Origin and release year: South Korea (2023 – Strong Girl Nam Soon)

Korean title: 힘쎈여자 강남순

Starring: Lee You Mi , Ong Seong Wu, Byeon Woo Seok, Park Hyung Sik, Park Bo Young, Kim Jung Eun, Kim Hae Sook, Young Tak, Joo Woo Jae, Lee Seung Joon, Lee Hee Jin, Kim Ki Doo, Lee Joong Ok, Jeong Bo Seok, Choi Hee Jin, Oh Jung Yeon, Park Seon Im, Jeon Soo Kyung, Park Kyung Ri

Director: Kim Jung Shik

Screenwriter: Baek Mi Kyung

Synopsis: Gifted with superhuman strength, a young woman returns to South Korea to look for her birth family – only to be entangled in a drug case that could test her power and strength. (IMDb)

Make sure to read the Top 5 Funniest Moments From Strong Girl Namsoon on our site too if you’re a fan of the drama!

Now, let’s get into it…

Review spoiler alert! To sum up the review in one line: They had us in the first half… 

Honestly the first half of the drama had sooo much promise until it became so focused on the mysterious drug aspect. It almost feels like this drama could’ve been five times more successful if they had just gone the rom-com route throughout and not turned it into comedic episodes of NCIS. There’s nothing wrong with trying to crossover genres, but it just didn’t seem to work here. 

We all wanted this drama to be more than it was. Don’t get us wrong, it was an excellent drama and a lot of fun to watch. Unfortunately, it felt like it fell victim to the sequel syndrome where the sequel is just never as good as the first one. 

The first half of the drama was extremely entertaining and there’s not much to fault there. However, once the focus shifted more to busting the crime, it lost all of the charm of the Strong Woman/Girl series where we’re more invested in the lead than the plot itself. 

Had the crime taken a backseat and not become the main narrative, this drama would’ve been volumes better. Most of us watched because we wanted to see Nam Soon, not because we cared about some crime case that much. 

Luckily, Lee You Mi’s acting did salvage what it could of the show. She was charming and definitely the perfect choice for this spin-off’s protagonist. 

Kang Hee Shik (played by Ong Seong Wu) was also not a bad casting choice. His name sounding similar to the Korean word for a liver transplant (간이식 in Korean) was a nice touch haha. We can’t say we were 1000% convinced about their romantic chemistry, but it was cute and decent enough to watch.  

Nam Soon’s mother, Hwang Geum Joo (played by Kim Jung Eun), stole the show honestly. As well as Kim Hae Sook – the two of them should have their own spin-off where we get to know more about when they were younger and their journeys in the Strong Girl/Strong Woman franchise – especially one that shows Hwang Geum Joo’s coming-of-age story as she discovered her power.

The rest of the cast was great too. Naturally, we loved the Park Bo Young and Park Hyung Sik cameo (arguably the best scene in the entire drama) and Byeon Woo Seok was a treat too (despite his character).

Just like his hit song ‘Why Are You Coming Out There’, this writer was surprised to see Young Tak acting, let alone in this drama. Even more surprising was the fact that his acting skills are truly solid. The more you know!

Overall, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. We’re curious if they’ll go through with the male spin-off that was announced considering all the backlash it got, but until then… 

What did you think of Strong Girl Namsoon? Let us know in the comments!