Strong Woman Do Bong-soon

Strong Woman Do Bong-soon, is an amazing romantic comedy, crime drama. It was one of the most
popular Korean dramas released in 2017, it was so popular in fact that there has been talk of second season, which is rare for K-dramas. Strong Woman Do Bong-soon consists of 16 episodes ranging from 63 to 70 minutes long. Strong Woman Do Bong-soon is one of my all-time favorite dramas, I have watched it twice all the way through, both times binge watching it in a single weekend. Strong Woman Do Bong-soon is an amazingly written, romantic comedy with a comic like super hero twist and dark undertones from the crimes that the show portrays. The advisories that I would issue for this show would include sexual innuendo and mature themes due to the crimes that it portrays: murder, kidnapping, etc. so this show is for viewers aged 13 and older.  

The three main characters of Strong Woman Do Bong-soon are Do Bong-soon (Park Bo-young), Ahn Min-hyuk (Park Hyung-sik), and In Gook-doo (Ji Soo). Do Bong-soon is the main female lead, and is the hero of the drama. She is from a family where all of the women are gifted with super human strength, however if they ever hurt an innocent person they loss their strength as punishment. She has lived her whole life hiding her ability and trying and wishing that she could be normal. The fact that she is extremely small adds to the humor of the drama as she shocks many people when she does display her strength.  She has never been gifted at anything other than her strength, which has led her to be unemployed and seen as inferior to her twin brother, a doctor, by their mother.  

Ahn Min-hyuk is one of the male leads, he owns a video game content creation company. Min-hyuk has three half-brothers, when his father decides that he is going to retire and appoint Min-hyuk as the new CEO they are furious. Min-hyuk left the family business years ago and opened up AINSOFT, his company. The success that he has had when running his company only left him more determined to have Min-hyuk take over the company, which the brothers were all against, especially since he is not the eldest. As a result of the family being against him as well as the numerous other enemies he has made over the years, he starts receiving death threats. Due to his dislike and distrust of the police he ends up hiring Bong-soon as a bodyguard, and to try and help him catch whoever is threatening him. 

In Gook-do, is the second male lead, and has been a close friend of Bong-soon since they were children. Bong-soon has loved Gook-do since they were children, a fact he is completely oblivious to. He is currently a police officer and is assigned to the violent crime unit that investigates in Bong-soons’ neighborhood. Throughout the series Gook-do is investigating the serial kidnappings of women and trying to find the culprit, while protecting Bong-soon whom becomes a target. 

Min-hyuk first meet Bong-soon when he witnesses her fighting a group of gangsters who were beating up and elderly bus driver. He witnesses her incredible strength is immediately intrigued and wants her to become his bodyguard. He quickly starts to develop feelings for her and spends the rest of the series trying to protect Bong-soon and win over her heart. Min-hyuk meets Gook-doo at the police station after Bong-soons’ fight and the two hate each other immediately, the only thing they are ever on the same page about is protecting Bong-soon. As the show progresses the rivalry between Gook-do and Min-hyuk intensifies the more they are forced to work together to catch the serial kidnapper and keep Bong-soon safe. Bong-soon also has major growth throughout the series, learning more about her strength and ability and how to help and protect those in need. 

Strong Woman Do Bong-soon is definitely one of my top 5 Korean dramas that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys watching K-dramas. The charter development as well as the main stories development is incredible and always keeps your attention, it one of those shows that you keep saying “just one more episode”. The only negative thing that I would say about this drama is there was a lot of time spent on some supporting characters that is not really needed and distracts from the main storyline. The times spent on those charters really just feels like unnecessary filler, and to be honest the second time watching the series I just skipped through those scenes and lost none of the main plot or important development. Over all even with the unnecessary story lines I would still give this drama 9.5/10, it is definitely a drama that anyone could enjoy, even those new to K-dramas. 

True Beauty

True Beauty is a beautiful high school romantic comedy. This drama was one of the most talked-about and popular Korean Dramas released in 2020. True Beauty is based off of a web-drama and consists of 16 episodes each ranging from 69 to 80 minutes long. This drama is definitely a binge-worthy show that you could finish in a weekend if you set your mind to it, which is how I prefer to watch my dramas! True beauty is a feel-good high school coming of age love story which is an easy watch and good for middle schoolers and older. The only advisories that I would issue are bullying and suicide, there are not any dark themes or plots, which makes this show a great and family-friendly drama.

The three main characters of True Beauty are Im Joo-kyung, (Moon Ga-young), Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo), and Han Seo-jun (Hwang In-youp). Joo-kyung is a high school girl who has always been told by everyone around her that she was not pretty, which led her to think of herself as ugly at a very young age. When she was younger, she tried to fit into societal norms by dressing up cute like all little girls did. However, she was always bullied and was told she was ugly and scary. Then, she decided to embrace her ugliness by turning to horror comics and films as a way to entertain herself, since she had no friends. In high school, she is bullied mercilessly by being called ugly and used as a “dumpling shuttle.” When her bullies catch her attempting to confess to her crush, they ambush her by dumping food on her head and telling her she is too ugly to live or have a crush on someone. In addition, they recorded the whole incident on their phones. This event marks the end of Joo-kyung’s limits as she goes to the top of a tall building and plans to jump off of it and commit suicide. She later decides not to commit suicide, instead she transfers schools and learns how to perfected her makeup. Later, she becomes the “goddess” of her new school due to her beautiful looks.  

Su-ho is one of the main male leads. He is a quiet and borderline antisocial high school student. Growing up, Su-ho’s mother past away. His relationship with his father was nonexistent due to the fact he saw his father sleeping with another woman on the day his mother died. He lives alone and does not socialize with the students at school because he believes he does not deserve to be happy or have friends. One of his best friends, Yoon Se-yeon, committed suicide by jumping off the roof of a building prior beginning of the drama. Su-ho blames himself for Se-yeon’s death resulting in him isolating himself from all of the other students. Thus, feeding to his thoughts and beliefs that he does not deserve to be happy because he was not there for his friend when he needed him. 

Seo-jun is the other male lead. He is ex-best friends with Su-ho, whom he also blames for Se-yeon’s death. He hates Su-ho and mentions to him that he does not deserve to be happy until he meets Se-yeon again in the afterlife. Seo-jun used to be a trainee to become a K-pop star along with Se-yeon, but dropped out after Se-yeon’s death. Seo-jun has a reputation of being a “bad boy” at school, while Su-ho was the icy “good boy” heart throb. Seo-jun also had to drop out of school for a while, so he could work and pay the family bills after his mother became extremely ill and required a kidney transplant. 

Joo-kyung and Su-ho first meet on the roof top from where Se-yeon jumped. Su-ho stops Joo-kyung from jumping off the building. She later does not recognize Su-ho after meeting him for the second time at her new school, as her glasses broke from when he pulled her from the side of the roof. Additionally, Su-ho doesn’t recognize her because of her makeup. When the two finally recognize one another, they start to form a friendship that blossoms into love. Joo-kyung meets Seo-jun when she saves him from getting beaten up by some kids he used to hang out with. When he realizes that Su-ho likes Joo-kyung, he starts hanging around her and trying to “steal” her from Joo-kyung. Seo-jun later realizes he has real feelings for Joo-kyung and continues to try to win her over in earnest. 

True Beauty is overall one of my favorite Korean dramas. The character development is incredible and the high school love triangle keeps you engaged and bouncing between who you want Joo-kyung to end up with. The drama is a lovely story about friendship and blossoming first loves. The ending is endearing and lighthearted. True Beauty is a show that you could watch more than once and still be entertained. Overall, I give this drama a 10/10, must watch! 

Black

For my first ever blog post on K-dramas, I thought that I would start with the very first K-drama that I watched. I find it fitting to start with the drama that started my mild obsession. I first started watching Black when I was on a study abroad in Vietnam in the summer of 2019 and watched it for the second time this fall, and it still had me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire show. The series consists of 18 episodes all of which range from 68-87 minutes long. Black is a suspenseful crime drama with some supernatural characters. It is a very dark show and is for mature audiences only. It is not for people with weak stomachs or viewers looking for a quick and easy good time feeling. There are a lot of touchy subjects portrayed including murder, rape, suicide, teenage prostitution, child deaths, and illegal organ harvesting. 

The two main characters of the show are Ha-ram (Go Ara) and black/grim reaper 444 (Song Seung-heon). Kang Ha-ram is a loner who people have called psychic and tried to avoid since she was a child due to the fact she can see “shadows” and how and when a person will die. The shadows that she is able to see are actually grim reapers who are sent to collect the souls of humans destined to die. By touching the shadows when she sees them she is able to see how that person will die. She tried in the past as a child to save people who the shadows appear on but was never successful in doing so, and after the death of her father who she could not save she gave up on saving people. She now wears sunglasses at all times to keep from seeing the shadows. 

Black/reaper 444, is the male lead. He is known as the most efficient and cold reaper of his generation as he was “born” a reaper. Reapers come into existence by either being “born” or by being a human who committed suicide, and as punishment are sent to collect the souls of humans. Reapers who come to being after they commit suicide remember their lives from when they were alive and are envious of the humans that they watch. All reapers are assigned partners as a way to keep them in check and make sure they are completing their assignments. When Black’s partner, a human who recently committed suicide, runs away and jumps into a human body, he decides to hunt him down in order to keep his reputation intact and avoid punishment by the “death squad”. 

When the two main characters meet, Black decides to use Ha-rams’ eyes in order to catch his run-away partner as she is the only one who can see the shadows of reapers inside people. Throughout the series Black is trying to find his partner while keeping his cover as a homicide detective intact, and his identity as a reaper from Ha-ram. The murders that he is investigating end up being connected to Ha-ram, her father and her childhood best friend. Black has to learn how to navigate being a human while protecting Ha-ram and dealing with unexpected feelings that emerge after living amongst humans for extended periods of time. Ha-ram has to learn to get over her traumatic past and move on with her life while continuing to see death all around her. The dynamic personalities and the character development of the main characters as well as the supporting characters keep the viewer invested in their lives. The progression of the investigation surrounding the murders that Black is investigating also kept me coming back for more, there are so many twists and turns, and the outcomes and culprits are never who you expected them to be. If you are a person who doesn’t mind the premise of some pretty horrible crimes and loves to be thrown into a drama that you can never see coming, this is definitely the show for you. 

The only part of the show that I found inconsistent was the ending, which was very cheesy. I understand why the writers wanted to give the series a happy ending, but the series is not really one that you would expect to have a happy ending where most of the characters have good outcomes. If the last five minutes of the show didn’t happen then it would have been a very sad ending, but perfect for the individual drama’s theme. Overall, I would give this drama a 9/10, but it would be a 10/10 if not for the ending! I definitely recommend it as it is an amazing watch.