Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (2017)

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is a comedic show with dark undertones. Some scenes get real dark and also quite graphic. The show can have such a tone shift from being goofy and cute to dark and serious. I'm not so sure if I like this tone shift that much. The show often feels like a kids show or at least a younger audience, but then it can turn real dark at times.

I did not like the story that much. It tries to be mysterious and dark while also just having lots of filler with fluff and goofiness. The thriller parts are okay at best. I think my biggest issue with the plot is that it lacks exciting conflicts. They try having conflicts with the kidnapper, the gang and the love triangle, but the conflicts just don't feel that serious. The series feels slow paced. Many scenes could have been skipped or shortened. I think the slow pace is the shows biggest flaw. It's 16 episodes long, over 1 hour each, and it did not need to be that long. I often felt like just dropping the show just because of its length.

The kidnapper plotline was okay. It was not really mysterious, but it did have some tense scenes. At least this plotline contributed to character development in Do Bong Soon and I felt like it actually served some purpose.

The gang plot was the worst of them all. It was never funny and I was just annoyed whenever there were scenes with the gang. They also did not really contribute any value to the overall story. Additionally, there were just too many gross scenes with the gang. They looked disgusting when they were beat up and did disgusting things. I suppose these scenes was meant to be funny, but they were just repulsive. I would have liked the show more if they just removed the whole gang plotline.

I did enjoy the love triangle, but I kinda wanted a bit more of it. The love triangle also felt a bit plain at times with no real depth. Like we have two dudes fighting over a girl and that's just it. Also the love triangle was really predictable. I knew it from the first episode how the love triangle would develop and who Do Bong Soon would end up together with.

Still, the strongest point in this series is the romance. When the romance really started to take off during the later half of the show it became so much more enjoyable to watch. There were many really cute romance scenes. Just how they act with each other is wholesome and beautiful to watch. They had great chemistry together. They were so adorable to watch that I felt like dying.

I did like the characters, although I found many of them to be quite annoying. But some characters started to grow on me there more I watched the show. I liked Ahn Min Hyuk the most. He had a refreshing personality and were often entertaining to watch. The most annoying character of them all was Oh Dol Pyu. Not only is he a stereotypical gay person which creates a really bad image, he is also a character with literally no redeeming qualities. There is nothing interesting or good about him. He is only there to be annoying and be a small obstacle for Do Bong Soon. His character serve no purpose and could have been easily removed from the show without affecting the plot. He is also sooo loud all the times and painful to watch.

I'm not sure how I feel about the whole Ahn Min Hyuk is gay thing. It's obviously just there for comedy. But because of that Ahn Min Hyuk gives out major bisexual vibes. And also there is no straight explanation as to why Ahn Min Hyuk and In Gook Doo had so much sexual tension. Like especially during the drunk scene. They honestly had good chemistry, which I do not think was the intention of the show.

I also did not like the abusive relationship that Do Bong Soon's parents had. It's only there to be funny, but I did not find it funny.

The show's main theme is comedy, but I often did not really find it to be that funny. There where some funny scenes sure, but mostly the funny scenes felt a bit dragged out or just too silly for my taste. Also, sometimes I'm not sure if I find like the correct things funny. For example I found it hilarious that Ahn Min Hyuk just goes around with a hoverboard while trying to be the coolest person ever. And he also have a hoverboard display in his office. Like that's just hilarious.

The production of the show is good. They clearly had quite a high budget. I don't really have any complains about the acting. It was just good. The show also had quite nice soundtrack with songs that often fit the scenes.

Although I did enjoy the show I just did not get that into it. I feel like it's a bit overrated. It definitely has flaws, but I can also understand why people like it. For me there were many times where I got annoyed at the show and found it uninteresting, but it might also just be not my type of show. I feel like their comedy style was not really my cup of tea. The only reason I give this series a score over 5 is because of the romance, which I really liked.

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