Start-Up (2020)

Beauty

What hurts is the false reviews from this platform. Months back I did rely on the reviews on each drama I wanted to watch.... when I see 5 or more discouraging reviews it makes me so sad that I don’t wanna even watch it so I skip but then again I realized that most dramas that being bashed on here were actually good but anyways it’s a review.
Start up is such a beautiful drama not only with the characters but the whole plot ... you don’t even wanna miss the turnings romance the songs played acting omg I could go on and on and on .... The only word which is not even near to this drama BEAUTY most especially MOTIVATIONAL!
(My first time writing a review)

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A show of missed opportunities

I went into this drama without knowing much about it aside from gifs I saw here and there, the episodes trending on twitter and at some point seeing people defend NDS' behaviour (can't remember why). Looking back, maybe that last one was actually a red flag. You can skip to the overall section of this review to get a summary of my opinion on Start Up without me ranting too much about what could have been.

Story & characters:
The story started well, I really enjoyed the first episode even though it was a bit surprising and it made me wonder if HJP was supposed to be the male lead. It certainly felt like it after watching the first episode and, unfortunately, it felt like this during the whole drama. Despite how weird it felt, I really tried to give NDS a chance, thinking "oh using his name in the letters mean that they were destined to meet, maybe they will have a connection", and HJP didn't seem interested in SDM anyway. Unfortunately, I never felt any connection and I just hated NDS more and more to the point that I ended up skipping most of his scenes during the last four episodes, at least. The main relationship had too much angst but for the wrong reasons and so many of their scenes felt like all those minutes could have been used to explore the other plots.

Maybe it's because I'm older, but I enjoyed the family/friends and work plots a lot more than the romantic ones. The first episode is mostly centered around complex family relationships (the sisters, HJP and the grandma) and friendship (HJP and SDM) that I feel like it's a shame that it didn't focus on that instead, without having NDS and the love triangle. It really felt like NDS was out of place during the whole drama and his tantrums distracted from the actual good plots we could have had.

This is getting longer than I thought it would be but this drama really frustrated me. For example, SDM was a really interesting character at first, but she's not given the opportunity to reach her full potential and to be more complex. WIJ on the other hand really grew on me and turned out to be one of my favourite characters on the show but even her character development was really rushed at the end. I think that the focus should have been more on them, their aspirations and how they try to mend their relationship (between them, but with their whole family in general). The father is also barely mentioned even though he started it all. As for HJP and the grandmother, the other main relationship from the pilot, I really enjoyed their scenes and it's a shame that we didn't get more of them. Instead, we got forced bonding scenes between her and NDS.

I did enjoy the SST team and I loved how their dynamic evolved (even though, once again, more time could have been given to them, especially to Saha and Dalmi) but it felt kinda ruined towards the end. Out of the main three of SST, Yongsan is the only one who actually showed growth and it's another character who should have been given more time, especially since his story is much more interesting than... you know who. The whole start up plot in general felt very secondary because so much focus was on the main couple and/or the love triangle, and the scenes we had felt so unrealistic, especially towards the end. They just don't fail enough after their big failure, I don't think anything goes wrong at all. There are things that go well but shouldn't, and I don't think it would be a bad thing if they did fail at the end, it would have just showed that they're still at the beginning of an (allegedly) exciting adventure and there are still many more things they will have to face together. Instead, it just feels like they don't have any problems anymore and won't have any ever again. All that thanks to NDS being some sort of coding god I guess!

Now, I haven't said much about HJP but he truly is my favourite character. Like I said, I didn't feel anything romantic between him and SDM so I wasn't invested in that side of their relationship, however it's a shame that we didn't get to see their friendship evolve once they meet up again as adults. I did enjoy their scenes, hence why I wanted more of these instead of... you know what. Many people have said it already but he deserved better. I think it was during WIJ's party, but I really thought something would happen between WIJ and HJP. Romantic or not, I would have loved to see these two together more and it would have given both of them a relationship that is new and not related to main characters. The writer somehow forces certain characters to stay alone.

Finally... why do I hate NDS? Well, like someone in the show once said, do I need a reason?? :) Seriously, there are many reasons but I also noticed that things I hate about him are things others think are endearing or something, so it's really just from my perspective. Personally, I think he's spoiled, immature, self-centered, reckless, a crybaby, manipulative, violent, impulsive, a liar... I also don't see any growth, aside from him not breaking things anymore. The fact that he lies even for the smallest things is honestly not cute at all, the only person he is protecting is himself and his fragile ego. He doesn't need a girl to obsess over, he needs therapy and a proper discussion with his father. And a proper discussion with the SST guys as well to be honest.

Acting:
If you're still reading, kudos. As for the acting, it was okay in general, but HJP's actor was really amazing, it was my first time seeing him so I'm curious now to see his other works. I get now why everyone loved him so much after watching Start Up, his scenes were always the best moments for me. The other two main actors though weren't very convincing. Not bad but not good either. I'm not very familiar with their acting, and I do think the script is the main reason why I don't feel any chemistry between their characters, but their acting lacked depth in my opinion.

Music:
I loved the music, I always enjoyed hearing them even though I believe that some lyrics were more about HJP than NDS so it was sometimes a bit weird.

Rewatch value:
I would rewatch a NDS free version of the show, it would feel like a sitcom and why not.

Overall:
5/10... the drama is saved by the second lead and the secondary plots/characters. SDM herself is quite enjoyable outside of her relationship with NDS. The story started by giving importance to certain characters and plots but all of these were quickly discarded and it ended up being 80% about a character I really couldn't stand with a storyline that wasn't that relevant to the rest since I could skip most of his scenes without it preventing me from understanding everything else. Weirdly, while there's so much focus on the main romance/love triangle, not any depth is given to it while being somehow so full of angst so it really feels like their scenes are a waste of time.

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If you are here for the plot, let met tell you something.

Disclaimer: my review solely based on my preference on the story-line.

You may have come to watch for Suzy, Nam Joohyuk, Kim Seonho, or Kang Hanna. Or even for the interesting premises that they've offered to us in the beginning. The story about Start-Up and how the four main leads are there to teach us how business was supposed to be doing. However, I must admit there are hints of why I come to dislike this.

From the start, we've been offered by a promising plot of friends, family, and business. The way how female lead, Seo Dalmi, being an independent woman whose life doesn't revolve around men. But then, the writer seems fond of a love triangle which was unnecessary and set aside the business aspect for quite too long. I almost dropped the show knowing that it'll keep going like that for more than 4 episodes but I wonder what's the twist of the show and how will the writer bring back the business aspect, so I continue.

But I'm afraid I couldn't bring up anything except how irritated I was for watching the love triangle arc that truly unnecessary. I was coming from the Start-Up theme and yet I've been offered with a hopeless romantic story that couldn't resonate with me. The way how reckless the team to decide without considering to consult on their mentor because some of them have problems with him is just doesn't sit right with me. I will accept if only they're still asking another mentor which I believe should've been there to help her, hence they were called Sandbox for a reason. And one thing that's so illogical is that until the last episode, there are no consequences of their wrongdoings. I thought there will be some tension about it and how they should deal with it and become a stronger individual and as a team.

Not enough disappointment, the writer still keeping the love triangle arc which I clearly don't understand why even until now when it's so crystal clear whom they favoured. There's no need to create a nonessential war between two men when on the pilot episodes, they seem to love each other as brother. And I can see how much would they come if it end up as bromance. How good it would become to see they help each other to grow. I would say it such a wasted potential of this drama could become.

I won't say much about the hopeless romantic things that going on which I believe some people may see it as an okay plot and some others were against it all. But to point out some flaws that led to a great fan war amongst the viewers is the inconsistency between the characters. Dalmi, Dosan, Jipyeong, Injae, and even SST had some inconsistencies that seem like a Disney movie that is utterly a candy floss. How could you not even considering to have a break for your heart after being lied for months and just brush it off like nothing happened as if it's okay to be lied to. I understand if the meaning of this is love could change throughout the years and ones that always first to come, will win. But something missing in Dosan and Dalmi relationship, which is tension and how the relationship builds up after the letters been revealed or after their break up. It could've been nicer if they fought while Dosan keeps giving Dalmi his endless love so Dalmi finally can see that his love is real. But it didn't happen.

It's not about who is made for a better choice, but how things normally happened after such a great lie threw to one individual. I wonder if there are people who'd be pleased to see people who lied to you. Hence I thought it'd be a moment where I can see Dalmi's growing to be a wonderful woman who doesn't need both men and keep doing her things to success, just like Injae. As a woman myself, I don't want to be a damsel in distress and how myself becoming someone else's dream or trophy. Even I would be ashamed of myself if I have a person as my dream. The main focus is the relationship has become lacklustre which nothing like this is normal in the real life. If only they add 'fantasy' or 'fairy tale' in their description, most people would understand.

Most people who come for good storytelling which close to reality that they can take the lesson to obviously would have rage upon how the drama had become. Inconsistency and boastful characterizations are clearly not a recommendation.

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Good riddance start up, hello Kim Seon Ho!

Great start.

Maybe I should stop at great start HAHA! The drama made me think of only one character, and that is HJP. The writer built up HJP (kim seon ho) to almost perfection that I hated what happened or what did not happen to him.

Nam do san ( nam joo hyuk) and Dalmi's ( bae suzy) character disappeared into oblivion. Sure, the drama was all about them but as the episodes go by I did not care anymore what they did.

I stopped at episode 14 as the ending was predictable from there. I saved me 2 hours of annoyance and frustration.

Yes HJP deserves better. I am actually thankful that he did not end up with Dalmi .

Goodbye start up, hello Kim Seon Ho!

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Great Acting that Gives Life to Dumb Plotline

A drama that requires patience but shouldn't be missed. I was drawn to this drama because the vibe seemed so different from most Kdramas, and I really liked the core concept that the drama promised to give us but couldn't deliver it well. Before digging in deep, Know that this drama mainly focuses on soppy romance that imo wasn't even required in this genre, but oh well. SO if you're not a fan of cliched romance stories and you plan to watch this solely because of the business plotline and the romance scenes makes you puke then I'd suggest that you put this on hold for now and watch it when you have nothing on your mind and when you're extremely bored. (I suggest binge watching, so you don't suffer like I did lol)
I wont say don't watch this drama, there were some characters that were so pure and you can relate to their struggles like Grandma, HJP, and Injae as well. I'd really want you all to watch this drama because i don't want you to miss out on these heartwarming side storylines. I have never become this attached to any fictional character, heck its not even about the SLS, its just that they had too much potential that was wasted by using these characters as a mere catalyst for developing some chemistry between the main couple.
For me the drama went downhill after 4th episode and the middle story was a complete mess, I havent finished any drama where I disliked the main character, but as i said, there are some gems in this story that keep the story moving and they leave you wanting more of them. The ending didn't satisfy me, but after creating a mess i guess this was the best they can do, so im sort of happy with it! I wanted to rate this not any higher that 7 or 7.5.. Gave this an 8 just because of Han Jipyeong, Grandma and Injae. In my opinion, keep your expectations of character development low but do give it a watch!

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Great set up and horrible pay off

I don't know that I have ever been more frustrated by the trajectory of a show in my life. I want to be clear, I am a Nam Joo Hyuk fan. I've watched mediocre dramas for that man, and I think he's a great actor. That being said, this writer absolutely failed him and the plot in every way imaginable.

Story - 4/10 - the first 8 episodes of this show deserve a 9/10, but the back half a 2/10.

This is a tale of two halves. The writer does beautiful work in the early episodes setting up plot points and themes and then refuses to pay them off or actually pays them off in reverse. It's BIZARRE. To avoid being too spoilery, I'll address some of my story concerns via the characters:

Nam Do San is supposed to be our male lead. In the beginning, I found him interesting and pitiable. He was quiet and awkward and leapt at the opportunity to feel important/successful - and then as that fed into his imposter syndrome, he decided to seek out that success on his own. This could have been a really interesting journey. However, as the show goes along, these goals just fade away as he becomes singularly focused on winning Seo Dal Mi. His decisions are about her almost entirely, and he acts petulant toward HJP. My issue is that he's not compelling as the male lead at all. Everything happens for him like magic without him necessarily working for it. He barely struggles, and when he does, those 'struggles' are short lived. Additionally, the writer gives him a series of negative character traits. He is violent and shown to have a temper that flares to actual violence multiple times, but he never is punished for it. Seo Dal Mi doesn't chastise him, and he is saved from legal ramifications. He also stalks Seo Dal Mi and ignores her requests. It's borderline abusive boyfriend behavior, and the story never comments on it. Are we supposed to take this as romantic? It's not.

Han Ji Pyeong is the "second male lead", but the writer wrote herself into a corner by opening the show with him. He's absolutely the most fleshed out, interesting, and empathetic character in the show. He's an orphan who worked relentlessly to achieve success. And even though his negative character trait is supposed to be that he's a little short/direct/rude with people, his actual actions bely a really kind soul. He'll tell the Sam Sam guys that their company sucks while quietly keeping it afloat in the background. How is he treated by the story for this? He is punished over and over and over again for his selfless actions, and the other characters (who are almost uniformly selfish) treat him like garbage. It's... unbelievable that I'm supposed to care for anyone other than him.

Seo Dal Mi started the show so charming and as it went became such a non-entity to me. She was so forward and driven and then as the romance with NDS kicks into high gear, she spends the whole show basically just reacting to him and forgiving him. The show completely loses who she's supposed to be. I will never understand how she went from turning down ANY man for 15 years because of the "Nam Do San" who wrote her beautiful letters to having absolutely zero interest in the actual man who wrote them. She has no curiosity about him. This COULD make sense if the writer made an effort to explain it, but she just doesn't. SDM just stops really caring about the letters and never really looks at HJP or goes into detail about the connection they had. The only way they sever it is by having HJP himself just give her an excuse like "I should have come calling for you". Maybe, but that doesn't explain why she just stopped caring about the boy who wrote her years ago when it defined her life for so long. It's so inconsistent.

I started out absolutely in love with this drama, and I just cannot understand what the writer was thinking. It could have been so much better if they actually focused on the business aspect of the show and made the characters grow in that way - NDS learning how to grow up (and not like.. punch people bc he's ~angwy~) and have his OWN dreams; SDM becoming a great businesswoman not just because she wants to beat her sister; the Sam Sam guys also maturing - and HJP slowly opening his heart to discover a found family. Instead almost none of the characters had any discernible growth (other than HJP kinda with the sweet ending scene with Halmeoni), and they drew out the love triangle in absolutely bonkers ways. In reality, the true romance and interesting story of this show is Han Ji Pyeong, the orphan, finding a family with the kindly grandmother in the neighborhood and how they find their way back to each other - to home. The leads just feel like a distraction to THAT story which - it shouldn't feel that way!

Acting - I will say I found all the actors did perfectly serviceable to outstanding (Kim Seon Ho was outstanding. I look forward to seeing him get lead work after how much he popped off from this). That coupled with the high production values and good music are why I've rated it as high as I have because if it was based on the story alone, this wouldn't pass the 5 barrier for me.

I'm just at a loss. This show could have been great. I COULD have been invested in the lead couple, but I wasn't. The vast majority of the characters were just selfish, and the plot never punished them for it. And then the one character who is written to be selfless is punished over and over. It just made me mad. What did the writer want us to take away from this drama? There is no growth. No message. It's enraging.

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Wasted potential

This drama started with promising episodes I was ready to nominate as the best kdrama of 2020 alongside IOTNBO. But I was wrong… it went downhill afterwards, it was like the writer put so much effort in the first couple of episodes and just sail without the map in the later half.

The Pros :
- First episode, cinematography, & OST
Start-up first episode was hands down fantastic. I'd rather say it was the most beautiful episode of a kdrama that I watched. I was emotionally invested in the buildup plot, aesthetically pleasing cinematography, alongside with their solid OST. The nuance they built was painful yet lovely, everytime I played one of their OST, Day & Night I could picture Nam Da Reum's long gaze under the cherryblossom three.

- Acting
Despite of the characters, the actors has successfully pulled out their act. I can say that Suzy's acting had greatly improved from her last drama, I don't have to say anything about NJH, I already labelled him as a talented actor since The Light in Your Eyes. I discovered some talent like Kim Seon Ho, Kim Dwan, I already know Kim Hanna, but still she deserve all the recognition as an actress. Also kuddos for all cameos.

- Theme (or supposedly)
It's a fresh premise to have a potrayal of youth pursuing their dreams in startup industry. Well despite of falling flat in the later half of drama, I should appreciate the writer for bringing fresh idea.

- Jipyeong & Grandma
I think they're becoming the essence of the story, they have the purest kind of relationship. I cried most of their scene together. I'll never recover from how heartbroken I was seeing jipyeong suffer all alone from start to finish with only grandma bother to care about him. They're the best thing indeed from this drama.

The Cons :
Forgive me it's gonna be long since my disappointment overshadowed all the good traits from this drama. The biggest flop of the show was the character development. I've never disliked the main lead so much like this one.

- Character development
Dalmi was introduced as a strong, independent female character. I never liked it that she lose her independence to a guy. She transformed into more damsel in distress as the story went. It seems like she forget her determination to prove herself halfway and too invested with her romance with Dosan. For someone in their 27s, dalmi-dosan practically very unprofessional to involve their romance into their work. Weren't in the plot you dream of becoming someone like steve jobs, Dalmi-a? It's funny, when she knew dosan for only like 4 months.
Dosan was not your typical main lead, he was a kind, clumsy, naive nerd. At first he was a breath of fresh air. As the ML, we supposed to see how Dosan navigate his life and finding his dream, to grow and to be more likeable to the viewer. Unfortunately, he was still an immature whinning boy even after 15 episodes. He said he has nothing while in fact he has supportive family & friends. He has his brain but his every action only based on his blinded love for dalmi. He didn't want to pursue better opportunity because his dream was dalmi (?) Even after becoming rich, his purpose was what? becoming dalmi's trophy?
Jipyeong on the other hand carried this show. He was written so beautifully he outshine the ML. He was not perfect either, at first I thought he was a coward for not confessing his action to Dalmi. But I wonder how hard it was for him who get used to being alone to realize his feeling, he undoubtedly built a high wall around him when it comes to relationship. He overcome his weakness faster than everyone, and be more straightforward about it. So in my opinion, he did grow.
The most developed character was surprisingly Youngsan, He realized his mistake and bravely admit to the ones he hurt out of anger in the past. Funny when a side character development 10x times better than the main leads.

- Toxic love triangle
They're dragging the love triangle for too long we have nothing left to watch instead of the main lead crying over and over again. They should've spent the time building the reconciliation in seo family instead, or they could've more invested in the business plot. Honestly I don't find the love between main lead healthy tho, I see dosan's jealous streak & inferiority were mostly triggered by his obsession over dalmi. Their relationship started up from lies, flourishes with more lies. Dosan was asked to only become a stand in for one night, he had his chance to stop, yet he still pretending to be the guy from the letter. When he thought dalmi doesn't like him for he who he was, he didn't want to give back the letters, while in fact the letters are not his to begin with. Those negative side in dosan bothers me so much as a viewer.
If the writer want to use jipyeong as a bridge to dalmi-dosan, I think it's better to not create a love triangle, even if it has to, they should make equal opportunity for jipyeong. I think it's unfair how dalmi never recognize all the things jipyeong did for her & grandma. The writer always put dosan in the good light for Dalmi. But did dalmi ever aware how dosan was the one who started the fight with jipyeong, how caring jipyeong to grandma, the money plant jipyeong took care, and noongil investment. It's strange too that the writer never made her curious about jipyeong even after she knew the lie. The letters supposed to mean so much to her. At least I want to know about the person who gave me comfort when my world was falling apart. Well, I'll never buy jipyeong-dalmi resolution in the last episode.
This drama love story was nonsense after all.

I may be biased, but whatever. I can't swallow my disappointment. I regret that this drama was a wasted potential.

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Romance Conquers Logic. Yikes

This pilot episodes of this show had raised expectations ti the viewers by a lot. However, somewhere after the first four episodes, it started becoming draggy. Episodes 1-4 were the best and episodes 5-9, although not as excellent as the first four episodes are still great. This makes it the latter half of the show pale in comparison.

The business aspect in the first episodes were still emphasized although the romance is there. In the latter half of the show, don't expect this to be the case. The business aspect was sacrificed for the love triangle and business decisions always were affected by the romance.

The major problem is that this show sidelined the business aspect of the show and focused on the love triangle. The poor execution if the love triangle is the reason why a lot feel very frustrated. Dal Mi's confusion was only told by words and not actions. There was no chance given for the SML at all given the connection they had since they were young. The plot regarding their connection was even sidelined for four episodes after revealing the lie for the sake of establishing ML and FL convenience. Even cliche tropes from pre-2010 KDramas were used just to establish their relationship.

What baffles me the most is how too much optimism beats being realistic. In business, too much optimism leads to failure but of course, it magically works in this drama lol.

This show has so much done injustice to the SML. He eas purely used as a catalyst for the ML and FL romance to the point that even his backstory was used to the advantage of the ML. You cannot blame the viewers why they're very frustrated with this show. This show has had its glorious moments in writing which went downhill by a landslide when they started focusing on the love "triangle" which wasn't a triangle at all given how much plot armor was given to the ML.

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Promising story turned into a bummer

Judging from the title, I expect this drama will be like Rich Man Poor Woman J-Drama, which depicts the story of actual Start-Up life and the conflict people within it. Which turns out.. Wrong.. Pilot episode is different from what I expect..

Rather than focusing to the foundation of business motivation in the Pilot Episode, the story focus to build up second male lead and female lead connection, through letter. Moving on episode 2, it's become more clear that this story will focus more on romance rather than actual start up life.
Otherwise, I will write the review from my experience watching it:

- FIRST HALF (ep 1-8)
Although the story consist of 80% drama/romance, 20% actual startup insight, this is quite enjoyable story up to episode 8. As viewers, you will be divided into rooting for Male Lead (DS) or Second Lead (JP), which makes this drama so hype and popular at the time it's been airing. There's nothing wrong rooting for Male Lead or Second Lead, because triangle love has been main focus of this drama, and it's up to your preferences, which character you find more relatable.
Note:
I personally rooting for JP from the start, because I just can't stand the relationship start based on lies, whatever the reason behind.

- SECOND HALF (ep 9-14)
By the time the truth has been reveal to Female Lead (JP who actually wrote the letter, DS only pretend while he never knew Female Lead before),
This is the momentum to turned the table, make viewers rooting for Male Lead who will end up with Female Lead.
But the writing and the story have been failed miserably catching this opportunity.
Rather than make the DS more favorable Male Lead, instead they giving so many red flags to his action:
- Backstory about cheating during math olympiad
- Following and stalk Female Lead while she said she need space and time to think
- Saying the Female Lead is his dream, where there's no specific reason/trigger he fall in love with FL (rather than it's because FL is the first girl interest in him, and she's pretty - shallow, eh)
- Punching his mentor because the mentor stating the facts (as some people point out, DS might have anger management issue)

And for Second Male Lead, I think the writers are not intend to make the Second Male Lead more likeable at first, but the actor (Kim Seon Ho) who played JP doing outstanding job portraying the character. We see his character has been consistent in each episode and giving more impact whatever the story he's in.
Some action who let him win the viewers:
- How selfless he's being, when he intend to get the last letter and giving it to DS so the lie will prevail
- How he explain the lie to Female Lead, with not bringing down Male Lead, and rather he justify DS action (only fair play)
- How he confess in calmly yet professional manner
- The viewers know his backstory from episode 1, his relationship with the Grandma, and how lonely his life so far, which makes so many viewers rooting for his happiness (with or without the Female Lead)

From what I see, majority of the viewers are rooting for Second Lead from the progression and how the story been carried up to 14 episode. And up to episode 14, Female Lead not yet decide with whom she will end up with, which causing debate here and there (again make this drama more hype, which team are you?)

- THE ENDING (ep 15 -16)
This is the challenging part for the writers, how they gonna wrap up this mess because of the ongoing debate, and make it plausible ending?
To make DS end up with FL, they must giving the viewers clear reason in FL POV, but it's hard giving the condition, up to ep 14, almost none character growth for DS.
Or to make JP end up with FL, like majority the viewers want, and make this drama exceptional.

Again they failed miserably in handling the ending, which turned into.. A bummer..
The ending is one of the most absurd ending i've watched
- No clear reason why FL choose DS (rather than that cliche and lame reason)
- No resolution and character growth for DS, yet he get the girl because he is the Main Lead
- Almost no closure from JP and Female Lead relationship, JP even have to justify why Female Lead choose DS in their last scene, which most viewers don't buy it..

To close this review, if you are curious the hype of this drama, the story is nothing much except triangle love which dragging until the very last minute.
There is almost none morale of the story from this drama.

But I'm still glad i found this drama, cause from this drama I knew the amazing actor Kim Seon Ho exist.
I've watched his drama from Chief Kim, but he's not noticeable in there.
Here in Start-Up, his outshine other character, and It's safe to say Han Ji Pyeong will be the most memorable character in K-Drama history.

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hello i don't declare war

this drama basically went through what some kdramas go through; a curse.
it starts really great then after 6 or 10 episodes.... you're sat there wondering, "what the heck happened?"

truth be told, i actually enjoyed this at first. i loved seeing a female character standing up for herself, being independent and just overall a wholesome character. i could relate to her being chaotic when things were tough. just really great stuff.

i think what i'm bitter about is that i do not see any character development? at all? like yes they do sort of try to convince us, the viewers that such change has happened but i don't see it? after those glorious 10 episodes, it fell quite flat with no substance left to be milked. it is to the point that i fast forwarded the remaining few episodes because i was honestly bored with the main characters and wanted to see more of han ji pyung, grandma, the samsan tech trio, sa ha and cheolsan. in those remaining few episodes, i was looking for anything else to wake me up from the snooze town in which the main leads live in.

one bonus point is that the ost is absolutely lovely.

to sum it up, start up is not entirely a bad drama but it does fell short in terms of the way the story progressed.

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A window into the world of start-ups

This kdrama was a real emotional rollercoaster. First of all, I have to say is that Han Ji Pyeong IS SUPERMAN, A GENTLEMEN AND AN INCREDIBLE CHARACTER WHO DESERVES THE WORLD! He is the first drama second male lead that I have ever fallen in love with and I WILL CONTINUE TO LOVE HIM FOREVER AND ALWAYS! Kim Seon Ho did a marvellous job at portraying this character and I cannot wait to watch his future work! The story was incredible and portrayed the hard yet rewarding journey of the characters and allowed a space for them to grow and fully develop their potential. It was a story that let us into the world of start-ups and I believe it did an incredible job at its portrayal. I enjoyed watching this drama a lot because it kept me emotionally engaged and rooting for the characters.

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had very good potential

First few episodes started strong, became a bit messy and predictable from the middle to the last episodes, although ending was somewhat acceptable and gives a feeling of "closure" but honestly could've done better. There were too many plot holes and aspects left forgotten and unexplored because too much unnecesary focus and screentime was given on the romance/love triangle. Before I get a bit more critical, I just want to say that probably the BEST part about this drama is the actors. All of the actors, from the main roles and supporting roles, did a really amazing job portraying and bringing life to their characters. Bae Suzy, Nam Joo Hyuk, Kim Seon Ho and Kang Hanna did an exceptional job in their roles and they shouldn't be at fault for how the drama's plot was written and how it turned out. I actually got interested in watching it because of 2 main reasons: (1) the "startup" and business aspect of it seemed fresh, and (2) NJH and BS in one drama was tempting enough. I first liked Suzy from WYWS and NJH from Weightlifting Fairy, that's why I was compelled to watch these two together and they didn't disappoint when it comes to their acting. But from the first few episodes alone, I can't help but also admire and be drawn towards KSH and KH, I'm surprised I didn't know or hear much about these two before.

Okay, so I'll start.

A GOOD START: Start Up had a really promising start. It was good and interesting in the first half but it slowly got boring, predictable, and much too cliché and unrealistic which was something I actually didn't expect from a drama written by PHR. I watched some of her works but I particularly liked WYWS, so I expected that Start Up would live up to that when it comes to the overall plot and keeping the strong momentum from start to end, that kind of plot that will keep you excited and curious of what will come next— with each and every small details of each scene from the camera angles, use of music, use of colors, parallelisms and symbols, etc., being interconnected and making a full circle at the end. But for this drama, PHR wasn't able to maintain the momentum, and it became so easy to predict what happens next and even predict how the drama itself will end.

ON POTENTIALS and ENDING: It had a lot of really good parallelisms, use of symbolisms, and really subtle but seemingly critical details in a lot of scenes which I loved, only if they made use of all of those to connect the plot altogether in the end to conclude the drama both in the business/"start-up" aspect and the romance aspect. Unfortunately, they didn't. They wasted all these good potentials and turned the story into a typical, cliché-ridden, and honestly, a bit too shallow, romance story. The business side of the story was slightly better in a way, but in my opinion, still too unrealistic and cliché— where for the concept of love/romance between the leads was still too embedded and made it appear like "our love and optimism will conquer it all and make us succeed in any business ventures we take" instead of depicting the more realistic and objective side of business— where there's little to no room for impulsivity and not doing enough planning/risk assessment will most certainly be your worst mistake.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: Next, I am honestly not rooting for one love interest over the other, and I have no interest of siding with the "1st lead" or "2nd lead." I watched the drama objectively and considered the depth of how each character was built and reflected than focusing on the romantic aspect of their characters. Thus my second issue with the drama. In my opinion, they highlighted the second-male lead's story and character development too much that he ended up being a little too central to the entire plot than the main lead. I wish they could've focused more on building the main leads' (male and female) development and building a stronger and deeper story/foundation for their relationship. Instead, a big part of their relationship (romantically) turned out a bit shallow and forced. The 2nd male lead's story and whole character arc played a too big and too central role in the main plot that somewhere along the way, his role seemed to be more important and getting more attention that of the male and female leads. I wish I could've seen a deeper and more critical involvement of the 1st lead's story and character in the plot's "bigger picture" but unfortunately, I didn't. His backstory was not highlighted enough and just seemed to pass by without connecting it enough to the main plot. I liked his character development in terms of being successful in the business aspect of the story, but other than that, not much development and character depth was given to him for the entire series. His character had so much potential for a "wow" build up but the writers wasted those potentials as well. But despite this, NJH did well as usual in portraying this role. With all that being said, I understand why I see some of the viewers empathizing more with the 2nd lead's character because he had the most depth and most reflected and carefully-written development in the drama. Big kudos to KSH though, it was my first time seeing him here but I can say he's a really good actor with a wide range of emotions.

Another point is the obvious lack of attention given on Won In Jae's character. They also built a good separate/independent foundation for her role in the first few episodes, only to disregard her character and give too little focus on her for the rest of the episodes. Yet another wasted potential for the drama. It would've been nice to see her build up her relationship with Dalmi and her family throughout the episodes but unfortunately again, we didn't get to see much of that.

** I honestly still have a lot to say for this drama such as in Dalmi's character, the relationships between the characters, the plot details presented everywhere only to be forgotten and thrown under the rug, and plot details that could have had good potential to explored, etc. but this has been much longer than I expected so I'll just highlight those big points for this review.

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