Do Bong Soon, une force de la nature (2017)

An incoherent drama with an odd entertaining factor

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is one of those dramas that are overhyped and I do not really know why.

I did not find it amazing or out of this world ,in fact ,I found Strong Woman ahem, STRONGLY incoherent , inconsistent , not well focused and not well-intentioned . However, it did have an entertainment factor going for it and for that I pulled through and watched all 16 episodes. Other than that, it’s not that special besides the fact that the female lead is very strong. So ?

What is the point of Strong Woman actually ? It has a lot elemental things inserted such as criminality , super powers , family and the police but still found it very hard to convey a message or running commentary on any of the elements . It was just pure fluff and highly silly throughout.

I won't comment on acting because the actors were brought down by the elemental stupidity of the drama they were acting in so I can not assess at all.

I believe that if you are going to base your story in a setting prevalent in society like a police station or a corporation ,commentary of those settings needs to be seen and heard . Unfortunately , this drama lacked everything.

In conclusion - This show is not that bad . BAD being the operative . But you keep watching because of that inexplicable charm that K dramas have !

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While I liked the entire show in general, the way the show handles Do Bong Soon's superhuman strength is a huge problem.

If hurting someone innocent would cause Do Bong Soon to lose her powers, I'm sure she would have lost it in the earlier episodes for breaking Mr Gong's tail bone. The way her abilities work are nothing more than a convenient plot device without much thought put behind it.

It is stated early on in the show that once the superhuman strength is lost, she will never ever get it back. Unfortunately, this drama played into the cliche of only giving the main character back her ability.

Another issue with the story is the mixture of genres that makes it a little hard to watch. One moment you are watching a thriller and the next you are watching a couple flirting. The transition between scenes could see improvement.

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I was smitten with this drama during the first 6 episodes. Park Bo Young is definitely cute and adorable. Her acting is on point - she is good with both funny and crying scenes. Park Hyung Sik is definitely making a name in the Kdrama world. His stares are to die for.

I love the chemistry the chemistry of the lead couple - on cam and off cam (based on BTS).

However, I find the story messy with a lot of fillers. I was disappointed with the writer of the drama. The cast, the chemistry and the soundtrack are very commendable.

I just wish that the writer tried harder in providing better content for the actors to work on. I know a lot of the fillers are meant to be fun but they became tiring because of their redundancy.

Nonetheless, I will finish watching the drama instead of dropping it. The cast and their chemistry are too good to give them up.

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Perfect romance/chemistry, but overall drama just doesn't work

I try to balance out my ratings with a combination of objectivity/subjectivity. Hence, the highest rating I can give this drama is a 6/10. And that's only because the lead pairings' buildup/chemistry was one of my favorites (my bias is heavily at work here, lol). Even then, the overall drama just doesn't work due to the other three plotlines: Company threat, gangsters, and serial killer. Our leads had to share their plotline with the other three and the result was disastrous. Lol, the gangster/serial killer plots were such a mismatch to the romance that it felt like three different dramas (slapstick, horror, and romance).

I couldn't finish this drama the first time around and on my second, I fast-forwarded everything that didn't involve the OTP's romance. The production team had a goldmine OTP and really should have written the overall plot around their romance: Maybe explore the lore behind Bo Soon's powers and focus more on Min Hyuk's relationship with his family or the leads' passion for developing games while building up their relationship during this process. You'll have a much more cohesive drama this way. The gangsters/serial killer plots don't connect well with the romance and should never have made it in the script.

Oh well, at least the creators knew enough to give us plenty of sweet scenes between our swoon-worthy leads. Aside from their story, this drama really is a trainwreck.

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I finally watched this drama and let me just say something I have never seen such a cute and perfect couple in my entire life and I couldn't stop oohing and awwing at them the entire time. Definitely one of my favourite dramas and definitely my favourite K-drama couple. I love the fact that the female lead is the strong one and is the one that protects others it made me so happy to see that. Such good acting in this drama. Oh and I also nearly died a million times looking at Park Hyung Sik like could he get any better. He is so good looking. Anyways back to the subject it was the first time I'd saw Park Bo Young in a drama and she was really cute and strong and so great at her craft. Poor Jisoo always getting second male lead roles. Please watch this drama. I'm not very good at writing reviews but believe me when I say it is a great drama.

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I really do not get the hype

Look I know I gave it 5 stars but that was just because I ADORE the main couple I think they're genuinely so cute and Park Boyoung and Park Hyungsik knock it out of the park with their characters and acting. Park Hyungsik really proves himself as one of the best idol actors and he brings so much life to a character who could easily be just this obnoxious, male lead prick. And ofc Park Boyoung is just so much fun to watch on screen and kills it. I love Bongsoon and Minhyuk as characters and I do think they work so together as a duo, and later as a couple, but idk. That's the only thing I like about the show but since I do love that aspect so much I had to give it credit. That being said, this is not a good show. The tone bounces all over the place and it has no idea what it wants to be. The concept is superfun and almost comic book like and sometimes it feels like thats the vibe it wants to go for, but then it introduces a weirdly really creepy thriller aspect? And then the moment later some really gross joke will happen that just makes you so uncomfortable like huhhh??? Also the second male lead was such a pain I hated that guy how was Bongsoon ever attracted to him I do not understand. Idk overall it just felt very uneven and I just really did not care for the plot. And yeah... theres a lot of just... weird humor in it. Idk I'm sure a lot of people found it funny but it's really just not for me I found it really out of place and bemusingly unfunny. It's kind of sad, like I love this couple and their characters so much they deserved such a better show.

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Oooooh Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. The promise you held, the promise you made, the promise you did not keep.

This drama is crazy popular, and I admit it. I understand why. It's filled with fun and interesting characters, an infinitely fascinating premise, superb acting, and some Very attractive male leads. I fully accept that I am in the minority with my opinion, and that's ok. I'm glad everyone else was able to enjoy this drama. But as interesting and fun and superbly acted as it is...

A terrible script it was. Great acting and interesting characters and story premises often lift many a terrible script, and I unashamedly admit to loving stories that are terrible simply because everything else was so well done. I think that has a lot to do with why so many people love this drama so much.

But those things just didn't do enough to compensate for this dramas writing for me.

First things first:

The rules of her superpowers were never clear. The first episode portrays her mother losing her powers because she was abusing them to make money off of people. I expected that to serve as a clear indicator of what was acceptable and what was not. That was apparently not so. I spent the rest of the drama (as far as I watched) trying to figure out just what the rules were. What exactly counted as using her abilities for ill and using them for good? Surely beating up bad guys and defending the weak would be considered using your powers for good, right? Wrong. Or maybe not wrong? Bong Soon frequently held herself back in situations where she Clearly would have been in the right to act and intervene, but then at other times, she just let herself go, wailed on bad guys left and right...and still didn't end up losing her powers. So what was the barometer? Helping this defenseless person is ok but helping that defenseless person is not?

As for the romance, Park Hyung Shik is endlessly charming and witty and charismatic and has looks that go on for daaaaaays. He's almost immediately smitten with Park Bo Young's character, and you're always gonna get a happy viewer out of me when a male lead falls first. But damn it if he wasn't super manipulative and uncomfortably controlling! It didn't help that Bong Soon gave him into his demands Far more often than I liked. I wasn't against her having maybe a more mild, and maybe even shy, personality in comparison to her abilities, but she gave in in situations where there was no reasonable justification for her doing so, and it INFURIATED MEEEEEEE. She didn't have to fight back with her powers. I was fully on board with that being considered using them for ill. But she sure as heck could have used her words sometimes and said NO.

I dropped this before the last two eps, so I cannot comment on them, but I heard a few things went a little off the rails at that point, and I'm glad I bowed out when I did. This drama did not follow through on the things it promised me in the beginning, and I just want my trust back.

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I hated this drama. I forced myself to watch this because of all the rave reviews. I’ve attempted and dropped it a couple times previously so wanted to give it one more shot... and it was so painful. Excruciating. Way too much violence against women, the irritating aegyo acting of the main character (especially the airy breathless whining and crying she does whenever she’s distressed... which is a lot) who was not likable to me at all (more on this in next paragraph), the whole tired “inept and incompetent police getting outwitted by the villain” trope, and the overall attempt to layer cutesy romance, slapstick humor of side characters, and the dark and sexual nature of the villain preying specifically on small dainty skinny defenseless young women ... terrible.

The biggest reason I was disappointed by this drama was because there was so much potential here to say something meaningful about the perception of strong vs weak women. Instead strong here is personified by whoever can physically beat the crap out of someone else (see also her mom and how she treats her husband!!). Lately I’ve been watching dramas with strong female leads that are empowered, independent, quick-witted, true to themselves, and these traits are the thing that attracts the leads to them. While strong is the premise of this series, I felt that
the protagonist, despite her superhuman strength, was very much never really in control of anything. It felt like she only used her strength impulsively based on her emotions (which made her come off more like a passive-aggressive bully teaching people lessons than a hero).

Another thing that really bothered me was that the lead was almost like being passed back and forth between the two male leads, never really standing on her own and relying on them throughout the series. They both empathized the desire to want to have someone to protect (eye roll) and they were both constantly chasing after her as if she were a child running with a pair of scissors who couldn’t do anything properly on her own — and she goes with it quietly!!! Obliges, even when they yell at her. Come on!!

So many other dramas that are more riveting and do what this tried to do so much better.

The main guy is cute. That is the only redeeming thing here. +1 star for as he got me all the way to episode 12.

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THE SHOW DOESN'T KNOW WHAT IT WANTS TO BE

THE PLOT was good. It's definitely original cause I've seen nothing like it. I feel like the show kept going back and forth on what genre it wanted to be. The crime aspect seemed like a second thought, which is disappointing because it was the most interesting thing about this. Sometimes dramas go out of the way to portray a strong independent woman and this was one of those dramas. I don't know if this will make sense but I think Bong Soon was too "strong." I kinda got tired of seeing her beat up people. What kept me watching was the serial kidnapper and Park Hyung Shik(that man is stupid gorgeous). The love triangle between Bong Soon and the two leads was funny to watch but I think the romance aspect could have been a bit stronger. I did feel second lead syndrome and thought In Gook Doo should’ve ended up with the female lead. Min Hyuk was very cute, but I felt like the SML was more sincere. On another note, Bong Soon's nosy ass mother managed to get some laughs out of me.

THE ACTING was ok. The best actor imo was Ji Soo. At times things got too cheesy for me, and I couldn't stand that group of guys that got beat up by Bong Soon. They got WAY too much screentime and they only existed for some cheap laughs, and not ONCE did I ever find them funny. I just ended up skipping any scenes with them. Park Hyung Shik is literally so handsome I found it hard to pay attention judge his acting in any scene he was in, but he gave a pretty solid performance. He was such eye candy that I had to finish this.

REWATCH VALUE is non existent for me. I won't ever come back to this drama. This was cute and light-hearted but you can never take this too seriously when watching. Wish they had focused on the serial kidnapper more. 7/10

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Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is not a Strong Female Protagonist

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is perfectly enjoyable and is full of iconic characters and dialogue. It's a fun, easy watch that doesn't require much thinking. However, there is one key element of the show that is missing: a clear message.

Granted, not every show needs to have a message. However, SWDBS shoves a theme of "girl power" down our throats without really saying anything about it.

Whenever Bong Soon has to fight with men, they always underestimate her because she is a woman. However, the show somewhat argues that their belief that women are weak is a correct one; Bong Soon is the only strong female character, and that is only because she has superpowers. In fact, she consistently talks about how she needs to protect the weak from the strong, mainly focusing on women. The show does everything in its power to differentiate Bong Soon from "other girls" who are "weak".

Another example of failed feminism in the show is the bizarre lack of female characters. There are no female police officers working with Gok Doo (you would think there would be, given they are catching a criminal that exclusively targets women), no female gangsters, and no female executives at Ainsoft. The main cast is almost exclusively men and most of the narratives surround men. The female characters don't usually get much characterization, and most of our descriptors for them are traumatic things that happen to them or their connection to male characters. They serve no purpose other than to advance the narratives of Do Bong Soon or one of the many male main characters.

The one exception to this rule is Bong Soon's mother, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. She is frequently shown hitting her husband and her daughter, which was deeply upsetting and demonstrated an incredibly surface-level understanding of feminism. Bong Soon's mother has reversed gender roles, with her being domineering and assertive, and this is played for laughs. This is concerning for two reasons: 1) behaving like your oppressor isn't empowerment, and 2) it makes abuse seem like not a big deal.

Finally, the main villain is so over the top and ridiculous that it sensationalized sexual violence and made it into an individual issue rather than a societal one. None of the sexist characters learn anything or change their ways after meeting Bong Soon.

Overall, SWDBS had so much potential to make real criticisms about society but instead capitalized on surface-level "girl power" narratives that maintained the status quo. That being said, it's a fun watch and the chemistry and acting are super enjoyable.

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Why just why?

I completely get different dramas appeal to different people, but I can’t quite wrap my head around why this one is so popular. Story dragged out and was chock full of obnoxious characters and over the top humor that didn’t quite deliver. I get this was a comedy not to be taken too seriously but the humor fell flat and was jarring with the rest of the genres they tried to smash together to create this train wreck.
I suffered through the entire series with my finger heavy on fast forward just so I could watch the main couple. Not because I enjoyed Bong Soon as a character or an actress. She was flat, tried way to hard to be cute, never grew on me, and completely undeserving of our male lead. But because watching Min Min totally head over heals besotted like an adorable puppy with hearts in his eyes was the best part of this whole drama.

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