kunagueroooooo

...This review Ignores the first 5 minutes and last 15 minutes of this series... This series is about life as a newbie in the corporate business world in South Korea. How accurate it is, I have no idea but its riveting stuff.

Four newbies (temps.) enter the hostile world of a large trading company and we watch them (3 boys and 1 girl) as they try and progress and become a permanent employee (which takes 2 years). Three of the temps have a good chance of being taken on full time but the fourth has little to no chance as he is only there on a recommendation from the boss's friend.

Each newbie is assigned to a different team and with the girl (Ahn Young-Yi played by Kang So-Ra) getting a very sexist group. The main focus is on newbie Jang Geu-Rae (played by Yim Si-Wan) who has no idea of business life placed into a team led by Oh Sang-Shik (played by Lee Sung-Min) who doesn't really want him there.

After a few episodes we hear why Oh Sang-Shik doesn't really want him there, his last temp may have committed suicide. As time goes by the manager (Oh) goes out of his way to help Jang Geu-Rae become the best employee he can be.

My favourite newbie is Han Seok-Ryul (played by Byun Yo-Han) who is a hands-on, touchy-feelie kind of person whose immediate superior is a nasty, lying, cheating low life person.

This may sound like a series you might want to give a miss but don't, its very very good with all the well written stories coming together nicely. Lee Sung-Min who plays manager Oh is exceptional, when he laughs, you laugh, when he cries, you cry, a flawless performance.

Does anyone know the connection between the dead girl and Jang Geu-Rae ???

...The first 5 minutes and the last 15 minutes are just a happy ending tacked on to make some people happy. It has no real bearing on the show...

I came to this series straight from "Encounter" with the brilliant Song Hye-Kyo in it. So I gave this series ago because she is in it too (albeit 5 years earlier).

The story of two siblings that get separated at a young age. The male sibling goes to an orphanage where he meets another child with the same name Oh Soo, and they over many years become very close friends. Sadly during a gambling scam escape the male sibling is killed. Some time later the female sibling Song Hye-Kyo playing Oh Young goes in search of her brother Oh Soo only to find his namesake friend who is in desperate need of money to help pay a gambling debt and pretends to be her actual brother in order to get money from her.

I really liked the story and idea that went into it but somehow somewhere it all gets lost or wishy-washy in transition from paper to screen. Sometimes the acting is excellent, sometimes the acting is laughable in its overacting. The music is overly dramatic which grates on the nerves. The fight scenes were choreographed by a total beginner, every punch or knife stab is a yard away. And the injuries sustained in the fights are taken to the nth degree.

From what you've just read it sounds like a series to avoid but no it certainly isn't. When the acting is good it is really, really good, Song Hye-Kyo isn't new to acting at this point and what she's learned at this point can be breathtaking in its sincerity (the teary scenes) or laugh out loud funny (the crying scenes). Jo In-Seong who plays Oh Soo plays the part really well, he goes from a loveable rogue baddie to a loved-up nice guy in seamless moves throughout the series.

The side stories were either a distraction or a vital part of the main story depending on which side-line you are watching. The gangster side stories don't add much (although I did like the main gangster Jo Moo-Chul played by Kim Tae-woo) but the secretary/guardian side story is vital and heart-wrenching in its conclusion.

Then after 15 and 3/4 episodes we get the ridiculous "Happy Ever After" ending. Why oh why do they do this, having a main character die is not good for the viewer but is more true to life than a magical resurrection, where the loved up pair walk off into the sunset holding hands with little colourful birds flying around their heads.

The ending isn't as bad as "Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol" (Which is a YOU MUST WATCH 10 out of 10 series) but its still pretty bad.

Give it a go, pass the time with a hanky or two.