Numbers (2023)

Don't be deterred by a supposedly dry accountants´ world. It´s feisty. Suspenseful. Emotional, too

"Numbers" is about auditors, balance sheets and accountants. It's obviously all about numbers. That may put some people off. It's also about what lies behind those numbers, and that may at times seem even more complicated to the uninitiated. However, deliberately illustrative examples are repeatedly interspersed. And it is even more gratifying that it is not necessary to understand all this in every detail in order to enjoy the series. “Numbers” is about a rational and clever mastermind. Yet it is also about having the heart at the right spot. It´s feisty. It´s also emotional. It stands up and means it. Great!

"Numbers" is definitely worth it getting involved in the abstract world of accounting specialists. Especially since their decisions, in turn, have consequences for a world that juggles numbers even more aloof - Investment Fonds... While the auditors keep an eye on the current state of the balance sheet and put its potential through its paces, investors only care about future returns and often want the maximum profit regardless of the losses - which others have to bear for it.

Numbers are numbers. But the decisive factor is who has the sovereignty of interpretation. Numbers sound clean and objective, apparently. Yet, they stand for people, their visions and their decisions. Hidden underneath are solutions, too. As always, the question you´re asking, will make the difference – leading the way for your attention and focus. And as always, different possible perspectives exist. Also in the world of numbers.

"Numbers" is about a revenge campaign – again. There are actually several. It is about those who, with good reason, do not want to be intimidated by the power of the powerful – again. They have nothing (more) to lose. The bad guys are really bad. They have long lost their heart or never had one to begin with. This makes for plenty of interesting relationship dynamics.

"Numbers" also offers an interesting variety of intelligence and competence. Bottom line for revenge candidates – again: just on your own it is almost impossible to make a difference. However, someone courageously has to make a first clever and striking move ahead. With heart and soul. Then maybe others will remember that their heart was once in their right place, too. (In a rational, hierarchical world that takes for granted that there is no room for irrational emotions or personal interests, it's easy to forget just that.)

"Numbers" is a bold story about rather impure moves in the world of accounting and investment. A complex story. At the same time, an exciting, thrilling story that is fun, too. No matter how remote this world of dizzyingly high numbers may be for most of the audience, watching the story feels good overall. You get a high-flying, intelligent mixture. The actors show a strong presence in their roles and thus contribute a lot. The pace is right. OST fits fine.

My suggestion: don't be put off by suits, ties and a supposedly dry, conservative, number-dominated accountant business world. Sure enough, "Numbers" has it all!






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Side Note:
Banks in South Korea have been taboo for investors since the Asian crisis. For the bank sector, on the other hand, financial investment transactions are not permitted. Just now, in 2023, fundamental reforms were launched - some are even talking about a revolution. The banking sector is just now being opened up to new players in order to stimulate competition.

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Potential but Underwhelming

The series is related to accounting and for those unfamiliar with the terminology will feel lost because there really isn't much explanation. You'll have to read up on it to enjoy the show because there is a LOT of tactics and plays based on that. You can ignore and try to get the gist of things.

The story is about a high school graduate who joins an accounting firm in order to take it down because his adopted father's company was run to the ground which resulted in his death. The story felt had so much potential but right off the bat I didn't exactly enjoy the first couple of episodes. A lot happening but hard to make sense of it. But the actual story develops quite slowly. Makes sense because it's not easy for someone who has no idea of the inner workings of an accountancy firm to do any real damage so the first few episodes are just him trying to learn the ropes. I only started to enjoy the show midway when a lot of exciting things were happening - both good and bad.

Until episode 11, I was finally enjoying the show and happy with how things were being resolved. Episode 12, however, was a big let down. When you think of all the crimes committed by a certain someone and the way they let things play out, it feels like a betrayal to the time I, as a viewer, put in. Some like of think of it as realistic but we aren't exactly watching a documentary. And even if we talk about realism, the director seemed to want us to experience some kind of empathy for a horrible character. Are we supposed to forget the people who lost everything including their lives? I don't see how the male leads can be happy considering the circumstances. It doesn't feel real to me at all.

Overall, I just feel disappointed.

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The writing is abysmal, your average AI would have done a better job!

- The first two or three episodes are very good, emotional, good cliffhangers, sizzling bromance. After that, it goes downhill and is a random sequence of way too many random characters in business attire talking in random meeting rooms, offices, park decks and the like, slapping around buzzwords of the accounting and finance world, that the authors obviously didn't even understand.
- There is one obviously bad guy and the whole series is aimed at everybody else working on destroying him in a grand finale and - surprise - and that's the only surprise in this series - it just doesn't happen. Instead the story just kind of fades out. They kept it open for a second season. If this actually gets a second season I will scream in agony.
- The bad guy gets no back story whatsoever, he is just bad. And the poor actor gets nothing else to do than stand around, stare in the distance and look obviously bad.
- Same for most of the other characters: no back stories. They tried to overcome that by having many characters, but all so random that it wouldn't change anything if you left a few out. The second bad guy (Shim Hyung Woo) felt a little intersting, like he had a conscience and backstory that made him bad, but it is never explored.
- The love interest of the older lead is introduced as a badass business lady from Hongkong who acts totally evil but apparently has a plan just to reveal later that she had no plan whatsoever. Or they kept it a secrect from us. And she returns to the good side, but is totally useless.
- Minor observations:
-- The two room mates are nice caracters and sweets actors, I would have liked to see more of them.
-- Apparently, the largest accounting firm in Korea uses mainly paper files. And the filing room is the size of my bedroom and doubles as a library. And there is always still space for people to hide unnoticed to overhear conversations.
-- The company occupies two high-rise buildings, but all indoor scences take place on two floors.
-- Companies that are seconds before liquidation because their product is for a niche market (lactose free baby formula) without enough demand just need a few first-year accountants looking at their files for two days to find the great cure: market the product as something else (lactose free milk replacer) to someone else (lactose-intolerant people). Great! How could the company ever have figured that out without them? :)
- And lastly, but I kind of expect that from a K-drama, accountants are obviously able to fight off thugs with bats, 1 against 10, no problem!

Don't watch it! Look at the sky instead! It will be more interesting.

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Greed & honesty

After Tracer which had as main characters accountants working for the state tax service, I decided to watch another accounting drama this time taking place inside an accounting firm. Numbers was just as incomprehensible as Tracer but that did not take anything away from the suspense. It is just like with a medical dramas: you don't get most of the professional gibberish the actors utter but ultimately it is the overall story that matters and this pro talk just takes the necessary space to make the story credible. And I am ok with that.

The story follows Ho Woo who enters as a trainee inside a huge and influential accounting firm in order to discover why his adoptive father's company was ruined by them. Thereupon ensues a string of cases, underhand dealings, betrayals, secrets but also friendship, bromance and love. And of course, lots of corruption! What would a korean drama be without it?

The most fascinating character is of course the big baddie: from the first moment he appears his menacing smooth presence and his tinted glasses promise a lot of evil doing. The actors micro expressions particularly the slight movements of mouth were creepy and scary as hell. And we are not left disappointed. The character's long standing greed, for over 20 years, and patient building of plots and people networks are fascinating and repulsive. He was just like a cat with nine lives and always landing on his feet. It has been a long time since I watched such a completely evil character: he has not one single redeeming quality!

The rest are more classical good guys, banding together as the drama unfolded in order to stop the bad guy.

The production was good, nice cinematography, subdued colours, average music, excellent acting and writing. No obvious plot holes unless you consider accounting superpowers all characters seem to have: apparently unsolvable problem, everyone is worried, they start talking about something else which provokes revelation of the solution for the worried main character. Very often it did look like Deus ex machina kind of solution but what do I know? Maybe all accountants know tax and finances laws inside out!

All in all, it was a rollercoaster ride I quite enjoyed!

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shedding light on the world of accountants

Numbers Kdrama is a riveting series that revolves around the life of Jang Ho Woo, a high school graduate who becomes an accountant and dauntlessly challenges the injustices perpetrated by a powerful accounting firm. The drama offers a unique perspective into the lives of those who put their trust in numbers, showcasing that accountants go beyond mere calculations and carry the weight of a company's future on their shoulders. This theme highlights the immense responsibility accountants hold, elevating the storyline beyond the typical drama fare.

The bromance between Ho Woo and Seung Jo is a standout aspect of the show, adding a refreshing and lively dynamic. Their contrasting personalities create moments of humor that beautifully balance the intensity of the plot. Ho Woo's lively and amiable nature pairs wonderfully with Seung Jo's cold and calculating demeanor, creating an engaging on-screen chemistry.

Numbers excels in presenting different problem-solving approaches, with Ho Woo's bold and inventive decisions clashing against Seung Jo's unwavering support and protection. The complexities of their relationship add depth and charm to the drama.

As a Kdrama enthusiast, I appreciated how Numbers provided a fresh perspective, shedding light on the world of accountants. The attention to detail and entertaining storytelling made the experience both educational and enjoyable. I would highly recommend Numbers to viewers seeking an engaging drama that offers a unique and insightful viewpoint.

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Sexed up Corporate Finance

In an imperfect world where your capital is reputation, of necessity the currency must be moral ambiguity. Honesty and compassion come at a price and the decision about who is going to pay that becomes a war of survival. This formed the core of the plot and was explored through the attitudes of the various characters who ranged from deepest black through shades of grey to the blinding light of our hero. There was not a great deal of subtlety in the exposition of this theme which often felt contrived, but it did offer you plenty to think and reflect on.

This is a new angle on corruption for me and perhaps for K-drama land. The introduction of a new world requires explanations that don’t have to be made where the viewer is already familiar with procedures, concepts and terminology (for instance in the police). So the script is necessarily clunky and unrealistic as the actors are required to provide a Corporate Finance for Dummies guide to the tangled complexities of accountancy. So expect to pay attention to keep up with the threats going down in the plot. (Unless, of course, you’re a certified corporate accountant, and then you can snort and laugh your way through the inevitable distortions of drama-la-la-land.) But for most of us there will be Side Effects—머리 아프다 (my head hurts).

It gets away with a lot of OTT stuff because tbh I was concentrating so hard on what was going down that I didn’t have enough brain power to clock all the sleights of hand and magical illusions going on. But of course, we are gifted with a spectacularly clever rookie ML who manages to navigate some fairly incredible situations in this tightly plotted thriller. The end is never really in doubt, and the great reveal half way through is about as surprising as porridge for breakfast, but it manages to create a thrilling ride nevertheless. Until the ending that is. Wtf were the last two episodes? Totally random. Totally unsatisfying. Totally messed up.

I liked some of the performances in this, notably L (Kim Myung Soo) who turned in a great angry young man and Choi Jin Hyun as his sunbae. Unfortunately the female parts had less depth and relied more on caricature but the relationship between Yeonwoo and L had it’s sweet moments.

Not compulsive viewing but an honourable rating which deems it worth watching mid-week after a long hard day.

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A Solid 8. Would stick for a second season if there is any.

I would have loved it if the show was going to be about accountants' day-to-day office life, but that wasn't the case since the first episode. It's clear that the show is motivated by revenge and although revenge dramas aren't my cup of tea I stuck the entire run without missing a week. I was always curious and because I knew nothing about "numbers" and the finance world I couldn't expect the run of events so it was interesting enough.

The show is decent in plot. It didn't focus much on the characters which is always a minus for me. The grandma character was poorly used. I can almost say the same for the characters around Howoo.

Season 2 can be fun. I would hate for it to be in the same concept as season 1 but if we refocus on the characters' relationship and use Jisoo's son as a focal point we can get somewhere fun. The good thing about the show was that it identified a good villain who wouldn't make the battles against get boring. It also recognized there is no "happily ever after" and left us with a lot of realism even after very sour crimes.

TLDR Good show. Nice story. Perhaps if it had a slightly different approach I would have liked it more. I would recommend it. I would love for more people to see how good of an actor KMS is.

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What I like about this show is that they showed us a glimpse of the financial world and how the 1% controls the system. Sure, more or less half of it is fiction, yet they were able to give us an idea of the workings that we, ordinary people, don't see.

However, there is room for improvement when it comes to storytelling. There were episodes and scenes which were confusing because of the constant jumping from one time period to another. There are certain actions, or plans, that takes time, but the next scene, it was as if it only took stepping out of an elevator. This was especially evident in the last episode of Season 1.

I'm not saying that they should be very detailed and write "filler" scenes to keep the time pacing, rather, they should not overdo it. It is a tool in storytelling, and like any other tools, it shouldn't be overused.

Last, but not the least, great acting from the entire cast. Not only that, great choices on who should be acting which character. Live-action shows require having the perfect cast, we shouldn't cast someone just because they can bring in audiences because of their popularity, or because we are building an actor up. Casting should be first and foremost based on the character they are going to bring to life. If actors fit their characters, then their acting overall will be in harmony with each other, making the entirety of the show feel like it was actually real.

I hope there will be a Season 02. This is a great show. Watch it.

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how foucsed and determind this guy is its inspireing

just feels like a home to come back to when i do not have anything good to watch frome the caraters and the story line its just what i needed maybe if they just add alittle more romance it could have been better. the feeling i get when i watch this acually feels wired beacuse it make me wanna go out and find my self a life that is similler to this guys a life with a goal in mind In conclusion, "Numbers" is a delightful surprise of a K-drama that combines mathematics, romance, and compelling storytelling. With its exceptional cast, educational value, and breathtaking visuals, it's undoubtedly one of the standout dramas of the year. Don't miss the chance to embark on this unique journey that adds up to an unforgettable viewing experience.

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A series with good cast and story but forgot about the rest

Numbers just finished!

not a whole bunch to say since, the story is good for certain people (like me)

Cast was interesting but somehow it feels rushed and untapped,

music is not great and not in tune, except for the theme played while the VP is being released from prison

rewatch, if you like thinking series this is a good short series, but if you are not into that kind series
better watch something else.

just fine series, writer story is good but the direction of the story is somehow rushed.
we don't know could be ratings issue, the series feels rushed.

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