Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (2017)

Photo source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2017/02/28/strong-woman-do-bong-soon-makes-powerful-debut.html

I was searching for a new drama for a while...I actually started watching Strong Woman Do Bong Soon pretty soon after its release but only made it through the first 4 episodes before giving up. I can't really remember what made me stop...but I suppose I just didn't get into those first 4 eps. What drew me to watching this drama in the first place was the cast. I've been a big fan of Park Bo-Young and Ji Soo for years. Park Hyung-Sik is aight. I know he's in my beloved Hwarang but I didn't really care about him...probably my least fav in that pack of delicious men. Anyway, I found myself in a drama drought for months. Every new drama I began I hated so I swapped over to anime for a while. I tend to go on long google sprees researching prospective shows, or looking up related/recommended shows similar to past ones I've liked. Over those months I kept seeing Strong Woman Do Bong Soon in most of the lists so I thought...hell let's go back and try again. I'm glad I did.

Do Bong-Soon (Park) was born with superhuman strength, a trait passed on to the women of the family. While she aspires to become a video game creator, Bong-Soon finds herself getting into and out of trouble with her uncontrollable strength. One day, An Min-Hyuk (Park), the CEO of video gaming company Ainsoft, witnesses her beat up a group of thugs and falls in love. He has been receiving anonymous threats and hires Bong-Soon as his bodyguard. Bong-Soon only agrees with the prospect of her work one day getting her into Ainsoft. Meanwhile, in Bong-Soon's neighbourhood, a streak of kidnappings has taken place and the citizens try work together to solve the crime. Nobody works harder than police officer In Kook-Doo (Ji Soo), Bong-Soon's childhood friend and long time crush. Sadly, he's already taken.

I would recommend this show to anyone who wants to laugh their ass off. There are so many ridiculous and hilarious scenes in this drama that had me cracking up late into the night. Other than that, there's suspense and mystery surrounding the kidnapping cases and a nice big dose of romance between the main triangle. If you are looking for something lighthearted and not too OTT with drama than look no further!

SPOILER ALERT BELOW!!!

The cast is full of lovable characters. The only characters I didn't like were the kidnapper (OBVIOUSLY), his accomplice, and Kim Gwang-Bok. There is a good mix of mystery to comedy/romance within each episode. I instantly fell for Kook-Doo because he is SO pure. Like, just some brooding police officer who works all the time and neglects his girlfriend (oh yeah baby hit me with some of dat) ((but not really)). I don't know, something about hot guys with a pissed off face is irresistible to me...as long as they aren't assholes. Gook-Doo is a good guy but you only really get to appreciate him in the second half of the series. Bong-Soon is adorable and I can't fault her. She's a strong (literally) independent woman who doesn't take crap from anybody! I love it. And the way she torments Dol-Byung gets me in stitches. Actually any scene with Dol-Byung gets me in stitches. 

So let's take this in themes. The romance aspect of the drama is really good and concentrated on quite a bit. The chemistry between the cast helps to convince us of the romance between the characters. I do agree that Bong-Soon and Min-Hyuk suit each other best and they make such a cute couple. I also like how there was none of that open eyed kissing, just proper kissing and a decent amount of it. Although Min-Hyuk does go in like he's going to kiss her and then kisses her forehead instead...like oh yeah boy HAW HAW you got me just kiss my forehead like you're my bloody grandmother! Ah well there's more passion in there than most dramas so I should be grateful for that. My thoughts on Min-Hyuk though...eh...he's aight. I don't know why I can't get into this guy! I think his character seemed too feminine for me to find him appealing but Bong-Soon is literally a bundle of petite cute small animal femininity so he could never out do her. Thus the pair works. 

The mystery side was really interesting. You see the villain stalking his potential victims and then you actually see him kidnap, beat up and imprison them too which is a complete 180 from the rest of the drama. I liked it. Jang Mi-Kwang did really well in his role as the psychotic kidnapper. I really disliked this guy but in a blooper reel the actor asks people not to hate him in real life so, I'll support this guy in the future haha (I'm simple). I just wish we knew why he kidnapped the women in the first place. I get it's to replicate that 7 bride's play he was obsessed with but...why does he only go for young and skinny women? Was he planning to marry all 7? What was he going to do afterwards? WHAT WAS THE END GAME!?

The comedy side of things is the majority of the show. I won't go into it but I want to give special mention to Bong-Soon's loyal subordinates. I loved seeing the high-school gang that declared Bong-Soon their boss. They were hilarious and precious. I wish I was the boss of a high-school gang (if they were like these kids). 

Okay now the things that ground my gears! There wasn't much but I didn't really understand why there was so much screen time given to Baek Tak's gang. Although I liked the characters, and there are numerous hilarious scenes involving them, they didn't really have anything to do with the main plots. I felt they were written in...to appeal to people who didn't want to just see the romance and mystery side of the drama? Maybe to cater to a wider audience? When they introduced the story line where Baek Tak leaves his life of crime to live at the temple I was like how does this relate? It doesn't add anything valuable to the main story line. 

I also thought the romance story between Bong-Soon's brother and Kook-Doo's girlfriend was going to be way more scandalous than it was. In the first few episodes I was like, "Hee-Ji that snaaaaaaake getting your claws into innocent Bong-Ki!" But then she just upfront breaks up with Kook-Doo and he's alright with it. And Bong-Ki starts dating Hee-Ji legit. But then we hardly see them in the drama anyway...they just kinda get pushed aside (for Baek Tak scenes I guess.) Also Kook-Doo "realises" half-way through the drama he's in love with Bong-Soon and has been all this time, but then in the final episode he says he liked her since school and tried to show his feelings through certain comments so BOO for that continuity error by the writers. Kook-Doo had seemingly no romantic feelings for Bong-Soon at the start of the drama and then he just changed all of a sudden. I was pretty torn up though when he goes to confess and she shuts him down before he gets the chance. Then he walks away into the night clutching the little necklace he was talked into buying. Ugh so sad. He doesn't have time to date anyway, boy's gotta catch a kidnapper. So yeah I wasn't really convinced about that story line either, it felt like an addition for drama. 

Overall I really liked this drama. The things I complained about are minor and I would recommend it to anyone who likes romantic comedies. I guess that's all that needs to be said. 

Have you seen it?

Until next time my drama queens and kings,

Sarah

Ps. Did anyone else notice all the advertising? Probably the drama with the most advertising I've seen so far