Misaeng: Incomplete Life (미생 - 아직 살아 있지 못한 자) (2014)

Wow! Wow! Wow! I didn't realize that it has been 3 years since Misaeng: Incomplete Life (미생 - 아직 살아 있지 못한 자) was aired in South Korea. Meant to do a review about this drama 3 years ago, but I was too occupied with my studies and all the fun stuff :p I missed the golden timing to do the review (okay, more like fangirling honestly) but I think this drama is too precious and valuable to be ignored.

Snippet of the drama (From Wikipedia)
Since he was a child, the board game baduk has been everything to Jang Geu-Rae (Im Si Wan). But when he fails at achieving his dream of becoming a professional baduk player, Geu-rae must leave his isolated existence and enter the real world armed with nothing but a high school equivalency exam on his resume. Through an acquaintance's recommendation, he gets hired as an intern at One International, a large trading company.

There, Geu-rae meets his boss, manager Oh Sang-shik (Lee Sung Min), who's a workaholic and has a warm personality; fellow intern Ahn Young-yi (Kang Sora), who attracts her colleagues' ire because of her impressive educational credentials and by being extremely competent at any task; and Jang Baek-ki (Kang Ha Neul), a geeky co-worker whose anxious nature masks his inner ambition. Geu-rae learns to navigate and adapt to corporate culture, with baduk as his guide

Credit: Here

My thoughts

If I were to choose the best Korean drama that I ever watched in my entire life, Misaeng would be the winner! And I think that weighs a lot as I have watched a good amount of Korean dramas for the past 13 years. *Wow! Couldn't believe I started watching Korean dramas 13 years ago.* But then, I only started watching Korean drama religiously 8 years ago, so I guess the first 5 years do not really count :p

Honestly, I started watching Misaeng because of Kang Ha Neul (강하늘) cause y'know #kanghaneulmydreamoppa but I decided to keep watching the drama because of the drama itself. Misaeng has such beautiful cinematography despite having a dark and dull tone throughout 20 episodes. All the characters were excellently portrayed too. Scarily (in a very good way), Misaeng managed to flip your opinions about some characters because you will be reminded that all of them are humans and there are no perfect human beings. I hated Jang Baek Ki (I hated Kang Ha Neul guysss T____T) and Han Seok Yeol at first but I learnt to accept them and love them throughout the drama.

However, I think I loved Misaeng so much (maybe a lil bit too much!) because it spoke to me on so many levels. I can relate to almost everything that happened in Misaeng so much that it hurts. Misaeng might be the only drama in which I felt so emotionally connected and invested that it drained my energy and emotions. I was a total wreck whenever I watched this drama.


I felt like I learnt new things and grew together with all my favourite characters. I cried together with them whenever they cried. I felt their pain whenever they were in pain. I was genuinely happy for them whenever they were happy. I struggled together with them whenever they struggled. I rooted and prayed for their success. I became so protective of my favourite characters especially Jang Geu-Rae and Chief Oh. I also hated all the antagonists who made my favourite characters' lives hard to my bones. God knows how much tears I spilled, how many curse words I uttered and how much time I spent sleeping just to relieve my headache and frustration after watching every episode of Misaeng.

Misaeng felt so honest, real and relatable to its core. There was something about Misaeng that hit home for me. Yes, sometimes it was hard for me to enjoy this drama because it was too depressing, but I found myself to keep coming and watching this drama because it was so relatable.

I highly recommend this drama if you are looking for something real and honest and something other than cheesy and romantic dramas. Admittedly, this drama might not be a cup of tea for everyone but sadly, you will be missing out on such an excellent and high-quality drama if you do not watch this drama. That's all I can say.

Update: I have included the trailer of this drama so that you can peek through this goodness called Misaeng :)