Start-Up (2020)

Plunge into the start-up industry

This kdrama explains the inner workings of the start-up industry and all the terms you need to know to sound smart. For example, I did not know what was "acqui-hiring".

We learn that behind any successful start-up is a desperately resourceful CEO, a genius techie and a great mentor at an incubation center. The love triangle between these three adds complexity to the drama. While Bae Suzy and Nam Joo-hyuk are so cute together, Kim Seon-ho stirs second-lead-syndrome.

The story of their start-up itself is quiet interesting and the personal motivations are real-worldly for young twenty-somethings. The insights the writer, Park Hye-ryun brings is typical of her writing style and I was educated on the lives of rookie journalists in Pinocchio (starring Lee Jong-suk and Park Shin-hye), and felt I got an inside view into the workings of the prosecution department in While You Were Sleeping (also starring Bae Suzy, and Lee Jong-suk) and I Can Hear Your Voice (starring Lee Bo-young and Lee Jong-suk), even though legal dramas are done to death in the Kdrama world.

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An Honest Review

Start up was a quality drama of 2020. The first episode sets the stage for the story line in the most perfect way. You start of the drama laughing and crying. I enjoyed the story line, even though there are definitely some holes as the story progresses of things you want to know but just never do. The ML and FL do an excellent job at emotional scenes and continue to do so throughout the drama. The ML did an good job changing his mannerisms as the character grows and develops in the drama. The SL was also amazing his adlibs are super funny and its a joy when his face comes on the screen.
If you hate dramas with love triangles this is NOT the drama for you. You will get frustrated and drop the drama. I enjoyed how the story progressed between the ML and the FL it was sweet but not overly romantic. I found myself rooting for them the entire drama.
The drama also has a nice ending that ties up most of the loose ends. You don't get a ton of details but you can infer what happened. All in all I really enjoyed this drama and will be watching again.

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Best k-drama I've watched!

I am consistently captivated by the multifaceted elements of this drama, from its compelling characters and evocative soundtracks to its exquisite cinematography. The acting, storytelling, video shoots, and background music coalesce to create a truly perfect piece of art. Immense kudos to the entire team for bringing such a beautiful drama to life; I sincerely hope they produce another season!

No matter how many times I watch it, I never grow tired of it, which is a testament to its exceptional quality. Personally, the characters Han Ji Pyeong and Haemulni stand out to me the most; their impeccable acting draws me in every single time. This drama consistently hooks me, demonstrating its unparalleled brilliance.

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Um drama que aquece o coração

Fazia um bom tempo que eu não me deparava com um drama tão adorável e com uma história tão bem estruturada. Me recordo de poucos - senão nenhum - fios soltos, os conflitos entre os personagens foram resolvidos de maneira bem madura, e a evolução é clara. Não creio muito em meritocracia, e o drama mesmo mostra como não foi questão de "apenas querer", mas de uma estratégia, uma ideia, uma união de desejos em comum e trabalho em equipe que tornou possível que aquele sonho da Dal-mi, que anteriormente era o do pai dela, fosse realizado. A mensagem de seguir o seu sonho, mesmo tendo consequências, mesmo sendo difícil, é muito bem passada.
E, claro, o romance entre a Dal-mi e o Do-san me deixou muito feliz. Eles tiveram uma trajetória tão bonitinha, os mal-entendidos e mentiras não foram "esquecidos" do dia pra noite, e os sentimentos de um para o outro se desenvolveu de forma muito coerente. Embora algumas vezes tenha ficado triste pelo Ji-pyeong, não poderia ter um final diferente.

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Makes me mad all around

Talks about being entrepreneurs and how to startup a company, but this show makes you want to punch a whole in your screen, like why would they show a show that after working soo hard your company will fail hard. Also the love triangle in the show is just soo bad, like you have to give Hanji pyung more scenes to grow with suzy to develop more feelings. As of right now the show went bad after ep 12 it went from decent to a train wreck, don't expect much after this kind of ending. Also the ship with hanji pyung with suzy woulda been a better choice to improve this overall ratings jeez.

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It's not worth it

I had so much hopes for this drama. The pilot episode looked promising--groundbreaking even. The OSTs and visuals were very enticing. But the storyline started to go downhill after Episode 10 when Dal-mi found out about the letters. Like a lot of people, I was waiting for a big confrontation about the letters with Ji Pyeong, Do san, Dal-mi, and halmeoni, but there was none. Dal-mi brushed the letters off and continued to pine for Do san like nothing happened. The storyline was filled with clichés and unrealistic stuff--a far cry from that of the first few episodes. What really was the point of building up a storyline centered on the letters, only to see them being reduced to mere plot devices? Moreover, using them as voiceovers for Do-san's scenes was very absurd, considering that they were Ji Pyeong's words.

As a corporate professional, the business aspect was something that I was looking forward to when I found out about this show but it was overshadowed by the annoying love triangle. I don't know why the love triangle had to be dragged on even after the three year timeskip when they were still going for the clichéd ending. It looked like a cheap move by the writers to keep their ratings up. If you're thinking of watching this drama because of the business aspect--it's not worth it. Go watch Itaewon Class instead.

Aside from the business aspect, I started watching this drama because of Nam Joo Hyuk and I was expecting a lot from his character. During the first few episodes, I cheered for him every time he came on screen but in the second half, he became more and more selfish, claiming things that weren't rightfully his. What Living Buddha? As a genius, his immaturity was disappointing and his bad traits were slowly starting to overshadow his good traits. Every time I start to see a hint of his character development, he always does or says something that makes me think otherwise. There was way too much plot armor going on for Do San just because he was the main lead and all the circumstances were unrealistically very convenient for Do san. Would a busy CEO in real life really follow someone in a remote place just to recruit him?

The main leads were very unlikeable. It was so difficult to root for them as a couple. Do san and Dal-mi's confession scene was underwhelming. In a different context, Dal-mi's reason, or lack thereof, for liking Do-san would've worked, but let's not forget that she met Do san under false pretenses.

All the parallelisms and symbolisms in the show pointed to a Jidal ending. The drama would've been amazingly unique if they followed through with those. You would have to abandon all logic to appreciate the ending.

On the bright side, the cast portrayed their characters very well. You wouldn't be able to imagine another actor/actress in their places. You would see a substantial improvement in Nam Joo Hyuk's acting and Kim Seon Ho's acting was just phenomenal.

I really don't know what PHR was trying to accomplish for this one. Whatever it was, it was poorly executed. It's even more disappointing when you know that apparently, it took PHR two years to write this drama.

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Don’t watch this You’ll regret later

Sorry to say this I’m a fan of Nam Dohyuck I love him love is acting and also his acting in this movie is awesome. But the character of Nam Do-San is so annoying. First I watch this I already think that Nam Do-San don’t reserve to be with Deol-Mi and after watching there nothing change Do-San still don’t Deserve her. I thought he a math genius skip Highschool to college having kind heart so that why he dropped school giving away his gold medal who know he cheat on the test so he feel bad about the person he cheat so he give away his gold medal to him. For Han Jipyeong because the name of a good boy he do everything to keep that name he alway be a good boy who help Deol-Mi grandma and Deol-Mi when there are problem. Han Ji-Pyeong never leave Deol-Mi and alway stay by her sight hide her when she cry stay by her when she is sad Making her happy while Do-San can’t do that. The last thing Han Jipyeong did is give the person he love to much an annoying like Nam Do-San because he want them to be happy and he can be happy if Deol-Mi happy. I’m was really happy once Nam Do-San Left to San Francisco for 3 years and wish he will never be back again but after 3 years why why why he is back. The story pissed me so much.
I rate high for cast because everyone is acting perfect but the story is the real problem for the whole thing
Han Jipyeong once said: You want them to be happy how about me why I have to be the one that have to cry.
Everyone in the story is so selfish except my lovely Han Jipyeong🙂❤️

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disappointed and LOTS OF PLOT HOLES

It started pretty good and refreshing. But I didn't like that the writers created such a strong and lovable second lead male, like come on how can I not fall in love with him, he was the first to appear in the drama, THE FIRST, HIS STORY WAS PRESENTED FIRST, but now the writers have realized that he is overshadowing too much the 1LM and they want us to look down on HJP and support more NDS, but that won't happen because almost a 80% or 70% of the audience have fallen in love with him.

The worst is the needy 1LM and his childish friends, really he lacks emotional intelligence.

I am so annoyed the writer is playing with HJP heart and feelings , Stop this love triangle, stop this madness, it doesn't make sense ,it is not funny nor interesting anymore, I am fed up with this drama it should have a lower rate. This drama is not worth it. Now I must remind myself to never watch ongoing dramas.

Fair enough, that's why I dropped the drama when I was in episode 9, now I just watch the episodes in 5 minutes, just to see what happens with HJP, he is such a good boy, and Kim seon ho acting skills are superb.

The only good thing is that Kim seon Ho is getting more popular and recognized globally. I am glad and proud of him!

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They forgot about business and were in a triangle that didn't exist in truth

They forgot about business and were in a triangle that didn't exist

I don't know if the most, but maybe one of the most frustrating dramas of the year, that in script development ... A writing that started out good and ended mediocre, maybe that's a great definition for Start-Up ... I vaguely remember (and feel ashamed of) how when this drama started I indicated it to all my friends, because the first episodes were very good and an atmosphere was created that at the beginning referred to the struggle for a place in the sun (in the world business). And although I received the catfish plot strangely (lie and win / lose), I really didn't realize how harmful that plot would be.

Anyway, what should be just a subplot gained space during the dramas and unfolded in several lies, initiated by the most sympathetic character in the drama, the grandmother of Dalmi and Ji Pyeong. Lie that started with the letters, a not so smart way to deal with the suffering of a young girl when she saw her world fall apart, her world that was her family. I think that a therapy session would be much better than suspending a girl from reality and making her believe in an idealization, something that was possible because of a fanciful and somewhat naive mind for an already pre-teen. Dalmi's grandmother and JiPyeong participated in this lie, but unfortunately or fortunately, this lie gained a certain amount of truth, as they both felt comforted by it.

Behold, here comes the second and third lies, the second is that the card boy was the first love, a boy who was a creation but who also had part of the male secondary dreams / drawings, but as a character if you love can you love someone? This is Dalmi, who grew up cultivating a dream and speaking words that she barely knows the meaning of, love is a very strong word and not everyone deserves to say it. The third lie is Nam Do San, who started as a character that made identification possible, but developed in the opposite direction, lying and being aggressive, a protagonist with flaws, I think the idea of ​​trying to break with the concept of protagonist is a good point perfect, but we were faced with too many failures and almost unjustifiable mistakes. So we have the fourth lie, which is to get Nam Do San into Dalmi's life, a person who had nothing to do with the history of the letters, but who destroyed his memories with his hands (that was the funniest line that read in a script). With that, Do San enters Dalmi and Ji Pyeong's life and the romance begins ...

I mean the "frustrating triangle begins". And the lie becomes more accompanied by mistakes, "mistakes" made to keep the audience and the audience engaged in the dispute for couples, which only brought prejudice to the drama and left it tiring. The catfish that should have lasted only 4 episodes (in a sensible script) took 8 episodes to finish, and was also accompanied by episodes of regrets, cries and a Dalmi confused only in words because the actions already showed the decision she had made, although there is a lack of coherent reasons beyond what she said to Do San regarding her feelings for him, in this sense you can understand Do San's insecurity, which is plagued by an imposter syndrome (although he talks about freedom, he navigates without a plan and sometimes be violent, atypical). In some novels at the moment of confession, we always have that old cliché phrase of "Because it's you" and its similars, which may seem in the mind of some as something creative, but it only shows a poverty of writing, remembering that during those moments we always had an attempt to keep a viewer stuck in the drama.

But let's discuss other errors in the script. If this frustrating triangle were not enough, the brilliant plot of revenge for suicide is inserted. What made me more frustrating, because in addition to making the plot tiring, he showed immense carelessness in dealing with such a sensitive topic and also responsibility. This is supposed to bring about a change in the character Han Ji Pyeong seen as rude (things of those who do not know the business world or have never worked under pressure) by telling hard truths, but which in reality only served to keep him from the central stage. Now, if the secondary was removed, why only define the couple in episode 15? I repeat, just to hold the audience and generate repercussions, although most of them were negative and hindered the unfolding of the story, because it is because of revenge (and also because Nam Do San jealously, Chul San Greedy) that one of the worst decisions is made, we see the dissolution of the Samsan Tech team, unjustified violence (fight between Nam Do San and Ji Pyeong), tears and more tears, in short, unnecessary things. The interesting thing is that at this point all the words spoken in mentoring and previously in the drama, most of them by JP made sense, that emotionally unprepared developers wanted to be what they were not, that is, entrepreneurs, ceos ...

And what about the letters? They were forgotten for the longest time, proving that Dalmi's "first love" was just one of his many illusions, having a closing scene of that pathetic plot in the final episode.

What about grandma? One of the most important characters has been forgotten, just the initiator of the cards and the one who has a connection with almost all subplots. But before that, she gets a disease and here we see Do San's kindness being demonstrated, creating a non-profit business just for "kindness". And Injae? She only appeared on the posters and served more than half as Dalmi's "final enemy" by speaking unpleasant words, being defeated and remembered for her mistake in not choosing her sister and father. At least, she is with her sister, although we don't know how we already had a 3-year skip team (which has led to almost no development in history other than making Samsan's 3 rich and this reconciliation). The interesting thing is that it was supposed to be the female secondary, it was reduced to almost an extra and in most of the drama it had less relevance than her own mother, having as one of her main actions the lie of the Sandbox (in which she pretended to be the sister, that served as an idea for the creation of this support program for start-us) and serve as one of the catalysts for the rapprochement of Dalmi and Nam Do.

And finally, about Ji Pyeong? The best-built character lost to the poster boy (the name by which an influencer I know called Wes calls the protagonist). He became a supporting actor in his own story and ended as he started, that is, alone, having nobody but his grandmother, because I honestly cannot consider Dalmi, Do San, Chul San, Yong San to be good companies.

Finally, I need to score something. I heard that this story of starting in high school was an attempt to subvert the idea of ​​first love and give a narrative turn? But what first love? what turn? What I saw was just one mistake followed by another ...

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Dang

I can't believe I wasted my weekends for this.

Dragged a love triangle until the end, promised a twist on the finale, only for it to be a cliché k-drama. Man, such a waste of time. I was expecting it to be more.

No chemistry between the two leads. Everything felt forced from the moment of the revelation until the end. So many loopholes on the story. The depth and complexity of the theories about the endgame was waaaaay more interesting on how it played on actual. To be honest, it was very predictable. It even came to a point that it was a cringe fest whenever the leads have romantic moments because as I said earlier, everything feels forced just so they could end up together. *face palm* Everything about the letters were negated too, the beautiful foundation of the story turned into this forced romance mess. I cannot. 🤣🤡

Not gonna recommend this to others. You better find other k-dramas than this.

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