Cin Tee

One of the best dramas I’ve seen in this category (the other would be Top Management). Actors were fantastic and beautiful so really seemed like they could truly be idols, unlike Imitation where the poor styling of the actors really made it hard to believe they were idols. Of course, in Idol:The Coup, most of the actors were trainees or current idols in reality, when lends to the realness of the casting. This aspect also shows in their choreography and music throughout the show. Really amazing choreography and all the actors pulled off the dancing wonderfully. Perfect OST also to the point I added Cloud9, Honest, and the main theme song, Paradise, to my Spotify favorites playlist. The storyline also was really well scripted. I like how the main focus was on the girl group’s efforts towards success. There were hints on romance but that wasn’t the center of the story, which is a refreshing change in the k-drama world. I like how there was an episode each focusing on each girl’s past and journey to where they were currently in life and also helped to explain their personality. I really disliked Exy’s character Elle, even though I appreciated the realness in her character, including her selfishness, since that is how most people are in real life. I laughed and cried a lot during the entire show which proves how well done it is. Overall a decent, happy ending but I really wished there were 16 episodes to show what happened to each girl afterwards in more detail and maybe a bit more explanation of the romance either between the CEO or Jihan at the end. Like who did Jenna choose??! 😆 🤷🏻‍♀️ Definitely worth the watch and also check out the choreography for Cloud9/White Day on 1MILLION’s YouTube channel and the “official” Cloud9 music video on YT also! Love love loved this drama!

I loved this drama! A true unicorn! Perfect feel good drama from beginning to end! Really loved the chemistry and acting from all the actors. Start-Up gave me all the feels – I laughed, cried, felt excitement and dread along with the characters. Really liked that the leads remained true to their feelings throughout the show and there was no evil second female character plotting to break anyone up. I binged watched this in less than 2 days it was so good. Really great OST and meaningful quotes too. Will definitely add to my re-watch list.

I really wanted to like this drama buuuut it didn’t really do it for me. After watching The K2, I was looking for another action romance drama and came across Man to Man. I’ll start with what I liked: Park Hae Jin, Park Hae Jin, Park Hae Jin. He is so handsome and is really the only reason why I kept watching to the end. The storyline is decent with enough mystery to keep it interesting which it why I gave it 3 stars. Now what I hated: Kim Min Jung and her character Do-ha. Not sure if it’s the acting or the character itself but everything is too over the top and her expressions are just overly dramatized. I really did not feel the romance or chemistry between the male/female leads and there really isn’t much to like about Do-ha. She really got on my nerves most of the time. Also there are some plot holes that really annoy me. Like for the second mission where Seol-woo had to infiltrate the auction without any support from the NIS. Where did he get all the equipment and van to carry out the mission without the NIS?? And also Seol-Woo’s hideout - why would he list it on his “fake” resume so that Do-ha could find him but this mega conglomerate with an army can’t seem to figure out where he is? Verdict - only worth watching if you are a big Park Hae Jin fan and can get over the how annoying Do-Ha is