Misaeng

This is a beautifully done simple story about an office, teamwork and relationships. After an episode or two, you are fully invested in the character Im Siwan plays and will be cheering him on. While there are no action scenes or fighting or even romance, it will grip your heart and at the end, you are disappointed it is finished.

The opening sequence, shot in Jordan, suggests we are in for 20 episodes of action. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Office politics in a large Korean corporation. But don't switch this off.

As a westerner, much of what goes on is, well, 'foreign' to me. The hierarchy, the Korean sense of what is proper and who is to be respected, how to address your co-workers - most of these are very different in the society I was raised in. And the subtitles need some interpreting. But I couldn't stop watching.

It doesn't matter that some of the episodes revolve around arcane corporate issues. What does matter is how the leading characters handle the situations they are thrown into. And the writing doesn't let us off with the facile resolutions we have come to expect. It also avoids the easy 'office romance' - basically there aren't any, and the series is better for it.

I have to wonder if there is really so much shouting at work, and as much sexism today, or if alcohol consumption in the Korean business world is as shown here - but maybe this is an accurate portrayal, and livers don't last for long.

By the last few episodes I was devastated by what was happening to characters I had come to care deeply about.

There's almost a happy ending, which also explains the strange opening sequence in Jordan. But that's not really what this series is about.

Try it. Give in to it. And you'll surprise yourself by falling in love with the most unlikely people.

I'm not usually one for Korean TV, and before seeing Misaeng, I never thought I'd enjoy an 'office drama' so much.

Featuring structures of the traditional 'bildungsroman', snapshots into the grueling lives of salary-men and office politics, the show intertwines these concepts with humour, emotion, reflectiveness, wisdom, finely executed through a fitting soundtrack, impeccable cinematography and directing and outstanding acting.

A solid show thematically, it handles with great sensitivity and deftness the many delicately captured aspects of human nature and society. The characters and their development throughout the story are extremely well written and by far one of the most impressive aspects of the show, fleshed out by the complexity and subtle nuance of the relationships depicted. Entirely believable in both their strengths and vulnerabilities, the show allows an audience to connect with the characters on a very fundamental level.

You will find something of yourself, or someone that you know reflected in the characters of the show, the persistent underdog in Gurae who struggles against all odds, the talented but down to earth Young Yi whose exceptional ability as a woman incurs the resentment of her colleagues, the at first seemingly stoic Oh Sang Sik who over the course of the show reveals his deep capacity for empathy and self-sacrifice. Even the 'villains' are never cliché, one-dimensional cardboard cutouts to fill a gap in the story, but all serve towards Misaeng's intimate and moving exploration of the human condition.

Misaeng shows many aspects of mundane life, but never itself, becomes mundane, taking the viewer on a at times beautifully poignant, vividly evocative and greatly inspiring journey from start to finish.

As I believe this is a show that leaves a viewer of any demographic something to take away, I'd urge anyone reading this to give it a try.

For me, Misaeng certainly gave another small unexpected fragment to the missing pieces of my 'incomplete life.'

In the last few years, big thanks to Netflix's wide range of international shows, I have started watching Korean and Chinese TV series and when these shows are good, they are just so brilliant unlike anything I have ever seen. These shows are much better than most of the British dramas, other International TV shows and shows that come out of Hollywood. There is no comparison, in my opinion.

Misaeng is no exception. The story of brutal Korean corporate/working culture and its effects on people of different backgrounds is so real/relatable and the acting so natural and unpretentious. The story grips you from the beginning and makes you take on a journey with every character. All the actors were so convincing in their roles especially the actors playing Jang Geu-rae and Oh Sang-shik. Sometimes, I completely forgot I was watching a TV series.

Thank you to everyone that made this thought-provoking & at times hilarious and infuriating show possible. DEFINITELY RECOMMEND.

I am completely captured by the competence of the writers, director, actors and producers that created this series of highly thought provoking and insightful themes of everyday working culture. Thank you for making me think and review, the complex strategies revealed in the stories and in the acting portrayed. An intelligent and unconventional K-drama that's terrific as it is polorizing.