I think Start-Up was enjoyable. I've watched many kdramas in the past and I don't think this was that bad despite some low ratings I saw. I just wanted to watch something cute and it delivered.

I didn't ship Ji-Pyeong with Dal-Mi and that was mainly because of their age difference. He wrote to her under the name of Nam Do-San when she was a kid and he wrote some of the letters with halmoni to make her feel like she had a friend during the most difficult time in her life. For her she considered him her first love, but for him he was initially doing it for halmoni though in some way he also found comfort with those letters. Time passes and he's already an adult by the time he meets her again with an established career and with experiences that comes with age. Dal-Mi is at a different stage in her life from him and they meet on uneven grounds. His experience lends himself to being more of a mentor as opposed to an equal partner to her.

Even though Ji-Pyeong is her first love who she fantasized about in those letters. Her imagination took over and she romanticized her feelings for him. In opposition, Nam Do-San isn't great at metaphors and is rooted in reality. It makes sense that she would fall for him because he is present and not a fantasy. They are at a similar stage in life and they are equal partners working through the successes and failures together. This drama also frames it where Ji-Pyeong is always somewhere in the periphery and in the background. For her, he functions as that distant letter, an email message, and that text whereas Nam Do-San is in the forefront, is present, is tangible, and is the big hand in her life.

In reality, both guys are red flags. Kdrama perspective shows various sides to the romantic interests that Dal-Mi does not see so heartstrings are tugged. But, if I was her unbiased friend in this show I would likely yell at her to ditch them both. I like both actors Nam Joo-Huk and Kim Sun-Ho and enjoyed their performances. Even though I paired her with Do-San, if I saw either on the street I'd probably swoon for Ji-Pyeong.

But anyway, yes! It's all very unrealistic. I find it hard to believe that the team got as far as they did with their company. (Seriously, you signed over your beloved company without getting another legal perspective besides Jung Sa-Ha!) But, kdrama magic made things happen for them even in the time jump future. I didn't come into this drama for realism so I don't mind. Overall, it fulfilled my need to watch cute interactions and get teary eyed by senior actors (Kim Hae-Sook is legend) and that's enough for me.