An office-romance parody gone wrong
This story was, in my opinion, purposefully turned into a parody of office romances.For example, the actors are totally overacting certain facial expressions for comedy, and the classic employee-and-her domineering-traumatized-child-boss backstory is also extremely cliche.
And it could have been a brilliant parody considering the cast but parodies are a very hit-or- miss kind of project.
The main actors have shown their ability to portray nuances in multiple other dramas and yet, in this drama, the comedy was very blunt and cringe. This would have been totally fine if it was well directed but the mix between forceful comedy and traditional romance was just not well balanced.
The story is also ridiculous, but here again, it's a choice : The unbelievable trope of the "normal" employee and the domineering almost caricatural boss falling for through unrealistic plot twists , he obviously had a tough childhood and obviously is forced to get married by his grandfather. Very very cliche.
And it could have been an incredible parody if it had that one special element differentiating the story from other classic office romance dramas.
Brilliantly aligning cliches is not enough to create a satiric story, an off-beat original element was needed.
So all I got was out of this was a LOT of cringe-worthy moments and a little bit of disappointment with how the actor's talent was misused.
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The Unpopular Opinion Amongst Popular Opinions
Storyline:The storyline utilizes one of the most cliche and overused tropes in history - contract marriage, poor girl falls in love with rich guy etc.
Since the drama is a rom-com, there were many scenes that were hilarious (at first) and overall the drama was rather lighthearted. However, the drama often dramatizes and adds many scenes supposedly for the comedy but ends up being very cringey and redundant. Since this drama has only 12 episodes, the story moves very quickly, too quickly in fact, that they did not slow down to properly flesh out the main characters and show proper development in their various relationships - mainly the FL & ML as well as SFL and SML. The couples fall in love so quickly that it’s hard to believe they ARE in love but rather, the relationship is very superficial and on the surface. They barely have proper conversations to get to know each other and we are already dumped with several kiss scenes. The storyline is too simple and has no depth whatsoever. Overall, it was extremely cringey.
Acting:
Sejeong's acting was pretty decent, though it felt like she was holding up the entire show by herself. Ahn Hyo Seop’s character seemed more like a supporting role rather than a main lead. There was no chemistry between the leads at all. I’ve watched Ahn Hyo Seop’s various projects and it seems that his choice of script is very poor, such as Lovers of the Red Sky, Abyss etc. There was no room to fully showcase his acting potential here. SML has a very disappointing character coming from the fact that I actually liked his role in Snowdrop because of his rather nuanced acting there.
In conclusion, don’t waste your time if you want to watch a good quality drama with proper development. However, if you are up for a pretty lighthearted, mindless and cliche rom-com, go ahead and give this drama a try.
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Run of the mill with a little something special
Business Proposal is your typical K Drama romance comedy with the rich taciturn chaebol, his good friend, obsessive guardian/ parent, tragic story, poor girl but conscientious with funny hardworking parents plus bestie. You get it, your typical archetypes. And that's the brilliance and warmth about it really. It does not reinvent the wheel but drives a bus we are so fondly familiar with.That being said, that's where the greatness of this drama ends. It becomes slightly superfluous and not so tight in its story telling but you know what? That is okay too because its not proclaiming to be Ahn Pan Seok profundity and it still nailed its brief.
Give it a watch for its sizzling chemistry, commentary on spy cams and warm romance.
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The chemistry brings the cliches to life
Without the two main actors and the two secondary actors to bring this drama to life, this would just be another second-rate romance full of cliches and pacing issues. When I watch a romance, I want a good amount of fluff and angst, and this drama really did not deliver on the fluff. Most of the fluff was interrupted by silly "comedic" moments that made me so frustrated I wanted to tear my hair out. I also wasn't made to believe that the girl fell for the guy, seemed a bit sudden.HOWEVER, the chemistry between the main actors and ESPECIALLY the chemistry between the secondary actors made me swoon. Even with the tiny bits of fluff we get, I still think about them and fangirl to my friends.
Overall, I would still recommend this as a good drama if you like sweet romance without too much melodrama.
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Cliché pero confont
Tiene todos los clichés que me gustan pero nunca me aburrieron ni fueron abrumadores. Cuando había problemas tampoco exageraron y me encantó la química de los protagonistas. Tiene escenas muy tiernas, otras muy divertidas y lo que más me gustó es que se siente como un drama más maduro con la pasión. Lo único que no me gustó fue que el final se sintió apresurado, casi no mostraron a la pareja secundaria cuando fue una de las cosas más tiernas del drama, ni se sabe si se casaron o no :(. Quería ver maWas this review helpful to you?
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Proposal approved
As someone who loves the webtoon, I was anticipating the live action adaption. Though, psychically the cast wasn't who I pictured (except secretary Cha & the grandfather), the acting was good. For the most part, I didn't mind the changes from the webtoon as I was mostly treating this as a separate work.I will gladly take all the clichés & this drama spared no effort in using them to their advantage. But, while I enjoyed the clichés throughout the drama, they did feel a bit forced & disappointing in the last two episodes. ( I'm referring to how they made the grandfather act the way that he did when the entire show they were setting up his character to act in the opposite way.) It brought down the drama for me & left me wanting more, especially the ending. Nonetheless, this was a fun drama & I needed this lighthearted romcom.
I don't think the ost was bad, like I remember liking the songs that were used but not to the point where I specifically remember them. While I don't really rewatch, this is a drama that I would recommend to others, especially if they are in the need of a laugh.
They're not a big deal but here are some things that I didn't like:
*The way her friend sold her out to Taemu. I mean it worked out in the end but it always rubbed me the wrong way even when I read it in the webtoon.
*How pushy her coworkers were (thinking to how they invited themselves to her movie date).
*Youngseo not knowing much about secretary Cha but getting upset with him, more than once, without really thinking.
*I just didn't like Hari's mom, maybe it was the actress playing her.
*The problems created by the chef's girlfriend as the drama was ending.
*How they handled the grandfather's character once news got out about Hari & Taemu dating.
*Making the grandfather sick & having to go abroad wasn't necessary.
*The time skip & how they were reunited.
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Amazing work.
It’s a typical drama “plot” or set up, if you will. But the surprising elements and little quirky scenes set it apart. The actors all played their parts really well and the slight foreshadowing & funny references were hilarious. I also enjoyed the co star romance as well… it really balanced the show out. You can’t go wrong with the famous/non famous love story. Some of the co stars (working in the office w shun) we’re just too good, as I said before the acting was amazing. The music choices were absolutely amazing, definitely a rewatchable show.Was this review helpful to you?
romance kdramas take notes!
I am not one to watch kdramas of this genre, but something about this kdrama is so addicting and amazing, maybe it's the plot, the cast, the couple dynamics and chemistry, the comedic element, but i enjoyed it so much, so much that i have watched it three times!! the screenwriters used a lot of cliches and tropes considered "cringe" but they did it right! its a fun kdrama and so youll binge watch the whole series in one go! this is how romance kdramas should be! everyone else should take notes i hope, i would love to see more kdramas like this!Was this review helpful to you?
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Cliched but still fun to watch
I guess I'm still old school when it comes to romances, so I'd say this series still clicked with me.It took me a while before deciding to watch this, thinking it's another boring series. This has been streaming for long on Netflix. Others say this is kind of outdated, same same old, but this kind of plot never ceases to get old for me. It never fails to leave that heartwarming and lighthearted feel for me in every watch.
Outrageous and unbelievably ridiculous in some, but still fun to watch. What I liked most here is the ML falling for FL first, holding on and fighting for her. I'm not into women chasing their men, or men pushing away or letting go. I got so frustrated with the series YOUNG LADY AND A GENTLEMAN, so I'm really good with this one. Kind of refreshed me.
Final scene left me feeling lacking and unsatisfied though. Nevertheless a fun, enjoyable series to watch.
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Frustrating
I totally loved the first few episodes of this. Best friends teaming up to sabotage the rich one's terrible parentally-arranged blind dates by being outrageously undateable: sold! Fast-paced and poking fun at its tropes and clichés: sold! FL with an interesting, fairly unusual job: sold! And there was sismance and nice eye-candy and a good backing cast, and it all worked well for a while: great silly fun in the best silly way. I was actually howling with laughter at several scenes, which doesn't happen that much, but then it's not often you find the hot male lead getting compared to an archaeopteryx. Sadly, it fell off the track after ML decided he was smitten, dropped the pace and the trope-twisting, made too many stops at Cringeland and got a lot less fun. It probably didn't help that FL suddenly started dressing like an ajumma on her way to the fish market (as illustrated in the episode guide photo for #6), which kind of blew the romance for me. It did pick up a little later on, but... ehhh.It wasn't a bad watch and it's fairly short for a kdrama, so yeah, probably worth a try. But given the shorter length it could have been a lot tighter, and I wish it had all been as good as its promising beginning.
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A cliché from A to Z, but a cliché that works
IIf you stop to analyze it at first, you think that the surprise suitor is going to repeat all the cliché processes you've seen over and over again.... And that really is the case, but in this program we see how a good cliché should be done. Without having those classic toxic parts. We have the most common themes. The rich guy falls for the poor girl - but he's not a scumbag and she's not a dummy. Shin-Hari is intelligent, focused and self-assured, and Mr. Shang is a cute little dumpling, even if he does seem irritable at first. We also have one of my favorite clichés. The fake courtship that turns out to be real, I don't know if that theme works for me.I liked the way they dealt with the conflicts, they didn't break up the couple for silly reasons, but made them fight together in the face of adversity. Both the family's non-acceptance, the company gossip - thanks to the toxic "friend" - and also the final conflict, which was the least of them. I really liked the secondary couple, who despite having different personalities - in addition to the inverse class difference of the main couple - managed to overcome this and stay together in the end, supporting each other. The way they deal with the rumors in the company also caught my attention. Her coworkers are lovely, and even though they've been hurt, they've stuck by her side like good, loyal friends.
I took one star off, because although it works and is very good to watch, it's still a very repetitive story. There are almost no twists and turns and it stays the same until the end. For example: I devoured the show at the beginning. The story of her pretending to be someone else, the make-up, putting on another character, the running around and the nerves to hide the truth. As well as the fact that it was super funny and cute how they went through this process. Towards the end, however, I lost interest because there were no new things or more exciting situations.
All in all, I really enjoyed this drama and I recommend it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. If you like clichéd romances, you will.
If you liked this review, I invite you to read my other reviews here. I always update my account every time I watch something new. You can help me by liking and following me here on MyDramaList.
Thank you for reading this far <3
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