Start-Up (2020)

It was so good, like the ending how it was.

I'm late reviewing this one, but I really wanted to share my opinion (even if has been almost 3 years since they aired the last episode,). First of all, I couldn't be more disaree with almost all the opinions here I mean, I respect them, but Im disagree and makes me think we weren't watching the same drama and I have the same fight on twt while it was airing.

To all, I'm gonna resume it, this drama has it all, good music (excellent if u ask me, GAHO, Red Velvet and others made it up so well) good acting performance, good characters and even if you don't accept it, good plot.

You gonna feel binged to it since the first episode and gonna start to feel emotional about Dal Mi's story, You gonna feel angry and gonna want to know when everything gonna be revealed and maybe, if you are objective, you gonna accept the ending.

Here we go with the spoilers, everyone was so disappointed in 2021 when Do San got the girl and even now, I can find dissapointed comments on internet about how they just found out Sr. Han didn't got the girl and thats the only reason why people give to the drama a one star review, just beacuse they didn't like the ending throwing the rest of the story.

Yes, its true the relationship between DalMi's grandmother and Sr. Han, was one of the best things in the drama. It melted my heart how she loved him as a grandson and confort him everytime as soon they met again, but for a lot of people this got mixed with Dal Mi and Sr. Han's relationship and they assumed he has to be with her just because her grandmother. For me the ending was what it has to be, even if there were things that killed my braing while watching this drama (like the relationship dalmi have with her mother, I still cant understand why she had leave her and be ok with that, i know he apologized later, but even when that happened I cant still be ok with it), so the ending its the sum of all the things that happend thorough the drama and even if Sr. Han was so sweet, he had a lot of opportunities to be with her, but he didn't dare to say anything and Do San got all the opportunities and did even a little bit more for her... and well, that's my opinion upon to this drama. That's all. ^^

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Forget the hype, the discussions and all that, it's a great K-Drama!

This is the first review I'm writing and I'll try to be brief about it. I started watching Start Up as soon as it premiered in Netflix, and as a fan of Suzy I was really impressed by how much her acting was better and the whole story and atmosphere the drama was created in the first few episodes. It was funny, a little sentimental when it needed to be and there were some great moments of reflection to but without dragging too much the viewers.

The problem started as soon as the drama started getting hype by social media and many new viewers, a whole fan war began over the love triangle they build and it became such a mess that I have to give props to the writers for trying to ease the viewers and please both sizes at the same time. If you don't know what I mean, basically many people were mad saying Seo Dal-mi should be with the boy who wrote the letters, that's Han Ji-pyeong, but for me, these people missed the main focus of the drama itself that wasn't exactly about love but growth and sucess. Because of these fights, I had to stop watching it and only finished a year later when people got over it.

Now, after the whole issue is done I really enjoyed this drama. It's fun, it's heart-warming, the acting is on point and the OST is even better. It's very well-produced, the writers did a good job with what they had and with what they proposed since the first episode and I will rewatch it again in a few years.

I absolutely recommend it and also advise that when watching Korean dramas you don't fall too much into false hopes and don't read too much into it because that takes away the whole magic of your vision and your own experience with the drama.

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Great slice of life of start up in the high tech world

10/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 South Korean Romantic Drama with 16, 72-85 minute episodes.


As young children, Seo Dal-mi (Bae Suzy) and her sister became separated when their mother and father divorced. Seo-Dal-mi chose to stay with her father in South Korea and her sister went with their mother who remarried. Dal-mi's step-father is a wealthy businessman who was able to provide Dal-mi's mother and sister with wealth and status. Dal-mi's father died on the brink of receiving an investment to realize his dream of the next big thing in the tech industry. Wanting to fulfill her father's dream and show her mom and sister that she made the right choice in staying with her father, Dal-mi strives to make a big splash on the tech scene as the CEO to a start-up. Dreams for a successful start-up business start and sometimes finish with admittance to the start-up groomer, Sandbox, which is South Korea's version of Silicon Valley. Nam Do-san (Nam joo-hyuk) was a "math genius" as a young boy and grew up to be a genius coder. He founded a start-up, Samsan Tech, with two close friends. With his business struggling, Do-san agrees to play the role of stand-in as Dal-mi's first love who she "met" as a pen pal when she needs a date to an important event. The young dreamers apply to Sandbox and all are accepted. The situation becomes complicated when Dal-mi's actual pen pal also comes into her life and discovers he has feelings for her. Will these young dreamers realize their dreams and overcome nearly impossible odds to form a successful start-up. Who will Dal-mi end up with, the man who wrote her letters and supported her in her time of greatest need, or this "new" love that is the perfect partner for her aspirations?


Spoilers* At the start we are introduced to Dal-mi's father and it was a sad moment when he died after just realizing his dream of getting investors to start a business. Young Dal-mi had elected to stay with her father when her mother and father divorced. The relationship between the Dal-mi and her father was very heartwarming. Her father's mother, the grandmother, was also a very compelling character and it was understandable why so many people were drawn to her. I love how the grandmother adopted this orphaned young man in spirit and took care of him despite his bristly exterior. The grandmother also took such careful care of Dal-mi not just physically but emotionally after her father died. It was an interesting slice of life to see what a technology based start up might go through trying to get their idea(s) off the ground. The friendships, romances, and just the character development was all very well done and interesting. I really liked 2nd guy but I did not feel too bad for him to lose the girl as it had taken him too much time to realize he liked her and, even then, he was too slow to show her how he felt. I also liked him to the extent that I was glad she didn't wind up with him because she would never have loved him as much as he loved her. The 2nd guy could have been unkind and kept Do-san and Dal-mi apart by withholding information but he cared enough about both that he told them despite it being against his interest to do so. I liked Nam Joo-hyuk in "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo" and "The Bride of Haeback" he is a very diverse and talented actor. Suzy Bae is just incredible. I first saw her in "While You Were Sleeping" and loved the role she played as a very vulnerable person troubled by visions she could not control. There was so much chemistry between the two leads and they looked very good together. It definitely made me root for their relationship. It was interesting to observe how each team member brought talent to the table and how they moved so many concepts into developed ideas into reality. I highly recommend this and would readily watch it again in the future. One of my new favorites.

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"No pain no gain"

This drama starts with a childhood story, but the journey is there too. The mental of a CEO should be strong from the beginning. The path won't be flat, there would be obstacles, and also failures. This drama has it all, when the FL (Seo Dalmi) wants to build a start-up company. I learned a lot about some management methods here. And the nation's favourite.. Han Jipyeong the good boy. All of his scenes with the halmeoni is really emotional and heartwarming for me. Well, Dosan also has a part in my heart (since Joohyuk is my favourite actor) because he also works hard. I'm very emotional while the Samsans came back from the States and visit their first ever office for the last time. They had gone through lots of things from that small office, until they can work in the States. The "no pain no gain" phrase is the best phrase to describe this drama. In my opinion, this drama isn't only about Dalmi's first love, this is also about self improvement, responsibility, and "good things take time".

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my comfort drama

I know you might think I’m crazy, but I love this drama so much!!
just everything about it makes me so happy!
the cast is so good, Sansan tec crew all make me laugh

I love bae Suzy and nam joo-hyuk so much, I know everybody had second male lead syndrome for this but not me! I feel like dosan and dalmi are perfectly suited and they had so much chemistry

want Suzy and joo-hyuk to reunite soon!!!

I have rewatched 4 times and it never disappoints

only think I would say is there is far to much crap about start-ups and not enough romance

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Some bad dialogue, particularly towards the end, but pretty unique theme, fantastic 2 ML/FL

Towards the end some of the writing became pretty bad ("I like you because I like you"? Seriously? What are we, twelve? No, probably at that age you are past that level of sophistication). Triangle was pretty weak despite the good start/premise (timeskip that lasted years, and no action from one of the "angles"?) due to lousy script/writing. Last scene on the rooftop with 2nd ML was also pretty lame dialogue-wise (justification did not make any sense, they both went after her to help her, he was a step behind in acknowledging his feelings). Actually, I found the whole "I need someone to swoop in and save me like you did when we met" spiel a bit insulting to FL's character, given that she is supposed to otherwise be a strong and independent female character (and she is competent and generally with a good characterization).

Not sure about ease of mom, etc. acceptance back into the family (particularly because the question "would she/they have gone back had the husband/father not been so scummy?" remains, on the other hand they did this all "above board", she divorced, it's not like she cheated or anything, and I do think that In-Jae being a kid at the time is a distinction worth making when judging her actions), on the other hand she was so helpless/comic that you just couldn't dislike her, and the scenes were just not written with that kind of dramatic overtone, so it felt ok. To be honest, this is not something that bothered me the way it was presented. Essentially, I might have hated them in a more "dramatic" presentation, but here it was all very lighthearted, and when you see the mom trying to go in internet cafes, etc. or competing with kids for poster it's just funny... In-Jae's conflict is interesting, and she is a strong and competent female character that makes her own stand, you cannot help but respect her.

Had a bit of 2nd lead syndrome, would have been good to see it resolved a-la Hometown Cha Cha Cha, where 2nd lead was paired with someone else, in this case they had In-Jae that would have been perfectly positioned (at least after the last time skip), character-wise they are similar (serious, professional, elegant), she is basically the person he interacts with the most of the trio in the final timeskip (plus the other two are paired), could have also been just a hint as in the final episode of Itaewon Class... Nothing, which to me was again some lazy writing.

On the other hand, the drama was pretty unique (the only one of its genre), and I found the tech part rather believable (not Mr Robot levels, but they used Python ML libs when talking about ML which compared with the squiggly terminals you see in the average computer scene is miles ahead.

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Loved the story

I started to watch this drama because of the hype of the end of 2020 about it. Of course I love Suzy and Nam JooHyuk, I seen multiple of their dramas and to see them together was very entertaining. Overall the story was realistic yet unique and well put together. I loved all the character's personal growth as characters. I loved the love triangle and the friendship within the cast. Very well done and of course I loved the ending:)

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What I really appreciated was how any computer/technology use in this show was very accurate

The opening episode was so utterly amazing, so well shot, and where interesting storylines abounded. But then there was a lull where it wasn't going anywhere for a short while.

I'm glad I stuck with it though because it got a lot better after this short-lived lull.

It's kind of the way it goes with Kdrama in my experience; either they get you, or they don't, so it makes for a polarizing appreciation after-the-fact. Since they're generally all-in on the interpersonal parts and the character relationships, when you're not invested it suddenly starts to fall apart. Yet, when it does work, it's a unique watch experience that you can't really reproduce easily with other media from other countries, at least in my humble opinion. It's why I watch them (also makes for a nice change of pace from other genres).

So what about this? What I really appreciated was how any computer/technology use in this show was very accurate. Everything looks legit. I'm somewhat savvy with computers and it often drives me crazy how computers/hacking is portrayed in films and TV shows. It's always a farce just how ridiculous and not realistic it is, while here it's actually quite accurate. Maybe not as accurate as Mr. Robot, but real close. Real effort was put into portraying actual technology usage and the way it works, how developers actually work, like with Windows for instance, etc., so that was nice.

However, there is a huge problem with this show: It's got a bit of an acute case of capitalist propaganda (I say this only half-jokingly), and… they get bought out for $3 million. Sure they are sad because their dream has been taken from them, but at the same time… $3 million. You can do a lot with this. It's hard to relate to them when you know they just received a $3 million payout, even if it means they are separated. It opens up a lot of doors! So here we have a rather extreme example of a first world problem I would say.

Nonetheless, this drama has interesting story writing and character evolution that both manage to push its story forward in ways that are surprising and creative. Plus, the characters are a fun bunch to follow even though the whole thing is emotionally manipulative at times. Add to that a killer OST by Red Velvet (Future is stuck in my head).

Recommended!

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Overall solid series

So, to start with, the positive aspects of the show -the first episode is fantastic and immediately you feel emotionally invested. The OST, locations and cinematography are also top notch. You can see the high production value and the whole Sandbox location is very immersive.

Spoilers below
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I know some people have criticised the business story-line as being too basic. I can understand when it's your field of expertise however as an outsider I wasn't overly bothered. Plus I was more interested in the romance and relationships anyway.

Shout-out to my favourite character - Dal-mi's grandmother - who is definitely the beating heart of the story. I was also impressed by Kim Joo-hun and Nam Da-reum in their brief appearances. The lead actors do a very good job although I wasn't entirely convinced by the romance.

Part of the reason is that Kim Seon-ho does such as a good job as the SML. Yes he is the dashing and successful but also flawed. The first episode sets up his background nicely and you can understand why he is emotionally unavailable. Ultimately I feel like the beginning of story supports Ji-pyeong and Dal-mi ending up as a couple. They have an emotional connection.

On that note, Nam Joo-hyuk is very solid as Do-san but I feel that he was miscast. He can clearly pull his weight in emotional scenes but I'm not sure he embodies the role of a geeky tech wiz. Full credit to Joo-hyuk for trying something different but I think he is too handsome and straight laced to nail the role. It would have been better served by someone like Choi Woo-shik.

For me, the plot started to stall around episode 11/12, after the reveal. The time lapse felt a bit clunky and the pacing was slowed down. I also started to lose interest in the side plots - Dal-mi's dispute with In-jae and In-jae dispute with her adopted father. Like many series I have watched, perhaps 12 episodes would have been better or if they had showed more of lead characters growing up.

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Though mist people do not like this drama it's not bad I will say

I'm new at this review writing so please excuse me if anything sounds wrong.
This show is so nice, you are going to have a second lead syndrome while watching this show. Though I love the main guy of the show, the second guy is so ahhhh. Dal-mi had a nice plotline, I like how she grew as a character, I don't know if I would say the same thing about Do-san. He felt plain but at the same time not completely plain, if you haven't watched it, you'll see what I'm talking about. But like Ji-pyeong had a ton of details behind him while Do-san ended up being Do-san. Our last main character, In-Jae, Dal-mi's older sister. I really like how she grew, in the end, you see her development. I cried while watching the scene of Ji-pyeong so this show is kinda tear-jerking. I did skip a couple of episodes because it felt a little drawn out, but at the same time it was watchable and I would 100% recommend this to anyone.

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