An okay drama
LIKEWhat Na Eon did when she was stucked in a jam and late for her appointment - you can only see this in drama
When Na Eon asked Eun Ho where did he put her "P" and Eun Ho casually replied - it was driving Jung Woo's crazy! Lol
The marketing ideas quite creative
DISLIKE
Plot seemed half-hearted here and there.. mysterious but not enough that kind
MUSIC - personal fav
Day and Night - Bang Yedam
REWATCH VALUE
Five for now
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No chemistry, homophobic, racist, stereotypes, stupidly convoluted, ugly, bland
Synopsis: Kang Na Eon the icy girl boss and eco-friendly activist So Eun Ho are total opposites hiding their own secrets that are bigger than you'd expect. Kang Na Eon is almost murdered but before she has a chance to get back on her feet and investigate, she has a body swap with So Eun Ho who also seems to be investigating something.The thriller element (which is half of the story) wasn't so bad but it meshed terribly with the other elements (ex. romance) making the mystery and thrill stupidly convoluted and difficult to stay captivated, the high stakes moments became boring before long. The payoff at the end was nonexistent, unsatisfying, and insulting to the viewers. The drama likes to spotlight various topics regarding issues of the marginalized and the minorities, but only a few of the stories were actually done decently with the rest falling very flat and being outright cringe inducing.
Positives out of the way, I will specify more about the poor attitude the drama takes towards the OTHER marginalized issues and topics. There were several stereotypical portrayals in this drama. From predatory gay man, to phone-addict and naive Gen Z in the workplace, to foolish environmentalist and activist, and typical mockery of India and Africa, all disguised as amusing comedy. All of this had offensive visuals too. The FL's makeup was supposed to portray a strong-willed and independent girl boss using red tones, but why did it look like an allergic reaction? And did her outfits really need to follow the red theme as well? From head to toe, her whole look was tacky. If she's going to be bold, I would think she would wear a more balanced makeup look at the very least, her makeup looked unfinished and did not match her character. The environmentalist had a matching corny and contradicting look too, I felt so bad for both the leading actors.
Lastly, the characters' chemistry was awful. I don't just mean the lead actors either, the whole cast as a team was difficult to believe in. The subplots suffered along with the main romance plot between the leads whose attraction is extremely unnatural. It was a long and difficult drama to sit through but at the same everything felt rushed or added in last minute.
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O mundo de Branding in Seongsu
"Branding in Seongsu" encerra sua trajetória como uma farofa épica, tecida com elementos de mistério, suspense, vingança, negócios, comédia, romance e até mesmo trocas de almas.A narrativa nos imerge no intrigante mundo do marketing, onde uma gerente workaholic, um estagiário pacifista, e uma equipe de excluídos se unem formando uma aliança poderosa. Entre os personagens, destaca-se a presença marcante da "amiga falciane", uma chefe desprovida de escrúpulos, e um amor não correspondido que adiciona uma camada adicional de complexidade emocional.
Contudo, o enredo aparentemente simples se revela repleto de reviravoltas, incluindo um homicídio, uma tentativa de assassinato e o sobrenatural fenômeno da troca de almas entre a gerente workaholic e o estagiário pacifista.
Inicialmente atraída pela presença cativante do ator Park Lemon, ao longo da trama, os eventos e a dinâmica da equipe dos excluídos despertaram minha crescente curiosidade. Eles conseguiram quebrar o gelo nos momentos de tensão, proporcionando momentos hilários que aliviavam o clima pesado da narrativa.
Com episódios de 30 minutos, "Branding in Seongsu" oferece uma experiência completa, levando o espectador a rir, torcer, se encantar e até mesmo chorar. Apesar de não ser isento de falhas, é inegável que o dorama proporciona um entretenimento satisfatório.
Em suma, "Branding in Seongsu" não é uma obra perfeita, mas certamente vale a pena como uma fonte de bom entretenimento.
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Kim Ji Eun and Park Solomon's drama is a breath of fresh air in this cliche trope of Body Swapping
The show from start to end is engaging, chaotic, mysterious, humorous and even dark at some points making the viewers curious on what will happen next. This isn't you cliche romantic stuff where the leads swap their bodies and fall in love later on but more about two extremely opposite people with each having their own secrets, motives and ambitions.FL's character isn't some damsel in distress but one strong, cold, bossy, ruthless and arrogant wolf who is ready to go through hell and even put others through it to get the job done. ML's character is a loud, chaotic sometimes childish guy who works under the FL and often faces the brunt of her actions. Both of their arcs end up getting interconnected with each learning to work with the Swap and at the same time going ahead to achieve their own motives.
The best part of the drama is that romance isn't forced down the throat of viewers but is kept subtle while keeping the main focus on the mystery and thrill factor of the show.
The cast especially the leads have nailed their roles. Both did justice to their own and each other's characters too. I would say it is a must watch if you are looking for something new.
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Colouring oppression pink doesn't make it go away
I'm just going to make a review because this drama was sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, so this is a political message (even more than all other art that isn't directly sponsored by branches of government) that needs to be dissected so we understand where we're at and what's happening and what we can do with the information we're provided.Branding and marketing are tools of capitalism to convince us to buy shit we don't need and clean the image of very dodgy people and businesses. So branding is about manipulating the truth and straight out lying and that's what they did with this drama to sell us South Korea as a place with wholesome business and work practices.
The South Korean president is a conservative right wing politician who has worsened the labour conditions for Koreans and foreigners working in South Korea. Companies are places of work, they're not families or kind and friendly. Selling that image tricks workers into thinking they're more than just numbers in a spreadsheet. Currently, they have a 52-hour workweek and the government wanted to increase it to 69 hours just last year. This year, they loosened the labour laws which has already resulted in the death of several workers, korean and foreign. Just last week there were news of a 19 year old who died on the job in South Korea. You can't sell bosses and CEO's as friendly and close to their workers when this is the reality of your work culture in your country.
Working hard in this economy is not a moral trait, it says nothing about your character. It's very much representative of our collective exploitation as members of the working class. Trusting companies is a fallacy. There's no such thing as an ethical billionaire, as there is no such thing as ethical major companies. Companies will do what benefits their profits the most.
Our ethical marketer, in the form of the FL, pushed the idea that cooperation with big companies is a way of helping small businesses. That's not what happens in the real world. In the real world, big companies buy small companies off and profit from their labour, turning the market into an oligopoly where eventually they are able to control the market and, in the long run, the consumers because competition no longer exists in oligopolies. That's what was going to happen with the candle business and that is what would happen with the motor business. They marketed charity as a way to clean one's image and that's what charity ultimately does, it doesn't change anything and it offers temporary patches to issues that require structural solutions to have any kind of impact.
It's the same with representation. I'm glad there was a lot of representation and there was an effort to show the drama as inclusive and progressive. That could have been great because we should be portraying the world we ultimately want to create. It's not so great when you pair representation with a push to abide by conformity, like changing the image of the sex toy shop CEO. You can't break taboos and non-conformity by conforming.
Representation that isn't free isn't representation and charity isn't social justice.
This is the main message I want to leave here after having watched this drama because I feel it's important to remove the rose coloured glasses to have a sense of what they're really selling us.
This is a worldwide trend of softening the image of the entities that oppress us, we see that with companies that pretend to treat us like family by providing company dinners but refusing to pay livable wages and with yt women occupying the leadership of fascist parties. That's not justice or liberation, it's branding.
About the story:
It was a fun drama. It had good pace and good acting. It was a bit theatrical in some representations but I can live with that, it was fun anyway. I'm a bit disappointed they chose a basic villain with not much of a story except a thirst for power in the form of a higher place in a company, it's not even to own the company. It seems like a very basic and low stake motivation.
I liked the representation and the not shying away from talking about taboo themes, even considering what I said before. Most of the characters were unlikable and I still have doubts about the redemption of some of them but they were fun, nonetheless.
I don't know how the mains fixed their relationship, it wasn't a topic that could have been glossed over very easily. I'm deciding not to analyse that. I've already over analysed the premise of the drama. Anyway, go watch it, it's fun but don't let yourself be fooled by propaganda.
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Could be more subversive, but still interesting
Kang Na Eon is such a refreshing female lead character that got to be diabolically cool, smart, and cunning. She even has the smooth, swoony kdrama moves down like when she caught the male lead as he fell. Both leads have excellent chemistry too, starting with the moment So Eun Ho desperately dresses up in his literal funeral best and initiates some passionate kissing that she reciprocates. It was lamentable that she had to switch bodies so soon, but it was also cool to see how immediately went about acclimating and investigating the attempt on her life while in Eun Ho's body. She had a lot of cool moments while in his body, so I looked forward to her switching back because I really want to see a female character get to be a commanding presence, but the drama definitely favored her having intense and commanding moments while in a male form more alas.The costuming for her started with her in the most garish colors like poisonous animals have, but she totally owned every outfit. I like that she took a liking to wearing suits after spending time wearing them in Eun Ho's body, but it's a bummer it's mostly over sized looks rather than bepsoke ones that would fit her to perfection. That would have been amazing. I really liked the reveal that Eun Ho was playing dumb and had a hole revenge plan against her too, blaming her for stealing his idea and the death of his girlfriend. The twist that Na Eon tried to fix the situation and apologize for it was interesting, the hint that she had a heart deep inside.
I found the body swap pretty easy to follow, there were even times where I felt like the show was over explaining who was in who's body. There seems to be two ghostly presences legitimately haunting Na Eon since it's not psychosomatic and Eun Ho experienced it too and later follows Na Eon to Eun Ho's body, one being the ghostly hands and the other being the body swap ghost girlfriend Da Eun. It's never explained but there was a bunch of people that rushed in to help the Da Eun before there was an explosion, so I wonder if they also died and are the hands. There should have been more of an attempt to explain how the switches are triggered and why is it limited. It was pretty arbitrary through out the end.
On the gender side of things, I appreciated that they didn't add stereotypically gendered movements to the characters when they've switched, it's more personality traits like Na Eon's aloofness and Eun Ho's over the top reactions which were an act on top of an act. On the other hand the portrayal of the only gay character Lex was suspect. It's totally fine he's effeminate and a fashionable drag queen, but the show had him be overly touchy to other male characters and the other male characters refer to him in gay panic moments. That's very unfortunate. The show seems to be making effort to destigmatize gay culture along with feminine hygiene, contraceptives, and sex toys, but still baby steps for productions that aren't lgbt specific.
The ending with almost all the antagonists redeemed except for the lone female executive was lacking. There wasn't enough from Yoo Mi or Nam Byul for them to be redeemed. Also Jung Woo would go as far as being so physically violent and attempted to murder Na Eon, erasing the evidence, and left her for dead is all forgiven because Hee Jung told him to is extremely nonsensical. That man committed a huge crime and she shouldn't be on friendly terms with him at all, at least not with how things turn out. Yoo Mi went off the deep end hating Na Eon's guts too and there should have been seeded more scenes of her caring enough about Na Eon for their return to friendship to mean anything. Otherwise her not wanting to murder Eun Ho is good enough for them to have some sort of begrudging understanding. Nam Byul was literally a character on the side plotting against Na Eon the whole time with no emotional connection to anything.
Though the drama would have been better if there was a bit more grit and angst in a bit of a darker tone, it was still an interesting take on the body swap genre.
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The plot is about romantic drama. JUST XOXO BUT INTERESTING
Overall xoxo. I don't know to explain my journey about this drama. But i think Ji Eun and Lomon's acting is very immersive. FL is strong and ML is cheerful but there is a story behind it. The flow is a little less good. Overlap. Sit is suspected to be the perpetrator who framed Naeon. A bit annoying with some of the characters in it. Maybe if the plot was shortened or the writer gave a little rough idea, this could be a good drama. The romance is still no less exciting. The essence of this drama is more about romance.Was this review helpful to you?
One of my favourite body swap dramas but was a bit let down in the end
I loved the first 17-18 episodes. It was funny, and they went from hating each other to relying on one another. But I really didn't like the plot where the ML was just trying to get revenge on the FL for misunderstanding which he didn't know, and the fact that FL didn't know how to apologise back then and never had the guts to even in the present. I wish the ML bubbly personality was real and not just show for the most part. But good ending anyway.Was this review helpful to you?
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Great plot.... but not so great execution....
I tagged it as completed but i couldn't finish the last ep and have 20 min left.... so close yet I cannot make myself to finish it completely....
The plot was quite interesting, at least in the beginning. Unfortunately it becomes quite average later on until it finally deteriorates towards the end. Nonetheless actors did a great job ? the change in acting with body swap was good.
As the story goes on, it becomes more... watered down. Like somewhere the main story of her being nearly killed gets lost and then it was about ML's revenge, which was then easily resolved with some video. The body switch also gets lost, as its not really explained why it happened and why it stopped.
The revenge plot from the ML felt mostly like a way to confuse us so we don't identify the killer straight away. It's thrown in them middle, when the FL felt secure about her relationship with him and it get resolved easily. After everything, it was hard to believe that ML had this genius master plan and yeah, he didn't.
During the middle of the series the ML and the SML for whatever reason are reduced to 1 dimensional characters who are there just to be mistreated by the FL. They all pile up in her apartment, for whatever reason. Like ok, the ML kinda has a reason to be there while the SML literally had no business being there, except for being reminded that the FL isn't interested in him at all, making him seem quite pathetic.
The comedic relief of the "underdogs group" didn't really work for me. They were all 1 dimensional:
- the gay guy who has only one personality trait: being gay
-the young girl: blogger/influencer. All she does is take pictures and care only about social media
- woman that has been ther for awhile
and no one was interesting enough so all of their scenes were a skip.
The main leads also didn't have much chemistry. And it's a really slow burn romance. Yes they do kiss early on but that's the most u gonna get in the series.
Also, even the body switch, after a few episodes it just becomes a method to inconvenience the fl as much as possible. So if there's an important meeting, u know they r getting switched, which just becomes annoying.
Other side plots were just not that memorable to even be mentioned.
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Passable business drama with mystery
This is a business drama invovles enough mystery and bit romance. Soul swap plays a major role in which way story unfolds. In this we have enough and good mystery And to hook with the business scenes. Here we have Atypical characteristics of ML and FL (most likely reversed compared to other dramas). Romance does not plays a big role, so we have 'no breakups' and SML is there to pursue FL but 'no traingle' created. This mainy focuses on FL in her business phase. Loved the scenes between leads when souls are swapped ( mainly FL ). I enjoyed comedy in parts. Supporting Cast are OK. If you are for a passable and short business drama then go for this.Note: It's good start with no expectations.
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Most reduclous shit only getting rating for looks
Most of people rated this drama for there looks ML mostly because he is cool and fL is double coolAfter body swap our intern working in company like a CEO because he is ML
Even if he is just a intern who should follow order and run errends now he can act as BOSS and do anything he likes because he has FL soul in him make SENSE ?
SINCE ML is so cool he can even comand his boss anytime he want and insult anyone he want
AND people here are praising this drama which even suck all fun of body swap
There is no displince in OFFICE how intern treat there senior how you should talk formal language in office to your seniors ?
Boring office and some sexual attraction not love chemistry, just physical attraction because ML and FL are north and south in there emotion understanding of each other.
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Here is my review ......
"Branding in Seongsu" is a captivating Korean drama that delves into the competitive world of branding and entrepreneurship in the vibrant district of Seongsu, Seoul. With a compelling storyline, rich character development, and stunning cinematography. From the intricate relationships between the characters to the intricacies of branding strategies, every aspect of the drama is meticulously crafted to keep viewers engaged and entertained. With its blend of drama, romance, and business intrigue, "Branding in Seongsu" is a must-watch for anyone interested in Korean entrepreneurship, or simply a well-crafted story. Don't understand why people spread negativity ? looking forward to watch next episode ☺
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