Introverted Boss (2017)

Loved this show

10/10 is my rating. This is a 2017 South Korean romantic comedy drama television series with 16, 60 minute episodes.

Eun Hwan Ki (Yeon Woo Jin) is about as shy and introverted as they come. He is the CEO of a top public relations firm founded by his father. Unable to speak publicly, Hwan Ki hides in dark clothes and under a hoodie while his long time best friend, Kang Woo-Il (Yoon Park) does all the public appearances and company presentations. People, including his father mistake Hwan Ki’s extreme shyness and social anxiety for incompetence when, in reality, the brilliant ideas Woo-il presents are actually from Hwan Ki. Chae Ro Woon (Park Hye Soo) is a lively and outgoing stage performer and Hwan Ki is one of her top fans. Things get complicated when Ro Woon steps off the stage and takes a job with Hwan Ki’s company to discover the reason behind her sister’s sudden suicide. Her sister committed suicide by jumping from a high level at the company, and Ro Woon is determined to find out why. She is convinced it has something to do with the shy, socially distant CEO who earned the Knick name “silent monster”.

Spoiler Alert!! I really liked the boss character and could identify as there are several people that I know that have extreme social anxiety. He was misunderstood by many people both inside of his family as well as his employees and others. I like the way the story unfolded and you understood a little how he got the way he was and also how his sister and his best friend both became the way they were. The male lead’s sister’s suicide attempts and desperate need to be lived traced back to her father’s failure to properly show love. He was both physically and emotionally abusive and she used self harm to cope. The female lead sister’s suicide was a bit harder to understand but seems to fit with what I understand of being “ruined” in the sense of being a relationship or marriage partner in terms of purity being tarnished in what I understand of South Korean culture from dramas (and it may not be an accurate reflection of the true culture). There was a time, perhaps 60 years ago in American culture when casual sexual encounters would have been viewed the same. I thought the female lead character was perfect as she was exactly the sort of person I could see being able to draw somebody with severe social anxiety out of their shell. I love that she told him at one point that he was OK and not to change. Some do not understand that social anxiety, shyness and being introverted by nature are often slow and/or hard to alter because it is a personality trait and thus is not something you can radically change. I also liked the friendship between the boss and his best friend and how his best friend supported him by being his voice and carried the company forward With his extrovert nature that fit so well in the public relations arena. One being brilliant but withdrawn and the other extroverted but not above level brilliant was actually a benefit for them both and made for two halves of a very effective whole. I thought it ended absolutely perfectly. Unlike so many dramas that leave things open to interpret or end with things unresolved, I was really happy it all wrapped up well and ended happy.

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Strugged with this

I loved the ML...I really wish the writers had spent more time focusing on how he morphs from a shy stutterer into a relatively speaking more open and confident leader. It's not the ML's fault. He was the only consistent bright spot in the drama. I thought the FL was cute, but just didn't think she was right for the ML. Her sister (who coincidentally committed suicide so she couldn't be with him I know) or someone more reticent (ie his former secretary) would have made more sense.

My main struggle though was in the SML and how he was forgiven for sexually assaulting a female and for his role in her suicide. He was a cheater too and yet the getting back together with his ex was really bothersome. Speaking of his ex, I hate how they didn't delve at all into the help she must need following another suicide attempt, years of self-injury and just seeming like not a very nice and compassionate person towards others.

Too many gaps. It was horrible at the start. I actually dropped this months ago and picked it up since I like the ML and liked the SML's character in "Age of Youth". It did get better post episode 4 like everyone says, but the writers just didn't make the story cohesive or one I could get behind.

I did love all the cameos from "Another Ms Oh", one of my favourite dramas though.

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The whole thread of the drama itself is cliché

After watching half of the drama I realised why this drama has this low rating, because initially I thought it is interesting. Why I felt it is cliché is, the whole secrecy in the drama is about mystery of the FL’s sisters suicide. Initially it is portrayed that she was cheated or betrayed by second ML “he proposed her and forced her to have sex and after that he told to ML that she made the move to have sex”, for this reason it is understandable few weak minded people will commit suicide, but in the last second or third episode it is shown she had deep crush on ML and wanted to keep close with him even though they may not from the same world. This is the only thing I didn’t understand if she had that much serious feeling for ML than why did she accept the second ML confession and kissed him and slept with him in the first place. After slept with the second ML she feel embarrassed to face ML that’s why she decided to commit suicide. This is totally cliché.

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Short: Covers some really deep topics like Suicide and Self Harm, yet while doing these topics justice it manages to remain fun and interesting, with a great romance between the two leads. Music is fun, characters are great and I was really keen to see the conclusion of this - which was also brilliant too!

Detail:
Have wanted to watch this one for a while and it recently popped up on Netflix so it was next in line and I've been hooked on it. As some other reviewers have said it does seem a bit slow at first but it's setting down a lot of stuff and building up the layers and story that it will unravel and explain later - stick with it, it does make sense and is worth it.

One of the reasons I was always drawn to this one is the "shy boss" thing, while I don't suffer from it as much any more I'm still fundamentally an introvert and find socialising very difficult. I have tried going to our company dinners here and I just find them too awkward and uncomfortable so I really related to the main character. I'm a Senior Producer and lead a team of something like 50 people - so there are more parallels there and again, while I'm nowhere near as bad as I used to be (I couldn't function in this role otherwise!) I thoroughly relate to the character. I thought Yoon Woo Jin did a fantastic job in the role. On the occasions he lets out a smile (drunk while looking at Ro Woon pulling a funny face in a photo someone sent him) he lights the screen up with the contrast from his normal expression.

Park Hye Soo places the FL, she's not an actress I've seen before but am definitely going to look out for more of her work, like Kim So Hyun she has a unique presence on screen that stands out.

This drama looks like it might just be a light fluffy romance, and there's certainly good elements of that throughout, but it covers some really heavy topics including Suicide and Self Harm as two major themes in the show (aside from the main characters anxiety issues). The opening scene is a woman jumping from a building to her death - so I feel it's really important to warn anyone ahead of time because such things can be an unpleasant shock. Throughout the story it progressively picks apart what happened, who is to blame, who is taking the blame and the impact it has on the family and everyone else around that person, it's not trivialised but instead examined throughout and thoroughly. I liked where it went, and I thought that Self Harm was dealt with well too. Both are difficult subjects.

The romance element is fantastic, these two actors absolutely nailed the on screen chemistry.

It's a great story, you need to give it a few episodes to lay its foundations before it will lock you in, and you need to just be aware of the main topics and make sure these are going to be ok for you to watch.

Music is very catchy too!

Definitely recommended!

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7/10 ...Because you shouldn't commit suicide for that reason...

I'd recommend this drama to those who are really in to romance dramas with a bit of conflict unrelated to the actual romance. This doesn't contain a major love triangle that would bother shape haters, like me. Even though I'm extremely allergic to triangles I survived this one without any difficulties.

I think the writers succeeded very well in surprising their audience in romantic ways and I got hooked so bad, once I started watching. I'm not a big romantic but I have to say, I really liked everything about this love story....

... except the part where her sister has committed suicide for the DUMBEST reason ever...

No spoilers, you will have to watch for yourself.

I enjoyed this but honestly there is still some work to be done. Too many loose ends and hazy paths and I honestly don't understand the way some characters think. Especially in the Chae family...

Other characters were very well developed though, and they felt very human. I think all the actors did a good job in keeping the awkward air when it was needed as well as getting the comic relief just right and giving us all "the feels", from time to time.

This Kdrama will set it's roots in you and you will definitely remember that you watched it. It's also totally bingable but you can slow pace it if you want. Just not sure you'll be able to cause I'm pretty sure you'll be shipping couples too hard

ENJOY!!

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Ehh, Good, Really Really good, ehh, great and satisfying

If I had to describe this show in phrases by chronological order it would be:
Ehh, Good, Really Really good, ehh, great and satisfying

STORY: This show started out with great potential since the show deals with issues that are very relatable. The show handled the issues amazingly. It did exaggerate them, but that because it's a drama. For the first quarter of the show, literally no character was likeable other than the main male lead. But as each character opens up, each of them becomes more likeable. The show already had a good backstory, which set it up with a lot of potential. The show slowly got good, and then the got amazing, near the end, the show almost fell off, but the last episode was nothing but mesmerizing. It had a great satisfying ending.

CAST: I thought each actor fit their role amazingly, especially the leads, the mother, and the main male leads sister.

MUSIC: It fitted the show, didn't stand out too much, where I had to search up the name because I liked it so much, but it wasn't bad either

Rewatchability: There were some great moments in the show you would want to rewatch, but there were still parts where you felt like you were pressing the skip by 5 seconds button too much.

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Weirdly Relatable

As someone with social anxiety, this drama made me feel so seen. I mean I'm not a handsome chaebol (sadly) but the way the main character reacts to other people, takes on tasks just out of awkwardness, and the way other people misunderstand him and react negatively takes me back to my own experiences working in an office. It was a very cathartic drama.

The sister's suicide, even by the end, seemed unrealistic to me, and the family's grief (particularly after the mother also died) didn't seem deep enough considering the situation. However I liked how the rest of the characters were portrayed, even the 'villains' were mostly three dimensional (save the old trope of the evil rich father).

I recommend this to every shy person, or anyone who works with a shy person!

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I loved Introverted Boss (a.k.a. My Shy Boss). While no one element of the show is perfectly done, there are a couple reasons I consider this a 9/10 drama:

1. The quirky characters! I really enjoyed each character's unique & extreme personalities. I think the casting was great, and the chemistry between characters (romantic and non-romantic) was entertaining.

2. The laughter. I thought this show was hilarious, as I said before, the characters are very quirky, so when they interact with each other hilarity ensues.

3. The plot. I would say the main four themes of this drama are: 1. Working through trauma 2. Getting to know people (vs. assuming and judging) 3. Becoming comfortable in your own skin 4. Family doesn't have to be blood related. In other words, this is mainly a feel-good drama. It takes everyday life, throws tragedy in the mix, and lets you watch characters' various responses.

4. The adorable, and, of course, complicated, romantic relationships between characters. Usually, once characters in a drama become a couple, the romantic tension is lost and the drama becomes less interesting (depending on how much the drama relied on the relationship to propel the drama). I thought Introverted Boss did a good job keeping the drama interesting after the romantic tension was lost.

5 reasons why this might NOT be the drama for you:
1. No action, few suspense scenes
2. You won't see character development in every character, and the character development in some characters is minor
3. You might find the plot repetitive or boring/uncompelling
4. If you dislike lots of cute, romantic scenes
5. The quirky characters may seem annoying

Hope my review helps you decide if this drama is for you! :)

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Could've been a lot better

Being an introvert, something with a title such as this one was sure to pique my interest. So I thought I would give it a go. It started off well enough. But then, some things started to rub me the wrong way. For example, the ML suffers from social anxiety rather than being an introvert (which is not something you need to treated for). But that could be something that was lost in translation. Also, putting the ML in situations which in reality could be quite dangerous for a person with such a disorder leading to panic attacks with hyperventilation or breathlessness among other things (I should know, I suffer from a mild case myself). And then there is the situation with the younger sister (I-Su). She needed treatment desperately. But the whole thing was getting brushed under carpet the whole time. If she had gotten the proper treatment, even if it was the assed attempts of portraying therapy (because frankly, that's not something therapists do) the whole thing would be so much easier (but then that would also negate the whole point of the series, so.......). So yeah, the portrayal of mental health was a huge turn off for me. Then there'sthe whole plot. It had every other person declaring left, right and center that it was their fault blah ,blah, blah. But who actually faced the consequences in the end? No-freaking-one, that's who. Also can I just comment on how messed up the (extended) Eun family is. Because, wow the parents..........they're are...something alright. All in all it had lots of potential if the direction it had taken was a bit different. But it had it's fun points too. Quite a lot of them. But for me personally, it was very much overshadowed by all the drawbacks.

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