This review may contain spoilers
Was that the end?
My first time finishing an enjoyable drama with this question as the closing credits continued on instead of the “next episode” button. Partially due to my expectation of Kdramas containing at least 16 episodes but mainly because I felt these were so many loose threads hanging in the air.Why did the grandfather suddenly consent in the end? No follow through on how the rumours of them dating played out - did running away to the US solve everything? Second FL’s relationship with the father just ends like that? Engaged for a year and no sign of marriage?
Such a pity to end the drama this way.
Other than the last episode, I generally enjoyed this cute romcom as the story telling was a fresh take on the classic rich-guy poor-girl romance. I liked how both couples acknowledged their feelings and got together relatively early without too much misunderstandings or annoying drawn-out love triangles. Kisses were not too stingy and the couples even slept together so this drama should satisfy those looking for a fair bit of romance in their drama.
There’s talk about some additional episodes so hopefully I’ll get my questions answered then but as it stands, my low rating reflects my personal dislike of dramas with rushed endings or unanswered questions.
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Must Watch, Best This Year
Great drama, great story, Great acting and directing. One of my favorite this year. No annoying old girlfriend who think that the ML belongs to her. Parents who tried to interfered in the relationship but these characters are adults and handle it very well. Both female leads were great. they were strong and independent, with their own careers and knew what they wanted. The second couple was my favorite they seem their relationship was very realistic of 2 people. The chemistry was great with both couples. I would have love a stronger ending but I am hoping for a second season. All the actors performance was great. Must Watched !!!!!!Was this review helpful to you?
An Easy Watch No Depth
LIKES:I really liked the production, cinematography, beautiful location/scenery shots. I also found the music to be pleasant and appropriate, although nothing truly stood out. Filming was well done, no shaky camera video and zoom ins were done correctly. I didn't notice any special FX to speak of. I did like that they showed the Team 1 workers doing their job, especially with Ha Ri working on recipes. Often office romances don't show the FL or ML actually focusing on their tasks. The comedic parts were okay and thankfully not too frequent, so they didn't become annoying. I liked Young Seo as Ha Ri's friend, the actress Seol In Ah was great. It was an okay ending, just barely acceptable.
DISLIKES:
They rushed the ending, but that I expected because it was only 12 episodes long. As usual there were the typical and over used cliches that South Korean dramas are known to follow. The product placements/endorsements were almost funny with how they were done, not smooth at all. I found the ML and FL didn't have much chemistry, however I did like the FL's character. Min Gue's character Sung Hoon needed more development, but as a 2ML he was okay. I don't know the webtoon that this was made from, so my review is solely based on the show. However I find a lot of people are over-rating it. A lot of this story felt like they ripped off parts from Boys Over Flowers (you'll know which parts if you watch it). There didn't seem to be any character growth from the ML, FL, 2ML, but there was a little bit for 2FL (Young Seo). The supporting characters and their romances were not needed and they could've used the time for the main role characters. It's a very PG kind of romance drama.
OVERALL:
It's a fun watch, easy to follow and not anxiety inducing because of the trials and tribulations of the characters. I would recommend watching it if you like the typical S.Korean drama formula. I wont bother watching it again.
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It’s just a comment
I'm not judging anything just wanted to share my thoughts. The drama is over praised. It’s all the result of good marketing. Every time I read an article about this series on website it was like they were marketing for their product. And they are successful in there way. I have read the webtoon and was waiting for watching. But when I started watching it felt like the webtoon was more inhumane then the series. I am a huge fan of office romance as they are matured and fun. In this drama there is no office but only romance. There is no particular obeject exactly. In other office romance they have a strong vision of life and carrier. It is absent here. So who are waiting for office and real life romance it’s not for them. This drama is just a fluffy and hollow. If you like some sitcom it’s for you. And last of all, all the articles on websites praised the acting. I think acting was okey. The actors have done their job but it’s not excellent level. They have good interaction but as the story was not strong enough there was some lacking in the depth of the characters.Was this review helpful to you?
cringe value is above the roof
it's a good drama, I guess, and the storyline is ok at best. because it's only 12 EPs long their relationship isn't really gone into much detail nor explored much more than 2 episodes, and there is so much cringe it made sitting through each episode painfully long. I loved the actors but yeah... better ones out there :))I don't think I would rewatch either and I've defo binged thru it because it's not really gone into depth with the second leads relationship either, they pretty much just skim through everything and you can feel it jump to random scenes without detail HAHAHAA sorry guys :((
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My credit card and My love for you has no limits (to the reader ;) )
“There are some things that get results with a short amount of time, and other things where you risk the losses and stay in it for the long run. It’s difficult to decide how good or bad something is just by how long it takes.” - CEO Kang Taemoo.If you're in dire need of a very simple, romcom office romance ceo-employee trope and love food, Business Proposal is right for you. With the charismatic Ahn HyoSeop and the charming Kim Sejong, followed by the dashing Kim Mingue and gorgeous Seol Inah, team up to lead this 12 episode chronicle.
As an unintentional catfish takes our female lead to the doom she brought upon herself, when the date was her own ceo. Meanwhile our photogenic second leads who's also the leads respective friends/ acquaintances fell in love at first sight, tangle up into the marriage situations, equally experience a new maturity in terms of relationships and strategic bondings and overcome boundaries set up by the traditions of elders.
The words of wisdom in this drama are worth the time, and views. I love how the dialogues were equally beautiful and sarcastic. Reviving the "Whats Wrong With Secretary Kim" vibes, this drama portrays love passion comedy and delicious food all in one!
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At last a good rom/com that just want us to enjoy...
Great show for me.I will not write a long review, because this is a light and joyful drama without complexity.
STORY – it is good, simple, without unnecessary plots or scenes. We have 2 couples, family, friends and work. There are good funny moments.
ACTING – amazing acting, especially crazy Shin Ha Ri alter ego.
MUSIC – I don’t recall it and, for me, that means that it wasn’t mind blowing, but did the job.
REWATCH – why not, particularly some scenes, romantic or funny. The whole show? Guess not, but it is not a waste of time.
OVERALL – I love it and the time spent was well worth it. The only thing that I don’t like is the ending. I just don’t understand this trend of not closing the stories. Some shows are plain, simple and good, but deliver open endings or unclose endings that does not make sense. In some show they guide us, unnecessarily for me, through flashbacks like we were too ignorant to not understand what is happening. But then, they want us to deliver a n independent, philosophical open or unclose ending. WTF? Why? Is it such a bad thing for a rom/com to have marriage scenes, scenes of after the gathering?
Rom/com’s are made for our dreams and desires. Not for complex plots…
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This review may contain spoilers
The Two Main Female Characters Make This Series Soar!
There is much to like in “A Business Proposal.” The story may seem a bit cliched, but it’s the execution of that story that makes it stand out from so many others. It’s smooth and the writers are careful not to change the character for the sake of the plot, which is too common of a mistake that I’ve seen. What really makes this series stand out is the strength of the two main female characters in Ha Ri Shin and Jin Young Seo.Too often, we see young women in K-Dramas act indecisively and like wallflowers whenever they face obstacles. They tend to be too easily influenced by their parents or peers, unable to make decisions for themselves. And when faced with hardship, they tend to wilt faster than a flower in the scorching sun. Not these two! Ha Ri Shin and Jin Young Seo are strong women who are decisive, mature, and can think for themselves. They are also not afraid to stand up for themselves, which is something very refreshing about this series!
My favorite series involving “young love” is still “Our Beloved Summer” but this one comes awfully close! My favorite shows of the older and more mature persuasion are too tough to call. With fantastic shows in “Mr. Sunshine,” “Crash Landing On You,” and “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” it’s tough to decide. ‘
The pacing of this show is perfect! Everything moves along smoothly without extraneous scenes or ridiculous new storylines to keep the story going. Therefore, I was grateful that the series ended after 12 episodes. Everything was covered, and there was no reason to attempt to stretch things out.
It’s really hard for me to decide which character—and even actress—I like more between Kim Se Jeong (Ha Ri Shin) and Seol In Ah (Jin Young Seo). Both are marvelous as two young women who initially set out to scheme their way through a blind date that neither of them wants to figuring out how to be with the men that they love. Both bring a refreshing strength and even feistiness to their roles. As I said, these two women are not wallflowers. They can take care and look out for themselves. I’ve seen Kim Se Jeong before in “Uncanny Counter”—and imagine my thrill to learn that there is another series of that one coming!—but this is my first exposure to the equally beautiful and captivating Seol In Ah.
The only characters I pretty much despised were Da Goo Kang, the grandfather, and Min Woo. Da Goo Kang, is a typical bully with nothing but selfish intentions. Meddlers always have that in common. Their attempts to control others under the guise of “love” is truly sickening. If it’s selfish, it cannot be love since love can never be selfish. I was thrilled to find Ha Ri Shin not giving into Da Goo Kang’s immaturity and selfishness. I was worried that she was going to cave into him. And Jin Young Seo was a true champion standing up to her own father, who was just as much of a bully as the grandfather. Bullies only get their power when someone gives it to them. At heart, they are gutless cowards.
Ha Ri proves her strength by not seeing herself as an inferior person just because she doesn't come from a wealthy family. And Jin Young Seo proves her strength by having the courage to break free of her father's iron grip.
Min Woo, a longtime friend and initial crush of Ha Ri, is a despicable young man who has a girlfriend, but behaves in a most insensitive manner when he demonstrates his feelings for Ha Ri right in front of her! I was initially surprised that Ha Ri would not call him out for this. I certainly would not want a “friend” who does something so vile and cruel to someone else. Fortunately, she finally does let him have it, even though it was a bit long time in coming.
The series is a step in the right direction if the aim is to project strong, female characters and demonstrate that they are people too as well as characters who will not yield to the cheap intimidation tactics that so many of their counterparts in the past have done. I was more than thrilled to see these characters did not take the road most others have traveled by, but instead, carved out their own road by showcasing empowered women.
As I stated before, I hope to see more series with strong women in the future!
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Cute Rom-Com, but Missing Something
I read the webtoon/manhwa before watching the drama which made my expectations high until I saw the casting where most of the characters do not give the same "vibe" and image of their webtoon counterparts (IMO), but I liked the cast so I watched it regardless.The acting and chemistry between everyone were superb. It was a classic rom-com, somewhat cliché in a good way. There are some differences from the original work, but it did not divert away too much from the main plot, except towards the middle and end. The original manhwa could have easily been a 16+ episode drama and/or one that was at least longer than 1 hour an episode. Due to the short length of this drama, a lot of interesting scenes and development were either altered or taken out completely. Even without having read the original work, I would feel like something was missing towards the end.
Some things that I wish the drama did better:
1) I wanted more Young Seo and Sung Hoon scenes, but the drama underdelivered, but I still enjoyed their scenes in drama nonetheless.
2) While I am glad the time it took for Taemu and Ha Ri to officially become a couple has been cut significantly in the drama instead of being dragged on like it was in the webtoon, it was still slightly rushed in my opinion and instead of the two facing problems together, the time jump was used instead (I'm referring to the final episode in this case).
3) The main characters/couples have only met for a bit more than a month before getting together and they are already proposing, which worked out in the webtoon since most of it was Taemu wanting to marry Shin Kim (her alias in the webtoon which has been altered to Shin Geum Hi) and there was repeated emphasis on that, but it only mentioned a few times by Taemu and none of it was in front of Ha Ri. The webtoon and drama is called A Business Proposal for a reason, but the proposal aspect was toned down.
4) I also wished for more scenes that focused on Ha Ri's and Young Seo's friendship and Taemu's and Sung Hoon's bond. There were a lot of parts of the webtoon that were cut out to fit the 12 episode limit, unfortunately.
Things that I am thankful that this drama did:
1) While the characters did not exactly match the "vibe" that I would expect, the foundation/beginning of the drama was set similar to the beginning of the webtoon and that made it easier for certain things to pass and everyone's acting and chemistry was off the charts, so it worked out since the couples in drama looked together.
2) Kim Min Gue (aka Sung Hoon) thank you for working out <3 <3
3) Altering Young Seo's rival to be her cousin and showing them having a bond was cute and the Konglish was funny. Young Seo's and Sung Hoon's "love story" was refreshing and different from most couples in dramas.
4) Ha Ri was depicted as a capable and competent employee, which was not so much the case in the webtoon that was primarily focused on her and Taemu when they were at the company.
5) Taemu came to terms with his feelings for Ha Ri much faster and in a more realistic/sensible way than he did in the webtoon. Thank you for not being a fool when it came to romance and the same goes for Ha Ri.
While this drama was rushed and definitely deserved more episodes, it was a sweet and short rom-com that is different from the ones airing and reminds me of the old dramas that were focused on romance and if you want something lighthearted and fun without too much thinking, you should definitely watch it.
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This review may contain spoilers
Worth the watch
Even though I'm late in reviewing it doesn't matter one of the few shows that made me want to review it whether good or bad. Luckily it falls in the great category.I just saw that this was based on a webtoon series and most of the character's stories were not included in the main story, but this doesn't take away the fact that this show got me waiting for the episodes every week. Just shows how good it was(for me).
Cast
Where do I even begin hyo seop as Kang Tae moo was just amazing. I've enjoyed watching him in dr.romantic 2, abyss even though the show wasn't all that and also lovers in the red sky he steps up everytime. But, my best one is this, he was funny, entertaining and just had the right timing to exact different emotions. Especially the parts where he was afraid of the rain was really nice not too much and not less of what was needed for the scenes. His chemistry with shin ha RI was unexpected but that's the beauty of it. I've never seen any show of her's but this one just made me want to watch her previous works and upcoming ones hoping she delivers every time.
Shin Ha ri was funny without even trying from the first episode to the last she executed that role flawlessly. I know I'm overpraising but it's been awhile since I enjoyed watching a character the last one was SEO ye ji in its okay not to be okay and shin hye sun in Mr. Queen there are others but they are the ones I remember off the bat at the moment.
Speaking of Mr. Queen seol in ah who played hwa Jin in it executed her role as young SEO in this beautifully, her relationship with her weird family. Falling in love with sung hoon being there for shin ha RI. It was great to watch.
Sung hoon. Was a surprise for me as his previous works have never left me with an impression but in this one he was able to match up with the rest of the characters well.
The other characters were from shin hari's team at work, I won't lie but without them even with the main characters being at their best this show wouldn't have been that great loved loved their acting. They didn't have as many parts but the parts they has worth remembering and that's no easy feat for supporting characters.
Now my favourite of the characters topping even the mains was the sleeper character, Kang doo, Kang Tae moo's grandfather. Throughout the show I couldn't wait for his scenes no matter how small that's how amazing he was. He could bring you into his world without even trying which speaks a lot as a seasoned veteran himself. Loved loved him as a character.
Shin ha ri's family was okay the little time they got to be seen and that was great.
The OST well it's melomance, every song they release is memorable. But I preferred a butterfly flew away in you are my spring. But overall the ost wasn't so bad.
The pacing was great, storyline great characters great ost wow!
I tried looking for things I don't enjoy but I couldn't the only thing is maybe they could have added just a few episodes maybe two at least cause I didnt want it to end so soon. But, maybe that's the beauty not adding unnecessary scenes if it's not going to develop the story in the show.
The other one was sung hoon I don't know but I didn't enjoy his character as much. But I hope his upcoming projects will make him a memorable character.
Bingeability yes! Rewatch value! Yes everything yes!
I'm biased in that I loved this show too much..
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A Perfect blend of Romance and Comedy
Even though there was nothing new in the story and screenplay still it make you feel good till the end. nay be the reason for this was purely the performance of the cast and an engaging screenplay without any dragging. I think it's been long time since i watched a drama with zero complications.If you love rom com's then welcome to the world Business Proposal.The casting is brilliant, Our four main leads and their super cute performance was the best thing of this drama. Ahn Hyo Seop, Kim Se Jeong, Kim Min Gue and Seol In Ah i want to just mention these four people, every single time when the two couples on the screen they brings magic with their super cute acting. Especially Kim Se Jeong, She was just amazing with her expressions.
Definitely a perfect rom com because both comedy and romance was perfectly balanced within the 12 Episodes. There were so many situations which make you laugh. This drama is full of happiness so just start watching without thinking twice because a drama like this was really missing these days.
- Zero complications
- Complete happiness
- Perfect blend of Romance & Comedy
- Super Cute Leads
- and A Worth watching 12 hours
This is Business Proposal for you 🥰
Give it a try
#N45Views
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Chemistry was disappointing! Wasn't a good pay off
Besides the wonky pacing of the 2nd lead couple (from socially distancing from each other and behaving like enemies, to full on kissing, and more) these two were the only real couples in the entire show.The chemistry between the 2 main leads just wasn't that good, and I'm not gonna sit here and try to tell myself otherwise. It wasn't BAD, and I want to stress that, their chemistry isn't unwatchable. But from the standard the original webtoon set, it had better be damn good. And it was just.....ok.
For a show like the business proposal, good chemistry and tension is what's gonna CARRY it, because the storyline alone is mediocre and just REGULAR, if not annoying the truther along it went. Especially with the way, despite only being 12 episodes, they dragged it out FOR AS LONG as they could, and the leads only get together 2 episodes before the end of the series.
For such a delayed pay off, when we finally get there it better be damn good, right?
Considering the down right sizzling scenes that happened in the original webtoon, even with censorship, the leads better have our hearts beating like crazy just looking at each other, right?
Well no, the pay off was just one-note, really.
The chemistry leading up to this already wasn't enough to sustain or even warrant such a long build up. Ha Ri looks deeply uncomfortable half the time, and when she does crack and give in to her attraction to Tae Mu, it still felt lacking and not as passionate or sincere as you would have expected it to be. And as a result the pay off landed flat on its face.
I feel like maybe i'll go back and watch the last 2 episodes—maybe they'll cram all the pay off we were supposed to get into the last 2 hrs of the show, but if the chemistry was already lacking, any romantic scenes that follow suit will just make me uncomfortable.
I'll stress this—when the chemistry is real, and the acting is off the charts—I WONT EVEN REALIZE THEY'RE ACTING. I'm not supposed to see the wires moving around in their heads, or pause or have that faint inkling like the actress looks really uncomfortable here, or the leads look kinda stiff, or this camera shot is lingering for a little bit too long now....I'm supposed to feel like I'm eavesdropping on a very private moment between 2 characters that are genuinely in love, and have sizzling chemistry, and want to turn off the show to give them some privacy 👀
like i did with the 2nd lead couple.
anyways, tl;dr.:
The Office Blind Date is a webtoon that had pretty good chemistry between the two main leads, but the live action made it barely passable, clunky, and a little uncomfortable at times.
The leads definitely tried their best—but I'm not keen on continuing with a show where I feel uncomfortable watching two supposed lovers.....behave like lovers.
Overall, this show had a good story, and everything else was just....ok.
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