addicted2dramas
India
A boring, polarized mess of fun and frustration
Start Up was surely one of my anticipated dramas of recent times. The cast looked good and the story seemed quite promising. I was sold to the idea of independent youth with dreams, trying to make it big. But what I watched was somehow very different.PLOT:
I am not sure if the drama was marketed the right away. They kept focusing on the FL wanting to be a young female CEO. I thought, "Great. Although it's Suzy, I'm willing to give it a try". Oh I did, okay? This drama started out wonderfully. The child actors were amazing at the beginning was probably the best thing in the drama.
Contrary to most people who were a fan of this writer, I've dropped all her dramas in the past. Somehow I didn't drop this one and kept watching it out of boredom. I don't think the writer did even a remotely acceptable job of the plot. Initial build ups failed, the main AND side characters were a snooze till they became MORE annoying and the romance fell flat before eventually drowning in an endless ditch. There were more pointless plotlines than I can count. The unnecessary ones were shoved down our throat and the ones with potential were all forgotten or abandoned by the writer midway.
This drama is more discouraging than encouraging but it depends on how one takes it. What they've shown in this drama was incredibly naive, unrealistic and seemed to have been written by someone who's never worked in a corporate or start-up company before. The issues were laughably bad and this is the biggest peeve for me with this drama. It had a sort of realistic take in the beginning but it was a laughable mess by the end.
The other peeve was the sudden melodramatic angle. I say again that it is discouraging, because it shows that only bad things happen to the good people. It's message is: good people are never meant to be happy and misery will follow them till the end. The plot with the Grandmother was incredibly sad. Nothing is right in her life. The other pitiful person was OF COURSE the second lead Han Ji Pyeong. He's also portrayed as an orphan who was born to be alone and no one would ever love him. I tell you, this drama looks spunky but it was incredibly depressing to me. It wasn't about finding your dreams, but about living in nightmares. I wouldn't have complained if they had marketed it as a dark melodrama because these characters were contradicting the supposed main plot.
CHARACTERS:
A shout out to Grandma and Dad. They were the only wholly nice and kind people in the drama.The FL had spark in the beginning which I loved. She kind of swayed because her journey was itself a mess. Also, she wasn't as empathetic as she was supposed to be because she is plainly cold to the SML. She is blind for the ML. The ML was kind of cute and naive in the beginning but comes off as selfish and scheming later. The SML is lonely, abandoned and no hope in his life. The sister In Jae had amazing potential as a tsundere character but they didn't even bother with giving the actress enough of a plot to be central to the plot. I'm not going to comment on the side characters because majority of the time they were in a competition for being the most annoying.
ACTING:
Not a fan of Suzy but I find her charming. I was very impressed with her in the first 10 episodes of the drama but her acting went back to mediocre in the later parts. Nam Joo Hyuk was okay at best, there wasn't much he could have done with his weird character. Kim Han Na did amazing as Won In Jae. Kim Seon Ho was great and he translated perfectly from the younger to older version of the character. He had incredible chemistry with everyone and I will be glad to see his future works.
OST:
The OST is golden. I love almost all the songs and highly recommend listening to it.
OVERALL:
A dumb, pointless drama. It's got some YAYYY fun moments, decent kisses and amazing lines. The problem is the plot fizzled out hopelessly and there was no saving it. The casting isn't as bad as they ended up being here. I think I will tread with caution for this writer's future dramas as my record has been BAD. I'm out with the memorable OST and won't ever bother to give this drama a second watch.
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The story is thoroughly cliche but I did like the beginning. Compared to the parents' story, I would have preferred to know more about the present day love story. They focused too much on the 70s era and too less on the present day. I understood the love from the 70s but the present one hardly had any basis to fall in love.
Although the cinematography looks good, the screenplay is boring. Also I was not happy with the editing and the direction was clumsy in parts. I expected better from this movie and had to skip a few parts.
I would not watch it again, but anyone looking for a pure and innocent kind of love story- here it is for you.
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The story was cliche and it was hell boring. I was waiting for it to get over and it made no impact on me whatsoever. I waiting for the storyline to get better but it never did. It was confusing and the episodic format made it worse.
The casting was simply terrible. Nam Tae Hyun is a good singer but he doesn't have a good screen presence. The actress was at least bearable in comparison. Worse- I felt like the supporting/guest cast was way better than the leads.
I loved the main song because I love CLC. Do check out the song 'First Love' by them because it's so cute. That's one good thing you will get out of watching this at least.
Only watch this in case you are bored out of your wits or a die-hard fan of either of the leads.
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Inoue Mao was one of the reasons to watch this film. I expected it to be good and touching. I did feel bad for the hero, but it failed to be anything more. I would say I have seen better movies of the 'pure love' genre. I would call this is a disappointment because it had a lot of potential. The movie begins on a very serious note and stays that way till the end.
It was easy to predict the ending of this movie. It lacked originality. However, the romance was sweet and touching. The acting department was alright and not one of the strongest points. I won't be remembering this movie fondly because it was pretty forgettable to me.
It is recommended to only those who love the young love movies with tragedy attached to it.
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While the plot has clichest of cliches, the Taiwanese version was very successful- enough to have a Korean remake. While I could never get onto the boat for its Taiwanese version, when I got to know about the Korean adaptation I wanted to try it out nonetheless. It doesn't disappoint in any way. While the story has its funny, romantic and some typical eye-rolling moments it never loses its magic. Even the repetitive and slow parts of the drama arrive, they still keep you glued to your seat.
While I had my issues with the story, I can't help but not fall for it. The entire credit goes to its cast. Jang Hyuk and Jang Na Ra are both actors I love immensely. My love for them increased ten folds after this drama. They have an electric chemistry and make you feel what their characters are feeling. When they cry, you'd want to cry and when they smile, you'd want to smile. They are the heart and soul of the whole drama. Both of them acted so well that they had me close to tears several times in a drama and mind you- I never even tear up while watching Kdramas.
The OST is terribly repetitive but for me personally it contains two songs I can never get bored of. Baek A Yeon and Ailee both have wonderful voices and the song 'Goodbye My Love' is one of the best songs all this year.
Apart from that, the drama is flawed in several places and far from perfect. It still manages to give you a light yet angsty watch, while creating a lasting impression on your mind. I recommend this drama to all lovers of romantic dramas because that's one thing this drama sold me on- its romance. It will be on my mind for quite some time.
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Story:
The starting was great and the story's narrative never fell weak. However, as is the case with most dramas this one also dragged on a little bit. Plus there were a few sub-plots, especially among the last few episodes that I didn't particularly like so that rounds out to an 8 for me. This is the only con.
The romance was great and there are hardly any cliches when it came to Halu and Aki's relationship. It was not just a story where two people fall in love. It's a complex story involving great amounts of character growth and all the complicated issues the characters have to deal with.
Honestly, I was exhausted by the end of this drama because it was more complex than what I usually watch.
Characters:
It definitely has one of the best characterizations I have come across in a drama. Halu's character is very well written. I think I liked every character in this drama except Aki who I had a few issues with. It was a demand of the story so I am going to overlook it.
For me, Halu is a very interesting person. He is a great pile of complications hidden underneath that cool demeanor. He is utterly messed up with a sad past and hides his pain by his sarcasm and dark humour. He can be terribly honest and has an impulsive personality. Plus that bad-boy persona does wonders to his character. I loved him a lot because he was like a puzzle that I enjoyed putting together while watching. I had a great time contemplating his actions and trying to reason with his behaviour. He is deeply flawed, but complex and wins you over from the first episode itself- kudos to Kimura's flawless acting. (Why didn't I discover this man before?!)
As for other characters, I liked how each of them interacted with the other and opened up nicely. It's rare to see so many characters having such meaningful conversations in a drama. Most of the story actually involves talking and less of actions. That's surely a sign of good writing.
Acting:
I have no complaints when it comes to the acting department. They had a wonderful cast and there wasn't anyone on there who I thought couldn't act. They were all great but the star is obviously Kimura-san! :D
Direction, Editing and other technicalities:
This drama had pretty good direction. The hockey part seemed so real. I liked how they filmed it. I am not a hockey fan, but this one made it seem interesting.
The editing part was alright. Nothing too great and they didn't focus on making it look pretty. The camera work was clean and they made it out to be plain. You could say it didn't require anything extraordinary to make it appealing to the eyes because they had such a good cast.
Music:
I have to mention this! Queen is definitely one of my old favourite bands. I love the music of the 80's and the track 'Born to Love You' is great, in my opinion. I am so happy they chose such a good theme song!
Rewatch value:
This is a drama I would want to watch it again. Because I am sure I would have a different experience and different opinions then. Definitely worth rewatching!
So- great drama! Go ahead and watch it because you won't regret it. :)
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While I liked the story and the imagination of the writer, most of it was kind of slow. It is shown in a daydream kind of way and after finishing it only one word came to my mind- fairytale. None of the elements of this movie are realistic and they had all the elements of a fairytale- including the happy ending and the sad parts. I expected a sad ending but it was good enough.
The last fifteen minutes are terribly cheesy and they had me laughing out loud. And their little missions were also very uninteresting. I just put on the movie while I did my homework along with it. Hardly any of it was compelling enough such that I couldn't do my work and had to watch it obsessively. That didn't happen.
Overall, it is just an alright movie. The main guy is quite handsome and I was mostly hanging on to watch him. Otherwise, I would have stopped it midway because it was quite slow in that part. It is filled with scenes attempted at tear jerking and sappy romantic moments. If you like this genre, it's the one for you.
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Previously, I had written a very lukewarm review for this drama. Originally, I did not think this drama was anything special. However, upon rewatching a few scenes I found myself enjoying it more than I did the first time. That doesn't make it the best drama in my book, but I found that once I overlooked a LOT of annoying sub plots I liked the drama much better. In fact, I now think that it is one of most unique Kdramas ever.
According to my observation, most Korean dramas start out great and then go downhill towards the end. This drama started fine, had some unbearable moments in between but by the time it picked up, it became very addictive.
For me, majority of it till episode 8 or so was unbearably bad. I personally hate tragedies which take place without contributing anything to the plot. This drama was supposed to be about her boyfriend's betrayal but what we got was a whole lot of useless crying scenes.
There is way too much crying, too many sacrifices and too much loss in the drama without making much sense half the time. Till the time this dramas sets out to redeem itself, it seems like it is too late. I, however enjoyed the romantic conflict which takes place in the second half of the drama. It doesn't make sense too but the characters and actors pull you in and I found myself rooting for them.
In my original review I had said that the bad outweighed the good in the drama. Now, after a certain time passed I can't remember the bad stuff but definitely remember the good parts fondly. This drama was very and still is very conflicting for me. On one hand- I absolutely hated it and on the other hand, I couldn't get enough of it.
I always feel that a drama that manages to get the right reactions out of you is a job done well indeed. Too bad that I couldn't digest the 'sad' part of it otherwise I wouldn't have had any issues with the story at all!
The strongest part of the drama lies in its acting department and the romance. All actors did an amazing job especially the two main leads. The OST is simply wonderful and Ailee's ballad is one of my favorites ever.
I'll be on the lookout for a better or similar drama now. :)
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This story is of the most unique and original one among the recent Korean dramas that I have watched. What I loved about this drama was that the writer didn't seem to be afraid to take risks and pen down a very different story. Its basic theme is nostalgia. Remembering the good times and your youth and something everyone can relate to- especially if you're around 30 just like these characters. I am much younger than 30, but I knew where they were coming from.
In the beginning, I would say I wasn't too impressed by it. The story and its humour both seemed to be going nowhere. I got bored and put it on-hold after episode 7. But after I came back to it, it grabbed me instantly and I finished the rest of it in two days. This drama required some patience but it was worth it in the end.
I loved, loved, loved the whole kpop fandom. The depiction of crazy fans was so accurate that I enjoyed every bit of it. Siwon was quite cool and the actress is simply amazing. She was able to portray all different ages without boring me. I thought during the initial episodes she was over-acting, but that was the fun part. The way she was shown to have grown over the years was realistic. This show has been described as a sitcom and with its mystery all I could think of was "How I Met Your Mother". Only that part was something borrowed and nothing else was.
The humour of the show is excellent and the goof up scenes were all hilarious. All characters grow on you and their Busan accent was quite enjoyable. The romance part has also been done well. I loved who Siwon ended up with. It was apparent from the very beginning but there were certain things I could not predict (like the love triangle with both brothers). I think this is the first show I felt like wanting for more after it ended. Lots of things were great about this show. Even its soundtrack is amazing.
I think this is one drama I would love to watch again next year. It gave me a lot to enjoy and hence I recommend it to everyone. You can definitely judge by the ratings. They are quite appropriate!
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What the drama starts out as what it is by the end vary vastly. While we do get clues about what the important parts of the story are, we never get a clear focus on what exactly we have to look out for. While I may blame the writing but I also have to praise it for not making it stick on to a single track and boring the hell out of me.
The story of the leads is compelling and you will find yourself rooting for them throughout the show. Their relationship goes beyond romance and it's like how they mean a lot to each other and without either of them their life is incomplete. They will make you cry and laugh. The main lead's jealousy over the female lead was cute. There are some frustrating parts to the story also like implied incest, illnesses, secrets, manipulative second leads and scheming mothers. While the comedy and romance is present in the beginning, the middle was frustrating as hell. Towards the end the writer tried to resolve much of the issues and did so more or less satisfyingly.
The strength of the drama and the reason I stayed glued on were Lee Dong Wook and Jung Ryeo Won. I thought they made a cute pair and their interactions were really interesting. I was also excited for Lee Jong Hyuk to be playing the rival love interest but his character hardly served any purpose. It was a pity because he is otherwise such a talented actor. The female second lead was also very underwhelming and I did not care for her at all. For me, most of the secondary characters in this drama failed to make an impact and the real reason to sit through 16 hours was purely the leads.
The OST of the drama is fantastic and has been on my playlist as and when the songs kept coming out. It really fits the indie mood the drama tries to portray and blends well with the situation. In fact, the soundtrack is one of the strengths of the drama.
While I think it was nice to watch it once, the story isn't quite unforgettable to make me rewatch the entire thing. I however loved the kissing scenes and the leads' scenes which I may check out on Youtube later.
Watch this drama for something different and fresh but don't expect too much out of it and be prepared to shed tears.
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When I started its first episode, it was good but there wasn't anything great about it. The only reason I went on was for the main character of Hye Mi. She was highly entertaining as an arrogant, insensitive and obnoxious girl. Mostly, all females that I come across in dramas are nice girls but here is one badass girl who isn't afraid of anyone and can kick your ass too. I was very interested in watching her character develop and watch something break all cliches of Kdramas. Apart from that, all other side characters were also interesting to me so I continued watching. They are all young people trying to chase their dreams of becoming good dancers, singers and performers. The character development in this show was remarkable.
Not just that, I loved this show for its romance. It has the the first real love triangle out of all dramas that I have ever seen. We, as a viewer get to see enough of both sides of the triangle to think about who Hye Mi was compatible with. I liked both guys but Sam Dong was my favourite character so I inclined more towards him. His build up with Hye Mi was excellent. Even Jin Gook's romance with Hye Mi didn't feel rushed. It was a very touching story. While I liked the initial emotional scenes with Jin Gook, I was really pleased with the second half of the show because all the best scenes were ultimately between her and Sam Dong. It started out with Hye Mi's lowest point and went on to Sam Dong's lowest points and they were there for each other all the time. Most of all, they both helped each other grow in so many ways and change completely. Sam Dong's initial impression was that of a naive country boy who was so sacrificial for his mother and never thought about himself. But Hye Mi changes him to someone who starts thinking about his self and also gets competitive for her affections. He changes her into a patient person and to someone who learns to care deeply for others. Their pairing is going to remain as one of my favourites.
I should also mention the milky couple of Pil Sook and Jason. I was not fond of the fact that she had to lose weight to please him, but otherwise they were adorable to death. Even during the boring episodes, they didn't fail to entertain me. They were so cute together! This show is flawless on the romantic front.
This show is mainly about music so, the OST is great. All the songs they used in the show were catchy and had great melody. The singers were pretty good. Music was one of the strongest points of the show.
This show kept me fairly captivated until episode 10 but from then on, it kind of went downhill. A lot of sub plots like Jin Gook's daddy issues and Baek Hee's problems were the ones I didn't care about. Also, Sam Dong's illness was depressing to watch. I get that it gave a kick to his character and made him grow up but if it were up to me, I could have not included it in the story. But due to this, we get pretty good scenes between him and Hye Mi so I am not going to complain further.
This show dragged an awful lot and was even painful to watch. A lot of things could have been concentrated less or more upon. I wanted to see more of Hye Mi's cutesy and awkward side which we got for only last 2 episodes. Only because the first half is so good and the characters and romance so good, it makes up for the boring second half. There were moments it made me want to stop watching but when it came to my favourite characters, I could not stop. Also, in spite of this show being the first for some of the leads they did a brilliant job.
The direction of this show is good but the writing is not up to the mark. Too many unnecessary things got included into the show which made it seemed forced. But I was happy with the revealing of who 'K' was. The ending was alright but I have seen better and worse endings in kdramas.
So, if you enjoy good music and good characters, then definitely watch this show.
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The story was predictable right off the bat and I went into watching it not knowing anything about it. The cast was one reason to check out the drama and in the end that was the best thing about it as well. It's got romance, angst, cute moments and some sad moments. I think the reason why it was fun in the beginning was that the romantic development of the characters who end up together started pretty late. I mean you could tell she would end up with him but they develop feelings quite late which should've been good, but made the romance half-hearted for me.
This is another classic case where all guys are head over heels for the main girl and you will have no idea why. I think the whole idea is to not have an idea and instead kick back on the couch and watch it without thinking too much. The heroine is a typical knock-off from the 90's/early 2000's dramas and serves as a romantic interest without offering much. The characters are all pretty one-dimensional and feel like they're there for you to appreciate them for how they look and how they're supposed to be. Almost every character in the story will make you wanna tear their hair out at some or the other point.
I like cheesy romance, so this was my type of drama. It was like watching an old drama with modern camera and that was surprisingly refreshing from the current type of dramas that air. I would have loved to say that the romance is the best part about the drama but that's what makes the drama weak. The development was too slow and they get together too fast. Their longing for each other and 'love' never really felt authentic to me. It in fact made me roll my eyes. I loved the the main girl with the third guy best. They had a great dynamic and it was great to see Jungshin's improvement in acting.
Ok, a very shallow point- but what made me annoyed of Naeun in this was her cheeks and not her character so much. She honestly screwed up her face and I ended up feeling sorry for her. She is bad at acting and her cheeks don't help much either. It's horrible when something as trivial as that distracts you from someone's acting. I hope she can improve in her future projects.
The strongest points of the drama are the visuals of the actors, the soundtrack and the chilled atmosphere the drama had in general. Things get messy and confusing at times but once you get past that, you have a likable cast with sugary moments and an outdated (yet oddly charming) romance. I mean, the romance is weak but it's not the worst. It didn't work for me because I was hyped for no reason and when it turned out to be.... ordinary, I found myself let down. It might work for some though.
Definitely worth a watch if you want something nice and light.
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This drama seemed like a reverse harem to me but it was limited to being a love triangle only (thankfully). I think my favourite person in the entire drama was the main actress. Not only is she crazy pretty but also acted so well. She managed great chemistry with all three brothers and her interactions with all were enjoyable in their own way. I am sure when you watch this, you'll probably like a different brother. For me all three were equally likable although the second was a bit more frustrating than the others. There's also who you wanna ship because that makes it another level of fun throughout the 10 episodes.
I loved how this drama was shot in different locations than usual J-dramas and I got to see a part of Japan I am not familiar with. I love the Japanese for their culture, and this drama sort of shows how there is more to their country than just skyscrapers and metropolitan areas.
This drama is a perfect mix of family, romance, food and friendship genres and neither of the elements outweigh the others. I wasn't too familiar with the cast but I know now that Kenta is somewhat big in Japan. Also a random note- if you are a fan of the Kpop group Kara then you're in for bit of a surprise in here (don't get your hopes up tho).
I loved this drama and had to contain myself to not watch it raw when subs didn't come out on time. It is light and there's almost no melodrama which was a good break from Kdramas for me. It becomes a bit dull in the last few episodes but the cheesy airport ending makes up for it. In fact, I am hoping for a season 2.
Watch it and I'm sure you will not regret it. 10 episodes will fly by before you even know it. It's good got rewatchability score too.
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What saves this drama from being unwatchable is its lovely cast. Oh my Kamenashi Kazuya! He is handsome, charming and has the power to suck you in. The bad boy image suits him really well and you can't help but fall for him. I loved this on-screen version of Kyohei than in anime. Sunako however falls short. Although initially funny there hardly seems to be much redeemable in her. However I like the rest of its cast- Takeru, the aunt and everyone else.
The drama isn't completely good or bad. It has its moments. While I find parts of it to my liking a few of them gave me a headache. The unnecessary melodrama in the later half and the ending were what ruined the drama. The ending was so corny that it was more LOL than anything. I find this a fizzle because Kazuya-kun and Aya-chan had such good chemistry. Plus Aya is such a beautiful actress.
In the end the drama is forgettable to me. I am struggling to remember the parts I enjoyed in it because while I might have enjoyed, it didn't leave a mark on me. I wish the nosebleeds had been included in the drama since they included so many things anyway (I am a fan of nosebleeds).
Recommended to fans of the cast, the anime or manga. The rest can skip out on it.
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Both the girls- Nana and Nana share a special connection and in spite of their polar opposite personalities, they manage to become true friends. I really liked how they bonded and were able to understand each other throughout the story. Plus, the support they had for each other was marvellous. This movie does show that sometimes even friendship is a part of our destiny.
Although it is slow and it took me three sittings to complete it, I'm glad I gave it a shot. The direction of this film was alright. There were some boring parts also but it ended nicely. I didn't feel its writing was up to the mark, but it manages to give the viewers a good story. I understood what they wanted to show but this movie fell flat on a lot of other levels.
The music is the best part of the movie. All the songs are catcy and have a great feel to them.
I don't think I'll ever be watching this movie again, but I'd still recommend it to every one who loves stories based on true friendship and human growth.
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