemistry, the storyline with the heroes and the villains was interesting and entertaining. But there are a few gripes that I had when I was watching the drama.. just a little shade too.
This drama should've been called Strong Woman Geum Joo cuz I felt like the mom had more screen time than nam soon did. Don't get me wrong, the mom was mothering okay, she was fierce and she was that b**ch. I aspire to be like her lol but I just felt like there wasn't enough nam soon and I also feel like they didn't make use of her powerful strength, like when she took the drug towards the end, I would've wrote the script to make the drug infuse with her powers and make her even more stronger and then she beats him to a pulp.
And don't even get me started on the lead couple. In the beginning, they set their story and chemistry up amazing, it was so cute and forward. But then, towards the middle of the drama, there wasn't enough screen time focused on them so it felt like they weren't growing as a couple because they kept focusing the story on catching the villain and every now and then the lead couple would share a quick second together but it didn't flow well because they didn't have enough moments together. This is what made Strong Woman Do Bong Soon so good. Do Bong Soon had the her own predicament with the kidnapping killer but throughout the drama she was with Ahn Min Hyuk for the majority of the drama, so their love story just naturally flowed and it was beautiful. So towards the end of Nam Soon, when they finally focused on them, it didn't feel as satisfying as it could've been. And also, this is another drama where they could've wrapped up the drama way better. I wished they would’ve showed the lead couple going to Mongolia for their honeymoon, the uncle found a woman he liked, Nam soons brother doing his own thing, idk just throwing out unsolicited advice for these writers cuz a lot of endings for dramas could be better like extraordinary attorney woo.. wut was that ending, it was disappointing cuz the rest of the drama was great until the ending.. anyways I digress. How do you guys feel about them potentially doing a strong boy spin off story?

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Watch the drama first

I'm currently watching episode 16, and I wanted to see if there are any reviews regarding the bad Russian the actors are speaking, but I found nothing like that, only bad reviews. It's kind of shocking since I liked it. It was the first drama in which I really didn’t care who the main female lead chooses in the end and really enjoyed the drama itself. When you come across this drama, you see that it has many main leads, so it’s obvious that it will have multiple storylines. Overall, I can say that it’s not one of my favorites, and I definitely wouldn’t watch it again, but for the first time watching it, I am satisfied. Sometimes I was really happy, and then I cried. For me, it was a rollercoaster of emotions. And actually, what I wanted to say is you can try watching it and see for yourself if you like it or not. The fact that I would recommend this drama, and I saw that others don’t, makes me believe that I shouldn’t trust all the reviews out there because mine could be different.

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A fun time but missing something

Overall I had fun with the show. It didn't reach the heights of its predecessor, but I still enjoyed it on balance. The characters were generally fun to watch, plenty of funny moments and decently paced as the tension escalated. The main cast were an interesting mix of characters and they played them well.

I did think though that the main conflict resolution was kind of anti-climactic, especially with how the main villain, Ryu Shi-oh was built up (and acted incredibly by Byeon Woo Seok. That unhinged intensity was great to watch)
And I just didn't feel the main couple managed to fully click in the end. In fairness, the legendary on-screen chemistry of Park Bo-Young and Park Hyung-Sik is more than a tough act to follow. And the leads do their best with what they are given, but I feel like the story didn't do enough of the legwork to make their falling for each other feel organic and I feel like we skipped over a few steps in their development. It's a shame too because individually Lee You-Mi and Ong Seong-Wu do a great job, but the chemistry in their shared scenes just doesn't quite feel there. And especially given the show had at least 4 major subplots going on as well, it just seems like there could have been space to give that core relationship more room if some of those subplots had been reduced. And one of those subplots only really became obviously important in the last 5 minutes of the finale.
There were also a couple of moments where I feel they played up Nam-Soon acting cute and being just a bit too childish, to the point it felt mildly infantilising of her character.

But for the most part, I enjoyed watching it. It's a bit unfortunate it's always going to be compared to its much-beloved predecessor rather than entirely on its own merit, but overall it's a fun, if imperfect, show.

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Inferior to the Vastly Superior Series, Strong Girl Bong Soon Do!

Strong Girl Nam Soon does its best to create its own unique storyline, despite sharing its universe with Strong Girl Bong Soon Do. Unfortunately, it's a cheap imitation that tries way too hard to be funny, intriguing, and insightful, and comes up short in all three.

The original series with Bo Young Park was a series that always remained focused on its protagonist and also had a very intriguing thriller aspect where a serial kidnapper is on the loose.

This series attempts (and fails) to utilize three protagonists (from grandmother to granddaughter) and can never captivate the viewer because it's spread out too much. While all three are interesting characters, it's simply not enough. Half the time, I wanted them to shift back to Nam Soon. While the grandmother and Hwang Geum Joo (the mother) had some good scenes, it would have served the plot much better had they been relegated to secondary characters.

There also are some serious differences between the powers of Bong Soon Do and Nam Soon Do, which are never fully explained. Bong Soon had superstrength, and some invulnerability, but that was pretty much it. Here Nam Soon has superstrength, speed, enhanced vision, and immunity to some drugs, etc. In short, she's nearly as powerful as Superman, which makes her character less interesting. Superheroes who are all but unbeatable are boring, which is why Superman's powers have always changed throughout the course of the character. There are also many inconsistencies in Nam Soon's use of her abilities, especially her vision. It seems she can see things from miles away, but that's only great if you know where to look and what to look for!

Series like this one also tend to live or die by how good the villain is. In Strong Girl Bong Soon, the creepy guy targeting women was very well done, and he showed his ability to often outsmart Bong Soon. Here, we have a very "vanilla" villain in Ryu Shi Oh, who's a part of the Russian mafia and using a new drug that is targeted at the rich in order to get them to buy the antidote. Of course, the writers decided to use this as a method for Ryu Shi Oh to use the drug to give himself enhanced strength. Ryu Shi Oh isn't a very smart villain, and because of this, he's largely uninteresting.

The last two episodes are so ridiculous and anticlimactic, that you just can't wait for the series to end. We don't get the showdown that we'd hoped for, and we get Nam Soon being completely gullible and stupid by taking the drug and trusting Ryu Shi Oh.

However, the performances in the series are generally very good. For some reason, they decided to make almost all of the men in Nam Soon's family fat, lazy, or completely inept. I realize that this was done largely for comedic effect, but it just ends up being silly and tedious after the first few episodes.

While Lee You Mi is a decent actress (always wearing the same, goofy grin), she's no Bo Young Park who is vastly superior in just about every way.

Also, the little "superpower" song used in this series is a joke, especially compared with the vastly superior "Super Power Girl" from the original series that always managed to get the viewer pumped up for Bong Soon Do! The song used in this series is about as inspirational as watching Nam Soon's fat brother stuff himself.

The series left the door open for another series. Frankly, I'll pass. I'd much rather watch Strong Girl Bong Soon Do again. And Bo Young Park's guest appearance in the second episode was easily the high-point of this series!

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