SunOh

I loved it — the couple, particularly Ong Seong Wu (I love his jackets!), and just about everything else. The scenes in Mongolia, the secretive and wealthy environment (along with the Penthouse-like OSTs), the way it plays with capitalism, the female empowerment through the mother, the grandma (who both had their own backstories), and Nam Soon herself, the great comedy, like the lazy brother (he was so funny and reminded me of the sloth in Zootopia), and the way it makes fun of misogyny.

This drama feels much closer to a superhero comic than a typical K-drama like Strong Girl Bong Soon. It wasn't trying to simply repeat Bong Soon; it took the concept somewhere else.

There were so many little moments I loved, like Nam Soon looking at Hee Sik dancing from afar thanks to her super vision (iconic scene), or the rain falling above him with the rainbow, and when he disguised himself as a woman. Nam Soon keeping a picture of Eun Woo in her journal in Mongolia and saying she wants to date a good-hearted Korean guy, and then fate happening in such a fun way, was great too.

I also liked the open-minded take on old couples, contemporary issues, vulnerable people, family relationships (some more complicated than others), adoptive parents and finding your biological family again, teamwork, and all the side characters: the homeless couple (which had a fate of irony), Mr. Bread and his OST, the semi-villain Hwa Ja who impersonated the real daughter, detective Yeong Tak.

I liked how it was a big fight revolving around drugs and the Russian mafia, while Nam Soon had even bigger superpowers, as well as the "link" they had within their family. The production quality was high, the ending was great (a satisfying conclusion and then a surprise), and Season 2 might even come out according to news.

I didn't think it was poorly written, and there wasn't too much content either. It was all tied together, and there were 16 episodes of about an hour each, which is more than enough.

People hated it because "the villain was hot" (no, his backstory does not allow him to cause mass murder, using people's vulnerabilities, threatening Nam Soon and her biological family to death, and killing someone for self-satisfaction 🙄). I'll never forgive them for insulting the leads, saying the male lead is ugly and hating on them, even the whole cast. Some even said, "Who cares about an old couple? I skip their scenes, only watching for the villain" — which is exactly the kind of superficiality the drama was calling out.

While the villain was good and a fitting casting choice, it's absolutely untrue that he carried the drama. Everyone did. It's an ensemble cast, unlike the prequel.

I've also seen people say, "There are too many characters/storylines, so we can't get attached to them except for the villain." Si Oh barely had any screen time in the first episodes and not that much afterwards either as there were many characters, clear evidence they weren't paying attention. Even the music and acting would be rated a 1 by some because "everything was annoying and cringe except Ryu Si Oh."

About the music: it had K-pop songs because that was exactly what the drama needed.

Comparing it to the prequel :

The prequel focused more on the rom-com/CEO romance. Hee Sik and Nam Soon had great chemistry too; it was just different. There was the typical love triangle, a popular male lead who acted all cutesy, and a more conventional K-drama structure.

And while the girl was childlike there too, people complain about Nam Soon even though you actually see how she grew up and understand her personality. Then they complain about Hee Sik because he's "boring" ???

The romance here was more mature, if anything. I loved his acting throughout the drama. He always improves, and I think he showed his range especially well here. I was glad he got a role in a big drama like this. It was popular in Korea too — JTBC is a paid channel, and it got high ratings.

One last thing: the romance isn't bad simply because Hee Sik got attached to her quickly. He was just a kind-hearted policeman, and I loved how they got entangled. Their relationship was so cute, especially how she found her dream thanks to him.

Strong Girl Nam Soon doesn't need to be Strong Girl Bong Soon again to be good. They have different strengths, and I actually enjoyed seeing how the spin-off expanded the concept into something bigger.

My favorite contrast between the two stories is their protagonists' internal struggles and family relationships. Bong Soon struggles to accept her strength and feels that her mother values her mainly because of it, while also believing her mother loves her brother more. Nam Soon, on the other hand, is openly proud of her strength and is immediately loved and welcomed by her family after being missing for so long — instead, her brother is the one who feels left out. He became a victim of the drug, but he was saved. (Meanwhile, Hee Sik lost his brother in the past, then his team mate due to the drug and almost Nam Soon.)

Their romantic journeys reflect these differences too: Min Hyuk loves Bong Soon wholeheartedly for who she truly is, while Hee Sik similarly cares about Nam Soon beyond her physical strength. However, unlike Bong Soon, Nam Soon doesn't need that reassurance. I also like how this contrasts with Si Oh, who seems fascinated by her strength and sees her as almost fearless or invincible, while Hee Sik recognizes that she can still be vulnerable and hurt.

Also, while Bong Soon chooses the CEO over the cop, the opposite happens here.

By the way, you can watch it without having seen the prequel, although Bong Soon and Min Hyuk do have a cameo, and Nam Soon is Bong Soon's distant cousin.

P.S. There was a Parasite and Nevertheless reference too, which was awesome.

On edit: Two things I've learned: there is a spin-off manhwa, Strong Girl Geum Ju (about Nam Soon's mother), and the drama actually surpassed Strong Girl Bong Soon in the TV ratings. Imagine calling it a flop when it was thriving on Netflix and on TV.