Start-Up (2020)

Light and easy to watch, but not memorable and no strong hooks.

This being one of the hit dramas to be featured on Netflix surely gave this title more attention than it otherwise might have gotten. It was trending in my region for a while (Singapore), but I do suspect it might have been due to the drama drought no thanks to COVID-19.

Story: I don't hate it, story is relatable and the conflict points were not forced. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the ride, but the entire premise just wasn't strong for me, as compared to other dramas. For example, Her Private Life or What's Wrong with Secretary Kim are also more slice of life, but they felt a lot stronger to me than Start Up was.

To me, this is the weakest point of the entire drama. The ups weren't high enough, and the lows weren't as low as I felt it should be.

Acting: Loved the male leads. The female lead? Not so much. She has a long way to go.

Rewatch value: Meh. It's not a heart pumping drama that will keep you up at night or cause you to think about it years down the road.

Overall: Worth a pass, but nothing more.

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I started it with high hopes.
The plot was interesting at the beginning. I really like the way they portrayed the struggles of millennials in finding jobs and doing what they loved in this era.
But after 9 episodes it went downhill for me.
Firstly i hated i never use this word but i hated the character of NDS, it gives me anxiety, they way he trembled, the way he spoke i just couldn't stand it. It was painful for me to watch. (The actor did a good job on portraying him) I don't know but i have problems with this type of characters and he didn't gave me the vibe of a strong ML.
Secondly SDM a strong woman, independent, i love her character so much. She inspires me to do better but sometimes she gets on my nerves, but overall she was great.
The best character to have ever existed HJP, it was perfect, hats down to the actor. He was the most realistic character in this series. He wasn't harsh at all he just put in front of them facts and nothing more. It was NDS problem that he was so blinded by jealousy that he didn't accepted all the things HJP said about his company. HJP started from 0 an orphan with only a little money and the trust he had in his self the work he did made him who he was. NDS was nothing in front of him and i just couldn't get it where he found the guts too confront him (sorry but NDS know your place, maybe I am biased but NDS sometimes sounded pathetic in front of him).
He did whatever he could to help SDM and never wanted smth in return. His love for granny was pure. He was just perfect in every aspect but the writers did him dirty.
WIJ was so damn pathetic, i just couldn't get myself on liking her just for the fact that she left her dad and sister for money made her even more gross in my eyes.
I won't rewatch it.
The OST was on spot. The cast also. But the way the plot unfolded wasn't for me.

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Why peoole be having second lead syndrome???syndrome???

I wait for the drama to finished airing, and mute all the spoiler , the hashtag on twitter and all my social media so i can watch the drama without any bias to other's opinion.

Actually I was thrill to see is this will be the second drama I died for second lead syndrome like I did with School 2015? And till the end, every bits second, I really don't get it why people be having second lead syndrome???? Like i do like han jip yeong a lot, He is kind, i sympathise with his sad childhood, I LOVE his story withe dalmi's grandmother but that's it. fullstop. Talking about love , Dalmi and Dosan really were made for each other, (I really talking without any bias to the actor/actress or so on) . You can see clearly how they are meant to be, It took one day for Dosan to go to Dalmi eventho he barely know her after reading the letters from her child hood ,, and it take forever for jipyeong and he only realise , or i might say Dosan that triggers him. That small things move you. You can see how perfect and in synch they are. and to be honest i kinda ship han jipyeong with dalmi's sister, sad the writer didn't develop their plot :,) i wanna see kang hanna screen time more actually and she will look damn good with kim seon ho :,) but overall the story is good just maybe i kinda expect more with the closure for han jip yeong . do watch it!!

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It let me down.

First I'd like to make it clear that it's not a bad show. My praises and criticisms are dependent on the expectations I had for the show.
The good things
The idea of this drama is excellent...a show on a start-up incubator. As an engineer and being in the tech field, I really love that somebody had this idea which made have high expectations for the drama and in some ways they did a really good job to show the environment of a start-up incubator and the know-hows of starting a business and the potential for success. They also showed the risks and downsides involved in starting a business and showing the harsh realities instead of showing it a flowery path to success was very important. Also I found out that Sandbox is an actual thing in South Korea wich is really impressive.
Aside from the premise, the OSTs are really great. The direction and acting is also really good.

The bad things
One thing I really didn't like about this show is that it has too much of that "typical k-drama" drama like love triangle, rivalry, unknown past, tragedy smitten family of the main character....just too much of that drama. I''m not saying that such things always make a show bad, but there are other k-dramas to do such things. Such a dramatic plot was really unnecessary for a show with such a modern and upbeat premise. In some ways is even hindered the viewing experience. This could very easily have been a 12 episoder with only the fascinating and interesting plot revolving around Sandbox, innovation and slight comedy and romance excluding the family drama and love triangle drama then it could have been a much better experience.

It's good enough to watch one time because there are many interesting things. If you like lots of drama then you should definitely watch it, and if you don't enjoy drama all that much then still you should watch Start-up atleast once.

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tearjerker romance with added miscommunication and villains to keep it going

Life is too short for stressful drama. Why spend all that time watching and be stressed? Don’t our lives already provide enough of that?

Summary of the series:
- not a lighthearted rom/com; series is a tearjerker for me; grandma made me cry multiple times
- a bit of stress watching it due to constant miscommunication; had some great story like the first episode where it seem like a movie, but then it drags a bit and constant stress for me watching it; sometimes I yell, just say it darn it!
- simpatico characters
- live should extend cross boarders instead of being harsh to end a relationship to help someone... so it was also added stress
- some added villains, some struggles, calamity or miscommunications to cause more drama and stress
- it s well put together, but due to the stress added, its a one watch wonder, so lowers rating for me

somewhat sad joyful with some stress series: watch only if you have time and dont need lighthearted material

If you are looking for confused FL love story with gratuitous stress/drama, frequent miscommunications, insipid side stories, then this is for you.

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Opinião de um novato nesse mundo

Esse foi meu primeiro Dorama, a minha porta de entrada para esse mundo que, até agora, parece promissor e muito vasto.
Não esperem uma review extremamente bem escrita porque, além de ser a primeira série sul-coreana que assisto, é também a primeira review de verdade que escrevo sobre algo.

O dorama envolve temas como programação, empreendimentos, trabalho árduo, povo bonito, etc, coisas que pessoalmente me atraem bastante. Acho que foi a obra perfeita para me introduzir.
Os personagens são extremamente carismáticos e têm um bom desenvolvimento, não é nem um pouco difícil se apegar e achar coisas que você se identifique neles.
A história tem seus pontos fortes e fracos. Por um lado é emocionante, divertida, com reviravoltas, segredos, romance, momentos felizes e tristes (que QUASE me fizeram chorar, ainda lacrimejei, com é que pode?), tem até dois coreano no soco. Por outro, não é uma das mais complexas, filosóficas, densas e tals, é mais algo para te entreter e te trazer emoções ao invés de pensamentos muito profundos.
As músicas são umas das melhores coisas desse show, são bem encaixadas e condizem o clima do momento, de vez em quando me pego ouvindo a OST inteira.
Já a comédia, as vezes peca um pouco, em certos momentos é bem pastelona, e ainda colocam uns efeitos sonoros dignos de serem usados no programa do Rodrigo Faro.
O romance, não sei avaliar, é um triângulo amoroso, só que o casal final já é óbvio desde o começo da obra, mas pelo menos tem uma boa construção, com crises, idas e vindas.

Como foi meu primeiro dorama, não tenho uma medida de comparação. Mas, particulamente, recomendo bastante.

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My favorite scenes (only including time stamp)

🖥🖱
Ep 1 55:12 01:05:55 01:07:55 01:12:40
Ep 2 59:51 01:07:58 01:08:34
Ep 3 29:05 47:06
Ep 4 08:39 46:21 56:25 01:12:18
Ep 5 31:48 43:06 01:08:53
Ep 7 06:17
Ep 8 13:45 22:17 50:16
Ep 9 3:00
Ep 10 27:08 29:40 58:17
Ep 12 16:14 01:22:44
Ep 15 23:50

Not a fans of Nam Do San nor Han Ji Pyeong, but can I admiring Seo Chung Myung? For real? This series got my heart on the first half, but dumped mine when the "letter" story become so complicated. Cause we all know, a good lie is still a lie. Though, I would rewatch some episodes of this drama when life is getting harder. ❤

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Underwhelming, but maybe worth a try

If you are reading this review and wondering whether to watch the show, watch at least the first episode. The pilot episode is one of the best episodes I've seen. Unfortunately, it's downhill from there.

Start-Up is a show that lacks balance. Some storylines/conflicts are dragged out for too long, while others are glossed over.

The business plot is weak but perhaps that's me having my expectations set too high by similar tech shows like Silicon Valley, Mr Robot, Halt and Catch Fire. This is much a consequence of the business taking a back seat to the romance story. The romance is wrecked by an unnecessary conflict that could have been resolved within the first few episodes. Seeing how polarizing it is online is just a testament to that fact. A good story shouldn't have that.

The show could have benefitted from having well developed platonic relationship between the FML and either, or perhaps both, MLs. But I guess I have given up on KDramas ever giving equal focus to platonic opposite-sex relationships, everything has to be romantic.

Ultimately the show could have benefitted from more business and family conflicts and less romance.

I really loved the first 4 episodes and would probably rewatch them if it had developed better beyond that. I would still suggest that you give it a watch if you want to. The show has some great cinematography, the best OST I've heard and some great acting. It's a shame that the writing couldn't keep up. But even then there's still a good story in there. If the pilot hadn't been as good as it was, I think I would have enjoyed this story a lot more.

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Nice and entertaining

Start-up was on my list of kdramas from Netflix to watch and I finally came around to it (actually on April 2022). It was pretty nice.

I have to admit, for some reason I was convinced that Dalmi would actually end up with Mr. Han from the very beginning, so I was kinda surprised (eventually maybe even a bit disappointed) that she didn't lol.

I ended up loving the barely there romance between secondary characters, as usual. Chulsan and Saha were very cute. Also! Chulsan, Yongsan and Saha were ROBBED at the end like why the hell were they not included in the final scene??? A crime tbh, they were all relevant characters in my opinion.

Anyways, i liked the drama, it was nice.

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There have been several bad reviews on this drama and I'm here to do it justice. although I wasn't a fan of story and the logic behind the plot, sometime it was just...unnecessary, but aside from the romance I think the whole start-up, failing and trying and the work related story was interesting and inspiring even.

I'm happy with the ending I think it was the right thing to do anyway. backstory was fine but sometime they were just overdramatic.

acting was on point most of the time, although I believe Suzy could do better.

The character I loved the most and related the most to was Do San, I think Nam Joo Hyuk did a decent job portraying Nam Do San.

overall, you should watch this drama for the romance between ML and FL and also the work space stories, I think the relationship between the two sisters was also great.

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Good Boy deserved better

I was putting off this show for very long.. I had already seen some spoiler clips on instagram so i knew who the FL will end up with, still decided to give it a go for Kim seon ho and nam jo hyuk’s sake .
I have got to say the writers played us with the first episode and i wondered how after this amazing backstory did ji pyeong not ended up with the FL !! We got introduced to The Good Boy, we empathised with him, rooted for him and looked forward to his story but all in vein. They butchered his character towards the end. I am not necessarily saying that he should’ve ended with the female lead but he didn’t deserved to go like that. He made mistakes like not owning up to letters while he had the chance to and missing on opportunities to come clean in the beginning. That’s where Real Nam do san got the opportunity to shine. But why build Mr. Han soo well when you are just gonna use him as a prop to bring the main leads together and then throw him?? He was more than a mere prop.

Also I don’t understand the criticism on real Nam do san, he was soo organic and real. Not a made up ML full of cliches. He had his complexes just like a normal person. He lied to keep the girl bcz he was afraid he wasn’t good enough. The only flaw in found in Nam do san was that he started an unnecessary rivalry with Mr Han. He got ungrateful. But there’s no lie if I say he deserved the girl more and he eventually got her.
Injae my girl was done bad by the writers. She was insignificant even after working soo hard.
I have no issue with nam do san and dalmi ending up together. But wished better for the 2nd leads.

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Inspiring and Uplifting, the Great Outweighs the Stumbles

Start-Up is an inspiring story that's a realistic, fun story that is very enjoyable to watch with a few shortcomings.

Story:
The storyline about Sandbox and the main casts' journey of starting a business and expanding is very inspiring and enjoyable to watch. Everything was done so well, but one thing I wish could've been done better was the romance. By the time Nam Do San's charm was revealed, Han Ji Pyeong had managed to take over until he sometimes seemed more like the main lead, but otherwise, Start-Up's story was uplifting and enjoyable to watch.

Acting/Cast:
The acting was great. At times, Nam Joo Hyuk's acting wasn't as up to par compared to Kim Seon Ho's, all the actors did really well. Nam Joo Huk and Suzy had amazing chemistry and so did all of Samsan Tech. Suzy and Kang Han Na also had really great chemistry as sisters. Seo Dal Mi's family also had such great chemistry.
Overall, the chemistry of this cast was out of the roof with superb acting.

Music:
The OST for Start-Up was one of the best OSTs I've ever heard. "Future" by Red Velvet is definitely one of my favorite songs ever and while there are too many to list, the rest of the OST's songs are amazing as well.

All in all, Start-Up had some shortcomings, mainly how the romance was written out, but the cast's superb chemistry and acting and the rest of the well-written story outweighed it. Start-Up shows the story of three friends running a start-up. They realize they need help as they try to make the most of the scarce opportunities in front of them. This story shows them finally succeeding, through many hardships. I recommend you watch this very uplifting and inspiring story. You won't regret it :)

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