KDrama Review| Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

May 16, 2020May 18, 2020 ~ dramaindna ~ Leave a comment

What happens when a “peanut size” (his words, not mine) woman with super strength tries to save the world? You get a historic drama that challenges the conventional roles.

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is one such drama. Now, there are many woman empowering series or dramas with strong woman characters. However, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is a little different and here’s why.

In a country like South Korea that has developed so much in no time, gender roles are still much traditional. Strong Woman Do Bong Soon features a woman character physically stronger than her male counterparts. Where most woman are projected as a damsel in distress waiting to be rescued, this one comes as a change of air where the male leads standby and watch things unfold (not always but that’s a start).

The story is about Bong-Soon who was born with superhuman like strength. Her strength is hereditary and passed along only to the women in her family. She dreams of creating a video game with herself as the main character. Along with the CEO of her company and her old friend, she uncovers a series of woman being kidnapped in her neighbourhood.

Coming to the characters, Do Bong Soon has literally become one of my all time favourite characters. She know her priorities straight. Maybe it’s because of her strength that she takes on things and beats up guys without batting an eye. But it’s because she is Bong Soon she never gives up, even when the world calls out her worth and intelligence. Bong Soon stands up against the wrong, stand by her friends, protects her loved ones but also exposes her vulnerable side from time to time. Such a strong character placed inside a tiny woman makes it all the more charming.

An Minhyuk- this guy is a dream. Everything about him is lovable, his righteousness, his fun suave office behaviour, his passionate love, and even his anger and concern for Bong Soon. This drama was definitely the most cutest one, I couldn’t stop smiling whenever I would witness Min Hyuk swooning over Bong Soon. It made me feel all the butterflies in my stomach. Park Hyung Sik admitted to having a crush on Park Bo Young and it so evident in the drama. He wants her to take the main frame and be the main character. What I loved the most is that there are instances where he wants to ‘be the man’ and protect Bong Soon but there are also instances where he ‘man’s up’ and realises her strength. He respects her family, her decisions, her space, and the fact that she is special. Infact, it is her abilities and her good heart that makes him fall deeper for her. (What a guy! Do they manufacture them anymore?)

Gook Doo’s character tries to keep a balance between progressive actions and regressive thoughts. A macho man with a lot of pride. Initially, cold with his love interest and later somewhat a Tsundere. He tries to protect Bong Soon like a fragile leaf who possibly can’t take care of herself. His views on her being a ‘tiny little woman’ don’t falter much even after finding out about her strength. His character provides all the conventional elements in the drama. I love the fact that he did not get hung up on his girlfriend seeing someone else considering he had feelings for someone too. And is actually cool about crossing paths with his ex and even protecting her. We find his true strength in setting aside his feelings for Bong Soon and maintaining his friendship with her.

The whole Bong Soon family, Secretary Gong, Head of planning department Oh Dol-ppyeo and Baek Tak gang were great additions to the drama. They complemented the drama well. In fact, the whole cast did great acting.

Now, I also want to talk about something interesting here. This series is one of the few where the guy or his pride isn’t hurt in acknowledging that his woman is stronger than him and can protect him better than himself. Not only does he acknowledge it, he embraces it!

Korea still isn’t entirely open on the idea of LGBT but the show has given full blown screen time to bromance between ‘Gook Doo’ and ‘Min Hyuk’. Not only this, they also featured a gay character and his interaction with the rest of characters is both fun and interesting.

The series doesn’t pit woman against each other. Well, not really!

Image Credit: jediprincess.wordpress.com

I love how Bong Soon’s parents take care of Kyung Shim like she is their own kid, and the lengths Do Bong Soon goes to just to save her friend. She even backs of and subdues her feelings for Gook Doo, because he has a woman. This line of plot had a great message, that it isn’t impossible to get over someone you thought you never could. If you actually shift your eyes around a better door will open.

Another important message is via Bong Soon’s will to help out the weak and abused with her power. She makes a faithful following out of the drop out kids who leave their ganster like antics. They actually start cleaning up the neighborhood and try to protect Bong Soon even from Min Hyuk. (How cute!)

There’s hardly anything that I don’t like. Maybe (just maybe!) the Bak Tae story development could have reduced screen time especially around the whole turning into a monk thing. But I loved that nevertheless, it was funny.

The soundtrack is amazing and so in-sync with the story. Be it the cute song Heartbeat, the beautifully mellow You are my Garden or the fun and upbeat Double Trouble Couple and Pit-a-Pat I love them all. Most of the main tracks are sung from a woman’s perspective which is understandable. Super Power Girl should be declared a girl’s anthem!

The wedding scene was so good and deserves a special mention. You can easily see how Park Hyung Sik is actually swooning over Park Bo Young.

I loved the fact that they end up with two girls, who have Bong Soon’s super strength. (Ah! Poor Min Hyuk!)

Not only would I say, get a guy like Ahn Hye Min who looks at you and treats you the way he treats Do Bong Song. I would also say get a girl like Do Bong Song who would love you with all her heart and protect you from any danger. (Don’t mind the tiny injuries)

All in all, it was an amazing one-of-a-kind drama that I have actively watched more than once or twice. (And that doesn’t happen often!)

Why watch it?

If you are a Park Bo Young, Park Hyung Sik or Kim Jisoo fan
If you like woman centric Kdramas
If you are into rom-coms
If you are into action and thriller
Amazing storyline and ensemble cast
Great OST
If you like ageyo, cute couple type dramas

To watch with English subtitles, click here.

Comment down below if this review was helpful and your views on the drama. Also suggest dramas that I should view and review next.

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What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?|Kdrama Review

May 2, 2020May 16, 2020 ~ dramaindna ~ Leave a comment

This review contains spoilers!
What happens when a near-perfect secretary to narcissistic boss suddenly resigns after 9 years? The boss embarks on a journey to know why and you get ‘What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?’

*Characters left to right: Jung Chi-in, Intern, Sul Ma-eum, Bong Se-ra, Lee Young-joon, Kim Mi-so, Go Gwi-nam, Kim Ji-a, Park Yoo-sik, Yang Cheol*
Image Credit: Soompi

When you spend almost all day, every day with a person for 9 years they become a part of you like an arm that if detached would make life void but it’s presence isn’t something we celebrate or appreciate. This is what exactly happened with Lee Yong-joon.
The story is about Vice Chairman of a major corporation, a man of perfection, Lee Young-joon, and his highly capable secretary, Kim Mi-so. Secretary Kim informs that she wants to resign after 9 years. She wishes to leave without providing any reason which bothers the Vice Chairman. The journey of the drama is about Lee Young-joon understanding what’s wrong with Secretary Kim and why she wants to leave. In the process, he realises that his will to not let her go is actually is his love. A love, that he has held onto for years.

Talking about the characters, Lee Young-joon is so confident of himself even with dark past, it is almost admirable and borderline annoying. His repeated self praises actually make you believe he is truly great. This doesn’t mean he is completely oblivious to his surroundings. He is wary of things, you do see a sincere and serious side to him when he is with Mi-so or his family. I love how he has held onto his promise to Mi-so he made when they were just kids. And how he was always looking out for her by trying to keep her at his side. His cold outlook and seemingly mean ways combined with a soft heart. I love a drama where a woman brings positive changes to man and his character.

I love Kim Mi-so’s character. She is so resilient, dedicated but at the same time self righteous too. Even though she was the youngest, Mi-so worked relentlessly to ease her family’s financial situation. She doesn’t demand the larger things in life and love how she even turned her in-laws down for the same and was adamant on doing the wedding her way.
The rest of the office cast is a great addition too. They bring their own eccentricities.

What I like about the drama is that there are no villians, no guns pulled out to move the drama. Simple everyday office life is the backdrop. A problem I encounter with almost every office romance drama is it’s stark contrast to reality. The guy is usually the heir or CEO, and falls in love with one of his employee, it’s all romance and play, no work. In reality, office romance is very hard to maintain amid the deadlines and piles of paperwork. With this drama, however, you could see people even the chairman succumbing to the work pressure at some point and relationships taking a back seat for very brief. The drama also had some scenes which are considered bold for Kdrama world bringing a new air.
The series went in a breeze format. I began liking the drama within the first episode itself which doesn’t happen very often so points for that. His past was the only serious angle to the drama and probably the only thing making it stand apart from other office romance.

There were some fun elements to the drama such as ‘Young-joon’s Aura’, his narcissistic behaviour and how Mi-so complimented it. When Mi-so accidently chokes people because of her habit of fixing neck ties. I absolutely loved Kang Ki Young’s character, it was my favourite in the drama. I wished he had more screen time.

There are a few things I learned from this drama that were good takeaways. A new way to eat rameyeon; the cute, simple but thoughtful bottle proposal.

There are some things I did not like about the drama. Kim Mi-so’s family setting felt a bit off considering how she turned up and how different she is from rest of the members. (But again, who are we to judge?) I do like the hint of body positivity provided through her family and how they aren’t afraid of being themselves. The characters in general had a typicality which made them a bit predictable. Although there was chemistry, I could always feel that boss-secretary relation just idly being there. It wasn’t very ‘oh, now we are a couple’ kinda thing although they did try. There was always this restriction I felt from both ends. It felt like they were both holding back even when all was good.

Was it a good comedy drama? Yes, definitely! I laughed a lot. Was it ‘the best drama’ I ever watched? No. I felt the story line wasn’t very different from what is offered in market in name of office romance. But yes in terms of characters coming together to create comedy it was good. I felt it was a bit overhyped with the ratings. There are better dramas I have watched in terms of plotlines. However, I still enjoyed watching it.

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How to pick a drama to binge watch: Do’s and Don’ts

December 7, 2019April 20, 2020 ~ dramaindna

Have you ever started watching a drama and after a few episodes started regretting your decision?

Well, you are not the only one! And if you are a person like me who needs to see things through then it’s just a sweet pill you try your best to swallow.

It’s not like everytime you pick a drama you grow a liking to it or like every aspect of a drama you love. However, there are some things you could do and avoid to dig a drama that you will fall in love with:

The Do’s

1. Research, Research, and Research!

It goes without saying that for one to decide what they like or dislike, they have to research about it. Checking for potholes and plotlines is great way to figure out if you will like the drama or if it’s worth your time and effort. You can look for summary, cast, trivia, any related news, etc on various websites.

2. Casting Couch (Picking your bias in the industry)

If the cast of drama is enough to make you stick to it or if you are a die hard fan of an actor/actress (not necessarily the main leads), this trick can do wonders for you. I have watched dramas staring the same male or female lead back to back. It helps me analyse their method, reminisce their different characters together and even aid in moving on.

3. Pick a mix of genre

Picking up only one genre drama or making your watchlist entirely based on a single genre can get monotonous. Instead try and pick a mix. For instance: Romance coupled with action and thriller is a personal favourite. You can also pick up single genre dramas for instance, hard core romance and then pick up a family comedy as your next just to keep yourself hooked.

4. Decide: Ratings Vs. Instinct

Public opinion obviously brings a big consent for watchlist. That being said, it may not apply to everyone, I for instance rarely go for ratings and rather base my decision on instincts.

5. Watch Scenes/ Short Clips

You can test the water for it’s depth via this method. Just watch some episode clips or scenes on YouTube. This is my go to method. You might come across a cliff hanger/climax scene as well. Therefore, this method is only advised for people who dont mind spoilers. If a 2-3 minutes clip is able to make your heart race, in all likelihood the series would too.

6. Ask for a personal recommendation

Sharing dramas with your friends could make up for interesting conversation. Your friends know your likes and dislikes, therefore, their recommendations may not only save you time but even turn out to be more accurate to your choice too.

The Don’ts:

1. Giving too many breaks

This is a bummer. If you take watching dramas seriously enough, giving breaks in between becomes somewhat a no-no as you have to pick on where you left off and it also breaks the flow of the story. I have watched dramas stretched over a long span of time, what happened is either I had to watch the previous episode again or I wasn’t as interested as I would have been if I binged watched.

2. Going by the trend

Many have this habit of watching shows merely out of peer pressure even if they come to like it later. GOTS and FRIENDS are popular example. I for one have not been able to stick to trends, it turns I mostly tapped into markets that only later on become mainstream. This one is entirely a personal choice though. You could pick your watchlist based on trends or simply what suits your taste.

3. Judging by the length

The length of dramas was never really a question for me and shouldn’t be unless you are time bound or going off the internet. I have seen dramas with length of 10-11 episodes timing less than 30 minutes and dramas with 70-80 episodes of over two hours each! Both have entertained me their best. Many asian dramas like kdramas, thai dramas and cdramas could be finished in anything between 15-50 hours.

Choosing from an endless sources and titles can be daunting task. Many a times I simply end up browsing and watching none. This list is neither rigid nor absolute. It is just to help you pick out a drama that you could enjoy.

Happy Binge Watching!

Ton Ruk Rim Rua (sometimes, what you look for is right in front of your eyes)

July 29, 2019May 6, 2020 ~ dramaindna ~ 2 Comments

Getting married thrice in a drama is crazy, right? But getting married to the same person in a drama thrice is even crazier!

This was the pulling point for me in drama. This thai series followed right after Kluen Cheewit. I really admired both Mark Prin and Yaya Urassaya and wanted to watch more of their dramas. This drama flashed in my YouTube recommendations. The drama has 11 episodes so I thought I would be able able to finish it very quickly.

The series name ‘Ton Ruk Rim Rua’ stands for ‘Love started at the fence’ and also ‘True love by the door’. It stars Mark Prin and Kimmy Kimerbly together for a 3rd time. Initially since I was not completely over Kluen Cheewit, so I kept thinking that Yaya and mark fit better together. But after watching this show and other shows with Mark and Kim as leads I realised that there is some easiness about their chemistry, it seems natural especially in this drama and it’s understandable since this is where their love for each other started blooming.

Ton Ruk Rim Rua Kob and Bua — Image Credit: asianfuse.net

The story is about two childhood best friends, Kasidth (Kob) and Nalin (Bua) who are neighbours and share the same fence. They are married off in their late teens as it was Kob’s grandmother’s last wish. Later on, they are divorced. Kob realises he has always loved Bua and comes back from US for her. Bua, on the other hand already has a dream man in her eyes. For Bua, Kob is just this guy best friend with whom she has spent most of her life, getting teased and finds him nothing but irritating. The story is about friendship and love, how we can mistake one for the other, and how sometimes what we look for is not far far away but close by.

Coming to the characters, I love Kob’s character. Mark himself has admitted it that he is very much like Kob in real life and it actually shows in his effortless acting on screen. What I love about this drama is that the main lead himself is providing comic relief. He is a mix of funny and romantic. He doesn’t take life so seriously until it comes to Bua. He supports Bua in all her endeavours. He is ready to do anything just for the sake of her happiness, even let her go.

Bua is a workaholic, who only has eyes for her career and her dream man. An interesting thing I observed while watching the drama was, there were many comments about Bua being selfish, blind to Kob’s love, stupid and what not. I am no PR of the drama yet I wish to clarify that you need to understand where the character is coming from. When you are best friends with a person all your life, it is difficult to take the care, love and affection they shower anything more than friendship. What’s worse is your fear of reading into something that isn’t there or fearing your friendship will be jeopardized due to your love.

Kob and Tangkwa — Image Credit: kenh14.vn

Similarly, the character of Twangkwa may seem selfish and evil (and she was at some places) but her obsession with Kob got the better of her. She did not want to harm Bua, she just wanted her to be away from Kob. In the end, you realise how vulnerable she is and her strength in finally letting him go. She is a girl who just wanted to be loved by a guy.

Tin is a character that we hardly see in real life. He is Bua’s boss and her dream man who eventually falls in love with her. He’s all goody good, very mindful and understanding. His progressive thoughts only add to the charm of drama.

One thing I really like is that Kob’s parents do not gloat of their son. They are accepting if not supportive of Bua’s decision even though it hurts their own son. They let the children make their own decisions.

The ost of drama is amazing and is definitely one of the main highlights of the drama. ‘Kon Diew Tao Nan’ has become an all time favourite. The lyrics, the music resonants so much with everything going on in the drama. Even the background music is very beautiful redefining all emotions sailing throughout an episode.

All in all, it is a light-hearted drama, there are few progressive points in the drama combined with some usual regressives. Although, the plot has it own twists that were beyond me, for instance, getting married to keep your job. It does make a compelling watch primarily because of its underlined theme of friendship and love and the chemistry between Mark and Kim. It is bound to make you blush, cry, cringe and laugh and relate it to the friendship and love you have in your life.

Why watch it?

The chemistry between Mark and Kim
If you like light hearted best friend turn to lovers drama
Amazing Ost

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