History of the Salaryman (2012)

This is one of the best corporate dramas that I have ever seen. What makes it stand out is that the intensity that comes with the corporate battles is lightened with comedy. Also, it is better because the "good guys" don't always lose and they aren't stupid. There is excellent story and character development. Everything is neatly tied together and wrapped up. I gave it a 9 instead of a 10 for a couple of reasons. I will try to explain this with out giving away anything. One of the characters was fooled when the character should have been too smart for that. He only came to realize the truth when it was almost too late. Also, I had to start this drama 3 times until I could get through the first and second episodes. Honestly, I'm not much into comedy and I thought this drama was going to be stupid. Once I was passed that part, then I was all in. The comedy is actually well done even for some one like me who isn't into it (my favorite genre is melo).

Kim Seo Hyung as Secretary Mo is no joke. She excelled in making me hate the character and I appreciate her for it. That laughter is something else. Lee Bum Soo cracked me up as the confident and witty Yoo Bang, I like the fact that he looked for a way to over come through out the drama. I'm told that I should watch Giant next. Jung Gyu Woon had me totally conflicted with his hot/cold character Hang Woo from beginning to end. Do I hate him? Do I love him? I still don't know. Why isn't Jung Ryeo Won in more dramas? I totally fell for her as Yeo Chi. I hope to see her more. Hong Soo Hyun was fun as the smart and beautiful Woo Hee. I really liked the strong female characters. All of the other actors were good also.

The music is excellent.

This is probably something I will rewatch someday.

I think that this drama can be enjoyed by anyone. I highly recommend it.

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this movie first and foremost is a laugh out loud comedy then melodrama. i seriously dint expect it reading from the reviews. to start with, the music was daebak key (shinee) and leeteuk (suju). second is lee bum soo needs to get an award for best male actor. his character was excellent and he dint disappoint. jung ryeo won was also perfect since this is the first drama/movie i have seen such cursing from start to finish. her english is very good too she must have lived in the US. third is the love triangles dint reveal the pairing all the way to like episode 15. the whole time it was unclear who would end up with who. the story was well written but the last two episodes were abit too much of unreal and cheesy, i dint like how they just ended the verdict, it dint seem fair for the punishment. finally, if i hear one more chinese saying......lets just say each episode had one. in the beginning it was interesting but when they use it one after another it becomes repetitive. and why why why is there no kiss scene with yoo bang....very disappointed.

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This drama is a gem!!! Definitely worthwhile watching this!!!
A great mix of comedy and a bit of melodrama - just perfect to satisfy your needs!!

Actors/actresses did a splendid job of bringing out their characters - that if you watched them in something else - you would assume that that was the person's real personality!

Music was really well played in this - the main theme song is honestly the best - along with the other songs that play an important part of the drama.

Definitely something I would rewatch in the future - funny cuts and a whole rerun!!
Worth investing 22+ hours into watching :)

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(Updated Review 2021)

Wow. What a difference a few years (or more) of drama viewing make. I originally watched this drama back when I was still a little baby drama newbie, and it definitely shows in my first review (which I've kept at the bottom of this updated review for you to compare the two with each other). I did not understand this drama or what it was trying to do. At all, lol. After a re-watch (only the second drama I've ever attempted to re-watch and the only drama I've Succeeded in fully re-watching), my feelings have fundamentally altered.

This drama is literally genius. Uproariously funny, office politics intrigue that's actually...intriguing, Yoo Bang and Yeo Chi are Damn. Good. Characters., side characters who feel like family, consistent plot, a side character who Really surprises you with their character progression, extremely well-used aspects of the drama's real-life source material, chock-full of traditional Korean sayings. This is basically a Kdrama classic and required viewing for all Kdrama lovers.

And now that I've given it such glowing praise, let me talk about my complaints, lol.

While I love Yoo Bang and Yeo Chi to pieces, Hang Woo and Woo Hee are definitely the most inconsistent characters out of our main four, and my major complaints about the drama are all related to them.

1) Hang Woo has a deep-seeded desire for revenge that plays an important part in the main plotline of the drama but at some point, said revenge disappears and isn’t mentioned or alluded to or plays any part in the story again until about 3 eps out from the end. It fades from the story in a way that feels natural and realistic, but the writers never give an explanation as to Why Hang Woo doesn’t seem to care about exacting his revenge anymore. He just effectively stops trying to get revenge.

2) Once Hang Woo and Woo Hee start down the path of truly falling for each other (not just flirting/driving each other nuts at every turn/Hang Woo being manipulative), there's very little focus on them actually getting to know each other as people. I found myself wanting to actually See them falling in love with each other, not just be told that that's what happened, and I was disappointed that their entire relationship added up to 'they (adorably) (hilariously) drove each other nuts for ages and now they're in love.'

3) The last three to four eps are not as tightly plotted as the rest of the drama and can be a bit draggy in places. This is mostly to do with Hang Woo's character (and tangentially Woo Hee) because of the aforementioned problem with his plans of revenge disappearing with no explanation then suddenly popping back up to become an important part of the plot again.

I'm not going to say this is one of my favorite dramas, but man do I respect it a lot more than I used to. Contrary to what ignorant, naive, little baby drama newbie me thought, this is a very good drama.

I do not recommend Korean drama newbie's watch this drama as their first, second, third, fourth, or even fifth drama though as there's a lot going on here that you probably won't be able to fully appreciate until you've got a few other dramas under your belt, but you should definitely watch it once you know enough about Korean dramas to really appreciate all of the magnificent things Salaryman did with it's story.


:Original Review:
Great at humor. Terrible at drama.

And Hang Woo. Make up your damn mind, son!!!

I've contemplated going back and watching that last episode so many times.

Maybe I will someday.

Then again, maybe I'll just get some ice cream instead.

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