Strong Girl Namsoon (2023)

Thank God it has ended

I was looking forward to this show cuz the original series was one of my favorites. Unfortunately, the plot and script were poorly developed and executed.

The only watchable thing here is the villain. Si Oh was the only reason I kept on watching till the end. I didn’t mean to fall for him, and I tried not to feel bad for him, but I couldn’t help it and tbh I don't care because Si Oh is the only character worth watching in this drama. I liked his chemistry with Namsoon. And no, I wasn't hoping for them to end up together. I didn't expect her to be his friend either. I just liked the way he smiled only when he was with her :') I felt almost no chemistry between Namsoon and the cop. But whenever the villain and Namsoon came close, I blushed. Ik many people liked the cop and Namsoon chemistry, but not for me.

So, to summarize:

1. The mother seemed more like a FL than the actual FL herself. She had much more screen time than Namsoon and so many unnecessary scenes. (her outfits were nice tho :)

2. The grandma and his boyfriend. Instead of wasting time showing us their relationship, the writers would have focused more on the main couple.?

3. The main couple is so underdeveloped that it seems odd that they like each other, and with so many things going on, they didn't have enough screen time for good development.

4. The homeless couple. From the start till the end, I just didn't understand their purpose in the drama.

5. The police taking all the credit as if they could've done anything without Nam soon. ?

6. Ryu Si Oh is a perfectly written villain with so much depth in his backstory. He had so much more to give. Not at all excusing his actions as a character, but the writers could've done so much better. And considering his heartbreaking past, I think he deserved a second chance and wish he had a better ending. . ("I was betrayed by the only woman I trusted" that line broke me. ?)

This drama could've had great potential, but anyway. I just hope there's no 3rd season. This season has destroyed the drama enough for it to just end right here.

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Hmmm.....nevermind, just read the following!

I want to start off with positive points, yeah it does have few positive things that I wanna mention, lol.
1) first season couple's cameo, loved that scene.
2) I really liked how FL's mom was super rich, strong, pretty and smart all in one..cuz in most of the dramas it's other way round. She was the highlight of this show and all her scenes were super entertaining, I never skipped her scenes. Her acting was pretty good.
3) ML - he is cute, considerate, kind and everything. Acting was good.
4) actors acting was good, those 3 stars are for their acting.

Now negative points. There are many but I will mention only few that made be give only 3 stars.
1) FL- I guess her character was supposed to be cute and innocent cuz of the way she was brought up in mangolia but I found her very annoying. It wasn't cute in anyway her constant smiling for no reason and making faces trying to be cute was very irritating. (Am talking about character not actress)

2) villain is handsome and looked dangerous in the beginning but he was actually very stupid, mentally and emotionally weak not to mention how it ended with him committing suicide. I feel pity for him but for God sake hez a villain and took many innocent lives, distributed drugs etc. here I don't really understand what writer was trying to do cuz his pitiful story and everything made many people actually hate FL for betraying him, leaving them in confusion on whether he really deserved to die or not, and suicide? Really? Left everyone with bitter taste by the end, maybe that's what writers were trying to do but it made villain's character steal the focus from main leads and I didn't really bother about leads cuz villain's character had more depth than leads only cuz of his past lol cuz he isn't that smart there are many points where you feel hez soo dumb, he was played with for more than half of the story. anyways it's really silly how writers tried to make us LOVE AND HATE him at the same time but what really happened was that it made us get annoyed with FL even more for God sake show's title is on FL but her character itself is very annoying. and she did betray him no matter what the 'reason' was everything eventually led him to commit suicide. At least they should have shown him getting arrested or something. There's no going back as his life is anyways ruined cuz of all the wrong decisions he made but committing suicide brought even more sympathy to his character. Like why?

3) story - Gosh!! Didn't like the whole drug shit at all. There was no solid story. Even though its on a sensitive topic (drugs) but story wasn't good at all. I didn't enjoy it.

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Not a very good sequel,/spin off nope not very good at all...

This is pretty much what you get if you take the Adams family, give them superpowers add a bunch of odd stereotypes, put them in mission impossible goes honest and becomes a cop show honestly any cop show will do put them all in a blend/word mix app and ta da you got this show.

The most interesting character in the whole show is the villain who is not only fine but is the only one with a story... Dude is as evil as evil gets but he has his reansons and if only he were the male lead, maybe just maybe Nam Soon could have turend the bad boy good... or we could make a copleatly different story just for him maybe have him date the mom in reverse K2 type deal or maybe just give him a different lead to fall in love with all together... Anything would probably have done and uped the score from this otherwise pretty boring mess...

That said there are some moment of interest and intense stuff some of the friendships here are nice and the mom and grandma have their moments. The. grandmas guy and the cop male lead have thier moments of sweet but to be honest t he cameos 3 seconds of Bong Soon probably stand for one of the stars in this rating.

So if you loved the first season for it's chemistry and fluff, You are bound to get disappointed as it is just not there...

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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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It's really not THAT bad, y'all...

I have seen dramas that were waaay worse.

I'm not going to say this is without flaws - they could have removed some of the storylines (like the uncle and secretary, etc.) and could have given the lead couple more scenes together, but I still think the good outweighs the bad here. I really cannot understand all the negative reviews. It's not the best drama, but certainly doesn't deserve a 1 rating.

From what I can see, the biggest downfall of this drama is making the antagonist too alluring - he's like that hot bad boy next door that all the popular girls want to tame. Add a sad backstory, and we're hooked. As viewers, we are completely invested in his arc (because he's really the only character that gave us a glimpse into his past) and despite him doing all the wrong things, we can't help but feel sorry and root for him. I can see his arc becoming a completely different drama entirely where he changes for the better and gets the girl in the end.

Alas, this isn't his story, and Ryo Shi-O has to play out his role until the very end - as a drug lord who dreamt of a life free from his past, but was destined to fall the moment Nam Soon showed up.

I'll be honest and say that I never once rooted for him (though I did feel really sorry for him) because his character never felt any remorse for his actions. He literally plotted and killed SO many people and smiled about it. Yes, he was great to look at, but when you truly see his character (NOT the actor), he was still an evil guy. Remember, he even tried to kill Nam Soon, the girl he supposedly loved - yes, she betrayed him, but besides revenge, would killing her really have solved anything? It sounds to me that many people are rating this drama poorly because they wanted some kind of switcheroo and have him be the ML. I blame it on the fact that Byeon Woo Seok was just too charismatic for this role.

Like many others, I too was excited to start this drama because of him (especially after watching 20th Century Girl) but I stayed for the laughs and the silliness that you need sometimes in a drama. Yeah, there are parts of the story that were over-the-top, but isn't that what makes it fun? There are people saying this show is too "childish" but if that's the case, they can just go watch a melodrama - why watch a comedy and especially one where the predecessor has the same vibes and then complain about it? It's like watching Wonder Woman and complaining that she has super powers.

Overall, I still really enjoyed this drama despite its flaws. It's really fun, unique, light-hearted, and will give you a good laugh. Just don't expect completely fleshed-out characters and enjoy the ride - you definitely won't be bored.

Don't let the rating and negative comments deter you! I would say to try watching at least the first 3 episodes and judge for yourself.

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Missed opportunity

When I first watched this drama, it looked really promising. Totally different from predecessor. I loved the funny and chemistry between all the main characters. I was enjoying the show for the first half of it and Ryu Si-Oh stole the scenes. I knew he was the villain and I was resigned with the fact that he won’t end up with Namsoon. Up until episode 10 I was hoping for at least a redemption story for him but the writers did his character dirty. After making us sympathize Ryu Si-Oh’s upbringing they just gave him the saddest death scene. I’m really disappointed in this series, I do hope the next one will be better and they have learned from their mistakes.

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Who else watched this drama with great anticipation but was left with a sense of bitterness?

I will start off by saying that I believe this drama is likeable and fun to watch, however I feel like there are aspects of it that could have been handled differently to make the story have more sense and coherence.

THINGS I LIKED
First of all, Strong girl Nam-soon was fun and watchable. There were elements of suspence that kept me hooked to the series until the end and there were also a few adorable romantic interactions between the leads, which lightened the plot.
Compared to Strong Woman Do Bong-soon this drama is a totally different thing: the romance is much less, the chemistry is not the best and some things don’t make sense. Despite this, I still liked the series because it felt different and it has potential.
Also I enjoyed SGNS because it addresses some important issues of today’s world, such as criminal organizations, drugs, corruption, self acceptance (Nam-in’s case) and people’s hardships (such as homelessness and overworking).

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE
Now I will delve into the reasons why I didn’t like this drama. And they are MANY.

SGNS vs. SWDBS
Starting strong with a comparison between SGNS and SWDBS.
I’ll be honest. I really disliked how the powers of the three women were connected. It lost all the originality of SWDBS, in which the powers were just given from mother to daughter without the need to form a connection. It was exeptionally annoying, especially in that scene in ep. 15 in which Geum-ju tosses and turns like an idiot in the mud, drinking from a water pipe.
The way their eyes turned blue and all those effects just felt tacky and unnatural. It was like watching an American superhero movie: the hero, who’s got amazing powers with amazing effects, always wins and never develops psichologically. If I wanted to watch that I would’ve opted for a Marvel movie, not a kdrama.

IRRELEVANT GRANDMA’S LOVE STORY
Honestly all the grandma’s love story had good prospects… It conveys the message that even elderly people can still fall in love and experience a youthful, heart-beating love story… only that it didn’t fit in this drama. At. All. It was totally unnecessary and it just took away screen time.
And the grandpa? Jun-gan’s husband? Totally unnecessary. I feel like he didn’t add anything to the series. It was just a big waste of time.

NAM-SOON’S HOMELESS FRIENDS DESERVED BETTER
All the screen time wasted on the grandma’s useless love story should have been given to Hyun-soo and Teacher No. Their story was actually interesting and it would’ve been such a perfect add to the plot. For instance, they could’ve helped Nam-soon when she started working at Doogo, instead of disappearing for half of the series ony to appear again when they’re useful for the investigation. I genuinely liked them and I am very disappointed in how their story turned out to be left incomplete.

IMMATURITY
All the times Geum-ju (or others) told Nam-soon to have a baby I wanted to throw myself out of a window. It was so cringe!! And it never fit well with the atmosphere!
Also, telling Nam-soon to have kids is the equivalent of telling a four-year-old to start a family! The FL was too immature to have a baby and she barely knew Hee-sik!
I liked the ML and I liked the way he took care of Nam-soon, but I don’t think they can have babies yet!
Another level of childish was the grandma. You think she would be a mature and wise person since her daughter grew up with a strong will and a strong sense of justice… but no! Turns out the grandma used her daughter to get rich, leech off of her and then proceeded to not even care about her husband’s whereabouts when he left! She beat him to a pulp and she didn’t care about him anymore.

GEUM-JU
There’s one thing I want to say about Geum-ju: I don’t like her. She’s too unrealistic.
It felt like all the opportunities in her life fell from the sky, but not in a good way. Rather, in an unnatural way.
First of all she started her business God only knows how. She easily made lots of money and became super rich. Then, with all the drug situation approaching, she stumbled upon Opulentia (or even better, Opulentia came from the sky and knocked at her door) and she started getting all the top secret information without lifting a finger. Honestly she should’ve struggled at least one bit, but no she didn’t.
Also she was the biggest hypocrite ever. She yapped about how much she cared about Hwa-ja, and about how natural it was for her to help people, but apparently she’s not talking about her family. She didn’t look like she genuinely cared about her children. She never stopped Nam-soon from putting herself in danger and from risking her life. And she never ever cared about Nam-in. When that poor boy left her to live with his dad she just accepted it, and when he got sick she never showed interest until she discovered that he was drugged.

OPULENTIA
I don’t know if they will make a second season, but if they do, they need to explain Opulentia, because it is the biggest plot hole I have ever seen.

SI-OH
Can we all agree to the fact that Si-oh deserved better?
If someone told me that I could change just one thing in this drama, that would be Si-oh’s fate.
He deserved far more attention than what he was given. He has a tragic backstory: they could’ve certainly delved into it a bit more. His story with the mafia at a certain point became even confusing, since the writers didn’t address it properly.
Also, Si-oh didn’t deserve that insignificant death that they gave him. He died without a fight and that was unnatural of him. It is crystal clear that the writers just came up with something to get rid of him. He’s the character with the most psychological depth among all and he deserved a second chance.
He’s the only one that had some chemistry with the FL. I liked their interactions and it looked like she could make him genuinely happy. He also started reflecting on himself and he started wanting to change into a better person thanks to Nam-soon… I was furious when Nam-soon turned her back on him with such ease!!


Here I will point out some other aspects that should’ve gotten more attention.

CULTURAL HERITAGE
Can somebody tell me what happened to Nam-soon’s hair and traditional clothes?
I can’t believe how they totally erased her Mongolian cultural heritage and made her fit, in just one day, into the Korean rich girl standard! It was extremely disappointing to see her culture erased just like that, only because now she was Geum-ju’s daughter. She became an entirely different character.

BREAD SONG
Oh! So Bread Song was the Nozh the entire time! End of the series.
Honestly I am very fond of his character. He was fun and witty and I wish I had gotten to see him more as a villain. He would’ve been interesting.

NAM-SOON’S FATHER
Probably my favorite character after Si-oh. He genuinely cared about his children like a real parent would do. Even though he knew he didn’t have powers, he tried his best when he had to find the antidote for Nam-in. And on top of that, he knew when to step back!


LAST THOUGHTS
In this review I wrote all the things that I didn’t like. But if someone asks me whether I would watch this series if I went back in time, then my answer would be yes. It is true that it has plot holes and that some parts of it (all the grandma’s drama) are unlikeable, but overall this series is pretty good and easy to watch.

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Byeon Woo Seok's exceptional performance breathes life into a lackluster storyline

Strong Girl Namsoon falls short of its predecessor, "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon," leaving viewers with a sense of disappointment. The dubious comedy, lackluster romance, and weak storyline contribute to an overall underwhelming viewing experience. The characters, once vibrant and relatable, now come across as ridiculous caricatures.

However, amidst the mediocrity, Byeon Woo Seok shines as Ryu Shi Oh. His portrayal adds a redeeming quality to the drama, making it somewhat bearable. The character's poignant last words, "I was abandoned by the women I trusted," unveil a heartbreaking narrative of constant betrayal. Shi Oh's struggle with love and trust, where every connection turns into betrayal, captivates the audience.

Byeon Woo Seok's exceptional performance breathes life into a lackluster storyline. The character's development, dialogues, and backstory stand out, making him the saving grace of an otherwise forgettable series. While the overall drama fails to impress, Woo Seok's captivating portrayal of Ryu Shi Oh serves as a compelling reason to endure till the end.

In conclusion, it definitely not live up to its predecessor, but Byeon Woo Seok's remarkable performance as Ryu Shi Oh manages to salvage some enjoyment from an otherwise disappointing narrative. Despite the flaws, his character's emotional journey adds depth to the drama, making it somewhat worthwhile for those seeking a silver lining in the midst of a lackluster plot.

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Worst of Worst

I mean how can a writer be that dumb that he/she show the MC as side character .The most of the time and story revolve around the mom only.Hear are the some poins that i realy hate in this drama.
1) The Story is so basci that i can predict what will happen in next scean not only that i can predict others episodes also
2) The MC is good but because of writer worst writing i hate her.
3) Means in drama the mom is so rich that the batman is nothing compare to her and she also behave like batman she has a bike a blackdress just like batman means, the writer was writhing the show while watching the movie The Batman and he/she thins that i should aslo develop a charater that is aslo like batman but i will change the gender and will make worst of it .
4) The mc uses the power without hiding it,using every time and not using her brain for a second.
5)The mom loves the most her girl chid but okay okay with son child

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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'll make it short...

Strong Girl Namsoon had a cool premise with the mix of the different approaches of feminism, but the story went off the rails.
Kang Nam Soon's search for her parents in Gangnam turns into this weird drug case involving her family, and it just feels forced.
The detective subplot is okay, but they threw in a villain, Ryu Si Oh, who's the only thing worth watching.
The writing is a mess, though.
No clear direction, and it feels like the writers lost their way.
The family dynamics are interesting, but the lackluster plot overshadows it.
Despite some cool action scenes and good performances, the show doesn't live up to its potential—just a letdown.
The series could have done better in delivering a more coherent and empowering feminist storyline.

( I'm being generous here so I gave 8 because I'll be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it a bit )

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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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