Mulher Forte, Do Bong Soon (2017)

A wonderful feel-good romp

I had no idea what to expect going into this one and I was delightfully surprised. This is feel-good romantic comedy—with a little mystery, suspense, and action thrown in--and I absolutely loved it. Petite, doe-eyed Park Bo Young was perfect for the role of Do Bong Soon. Her diminutive stature and schoolgirl innocence fit the part perfectly and she was a delight to watch. Her chemistry with Park Hyung Shik as Min Hyuk was terrific, and they looked wonderful together. Kim Ji Soo was also good as the brooding cop who discovers too late that he let the love of his life slip away.

The rest of the cast is also good. I can only imagine how wild it must have been filming some of this stuff. How anyone kept a straight face is beyond me. Kim Won Tae goes completely over the top in the dual roles of gangster Kim Kwang Bok and the swishy Oh Dol Pyu. It is hilarious in places and cringeworthy in others, but he held absolutely nothing back. Jang Mi Kwan was super creepy as the villain Kim Jang Hyuk. All in all, it was a wonderful ensemble they assembled for this production.

A couple of special shout outs: First, to the team that created the subtitles. I watched this show on Viki and the translation to English was wonderful, often explaining the double meanings, alliteration, word play, and cultural references in the Korean dialog. Outstanding! Second, I don’t normally pay much attention to the OST, but I immediately recognized the voice of Jeong Eun Ji singing the “Secret Garden” love theme. What an amazing talent.

So what kept me from rating this one a “10”? Some of the other reviews have complained a bit about the jarring contrast between the mostly happy, cartoonish theme, the bumbling gangsters, and the violence and gore related to the dark, sinister bad guy. I have to agree with that. If there were a machine to create the perfect drama, I would use it to tweak the settings on this one. I would dial back the violence and darkness a bit, dial back the cutesy on romantic lead Min Hyuk just a little and the shreeking campiness of the queen Dol Pyu a little more. I would also dial back the Keystone cops effect on the bumbling mobsters just a little bit, add a dash more of grandma, and a little less of Bong Soon’s mom beating up on her dad. However, these are all mostly quibbles. Don’t let any of it stop you from watching this wonderful show.

Leia Mais

The best part of this show is definitely the humor. It's really crazy and mabye not for everyone but I lost my sh*t, haha. The acting was also very well done but I have to say the characters were extremely annoying. That is why I couldn't like the drama as much as I maybe could have.

1. Bong Soon continuesly beats people up in the show resulting in hospitalizing them for a very long time. I get that it's supposed to be a show and 'funny' but no. The show tries to ridicule violence and to justify it. Not okay.

2. Her mother has the upper hand in the family and beats up her dad all the time when he doesn't agree. Does that seem like a healthy relationship? No, but sorry. I couldn't even smile at these scenes. It's supposed to be funny because the 'weak' mother -- a woman -- beats up her husband, ohohoho... Not hilarious.

Apart from that it is a good show, I guess but nothing TOO special even if they were somehow trying to make it into something big I feel.

Leia Mais

Fabulous!

This drama is so awesome I finished rewatching it and that is something I hardly do.
I think there not so many dramas that are great so I have to rewatch some jewels like this show.

PLOT - very nice and funny. I think the thriller part is not a necessity, not the minor nonsense scenes like a bomb turned into fireworks, the gangs, the way her mother is, etc. The romance is nice despite the ML turned too much into a silly in love guy.
I hate love triangles but I think that must be a women's thing since I can't recall immediately a love triangle with 2 women and a man... I think that a good drama doesn't need all the same clichés. But this love triangle is soft...

ACTING - awesome acting by most of the actors!

OST - I liked the music of the fighting scenes but I would not listen to none of them by choice

REWATCH - I did it! 100% YES

ROMANCE - I like it but it has many silly parts, specially the ML. I think that he is awesome, a successful business man, and that part is not shown, only in first episode...

ENDING - the bad guy is not bad but I didn't care for that story. I like it, lots of funny moments and a good way of wrapping most of the stories. Even the twins could be interesting in other série...

OVERALL - love it. Even with some flaws. The romance is nice, despite the annoyance of the love triangles... I know the formula seems to work to most of the viewers but never for me.
If you like romance, comedy, a female with strong and independence thoughts I think you should watch this!!!

Leia Mais

One of the best dramas out everr

I watched this drama almost 2 or 3 yrs ago and it all started w this drama! This was so amazing and very very addicting seeing as how i finished it in a day or so. I might be biased bc this was my first kdrama but it was LITERALLY SO GOOD i didn't expected it to be that fun to watch. Everything abt this was perfect down to the acting, osts (amazing osts btw i know all the lyrics to this day and they are one of bests in any kdrama ive watched) chemistry, plot EVERYTHING. Everytime i watch clips of this drama it bring back so many nostalgic memories and reminds me why its at my top 1 for a reason!! I highly highly recommend it to everyone looking for a slowburn cliche cute romcom w plot, amazing actors and great chemistry! (Great osts too) i recommended it to a friend who never watched kdramas and to this day after many dramas its still at her top. It's a very memorable one def. I can see why ppl dont like it as much but imo i loved it. Also bc of this i fell in love w park boyoung and park hyungsik.
(Min min and bong bong forever lmao iykyk)

Leia Mais

Loved this one!

Loved the (literally) strong female lead and her character growth throughout the show and how the men had to adapt to fit into her life. In the end, she is doing what she wants to do, having achieved her goal with the launch of the video game.

I loved the mom and grandmother characters as well. Also strong women, even though her mother lost her powers, she was still a strong personality and leader in her community. I enjoyed a series where the "strong men" - the bullies and gangsters, were put in their place by tiny Do Bong Soon. And the traditional male roles of police officer, also benefited from Do Bong Soon's strength.

I didn't like that she had to be the unsung hero in the end after she helped catch the kidnapping criminal. It wouldn't have been possible without her assistance. However, it was at her request in order to keep her anonymity so she could do her good deeds.

I did enjoy the romance between Bong Soon and her Min Min. Although I didn't like the way he had her work in his office at what was like a little girl's dollhouse desk. I know that her character thought it was cute and liked it. So I suppose that was what mattered.

The ending was sweet and adorable when Min-Hyuk was left to care for his twin daughters while Bong Soon was "working". I loved the reversal of traditional husband/wife roles.

Leia Mais

Joyful leads and great chemistry keep this from falling apart...this show will likely not age well (discussed in a footnote below).

Do Bong Soon and Ahn Min-hyuk are the key. Coming from opposite backgrounds, they share a childlike exuberance towards life, a love of video games, and underneath it all a strong sense of vengeful justice. Both know what it's like to feel like 'an outsider looking in,' and they hate the strong bullying the weak.

Ahn Min-hyuk immediately, and endearingly thinks Do Bong Soon's super-strength is an amazing quality. Better still, his admiration for her strength doesn't lessen his concerns for her well-being. It is this rare quality in the male lead that really stuck with me.

The music and sound-effects all have a comic book/video game feel that suits the show, and some of the scenes are so iconic or so startlingly unique that they will live in my head forever.

Themes: 8.0
Inner strength and a life worth living comes from being sure of your strengths and values. Pick a romantic partner who respects and values your strengths and does not try to supress or diminish them.

Complex Characters/Character Growth: 7.5
Do Bong Soon is on a journey to becoming comfortable with who she is. She doesn't so much change but settle into her skin. Ahn Min-hyuk develops different facets (childishness, ruthlessness, admiration) but not sure if he has much growth per se

Relationships Between Women: 5.0
Strong Girl Bong Soon does have friends etc. but all the other main characters are men.

Cinematography/Production values: 8.0
Thought was put into the comic book/video game feel to the show with the pops of color, noises and special effects.

NOTE: There was one gender nonconforming/LGBTQ character that was played very campily for laughs. I couldn't tell whether it was cultural differences or a disrespectful portrayal. Overall, the jokes are based on dated patriarchal ideas, and I could see the 'flip' of gender dynamics jokes not aging particularly well.

In addition, the creepy male serial killer attacking women who fit the patriarchal ideal and then being brought down by a strong woman - is a nice theme but it belonged in a different show. Worse of all, all the emphasis and fascination with this storyline overwhelmingly and unnecessarily centered male violence and took away from the point of the show.

Leia Mais

This show was one of top recommended show to me , people were going ham around me to watch it, and i have no regrets whatsoever for watching this.
STORY: The first episodes build a great plot and introduce the story well , the flow is great. Somewhere in the middle we realize that there might be plot-holes here and there but that is so perfectly covered with the hilarious comedy scenes for which we should thank the casting gods for casting an amazing set of actors , who fit perfectly into their roles.
and all those people saying that its an unrealistic story- well that's why it comes under "supernatural".
personally i think, You'll be missing out on a great romantic-comedy if you don't watch this show.
And in some later scenes you'll notice the connections to her and the way the lead pictured herself at the start, the call backs and stuff.

ACTING/CAST: I'm telling you for these characters i don't think there can be a better casting, these people ACED their roles and their chemistry is off the charts. Each and every actor did so well and their acting is so so good.

MUSIC: I'd say all the songs are pretty catchy and feel-good and they all fit the drama really really well

REWATCH: YES i will definitely watch a couple more times for its best comedy timing and cute leads

at the end i can say , watching this drama made me fell more in love with park hyung sik and park bo young , I've already been their fan but this drama man just made me fan girl , their chemistry , timing , was just so good. I LOVED WATCHING THIS DRAMA and please do give it a go. i promise you won't regret it one bit.
happy watching.

Leia Mais

well i came into watching this drama because of the crazy good reviews i was reading about it and how likable the characters were
not going to lie here, overall i did enjoy the drama because of its action and comedy packed scenes but there was a lot missing
first off all, the plot was interesting and so was the characters ngl.
but the fact that they overplayed the main character as gay was a turnoff, it was not offensive but i felt like they brought it up loads of times that it made it tiring while they made him dress up as a girl and flirt with the guys. it was funny the first few times then it kinda got boring but hey that is really okay because they didn't seem like it was a bad thing. at least i don't remember (if they do please inform me :) )
the characters were hella annoying, the girl was starstruck by a man but didnt see anyone else and kept thinking about. while she has some super powers that no one knows about
thats just some of the bad things please remember that there is alot of good things about the drama and i havent explained everything!

Leia Mais

Give this drama a try!

STORY: A lot of people's views seem to differ on this drama which I found quite surprising because it is as of now my favorite Korean drama. My 10/10 review for everything might seem a bit over the top but I can't express more so on how much I LOVE this drama. I went into the drama blindly, however with knowing that the main character would be strong as the title states. I see that the reviews usually talk about a messy storyline. I honestly thought that it flowed quite well between romance and crime. Every episode was exciting with me wanting more and the ending was satisfying.

ACTING/CAST: Park Bo-young and Park Hyung-sik are amazing in this drama. I've never seen them in anything else before watching this so I was blown away with seeing them act for my first time. Their chemistry was lovely as hell and I was basically a giddy school girl during sweeter scenes. I can't express how strong my emotions were while watching them act. I laughed (loudly), (ugly) cried, and felt literally every other emotion watching them together. The other actors were of course amazing as well since it all felt real the way it was presented.

MUSIC: OH how I love the music! I would, after watching, search up the whole OST after trying to poorly sing along when my favorite songs played during a scene. The songs fit perfectly and introduced me to new Korean artists that I hadn't known about before. It makes you more immersed with the scenes.

REWATCH VALUE: I'm known to rewatch everything that I love too many times after watching it. This is exactly what I did with this drama. Not only did I rewatch my favorite scenes but everything from the start as well and surprisingly felt the same emotions over again like I hadn't watched it before. I highly recommend this drama and recommend that when you do watch it, make sure you have spare time to watch it through in one go since it'll be even more fun that way~! <3

Leia Mais

Vraiment Super histoire c'est l'un de mes drama préféré et le seul que j'ai reregardé .Même si on parle rarement de ses pouvoirs cela nous dérange pas tant que ça et le jeu d'acteur est tres tres bien. Ce que j'ai adoré c'est que l'on peut mélange thriller, romance, fantastique, et humour dans un seul drama ce que d'autres n'y arrive pratiquement pas et l'humour joue un grand rôle dans ce drama ce qui fait l'un des meuilleurs. Le jeu d'acteur des personnages principale comme le kidnappeur est tres bien joué il s'introduit bien dans le rôle et j'adore le pdg et bong car ils sont mignons ensembles. Ce que j'ai adoré aussi sont toutes les scènes a l'hopital des ouvriers ou gardes du corps car c'est vraiment les choses que j'ai adoré avec l'homme qui est toujours blésses et que je voit il joue le role d'une femme dans l'entreprise alors ça ils ont fait fort sur Ms.Oh qui cri toujours. En gros c'était magnifique.

Leia Mais

Creepy And Campy

I'm surprised I liked this show as much as I did. I'm not going to lie - the first four episodes didn't really hook me.

❤ I found Bong Soon to be a rather bland character despite her interesting ability. Around the halfway mark she became more of a fully realized person rather than a caricature of a superhero. The show did a pretty good job with her powers, and, for the most part, I felt her natural strength.

❤ God save me from love triangles. They are usually so cliché and tiresome no matter the circumstances. I did like all of the actors so at least I didn't dread every episode, but I much preferred it once the triangle was wrapped up.

❤ The MVP of this show, and probably the only reason I stuck it out initially, is Park Hyung-Sik as An Min-Hyuk. He has to balance between love sick puppy, remote CEO, and slightly crazy anti-establishment asshole. And, my god, does he excel at all three. He completely and totally won me over, and his obvious joy and love for Bong Soon was absolutely adorable.

❤ The side characters are a bit much, particularly Bong Soon's "kids" and the mafia-style antiheroes. Most of their scenes were meant to add levity to a somewhat dark storyline, but it felt rather pushed into the story rather than layered into it. That said, I did enjoy how everyone comes together in the end to stop the big bad of the series.

❤ Finally, I have to comment on the number of placement adds. They are so obvious. It's also interested how the last episode, while giving us a pretty "happily ever after ending," also felt like the showrunners attempting to add as many product placement ads as possible.

Leia Mais