Apostando Alto (2020)

Unique storytelling, in a bad way.

This drama was just interesting enough to get me the whole way through, but realistically there’s so much about it that I disliked.

For a start, Jipyeong is set up to be the main love interest and he’s pretty much the male lead, since he’s the most fleshed-out character in the show. Because of this, I found myself really emotionally drawn to him, yet the real Nam Dosan suddenly gets wedged into the story and we are told he’s the main love interest! I wasn’t able to warm to Dosan’s character as his personality just didn’t click with me: sometimes he seemed too selfish + he had a weird temper etc.

I found myself bawling through most of the scenes between Jipyeong and Dalmi’s Grandma, yet the trouble they both through for Dalmi is confusing as I never came to feel like I knew her. She’s written in an incredibly one-dimensional way and becomes more so with time: the opposite of what should be happening. I couldn’t help but wonder why her Grandma would lie to her for so long as, while she may be hanging on to that childhood crush, she is a whole ass adult that I’m sure would get over it. The lack of development of Dalmi’s character also gets me questioning why either of the male leads are interested in her - she doesn’t even have any friends aside from Dosan’s friends so they really gave us nothing.

I also wonder why, when she finds out Jipyeong wrote the letters, she becomes so confused about who she loves. Up until then she treats Jipyeong with a significant distance and I feel like the combination of this and her association of Dosan with the letters would make this revelation seem very alien to her. Especially as the one characteristic she has is her decisiveness.

I’m not about to write an alternative but considering the plot began with her and her sister’s conflict, their story could’ve been much improved.

Another thing I hate is the short and ridiculous side plot of Yongsan’s brother. It really added nothing to the show and it was bizarrely sinister for such a momentary story.

On a side note, pretty much all the business scenes are boring af and I eventually found myself just skipping through them.

Leia Mais

Great Story with Great Cast

Don’t let haters fools you, this drama is great...from the beginning this is a story of youth struggling to find their dream and place in startUp world therefore it’s only fitting when the main lead has flaws and lacking in certain area which we can relate too...I am honestly tired with the same k-drama male lead need to be successful, rich, tsundere character which is overrated and overuse in k-drama

Nam Dosan coding genius that stumble a few obstacles during his journey toward his dream- he is kind hearted, selfless and most importantly value Dalmi so much that she become his dream...the subject of dream itself is very subjective, not everyone dream of being rich and successful...this character is very pure and like breath of fresh air , Nam Joo Hyuk delivered this character very2 well..same goes to Suzy, both shine brightly in this story

People that insisted for 30+ years old male who already successful and find his footing in the business industry- do you realize how unfitted HJP to be male lead in the youth Coding love story which is this drama main plot?

it’s sad that people are giving bad review just because they misunderstood the plot of this drama and insisted that they are absolutely right, now throwing tantrums by giving bad review because things doesn’t go their way...please be more grateful as this drama is the one that pushed your favorite oppa KSH into popularity in the first place

Leia Mais

Promising but ended up disappointing

This could have been one of the best kdramas of the year. So many plotholes, scenes that didn't make sense, and no character development overall esp from the main leads.
The only saving factor for this drama si definitely Kim Seon Ho who by his acting outshined everyone in terms of the portrayal of his character.

The pilot was really amazing until episode 9-10 and everything from there went downhill and gives meaningless messages to the viewers.
Sail off without a map? Having to be someone else's trophy? Follow your dream = person ?!!!!

The second male lead has a strong backstory since episode 1 and by the time you end episode 1, you are rooting for him and wanting him to have the happiness he deserves (which he definitely didn't get in the end) - everything was forced (very cliche)- I have been watching kdramas since 2005 and this has been the only drama that really disappointed me story-wise. Never in my life have I tried to forward the scenes with the male and female lead.

Love triangle was dragged until the last scenes of the episode and even invalidated the letters (which is the core of the story for episode 1-10), the writers just dropped them and just did whatever it is to make the male lead (which they didnt give an ounce of likeable quality) get the girl in the end.

The other second female lead didn't have any screentime as well towards the end of the story. I was really excited for that sister rivalry but was brushed aside to make way for the love triangle that should have been cut/ended at least by episode 11 or 12.

Time skip didn't do any good, the male lead just became a hotshot and he is still insecure with the second lead.

I wont recommend to watch this if it wasn't for Ji Pyeng character and Kim Seon Ho's acting. He did justice to that character. This is the strongest second lead syndrome ever (yet).

Leia Mais

Make your own opinion and don't just trurst negative reviews

I Want to shine some light in these reviews as most people in this review section are quite negative and I want to talk about the positives. I'll be totally honest I nearly gave this a skip right before I started watching this due to the abundance of bad reviews but I thought let's just do it and am I glad I went with my gut to just watch it. I personally really enjoyed the concept they went with, basically, life as an entrepreneur with the romance mixed in as the main plot with also the budding relationships of friends and family.

I first heard of this Start-Up literally 10 months ago when it got announced since I am a vivid follower of Suzy so I watch all her drama's and keep up to date with her work so to say I nearly skipped this due to bad reviews after waiting 10 months would've been a disservice to myself.

First, of, I want to talk about Suzy's character, Seo Dal Mi. I actually really liked her character as she wasn't just so weak character who relied on the main male lead but she was actually in the limelight and the biggest reason why the company she was a CEO for was a success. I loved how hardworking she was and was trudging through life after basically being ditched by her mother and sister and stayed with her father and grandmother which in my opinion is a better choice than In Jae's in which she does eventually go back. Jea's choice consisted of being riched and having money with no real happy relationships while Dal Mi's choice was being poor but having strong relationships with the people around her especially her Grandmother. If there's any character I would like to be like in this drama it would be Dal Mi but I'm more like Do San which I'll talk about later. She really deserved the success she gained in the end which showed through her hard work. When she decided to let go of Do San by intentionally being harsh to her it was mature because she wanted him to succeed and not be held back but just like Do San I would've rather stayed behind and continue my relationships with the people around me already.

Nam Joo Hyuk portrayed Do Sans character really when and we know he played upbeat characters really well so Do San was a perfect match for him in my opinion. Nam Do San's character really hit home to me as I related to him quite a lot in his personality aspect. I can be loud and confident with the people I feel comfortable with but I can seem weak around people I feel inferior to and can sometimes have low self-esteem. Do San as a character was really fun to watch as they make you want to root for him. In the first episode, I thought he wasn't the main male lead as they didn't even show him but it was actually quite a smart move as we were interested who is this Nam Do San character that got mentioned and teases throughout the episode but they gave us the impression he was a big shot who was rich but that was far from the truth, he was a guy in his 20s trying to push his company forward and become successful. His journey throughout the show is an interesting one because he instantly has to let go of his pride by giving away the CEO position to Dal Mi and he faced multiple knockdowns which affected his self-esteem which was really sad to see since he always compared himself to Han Ji Pyung but eventually became confident in himself after going to LA and coming back but even after that he needs validation from Dal Mi so I wished from an outside view that he was more confident with himself but it did do the story well and added to his character development in the end.

The romance between Dal Mi and Do San was actually fun to watch as visually they were amazing and chemistry wise it was also amazing. There was something that confuses me but I don't quite understand when their 'day 1' was because in kdramas you can kinda see when it started, but in they literally held hands in episode 4 but they weren't dating but ill guess it was when they kissed onto of the roof when Do San smashed the CEO plaque of In Jae's father.

Han Ji Pyung character was actually well written after putting some thought into it. I swear drama screenwriters all have this idea that they will make the 3rd person in the love triangle which is usually a male gracefully give up on the main female which makes us respect and like the character. But to be honest I only ever disliked him in two events of this drama and for the rest, he was a really good character even though he was helping SamSan Tech just because Dal Mi was there but I do have a thought that an inkling inside really believed in the company rather than just wanting Dal Mi wanting to do good. You could say he had an unrequited love which was obvious to everyone but Dal Mi. He was a very critical character who always spoke the harsh truth without really thinking of the consequences but we know he just wanted to help and see the best for them. He made a good point to Dal Mi at the end of the show in which makes me think 'why didn't I think of that', but he said when he read the letters it took him 15 years to find him but when Do San read them it took him literally a day after to find her in which it might sound like an excuse to Dal Mi but it was a very true point which only shows his gracefulness in the end.

Seo In Jae character was also a character which was interesting because they make us dislike her but you also could not say she was wrong with any of the points he made as they were all true. I really like her development as she went from someone who didn't really care about Dal Mi and boasted her choice and became someone likeable to Dal Mi and us the viewer as we saw her become independent from her step-father and eventually took her Seo family name back.

The supporting cast in Start-Up was really good as it had a good set of characters. First off the SamSan Tech team were all a pleasure to watch and we saw a budding relationship between Sa Ha and Cheol San which we did not expect as they jokingly had Cheol San hit on her but she eventually like him. Seol Mi's grandmother was also a gem to watch as you could tell that she really cared for her grand-daughter.

The OST in Start-Up was actually really good. I love how when Suzy does dramas she always adds her own voice to the OST tracklist which just makes her more multi-talented even though she was a singer first. I loved the OST cast which concluded of; Red Velvet, Suzy, OhMyGirl, Cheeze, BOL4, Gaho and 10cm etc.

Overall I really enjoyed this drama and I would highly recommend you to watch this despite the bad review and make your own opinions rather than joining bandwagons. Also if you want to watch a drama about entrepreneurs and life with romance as well then I really recommend this drama as it also has a stellar cast that made this drama what it is.

Leia Mais

Seeing the hype surrounding this drama, my expectations were high going into it, that was not a good idea.

I rarely dislike dramas, i may find one boring but rarely have i disliked one. I've only disliked 2 dramas i have ever watched and they have the same problem. I can overlook a boring plot or story, but what i can't overlook are unlikable main leads, and that is exactly what this drama has. An unlikable main lead makes it really hard for me to support him or her and it just overall makes watching the drama unenjoyable. It also seems that the drama was confused as to who the main leads were throughout the whole show.

Before diving into the negative, lets talk about the positive, Han Ji Pyeong, the second lead (supposedly). He is the saving grace of this drama. The story started with him, and should've been about him but that didn't happen. The writers really didn't do him justice, he was the character that felt most alive. Whenever he was in a scene, he breathed life into the scene and whichever character that was sharing it. Needless to say, i'm team good boy.

Now for my biggest problem with this drama, Nam Do San, the main lead (supposedly). He is the most toxic, insecure, entitled prick for a main lead i have ever seen. Not too mention he's also a manipulative liar and too violent to my liking which are not exactly adjectives you would want to use to describe a main lead. He is so unreasonable in most of the show that it started to really piss me off but he always manages to get away scot free because he's the main lead.

As for Seo Dal Mi, the female lead. She was fine in the beginning but as the drama progressed, it felt as the writers gave up trying to give her character growth and made her rely on someone else to help her pass any obstacle.

Now the romance, i wasn't the type that hoped for HJP to get together with SDM but at least make a ML that is better than the SL. I felt that NDS was inferior to HJP in every aspect which made it very unsatisfying to watch the romance progress as i constantly felt that the ML didn't deserve the romance, he didn't seem to do anything to deserve it either

The writers really wasted such good potential. The plot was intriguing but the way they wrote the characters and the story were downright horrible. *sigh* that's 16 hours of my life i'm not getting back.

i would give 1/10 but for Kim Seon Ho, i'll make it 1.5/10.

Leia Mais

How much a dream worth? How we can pursue our dreams without compromise our present? When it's time to give up and when it's time to go on? These are some lessons that we can learn on "Start-up". And how pleasant is this learning!

The story of "Start-up" is full of twists and beautiful relationships, and I think that this was the reason why I loved so much this process. Seeing a character as Dal Mi (Bae Suzy) I just knew that this would be a great experience. Dal Mi was the key to this drama for me. Her courage and determination made me think a lot about my choices and my dreams. She was a consistent character and I don't have a thing to complain about her. Do Sam (Nam Joo Hyuk) was different, though. In the beginning, I didn't like him too much, maybe because he just appears at the end of the episode and I already was in love with Kim Seon Ho's smile until there, LOL. Do Sam started as an insecure boy with no ambition and no perspective, and his posture made me uncomfortable many times in the first episodes. Because of that, I thought that maybe Dal Mi and Ji Pyung (Kim Seon Ho) had a better future together, but with the follow episodes I start to see tiny flashes of an unexpected personality that could surprise me (and did that indeed). The growth of Do Sam was remarkable and I loved to see how Dal Mi did part of this. He was an incredible character and I was cheer for him like crazy at the end. The performance of Nam Joo Hyuk also was incredible for me. The last drama with him that I saw was "The Bride of Habaek" and he was totally different! Remembering of "Weightlifting fairy, Bok Joo", it was equally different. So here I could see a part of this man that I didn't saw before and I loved it.

I will write an entire paragraph because he deserves this. Kim Seon Ho, you conquer my heart on this. I generally hate love triangles, but I never saw this relationship as a triangle. From the beginning, I thought that Ji Pyung had a unique path to walk on this show. His relationship with Ms. Choi (Kim Hae Sook) heated my heart and make me cry many times. The way how a person could change the future of someone with a simple action was beautifully showed and I couldn't love more. I loved to see his growth as I loved Do Sam. Both of them need to grow in different ways and I think that because of that their friendship was so important.

The only thing that I missed was a conversation between Do Sam and his father. After so many disagreements and repents, I think that they deserved a moment of catharsis. But maybe this was too cliche, I don't know. It was just something that I wanted to see elaborated.

I loved In Jae (Kang Han Na) and the fact that they didn't put her only like a b*tch, but like a person that made mistakes but also knew how to fix them. I loved the SamSam Tech friendship and the way how they kept their dream alive even when nobody believes it. Well, I really enjoy this drama, and the end included!

I'll rate this as "amazing"! (★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★) This is a different type of drama, focused on every kind of relationship. It was a great experience and I hope that Kim Seon Ho shows up as the main character soon! I can't get tired of these dimples!

Leia Mais

so much wasted potential

in the first ep, it started so promising. but the writer seemed to lost their way. i highly recommend it if you want to get so much stress from a drama. i dont care who the female lead dalmi ends up with, but the writer should've plotted everything much better. and no i dont believe all the people who are giving low ratings is all because their ship is not ending up together. the plot messed up in many ways, not just because of a stupid ship. this drama had potential in the beginning because it focused on the youth and business stuff like that, it gave inspiration to us viewers on working, but it ended up focusing on a stupid love triangle which they had to drag till the end of the drama.. im speechless they ruined a drama with such good casts. throughout the story we've seen many sides of dosan, he was a workaholic, persistent, sometimes immature boy with a low self-esteem but near the end he's strong and knows what he wants... however, without jipyeong his view would be clouded, even in terms of his relationship. I like both characters but jipyeong is the one that shines brighter than anyone. he haven't once mentioned about his harsh childhood, he's acting in favour of everyone and simultaneously forgets about himself, let alone being silent in his actions. and yet, he's the one who constantly has to go through numerous hurdles. i think we've been manipulated by the writer and she meant to play on our emotions. jipyeong truly deserves better, better than dalmi. but the writer likes to make us suffer. anyways if i were to ever rewatch clips of this drama, it would only be because of jipyeong. his character carried throughout.

Leia Mais

Mi sono tatuata il titolo sulla caviglia XD

Dopo la terza volta che lo rivedo, finalmente mi sento pronta a parlarvene.
Questo è stato LETTERALMENTE il drama più bello che io abbia mai visto.
Premettendo che farmi piangere (nel senso vero del termine) sia ESTREMAMENTE difficile, quest'opera ci è riuscita a più riprese.
Non solo per il triangolo amoroso, ma anche per tipi di rapporti completamente diversi e intensi ad un tale livello che non possono non coinvolgervi e sconvolgervi.
I temi trattati in quest'opera sono veramente tanti: lutto, amore, passato, tradimento, amicizia, coraggio, fiducia, famiglia, crescita personale, credere in se stessi e lottare per questo. Ogni tema è stato trattato a mio parere nel miglior modo possibile.
L'unico che poteva funzionare meglio forse è il triangolo amoroso, abbastanza molle, ma è anche quello che fa crescere e maturare di più i personaggi.
Questo drama è riuscito a trasportarmi nel mondo delle startup e anche a spiegarmi come funziona questo mondo, senza mai mandarmi in confusione. Ho imparato tante cose nuove (≧▽≦)
Gli attori sono stati uno più bravo dell'altro. Anche coloro che interpretano personaggi secondari sono stati all'altezza del compito, nessuno sembra passare in secondo piano.
Le musiche giuste sempre nei momenti giusti, quelle che ti danno la carica o quelle che ti stringono il cuore.
Un applauso!!

Leia Mais

It's a youth drama full of hope, dream and love. It is worth your time!

While I completely agree that this drama has its flaws and writing its up and downs, I still enjoy it a lot. While I don’t think my review will ever appear on the first page I am going to skip the obvious parts and jump into why I think spending your time with this drama is going to be worth it.

Below are some of the reasons why I liked this drama:
**No, the boy from her childhood is not going to be the main lead. - To me, that’s one of the most surprising parts of this drama; in fact, I have not seen it in any romance drama before and this is super refreshing to me. I was never had the worry 2nd ML will actually become the ML cause there was not even one hint in the drama that the FL would ever fall for 2nd ML. I liked how the writer chose to end things between the two of them: let it stay as a beautiful memory of childhood.

**“Red thread stories” are beautifully written - I called them "red thread" cause they form the backbone of the story and how characters come together and meet. These "red thread stories" highlight the great writing of this drama and really improved the main plots.
Here are my favorites:

- How “Sandbox” came about - how Dal Mi’s dad told this story to SH VC’s president the day he passed away after struggling for so many years with its own startup; how this has become the support and dream of many young entrepreneurs and helped both daughters of Mr. Seo becoming successful.

- Why FL and In Jae got separated and became rival; the story of their parents' divorce and that both are strong-minded but internally still cared about each other and were worried that they have made a wrong choice

- The story between Han Ji Pyung and Dal Mi’s grandmother; it led to why HJP wrote the letters and started the story; they are one of the most heartwarming scenes in this drama

- The friendship of the members of Sam San Tech; how they stick together through thick and thin, trust and help each other out during hard times but don’t grow apart after becoming successful

Now a few words more to counter-argue with some of the critiques I have heard:

** Many viewers complain about how superficial and unrealistic the startup scenes are depicted there - Personally, I don’t fully agree. Though I agree the writers could have toned down the path to success slightly in later episodes, I liked how all key elements are incorporated. Some of the tough aspects are shown in Mr. Seo’s story or the early days of San Sam Tech. If you want to watch stories of real-life startups I am sure there are tons of drama/ documentaries for you to watch. Don’t waste your time on a 16 episode Korean drama full of pretty actors/ actresses, hope and dreams. I think this should have been clear when the ML walks into FL’s life like Cinderella in episode 2.

** Female lead becomes someone who is solely dependent on her choice of a man - I don’t know why many think this way, at the end, the FL was doing a great job working for her sister In Jae. She is hard-working, smart, ambitious, and dares to dream - she would have been a successful start-up CEO wherever she goes and would not have needed a man...

** ML becomes useless without the FL. - Well first, he is not really useless but just realizes how much she means to him. That the fame and the money he dreamt of isn't that interesting if he is all by himself. In the end, the Dal Mi really helped SST to get to where they were in the first place.
Though I agree it's slightly exaggerated but isn’t this what we all want to see from the ML in a Korean romance drama?

** It's a useless triangle, and the drama is abusing 2nd ML. - We shall recall that the Han Jin Pyong did not visit her after he found her again. He also did not admit his feeling to her and kept on being warm and cold with her. On the other hand, Nam Do San has been drawn to FL the moment he saw her and there are countless moments at which Do San did things for FL without hidden agenda, such as appearing at the event for her. For me, it was very clear, that Han Jin Pyong, although being a very loveable character and supportive mentor to the FL, did not have any chance. I found the maker did a great job by having Han Jin Pyong realizing exactly that and open the path for Nam Do San and Dal Mi to become happy. What do you want from a love who does not love you back?

Above are my general observations of Start Up. I would really recommend everyone watching it, especially those who are first time into Korean dramas.

Leia Mais

Doesn't deserve the hate!!

I just read some reviews on Start-Up here and other social media platforms and I had to write a review here. As much as I agree with most of the views on the drama, I think it is very biased and not a clear depiction of what the drama is as a whole. It felt very biased and I can see from biased fans of Kim Seon Ho(great actor and deserves another drama as a lead soon). From the very start, HJP had a strong connection with Grandma and the writers very well showed it till the end. He didn't look for Dalmi 15 years and only liked her after being jealous seeing her with DoSan while DoSan's lover for Dalmi has been genuine since the beginning. HJP and Dalmi were never going to work out as HJP is much more mature and successful and deserves a much stronger female counterpart. Do San as much he was low self-esteem and lost kid, his love for Seo Dal Mi was genuinely true and helped him grow stronger over the later eps. They had to be the end couple.

Everyone had a decent ending, HJP invested in an orphanage, he got a family in grandma and Dalmi, DoSan got his character development from crybaby, dependent and lost genius kid to a responsible and mature CTO, Dalmi became the CEO of the company and making big decisions rationally and Kang Hanna got back with her family. Samsan Tech grew into become a unicorn company.

The OSTs were really good and fitted the scenes when they were played. The acting from Kim Seon Ho 10/10 and the rest of the cast did really well to portray the character despite their flaws. I sincerely ask everyone watching for the first time to see this drama as a whole and not be biased as Kim Seon Ho or Nam Joo Hyuk fan. This drama showed the struggles of a start-up and a good romance. It doesn't deserve the hate on the actors because of how some people wanted the ending to be like.

It's your views and your opinion so I don't have any say but just wanted to tell you here that this drama doesn't deserve the hate. Nam Joo Hyuk and Bae Suzy do not deserve the hate and this drama doesn't deserve the hate just because Kim Seon Ho didn't get the ending you wanted. Sorry!

Leia Mais