Bright, Breezy, and Delightful
A Business Proposal is the quintessential 2022 K-rom-com: adapted from the webtoon (The Office Blind Date), briskly paced, packed with gags, and powered by a lead couple that grabs you from their disastrous blind date (which is great for the story). It’s a series that knows exactly what it wants to be: sparkling entertainment, without pretending to be dramatically profound beyond its scope.
- Plot in two lines (no spoilers):
Shin Ha-ri agrees to stand in for her friend on a blind date with the goal of getting rejected; opposite her sits Kang Tae-mu, a young CEO determined to marry quickly and get it over with. Thanks to that initial mix-up, a fake relationship kicks off—soon colliding with the workplace and with real feelings creeping in beneath the facade.
- What works (objectively):
1. Chemistry & comic timing: Kim Sejeong’s timing is spot-on; Ahn Hyo-seop plays the “aloof/rigid” contrast that gradually melts in a natural way. The secondary couple (Seol In-ah & Kim Min-kyu) isn’t mere garnish: they inject energy and often steal the scene.
2. Direction & pace: tight episodes, lively editing, zero dead weight. Many rom-coms drag; here the short run (12 eps) keeps it snappy.
3. Physical comedy & visual gags: the show uses facial expressions, micro-reactions, and controlled slapstick well, without tipping into full cartoon.
4. Trope management: fake dating, contracts, hidden identities, “grumpy x sunshine”—they’re clichés, yes, but the script orchestrates them with craft and polishes them just enough to feel fresh.
- Where it wobbles (without sinking the ship)
1. Workplace-romance ethics: there’s a hierarchy (CEO/employee). The show treats it in a romantic, glossy key without really problematizing it; if you want a serious take on power and boundaries, this isn’t the one.
2. “Light” conflicts: obstacles and misunderstandings resolve quickly and painlessly; the emotional stakes remain medium-low by design.
3. Product placement: visible and frequent (part of the commercial package); if it bothers you, it’ll pop out of the frame now and then.
Themes (without pushing beyond the genre):
The series brushes against family expectations and class/image (family name, “useful” marriage), but doesn’t truly open those files: it uses them as framing to legitimize romantic choices. Consistent with the goal: comfort rom-com rather than social critique.
Performances:
1. Kim Sejeong (Ha-ri): natural charisma, musical comedy sense (eyes/voice/timing), and a non-syrupy warmth in serious beats.
2. Ahn Hyo-seop (Tae-mu): starts rigid, gradually finds tender shades without losing the “CEO” imprint.
3. Seol In-ah & Kim Min-kyu: the secondary couple delivers an excellent comedic-romantic counterpoint; many memorable moments come from them.
OST & Look:
Catchy OSTs—no instant classics, but they do the job for a bright tone. Polished styling, luminous palette, cinematography that “dusts” every setting: the aesthetics are clean and consistent with the promise of lightness.
Personal impression:
I had fun—not because it reinvents the genre, but because it keeps its promise: lively, well-acted, with chemistry that holds even when the script chooses the easy road. If you’re looking for moral complexity or grounded realism, this isn’t it; if you want a well-packaged romance, it hits the mark.
Conclusion:
A Business Proposal is an efficient, sparkling rom-com: it lines up the tropes, polishes them, snaps them together with pace, and serves them with leads in great form. It isn’t deep, but it doesn’t pretend to be—and in its lane, it plays like a frontrunner.
- Plot in two lines (no spoilers):
Shin Ha-ri agrees to stand in for her friend on a blind date with the goal of getting rejected; opposite her sits Kang Tae-mu, a young CEO determined to marry quickly and get it over with. Thanks to that initial mix-up, a fake relationship kicks off—soon colliding with the workplace and with real feelings creeping in beneath the facade.
- What works (objectively):
1. Chemistry & comic timing: Kim Sejeong’s timing is spot-on; Ahn Hyo-seop plays the “aloof/rigid” contrast that gradually melts in a natural way. The secondary couple (Seol In-ah & Kim Min-kyu) isn’t mere garnish: they inject energy and often steal the scene.
2. Direction & pace: tight episodes, lively editing, zero dead weight. Many rom-coms drag; here the short run (12 eps) keeps it snappy.
3. Physical comedy & visual gags: the show uses facial expressions, micro-reactions, and controlled slapstick well, without tipping into full cartoon.
4. Trope management: fake dating, contracts, hidden identities, “grumpy x sunshine”—they’re clichés, yes, but the script orchestrates them with craft and polishes them just enough to feel fresh.
- Where it wobbles (without sinking the ship)
1. Workplace-romance ethics: there’s a hierarchy (CEO/employee). The show treats it in a romantic, glossy key without really problematizing it; if you want a serious take on power and boundaries, this isn’t the one.
2. “Light” conflicts: obstacles and misunderstandings resolve quickly and painlessly; the emotional stakes remain medium-low by design.
3. Product placement: visible and frequent (part of the commercial package); if it bothers you, it’ll pop out of the frame now and then.
Themes (without pushing beyond the genre):
The series brushes against family expectations and class/image (family name, “useful” marriage), but doesn’t truly open those files: it uses them as framing to legitimize romantic choices. Consistent with the goal: comfort rom-com rather than social critique.
Performances:
1. Kim Sejeong (Ha-ri): natural charisma, musical comedy sense (eyes/voice/timing), and a non-syrupy warmth in serious beats.
2. Ahn Hyo-seop (Tae-mu): starts rigid, gradually finds tender shades without losing the “CEO” imprint.
3. Seol In-ah & Kim Min-kyu: the secondary couple delivers an excellent comedic-romantic counterpoint; many memorable moments come from them.
OST & Look:
Catchy OSTs—no instant classics, but they do the job for a bright tone. Polished styling, luminous palette, cinematography that “dusts” every setting: the aesthetics are clean and consistent with the promise of lightness.
Personal impression:
I had fun—not because it reinvents the genre, but because it keeps its promise: lively, well-acted, with chemistry that holds even when the script chooses the easy road. If you’re looking for moral complexity or grounded realism, this isn’t it; if you want a well-packaged romance, it hits the mark.
Conclusion:
A Business Proposal is an efficient, sparkling rom-com: it lines up the tropes, polishes them, snaps them together with pace, and serves them with leads in great form. It isn’t deep, but it doesn’t pretend to be—and in its lane, it plays like a frontrunner.
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