Ignore the haters! All about giving the underdog a chance - it's very heartwarming!!!

I never usually write reviews because I'm lazy but after seeing all the negative responses, I feel like I have to! I've been watching kdramas for the past 6 years and I've never seen so much hate. I was hooked from the very first episode, and yes, I'll admit, who the first male lead is will confuse you at first. But I'd say that's very clearly established by episode 3, and if you're a fan of kdramas, who is used to the melodrama and tropes, then this drama will suit you. I found the main couple to be adorable, and the male lead was refreshing, representing all those kids who were labelled 'gifted and talented' as a child, only to be seen as average and a failure as a young adult. If you're looking for a business drama, these elements do fade out, and mid-way through the story there is a heavy focus on angst and misunderstandings, but I lapped this up and love anything with yearning. My only jibe is that the talents of Kang Ha Na are somewhat wasted. So, if you're looking for a story about underdogs, found family, sibling rivalry, overcoming insecurities, and all-round adorable relationships (platonic, romantic, and familial!), then give Start-Up a chance! If you find yourself experiencing second lead syndrome, and this is the only thing keeping you going, then drop it and quit all the hyperbolic moaning and hypocritical bashing!

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One of my favourite sageuks ever!

"The Palace is a dazzling prison"

I feel like that sums up the driving force of this story. It is a tragedy that explores the restraints of the monarchy for all its subjects, even the king. All the characters are trapped in different ways and it made it easy for me to empathise with them all.

But in particular, this story's main focus is the journey of Royal Noble Consort, Uibin Seong, as she battles against the limited free will offered to a Lady of the Royal Court. For the most part, she is a very likeable protagonist who is headstrong and knows what she wants.

The drama perfectly blends fiction with real historical events. It has a great love story, political intrigue, and does not hide away from the realities of the time, all without being too saturated in melodrama like so many sageuks.

I'm a big fan of historical dramas and I'm not ignorant to how few of them let their characters run off into the sunset (shoutout to The King in Love for exceeding my expectations there). Although this drama doesn't have a *super* happy ending, I enjoyed it far more than I ever expected. It is bittersweet and effectively portrays the eventual fate of its main characters.

I'm not sure how to explain why this historical drama stood out to me more than most others. The chemistry between the leads is wonderful, their romance embeds tropes such as met as a child, hidden identity, enemies to friends to hesitant lovers. The pacing of the story was a little rushed towards the end but on the whole, I was never bored watching this series.

I would heartily recommend this show to anyone interested in watching a historical drama.

If you want to learn the basics of this plot to prepare you for any impending heartache (which will happen) research Jeongjo of Joseon, or Jeonjo the Great who reigned from 1752-1800.

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Good escapism!

Spoilers after my general thoughts section!!

tw: suicide/self-harm. I haven't seen it mentioned enough so just to warn anyone who hasn't seen it that True Beauty mentions suicide and bullying a lot. Please look after yourself if this is a trigger for you <3

Ok, so I'm just gonna do a list of points on how I feel because I'm lazy and a combination of lockdown x uni has ruined my ability to write properly. None of this is in any proper order I'm just rambling after episode 16 finished.

General thoughts:
- I loved this drama!! The writing and characterisation were all over the place but it just came at the right time for me.
- It echoed noughties highschool kdramas, full of classic tropes - the love triangle, time skip, and some slightly problematic themes for us tired 2021 folk (ok it just made me think of boys over flowers a lot)
- A lot of people have said it was cringey but I live for all of that
- If you follow the webtoon you'll recognise certain scenes but it's a much more condensed/altered story
- The show did deliver with its comedic scenes. I found myself laughing a fair amount because some lines/plots were just so silly
- Its themes seemed to live up to the title more than webtoon but still didn't really deliver
- There are a few angsty/serious parts but for the most part, it's a wholesome story of a girl learning to rebuild her self-esteem after severe bullying
- The love triangle took up too much of the story but I did enjoy the romance for the most part
- It was cute and quite frankly I needed some fluffy relief and impatiently waited for each episode every week

Love line:
- I feel like I've been watching kdramas for so long I just don't get second lead syndrome anymore.
- I understood the hype for both Suho and Seojun but I can't be disappointed because I never allowed myself to have expectations
- Thank you to the ship wars for not being as toxic as Start-Up. Gosh, that was a rough couple of weeks.
- Seojun deserved better and we didn't need to see him pining for that long
- I also adored Seojun but I wanted him for me, not Jugyeong lol
- That gal was blind to anyone who wasn't Suho and that was obvious.
- I kept going back and forth with who I liked more between the male leads. I am a fickle woman.
- They made Suho too stalkery and possessive in episode 15 and it's just so not a cute or redeemable feature why do so many dramas do this
- I'll just say as a society we have moved past the need for love triangles. It's exciting for all of 5 seconds but when the toxic jealousy comes in it's just like let's stop and all be friends, please
- Also, the we-met-as-children storyline is so overdone. It can work sometimes but felt wholly irrelevant in this story!!
- It was a pipe dream but we all know Soojin x Jugyeong (in the first half) and Suho x Seojun would have been more powerful than anything.

Random plot points that I can remember and need to discuss:
- I know kdrama magic is a thing but it stressed me out how quickly they healed after the car accident. All those piggybacks after those broken limbs made my heart race.
- Also that car accident scene of Suho flying in the air? Just wow. Classic scene. Was crying of laughter. I'm sorry it was just so silly. And adds to my concern about the injuries. The boy's back should've been broken!
- Was a bit annoying to see how overdramatic people were about acne?? Like come on, it's perfectly natural, especially in teenagers. To all my fellow people with facial skin conditions - we're beautiful with or without makeup!!
- I am glad they showed Jugyeong happily wearing her bare face in the end though she was glowing!!
- I needed the suicide attempt to be discussed more?? I mean it's a kdrama and I had low expectations but it felt so negligent to not explore mental health when it was so important to understand the actions of the main characters
- These mains ALL need therapy T_T
- The time skip/break-up just felt pointless to me. Make Suho work harder to earn your love back please, Jugyeon. It just added to Seojun's pain :(
- The ending of them holding a book called the ending sksksks um how deep

Characters:
- How beautiful was this entire cast? A visual treat!!
- Jugyeong was the cutest and I wanted the whole world for her. So happy she was succeeding in the end
- They did Soojin dirty and we all know it. Yes, I've read the webtoon so I knew she was bad in that but gosh these writers made her so good at the beginning!! Happy she was redeemed-ish in the end but it wasn't anything huge
- I'd do anything for Heekyung?? What a woman. Her relationship with the teacher was adorable.
- Juyoung and Gowoon were cute
- Sooah was tiny and so cute too. I just say cute a lot but yeah many a cute character in this series.
- Seojun was the superior character. Great son and brother, respects women and mental health, can sing, is in a band, and looks like that?? I need a sequel just to see him succeed in life and get a juicy story where he's loved back
- The writers just did not know what to do with Suho's character. But thank you for letting us see how much Eun-Woo's acting has improved
- Hot take: Drama Suho was worse than webtoon Suho but webtoon Seojun was better than drama Seojun.
I mean, Seojun was so fantastic in the drama too but we're given so much more in the webtoon. Why steal half of Seojun's scenes and give them to Suho?? A lot of people say Suho was so bland in the webtoon but the boy was very clearly depressed and needs some love!!
- I loved the bromances in the show!!

Music:
- I'm in the moooooddddd for dancin... why did this song disappear so soon this rendition was so cute
- Did we ever get a full version of that how do you do song because I need it??
- I really loved that missing youuu song
- Seojun for the rookie band of the year

To conclude: Well written? Nope. A bit of tropey fun with a little bit of angst that helps you escape for a while from these hellish times? yes yes yes :)

I feel like this is usually like an 8 or an 8.5 for me but I'm feeling generous and looking forward to this every week has made this lockdown a little better.

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