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Hajimemashite minna san....welcome to my site on my fave Japanese Pop Culture likes such as dramas, movies, magazine scans, promo events etc. Mainly concentrate on my faves...Risa Watanabe... Kyoko Saito... Yui Kobayashi....Miyuki Watanabe.... Nene Shida.... if you're a fan at all of any of them then you've come to the right place(!) but many others are featured here besides them. Do mainly quick reviews on things I've watched, try to make the reviews brief, quick to read through with not too many spoilers, just whether they're good or bad and why I thought so plus whether you may find them enjoyable. Many, many screenshots are included from everything I've watched plus any video trailers if they're available. Hope you find something that interests you, don't hesitate to comment, arigato gozaimasu!

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Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Korean drama "Start-Up": Episode three recap

 


 Air Dates: October 17th until December 6th on tvN... Saturday and Sunday nights at 9:00 pm
tvN is a cable network so the ratings for it will be a bit lower, for this show it was 4.61% which was about 1.15 million viewers, same as episode 2.

Main Cast: Wrote this up after viewing the first episode so will be tweaking the bios and possibly adding in a few characters. Did do so for this post as added in were the father and son combo of Won.

Bae Suzy as Seo Dal-Mi.... 27 year old(?) woman who soon will have dreams of beginning her own startup company but in what is currently unknown. She's lived with her grandmother for the past fourteen years since her father died and has helped her out at her two food cafes. She's the younger sister of the next character who had gone fourteen years without seeing each other until episode one.

Kang Ha-Na as Won In-Jae.... The reason for their different last names is that In-Jae lived with her mother after she got divorced from the father. The mother remarried a wealthy man, she's been living off and on in America for fourteen years. In-Jae is the CEO of the successful Morning Nature company which she began with money from her stepfather.

Nam Joo-Hyuk as Nam Do-San.... Main leader of SAMSAN Tech which is struggling so bad it may never officially sell a product. That could change as at the end of episode two he went over a massive transformation and could be hooked up to Dal-Mi soon.

Kim Sun-Ho as Han Ji-Pyeong.... Grew up in an orphanage but at sixteen was kicked out for being too old(?), he then lived with Dal-Mi's grandmother until attending college in Seoul. When he lived with the grandmother be pretended to be Do-San as he wrote Dal-Mi letters to comfort her after the divorce. He's now a team leader at SH Venture Capital.

Kim Hae-Sook as Choi Won-Deok... The grandmother of the top two characters but hasn't seen In-Jae in fifteen years. She's raised Dal-Mi since she was thirteen and they still live together, Choi used to run a cafe but now owns a small corn dog truck. She was also responsible for Ji-Pyeong being successful as she let him stay with her when he left the orphanage.

The characters who aren't major ones but are important

Eom Hyo-Seop as Won Doo-Jong.... In-Dae's stepfather who is quite wealthy. He gave her the funds to begin her own company and still owns 72% of the stock. However think he let her run the company so it would become successful, then his son would take over.

Moon Dong-Hyeoko as Won Sang-Su.... In-Dae's inept stepbrother, he's been her secretary at Nature Morning and his father is about to install him as CEO for the Korean branch.

Kim Do-Wan as Kim Yong-San.... A partner of Do-San's at SAMSAN Tech.

Yoo Su-Bin as Lee Chul-San.... Another partner at SAMSAN Tech.

Kim Won-Hae as Nam Seong-Hwan.... Do-San's father who invested much $$ into his son's venture but is coming close to withdrawing.

Kim Hee-Jung as Park Geum-Jung.... Do-San's mother.

Song Seon-Mi as Cha A-Hyun.... Mother of Dal-Mi and In-Jae.

Kim Min-Seok as Park Dong-Chun.... Ji-Pyeong's underling at SH Venture.

Recaps for the prior episodes





 
Right above the two screenshots is a new feature which I'll include in dramas like this one where there's ongoing storylines. That way won't need to discuss too much of what's taken place and should help you Korean drama fans who want to check out what's happened and where we stand. Just thought of that idea a week ago and it's the first series I'm doing it for. It appears every episode will be 80+ minutes in length so there's really no way to keep these recaps too brief and luckily I don't talk about every single detail.

 The first five minutes featured two flashbacks from the second episode. Above is Do-San on the left, driving is Ji-Pyeong who was explaining the events that began in 2005 and went on for a year. Back then Ji-Pyeong had pretended to be Do-San in letters he and her grandmother sent to Dal-Mi. Of course she didn't know about what took place but wants to bring Do-San to an event, Ji-Pyeong was relating the story of what took place. Wanted to include a screenshot of Do-San as his appearance changes quite a bit which you'll notice. The other mini flashback was of the event that was a networking one put on by Dal-Mi's successful sister In-Jae. Do-San wasn't going to attend but had a change of heart, we saw his entrance again and it wasn't nearly as flashy as the one in episode two. That takes care of the first five minutes, only 75 more to recap....






 One reason for putting the links to previous recaps is so I wouldn't have to use a paragraph talking about the events that's led up to where we are. Above in red is In-Jae, she asked Dal-Mi if it was still okay to call refer to her as Dal-Mi's sister as they've had different last names for fourteen years, she nodded her agreement to In-Jae. She's a successful CEO of the Morning Nature company which was never mentioned in the first two shows, she runs both the American and Korean branches. Attending the networking event was In-Jae's mother, of course she's also Dal-Mi's but she really wants nothing to do with the woman as she still hates her for divorcing her deceased father. 

 But the most important guest, least to Dal-Mi, was her long ago admirer Do-San. At one time he had such a promising future as he was a teen math whiz but Do-San's adult live hasn't worked out well in the least. He is the CEO of SAMSON Tech which still hasn't gotten off the ground, he's never had a regular job nor a girlfriend. With those 'qualifications' can Do-San pass off as an important hotshot CEO in front of Dal-Mi and the others at the event? He did and that was with the help of none other than Ji-Pyeong who was quite surprised Do-San arrived after saying he wouldn't. Ji-Pyeong is a very respected investor, he brought Do-San to have a private conversation to impress the attendees. Not much of a chat as the pair had nothing in common and actually just tried to remember the Korean national anthem which was actually was a humorous scene. But Do-San was noticed by many, it hasn't paid off yet but it may being seen with Ji-Pyeong. You'll also see in the screenshots the change in his appearance, instead of having longish hair he had it cut and doesn't look nearly as nerdy now but his personality is still of one.

 The main person to notice Do-San was In-Jae and I'll discuss what happened with her then move on to the other major characters. In-Jae thought her sister Dal-Mi was lying through her teeth about having a boyfriend who is a CEO and was taken back by his appearance. However we all know that it is the truth about Dal-Mi lying but Do-San was so convincing she's believed the tall tales and is a bit peeved at her younger sister doing so well. This networking event that In-Jae hosted took place on a Friday night, she has to return to America the following Tuesday so won't be able to investigate if Dal-Mi is doing as well as she says but it should be easy enough to check out SAMSAN Tech. In-Jae and her mother did escort the pair outside where Do-San drove her home in Ji-Pyeong's souped up car. Shortly after arriving was her stepfather along with his son which naturally makes him In-Jae's stepbrother.






 Every drama has that 'bad guy/girl' and from the get go you thought In-Jae would be that person. That may not be the case and by the end of this episode you were actually rooting for her. If there are going to be bad people it's the Won family males, the father is Doo-Jung while his son who is about 25 in age is Sang-Su. They did talk with In-Jae at the event but not for too long, seems these days they want nothing to do with her or the mother. In-Jae is the CEO of Nature Morning which I think is a cosmetics company, presume so even though we didn't see any of their products. They have branches in Korea and America where In-Jae usually resides. She's quite an efficient director, she is stern but also quite fair. Her personal secretary is Sang-Su and though we didn't see much of him In-Jae thinks he's such an inept worker and only has the position because of his father.

 That's true but also the father is responsible for the Nature Morning company getting off the ground as he was the main investor. In-Jae's mother A-Hyun is quite leery of her husband and they're living apart though no divorce will probably happen. She warned In-Jae about the father who she feels has plans to strip her of at least one CEO position and she was on the money with that thought. It's now Tuesday when In-Jae is supposed to return to America, she met briefly with the Won men before she departed. In a shocking development to In-Jae the father has decided to give the directorship of the Korean branch to Sang-Su. In-Jae of course was against the idea but as her stepfather reminded her he owns 72% of the stock in the company while she and Sang-Su only owned 14% each. But the father said a decision wouldn't be made until her return to Korea which was a lie, she did become suspicious when Sang-Su said he wouldn't be going to America with her.

 In-Jae did some checking on her way to the airport, she was being driven there by her mother. She found out a special board meeting was going to take place that afternoon and it was to install her stepbrother as the new CEO of the Korean branch, those screenshots above are for these events. Her mother dashed In-Jae back to the meeting where Sang-Su was about to accept his new position. That never became official as In-Jae barged in and said how can you make such an idiot a CEO? Many mouths drooped hearing her comments and In-Jae may have gone over the line but she just had to get those things off her chest. The meeting didn't go on after her outburst and am curious on what's happened to her CEO position?







 The impression I've got is that the father Doo-Jung has had this planned out for years. He knew how talented In-Jae was and the main reason for her being the CEO was to make Nature Morning a very successful company which she did. So after things were settled and the company had a rosy future he would install Sang-Su to gradually take over the company which is in the works but even his father knew how inept Sang-Su was or he would have been the CEO since day one. By the end of the episode was not positive on In-Jae's status, was she fired, did she quit or neither? After that meeting she seemingly wanted to start afresh from square one, in the second screenshot above she had her hair cut quite short and somehow looks even better. At the end of the show In-Jae is preparing to apply to enter SANDBOX which is an organization which helps up and coming startup companies and individuals, she wouldn't have to do that if she was still CEO at Morning Nature.

 Most of the rest of the recap will focus on Dal-Mi and Do-San who went out briefly after that event. Reading all of those old letters that Ji-Pyeong wrote to Dal-Mi really paid off for Do-San who knew so much about her past and was able to have a decent conversation with her. Do-San has never had a girlfriend and while still quite a 'techie nerd' he's slowly changing his personality. Dal-Mi was quite impressed with him and she even admitted that she's never had a steady person in her life either, she quickly became a bit smitten with knowing such an important CEO. Of course Do-San being a CEO is true but being successful isn't but he wants to continue the deception. Observing the pair having a fun time was Ji-Pyeong who was watching from behind his car but couldn't hear anything. The park they were meeting at was close to Dal-Mi's apartment so she said she could walk home alone but did want to see him again, that pleased Do-San of course but infuriated Ji-Pyeong.

 They went back to Ji-Pyeong's luxury pad where he told Do-San to cease having contact with her, 
Ji-Pyeong along with Dal-Mi's grandmother was so concerned their letter writing would be found out. But the problem may not be with Do-San but instead Dal-Mi who quickly contacted Do-San when she arrived home with a text message. Do-San was of course clueless on what to say to a woman hut
Ji-Pyeong gave him  sweet message to send which was a mistake on his part and now Dal-Mi is even more smitten. Dal-Mi's mind the following day was in hyper drive with the possibilities for her future knowing a CEO and would/could Do-San be her first boyfriend? Also on her mind was working at his company and in a huge error(for now) Dal-Mi quit her temp office position at Lucca Coffee. She did have problems there with her contract renewal but that was settled and she could have remained. But now she's unemployed and contacted Do-San to meet him at his lush office that same day.







 Dal-Mi had the grand impression that Do-San and his two SAMSAN Tech partners worked at a ritzy office, nothing could be further from the truth. But luckily the three 'Sans' have a godfather looking out for them who is Ji-Pyeong, Do-San contacted him immediately after learning Dal-Mi was going to drop in for a visit and what could be do? Ji-Pyeong knew there's no way she could visit their shabby office and volunteered to let them use his lush penthouse. Ji-Pyeong is really going out of his way to preserve that fifteen year old letter writing secret and could it be because he may have eyes for Dal-Mi? The answer to that is a huge yes though he wouldn't admit it when pressed near the end of the show by Choi who is Dal-Mi's grandmother. Viewed the next episode after writing the above segment up and he's certainly fallen for Dal-Mi but is doing a good job of keeping his feelings private.

 In a flash Do-San and his two comrades, with Ji-Pyeong's help, were able to make the penthouse look reasonably enough like an office. Needless to say Dal-Mi was quite impressed with the setup and brought a money tree as a gift which she had taken from the Lucca office. Do-San was getting a bit carried away with the deception and told Dal-Mi about the many investors who are calling to help the company. That did backfire as Dal-Mi was thinking she could be hired by SAMSAN Tech which is one reason for leaving her job, that's Ji-Pyeong's reaction to that above. This all took place in about a two hour stretch so Do-San told her to hold on for a while and to see what could be worked out.

 Actually nothing can be worked out as everything is a lie and what's going to happen to their budding relationship once the truth about SAMSAN comes out? Say budding relationship as Do-San was unlike Ji-Pyeong and did admit he's falling hard for Dal-Mi to his two partners. They probably won't be mentioned often but you will be seeing them in plenty of screenshots. After Dal-Mi departed the 'office' finally some good news befell the trio as they were chosen the winners of the prestigious CODA award. It's an organization based in America and applicants send in original ideas for new tech products. Their AI design was chosen the best but as mentioned in the last recap it didn't seem like an original creation. While the award is world renowned it didn't come with any other benefits such as a cash prize or a  free office, etc. so the trio are still at square one.

 But perhaps not for long as they received more good news and so didn't two others in the show's final five minutes. Do-San and his mates were chosen to to participate in the 12th SANDBOX residency program's upcoming application process. That organization helps new startups whether it's an individual or a team by giving them free office space and materials, much guidance and too many other things to list that helps one become successful. Dal-Mi had also applied for a position and of course she was also chosen to attempt an entry into the program. Many, many thousands apply but only 400 will be accepted. In a shocking development also to apply and be accepted was In-Jae and looks like what she did was to truly quit as a CEO for Morning Nature. There was a brief orientation where the sisters didn't bump into each other and entering SANDBOX will be the main theme of the next show.





 These episodes are so long made a mention of something halfway through but deleted the comment. Said that I hope that any spoilers for episode four would be revealed, there was so much to talk about thought I had viewed that show! That wasn't the case as I didn't until 3/4's of this was written up and that ended up being perhaps the best show to date though all have been superb. The recap for that is the following post and in a way dread writing another long post up. Not that I mind doing these but my keyboard may be unrepairable as the E nd O letters keep popping out which makes writing these up so much longer.


























































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