A short review of the premiere week of 《Start-Up PH》

(NOTE: I'm reserving my MDL review (the built-in feature) for when the series has ended.)

This is a review of the premiere week of Start-Up PH (episodes 1 to 5).

Start-Up PH is a 2022 Philippine drama starring Bea Alonzo, Alden Richards, Jeric Gonzales, and Yasmien Kurdi. This show is about two sisters who dream of starting the next highly successful startup company, but learn that being a successful CEO means first and foremost being human.

From the premiere episode to the fifth, the actors brought their characters to life closer to the original drama series while keeping the characters true to being Filipino. Bea Alonzo’s acting as the Filipino counterpart of Bae Suzy (배수지)’s character Seo Dal Mi (서달미) earned her the nickname the Bea Suzy of the Philippines, and I could not agree more, as Bea portrayed her character Danica ‘Dani’ Sison amazingly.

The boy next door Alden Richards is playing as Tristan ‘Good Boy’ Hernandez, the Filipino counterpart of Kim Seon Ho (김선호)’s character Han Ji Pyung (한지평). Alden was not only at par with Seon Ho (선호) in his attractive looks and charming dimples, Alden’s acting was top-notch when he captured Ji Pyung (지평) so well and translated it into a Filipino character.

Another outstanding talent who brought the show’s high ratings in its first week is Yasmien Kurdi as Katrina ‘Ina’ Diaz, the Filipino counterpart of Won In Jae (유인재), played by Kang Han Na (강한나) in the original series. Ina possessed the same fierceness and intimidating qualities of being a big sister as In Jae (인재), with the added Filipino touch of being mataray (blunt; mean; pretentious; sassy); excellent acting from Yasmien.

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