Start-Up (2020)

Ignore the hate! It's a very heart-warming drama with incredible characters!

This is my first time writing a review for a drama. I've watched a lot of dramas over the years, and this is also the first 10-star rating I've ever given. You'll notice in the review section that there are a lot of 1-star ratings from people who have really developed a hatred for the show and its characters as it has gone on. The main reason for this is that they grew very attached to the second lead and started to hate the rest of the characters because a lot of the time he was at odds with them and in conflict with them. The show ended so well for each and every character, but they have become so hateful as the show has aired and cannot step back and appreciate the great things about the show. Amazing writing, with an incredibly emotional, real, and moving story about family, life, dreams, and relationships.

This is the first drama I would recommend to every single person I know. There is seriously something in it for everyone. The business-aspect they explore in the show is so perfectly balanced with the relational aspect. You are seriously going to love these characters, as well. It's sad that the show is over now, but I know this will be one that I keep coming back to over the years to watch and enjoy. Don't let the hate in this review section get to you. These reviewers have become so blind by their hate for the show and everyone involved that they can't even appreciate the amazing ending that their favorite character got and how happy he is at the end of the series.

Seriously, if you are on the fence about watching this show, try it out. I think you will end up really loving it if you were not watching it while it was airing with the fan wars that were started.

I have never seen a show as touching and well-acted as this one. The characters feel so real and will stay with you for a very long time after you finish. I'm looking forward to watching this many times over the years.

I LOVE YOU START-UP! Love to all the characters!

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Amazing and refreshing

It's sad that some people gave this drama a bad review just because of the ship... I thought the main couple was obvious since the drama was announced, some of you made a lot of noise for something kinda stupid...

For me, Start Up was one of the best dramas of the year, and it definitely became one of my favorites of all time. The storyline is amazing and the characters are so... lovable. When I realized, I was absolutely attached to the members of SamSan Tech and there was no way back. It's refreshing, inspiring and... realistic. First loves are just first loves. Life is always in movement.

Give it a try! I personally don't have anything to complain about it. This drama made me feel so many emotions... I don't remember the last drama that made me smile that much and even cry of happiness. So refreshing. You know the story is good when you proudly celebrate the characters' achievements as if they were your own achievements. I'm thankful for deciding to watch this drama and for keeping up with this amazing plot every weekend. Start Up, thank you for making my heart full of joy.

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Inspiring; would make you want to get up on your seat and do something

This story made me feel so much feels all throughout its run. The family, the friendships, the relationships, the challenges of running a business, the hardships that you will encounter in following your dreams, the stupid and reckless decisions that young people make as they navigate through life, the humor (!!!), and all the heartwarming moments -- this drama has everything. It definitely is not perfect -- got a bit draggy in the middle and I personally felt like the story could have gone in a different direction than a love triangle, but the end was just too beautiful and redeemed the series for me (yes it has one of the most beautiful endings in kdrama ever!). Plus the way those hackathon / demo day moments made my heart pound was just **chef's kiss**. I will definitely miss the Samsan squad -- what an inspiring group of people who started from the bottom and kept going and dreaming and falling and failing and eventually achieving success.

For those seeing super angry and negative reviews for this drama lol, let me just give you context: throughout this drama's run it has been plagued with very passionate shipping wars as to who the FL should end up with (people got very hooked on the SL because he was introduced first and was really ML material and the real ML was a dork), and of course if you're part of one ship and you're not getting what you want you'll be mad lol. But don't let it stop you from watching this drama. Try to understand it from an objective view (or even if you have a ship don't let it blind you) and you will see the beauty in it. This drama legit inspired me to get up from my seat and do something (plus the OST is SUPERB). You wouldn't want to miss that just because of angry fans who didn't get the ship they wanted hehe. Definitely one of 2020's bests!

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maybe it will get better

The start of the drama started off pretty well. I wanted to keep watching after episode 1 so thats great, but then as i continued to watch the plot just...doesnt move. It doesnt get better.

In the beginning we meet the supposed "male lead"( A)who ends up becoming the "second lead" ! They really introduced the first guy(A) for two episodes just to have this newbie come and take over . The newbie(B) found a way into becoming the "main male lead". it annoys me so much. He only got her from LIES. And after she finds out that B wasnt who she wrote all those love letters of 15yrs to-and that it was actually A, she already feels fine and still acts like she likes B. Of course she cried a bit but the director makes B present for everything that goes on in her life as if hes now the male lead or something !

Also, its gotten boring which maybe is just my bias since i dont like the plot.
Oh and also, Bs friends are really annoying how they wont even let A get to meet the female lead.

i actually just made a profile so i could write this. I hope they change the male lead like how the writers did in Scarlet Heart Ryeo. If you want an amazing drama to watch, go watch that one. The music and acting and actors and plot are great .

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I have a lot of feelings

I want to explain the tragedy of Start-Up without the bias of shipping wars, because I think viewers on both sides can agree that this drama failed its audience.

This will be long and I'm sorry for that.

Start-Up started out as a refreshing new drama with an interesting twist on the old ‘liar revealed’ trope. What made it stand out was its focus on passionate young men and women forming their own company. SMD was a strong, confident young woman who suffered through a lot growing up. Her family separated, she lost her best friend and sister to her mother’s new family, and her father lost his life before he could ever get his company off the ground. She grew up living with her paternal grandmother, who eventually sold her shop to pay SDM’s tuition. After finding that out, SDM dropped out of college and worked to raise money for a food truck for her grandmother. She swallowed that lost opportunity for the sake of the only family she had left, and despite that loss, she was still motivated to succeed. What I really loved about her character at the start of all of this was just that - her dedication, her passion, and her vision of the future. Even if she wasn’t successful and her life hadn’t gone the way she wanted it to, and even if she was too embarrassed to admit that to her sister, she believed that one day she’d make it. She’d turn the lie into reality and show the world that her father’s decision wasn’t wrong.

The real problem with the drama is that it gave us a stellar, likable cast that it squandered in the second half. SDM went from a self-sufficient, capable woman to a damsel in need of rescuing by the second half of the drama. She couldn’t do anything right and she needed other people to solve all of her problems for her. NDS went from a naive but dedicated coder with big dreams but no business know-how to a man who gleaned wealth from the success of another company, a childish opportunist who didn’t listen to what others were saying. And HJP went from a blunt and harsh businessman with a fun charm and charisma to someone who, despite being a self-made success, couldn’t even bother to confront someone he loved in the 3 years he was left alone with her. It went from a show about a group of passionate people coming together to form a company to a sappy, unnecessary love triangle where every character seems to care more about romance than they do the thing they’re supposed to be passionate about.

I’ll start this probably very extensive review by talking about the characters, because they’re the biggest tragedy in all of this. And I want to make it clear that every actor did a phenomenal job. I don’t have a single complaint about any of them, they’re fantastic and I love them all. Without them, this drama wouldn’t have been tolerable.

NDS is probably the character they did dirty the most. I know there are a lot of fans of him still out there and I understand. While I was never rooting for him all that hard, I did find him very likable in the early episodes and knew that if he ended up with SDM in the end, I would have accepted that. After all, the drama wasn’t just about romance, right? It was about this journey they were taking together… right? Well, it wasn’t. Not at the beginning. NDS was a man with a company of 3 people. In, what was it, 3 years? In 3 years, he hadn’t found any success. For as talented of a coder as he was, he didn’t know anything about running a business, so he never got his company off the ground. He never even had a business model. The money they used to operate on was invested by his family who, despite seeing no success, continued to support him. For as much as his father yelled at him and for as little progress as they were getting, he still gave them money. Maybe his parents’ expectations were too high and their vision of his future too grand because of his childhood success, but they were still there for him, waiting for the day he would turn things around. He and his friends worked out of a dingy rooftop apartment and he looked up to HJP, known for his brilliant investments, all because of an article that incorrectly quoted HJP with an inspirational speech. Up until this point, he was separate from the goings-on of the main plot - he never wrote a letter, didn’t know who SDM was or of the plot concocted by her grandmother using his name. And at this point, he was pretty likable. He decided to appear before SDM because of his own morals, not because HJP solicited him into it, to help her through this one event so that she wouldn’t feel embarrassed. We can blame HJP for the mess that it became later, at least at first.

HJP was an orphan who grew up with no one and nothing but his own skills. The first person to reach out to him was SDM’s grandmother who offered her shop as his home and helped provide for him, and he used her accounts (he wasn’t old enough for a bank account of his own) to invest and grow his earnings so that he could support himself in Seoul after graduating. Granny asks him to write letters to her granddaughter, who was left friendless and alone after her family split apart. It was an innocent wish, and he was convinced, and together they used NDS to create this fake persona of a smart, kind boy for SDM to latch onto. Just this alone tells us a lot about his character. He didn’t want to use his real name. If he had, the whole story would have fallen apart. He envied the NDS that he saw in the paper because to him, an orphan with nowhere to turn and nothing to offer, it felt like NDS had everything. And that was what he wanted, too.

Because of where he came from, HJP has a greedy streak. He had nothing, so he wants everything. He latches onto whatever he can in fear of losing it. We’re shown this when he has a meltdown about Granny taking his money. He lashes out at her before hearing her side of the story because he feels like he’s going to that place again where everything is gone and he’s left with nothing. Then, when he realizes that she never took his money, he feels ashamed. He’s upset with himself, and he knows that he owes Granny an endless debt, one that he hopes to pay in the future. The relationship between HJP and the grandmother is probably the best in the whole series. They have great dialogue together and they feel like a proper family, even more so than most of the actual families in the story. The story starts because he wants to repay his debt after all of these years and it’s because he truly appreciates what she did for him. But that greed remains a part of his character even as he grows up, and it’s one of the only character flaws that actually feels like good writing later on in the story. There… aren’t many of those, really.

I won’t go through the entire story scene by scene. Most of the people reading this have already seen it, you don’t need to hear it. There were problems throughout that seemed to get bigger overtime until the bad writing hit its peak in episode 10.

NDS is shown to be an opportunist. However bad he feels about it, he continues to use HJP and SDM’s history together to his advantage to stay close to SDM. There are several instances even from early on where HJP is shown wanting to tell SDM the truth and to remove the illusion of the letters. But every time he’s stopped, either by NDS or other forces, until finally the blow up happens in episode 10. Before this, NDS was starting to have poor writing. The likable character was starting to feel whiny and selfish, but it wasn’t to the degree that I didn’t like him. HJP also had his moment of weakness where he broke down, just as he did at Granny in the past, seeing the couple together and feeling like something that was his was taken away from him. Those were his letters, this should have been his story - that was how he saw it, and that’s what frustrated him. But he was able to calm himself and put their happiness above his own desires until shortly after SDM finds out the truth. And everything falls apart.

NDS became very immature as the story went on. So did SDM, but it was most noticeable with NDS in episode 10. When asked to leave SDM alone, to give her space because she’s upset and doesn’t want to see him, he continually makes his presence known to her. He follows her around, pretty much stalks her. Then while escorting her home while she’s drunk, he leaves her alone on a swing in the park to go put on… a suit. He wanted to inspire her and all that, so he left a drunk, barely coherent young woman half asleep in a park alone at night. There are dozens of scenes of him crying and feeling sorry for himself when all of this time he was taking advantage of the letters. The only one who had the right to be angry here was SDM, the only non-guilty party. This is also when characters started to not really care about their company. They spent most of their time thinking about this failed love story instead of preparing for demo day. In fact, most of their decisions were poorly made regarding their business. The only reason they succeeded was because of dumb luck, and it didn’t feel like they were growing or learning at all from their experience at SandBox. And as much as HJP’s words were unnecessarily harsh, they never listened to their mentor.

I don’t think this should have been a romance. None of the characters needed it. It’s normal to feel lost, scared and uncertain about life, but leaning on someone as a crutch or using them to fill a void that you can’t fill on your own is unhealthy, and that’s exactly what NDS was trying to do. If he really cared for SDM, he would have given her the space and time she needed to work through her feelings. He would have focused on their company and tried to push personal matters aside in favour of that because they were at such a crucial point in their business with Demo Day just around the corner. His success is SDM’s success. She couldn’t fix his problems. He didn’t need romance, he needed to figure himself out.

The same can be said for HJP, though they did handle his reaction to the reveal a lot better than they did NDS. He didn’t try to make excuses and was upfront and honest after SDM found out. He sat her down, told her the truth and answered all of her questions. He told her about his feelings not to date her but to put everything out in the open. Instead of wallowing in guilt, he stayed professional and was the only character to try to help her prepare for Demo Day because he genuinely wanted to see her succeed. And it’s obvious how much he cares for her from how well he takes care of that damn money tree. But what HJP needed wasn’t romance, he needed a family. That’s what he got after the timeskip (one of the only changes to occur after 3 years, really…). He had a family now, people he cared about who cared about him. He stayed with them on the holidays and he had people to rely on which he never had before. HJP doesn’t have any friends. He’s been alone all of his life, and finally he had what he always wanted. Even if he did care about SDM, it wasn’t necessarily her that he needed.

The characters’ focus on romance is really the downfall of this drama. They start making decisions based off of their emotions, especially NDS. They sell their company in a day without even taking the time to think about it which leads to the engineers going overseas and the girls getting fired. Among the countless other issues it caused. Then, after the timeskip, nothing has changed. All of the characters are as immature as ever, all that happened was that the boys now have spending money. SDM had already gone from self-sufficient to helpless, and after the timeskip she is powerless to do… anything, really. NDS and the boys have to save her from the ransomware attack, and she proceeds to get weak-kneed. You know, because women can’t handle stress. Or something. Lot of sense they’re making there.

In the end, the writing killed the drama. I could sit here for 7 hours and talk about all the poor choices that were made and in the end, I think the romance was unnecessary. Even though I like HJP more as a character, I don’t want him to end up with SDM. I think that everyone in that love triangle is terrible for each other.

A few examples of the terrible writing:
-NDS punching HJP and them fighting. Don’t care if you don’t like each other, that’s assault, and for assaulting his mentor he could have even had lawsuits filed against him. His penchant for violence when he’s upset or things don’t go his way is not only bad writing, it also just doesn’t fit with the rest of his character.
-3 years later and it’s implied that WIJ either wasn’t told that her grandmother was going blind, or wasn’t told how bad it was getting. Either way, bad writing, makes no sense.
-3 years later and HJP never confessed? WHY? I don’t want to see them together but I can’t believe that in all that time he wouldn’t do anything.
-In several instances they talk romance when their company is LITERALLY FALLING APART. How is that okay?!
-They try to show NDS’s heartbreak through monologues and crying scenes but instead it comes off as whiny and immature, and they made his character look worse. Stop doing that to the poor boy, please! There’s also so many times when he talks about how he has nothing, and HJP has everything. How? In what sense? All HJP has is his job and wealth. NDS has friends, a loving family, the talent to succeed in a thriving field, and he even gets the girl. He’s comparing a well-loved child to an orphan. Okay.
-KYS showed little to no negative reaction to HJP throughout the entire drama but then was suddenly the brother of the man who killed himself. And we’re supposed to believe he’s putting the blame on HJP. Does that make sense? Shouldn’t he have been shown before to have some sort of reaction?
-After SamSan’s success on Demo Day, they showed flashbacks of HJP saying they wouldn’t succeed and used those to invalidate his harsh advice, but in those situations he was right. It was only after the characters adapted and changed that they were able to succeed. (And you know, the ridiculous dumb luck that they have…)
-Despite this whole thing being orchestrated by Granny, SDM NEVER has a talk with her about it. Never, not once. This is a big deal and it would have been an important character moment because of just how betrayed she felt. Instead, she doesn’t say a thing. I guess she blames everything on the boys, but she knows the truth so why is that?

This drama promised a lot of things when it started and it failed to live up. An inspirational business drama turned into 3 adult-sized toddlers whining to each other about a love triangle. And I understand why so many fans are so aggressive in the shipping war - it’s because it’s all we have left in the end. Everything else has already been destroyed. It’s so upsetting to see for a drama that was so fresh and interesting at the start. The only thing I can say is, hey, at least they didn’t turn HJP into a monster. It looked like they could have, but he’s come through on top in the end.

I don't have much to say about the last episode. It was... okay, I suppose. I was indifferent to the majority of it. I can say that I did enjoy HJP's time on screen and the closure to his little story, if you can call it that. I loved getting to see Yeo Jin Goo's little cameo, especially after hearing his voice through the series. That was the highlight of the episode. But it felt like most of the scenes were just filler. They were just padding the run time to get to the inevitable, and it showed.

It could have been worse, but it doesn’t feel like it.

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Ignore the haters! All about giving the underdog a chance - it's very heartwarming!!!

I never usually write reviews because I'm lazy but after seeing all the negative responses, I feel like I have to! I've been watching kdramas for the past 6 years and I've never seen so much hate. I was hooked from the very first episode, and yes, I'll admit, who the first male lead is will confuse you at first. But I'd say that's very clearly established by episode 3, and if you're a fan of kdramas, who is used to the melodrama and tropes, then this drama will suit you. I found the main couple to be adorable, and the male lead was refreshing, representing all those kids who were labelled 'gifted and talented' as a child, only to be seen as average and a failure as a young adult. If you're looking for a business drama, these elements do fade out, and mid-way through the story there is a heavy focus on angst and misunderstandings, but I lapped this up and love anything with yearning. My only jibe is that the talents of Kang Ha Na are somewhat wasted. So, if you're looking for a story about underdogs, found family, sibling rivalry, overcoming insecurities, and all-round adorable relationships (platonic, romantic, and familial!), then give Start-Up a chance! If you find yourself experiencing second lead syndrome, and this is the only thing keeping you going, then drop it and quit all the hyperbolic moaning and hypocritical bashing!

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If you are fed up with same old corny love stories this drama is for you

The rating of the show didn’t make any sense because the story was absolutely amazing. If you enjoy romcoms but fed up with same corny romances then this show is for you. It’s heartfelt, emotional and funny.

The unique bond between FL’s grandma and the orphan boy filled my heart with joy. One of my favourite scene is when Mr. Han gets heartbroken over dalmi, grandma visited him, hugged and consoled him.. that scene teared me up. Grandma was the only one who cared that he was hurting and went to him to see how he was doing.
The samsan tech boys and their friendship survived through thick and thin and it was a treat to watch them succeed . The rivalry between two sisters and their hidden care for each other made you realise that blood is thicker than water. It was all these bonds that made the show soo special. Mostly romcoms circle around only the relationship between the lead couples but startup explores soo many bonds along with the main couple.

As for the love triangle, realistically will a pen pal from 15 years ago, whom you’ve never met or seen will carry more value or someone who is in front of you? Obviously what is real will prevail, even though the relationship between Do san and Dalmi started as a lie but it became real as he was standing in front of her and admitting his feelings to her. Unlike Mr Han who disappeared and never looked back even once and still hesitated to own up to the letters. It makes sense why dalmi fell for Do san. I do feel bad for Mr. Han but he realised his feelings for Dalmi too late. Call it bad luck or his hesitation but he lost dalmi pretty early in the plot. I wish he had another love interest so we wouldn’t feel so bad for him. He was good boy indeed. Yet I don’t see anything wrong with dalmi choosing Nam do san.
It was a very interesting drama.

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I LOVED it!

Just finished watching all 16 episodes. It was heart felt, up lifting, and very relatable. The music was great, the clothes, location sets, etc was outstanding. It made me want to go visit Korea and wished that Sand Box was a real place. I was very happy with the ending although I would have loved to see more of the actual scenes and not just pictures but it was still a great ending. I liked how every character was given a proper send off and we were left with all questions answered. Will there be a season 2? Will watch it again and will recommend the show to all my friends. Thank you for taking us with you in this journey.

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Start UP is excellently done, contemporary, and the second male lead nearly steals the show.

Start UP is a recent addition to Netflix originals and has some interesting twists with Bae Suzy and Nam Joo-Hyuk. It is excellently done, contemporary, and Kim Seon-Ho, the second male lead nearly steals the show. He is so expressive that it is impossible to not watch him: this time will he be a helper, a jerk, or the disengaged business guru? Some of the fans wish he had has been ML #1. The main actors are all terrific and their characters are very engaging. I've known people just like them in my thirty-five+ years in American business: the good, the great, the thieves, abusers, and slackers with the side note of many relationships or marriages formed and some broken due to the closeness and/or the pressure.

I loved the storyline, having worked in a couple of start-ups, so I found it both exciting to watch their progress and exciting as the made and lost progress as real businesses do. It has a satisfying, yet poignant conclusion. I found it very easy to become involved with the main cast and several of the secondary actors who were solid frames around the series. Shout outs to Kim Hae-sook - always a standout performer - and Seo Yi-Sook, leader of the SandBox. I love these two ladies are always the epitome of the individuals they engender, and whom we can recognize in our lives at home or in business. Wonderful acting all around!!

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Cyrano 'au contraire'

I guess you all know the plot of Cyrano de Bergerac, one of the most iconic love stories ever written in history...
The beauty of that romantic novel - model for a thousand of love stories written afterwards, looking at it as an inspiration- resides in one simple concept: the pure, true, unselfish, generous love of Cyrano at the end is recognised by the woman he loves and it's , somehow, rewarded.
Well, turn it upside-down and you get the plot of 'Start-up'.
Here, instead, the selfish, aggressive, deceitful, serial-liar male character gets the too-good-for-him-girl and the generous boy gets nothing but a slap on his face.
I don't know what's the personal problem of the writer, or if the director has gone through a difficult relationship , but it looks like their intent is to destroy an otherwise potentially beautiful love story about two people who were ment to be together, bound by destiny; I bet most of the K-drama fans who were watching the first episodes expected that natural outcome. But, no:, the director and writers went the other way: nstead of giving us a story with a meaningful message (honesty and generosity will be rewarded) and an happy ending, they decided to ruin our mood by giving us an ugly ending (dishonesty and lies win the heart of the Beauty).
Personally, I'm a huge fan on Bae Suzy because I find her possibly the most attractive and cute Korean actress ever. Therefore, I am pissed off by seeing again and again that the film-makers in korean indusrty keep on giving her 'cinderella' roles, where she plays always the role of a fragile young woman who has to be saved by the Prince. And it's not just any ordinary Cinderella, she depicts a stupid one, at that: in this serie's plot, just tell me please how can an intelligent person accept to be together with such a liar? How can't she recognise where real love comes from? So disturbing!
It's not the first serie where Bae Suzy ends up with the wrong guy; in 'While you were sleeping' she gives herself away too easily to a dull, narcissistic and childish male lead (in that case it was the always boring, boysh, one-expression-only-in-the-whole-film, Lee Jong-suk; he's probably like that in real life, I guess) .
Please, give her a better male lead next time, some real, grown-up man.

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