Start-Up

Show is not as disappointing as the ratings

One thing about Start up people didn't realise is it was actually realistic The way story progressed was absolutely same as reality The cluelessness, the unfair consequences, wrong decisions of leads etc were realistic That's actually how life works. If we keep the characters love stories aside the show was absolutely great when compared to realistic consequences and situation while working in a start up. If we logically discuss about the show considering the struggles of each character which definitely should also be getting the same amount of recognition as their relationship status the show actually did them justice. The love story half was a little disappointing but lets be honest You guys are complaining as though you never witnessed Ji hoo getting rejected by Jan Di for a guy like Go Joon Pyo!
HJP did deserve better but not to ignore the fact that Nam Do San faced her while HJP gave up for 15 years, he chose her who is apparently a rookie over her sister who obviously has more experience than her. He comforted her in middle of chaos and guided her too. HJP didn't really do that. He stood from far and observed and was there ryt after storm had passed. It makes a differencs when u stay during that moment.
Overall i think show was great. Great because it was realistic and because it dared to show more reality based emotions rather than just giving audience the same traditional story progression.

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Startups and falling in love (Reply 1988 vibes)

I disagree with the haters and absolutely loved this drama. There’s a loveable stubborn granny, mild family angst, introduction to the startup process and venture capitalist mindset, excellent bromance, and of course a love triangle. The ending was rushed, but still worth watching.

Most of the negative reviewers seem to have gotten stuck on the losing end of the triangle but there is so much more to appreciate. I would recommend it to people who enjoy an entire drama like Reply 1988. Basically if you’re the type of person that hated Reply 1988 because your ship was JP, so ended up hating that excellent story then maybe this isn’t for you. But if you’re the type of person who either could see why that girl chose T, or preferred JP but still could love the drama anyways, you will love Startup.

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Story Fell Victim to Indecisive Focus

A drama that started off strong with a clear purpose and a fresh premise, but alarmingly spirals out of control, lost in its own plot. It's initially exciting, until it veers off on a tangent and falls victim to the usual clichés, half-baked subplots, too many flashbacks, and the most offending — a main character who doesn't quite belong in the plot. Besides that, great cast and pretty cinematography. All actors portrayed their roles well, but this is what I can't let go: the narrative progression was so horrendous, I'm actually dumbfounded at how bad it was.

The resolution presented at the end of the drama is unrecognizable from what I was lured to expect in Episode 1, which is rightfully bizarre. The writers fool us into thinking this is Dal-mi's story, when it really ends up being Do-san's. The latter 10 episodes of the drama focus too much on Do-san's internal conflicts. And for what? Winning Dal-mi's heart? Is this really what the incredibly in-depth, emotional first episode was setting up for? How odd.

Because of this drama's obsession with Do-san, the determined Dal-mi ended up being somewhat of a ragdoll, Ji-pyeong's potential complexity was completely watered down, and it feels like In-jae wasn't even given more than 10 minutes of total screen time.

I love Samsan Tech's story by itself, the boys are endearing and fun, but when I look at this drama as a whole, I fail to see any point to Do-san's character past the first few episodes. Making Do-san such an "important" character made the writers lose their initial focus. The choice to split "Nam Do-san" into two characters (Ji-pyeong, the original "Do-san," and Do-san of the present) was huge narrative mistake, done for the sake of pointless drama.

The story really should've anchored on Dal-mi and her circle (In-jae, Ji-pyeong, and Halmeoni), aka the characters we get to know in the first episode. But instead, past the midway point, it starts running like a super emotional soap opera, aimless and confusing. The last three episodes had such random, irrelevant plot elements. I was shell-shocked.

This is not a critique on the actors themselves; they did well with what they were given. But the story writing... underwhelming would be an understatement. Dal-mi's ambitions and her unusual, complicated relationships with Ji-pyeong and In-jae would've been a great story by itself. "Nam Do-san" could've remained just a name. That's my firm opinion.

I don't recommend this drama. But I will give kudos to Nam Joo-hyuk and Kim Seon-ho, as their emotional scenes were out of this world. Suzy, Kang Han-na and all supporting characters were also lovely to watch, all impressive actors. But the writers needed to rein it in and be more decisive about their focus. It had so much potential, but failed to deliver. Truly disappointed.

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Great Drama.

This Korean drama is a total package you will laugh, cry, feel excited, and motivated at the same time. It's not your typically office romance because you will learn every episode it teaches us about life, friendship, family and what are the ups and downs in starting a business. I really loved the intro of this show the colorful palette and how they present the "swing girl" and reveal her meaning throughout the show.

And what I've learned in watching this show is:

1. It's okay to fail. In life whether you're in your 20s or 40s we always encounter failure. Just like Nam Do Sam the computer genius but not a perfect CEO, and Seo Dal Mi she started a business at first, then she fail. We tend to consider mistakes as a closing door but sometimes life is very tricky, just like in a competition there are two types of losers. One that accepts that he/she lost and moved on because they learned that its not their endgame and the one that see it not a lost but an opportunity to build another and at the end they both become successful.

2. Family is everywhere. Han Ji Pyeong don't have a family and living by himself but he finds a family with Halmeoni (Choi Won Deok).

3. Perfect does not exist. What you really see is not what really is, the characters of Won In Jae, Han Ji Pyeong, Won Doo Jung, and, Cha A Hyun at first you see that they have everything but deep inside there all incomplete and not happy.

4. Building a business is like riding a roller coaster, It only goes up and down my friend. Winning a contract is not your always, criticism is everywhere that brings you down in a blink of an eye. And not all the time you are stable, remember the sea is not calm all the time. Based on the show in starting a business you need to be brave in order to take risk in any given situation.

5. Always learn to forgive. Forgiveness can be the hardest but at the end it will take you to peace.

6. Learn to Connect and Reconnect. Have you realize that what if your story is connected to other people stories? Its one of the things I like in this drama how they present the "storytelling part" how the characters is connected to one another. I admired how they write the story of Han Ji Pyeong and Halmeoni they left off in a bad state but through Seo Dal Mi, Han Ji Pyeong learns to reconnect to Halmeoni once again.

7. Be the 'Good One'. Whatever happens always choose to be the good person and help other people it doesn't matter if its big or small doing one good deed at a time gives a great impact to our society and humanity.

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Why didn’t i watch it before

I saw startup on my Netflix recommendation list many times but i ignored it. Finally when I was tired of watching similar stories and craved to watch something fresh, startup came to my rescue. I had thought it might be an office romance story filled with cliches but to my surprise, 1st episode blew my mind. I couldn’t have guessed who the hero would turn out to be,it was surprisingly good.
The writer’s attention to detail by giving us deepper understanding of the characters is what i loved about the show. Every character has a backstory which helps us understand them and their actions. Even the supporting characters were not random and perfectly connected with the story.

The love triangle that divides the watchers: On one hand i feel for Ms Han aka THE GOOD BOY and wanted him to find happiness but on the other hand, i could relate to Nam-do-san’s character who was filled with self doubt . But it was somewhat clear that dalmi has fallen for Nam-do-san when they got into sandbox and became a team. Mr Han had lost his chance there and there was no turning back from that point. And do-san earned his place in dalmi’s heart,it wasn’t random at all yet writer still dragged the “guy from the letters” plot till the end. That’s when I felt truly bad for Mr Han as he was fighting a lost battle.
Dal mi although started as a damsel in distress(which I absolutely hate) but slowly gained stability. She could’ve been written better as she was hella confused character.

Supporting characters were adorable, Grandma was the star of the show and samsam tech boys are a trio to be remembered for sure. I am glad the writer showed us long lasting friendships.
I wish we had seen more of injae, she was ignored by the writers considering she was the 2nd main female lead. But all’s well that ends well atleast the misunderstanding between the sisters was cleared..
I really enjoyed, one of the few kdramas that has original plot and doesn’t follow on the footsteps of overused tropes. Also the rating of this show is unfair and misleading, this easily deserves an 8.5-8.8

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Honestly can't get over how cute this show was.

Very memorable, loved the cast and acting and ost and the characters! It was funny and cute and sweet and real. LOVED!

PLEASE watch this show. It's great acting by all the actors, interesting story, and the lead couple is SO fucking cute together, its insane. All their moments, from holding hands, to the first kiss, to the piggy-back rides, ALL OF IT IS SO CUTE.
It's a simple story of how a passionate and ambitious girl Dal Mi, and a nerdy and sweet boy Do San meet initially as a lie, but then fall for each other-HARD.
And even when the lie is revealed, the girl still chooses the boy right for her.

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A great watch … worth it!

I. Story
a. Episode stories: The stories per episode were mostly good. Out of 16 episodes, I like the story of 9 episodes.

b. Series story: From the title, "Start-Up" (or "Sandbox"), it gives the impression that it is primarily about starting up a business or about joining a, well, sandbox program. However, overarching story is more about [1] a love triangle and [2] sibling rivalry. The impression from the series title only takes tertiary importance. It would have been better if the importance was as follows: [1] sibling rivalry; [2] start-up/sandbox/business; and [3] love triangle.

Regardless… the way the overarching stories were delivered and the choice of story per episode were enough to pull up the score for this rating.

However, avoid introducing important facts and then never mentioning it again. For example, Ji Pyung and the sisters have met when they were kids. It was also weird that a bloodied person can pitch his company, that does not happen in real life.

II. Acting
Acting! This is where I had to give a low rating. There were too many crying scenes where the facial expression was neutral. It was obvious they were only "acting" instead of actually feeling and letting their emotions out.

I'm a fan of Suzy but I have to mention this: relax more during kissing scenes, make us feel it, and it doesn't need to be "wild". The kissing scenes can still be romantic even if there wasn't too much lip action. A room for improvement. I love her acting and the way she brings life to the characters she plays but the kissing scenes needs improvement. Relax, take it slow, don't make it wild -- rather make it romantic. Don't act, imagine he's your boyfriend or some secret desire. You want to enjoy the moment, to just let him feel your desire.

As for Joo Hyuk, great job in portraying what appears to be an eccentric, possibly even an autistic, character. It is never easy if an actor is not in the autism spectrum--in particular asperger syndrome. Very geeky, logical, all about facts, and clueless about everything else, especially fashion and social skills. Those scenes where Dal Mi was sending signals and Do San missed it all--those were all great. Sometimes annoying but all of it were relatable. Neutral face, going back to the discussion he was focused on, definitely a character with aspergers syndrome. Well done there.

For Han Na, excellent job in keeping the character mysterious. It was not easy when the character In Jae had a change of heart, especially when it comes to her sister. There were clues but the next moment it's the total opposite. This happens in real life and so it's great to see it on screen.

III. Music
This one is hard. I can not remember any memorable music other than the theme songs. It was probably because the acting and dialogues were great that any music playing were not reaching me, or it simply does not fit. Listening to the tracks directly, many are very good to listen to.

IV. Rewatch Value
Definitely in my list of series that I'll choose to re=watch.

V. Summary
Overall, the production, story, and acting were awesome. The inclusion of business terminologies and explaining each, that was a very good idea. Explaining the processes, the whys and the hows, definitely a plus. It would have been better if they toned down the "young adult" giggles because that very rarely happens in-real-life. They should've used sandbox and showed the idea behind it and what's happening in it more as well, instead of just providing a free office and free funding.

The "revolutionary" ideas were well thought out especially the app helping those with vision challenges. I do hope such an app exists but we haven't achieved that speed of AI recognition still something to look forward to. Great choices on scenes and I wish they added more, like a team building session where they could feature the beauty of Korea instead of the exact same office.

From a dramatic episode 1 and funny episodes later, to the building up of the trials and tribulations, to the eventually resolution in the latter episodes. it was enough to pull up the overall rating to 9 out of 10 stars.

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I like ...no I love everything in this drama the actors the story ♥️ How they act Suzy and Nam-Joo yuk were so sweet just love them. I will watch it again on Netflix that is for sure ! Thank you! and for those who writes bad reviews ...just find another drama which will match with your taste ONLY LOVE ❤️ Again thank you all team Start up!!!! ..................................................................................................................,....,,..,............................................................................................................................................……….............................................................................

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Honest Review

I'm going to be completely honest and state that what made the show insufferable to watch wasn't exactly the show itself. It was the drama behind the scenes that ruined the show for me. This is by no means one of my favorite dramas as I tend to hate love triangles however I truly don't believe there ever was a love triangle to begin with. If you take the show for what it is there isn't a love triangle at all- Dalmi's feelings are clear from the start.

This drama started off strong and then slowly declined as the weeks went by. I think they missed the mark by emphasizing HJP's character so much in the beginning rather than NDS's. I think a lot of the ML confusion stems from such a strong focus on HJP only to use his character as a means to get the story going. In comparison to While You Were Sleeping, Woo-Tak is used as a plot device similarly. However, we don't really dive as deep into him as we do HJP. I think that's the reason so many were unable to accept HJP not being the ML. Although I don't think he ever had a chance, I personally felt they wasted such a strong character.

Start-Up is by no means a bad drama. Sure, it could've been executed better however, everyone did such a fantastic job portraying their characters and it was an overall enjoyable drama. The emphasis on family and friendship were easily the best parts of the show. I loved the SST crew and they always showed up for each other. I loved the reconciliation between DM, IJ, and their mother. I especially loved Sa-Ha's character.

By reading a lot of the reviews here you would think Nam Do-San is an antagonist. He is by no means an antagonist. Does he have flaws? Yes. But so does HJP. As well as everyone in the show! It's realistic. I think if you go into the drama fully understanding NDS is the lead, you'll like it just fine. Do some characters deserve better? Yes. At the end of the day, it's fiction and I don't believe it's worth the bashing of the show especially when the direction of the romance was clear from the start.

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While watching Start up I read some reviews on various sites about the show that disappointed me. So here's my opinion.
Start up was a really nice drama. The whole start-up company theme was always interesting to watch and sometimes it was so thrilling to watch how and if Dal Mi, Do San and the others would face the challenges in their way.
The thing that disappointed me in some reviews, as said earlier, is that some people who liked the second male lead would attack the main actor and they would make some questionable statements about the storyline, e.g. there was a comment where it said that only the actions of Ji Pyeong were the writer's doing and not all of the other characters. Surely I wasn't always agreeing with how the main leads were acting but it's a drama you can't expect that the writer has the same opinions as you, something that happens with all dramas.
Acting was good and the chemistry was there. Loved Sa ha's and Cheol San's relationship, cuteness overload really. The music was lovely and it's one of the dramas I would go back to watch.

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