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Start-Up korean drama review
Completed
Start-Up
3 people found this review helpful
by leen
Dec 13, 2020
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

its not as bad as everyone says it is

The top few reviews are rating this drama so low with many of them being less than 5? Tbh, i dont think this drama was THAT bad. I shall start off with the things that i liked about the drama.

I loved the concept of business and startup as the main theme of the drama especially during the first few episodes in samsan tech. It was quite fresh and interesting. The bromance between the samsan tech brothers was one of the few things that carried this drama - the bond between the 3 of them was really cute and i cant help but not skip all their scenes and probably repeat them cuz they're funny af. The actors and actresses also did their characters justice, especially Kim Seon Ho (SML) with Han JiPyeong (hence his soaring popularity now). He really brought out the emotions of HJP accurately and stole the show even as a second-lead. I love the scenes of him and haemolni and cry almost every time they are together LOL. I'm so glad they casted Kim Seon Ho for this, hes such an amazing actor and im glad hes gaining international recognition for his acting skills. Another actress that I would like to compliment is Kang Han Na (SFL) but I will save this up for the later part. Suzy and NJH (leads) were also very natural in their acting, but I think everyone kinda knows that so I'll move on. Other than the main leads, I thought the acting of everyone else like the side characters were also really good, hence the 10 for acting. I really love the OST for this drama too, probably one of my fav drama OSTs.

Now for the reasons why I did not rate this drama any higher than 7. Startup was very popular during the first few episodes both domestically and internationally because many people enjoyed it but it just went downhill especially after the competition. The drama focussed WAY TOO MUCH on the love triangle that they forgot about the business concept and neglected their other main lead - In Jae (Kang Hanna) who was not part of the triangle. I lowkey really liked In Jae's character as an independent woman who's capable af but they unknowingly downgraded her to an unfortunate cameo scene as the woman who stares at the girl on the swing in every episode and i thought it was a huge waste on the character. They could have ended the love triangle earlier and used the time to develop more on her character instead. Furthermore, this drama has probably one of the WORST time skips ever. 3 years passed but no one changed and some people are suddenly on good terms with literally no explanation at all?????? I was waiting for the explanation but till the last episode there were no flashbacks or whatsoever, it was as if the writer had no time to write all these in and decided to just give up a potential area to develop the relationship between the characters. The worst part of this show was the lack in character development of the FL and ML. Nam Do-san only became richer after the 3 years but was equally immature as before which annoyed me a lot. Dal Mi downgraded from an independent woman to a woman who needs her man to agree with her before she makes a decision - literally every time she has t make a decision, the professionals will say no and her other co-workers will say no but because her man says "go for it i believe in us" then boom she does it which is so unrealistic in real life and paints the wrong message to the viewers?

Overall, if you are looking for a light hearted drama with serious second-lead syndrome, you can consider this i guess but would suggest you to spend this time on other drama instead HAHAH. Though there were many plot holes in this drama, I loved the vibe of the drama and the friendships between the characters. While considering the negative aspects of the drama, i had to consider the times this drama made me happy and hence nothing less or more than 7.
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