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I tried, I really did. I like badminton. And I have really low standards for inoffensive romcom k-dramas, which this is. But this series got the lowest ratings of any primetime Korean drama in history, and ... there's a reason why:

It's just not that interesting.

At first it's essentially your standard sports-themed k-romcom, and the writing is at least sort of interesting in how they choose to reveal the story. However the actual writing and relationships between the characters are pretty snoozeworthy, and the friction is pretty forced.

Eventually the story starts kinda going in circles, and I gave up after episode 12 when it just re-tread the same ground that it had already thoroughly trod.

So I dunno, it's fine, I don't regret watching the episodes I did. I really wish it was better and managed to maintain any sort of momentum. It's hard to making a boring sports drama, but it manages.

So, I've watched a lot of k-dramas. Over 80, at my last count. And I can confidently say this is the lamest, most nonsense k-drama I've ever tried to watch. I say tried because, despite really wanting to soldier through it, I gave up during episode 9. I just couldn't take any more.

All it's ever trying to do is tick every single standard k-drama box, which it certainly does quite admirably, while completely disregarding all logic or any sense of natural progression in the process. It by and large ignore its central conceit, with the main characters largely adapting to modern life better than my grandparents. Even time travel aside, nothing about the plot makes even the slightest bit of sense under the most basic examination. The corporate intrigue? Ridiculous. The family dynamics? Insane.

I just... honestly can't even. I mean, I watched slightly over half of it because it is entirely inoffensive, but despite being a seasoned k-drama fan with an appropriately high level of willingness to withstand epic levels of nonsense, this was just too much.

Honestly, there is nothing particularly bad to say about Business Proposal. It's generally your pretty standard chaebol-meets-commoner k-drama, with good modern production values and solid acting.

On the up side, it's one of those series where all of the characters are basically fun and likeable, none of the characters are egregiously annoying (okay, there's one weirdo who doesn't add much aside from being weird), and none of the drama derives from the sort of eye-rolling acts of dumb misunderstanding that fuels most k-dramas! And there are some real moments of brilliance in the first few episodes.

On the down side, past a certain point it becomes pretty by-the-numbers k-drama, and while there's still nothing bad to say about it, it stops really doing anything to stand out. That said, with its 12 episode run length, it doesn't feel like it's padded or overstaying its welcome.