**_A great watch … worth it!_**

_**WARNING**: Contains information others might consider as a spoiler._

**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.

**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.

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.

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.

I’ve seen like 10 kdramas at most.. and I’m quite satisfied with this one. For me, as for software engineer, it was impressive to see many tech stuff which was so true. Every technical term, every stuff that happened on computer screen was not bullshit, it was the way it is in real life. Although not sure why to use windows instead of Linux when you’re developing with python :) but else than that it’s perfect. Regarding business side everything I’ve heard from investor guy sounded like for real, they truelly done their homework and consulted regarding many stuff especially the way startup accelerator works :) Using Lidar technology in self driving car was just my personal wow part :) it’s quite new tech and it’s in the script of 2020 tv series - that’s a level up. Else than that ending was crap. Love triangle was good I believe, I’ve been in one, that represents almost my own experience. Not too much romance, there are very dramatic places which doesn’t feel like soap opera, it does look dramatic for real :) that’s probably the only Korean tv series which were so close to real life than other Korean tv series I’ve seen previously. I really wish to see season 2 :)

> Start-up was not an Unicorn and it before it closed the Series Rounding .. wasting the investors [viewers] money [time]

I know this show gets a lot of hate for [spoiler]the way they handled Yong-san brother's death and the chemistry between Suzy and Joo-huk [/spoiler] . I couldn't care less about [spoiler] Ji-pyung ; Second Lead Syndrome; as I always saw him as minor character and Daddy Long-Legs Ahjussi that Dal-mi would never choose [/spoiler]. I'd be lying if I said this drama was satisfying. However, I'd also be lying if I claimed it was downright unsalvagable or disappointing. I think the ending was okay. Could it have been better? Certainly. But honestly, it could've also been way worst.


PLOT
-------

If you're hoping to see a drama about business, this is not it , as there is slight KT on start-up business . If you're intolerant of love triangles, this may not be your cup of tea, as once we cross into the second half, it's all about the love triangle.

Having said that, the plot focuses on Dal Mi trying to follow her father's footsteps and show her sister that she made the right call in choosing to stay with her dad over leaving with her mom. It also shows that the kindness of Grandma an sometimes be cruel and good. While the show makes it look like that would be the heart of it, as we move towards the second half, the plot shifts to being romance-centrist. Basically, this is a story about a girl deciding if her heart belongs to her presumed first (in past) or her second love (present) [spoiler] and the choice was easy we all would except when we see the cast but the writers try to twist the episode preview to suggest them falling apart slowly and get them back together rushed in the end [/spoiler]

While the construction of the romance was problematic, the absence of consequences and the minimization of mistakes are marks of bad writing. Why have characters face problems if the writer will keep them safe from the consequences via cop-outs, plot armor, and/or having those consequences happen off-screen? Characters are supposed to face problems and make mistakes so they can learn, adapt, and grow. The writing also suffers from common-sense in by showcasing the mad-genius programmers can somehow deliver a solution that Top10 companies in the world fail to do so with the budget of North-Korea.

Having said that I think the best thing this drama did was to showcase some beautiful family moments. It also gave us some beautifully written characters we got to enjoy whenever they stepped on-screen (HJP, Grandma, and, to a lesser extent because she had little screen-time, In Jae). [spoiler] The beautiful family of the four ladies was heartwarming and the man would be most proud that they got together at the end beautifully [/spoiler]


CAST/CHARACTERS
------------------------

Seo Dal Mi/Bae Suzy: A character who's introduced as someone who's decisive, ambitious and hardworking. Although she's shown to be happy, charismatic and a go-getter, her character is quickly overtaken by the love triangle until we hardly see her outside of scenes involving one of the guys. Her independence got replaced by her choice of a partner; shoving out of the focus her journey to success. Before the halfway mark, Dal Mi was the star of the show. But after she found out about the letters, her character lost her identity, becoming little more than a "love interest". Also Bae Suzy is back to being a robot actress her expressions lacked emotion and especially the chemistry in romance with her partner felt awkward may be due to bad writing or execution.

Nam Do San/Nam Joo Hyuk: A guy who's introduced as sort of a loser; a boy who has yet to grown into a man. He's constantly shown as uncertain about who he is, what he wants, and where he wants to go. So in an effort to find his own way, he relies on following other people's instructions. While Do San has family and close friends, he tends to disregard his own feelings and makes decisions based on others. Mainly, on trying not to disappoint his peers. However, in so doing, he ends up frustrated with himself because he's not being honest. So everything he's doing also feels fake to him and he ends up hurting himself most of all. Out of all the characters, Do San faced the most problems but had the least growth. The very fact that his identity crisis was never fully addressed and dealt with is perhaps the biggest disservice his character got.[spoiler] In the end he would still continues to follow and make someone else dream like any developer do ... [/spoiler]. I loved his character and acting skills in Weightlifting Fairy and his chemistry with Lee Sung-Kyoung was excellent but here he doesn't even show 1% of acting skills and chemistry with Suzy may be also due to bad story writing.

Han Ji Pyeong: A man who's introduced as a hotshot with a successful career. He's nonetheless shown to be a sacrificial character with no family and no friends. I didn't care or empathize much with his character but he outwardly mean to other as he is dishonest with his feelings and tries to push away people. I really hated the moments where he tries to put down start-ups ; if he had shown 1% empathy that grandma showed in the beginning he would have [spoiler] save some lives and instead in the end they try to show us he is all changed by donating few million to an orphanage start-up[/spoiler] **Good-boy my ass**

Grandma (SDM's Family and HJP's benefactor): She is one of the very best things about this show. Her bond with Han Ji Pyeong is marvelous to watch. The scenes between them are worth muscling through some of the flaws. She also gets a few but powerful scenes with Won/Seo In Jae (Dal Mi's estrangled sister).

Won/Seo in Jae: A character who the writer forgot existed halfway through the drama's run. She had one of the most interesting arcs, but ended up being pushed aside. [spoiler] She was someone who seemed to have made it in life, only for her adoptive father to double-crossed her, taking with one hand everything he'd given with the other. In Jae had the most painful thing happened to her. She fell from high above and yet, she landed on her feet --with her pride bruised but not broken. And somehow, she managed to build something great in the wake of that loss and even support her sisters dreams. However, it's rare for a K-Drama to showcase a female character pursuing success --less so as decisively as In Jae did, so this aspect of her character was minimized and ignored. Instead, all her success and growth happened off-screen and we're left to lament the potential for the portrayal of an strong, flawed, independent and kick-ass successful female character.[/spoiler]


MUSIC
--------

Red Velvet's Future is an earworm, Gaho's running is memorable and BOL4's Love letter is peppy.The show is blessed with good choreography and cinematography and sets right tone and background music as it has good sound production value.


VERDICT
-----------

==What was Good? (and Bad?)==

Comedy was superb in the initial episodes, especially the videos, the goofiness of the Samsan gang, the food hoarding etc. The aesthetics and set production of this drama was exceptionally good with no compromises.

The Technology, Image recognition, is shown very realistically and toned down for the audience, giving its applications. The workings of start-up and business is also given practical glimpse, with a dash of drama. Especially, the selection process of sandbox was innovative and interesting.

Ultimately, despite the promising cast and production team, the drama was not able to realise its full potential. However, unlike The King: Eternal Monarch , there are still things worthwhile to watch out for in this drama as there are good dosage of emotional moments even if its lacking in romance and brain

Suffice to say, when it comes to directing, this will be a drama I will refer to as the "exception to the rule" when it comes to visual mastery. A drama that shows even the director can lie to an audience for the sake of building false hope or cheap uncertainty so that, regardless of the ending, we "won't see it coming".

Personally, I do not regret pursuing this drama, but this does not mean I'm not going to grief over the wasted potential here. I don't think I'll be watching another Bae Suzy or Nam Joo Hyuk work for a while to cleanse my palate from their portrayal of the worst characters in kdrama history, which is ironic given that I started this for them in the first place. [spoiler] If you want to get over Ji-pyung Second Lead Syndrome [/spoiler] or hatred towards him watch Strongest Delivery Man .