A Business Proposal (2022)

Another overhyped netflix drama with no substance.

It's basically a take on all annoying cliches from the kdrama world - chaebol guy with a traumatic family childhood meets a lively, poor girl who turns his whole world upside down. Plus, there's the chaebol's family going against the relationship (what a surprise). An annoying love triangle exists too.

If you're like me, an avid long time Kdrama fan who's fed up with these cliches, you really should avoid this drama if you don't want to feel annoyed. I always crave for dramas that are realistic and relatable, and sadly this isn't one of them.

A lot of people also mention the chemistry between the leads as their favorite, but honestly, I didn't feel any spark at all. The acting was also too bad. The male lead was trying too hard to replicate the main lead in What's Wrong with Secretary Kim (with the countless hair touches) and it really din't work for him. (heard the webtoon really portrayed this but come one guys) I hope he gets a better roles next time cause he's actually good.

The only plus side I found was the female lead's job of being a product researcher. I often find it amusing how kdramas can romanticize jobs that often go unnoticed. This drama amazed me only in that aspect.

Really, skip it. They keep saying that this drama did all the cliches right... It honestly didn't.

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A Korean billionaire romance with potential

Seven episodes in, I'm yet to see what the proposal is or what it has to do with any of the businesses in the show because the contractual relationship doesn't seem to be it considering how it was treated. ABP is also guilty of following several stereotypes and clichés that are now so old that they might as well be outdated. How many times haven't we already watched/read a story of a fake identity/contractual relationship? In how many dramas have we not seen women subtly or unsubtly directly or indirectly taking each other down? Since I've not read the original work this series is based on, I can't say if this typical storytelling is the brainchild of the author or the screenwriter but for the premise it promises, it certainly lacks substance.

There is the usual hardworking middle class family of the female lead, her equally crazy and supportive best friend who, refreshingly, has a thing for the second male lead, the charismatic and rich hero who has a tragic past, a sweet and reserved SML who is his best friend and an eccentric grandfather who just wants to hold great grandchildren in his arms. So the characters are ready and the foundation is laid but when these are established, there is not much to take the story forward. ABP thus transcends genres in the sense that it jumps from comedy to romance to what is looking to be melo. The point of discontent here is that the story had (still has) potential but instead goes chasing after useless elements.

An unrequited crush who leads the heroine on, his on again-off again girlfriend who is existentially jealous of Shin Ha Ri and a perverted neighbour are not how a plot moves forward, at least not in 2022. Of course, the men save their women every time and the two women have nothing to talk about other than their suitors or love interests. When this first happened in episode 1, I decided to wait out and hope for some betterment, seeing that it all begins with a blind date, but nothing seems to have improved from then to now. While passing the Bechdel test is not indicative of how well a series does, it is tiring to see women whose entire lives revolve around men, and not themselves. That the original novel has a better reason for Ha Ri agreeing to the contract is just another fact to lament.

BUT, the male characters are written well. Their traits are cute, lovable and new. A big plus to ABP's characterisation is their gentleness. How often do we find an old man addicted to dramas so much that he actually sets up alarms and gives a running commentary while watching them? I can totally see Ha Ri's mother and Tae Moo's grandpa hitting it off when they meet. Tae Moo, in turn, maybe an archaeopteryx who for whatever reason puts on a cold and severe look (that looks very put on) but he's actually a big softie who likes to clean Sung Hoon's apartment whenever he's stressed. Then there's this fuzzy fur ball of a Sung Hoon who's just fluff bundled into a human. Nothing much can be said of Ha Ri and Yeong Soo but the food product development team is a delight (pun intended). Music delivers and at this point, the drama is watchable only for its actors.

It's not that ABP is bad. Even though it takes its women for granted, it gives them room to breathe. They make their own decisions and they initiate the relationships when they are ready. There are no toxic narcissistic overbearing tropes to be found. It's just that ABP fails to utilise its characters, their quirks and a solid foundation of a popular and successful premise.

NOTE: Ratings may vary by the time the drama ends and if, like I'm hoping, the show redeems itself, this review may vary too.
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EDIT: Turns out I was rather wishful. The last two episodes were particularly over the top dramatic, as if no one knew how to end this story. I guess they didn't. The characters don't change and even until the end, remain good on their own, failing in their dynamics with other characters. The plot takes unnecessary turns that are illogical and are not given a proper closure. Min Woo and Yoo Ra remain consistent in how much of a train wreck they are and their arcs remain meaningless. Tae Moo's past also meanders into a dead end.

There is some pointless last episode drama as well and we see some deviation in characters here- favourite grandpa unusually (but maybe not unexpectedly) turns into a typical mother-in-law and instead of seeing a rosy wedding (which in my opinion would have saved the drama's ending), there is just added frustration. He also never got to meet the owners of the chicken house and he'd wished his granddaughter be from a modest family like that in the first episode. *sigh*

Even though it puts a smile on our faces, ABP largely remains a wasted potential and the lone bright spot remains the Tae Moo- Sung Hoon duo. It makes me want to ask- why are people still writing such shallow plots and why are people still watching them? Most importantly, why is it that people think visuals and kisses can salvage a story? The high ratings should probably explain it.

All said, ABP is cute and light hearted and those looking for some sweet mindless romance will definitely like it.

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Clichés with no plot

I started watching because I love romance, and everyone said it was awesome. Well, I didn't find it awesome. Here's why:

Male lead: I feel like his character is pretty much a shallow copy of Park Seo-joon's character in Secretary Kim. Which is not a compliment even if it was exactly like that character. There's little depth to him. His parents' car accident seems to have shaped his entire personality. One day the trauma simply disappears. It's 2022. Love doesn't heal traumas. Therapy does! Anyway, I digress. At first, his main personality trait was being rude and a workaholic. Once he falls in love (out of nowhere) the only personality trait we see is him being in love.

Female lead: she too lacked personality. I'm still trying to find an adjective for her. I simply find none because she had absolutely nothing going on for her. The only times she seemed to have a bit of personality was when she was pretending to be her best friend on blind dates.

The main couple: half the time she was running away from him. In the other half, she was repeating the same phrases someone had just told her or 'huh?'. 2022 and we have that. There have been so many great female characters for the past few years (I'll mention Crash Landing on You, Hotel Del Luna, and Mad For Each Other to name a few), and here's Ha-ri, sounding every bit like a female lead from the 2000s. Anyway, the couple simply existed one day. It made no sense to them at first too.

The second couple had chemistry, which was more than the main couple. They also had some sort of connection. They kept me watching the show, I won't lie. But then they slept together - while she was super drunk. Drunk enough to not remember anything. While he wasn't drunk. How come that's okay? From where I come from, that's not consensual. So after that, they were lost to me.

The plot: I know it's not the kind of drama we can expect an intrinsic plot. I didn't expect it. But this was... nothing. Nothing happened. The episodes felt like fillers all the time. A lot that served as a foundation for the plot didn't get explained. Ha-ri's crush on Min-woo, Min-woo's girlfriend, and Tae-mu's grandfather who wanted him to marry any woman to have kids but when it was Ha-ri he didn't support the relationship (because she made him trip a few times. seriously?!). I understand this kind of drama is supposed to be a rom-com - make us swoon and laugh - but at least a simple plot is expected. This simply didn't deliver it. It delivered a few kisses so maybe that's why everyone was in such an uproar.

The cast was good. They made what they could to make it work.

Overall, everything was forgettable. Ha-ri's co-workers, Tae-mu's trauma, Ha-ri's crunch on Min-woo. The only exception may be the cousin who spoke English with Korean. I'll be forgetting everything by tomorrow.

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Fantastic comedy rom com

Absolutely love a good comedy rom com and this was no exception. The story was probably a max 7.5/10 but the overall enjoy-ability of the show was close to a 10/10. I loved how it didn't take itself seriously, the refreshing take on all the cliches and tropes present in rom coms, and the chemistry between all the characters. The story and vibe of the show kind of petered off near the end where they tried to go a more serious route and it felt kind of rushed, but overall I was satisfied with the ending and thought it wrapped everything up nicely. This is the perfect show for when you just want to wind down after a long day at work, and want to watch something funny and light-hearted.

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SWOT Analysis

A business proposal without a SWOT Analysis? Sacrilege. The following are some strengths and weaknesses of the drama; and opportunities and threats to the main couple’s relationship.

◾Strengths
The casting of all characters was impeccable. Totally ship the pairing of Ahn Hyo Seop and Kim Se Jeong as the main couple; as well as Kim Min Gue and Seol In Ah as the secondary couple.

A few support characters stand out from the rest as they provide some comic relief and are such a joy to watch. Grandpa Kang, the drama-obsessed chairman, who wants to see his beloved grandson married. Jin Young Seo’s cousin, Jo Yoo Jung, the Konglish speaking and spoilt rich girl with the infamous line “You know I have no 친구 (chingu)”.

12- episode format as opposed to the current Kdrama standard of 16 episodes - it forces the story to move along at a faster rate.

◾Weaknesses
The secondary couple tends to overshadow the main couple throughout the drama. It was love at first sight for both Sung Hoon and Young Seo, and they became a couple before Tae Mo and Ha Ri. Communication between this duo was mature, and any misunderstandings were dealt with on the spot.

Kang Tae Mo is a character who knows and is good at everything. Yet, he could not discern Shin Ha Ri’s disguises at the beginning. Hmmmmm….

The usage of a time skip. I do not mind this trope, however it feels a bit of a cop-out. In a romcom, the last episode is where we get our final warm fuzziness. The time-skip in here is akin to the editors realising they have 10 minutes left in the drama but still have 40 minutes of story to tell.

A few opportunities and threats to the main couple’s relationship:

◾Opportunities
- Goobne chicken (Shin Ha Ri’s parents’ business) should bottle and sell their chicken rub. In episode 10, Kang Tae Mo tried it with his astute taste bud and liked it. If he likes it, it will be a hit!
- Shin Ha Ri’s brother can get a new phone from Kang Tae Mo. Make sure to get a new Samsung, Shin Ha Min!

◾Threats
- Grandpa Kang. Shin Ha Ri needs to put extra effort to get his approval of their relationship.
- The chef and his girlfriend. Either they want or are jealous of Shin Ha Ri
- Daddy Shin. Kang Tae Mo must have a man-to-man talk to his future father-in-law regarding the safety of Ha Ri.
- GoFood employees and netizens. Gossiping about the CEO who is dating an employee.
- Cousin Yoo Jung liking Sung Hoon.

The above SWOT is an incomplete list. What would you like to add to the above analysis?

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being honest this was shit. yes, it was shit. what is the point of making a cliché drama like this in 2022? i am getting abysmal and scared at how asian dramas are getting americanized, as is the music industry too, especially the korean one. the dramas of now are so different from the ones of 2016 that were normal and not overly cliché, or americanized. i watch asian dramas and stuff because i practically hate american romance, which is toxic, rotten, boring, and pathetic to watch, i really don’t have the stomach for american movies and series anymore, especially when they are romance, which makes it more boring and almost kills you with so much radiation. that’s the reason why i choose to watch asian series and movies, because they don’t have as much shit as americans do. well, i expected this drama to be a basic good cliché, but it was a big shit. it is the most americanized drama i have ever seen. it is not about the sex scenes, because i don’t care about that, but i am very critical, so... it may have cliché, but NOT overdone like this drama. the dead comedy that they try to force to make the drama funny is INSUPPORTABLE and that bromance between the ceo who is a copy of the radioactive protagonist from secretary kim and his friend was pathetic. someone warns that there is no way to make a bromance like the one between gong yoo and lee dong wook in goblin, because it is getting boring trying to make comedy and a perfect bromance like goblin had

about the friendship, generic and boring. forced comedy again (this whole drama is forced, even the romance) and i don’t think their friendship is the best in dramaland, overdone and i’ve seen better. this drama has a lot of sex scenes to get the teenage fire out of their asses and forgot to put in the development, which was ZERO. yes, i want to see love development, i don’t live on crumbs and i want a real cute romance. it can have sex, but please, show some development so that i know how these two fell in love and why they love each other. now, if you put SEX, SEX, SEX and marriage (which NEVER makes sense in badly told stories like this, first of all) i can’t like it because it becomes like an american series/movie. the couple has no love development and they don’t even show it (both couples have no love development, everything is fast and boring) and now you come with marriage? sorry, but this rotten americanized cliché doesn’t go down well. for the babies who are drooling over drama because of the cute oppa instead of knowing how to evaluate by story and acting, grow up mentally and know how to evaluate. being cute doesn’t stop an americanized and badly done plot

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A Hard Watch When You've Read The Webtoon, A Cliche Mess When You've Only Watched The Drama

I don't have much to say when compare to the Webtoon cause they changes almost everything. The Characters are different, they dumb down the male lead, they make the female lead silly beyond belief and the supporting act character feels like stolen from another drama.

For the drama, they added every cliche from other romcom drama, she was pretty, secretary kim, my secret life of secretary is all in here. I almost thought they wrote it to cast Park Seo Joon.
The last part is not as good as the beginning, probably they run out plot, male lead can't act to save the lines.
I probably rate it higher had the male lead can actually act but Ahn Hyeo Seob has been bad, Kim Se Jeong is the lifeline in the this drama.
I think it's right in the middle as a drama. As an adaptation, I rate it minus.

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Same-same then product placement… Repeat.

I’m a rookie reviewer for this genre of fluffy romcom. This one seemed standard to me even though it’s the first time I’ve go through to the end of one. Standard plot of misunderstandings, standard character types of rich and ordinary, standard production values, standard slapstick humour. There wasn’t anything that struck me as original about it.

I understand that this production was not aimed at me, however, that does not excuse lack of quality. To keep up quick fire momentum takes more than just energy—which for the first half was at a good level—it also requires imagination and inventiveness and I’m afraid this didn’t cut it. About two thirds through I began to find the TV drama everyone was watching more entertaining. Ultimately keeping a flow of fresh ideas is the responsibility of the writer and director and here the treatment was repetitive and unsophisticated.

It made a good start but quite quickly the script and plot became predictable. The acting tended to follow suit, with a lot of stock, same-same expressions and reactions to the manufactured situations. The first couple of times it’s funny, but very quickly becomes irritating. For example, the constant hiding begins to pall during Episode 3, but is still going in Episode 4, and then gets dragged out into Episode 5 by which time it is long past its use-by date. Ditto the pretending to be someone else theme.

There is a heavy emphasis on wealth with a lot of ostentatious display, along with the assumption that popularity and acceptance can be easily bought with a credit card. This message is backed up by the wall-to-wall product placement. Seo Hye Won’s part in the early episodes seemed to exist solely as a product placement vehicle. By Episode 10, scene after scene was built around it, reducing the dialogue to meaningless rubbish, destroying character integrity and disrupting the momentum.

On the plus side… there is plenty of fun with a load of eye candy. The couples have reasonable chemistry but lacked any sort of pizzazz. Kim Se Jeong and Ahn Hyo Seop were most believable in the tender scenes rather than the passionate ones. Seol In Ah and Kim Min Gue were more unevenly matched. I liked Seol In Ah’s performance, it had life and energy, whereas Kim Min Gue struggled to give depth to his more reserved character.

Shin Ha Ri’s family added the warmth and acceptance missing from the others. It’s a common theme that the wealth that is deemed so desirable comes at the cost of dysfunctional family relationships. But here the obligatory overbearing rich parents/family were not too forceful, just enough to provide a reason for our male and female leads to flex their muscles and prove their credentials.

The serious emotional interactions, which happened towards the end of the drama, were convincing. Kim Se Jeong especially made a good job of the hospital scene with Ahn Hyo Seop. But the ending was weak and unsatisfying, it just fizzled out without any real impact and needed to be much stronger to justify the build up given earlier in the episode.

The cinematography is okay, but nothing special. The colour palette was pleasing, with bright, engaging colours and an endless parade of cool clothes.

One of the things I really liked about the subs in this one was what I think is the literal translation of Korean sayings, which totally cracked me up. Thank you Choi Su In! Absolutely loved, “A face like a company perk” and “Like putting lipstick on a pig”.

What my rating means: 6+ Some aspects of it were OK but it had serious flaws. It will pass the time but you can find something better.

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LOVED IT but the ending :(

The fact that I actually stayed up each week to watch the live broadcast/no subs (2AM) brought me back to my high school days!

What I liked:
1. Casting, everyone did so well esp the 2nd lead casting was *chefs kiss*!
2. Cliche romcom tropes executed well apart from the rushed end.
3. Changed up a few scenes from webtoon.
4. SPOILER* how they still continued their relationship online despite TM going overseas.
5. Did not drag.
6. Solved most issues quickly.
7. TM and HR hugs!!
8. No romance between HR bro and YS.

What I did not like:
1. Rushed end.
2. I'm all for closures but eh was not feeling the MW closure XD
3. They did not continue where they left off on ep 11 HAHA
4. I prefer the way grandpa approved of HR in the webtoon more, this grandpa was being difficult LOL.
5. Lying/hiding took way too long.

Overall 8.5, was going to be a 9 but the rushed ending was not it. cute but not it. :b Time to re-read the webtoon for the 100th time HAHAHA. I hope for more well-executed romcom soon and not rush the end pls <3

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