• Welcome to Drama Land #4: Strongest Deliveryman

     ~ STRONGEST DELIVERYMAN ~

    Welcome to Drama Land #4: Strongest Deliveryman

    ~ 17/20 ~

    Korean Title: 최강 배달꾼

    English Title: Strongest Deliveryman

    Country: South Korea

    Director: Kim Shin Il, Jeon Woo Sung

    Screenwriter: Lee Jung Woo

    Genres: Friendship, Business, Comedy, Romance, Life, Youth

    Episodes: 16

    Aired: Aug 4, 2017 – Sep 23, 2017

    Original Network: KBS2

    Duration: 52 minutes per episode.

    Where to watch: Netflix, Dramacool (attention to ads)

    Main Cast:

    • Go Kyung Pyo as Choi Kang-Soo
    • Chae Soo Bin as Lee Dan-Ah
    • Kim Seon Ho as Oh Jin Gyu
    • Go Won Hee as Lee Ji Yoon

    Supporting Cast:

    •  Son Ji Hyun as Choi Yun Ji (Dan-Ah's roommate) 
    • Kim Hye Ri as Jung Hye Ran (Ji Yoon's mother)
    • Lee Won Jong as Oh Seong Hwan (Jin Gyu's father)
    • Jo Hee Bong as Jang Dong Soo (Pal Pal's chef) 
    • Lee Min Young as Soon Ae (Pal Pal's manager)

    Brief resume:

    Choi Kang-Soo has been a delivery man for 5 years now. However, he never stayed at the same place for long. One day, he moves to a new town with a famous street full of small restaurants, one of them being Palpal Noodles. Palpal Noodles is a Chinese food restaurant held by the owner, the chef, and a manager with an unconventional sense of humor. Kang-Soo decides to work here, but in order to get in he’ll have to convince Lee Dan-Ah, another worker at the same restaurant.

    Dan-Ah is a delivery woman who has been working for 5 years just like Kang-Soo. Strong-witted and determined, Dan-Ah works hard to earn money and learn English in order to leave South Korea and go to college.

    Hostile towards each other at first, the two delivery workers will develop a strong friendship and will both strive to become successful. And for them, success means being like rich people such as Lee Ji Yoon, daughter of Jung Hye Ran, the CEO of a huge food company, and Oh Jin Gyu, son of Oh Seong Hwan, CEO of a huge construction group.  

    However, in a country where the law is weak, where the people supposed to apply the law corrupted, and where the strong and rich people are treating the others like trash, Kang-Soo and Dan-Ah will learn that being the strongest is not enough to achieve success.

    Diving deeper into the characters:

    Choi Kang Soo

    Strongest Deliveryman Choi Kang Soo

    Strongest Deliveryman Choi Kang Soo Smile

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Kang-Soo is first introduced as a man with a strong pride. In the first episode START OF SPOIL Dan-Ah yelled at him to sit properly during his “interview” and perplex at first, he refused to cooperate and got up of his chair. END OF SPOIL But as we get to know about his past and his motivations, we get attached to him really fast. He also has a strong sense of justice that will, unfortunately, turn against him. I live in a country where justice doesn’t do her job, where everything is corrupted, and I can tell you that when it comes to human rights, we can get really angry. There’s this scene when START OF SPOIL Kang-Soo barged in the prosecutor’s office and got all worked up because he dropped the charges while he was supposed to send Oh Jin Gyu in jail for illegally closing a main street and causing a civilian to fall in a coma. END OF SPOIL What I like most about this character is that his personality is well balanced. He’s not too funny, not too serious, not too stubborn, every single trait of his is well-dosed.

    Lee Dan-Ah

    Strongest Deliveryman Lee Dan Ah Sad

    Strongest Deliveryman Lee Dan Ah Happy Smile

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Dan-Ah seems to have lost faith in the country’s system. She knows she has no future in South Korea because she has no money and has to work too much in order to just survive. This is why her ultimate goal is to fly abroad and go to college so she won’t be indebted for life like her parents. She lives in a tiny rooftop room with her friend, whom I had a hard time catching up with because I didn’t quite understand her story. She always looks at a countdown on her phone, indicating how many days are left until she can leave the country (based on a calculation of the money she earns on a monthly basis I believe). I found that so cute and realistic at the same time, I remember setting a countdown on my phone until the day of BTS’s concert, and every time I was sad, I just had to look at it to feel better. But when she starts looking at Kang-Soo differently, and when she realises she might have a happy future with him besides her, her plans start to change.

    Strongest Deliveryman Lee Dan Ah upset

    Strongest Deliveryman Lee Dan Ah cute smile aegyo

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Also, Dan-Ah made me learn that if we don’t want to look like someone who makes early conclusions and someone full of prejudices, we shouldn’t assume something before having a proof that what we’re saying/thinking is true. In fact, in the early episodes, START OF SPOIL Kang-Soo let Lee Ji Yoon sleep in his room (that is in the second floor of the restaurant) because she had run away from home. The girl came back with all her clothes, makeup and accessories and left them in the room. At some point, Dan-Ah got in, saw the girl clothes, and assumed that Kang-Soo was into dressing like a girl. She even gifted him a dress later in the series! END OF SPOIL In real life this kind of thing can really harm the person concerned.

    Oh Jin Gyu

    Strongest Deliveryman Oh Jin Gyu Stupid Smile

    Strongest Deliveryman Oh Jin Gyu Angry

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    This character is hard to deal with maybe because he's just stupid, only cares about cars, and thinks money can buy anything. But I think Kim Seon Ho played the role really well, especially in the second part of the series where Jin Gyu finally surrounds himself with meaningful people and starts to work really hard (while still being a little bit clueless, but that's how his personality is). 

    Jin Gyu is also the living proof that having too much pride won't help even if you're very rich because no, you can't buy everything with money. Having pride is okay, but it shouldn't make you forget your principles such as apologizing to someone you harmed physically or mentally. 

    Lee Ji Yoon

    Strongest Deliveryman Lee Ji Yoon Happy Smile

    Strongest Deliveryman Lee Ji Yoon Angry

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    This girl is the perfect match for Jin Gyu. She's wealthy, clueless, naive, and really clumsy, almost awkward. But she's really funny, and that's what I love most about her. She knows to stand up for herself and her friends when needed, and can be really bold sometimes. I absolutely loved it when START OF SPOIL she defended herself in front of her boss when Jin Gyu accused her of not treating him well when she just accidentally dropped her earring in his drink. END OF SPOIL

    Jung Hye Ran

    Strongest Deliveryman Jung Hye RanStrongest Deliveryman Jung Hye Ran

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The CEO of Jungga and also Ji Yoon's mother is the bad bitch in this whole series, and I thought it was a well-thought character until the last episode. During the whole series she fought for her company even if it meant harming her employees, she was ruthless towards her opponents and at the end she just accepts things and disappears. I also thought there could've been more things to say about her. There's a brief moment when she says that Jungga is all about premium food, but we don't know how she started, what were the struggles she encountered, etc. I just would've appreciated to see more of her so I could understand her and her evil actions.

    Strongest Deliveryman Soon Ae

    Finally, before we move on to my personal opinion, I want to point out Lee Min Young's character, Soon Ae the manager of Pal Pal. I don't know what words to use to qualify her, but I think unconventional sums it up. I felt so many different emotions when she was on screen, in a good and a bad way. But I definitely liked that she was different. 

    My opinion:

    I want to thank myself for watching this drama a second time which made me love it! When I watched it for the first time, I really wasn’t paying attention to the story. I was getting used to complex stories and extreme plot twists, so this drama seemed a little bit boring during my first watch, especially that we also get the "Rich vs Poor" story AGAIN.

    However, on my second try, I really appreciated the characters and their development, and this touch of humanity and reality that we don't find in every single drama out there. Plus, it is well balanced between funny scenes and serious/tense moments.

    I would definitely recommend Strongest Deliveryman for its accuracy, its simplicity, and its realism. Despite not having a huge budget, messages were delivered and lessons learned. It's great start for those who just stepped into drama land but also for those who want to take a break from school-themed dramas and unrealistic love stories, or from complex storylines.

    That's it for Strongest Deliveryman! If you have watched the drama let us know how you felt about it in the comments below, and I'll see you all soon!

    Love, Swan

     

    Sources: Mydramalist, Allkpop.
    No copyright infringement intended.
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