Start-Up (2020)

Memorable, but left a bad taste in my mouth

Overall, it was an okay story. The beginning was very heartfelt and relatable. I didn't really enjoy the last 7-8 episodes that much because it contradicted a lot of what the beginning set up. It was confusing who the male main lead was and the true main lead was introduced a little too late. It was also difficult to understand some of the characters choices and decisions. My favorite character didn't exactly get a happy ending either. It was disappointing to see him still end up lonely and still never receive gratification for what he's done. Because of the two male main leads, it became a hit or miss for a lot of people and for me personally, it was a miss. The true main lead, I wish I liked more. But he cried and self pitied far too often for it to be relatable or heartfelt.

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Downhill all the way after Episode 1

Bad writing. Big hand and "should there be a reason to like you" are the lamest reason I have ever heard in the history of KDrama. Dosan was so badly written, full of red flags that I feel so bad for Nam Joo Hyuk. Same with Bae Suzy, after her badass Vagabond character, her Dalmi character is so dull, dimwitted and just plain dumb. Actors are obviously not thrilled with their characters except for Seonho. Messy storyline, hurried, almost no character development. Too ambitious storyline that flopped. Shelving StartUp next to Alice, for being the absolute worst KDrama this year.

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I watched this mostly because i was curious how much i could hate a kdrama for its story

From the beginning i watched this because i saw so many people hate on the kdrama because of its chemistry and story development , therefore in my mind i was already under the conception that i would hate it
But ironically i was never disappointed for the whole ride. The drama had a promising start to it and i expeccted something "different" from it but it turned out to be ordinary, but i feel like being ordinary is not a reason to hate it
I really liked Nam do san's character more than anyone else because his character was flawed from the beginning and it felt so relatable in a sense. He was insecure and felt inferior to others but he came to understand and appreciate himself through the female lead. The female lead was a bit bland because she acted mostly on emotions like any other romance drama but it was nice to see her become confident and face up to the world and not worry about how others look at her. And thats why i liked the main couple because they became a source of strength for each other when they were weakest
So i would like to say it again that just because it failed to be innovative doesnt make it any worse and i hope you all enjoy what it has to offer

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Wait a second

I like the first part of this really much. It was starting on just great. Really.
I couldn't wait to watch the next episodes.
Liked the plot, the characters, the acting. I liked it pretty much especially compared to other dramas I watched recently. I found it so interesting and motivating.

I was worried because I'm pretty hard on dramas and when I like one so much I just know that it's going to be ruined in the last few episodes. I can tolerate some clichés and stuffs but with a limit.

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SPOILER
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Love triangle? Unnecessary. So now Han Ji-Pyeong fell in love with her too? Why? I mean okay it was predictable but to me not that necessary. Just focus on a thing but do it well.

Okay Nam Do-San lied to her but for too long. I wouldn't mind it too much if him told her sooner.
Oh what, he tried but GUESS WHAT? Stopped by her grandmother because they casually met in the hospital so she made him promise to not tell he yet. Why? 1. Coincidences. I just can't stand those coincidences. They met and they remembered each other too? mmmh okay I'll let it pass.

Grandma you're so sweet but HOW can someone think this is a right thing? EVERYONE made a fool of her. Her grandma started it. It's just not right. I didn't like that part at all.


WHAT THE HELL went wrong in the ep 12?? I mean it's okay they've been scammed, I don't like when the main characters always find a solution for everything because it's just unnatural.
Yeah but come on, I HATE, absolutely can't stand when couples DON'T TALK TO EACH OTHER. Obviously she said those things to him to make him go but she could've just been nicer and find a solution together. All this mess and the group is falling apart. No, it doesn't make sense, really disappointing. So I just hope it'll fix itself because I'll be sad if Start-Up become the other classic dramas that ruins everything towards the end.

I'm sure now we'll se something like "three years later *

No, I don't care but it's not handled well and I don't want to see that so I'm still not changing my review until it's finished. Or if the next episode will be worst than the 12th maybe I will. I watched a week ago and I'm still angry.

It's okay that they leave, it's okay that now they're getting apart. They didn't read the contract and it's fair.
I would have liked a solution, yes. But it's not their separation that made me angry BUT how Dalmi handled it and voluntarily hurt him. What the hell seriously

If it was going to be like this why did you start this drama in the most beautiful way just to get our hopes be destructed.

I don't want to give this drama a low rating so PLEASE I hope it's going to be better.

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I forgot to update this review. It ended okay but I still stand for what I said before.

* I was right, of course.

I can't even say "You should/shouldnt watch it" because everyone is different and maybe you like it if you're 10 years younger than me and you're not used to see many dramas / you're not still tired of clichés and useless stuff.

If reading me review makes you think our taste is similar I suggest you to choose another drama to watch.

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The writing of the main characters was disappointing

This show frustrated me on so many levels. I do have to say that my rating went up after seeing the last two episodes.
THE GOOD:
1) Kim Hae Sook as Dal Mi's grandmother. She was such a wonderful character throughout, never doing anything that was out of character. A strong woman, with a deep sense of caring for those she loves. I loved her interactions with the young Han Ji Pyung (played excellently by Nam Da-Reum) and the current Ji Pyung (also excellent Kim Seon Ho). Ji Pyung tried to hold her away, preferring to wallow in his loneliness, but she was able to get through that tough-guy facade to the true person. Kim Hae Sook has such a wonderful sweetness in this part, and her smiles and shining eyes made me love her, wishing she could be my grandmother.
2) Kim Seon Ho as Han Ji Pyung. This was a combined effort of good writing for this character and solid acting. I don't often have SLS but I seriously had it for Ji Pyung. As a child, you wanted to take him under your wing and care for him. As an adult, he was an astute businessman and who wouldn't love him, seeing the way he was with the grandma? He was also very protective of Dal Mi, not wanting to see her get hurt.
3) Friendships - The friendship between the three developers was outstanding. Nam Joo Hyuk, Kim Do Wan, and Yoo Soo Bin conveyed the feelings of long-standing friendships, alternating between being very supportive of one another and putting each other down, as good friends are able to get away with doing. I enjoyed the interactions between all members of the team, especially toward the end when they were finally hitting their stride.
4) Secret crush between Yoo Soo Bin and Stephanie Lee - their interactions were darling to watch. He was the typical goofy nerd and she played the part of a cold attorney so well (I loved her interspersing English into her conversations).
5) Yeo Jin Goo - having him voice the computer and then show up in a cameo at the end was a treat.
6) Cinematography - taking a page from Do San always talking about RGB, I loved the colors in this. The Sandbox building was full of bright colors, and interesting architecture.
7) The Sandbox - I liked the storyline of trying to build a company, working together, competing against one another, pulling all-nighters, etc. It's kind of how I imagine Google or someplace like that to be - a place full of creative minds, thinking outside the box, developing the "next new thing".
8) A time jump that actually made sense, for once.
9) The last two episodes were very strong, tying up all the loose ends, with a lot of emotion from everyone.
THE DISAPPOINTING:
1) The way the ML and the FL were written. I love Nam Joo Hyuk as an actor. He's got that height and build going for him, as well as that innocent face and the gift of being able to emote so well just using his eyes. Bae Suzy does a good job, except when she is playing a very emotional scene, then she tends to overact. My complaint was not with the actors, but with the characters. I can't remember the last time I watched a show with such a weak ML. This, of course, made the SLS stronger, because I, for the life of me, couldn't figure out why anyone would like this guy. He had terrible self-esteem problems, anger issues, and he seemed to spend the first three quarters of the show pouting. As for the FL, she was a hot mess. How could she be the CEO of anything (as evidenced by her sending over 400 texts with questions to be answered)? She was unable to make decisions and always relied on the help of others. She just seemed so weak to me. I do have to say that they got better after the time jump, but up until that time they were working my last nerve.
2) I didn't feel the relationship between the ML and the FL, not only because I wanted to ship the FL with the 2ML, but there just wasn't any chemistry there. I couldn't actually figure out why they supposedly liked each other, especially once she figured out that he'd been lying to her.
3) The lie went on too long and her response to the first part of the lie was totally unrealistic - she didn't have a problem with it!
4) The fist clench - it sounds funny to say, but they used the fist clench cliche so many times in this show I was ready to make a drinking game out of it - when someone clenches their fist, take a drink!
5) The very end of the show. The last two episodes were so strong, I was very disappointed that they chose to show what had happened in their lives by just showing pictures and the end is of them walking together down the hall. Very unsatisfying.

So, I'd say watch this for the business aspects, definitely not if you are looking for romance. If someone asked me my absolute favorite part of this show, I'd say the grandmother with any person that she came into contact with - especially Ji Pyung. This is the first time I've watched a show where my favorite character was the oldest one.

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Han Jipeyong - The start-up SUPERHERO

Have you ever been cheated out of hard earned money? Or scammed out of something you held precious in life? Or been deceived by people who you trusted? Start-Up feels exactly like that.

For me to actually create an account to leave a review has to mean something. When I finished Ep1 of Start-Up I thought it would be the BEST show I have ever watched (and I’ve watched a lot, albeit never as intently to bother leaving reviews.)

But ALAS the spectacular beginning, ended up being a complete and utter deception. 1280 minutes of my life, that I will never get back. I feel cheated and deceived by PHR and OCH, who I hailed as master craftsmen in the KDrama industry. I believe they took perverse pleasure in torturing the viewers just to get higher ratings. Watching this show live gave me anxiety, stress and emotional trauma that has me vowing never to watch another show of theirs again.

The only thing that kept me coming back is
Han Jipeyong. I have never been more invested in a character, attached to his backstory or rooted for his personal success as hard as HJP. Kim Seon Ho stole every frame he was in. He’s an actor par excellence and his chemistry with Kim Hae Sook is undeniably the HIGHLIGHT of this show.

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Nothing more than a worst love triangle and character development.

At first, each character is shown to be ambitious and goal-driven, the focus is more on startup and for the first five episodes, it follows and sticks to the central plot.

all of a sudden writer introduces a love triangles and drags it to the final episodes. with each episodes breaking our hearts, and characters becoming stupid.

the main hero - never seen an immature character in a lead role who is immature till the end, who doesn't really have a good business attitude, yet somehow he becomes rich and successful by a miracle writing.

the main heroine - strong at the beginning, but at the end just relies on heroes like a damsel.

the second hero - the most loved character, only the character that makes you watch, really a level headed in terms of business, but writer decides to make him pathetic, make him suffer, just to promote love story between two main leads.

the second heroine - her character has so much potential, but she barely has any screen time, despite showing her as one of the main characters.

support character - the main hero's friends - as immature as the main hero.

the workplace is treated like a cafe, where everyone looks for love rather than focus on work.

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A really well-written show... though there might be some hiccups :o

I really hate how most people are treating this to be a war of ships because it’s so much more than that. It has really beautiful character-writing! And the most under-appreciated character is Nam Do San!!, I love how he is not Like the typical kdrama leads- they are only “worthy” of love because of some traumatic sad past, because he’s some millionaire chaebol, because he had no one who understand him and only the FL can....(you know how Kdramas always make the male lead super emo and like pitiful in order to make the romance shine???) I really really like how they wrote NDS’ character and SO many people is saying that they hate him?.? I don’t get it...
he is so pure and dorky but stilll introspective and intelligent! I like how he is just an ordinary man, with ordinary daily life struggles. Why can’t people treat him like that? Why is everyone saying he shouldn’t be the male lead JUST because he didn’t have that much of a sad past as Ji Pyeong?! And yes, I get why people hate him for riding in JiPyeong’s identity to get the girl... but think about it. He was only following orders bruh, and he was the first one who wanted to tell her the truth.

I love all the other characters too. Haelmoni, Dal Mi, Ji Pyeong, In Jae, Samson Tech... all amazing. It’s a character-centric show and It should be savoured that way! Don’t make it about the romance!,!,!

But I would still minus some points bcs the writing wasn’t exactly neat. There are still some logical fallacies, and some inconsistencies. And just scenes that were obviously just trying to please fans instead of having a point to progress the plot. (Like the plant thing lol, the drunk scenes, a few other scenes la. It just didn’t make sense and you just know that it will NEVER happen in real life)

Also the OST IS BOMBBBB *CHEF’S KISS*

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Its okay for men to show emotions

As for how typical Korean drama characters are, usually, the male main characters will depict men that are "rough on the outside and soft on the inside". Usually, men characters hardly show emotions. They rarely cry, they rarely talk about their feelings casually, they rarely open up to people, and rarely have such close intimate male friends group. However, this drama is very refreshing to that.
I am very aware that art imitates life. I have been studying film for almost 4 years-- currently taking a degree on that--, and I am also aware that audiovisual products are also the depiction of the current social situation in that particular region. Thus, I am not surprised how a Korean show still romanticizes toxic traits-- I can say this observation as an Asian myself. How people react to the shows also proves further that some toxic traits still linger and normalized.
Do San as a character makes me feel hopeful. He is not afraid to show emotions, he is not afraid to say what upsets him with healthy communication. How Do San communicates shows people how to manage their own emotions. (Plus, he's also cute, but that's beside the point). Ji Pyeong on the other hand is the exact opposite. Ji Pyeong is the epitome of a typical K-drama character. His words are rough, but he shows his care from his actions.
Oftentimes, men are belittled when they express their feelings and emotions as "girly". "not masculine enough", "not man enough", "too soft", etc. This, of course, contributes to the high number of suicide among men because they are afraid to get help and talk about their problems. This problem roots from toxic masculinity that stems from patriarchy.
But since this kind of character is "new", people's reaction to this character isn't as good as I thought it would. I didn't think too much of this before as this is how I think all people should be. People still think Do San isn't "man enough" and Ji Pyeong is "such a manly man". Of course, this kind of comment cant is helped since it's a new idea. I also understand that this is fiction and not real life, and people would say "so what? this isn't harmful". But the truth is, audiovisual products aren't that innocent. They do impacts people's life. They do generate people's opinions. I would as far as to say they form the societal system that we live today. I won't say much more about the impact, but believe me everything that you see will shape society, historically speaking.
However, I'm still hopeful since the filmmakers are "brave enough" to bring up this kind of traits as the lead. I hope this character will show people how men don't have to be "so manly" and still be attractive. Together let's be a better society, be less harmful to others, and actively talks about things that are should and should be to further send the message.

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