The Start-Up is a new Korean Drama starring Jung Kyung Ho and Kim So Yeon. It’s about two entrepreneurs who create a start-up company to solve the problems of the people in their society. The show is only 15 episodes long, with each episode lasting an hour. But what it lacks in length, it makes up for in quality!
Start watching this show if you want:
- A feel-good show that will make you smile about entrepreneurship.
- To see the Korean start-up scene in its prime when companies were new and ideas seemed more possible than ever before.
- To watch Jung Kyung Ho play the main character who is an honest but flawed man with lots of charisma.
- A K-Drama without any of those annoying love triangles! All romance on Start-Up is based around friendships or work relationships instead of a refreshing change from typical dramas where everyone ends up getting paired off at some point. I know this because there are only 15 episodes out so far and NO ONE has ended up in a relationship!
- I could read subtitles and have seen my fair share of romances go from a spark to an explosive finale that makes me shiver with anticipation at every episode. But until I started watching “Start-Up”, I had no idea what it was like when there are none of those annoying love triangles!
The main characters in this show seem so nice – they work hard on their business during the day, hang out together after hours, and don’t let anything distract them from making their company succeed! It’s refreshing to see young people who aren’t focused solely on dating or social status. The only thing that seems to bother them is the inevitable question of who will take over as company CEO.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever be running my own business, but it’s always comforting to watch these characters work through problems together and find solutions without having a meltdown!
The Start-Up is one of the most gripping dramas I’ve seen in recent years.
Full disclaimer: when you first start watching this series, you might think that your typical Korean drama is going to involve some kind of love triangle or quirky company traditions like drinking pickle juice before an interview…but then they share their various thoughts on what success means as well as their worries about being left behind by competitors.
It was refreshing to see young people who weren’t focused solely on dating or social status; instead, all the main characters were committed 100% to their jobs and trying to make it big in the cutthroat world of business. “Start-Up” is a show that focuses more on hard work than romance, which I found refreshing.
This series has everything you could want from a Korean drama: riveting plot twists, great characterization, stunning visuals…but without all the tired tropes we typically see when watching this kind of show. One minute they’re celebrating after breaking into an industry coffee shop while another time they have crushing doubts about whether or not their new app will succeed (I’ve never seen so many different moods portrayed in one TV series before)
While there are some predictable moments mixed in with all these surprises, I absolutely loved how Park Shin Yang’s character changed from a hard, closed-off company man to a kind and selfless leader, a man to someone who finally allowed himself to be open with the people around him
The cast is eye-catching, but it’s how much you care about each character that really gets your heart pumping in this show. Even if I was rooting for one team member over another, there were never any hard feelings when they lost because of all their effort put into getting as far as they did; instead, I felt proud of them even though we didn’t come out on top!
This series will make you want to work harder at whatever challenges life throws your way. The obstacles are tough and some may be more difficult than others.
