I’m clearing my notes so I can start a new drama….
A lurker asked me this question a while ago.
Is DoDal really the endgame?? Reading different theories confused me haha. They said that Dosan will be Dalmi’s partner on the business side, while Jipyeong will be Dalmi’s partner on the Love side. Knowing that the writer is really unpredictable, I’m quite curious on what maight happen next ep. But I’m still rooting for Dosan. It’s a relief tho that I found your analysis for Start up. It makes more sense to me.
I didn’t answer this post because I didn’t like to give credence to the ideas of JP fans.
This writer loves her creation Dalmi. In my opinion, the writer had been working on the character Dalmi as a rewrite to Suzy’s character in “Dream High.” She wrote that high school kdrama back in 2011. By now, she would have known that the ending of that kdrama fell short of expectations. There wasn’t a satisfactory closure for the main characters played by Suzy and Kim Soo Hyun.
To me, this writer loves Dalmi enough that she wasn’t going to divvy up Dalmi’s professional and personal lives between the two men.
Have you heard of King Solomon who was approached by two women, both claiming to be the mother of a baby? The wise king suggested that the baby be cut in half so each one could get a half of the baby. One woman, in horror, screamed out, “Please don’t kill my son. I love him very much but give him to her.” Meanwhile, the other woman agreed to the wise king’s suggestion, say, “Go ahead and cut him in half. Then neither of us will have the baby.”
Do you get my hyperbole?
JP fans are like that fake mother. They insist on cutting up Dalmi into halves because they’re singularly focused on Mr. Dimples getting her no matter what. In their minds, Dalmi’s character is valueless — or trashed — because she didn’t end up with their guy.
Look: at its very core, the story of “Start-Up” is simple. Remove the distractions like Cyrano de Bergerac letters, the love triangle, family problems, the business problems, and you’ll see that the plot is basic: boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy loses girl, boy regains girl.
The story only appeared complicated because the JP fans HIJACKED the writer’s story.
The only ESSENTIAL person in Dalmi’s life, both business and personal lives, is Dosan. JP is nonessential.
JP found out this hard truth himself in Episode 16 when he ran to the reporter’s meeting and discovered that Dalmi didn’t need him one bit to handle the situation. Dosan was the one beside Dalmi, explaining how the ransomware was staged by Morning Group’s own employees. Dosan was the one who figured out the anagram of the twins. Even if JP successfully reached the conference room, what assistance could he offer Dalmi? Accuse the reporter of being shady? Kick out the reporter out of the meeting?
As it was, InJae took the lead here. She got the final word in with the reporter. It was she who warned the reporter to write the news or he’d be colluding with Morning Group.
JP just stood there.
If you want a metaphor with investment terms, then I say that JP is a fool’s gold. He’s a “flashy but ultimately worthless investment.” Many of his fans believed that they struck gold with this “Good Boy,” but they were fooled by his demeanor and his appearance (those vaunted cracks on the cheeks!).
Just sayin’: the incident with the scrunchie revealed what a nasty character JP was. If a female second lead were to insinuate that she was in a relationship with the hero — like JP did in that scene — she would have been cursed out by drama viewers.
As for the writer being unpredictable, I personally disagree.
But since I’m unlike other viewers (I’m a Bitch), I recommend that you also look to the director for guidance the next time that you find the writer and her screenplay confusing.
You see, the director is the one shaping our perceptions of the drama, and stirring up our emotions. He’s the one in charge of transforming the written script to a visual form. So look for visual clues from him, too.
The director for “Start-Up” is Oh ChoongHwan. He’s the director of “Hotel del Luna,” which I analyzed on this blog.
He inserted a lot of details in the show to indicate that Dalmi and Dosan were the OTP (or “One True Pair” in drama parlance). I’ll name three in the first two episodes.
The first one was the drifting petal. It was the quintessential visual effect. The director made no bones about the fated connection between Dalmi and Dosan. Literally and symbolically, that petal passed over JP and continued on its way to seek out Dosan.
JP fans ignored this scene because it didn’t fit their delusions.
Then, in case this visual effect went over the heads of the viewers (like it did with JP fans, lol), the director gave another sign: the lights at the networking party.
They dimmed just before Dosan walked in.
On the wall behind Dalmi, the projected image changed as Dosan walked towards her.
Then when he stood in front of Dalmi, the director had the light beam glowing on Dosan, giving him the aura of an angel (which was the title of Episode 3, mind you).
There was a corresponding light on Dalmi.
Then she gripped the handle of her purse tighter.
This reflex was similar to her motion when she first spotted Dosan at the baseball meeting place. She also gripped the strap of her purse tighter back then, too. This was to show that she wasn’t immune physically to Dosan.
Awkwardly Dosan asked her if she had been waiting long. She nodded, “Yes, very long. I miss you.”
Then, the camera focused on JP who was standing in front of a wall that said, “Networking party.” He was staring at them.
Then, the camera switched to focus on the couple standing in front of the wall, that said, “At the time the wind began to blow… — the wizard of oz.”
I explained to y’all the hidden meaning of the quote, didn’t I? That’s the third detail, after the lights. 🙂
Read about it here: Sail without a map
But here’s what the CAMERA DIRECTOR did with that brief moment. He used a camera shot called “rack focus.”
I’ll quote myself:
Rack focus is what you call the change in focus of the camera lens, without moving the camera itself. It’s used to expose something hidden, to highlight something or to show that the character is unaware of something important.
First, the camera director showed the quotation clearly. (lol. He was hoping to direct our attention to that detail on the wall.) Dosan’s and Dalmi’s faces were blurry.
Then he pulled the focus of the lens from the quotation to the couple in front. The quote at the back became blurry. Do you see it?
This switch in focus is part of the director’s “visual storytelling” or visual cues.
He did this to show the viewers that the quotation applies to this couple in front of the wall.
The quotation was a foreshadowing. Just like in the book, “Ozma of Oz,” the wind was going to blow. But it was all okay because Dalmi and Dosan had each other during the journey.
However, when you compare Dosan/Dalmi’s quote on the backwall to JP’s backwall which only said, “Networking Party,” then you’re getting a preview of things to come in the story. JP was the outsider here. He was part of the “networking party” or the group of elite people which Dosan and Dalmi were unfamiliar with. But JP was witnessing the start of a beautiful relationship between Dalmi and Dosan.
In contrast, Dosan and Dalmi were in the world of their own. They were oblivious to the other people in the party.
Then, the lights at the party turned back on.
Do you see that? Multiple shots from multiple angles of the lights turning back on for our couple.
Do you understand what’s going on here?
It’s mind-boggling to me that some viewers could have misconstrued the meaning of the lights here. The director couldn’t have been more crystal clear with the endgame here.
The activation of the lights was meant to create an emotional impact. It was meant to show that the encounter between Dosan and Dalmi was a gamechanger. It was “Game on!” It signaled the beginning of Dosan and Dalmi’s journey. They were going to spark each other’s growth, creativity, genius, and feelings.
Look: the director could hardly show a Big Bang! in the middle of a networking party. So to duplicate the effect of a cosmic change in Dosan and Dalmi’s lives, the lights were turned off and back on again.
That’s my explanation of those party lights in Episodes 2/3.
I daresay when viewers go over this kdrama for directorial choice, they’ll see more scenes like this in which the director showed that the endgame was Dosan and Dalmi. If the script is too hard to understand for some viewers because it involves parsing words and analyzing dialogues, then go with the visual cues then.
Those should be easier and less complicated to understand. 🙂
You are a genius. Why I didn’t think of it? Just amazing, just wow. I still remember the thrill for not being able to show how a big supporter I am to TeamDoSan (since my friends and sisters are big, toxic fans to JP),and have to secretly read the tweets for TeamDoSan without being able to retweet and turn on the Love button those nice tweets for Dosan and Dalmi endgame, because I feel like a sinner to do so. I miss the thrill though, for having sleepless night analyzing the drama and going through some shits reading JP’s fans for attacking my pure Nam Do San. Just how can they can’t see how big of a person Nam Do San is. They even said they skipped every scene Nam Do San appeared on, like, what are they watching actually? A Start-Up drama or JP fan fiction one sided story? lol. Probably the story revolved around Dalmi and Dosan like 90% of an episode, but they just like clicked on the time JP appeared, only for a few minutes and there – they made their own delusional story HAHA.
By the way enough with that toxic traits I cannot relate from JP fans, I was, and I am, and I will be Dosan supporter after all and Dodal Endgame was nothing but an amazing ending I never thought I needed. I remembered dancing without music at 2am after finishing the last episode (after that ending scene where we got to see the wedding pictures) in my room for like 5 minutes to feel the happiness overflowing in my chest!!
And so, just like how Dalmi always mentioned this “I never regretted my decision in my life”, me too, (though I did and do regret for some decisions I made in my life), not regretting to be with TeamDosan since Day 1.
Can I just say ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ reading your previous post on how each scene/visual is done with purpose makes me start noticing things and it’s all thanks to you. Case in point in Ep 14, after DalMi ranted about Injae pushing her to recruit SamSan tech, she went to her room and she was looking at SamSan tech first group photo. I noticed that the camera focused on DoSan’s face, the other SamSan tech gang’s face was a bit blurry. DalMi focused was on DoSan. Before I won’t even notice this kind of detail shot 👍🏻
@packmule3 Are you sure you are not part of SU prod team or friends with PHR or OCH? Haha!
Great analysis again… backed by facts or actual dialogue/scenes/cinematography. I am so thankful I found this blog. I don’t have that heavy feeling anymore everytime I come across a negative tweet or post about SU or Dosan or Dalmi. This is such a good drama and I am sad for those people who did not appreciate it.
I just hope the clout chasers will stop using Dosan to get more social media followers or YT subscribers by manipulating angry JiDal or Jipyeong fans. Hahaha!
Btw, I see more and more people quoting your blog on Twitter. Not sure if you have noticed more page views or are still getting toxic messages from anti-Dosans.
Yay!!! Another SU post! Thank you!
This show is a good example of how cognitive dissonance happens and you wonder with the ship war – are we even watching the same show?
According to Google, “Often, people resolve cognitive dissonance by devaluing and discarding conflicting knowledge. They may limit their exposure to new information that does not align with their existing beliefs — a phenomenon called “confirmation bias.”
One example of this is devaluing particular news sources by describing them as biased or false.”
Hence, instead of watching how the story will unfold, some people insist on their own story arcs. That this story should be about the orphan boy who became a sefl-made man ending up with the (almost) orphan girl who he wrote letters when they were young… umm, that’s not Start Up then!
I really disliked the term “good boy” for HJP as it showed “perception is reality” and I think this monicker made it easier to whitewash his toxic behaviors alongside the cute smile/smirk/dimples and trappings of success.
I’ve been reflecting a lot on why HJP and NDS are such polarizing characters and what does it say about our psyche, our values, outlook and even our politics. Hahaha!
Ok, so how to move on from SU? I need a distraction to my distraction.
I just finished rewatching episodes 14 and 15, and saw the scenes in a new light when I remembered your analyses (especially of the hut scene!), and what an experience it was. I loved the scene then and I ended up loving it even more. Now I have to rewatch episode just to watch the networking party again. Your way of explaining the scenes are seriously so good. I usually just think it’s for aesthetics haha.
A lot of JP fans think Jipyeong was done injustice for the ending, but from the very beginning, it was very obvious that the story was leading to Dosan and Dalmi as endgame. (I cannot explain it as well you did of course haha).
I am same as you, @Janey. I need a distraction!
I think I got even more “hooked” with Start-Up after the finale (the only time I allowed myself to read commentaries and analyses like this!). Oh boy. How do we move on from this??
I know I sound like a broken record for saying this a lot but wow I’m really so thankful for this blog ahahahah.
I can’t believe and also feel ashamed by how I started to doubt myself about the Dodal endgame because the JP fangirls have been way too loud. I’ve been really trying to keep an open mind about everything I read on social media, trying to weigh everything, but due to the constant Do San slander I’ve read I couldn’t help but feel protective over this character. out of all the kdrama’s I’ve watched this was the first time I’ve actually felt such strong connection to a character so any attacks on him felt like a personal attack to me. It’s really saddening that there are a lot of people out there tearing him apart like that when I know a lot of people like me have said that they relate to Do San. But I digress, Dodal is truly the endgame from the start, what was even the purpose of showing him in the last moments of episode 1 if he was unimportant? I’ve enjoyed reading this post a lot. Same as the others I’ve been looking more into the details now and it has made my watching experience better.
Also I’ve recently realized how obvious PHR is lol in WYWS Suzy’s character loves baseball and in SU NJH’s character also loves baseball both main leads gave their significant other the baseball. Hahahaha
@foreverinreverie
It’s not just you, my friend who is on team DoSan was worried that writer-nim will change her mind because the other side is loud and obnoxious. I remember telling her there is no way that happen, she did not create a character this unique and awesome just to fold, she won’t betray her own story and creation.
If I think about it, I have never actually read this fan theory/imagination on why jp is the real ML lol, I managed to stay away from other forum/blog once I saw the overly heavy handed praise for jp which I don’t get at all lol..
I did read on twitter recently this fangirl post saying StartUp end that way because there will be Season 2 where DalMi&DoSan will get divorce and DalMi will return to jp. I mean wow sure that makes total sense 🤣 I can’t even..
Hi @ella!
Whew it thought I was the only one. Lol. It’s just that it made me feel insecure? Lol. With this, it now gives me the impression that most JP stans embody JP characteristics. Since birds of the same feather flock together…
Well basically their theories usually revolve around the colors and/or plants and since mostly are JP focused I end up not finishing the whole thread.
Yes I saw that tweet like people are still hoping for a jidal endgame?? When SU is already finished. What? Hahaha
What color theory? 😂
I’ve gathered four of the silliest tweets and will be answering them on the blog.
No need to give me the tweet itself. I don’t need to know the Twitter name. But I would like to know what was said.
Thanks.
Hi @pm3!
I’m having a hard time to fully explain what was said… >< It came from a super long post so for better explanation I sent my reply to your email.
ok. Thanks. 🙂
Thanks, I read what you sent me by email. No, that color theory is a bunch of baloney.
I wish people would spend time analyzing the characters and the script, instead of doing this hocus-pocus with color.
The point of the red-dressed shaman is to show that she was con artist. Dosan knew that she was a con artist and that’s why he rescued her from that sham “goddess.”
And when it came to the jewelry box, to use baseball terminology, JP struck out. He didn’t get to give the jewelry to Dalmi because he knew that Dalmi was still in love with Dosan. He swung the bat and he missed the ball.
Fangirls tried this color theory, too, with Reply 1988 with color theories of the dolls, gates, and shirts. And they were wrong there, too. I didn’t use color theories to know it was Taec from Episode 1.
Okay, I can write my Start-Up article now.. I was waiting to see if there’s anything significant in the color theories but no, there was none.
Thanks again. I’m sorry I put you through all the trouble, though.
In the world of kdrama where we are so used to seeing the rich CEO end up with the girl, and childhood sweethearts find their way back to each other by some twist of fate, Start Up breaks the norm and sets up the awkward, immature, geeky underdog with self esteem issues and imposter syndrome as its male lead.
While we can’t help but fall for the cool and confident Mr Han, there’s something about Nam Do San, he who wears his heart on his sleeve, and is all out in showing Dal Mi he loves her, that makes us root for him too. While Mr Han is ruthless in chasing success, Nam Do San represents the idealistic youth who is not chasing money but chasing passion and purpose, and chasing the girl (and helping the girl turn her visions into reality while at it.) “Can my dream not be about success? Can’t it be a person?”
Sure, Mr Han knew Dal Mi first and provided comfort to Dal Mi through the letters but he let 15 years pass by without any trace of communication between them, whereas Do San, our unassuming anti hero, read Dal Mi’s letters just once and he was so moved by it, maybe because he could relate to the feeling of wanting to prove oneself too, that he showed up at the networking event to help save Dal Mi that night. In fact, the letters made such and an impact on him he took it to heart. “I don’t mind sailing off without a map as long as it’s with you.”
Yes it’s totally swoon worthy – the bad boy with the tough exterior but goes all soft for the girl, but as a woman, do you really like mind games and having to second guess if a guy likes you or not? Do you prefer a guy that hesitates for 15 yrs plus 3 yrs? It is refreshing to watch an emotionally vulnerable male lead who is not afraid to cry and who does not hesitate in pursuing his feelings and pursuing the girl.🥰 “I have always been confused about the (follow your) dream in the baseball. But the moment I met you, the dream became clear.”
We are so used to oppas who got it all together, them with the dapper suit, the sports car and the expensive watch. But Start Up breaks stereotypes by showing the journey of the underdog from when he was just starting out from that rooftop office of his, dealing with a case of imposter syndrome and burdened by the high expectations of his parents, and then showing his growth as he figures life out, sometimes recklessly, sometimes emotionally but always all out and all heart. Haven’t we all been Do San when we were sorting things out and finding our way into the real world? “Never let someone’s opinion become your reality.”
Lastly, while it’s easy to choose the Prince Charming who will offer us a Plan B for when we fail, our female heroine is not a Dalmi in Distress, she is a go getter herself. Remember what Dal Mi prayed for in church at the start of the series? She prayed for a companion in her journey, and that’s exactly what she got in Do San. Someone who believes in her, is fascinated with her dreams and visions, and encourages her to take risks and to dream big. Dal Mi after all is a visionary like her father, and Do San is a trailblazer that’s why they make a great team. Dal Mi does not need someone who will stifle her, humor her and give in to her whims, she needs a partner who gives her wings. She is the girl in the swing and Do San pushes her to keep on reaching greater heights. Start Up after all is about their start up journey, otherwise this show would have been titled Venture Capitalist (or badly put, Orphaned CEO) if it will just follow the cliche. In the world of start ups, as is in real life, the one who takes the risks ends up winning, and ends up with the girl.💛 #TeamDoSanSinceEpisodeOne
@Kath, I laughed so hard at the “Orphaned CEO”. I’m have no interest to watch that Kdrama! 😂
@foreverinreverie
Thank you for it and i’m sure just like packmule3 said it’s a bunch of baloney 🤭
All the theory/imagination I read is mostly fangirl wishlist and none of it is supported with an ounce of logic. It would be interesting if there is an actual good one to tickle our interest.
@Kath Guevarra
Nice write up, for me personally the show never given me a chance to fall for jp though, he was problematic since ep1, when he use grandma’s money to trade stocks, that is rather criminal behaviour in my book and it gets worse from there because I expect more from a grown up in mid 30s.
I’m also on Team DoSan all the way, the more you get to know him the more awesome DoSan is. A rare gem indeed.
Hi @pm3 no worries. Hehe
I think it’s good that people can come up with different theories however for this one, due to cognitive dissonance they totally made up a whole story of their own and now they are blaming the writer for her ‘incompetence’.
How I wish the JP fangirls could remove their bias and actually think with some sense. They are the only ones who did not enjoy the show because they believed in false theories. It’s sad that they are sabotaging the show that helped KSH to gain more popularity.
@Kath Guevarra Well said *clap* *clap* That feeling everytime I read something positive about SU or Dosan is priceless. I think it will take 1k++ posts before my memory will be cleansed of all the negative things I read online about our poor Dosan, Dalmi, SST and writer nim!
@pm3 to be fair to the Jipyeong stans, they are good in coming up with theories. I’m not surprised a lot were swayed. I have always been #TeamDosan but I still read their posts because I was trying to understand the hype about KSH or Jipyeong’s character.
@PM3 Glad I stopped by this blog to take a break from one of those long nights in the office.. So happy to read this, as it really makes me wanna rewatch the series, espc. the earlier episodes. I really dislike it when those on team JP started twisting Dalmi’s actions and words and dragging down her characters/ decisions just bcoz they went from wanting her to chose JP (because he “deserves her more”) to hating Dalmi because JP “deserves better than her”. Dalmi is a girl after my own heart: confident yet flawed, street-smart, caring, creative, competitive, forgiving, and the list goes on. I even love how Dosan is comfortable following her lead (let’s face it, not all guys in real life would be okay with their ladies being the more dominant one if they do business together). Your post made me go “OMG GUYS… Even the LIGHTS tell us that Dodal are meant to be, and you’re still asking for justice for Mr. Dimples?”
It did make me wonder at one point, did Dodal remind the Team JP too much of their old days when they were young, lost, insecure and emotional? Could it be that the same traits that made us adore Dodal be their reasons to loathe the couple? But then I read @Kath Guevarra’s wonderful comment and took it to mean that perhaps the JP fangirls are those who have gotten too used to characters in other dramas that are more similar to him than to DS, and so the breath of fresh air *ahem HALL OF FAMER BIG HAND CTO ahem* didn’t bode well for them.
@Diane @PM3 where can I see the theories they came up with? Twitter? Nothing about the colors(matching outfits MWAHAHA) I hope? Would be fun to read them methinks, we don’t need to address them in this blog (we’re all bitches like that) but @PM3 since you’re doing the top 4 tweets, any chance you’ve glanced through these theories? I’ve always been a fan of theories since R88 days 😀