Hmmm, I had a hard time with it. It had the same kinds of problems that I had with Pinocchio — super under-developed and flat female lead + a male lead I disliked (despite the heroic efforts of NJH). IDK if it’s just me though.
The women in the drama were all shortchanged. I agree. But it was a pleasant drama, I thought. No major noble idiocy. There was some kind of a story. It was a light watch. Nothing to rack your brains about. Hence, that it’s a good gateway drama – to understand what kdramas are about. It is NOT on my top 10 ever list or any such thing. 😀
I think it was a reasonably fun drama if you could put aside things that annoyed you about some of the characters. I think I just couldn’t get over how flat Dal-mi was, how cartoonish In-jae was portrayed throughout most of the drama, how under-motivated the romance was, and (perhaps most importantly LOL) how I couldn’t help but feel that Ji-pyeong should’ve been the main male lead in this drama (although, by the end, his weird tug-of-war with Do-san over Dal-mi was getting on my nerves, perhaps because I couldn’t understand why both of them were so attached to Dal-mi). I think the humour was pretty good at various points, I liked Chul-san and Sa-ha, and I think the acting was overall really top quality (Suzy excepted), but it just lost a lot its initial sparkle with me by the fifth week.
That third episode is now in my books as the best comic episode in kdramas to beat. I kept waiting for the show to repeat that magic, and you’re right, it never did. I’m picking at this show far less than I picked, say, at 18 Again. (And I don’t know why!!)
I must add that I didn’t get tired of the drama the way I got tired of, say, Brahms, or Oh My Baby, or IOTNBO. None of these are comparable genre-wise, but I found that the initial magic of all those dramas wore off very very quickly.
To clarify, Startup is not a show I’d rewatch (except for ep 3) 😀
Interestingly, I found 18 Again a very light and easy watch, whereas I found this one frustrating in the second half. Not sure why. I think it’s because 18 Again was a light watch in my mind from the outset and didn’t create unrealistic expectations for me. Start-up, on the other hand, had a very solid first two weeks, and, although in retrospect many of the problems with the show were already apparent then, I think I expected the show would simply improve as it went along. But it didn’t. Sigh.
I haven’t watched Oh My Baby, so I can’t comment on that one. But I’ve noticed that there were several dramas this year which had strong beginnings but which petered out in the second half. Brahms definitely goes into that pile, as does IOTNBO (albeit to a lesser extent; Brahms managed to pull off something really special in the way it completely soured all the initial enjoyment I got from the main couple). Flower of Evil goes in this camp as well; so does Dinner Mates (although I will say that Dinner Mates still remained reasonably enjoyable for me throughout its run and I enjoyed Lee Ji-hoon’s performance immensely in the second half).
I’m yet to watch the last 4 eps of 18 Again, but I would classify that as a candidate for a good gateway drama too (for those willing to suspend disbelief about the age-change etc).
I watched the first episode of Flower of Evil somewhere half way through its run, and decided I would wait for the final verdict from y’all here on DB before attempting to finish it. I’m glad I didn’t.
I had forgotten about Dinner Mates! That one derailed for me very quickly. I wanted to wipe it out of my memory and clearly I have. I don’t even remember which episode I watched it until, but it wasn’t much. 😀
There’s a cdrama I would add to this list too – Go Ahead – it started off so well! and then just went *phut*. What the scriptwriters were smoking I don’t know. It could have been a perfectly decent found family drama, but they made it a strange quasi-incest story, with badly botched attempt to salvage it halfway. Ugh. It was a waste of a very talented ensemble cast (barring Song Weilong).
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pickleddragon
December 7, 2020 at 7:33 PM
Startup was a decent drama overall. It goes into my list of gateway dramas I would recommend to noobs.
Maq
December 7, 2020 at 8:59 PM
Hmmm, I had a hard time with it. It had the same kinds of problems that I had with Pinocchio — super under-developed and flat female lead + a male lead I disliked (despite the heroic efforts of NJH). IDK if it’s just me though.
pickleddragon
December 7, 2020 at 9:27 PM
The women in the drama were all shortchanged. I agree. But it was a pleasant drama, I thought. No major noble idiocy. There was some kind of a story. It was a light watch. Nothing to rack your brains about. Hence, that it’s a good gateway drama – to understand what kdramas are about. It is NOT on my top 10 ever list or any such thing. 😀
Maq
December 7, 2020 at 9:52 PM
I think it was a reasonably fun drama if you could put aside things that annoyed you about some of the characters. I think I just couldn’t get over how flat Dal-mi was, how cartoonish In-jae was portrayed throughout most of the drama, how under-motivated the romance was, and (perhaps most importantly LOL) how I couldn’t help but feel that Ji-pyeong should’ve been the main male lead in this drama (although, by the end, his weird tug-of-war with Do-san over Dal-mi was getting on my nerves, perhaps because I couldn’t understand why both of them were so attached to Dal-mi). I think the humour was pretty good at various points, I liked Chul-san and Sa-ha, and I think the acting was overall really top quality (Suzy excepted), but it just lost a lot its initial sparkle with me by the fifth week.
pickleddragon
December 7, 2020 at 10:08 PM
That third episode is now in my books as the best comic episode in kdramas to beat. I kept waiting for the show to repeat that magic, and you’re right, it never did. I’m picking at this show far less than I picked, say, at 18 Again. (And I don’t know why!!)
I must add that I didn’t get tired of the drama the way I got tired of, say, Brahms, or Oh My Baby, or IOTNBO. None of these are comparable genre-wise, but I found that the initial magic of all those dramas wore off very very quickly.
To clarify, Startup is not a show I’d rewatch (except for ep 3) 😀
Maq
December 7, 2020 at 10:17 PM
I loved episode 3 as well!
Interestingly, I found 18 Again a very light and easy watch, whereas I found this one frustrating in the second half. Not sure why. I think it’s because 18 Again was a light watch in my mind from the outset and didn’t create unrealistic expectations for me. Start-up, on the other hand, had a very solid first two weeks, and, although in retrospect many of the problems with the show were already apparent then, I think I expected the show would simply improve as it went along. But it didn’t. Sigh.
I haven’t watched Oh My Baby, so I can’t comment on that one. But I’ve noticed that there were several dramas this year which had strong beginnings but which petered out in the second half. Brahms definitely goes into that pile, as does IOTNBO (albeit to a lesser extent; Brahms managed to pull off something really special in the way it completely soured all the initial enjoyment I got from the main couple). Flower of Evil goes in this camp as well; so does Dinner Mates (although I will say that Dinner Mates still remained reasonably enjoyable for me throughout its run and I enjoyed Lee Ji-hoon’s performance immensely in the second half).
pickleddragon
December 7, 2020 at 10:42 PM
I’m yet to watch the last 4 eps of 18 Again, but I would classify that as a candidate for a good gateway drama too (for those willing to suspend disbelief about the age-change etc).
I watched the first episode of Flower of Evil somewhere half way through its run, and decided I would wait for the final verdict from y’all here on DB before attempting to finish it. I’m glad I didn’t.
I had forgotten about Dinner Mates! That one derailed for me very quickly. I wanted to wipe it out of my memory and clearly I have. I don’t even remember which episode I watched it until, but it wasn’t much. 😀
There’s a cdrama I would add to this list too – Go Ahead – it started off so well! and then just went *phut*. What the scriptwriters were smoking I don’t know. It could have been a perfectly decent found family drama, but they made it a strange quasi-incest story, with badly botched attempt to salvage it halfway. Ugh. It was a waste of a very talented ensemble cast (barring Song Weilong).