Kimsamsoom

I think this is because ISW and SSK are almost the same height.

Heels would make him look shorter LOL!

You also probably get this feeling because of the lack of blaring OST music every time the ML and FL are together.

Run On chooses to use light and simple melodies for most of it's run time.

I think this effects the feeling we get while watching it.

Honestly, if SDM was a real person, and NDS was a real person.

I would see it as SDM being an opportunist. SDM comes from a poor family, and she knows she only got her position due to nepotism and the CTO is her boyfriend. So if she breaks up with NDS, the company will crash and burn because they won't be able to separate professional and emotions (something SDM even admits).

So even if she's miserable, she's going to continue the sham marriage due to money.

This is no different from all those super wealthy couples who only stay together because of money. It is even worse in Asian countries. Because in Asian culture, Pre-nups are becoming more popular. So some wives are left in loveless marriage, but are unable to leave, because if they leave the marriage, they end up with nothing. Being used to such a lavish lifestyle, they just trudge along even if their husbands are abusive or worse, they are having affairs.

I see SDM just having a similar relationship, she needs NDS if she is to reach the wealth status she wants. HJP in the end is just an employee and won't be as rich as NDS could potentially be. It's a money thing if Start Up was real life. And SDM is literally marrying her way to the top.

There is this italian movie called Life is Beautiful.

And I think in a lot of ways Run On is like this. In the life is beautiful, the main characters are in a Nazi camp, and yet he tries to make it seem happy and joyful to his son, to make sure his son doesn't lose hope or his happiness.

In Run On, there are clearly issues and trouble brewing under the surface, but the positivity of the ML and FL, and their quirkiness makes us forget about it. The characters don't brood, they don't angst, and they don't blame. They accept what life has offered them, and find ways to make it sunnier for the next tomorrow. Something that we can all learn and appreciate for our lives.

"First of all, the lying about NDS identity is all on HJP and it's worse than everything on NDS's list, so the amount doesn't matter when what he did is way worse. You're implying lying about not watching an insignificant video to someone lying about someone's whole existence for 8 episodes is equal..."

HJP actually keeps Halmoni's lie going. If anyone is to blame for being the catalyst it is Halmoni. Also, HJP told NDS to tell SDM that he has a GF, and cut it off. But NDS instead decided to lie even more. And in NDS own words "I'm going to lie to the maximum life of the lie" So a big reason the lie continues is NDS, this is a fact, not speculation.

NDS is just as guilty, if not more for the lie lasting as it did. He added more and more layers to the lie, like claiming HJP and him are like brothers. In Sandbox, HJP is clearly wanting to tell SDM the news, before NDS comes to interrupt with new of SST getting into Sandbox.

Also NDS himself has no right to the identity of NDS, since for the past 15 years he has been lying to himself and to his parents. Arguably, the NDS that Halmoni and HJP used for the letters is a fake NDS, because NDS is not the NDS HJP thought he was.

What HJP does is to withhold the truth as a debt to Halmoni. What NDS does is essentially catfishing.

"80% of your NDS list is a reach. It would take 20 paragraphs so I'm just gonna mention a few of the hilarious ones."

It's not a reach when the majority (HJP fans) felt the same way. You have the remember the people who support NDS are in the minority. Because most people just didn't' sympathize with NDS, and so this list I made is actually pretty accurate.

"Purposely leaving HJP out of beach trip with Grandma, and honking his horn disrespectfully as HJP is walking away."
As if HJP isn't trying to have NDS away from Dalmi for the entire drama LMAOOOOOO
And how is that even a bad thing, he wasn't invited and they aren't friend like... what do you expect?"

You are clearly forgetting NDS and HJP are suppose to be close as brothers. This is NDS wonderful life. HJP is suppose to be helping them because he treats NDS like a brother. Do you do this to your brother? If you do, I have nothing to say. And in general honking your horn when someone is clearly walking away is a douche move, and people have fought for less than this.

"Cheats on a test"
He didn't actively cheat, he got the answer accidentally appearing right in front of his eyes, why would he not write it when he now knows it. That would be dumb.

So if opportunity to cheat comes, you are dumb not to cheat? Good logic. So if your husband or wife gives you this answer, I hope you will be just as understanding. "honey, I had no choice, he was there and really aggressively flirting with me, not having an affair would be dumb of me :(((

"Signs deal with Alex without consulting HJP"
Dalmi is the CEO, that's entirely her fault.

And whose fault is it for not telling SST that Alex only wanted NDS in the first place, and is only buying SST because NDS demanded it? That kind of information would be very important to tell your CEO don't you think? Oh right, I forget SDM is only 7% owner, so she's not an actual CEO :)))

"Lies to SDM about the scrunchie."
OMG he should go to jail for it! How could he? Seriously?
Also you included this on NDS but not on HJP's list, he manipulated NDS, he tried to make it seem he had something going on with her by having her scrunchie in his car. Shows how biased you are.

Your right, I missed adding it to HJP's list. HJP doing that was a flaw as well for me. I just forgot to add it.

But yes small lies are dangerous, because the benchmark of what constitutes small lies eventually grows, and the bigger lies becomes easier to justify. It's a well known fact. Read this article if you don't believe me. You are either a liar or not. You can't claim to be Honest Abe, since you feel small lies don't count...

https://greatist.com/grow/truth-about-lying

"Touches SDM while she is sleeping, this is a no no for me."
She did the same right before he did, and they were both in love, like... Also you know damn well HJP would do the same. It's supposed to be romantic.

HJP would do the same? He was in that EXACT same situation in the car, and he chose to respect her and does not touch her. But your right SDM did the wrong by doing it to, but this list is about HJP and NDS only. I didn't bother writing one for SDM.

"Promises to keep Grandma’s lie"
While it's wrong, you're acting like he didn't it for good things. If he didn't it would have been way worse. Dalmi would have hated him for it. Also the granny asked him to give her the letter with her writing on it... do the math.

I think your being Naïve here, NDS clearly knew what he was doing when he gave her that notebook. Also, if I break a bond of trust for the greater good its ok? Oh boy.. I hope you actually don't think this, because you will make lots of enemies this way, and will lose your integrity. Keep in mind "for good things' is subjective, what you may think is a good thing, may not be for the person whose secret your suppose to keep.

"Manipulates HJP into saving Noongil."
Literally what? Noongil is essential for the granny, he did it for her, that's not manipulating...

Oh boy... LOL is all I can say :)))

"You're making up some BS just to make yourself feed good about preferring HJP. Good for you!"

I'm not biased, I'm "defending" NDS cause everyone is making up lies just cause of y'all thirsting over HJP's cute smile and his pitiful self... get a grip :)

Nope, I'm writing factual statements. But I can tell I've hit a nerve here, so I'm going to stop right here before you get angrier. Don't forget to take a chill pill every now and then...

Right! your comments are super objective and neutral! And we are just making stuff up :((((

HJP so cute! :))))

I cannot speak for other people who rated it, but for me personally, I rated it at 6/10. You can read my review here to find out why.

Personally after, Ep. 7 I didn't care who SDM ended up with.

https://mydramalist.com/profile/8107345/review/107289

But let me summarize. I didn't like the show Start Up for the following reasons.

1. Unrealistic portrayal of Start Up business
2. Poor societal morals
3. Lazy writing
4. Too much clichés
5. Poor and inconsistent characterizations
6. A weakly written ML that got overshadowed by the SML for most of the show's run.
7. Retrogradation of plot points
8 . Plot holes
9. Too many useless scenes
10. Unnecessary love triangle that lasted way past it's expiry date
11. Lack of chemistry between Main Couple
12. Inconsistent acting from ML and FL
13. Overhype
14. Unhealthy moral's being shown
15. Unhealthy familial relationships
16. Romanticizing of unhealthy concepts
17. The journey of SST felt very unsatisfactory due to the lack of proper hindrances. The journey felt unearned.
18. The presence of teenage angst, emotions, and plot lines more fitting for a HS drama than a story about Tech Startups.

There are way too many dramas above 8.1 that I feel are a lot better than Start Up, so I will have to respectfully disagree with your assertion of it deserving a score higher than 8.1. In fact, I actually believe it could be rated lower.

But hey, if you liked it, then that's all that matters :)))

I think he is what NDS could have been, if written properly. Not sure if NJH could pull it off, but this kind of quirkiness would have breathed life into NDS.

This is a refreshingly great read. I wanted to take the time to respond to some of your points.

I'm glad you brought up Start Up, as I felt that the weirdness of the ML is what NDS potentially could have been. Normally when I watch Kdrama, and I always look out for the actor/actress micro expression, and here we have IWS completely devoid of it, and I'm loving it. It completely fits the quirkiness of his character of both a simple and complex ML that barely allows any emotion to seep from this blank unblinking stares.

And this quirk understandably makes most people uncomfortable, I'd be hard pressed to be in a staring contest with the ML, as I feel when he looks at me, he is not really looking at me, but rather past me. And I believe this is the core of his characterization. The ML in Run On, when he interacts with people, doesn't see their skin deep characteristic. He doesn't' see beauty, he doesn't see fame, he doesn't see wealth, nor power, he sees the person for who they are, without all the superficial trappings.

I also find it interesting that after seeing NDS in Start Up, being your typical reckless ML, here we have the ML in Run On, being more calculating. A lot of his reckless, and impulsive moves, because of what we know about his personality, seems so calculated. I'm not sure if this is because of his wealth status or not, since he seems to be aware of the ramifications of his action. I rather think that this is just his personality, which he kind of parallels with his running. He is going through life, not knowing what he wants, or where he will go, but he knows he has to face life at the speed of 10 seconds or less.

I personally believe, this non stop running on him and his mind, is directly the result of some tough family life where his mind and body are basically in auto-pilot. Like he is subconsciously afraid that if he stops running, he will have to actually face himself and his issues, which at the moment, he is unwilling to do. He prefers to stay in his self made bubble, where, as you say, he is the only one who understands it.

Yes, I am also done with love triangles :)

Yeah the 3 leads so far are so quirky. My favorite is the FL.

In Ep. 16, when SDM tells NDS how he has grown. I literally laughed out loud.

If you need dialogue and flashback to remind people that NDS has grown, maybe he either did not grow that much, or the show felt so insecure people would feel he didn't grow.

The quality in your writing is better than the writing for Start Up. There I said what everyone was thinking :)))

Also TKEM was very expensive. $30M budget if i'm not mistaken. Probably 1/3 of that is KES and LMH salary alone.

The thing prior to Ep. 6 NDS could possibly have a complex character arc, dealing with Imposter Syndrome, maturing from his introverted shell, learning how to be an effective leader, the journey towards finding what his dream really is. Even NDS emulating HJP, in not solving SDM's every single little problem, would have gone a long way in showing how he can be supportive of SDM without being actively involved in every single little thing. The same way WIJ is supporting of SDM without micromanaging her.

But after Ep. 6 the character and the plot, doesn't address any of these things. All it does it just to keep thrusting NDS towards success, and place facetious barriers to his success, while never addressing the problems with his characterization in the first place.

HJP on the other hand, experience episodic growth, and stayed fairly consistent with his characterization. Even when the writer gave HJP out of character actions, KSH natural charm brought about mixed reactions to these immature actions that eventually manifested towards sympathy and empathy for his character. HJP had created so much goodwill, that small actions like him dreaming of a way to hurt NDS with the scrunchie, and pretending that he and SDM were a couple did very little to faze the fandom towards HJP happy ending

NDS on the other hand, due to his inconsistent characterization, and major immoral actions experience the opposite thing. As the writer decided to give him great moral actions, and some selfless acts in the latter episodes, it became too late, as people had already pegged NDS as an unlikeable ML that can gain no sympathy because all his good actions/good deeds, came with some sort of selfishness or motive that became hard to see as simply actions of a nice guy.

If the writer had remained true to NDS original character, and given his character more added depths and complexity, or at the very least dealt with and punished some of the more ridiculous things NDS was doing, then I would reckon he would get a lot more sympathy. Seeing a character grow at basically the last episode, when his role has not been very liked is a little bit too late IMO.

Well that is part of the plot, NDS is portrayed to be mentally weak and very sensitive. Proof of this is seen in the reaction of Cheul San and Yong San to the criticism vs NDS reaction. And i'm speaking from my own experience growing up in an Asian culture, plus from the experiences of my Asian friends who shared the same upbringing. Either the harshness comes from the parents, or the work environment.

You mean the one time he did it in Ep. 14? Then regretted it afterwards? Are you ignoring the many many times NDS has been manipulative? On my list, you can count the number of times NDS has lied versus the number of times HJP has lied. The list speaks for itself, and is pretty damning on who the bigger liar is. I am more concerned that NDS feels the need to lie about even small things. Because in human psychology, if you find it easy to lie about the small things, you are much more likely to find it easier to lie about the big things, as your mind becomes trained to take small lies as everyday happenstance. What may start as little small lies with no bearings, eventually snowballs to a web of deceit, as we see in the show. Read up on the psychology of lying if your curious to what I'm talking about.

Sigh... Ok, you go and make a list for HJP if your so clearly objective :))) I wrote everything from the show that I thought HJP did wrong. Feel free to add things you think I missed. You basically look at my list, saw that NDS had more wrongs, and didn't bother to read it and immediately summarized that I am bias with the list... Where have I heard this type of rhetoric before? Oh right, from NDS fans :))) At least read the list, tell me which one is wrong, which one is right, what have I missed, rather than making a blanket statement with no discernable facts to back your assessment.

Your initial post shows a bias towards NDS and against HJP, and your second post you claim to be neutral on both characters? It seems a bit hypocritic if you don't mind me saying :)))

A bit unorthodox, but you may want to start with Ep. 2 than Ep. 1 after. I mean, for me anyway :)))

What did you want to know in particular? Let me make a short info list to help you out.

1. The drama starts off quite nice in the first few episodes, then there is a drop in quality of writing.

2. This drama contains a love triangle that divided the fans of the show. According to online polls, one fandom has substantially more members.

3. You may or may not get second lead syndrome, depending on how your experience with the first six episode goes.

4. The drama is reviewed/rated low because of the drop in writing quality in the last 7 episodes.

5. There is not much information about actual start ups in the show.

6. This is mostly a youth drama that focuses on motivation and dreams of young people.

7. This is romance heavy, with a bit of comedy sprinkled around. The business of start up only serves as the backdrop, and not actually important in the plot.

8. You will most likely enjoy the OST, since the songs in this drama are amazing.

9. KSH gets a lot of attention, because he did an amazing job in his role, and for many, he is newly discovered. NJH and Suzy are already famous, so no one really talks about them here.

"you can do that in one of his previous drama comment section or upcoming drama comment sections where he is the male lead."

This is KSH's previous work, and for a lot of people here, he felt more like he ML. Plus if the fans here want to suddenly talk about the weather, or global warming, it's freedom of speech don't you think? Censorship is not cool...

Also noticed your a new account, did you create it just to watch Start Up? Just curious.

You can also check out this discussion topic, there is a lot of information here.

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/sandbox/56239-start-up-rants-discussions-facts-anything

Have fun watching, and don't hesitate to pop by if you need more information.

I'm going to start Mr. Queen soon.

I know, SMA is the dimple queen, and she is being paired with the dimple king!

Plus SMA looks so young still, so i'm sure their going to look very good visually.

I'm quite excited :)))

Ahhh LOL.

Is your bf also watching true beauty?

That part where she bops him with the magazine, sent my heart fluttering! The chemistry between these two quirky people is so endearing!

I'm falling a lot harder for this couple than the pairing in Start Up.

Hopefully the SML and SFL are equally good.

Hahaha, I hear you! :)

I have a feeling KSH wants to be multi faceted, I would not be surprise to see him doing movie deals soon.

He will be the first quintuple threat.

Acting, Hosting, Singing, Theatre, and Variety show :))))