I went into this drama without knowing much about it aside from gifs I saw here and there, the episodes trending on twitter and at some point seeing people defend NDS' behaviour (can't remember why). Looking back, maybe that last one was actually a red flag. You can skip to the overall section of this review to get a summary of my opinion on Start Up without me ranting too much about what could have been.

Story & characters:
The story started well, I really enjoyed the first episode even though it was a bit surprising and it made me wonder if HJP was supposed to be the male lead. It certainly felt like it after watching the first episode and, unfortunately, it felt like this during the whole drama. Despite how weird it felt, I really tried to give NDS a chance, thinking "oh using his name in the letters mean that they were destined to meet, maybe they will have a connection", and HJP didn't seem interested in SDM anyway. Unfortunately, I never felt any connection and I just hated NDS more and more to the point that I ended up skipping most of his scenes during the last four episodes, at least. The main relationship had too much angst but for the wrong reasons and so many of their scenes felt like all those minutes could have been used to explore the other plots.

Maybe it's because I'm older, but I enjoyed the family/friends and work plots a lot more than the romantic ones. The first episode is mostly centered around complex family relationships (the sisters, HJP and the grandma) and friendship (HJP and SDM) that I feel like it's a shame that it didn't focus on that instead, without having NDS and the love triangle. It really felt like NDS was out of place during the whole drama and his tantrums distracted from the actual good plots we could have had.

This is getting longer than I thought it would be but this drama really frustrated me. For example, SDM was a really interesting character at first, but she's not given the opportunity to reach her full potential and to be more complex. WIJ on the other hand really grew on me and turned out to be one of my favourite characters on the show but even her character development was really rushed at the end. I think that the focus should have been more on them, their aspirations and how they try to mend their relationship (between them, but with their whole family in general). The father is also barely mentioned even though he started it all. As for HJP and the grandmother, the other main relationship from the pilot, I really enjoyed their scenes and it's a shame that we didn't get more of them. Instead, we got forced bonding scenes between her and NDS.

I did enjoy the SST team and I loved how their dynamic evolved (even though, once again, more time could have been given to them, especially to Saha and Dalmi) but it felt kinda ruined towards the end. Out of the main three of SST, Yongsan is the only one who actually showed growth and it's another character who should have been given more time, especially since his story is much more interesting than... you know who. The whole start up plot in general felt very secondary because so much focus was on the main couple and/or the love triangle, and the scenes we had felt so unrealistic, especially towards the end. They just don't fail enough after their big failure, I don't think anything goes wrong at all. There are things that go well but shouldn't, and I don't think it would be a bad thing if they did fail at the end, it would have just showed that they're still at the beginning of an (allegedly) exciting adventure and there are still many more things they will have to face together. Instead, it just feels like they don't have any problems anymore and won't have any ever again. All that thanks to NDS being some sort of coding god I guess!

Now, I haven't said much about HJP but he truly is my favourite character. Like I said, I didn't feel anything romantic between him and SDM so I wasn't invested in that side of their relationship, however it's a shame that we didn't get to see their friendship evolve once they meet up again as adults. I did enjoy their scenes, hence why I wanted more of these instead of... you know what. Many people have said it already but he deserved better. I think it was during WIJ's party, but I really thought something would happen between WIJ and HJP. Romantic or not, I would have loved to see these two together more and it would have given both of them a relationship that is new and not related to main characters. The writer somehow forces certain characters to stay alone.

Finally... why do I hate NDS? Well, like someone in the show once said, do I need a reason?? :) Seriously, there are many reasons but I also noticed that things I hate about him are things others think are endearing or something, so it's really just from my perspective. Personally, I think he's spoiled, immature, self-centered, reckless, a crybaby, manipulative, violent, impulsive, a liar... I also don't see any growth, aside from him not breaking things anymore. The fact that he lies even for the smallest things is honestly not cute at all, the only person he is protecting is himself and his fragile ego. He doesn't need a girl to obsess over, he needs therapy and a proper discussion with his father. And a proper discussion with the SST guys as well to be honest.

Acting:
If you're still reading, kudos. As for the acting, it was okay in general, but HJP's actor was really amazing, it was my first time seeing him so I'm curious now to see his other works. I get now why everyone loved him so much after watching Start Up, his scenes were always the best moments for me. The other two main actors though weren't very convincing. Not bad but not good either. I'm not very familiar with their acting, and I do think the script is the main reason why I don't feel any chemistry between their characters, but their acting lacked depth in my opinion.

Music:
I loved the music, I always enjoyed hearing them even though I believe that some lyrics were more about HJP than NDS so it was sometimes a bit weird.

Rewatch value:
I would rewatch a NDS free version of the show, it would feel like a sitcom and why not.

Overall:
5/10... the drama is saved by the second lead and the secondary plots/characters. SDM herself is quite enjoyable outside of her relationship with NDS. The story started by giving importance to certain characters and plots but all of these were quickly discarded and it ended up being 80% about a character I really couldn't stand with a storyline that wasn't that relevant to the rest since I could skip most of his scenes without it preventing me from understanding everything else. Weirdly, while there's so much focus on the main romance/love triangle, not any depth is given to it while being somehow so full of angst so it really feels like their scenes are a waste of time.