Review: Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

#strongwomandobongsoo #review #tvseries #kdrama #korean #koreandrama #parkboyoung #parkhyungsik #jisoo #fantasy #thriller #romcom #romanticcomedy

It has’nt even been a minute since I finished watching ‘Strong Woman Do Bong Soon’ but I just could’nt wait until I wrote a review on this, because this was just a really good one.

Country of origin: South Korea

Language: Korean

Seasons: 1

Episodes: 16+ 1 special

Story by: Baek Mi Kyung

Directed by: Lee Hyung Min

Starring: Park Bo Young, Park Hyunk Sik, Ji Soo

Genre: Fantasy, Thriller, Action, Romantic-Comedy

Original Network: JTBC

The titular character is Do Bong Soon who resides in a fictional place called Dobong- Dong. She possesses superhuman strength which is passed down through the women in her family. Having this strength however has a twist. This power can only be used for good things and not for bad or selfish reasons. Bong Soon never worked as hard as her brother Do Bong Ki in school, who is now a doctor. Because of that, she is unemployed and in desperate need of a job. There is only one place where she can use all her strength without any fear and thats while playing video games. Bong Soon’s dream is to have a video game with her as the lead character.

It is then that she happens to run into Ahn Min Hyuk. Or rather Min Hyuk runs into her as she seamlessly thrashes a bunch of goons around for harrasing an elderly man and for breaking her phone. She and the injured gang are taken to the police station. But because Min Hyuk lied, she was able to leave free of charges. Min Hyuk is the CEO of a game developing company called Ainsoft which he built on his own.

Bong Soon’s crush has been Gook Do ever since high school. Because she heard that he likes fragile and delicate woman who he can protect, she hides her strength from him. She completely makes it evident that she likes him, but he does not seem to reciprocate those feelings. Bong Soon is initially upset that he is dating another girl, Hee Ji. Gook Do works in the Serious Crimes Division as an investigative police officer and is described to be a very sincere and hard working police officer.

Min Hyuk’s father had remarried after his mother’s death thriugh which he has three step brothers. Min Hyuk is self accomlished with Ainsoft, the company that he built. News arrives that his father, the Chairman of a conglomerate wants to hand over the Chairman’s position to Min Hyuk as he is most deserving and capable. From then on, Min Hyuk constantly receives threatening phone calls and notices people following him.

Wanting to find who is threatening him and for his own protection, he hires Bong Soon as his bodugyard realisong how strong she is. She agrees to, as long as he gives her a position in the game developmemt section so she can develop her own game, once she captures the culprit. Bong Soon is told that Min Hyuk is gay and freely spends time with him. She even susoects him of having a crush on Gook Do. The show then runs through many funny incidents what with her as a bodyguard and with her troubles between Gook Do and Min Hyuk.

Bur things take a serious turn when a murder happens in Bong soon’s locality, Dobong-Dong. After the murder, a series of kidnappings of young women takes place by a masked man. He turns out to be a psychopath with a plan on kidnapping 7 women and making them his brides. It even comes to a point that Bong Soon’s best friend Geong Shim becomes one of his targets. This gets Bong Soon involved in the attempt to catch the killer. The police seems to be trying with Gook Do in the investigation team as well, but the criminal seems to be one step ahead of them always.

Bong soon decides to use her powers for good and Min Hyuk helps her train to control her power and use it properly. Years ago, Min Hyuk was almost going to die in a bus accident when he was going to place flowers on his mother’s grave. He was saved by a girl who managed to stop the bus. Shocked and bewildered, he things that the girl was an angel that his mother sent to save him. He eventually finds out that that girl is none other than Bong Soon. Eventually the two fall in love. However things take a turn for the worst when the kidnapper manages to kidnap her friend Geong Shim and take her hostage. He uses Geong Shim as a trap to lure Bong soon to his lair and Bong Soon accidently harms an innocent man and thereby loses her powers.

With her powers lost,Bong Soon finds it difficult and sad to be normal but she ends up being more close to her mother and also comes to realize how much Min Hyuk loves her as well. Things were going normal for her , with her starting to develop her video game.

But, the criminal tries to take advantage of this situation and try to eliminate Bong Soon once and for all but his attempts are thwarted, as Bong Soon gets her powers back.

Together with the help of Min Hyuk and Gook Do , they capture the criminal and put him behind bars once and for all.

Now with her problems over, Bong Soon gets to decide her own video game called Super Girl Do Bong Soon where she is the titular character who will protect and save the lonely Prince Min Min(Min Hyuk). She also decides to use her powers for the good of the people as well. Min Hyuk and Bong soon end up narrying and living happily.

Honestly when the show started I was apprehensive on how good it could be what with the theme and all. But I was totally taken aback and surprised at how good it actually was. The best part about this drama was the fact that the female lead was not displayed as a typical girl who needs the male lead to protect her and save her whenever something happens to her. Here it was Min Hyuk who needed that. Even though Bong soon is super strong she is emotionally quite frail which is when she and Min Hyuk find a recluse in each other. The show had so much funny elements there was’nt a moment when I was not smiling.

Good Do’s character definitely needs a special mention. Both him and Bong Soon have shared a special relationship since the time they were in high school. Bong soon aways liked him and made it pretty evident but Gook Do chose to ignore her. But despite that, he was always protective about her even after finding out how strong she actually is. Eventually he realises he does love her but by that time she and Min Hyuk have already found their happiness in each other. Instead of the typical drama where both the leads fight over the heroine excessively, Gook Do in a very mature manner let things be and decided to become her good friend even though it did hurt him to. As a police officer his character had integrity, and with choosing to be Bong Soon’s friend the integrity of his character heightened making him one of the principle characters.

Bong Soon’s family was also a very good attribute to this drama. Her mother was a person who lost her super strength and leads a normal life. Despite that she still leads the family with Bong Soon’s father literally living scared of her, ib a funny way. Bong Soon did not find comfort in her mother a lot as she cared for her twin brother Bong Ki more than Bong Soon. Since she was super strong her mother was very brute with her and she thought her mother never actually cared about her. But when a time came where Bong Soon lost her powers her mother became her comfort helping Bong Soon manage the loss but still live the life she wants. Bong Soon’s father was a typical father who was scared if she came home late even though nothing could possibly harm her. Her dad made sure to give her all the care her mother did not care to give. In his eyes she waas always his baby girl and he completely understood how fragile her heart really is.

Bong Ki, Bong Soon’s twin brother was a brother who cared a lot for his sister and always hung to her every word. In the end he reveals that the reason he wanted to become a doctor was to find out why his sister became this way and to help her lead the normal life she always wanted. Although he started dating Gook Do’s girlfriend he was genuinely troubled, thinking if his friend is okay with that. In the end, with Hee Ji gone, they both talk and do not seem to have any problems with each other. Bong Ki akways knew how much his sister liked Gook Do but chose not to say anything, which was probably for the better, we’ll never actually know. Bong Ki also made sure to keep the people that were harmed by his sister safe and treated and covered up for her often. He was a good brother and a friend.

Many other principal characters like the thug gang and their leader Beak Tak , the group of high school children who see Bong Soon as their leader,the gang boss in the first episode and his very gay doppleganger in Ainsoft were also good additions to the character set. They formed majority of the humor in the drama, which was really good aside from the humorous incidents that come with Bong Soon’s super strength.

Min Hyuk’s and Bong Soon’s relationship was an unlikely one with the whole alpha-male concept eliminated. But both of them were a point of comfort and relief for each other. Their scenes had the kind of chemistry that makes your heart flutter and make you go like Awwwww.

And of course you cannot forget the villian. The drama as a whole was comedic but the scenes involving the villian were tense and serious enough. His madness towards a play called “Blue beard and his seven wives” was a good reason for his obsessive and psychotic behaviour. He went to extensive lengths to make his crime happen and was an excellent part of this drama . The presence of this villian ensured that this drama does’nt become a cliché rom-com, but an actual good and sound drama that can be enjoyed in all aspects.

If I were to crticise, the parts of the plot including the the protest of the residents of Dobong-Dong against a redevelopment, a fake indian monk were quite unnecessary. Even without it the drama would have been amazing.

Overall , Do Bong Soon is a modern day superhero who is no different from the rest of us. All the characters and the plot supported this drana wonderfully. The main sound tracks were apt during the course of the drama and so were the cute sound effects which accentuates the humor components strongly. Its a great watch, which you won’t end up regretting.

For more on entertainment from South Korea, check out it’s called Hallyu! And for more on TV series updates on the blog check out The Couch Potato!