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Strong Woman Do Bong Soon korean drama review
Completed
Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
29 people found this review helpful
by Michael Tang
Nov 13, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 4
Overall 3.5
Story 1.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
I am not very sure why this drama has such high ratings and reviews because, frankly, I was very disappointed. To be fair, I was coming in with expectations that this drama would be memorable and one of the best I have ever seen. It was neither. Was this a comedy? No. Was this a thriller? No. Was this a romance? I guess, but no. Was this a romantic comedy? Not really. Cause the comedy did not have anything to do with relationships.

The strengths of this drama:
1) The actors played it very well. The main "love triangle" and the antagonist were done quite well. This is mainly because of acting ability and not due to the writing of the drama.
2) Even though common troupes were used, they touched upon it in a sensitive and realistic manner. To expand upon this point, when the second lead's girlfriend began to "waver" she did not straight up just cheat on him and his friend did not automatically turn his back on him. She was up front with her opinions to her current boyfriend. He was also hesitant to pursue anything since he was friends with her ex-boyfriend. Often times you see characters that just follow the plot and don't follow logic. My second point is the common troupe of the second lead that realizes his love too late. This is one of the most over-used plots in dramas and should be done away with. However, they added a nice touch by focusing on his anguish and how he expresses his feelings to both partners of the new couple.

My main problems with this drama:
1) The lack of defined plot. There were approximately 3 main plot lines and 6-8 side plots that were just poorly written or poorly handled. Can any viewer definitively tell me every plot and its resolution? I felt the need to skip over certain plots because they dragged on and did not have any importance or significance to the story at all. Firstly, as soon as I started watching I knew that the two leads would end up together and the second lead would get snubbed. Not even trying to change the plot line. Of course it had to be selfish rich guy that changes and cares only for her and does things behind her back until she coincidentally finds out and they fall in love. Instead of the person that she had liked for 7 years and just missed saving her by a step. Always. I could have not watched this drama at all and told you the plot "twists" and "endings." Oh wow, family issues when it shows that her mom does absolutely nothing and emotionally abuses her father? Wow, how new and insightful with 0 character development or relevance. Oh wow, it turns out she gets her powers again and instead of living in fear of using it, which she never was by the way, becomes a hero and helps people. Wow, so new.

2) The amount of random comic-relief side characters is ridiculous. The only serious characters in this story are the main three characters, the serial killer, the brother and his love interest. Every single other character was there for comic relief or not relevant enough to remember their names. I don't know what the purpose of all these characters is. And I don't understand how this drama can confuse quality characters with a hundred random useless characters. Can anyone tell me the name of the mob boss? How about the secretary's name? How about the name of the school gang leader?
3) This drama was boring. There were definitely highlights and extremely important moments to remember but the fact is that due to the mixing of multiple overall plots and the usage of comic relief characters, it takes away from the character development of the main characters and the main plot. After watching the thrilling portions of the drama, didn't you want to know what happened next? Not wait until next episode for there to be development and have to wade through a sea of nonsense and random fighting or shopping scenes. How about after a romantic scene, shouldn't there be build up towards the main plot? However, every time there was a transition between genres there was meaning lost. For example, do you remember why the murder killed the first girl? Most people will forget that important plot point cause it was submerged under a ton of other nonsense. Secondly, do you remember who was the first suspect for threatening the President (Hyunsik)? All of these major plot points become nothing once you have a hundred of them that drag on and do absolutely nothing to build upon each other.

Overall, for everyone saying this is worth watching, let me ask you this: is this a drama that you would watch again? Is this the drama you will remember in 10 years? I don't think so. There are many better dramas than this. Just because you like Hyunsik or Ji Soo or Park Bo Young does not mean this is a good drama. In my personal opinion, this was a very poorly written drama that could be fleshed out and narrowed down.
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