Strong Woman Do Bong-soon
She's strong, she's pretty and she's on her way to the top. Do Bong-soon is the strongest woman in the world. In fact, the police jokingly call her Miss Avengers. She also has a dream to become a graphic designer and create her own game. But, she has yet to find what she truly wants in life. Perhaps its the boy she's loved for years, or perhaps its a handsome new chaebol whom accepts her for everything that she is.
Synopsis
Do Bong-soon is a beautiful young woman with a secret. She is the strongest woman in the world. It is a superpower the women in her family have carried from generation to generation, but there is a catch. They must only use their powers for good and not to harm. . . unless the people are guilty of crimes.
Burdened with the ability to bend steel and pick up buses without breaking a sweat Do Bong-soon lives a quiet and somewhat lonely life. Like Superman in the Man of Steel movie, once her powers are revealed she must move on somewhere else. This results in her not being able to hold down a job. She does have a dream though, she wants to become a graphic designer and design her own video game but she lacks the experience to do so. When a new man comes into her life she just might be able to do everything she has ever wanted. She might even find what she really wants to do with her life and her powers.
Review
I enjoyed this drama immensely. I was perusing on Netflix one day in search of a new TV show. I came across the above picture and I thought it looked interesting. Well, after watching the trailer I thought, "why not, let's give this a try." I am so glad I did. Now, dear reader, I have to tell you that I am someone who has always had a love affair of superhero stories. I mean my first love was Tom Welling who played the younger version of Superman on Smallville.
I have to say though, I am not one of those women who get sensitive at the fact that there aren't many female superheros out there. That is mainly due to the fact that when female superheros are created they are mere shadows of their male counterparts. What I mean is, they tend to not create a well made and layered story line for female superheroes that they do for male (with the exception of Wonder Woman). For example, Supergirl or Batwoman, they are basically the same as Superman and Batman the only difference is they are women. I'm not complaining. Superheros are superheros and I thoroughly enjoy and love Superman and Captain America. It's just, if you are going to do something do it right. Don't give me a half-hearted and mediocre story.
The writer of Strong Woman Do Bong-soon did just that, Baek Mi-kyung gave me a well thought out story arch. She created an origin story for Bong-soon's powers as well as an origin story for Bong-soon herself. She moved the story forward and created well thought out characters outside of Bong-soon as well. There is myriad of people who influence and support the main character to continue the story arch. It kept me interested enough that I had no desire whatsoever to skip or spoil my experience of watching it for the first time (believe me, that's a feat). Needless to say I gave this a 95% on my sticky notes for story line and a 5/5 for direction.
I know you may be thinking, if it's so great of a story like I just said why did I just give it a 95% and not the golden 100%? While the story itself was beautifully written and well thought out (I aspire to write something just as compelling), I have to say there was one thing missing for me. The main male lead's story arch, An Min-Hyuk, who is played by Park Hyung-sik needed to be explored more. Don't get me wrong, he has everything to complete his arch but I feel it could have been explored a whole lot more. Yes, I know this is Bong-soon's story and not his, but in my defense, dear reader, she made an extremely interesting backstory for our dear male lead. I wanted to know more. He's a bad boy with an almost mofia like past, but he isn't dark. He is sweet, funny, hard working, loyal, and even a little endearing. But he doesn't like to follow the law all that much, or he blurs the lines between good and bad. He's in this somewhat grey area that I just wanted to know more about. Not to mention Hyunkg Sik really kills it in his role, seriously, its a great performance.
I also have to say, that I would have liked to know a little bit more about the main villain in this story. He is basically covered in an enigma of the unknown. We know he is the villain, ad for most of the show we don't even see his face. But when his identity is revealed there is not much to say about him other than he is a genius who is a little psycho. I would have liked just a little more understanding of him, more expansion on the character, as well.
Speaking of great performances, I have to mention Park Bo Young's acting. She is phenomenal to say the least. Park Bo Young plays main lead Do Bong-soon. This wasn't the first drama that I've seen with her and it definitely wont be the last. Right before I started Strong Woman Do Bong-soon I watched Oh My Ghostess. She played the main lead in that drama as well and much like her performance as Bong-soon she completely sold me on her character as Na Bong Sun in Oh My Ghostess. Honestly, this actress is sensational. I think she may just be my favorite actress. She especially sold me in the scene where she realizes that she is about to die and her lover is too she begins to cry. But this is not pretty crying like most anything in cinema tries to pull off. No, this girl has snot running down her nose and tears streaming rivers down her cheeks. She completely sold me on it. My heart honestly felt it, I felt her remorse at not being able to save him and her fear of dying unjustly without being able to do anything about it. She was just about upgraded to Barbara Stanwyk status for me (I think she is one of the best actresses of all time). Her character has a complex and almost contradicting nature. Bong-soon is a combination of mix soft hearted and yet strong in both power and character. She is sweet, but she also has an angry side which is easily triggered. She is cute and yet deadly all in one. Yet, she pulls it off. If you haven't yet encountered this actress then please, dear reader, I implore you to watch either Oh My Ghostess or Strong Woman Do Bong-soon.
Anyway, this is a great drama the relationships in this drama are very mature. The way conflict is resolved between characters (with the exception of the jelousy scenes) was also delt with in a mature way. Basically what I am trying to say is there was no unnecessary extra drama (which I greatly appreciate). If you have a chance I highly recommend this drama especially if you are like me and you enjoy a good superhero story mixed in with a mystery, comedy, and romance. I loved it, and I hope you give it a chance and love it too. I watched it on Netflix, but it is also available on drama fever and Viki. By the way, all of these sights that I mention are free (with the exception of Netflix), but you can create profiles and pay for extra perks. That's all for today, leave me a comment about your reactions to this drama. Goodbye, and until next time, dear reader.