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Strong Girl Namsoon korean drama review
Completed
Strong Girl Namsoon
17 people found this review helpful
by lavis
Dec 17, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 1.0
Story 1.0
Acting/Cast 1.0
Music 1.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

You will never be glamour.

Due to the many storylines it possessed, it failed for us [as the audience] to connect with any character or story.

I found myself rooting for Ryu Sioh (played by Byeon Wooseok) simply because he was the only character to have had any depth and growth even if it felt short towards the end; he was not immune to the awful writing.

The writers ignored what made Strong Woman Do Bongsoon so special. Bongsoon (played by Park Boyoung) was just like anyone else — she was flawed. She made mistakes and was held accountable. She grew as a person as the story progressed and the supporting cast was vital to what we saw. Whereas Strong Girl had so much elements that ultimately failed to anchor each other (drug cartel, the Russian mafia, capitalism, poverty, addiction, scams, homelessness, and way more). We know we're supposed to care about these things, but it fell short in the end because it was just an overload of content that didn't make sense.

Hwang Geumjoo (played by Kim Jungeun) was lifeless. A terrible mother who cared more about this arbitrary belief that she was meant to cure the world of its wrong by throwing her wealth at it. She is a failed attempt at being Batman (wealth, black ensemble, adopting corrupt children?). She fails her son, Gang Namin (played by Han Sangjo), by fatshaming him and only caring when it comes to bite her in the ass. She fails her ex-husband, Gang Bonggo (played by Lee Seungjoon), by focusing on her empire, fundamentally, leading to their divorce. She fails Kang Namsoon (played by Lee Yoomi) the most. She loved the idea of her daughter and urged her to be a miniature version of herself.

Namsoon was a caricature of herself. There was a constant reminder that she was raised in Monoglia, but it was never utilized properly. "She's from Mongolia, so please excuse her Korean. She was not taught to speak formally." That was the only time it was brought up. I wish there was a storyline (we already had so many, what's one more) where she struggled to connect with her biological family and Korean heritage. Her Mongolian life (and most importantly, her parents who raised her) was erased. Geumjoo throws money at them as a thank you as that's the only thing her character does.

Don't even get me started on the forced romance between Gil Joonggan (played by Kim Haesook) and Seo Joonhee (played by Jeong Boseok) that got more attention and progression than anything [and anyone] else albeit leading to nowhere. Kang Hee Shik (played by Ong Seongwu) and Namsoon got less screen time despite being the main leads, which [to no one's surprise] had their development suffer.

There was way more emphasis on the responsibility of wielding their power (as seen as Do Bongsoon's mother losing it). Strong Girl's family uses it freely without consequence and there's never a moment where they're hesitant or mindful of their actions. It weakens the importance of Bongsoon's sacrifice. Almost completely retconning the history and gravity of their constitution. Why is there a lack of repercussions in Strong Girl?

Judging from the extra scenes in the finale, it seems that this universe will expand and given from what we got here, it will be even worse.
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