Title: 미생 Misaeng
English Title:
- Incomplete Life
- Not Yet Alive
Language: Korean
Year: 2014
Episode: 20
Cast:
- 임시완 Im Si Wan
- 이성민 Lee Sung Min
- 김대명 Kim Dae Myung
- 강하늘 Kang Ha Neul
- 강소라 Kang So Ra
- 변요한 Byun Yo Han
- 신은정 Shin Eun Jung
- 박해준 Park Hae Joon
- 조현식 Jo Hyun Shik
- 윤종훈 Yoon Jong Hoon
- 여의주 Yeo Eui Joo
SYNOPSIS
Jang Geu Rae was aiming to become a professional baduk or go player, but family circumstances led him to take a different direction to the one he prepared for his whole life.
Geu Rae now works as an intern at a major trading company, where he stands out for his unimpressive educational background, as well as his lack of qualifications and skills. According to the rumor mill, he was hired mainly due to his connection to the executive director of the company.
Geu Rae is assigned to work in the marketing and sales department under the manager Oh Sang Shik and assistant manager Kim Dong Shik. Although he is willing to learn on the job and he is determined to work hard, Geu Rae is completely clueless about the office culture and environment.
REVIEW
Incomplete Life is a realistic portrayal of the daily trials and tribulations of the average office workers. It is realistic in the sense that everything that happens in this fictional world actually happens in the real world, but I think it is important to note that the presentation is extremely dramatic at times.
Although it's one of my favorite Korean dramas, I don't see myself watching it over and over again in the future because it's just too depressing. Because of its tragic tone, I often have to force myself to watch it and I sometimes find myself not looking forward to the next episodes.
I like all the characters in Incomplete Life, and I can identify with most of the characters at some point or another. I have also been in similar situations during my early years at work so it was easy to relate to the characters and to understand where they come from.
It's interesting that Jang Geu Rae thinks it's too painful to accept that he ended up where he is because of things he couldn't control, and so he prefers to think that his situation was brought about by the fact that he didn't work hard enough.
Geu Rae wants to think that what happened with him was mainly his responsibility, and I'm similar to him in that way actually. It just seems normal to take responsibility for myself and my actions, or inaction in some cases.
In addition, when other people attribute their mistakes and failures to external factors, I get quite frustrated because it seems as if they are just making excuses, but I can't really explain why I feel that way. I mean, when someone says he didn't know about the schedule or procedures, I don't think that's an acceptable reason and in my mind, I think it was his responsibility to be informed about things that he should know.
Anyway, the drama uses a lot of strategies in the game of go and applies these insights to office culture and environment. I managed to follow along but perhaps I would have more appreciation and better understanding for the analogies if I knew how to play the game.
Alike:
jp - Hope
kr - 미생 프리퀄 Incomplete Life Prequel
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미생 Incomplete Life
