Start-Up (2020)

A promising start that sunk in the end

Ever since the writers can't decide whether to cater to the mass of fans OR follow their own ending that is regrettably illogical, it has resulted in confusing plot development, a jumpscare revenge, an attempt of villanifying the heart of the show that is Han Ji Pyeong, whose main weakness is he's too good/is blunt (wtf), change a character's personality as they please to serve their plot therefore making inconsistent actions and nonsensical outbursts. This drama has problems figuring out if they want to stick to reality and fairytales by making up plots for both. As a result, Seo Dal Mi flies in between them without making much progress with either.

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A complete waste of time.

This series only gave me a lot of frustrations.
It only needed to be 12 episodes yet the dumbfuck writer felt the need to stretch it out. The writer created this deep connection and backstory for the second male and female lead to just to throw it towards the end like it's nothing. The first male lead was extremely unlikable due to his hideous personality. For the first half of the series all he did was self loathing and cried all the time. Not to mention that he never owns to any of his wrong doings. Yet the female lead is still head over heals for him. The 3 year time jump didn't do anything significant development to any of the characters. Tsmsksmskmsmsmsmznxxnnsjkxkkxkkkskkzkkskskssknsndnd ddnnxdnndbebdnbdndnxnnxndjdjdnxbxjjdjendnjjkdkwkskdk.....kdjdjsjjejejdjjfjdkekieieidiidkdkoeo..njdkksslspodnnsnsnksnndqiejsbpsjwsudihfbhdiisjwkznaqsbz8w0whqvsjsoqkqjwoeuvd Snsosbdbbdbjeoksndndjwkdkkdjjsnendjkejeje.




JUST DON'T WATCH THIS ...IT'S A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME.

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START UP WASN’T JUST A BAD DRAMA. IT WAS HORRIDLY UNACCEPTABLE.

worst main leads. worst progression. worst character developments. the declining writing. worst message possible to relay to your demographic.

wondering why people are so mad when there are far more worse dramas, huh phr and och? it’s because it started so good, with all its potential, and ended so damn despicable. we really thought it would be the drama of the year but you astoundingly turned it into an abominable excuse of a petty love triangle. how you crafted a great first half only for the drama to go downhill is still a mystery to all of us. why did you choose to go that way? how could brilliant minds come up with that? is s**p the one behind this BS? (are you okay?)

because seriously, the only good that came out of this was the han ji pyeong moments. he’s stellar. he’s the only one who deserves a star in my acting/cast rating.

other than that, i’m telling you now. run while you still can and stay the hell away from this crap. save yourselves from the misery.

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What happened, writer PHR?

This show’s pilot week episodes (1&2) roped me in. 10/10. Beautiful cinematography especially the cherry blossoms.

This show had great potential only to disappoint me in the second half. But the Hackaton /Demo Day narratives were enjoyable. But this is the show’s fatal flaw: it milked too much on the romance subplot.

I have issues with the character development of NDS and SDM: weak and inconsistent. Nam Do-san has too many red flags esp. his violent tendencies and stalking. He also cries a lot esp. on the second half, which I find unnecessary and an overkill. He was likeable to me on the first few episodes but I totally got turned off when he punched his mentor (which doesn’t make sense to me) then begs for help. He smashes a CEO’s nameplate, almost went to jail but HJP’s advice to SDM to record the meeting got him out of the woods. But I never got to see how NDS took responsibility for his mistakes; even in a simple way like thanking or apologizing to people. He’s full of angst and arrogance more evidently on the second half. He never suffered any consequences for such actions like when he recklessly signed the Acqhire with 2STO, he got rich and became a hotshot in return? How come punishment doesn’t get back to bite him through consequence?

NDS is lucky because he’s got a plot armor working for his advantage. SDM was too hard to read on the second half. Narrative is almost quiet to her POV after the truth about the letters was revealed. But I can never forgive the writer for the emotional injustice and cruelty she brought to Han Ji Pyeong’s character. The show presented him too well with a strong backstory, only to throw him off in the second half. He was overused but nothing really worked for him despite his efforts. Won In Jae was a letdown, underutilized character.

The letters, as a literary tool, was not given a proper send-off. They should’ve at least respected the sincerity, comfort and warmth that went with the letters. HJP and SDM wrote quite a lot but there was never an instance they talked about it at least and gave a proper closure. I also strongly feel that SDM should end up with HJP; if only HJP was given a plot armor for an even fight.

I also have a problem with how underutilized Won In jae’s character. She has so much potential. I’d love more side stories on how she’s winging it as a Lady Boss.

The male and female lead’s love story is too hard to root for. I can never support what the writer is shoving down my throat. A “true love” that is too forced and lacking in chemistry is what I got. In my two decades of KDrama experience, this is the first time I didn’t like the leads coming together. Really, I didn’t find their romance fluttering. No amount of kissing scenes and skinship between the NDS and SDM has convinced me. Too hard-sell romance.

I also find the morals in question: sailing off without a map vs wisdom that comes from experience. As an older audience, you really can’t sail off without a map in real life when lives depend on you. There’s a thing in life called calculated risk.

If you want to watch this, go and just watch the Start-up (business) dynamics or end at EP7. Or if you are curious of the excellent fleshing out of roles of Kim Hae Sook and Kim Seon Ho. A+ for their chemistry. Solid acting from both actors who played grandma and HJP.

The show’s greatest and heartwarming scenes are from grandma and HJP. I am always in tears watching them together. It is very raw, sometimes funny, yet sincere. Get some Kleenex ready. I always look forward to their set.

Character development dark horse hands down is Kim Yong-san of Samsan Tech —low key but flawless. Nothing forceful. But I find his mini-revenge plot unnecessary.

I liked the supporting characters: Sa-ha & Chul-san, and HJP’s hoobae Park Dong Chun.

I barely have time to make a review, so take my word on this. Watching this is like watching your car crash and burn in slo-mo especially the second half. This drama gave me pain and frustration over wasted potential because the foundation was done right but for some reasons, the plot did not make sense towards the end. I will never watch this a second time.

The 7/10 score I gave for its story is all for the first half of the show that is interesting and beautifully made. Rewatch value — I have no reason to see it a second time in full unless I missed Halmeoni and Good Boy (but I’ll go straight to their scenes only). So the 2/10 score is for them.

I place great importance on rewatch value since I also like watching a lot of American series and movies, and I still repeat some feel-good ones like ‘13 Going On 30, ‘ ‘Legally Blonde’, Never Been Kissed.’

Even funny ones like ‘Home Alone’, tearjerkers like ‘Me Before You’, or ‘If Only’, or long series like, ‘The Lord of the Rings’, or ‘Starwars’, I can rewatch anytime despite knowing the plot like the back of my hand.

Start-up is definitely not a 1 or a 10. So a piece of advice, read those who reviewed rating this with 6-8 because they make sense.

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Hate the story process it was really good till ep 7 after that i was annoyed by DO-SAN and his two San friends .


i'm not a fan of anyone in this Drama . just my feeling on this drama is getting worst by the selfish and lies of the characters . if you ask me ML love process should be better if D0-san character is not too much selfish . overall im giving ok rating only for Second leads.

acting is good by all character but i don't like the way ML is shown and his character development .
every time when Dal Min and Do San act as couple it reminds me Do-San's Fathers words "Which girl will marry you!!" because of that reason this Do-San character used Ji Pyung on all EP . finally Ji Pyung is the sucker .

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Felt forced

Unfortunately I gave up on this drama. I was hooked at the beginning and enjoyed the characters, but the romantic angle turned me off. The love story between FL and ML felt forced and seemed (at least to me) done just because they happened to be the lead stars, which is unfortunate as this decision felt like a disservice to the characters they play. It was very obvious that FL should have ended up with SML. I felt manipulated and the flow of the story felt insincere and not genuine. It seemed the writers are forcing me to just accept their decisions which to be honest didn't make any sense.

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Enjoyed it but could have been better

I enjoyed watching Start-Up overall but I do have some issues with it.
First of, great cast and acting. The show had a strong start and it had me hooked from the first episode. However, they had amazing characters but never really used them or pushed them in the background.

*SPOILERS*

My main issue:
The main storyline is Dal-mi and her first love, being Han Ji Pyeong, It frustrates me that she never really talked to him about the letters. There was a very short scene but after she had already chosen Nam Do San. They should have done much more with Han Ji Pyeong's character, instead of pushing him into the background.

Han Ji Pyeong would have made more sense for Dal Mi but they hardly interacted at all, besides their mentor-trainee relationship. Almost all the romance-screen time went to Nam Do San, even though Dal Mi could never state what she liked about him. Big hands aside...

In Jae is another character that should have received much more screen time. Now she just served as a reason for Dal Mi to find her lettter-pal, and afterwards In Jae is a 'savior' by hiring her younger sister.

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The Biggest Disappoinment

I have been watching Kdrama for almost 16 years, so when I randomly choose to watch episode one, this drama literally give me chills. I had to call my friends and urge her to watch it so we can have a gossip session after every episode. It has so much potential in the beginning but it felt short.

I will only add one thing that bothers me the most from this drama which make this drama turn into 100 to 0 really quick.

It was the scene when the FL and ML sign the contract without even reading it, being a lawyer myself, I can't even understand what is the reason behind the writer to write such scene? Was it to fool the audience? Why? and it give me a headache because FL and ML fans keep saying that it's okay, it's not a huge mistake bla bla bla.
See? It give all the wrong message to the audience.
In real life, you can not tolerate this kind of stupidity.

As for the score, I still gave this 7 out of 10 because of the beautiful cinematography, Good Boy x Halmeoni story, and woman empowerment from Injae.

Last, as I have been watching KSH since his debut, I'm glad he give so much live to HJP and I believe it will become a steeping stone for his future works.

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Episode 1 - 10 review

So when I watched the trailer I was thrilled and excited.
Even watching episode 1.. the acting and the story developed and was great. Seeing the characters emotions but as you get to episode 10.. I kind of thought that Han ji-peong should be with seo dal-mi. He helped her a long the way and tried comforting her with explanation. After that scene... I looked at seo dal-mi and nam do-san.. I didn't see the bond anymore.
Now I could see why people stan Han Ji-peong and Seo Dal-mi together 'cause I can see the emotional bond in their eyes, but when I see Seo Dal-mi and Nam Do-san.. All I see is crying, crying, teamwork and then romance. I don't see their bond no matter how much the producer and director wants us to see.
If I was Seo Dal-mi, yes I would cry in disbelief but I would see why Han Ji-peong did it, but instead in the drama she goes to Nam Do-san for comfort...
I could see Nam Do-san and Seo Dal-mi's bond slowly dissipating...
I'll write an update once I complete the drama
(please message/DM or reply to me if you have any disagreements and agreements thank you)
As well please know this is my opinion :>

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