Kang Daniel's first-time emceeing for 'Street Woman Fighter' has been well-received by the industry and viewers. He concluded his role by calmly leading the live broadcast for the October 26 finale and proved his qualifications as an MC, even after the stage was over.
After the finale aired, journalists reviewed Kang Daniel’s emceeing as a whole.
Pickcon wrote that Kang Daniel's sincerity was the reason he was the right person for the job:
It was the perfect casting. 'Street Woman Fighter' MC Kang Daniel, who before being an MC was a singer, and before being a singer was a dancer. His sincerity for dancing earned him love from the crew members.
Kang Daniel previously made his debut through Mnet’s audition program ‘Produce 101 Season 2’. Since his school days, he developed a unique dance line through b-boying and modern dance. He understands the tension of audition programs and, above all else, has a sincerity for 'dance'.
This is why he was able to extend that sincerity to the dancers in 'Street Woman Fighter'. While watching the battle stages, he shared the rhythm with the dancers and went beyond the MC duty by shouting and reacting. His reactions became another reason for viewers to watch SWF. And after the battles, through actions such as fanning the dancers or handing them water bottles, you could feel his sincerity even further.
A Newsen journalist explained why Kang Daniel excelled at the job and how he proved his ability as a street dance battle host:
Starting from the 'Pointing out the Underdog Battle', it was clear why Kang Daniel was selected as the program's MC. As a former b-boy, Kang Daniel already had experience in dance battles and is very familiar with the culture. He was involved in the street dance scene since his second year of middle school, and was the right person to give an understanding of battle culture to the program.
Even early on in the program he would shout battle terminology. He proved his abilities as a street battle host by organizing the scene, expressing [the battle’s] excitement when needed by throwing shoes or giving reactions and highlighting impressive performers. The show’s producers even revealed that he gave them a lot of help during filming.
On the live broadcast stage of the finale, Kang Daniel was, as expected, a veteran. He won first place in the intense and competitive ‘Produce 101 Season 2’ and debuted in the project group Wanna One, so he has much experience with national voting and live broadcasting. Perhaps it was because of this experience that Kang Daniel appeared so relaxed during the live final broadcast of ‘Street Woman Fighter’ and smoothly did the job of MC.
It is not easy to step down from the spotlight of being the main character and support the dancers by one’s side. It is also a difficult task for someone who isn’t an MC by trade to know where to draw the line and know what is too much or too little. Despite this, Kang Daniel was able to convey the feeling of “I’m enjoying the performance” naturally into the program.
Therefore, many viewers gave praise and applause to not only the dancers but also MC Kang Daniel. Viewers too felt that Kang Daniel was the most suitable person to emcee 'Street Woman Fighter'.
Viewers left their thoughts about Kang Daniel’s live broadcast emceeing in an online community:
He did well and even though it was a live broadcast he seemed to enjoy it
It was his first time emceeing a live show so how could it be so smooth… amazing
I can’t believe it’s his first time emceeing. He has a good voice that would suit a late night radio show
He wasn’t stiff and did things in his own style so it was fun
He got better and better as the show went on so I thought he’d do a good job and he did. I fell for Kang Daniel through this program hehe he’s cool
I watched it live and he was relaxed and not nervous so it was easy to watch. He did a great job without pressure from the live show. He suits being the MC of SWF
A popular Naver influencer gave their review:
I was surprised [by Kang Daniel’s emceeing ability]. I didn’t think it would go so smoothly. To be honest, in the beginning of the show he seemed a bit nervous, but in the middle he became more comfortable and in the difficult live broadcast he had no issue. That is hard for even professional MCs, so he is much better than I thought. If he acts well in the Disney Plus drama then he could grow into a huge superstar. Having a career of singing, emceeing, and acting hasn’t been achieved in Korea since Lee Seung Gi, so it would be nice to see Kang Daniel try it out.
Dancers and staff furthermore expressed their gratitude towards MC Daniel.
Early on, the program’s PD Choi Jung Nam had praise for Kang Daniel as MC for helping to make battles more authentic to the dance scene:
Not only is Kang Daniel a representative idol of Korea, but he also has experience with street culture and b-boying activities. I’ve watched many of his videos. I thought that he would be able to properly emcee at the height of the battle. He ended up being very helpful during filming.
After the underdog battle episodes aired, DJ Som revealed in an Instagram post that he actually could not see the battles from the second floor. He reposted a compilation clip of Daniel asking if the DJ was ready before continuing with the “ready, fight” slogan that marks the start of each battle and wrote, “Kang Daniel who called my name then in such a relaxed manner ㅠㅠ”. The DJ posted on another platform: “Kang Daniel-nim always comes to me and greets me first. He is so kind.”
One staff posted a finale commemorative picture with the “very humble and handsome Kang Daniel”:
Holy Bang's Lo-A included the MC in her thanks to:
Thank you so much to the SWF production crew, MC Kang Daniel who has worked so hard, and the fight judges, for leaving me with unforgettable lifelong memories.
YGX b-girl Yell thanked him in depth as the best MC who helped make battles like the real thing and for his consideration, and hoped to dance together one day.
Kang Daniel's sincerity didn’t end when the broadcast ended. After he signed off as MC by thanking viewers and asking for their continued support for the dancers, he did not go to the stage but instead offered to help a dancer who had stepped on the podium to record the closing so that she could return to celebrating with the other dancers:
On his SNS, Kang Daniel uploaded a group photo and thanked everyone for their hard work.
Meanwhile, Mnet's 'Street WomanFighter' has ended, but the journey of the dancers will continue. There is a girls spin-off in the works, and crews will be embarking on an 'On The Stage' concert tour.
He is really a perfect cast for the show. And he really lived up the expectation. He really helped them and do so many sweet little things to staff and dancers there, and i'm happy people appreaciated him for it.
i really touched when he even took the phone for the dancers.
i will wait MC Daniel's comeback.