11 September 2019

K Drama Review: Strong Girl Bong-soon / Strong Woman Do Bong-soon (2017) 4

While watching Angry Mom, I liked how Ji Soo played the role of Bok Dong. Although I was not actively searching for his other dramas, I chanced upon his show, Strong Girl Bong-soon (SGBS), while I was scanning K dramas on Netflix.


I read the summary for SGBS and I was initially doubtful if I'll like it. It was about a girl who had super strength. I thought it was one of those K dramas that my siblings were pestering me to watch (something to do with weightlifting, etc.). But the show had Ji Soo on it so I decided to give it a try. And boy, it changed my life! :D


The story revolves around Bong-soon (Park Bo Young) who was born with super strength. It's a gift that's passed on to all the women in their family. The first episode shows Bong-soon saving a school bus driver and it was witnessed by a chaebol, Min-Hyuk (Park Hyung Sik), who owns a gaming software company. Min-Hyuk fell in love with Bong-soon and hired her as his bodyguard because he's been receiving threats.

Ji Soo plays the role of Guk-doo, a police officer and childhood friend of Bong-soon. Bong-soon has this huge crush on Guk-doo, who unfortunately has a girlfriend.


A serial kidnapper has been abducting women in Bong-soon's neighborhood. This keeps Guk-doo busy. Bong-soon becomes involved when her friend's kidnapped. She vows to save her friend and capture the kidnapper by herself.


There were some silly side stories like a scammer zen master and weakling gangsters. The show could have done away with these story lines to give more time to the essentials.


As the story develops, we find out that Guk-doo actually likes Bong-soon too. But by then, Bong-soon has already fallen in love with Min-Hyuk. I was quite confused at how this angle was not pursued early on in the show. I thought maybe Guk-doo's character was just painted as an unfeeling one that he didn't mind at all that the love of his life was taken away from him by another guy. But I'm glad that this was addressed at the last episode. I'm glad how the two characters got the closure they needed and how they vowed to remain friends. Indeed, when it comes to love, sometimes it all boils down to the right timing.



My most favorite part of the show was the love story between Bong-soon (Bong-Bong) and Min-Hyuk (Min-Min). I have not watched enough K dramas to conclude if this kind of story line is a staple in K dramas but I loved it nonetheless. Min-Hyuk, played by Park Hyung Sik, really grew on me. I've never been this crazy over an actor since maybe my college days when I went gaga over a basketball player. I loved how Min-Min was all serious and cocky and bossy but when it came to Bong-Bong, he just went so weak. I liked how he understood that although Bong-Bong had super strength, she was actually weak and frail inside and he vowed to protect her at all costs.



Min-Min's cuteness melted my heart. He had this stare that just makes you weak all over. His eyes hold so much power in them. Fans were actually shipping Park Hyung Sik and Park Bo-young (Bong-Bong). And Bo-young's interview regarding this is very telling. She said she would have fallen in love with Hyung Sik with the way he looked at her but he looks at everyone that way, including their director. So I guess it's a no go for them.


The absurd side stories were fortunately overshadowed by how adorable Min-Min and Bong-Bong were. They just make you want to fall in love that way again.


And the music did not disappoint again! I was on LSS on the song that said I love you, love you, love you, saranghae, that even my son wanted to include it in the list of songs he listens to during bedtime. :D The music just made me fall in love with Min-Min and Bong-Bong even more.


And now I'm a certified Hyung Sik fan. I'm quite late in the game though because he's now on military service. So I won't be hearing anything significant about him until January 2021. Until then, I would have to make do with his past shows and movies. I loved how he's transformed from a K-pop band member to a serious actor. I could not even recognize him in the K-pop group pictures. He's really changed a lot and for the better. Some say he underwent plastic surgery, but who cares. All I know is that I'm waiting for this oppa to come back into the real world to give me new shows to gush about. :)


Noona says...it's a 4. There were weird storylines but Bong-Bong and Min-Min make up for that.