Netflix K-Drama Pick: “Misaeng” Bravely Delves On Piercing Realities In The Corporate World

Ruminative and heart-wrenching, Misaeng pushes you to ponder on forgotten dreams, career regrets and what-now-crossroads.

For our second feature of a must-watch Korean drama streaming on Netflix, we present you the story of Jang Geu Rae and the rest of One International newbies, who undergo a top conglomerate scrutiny of what they can offer if given a chance to become an employee of a successful trading company.

Jang, the underdog main lead, had to stop playing professional baduk because fate played against him, and he is left with no choice but to squeeze in as many part time jobs as he can to help out his mother with the house finances. Through his mother’s connection, he lands an internship program with a big conglomerate company.

Without any famous university diploma and language fluency, Jang Geu Rae’s keen mind, patience, and humility have proven his worth to the initial sales team, who believed he wouldn’t also go far, but he has proven it otherwise when he is offered a two-year temporary employee contract.

Alongside his fellow newbies who are assigned to their respective departments after passing the internship program, they are set to find their niche by combining their natural talents and efforts.

Why you should watch Misaeng?

Misaeng provides an engaging experience that is relatable to salaried people working in an office-based premise. The candid pantry small talks, the rooftop heartfelt confrontations, and the cubicle power struggles depicted in the narrative are able to capture in details and in pure emotions of the many faces of employees struggling everyday to get their job done.

While bravely showing the downside of a typical salary man, witnessing the story hero unfazed and persevering to work on opportunities regardless of the hurdles, is an encouragement for people who always have work-related inhibitions.

He is a reminder of what most all of us are unsure of when entering the professional world. It is also a nudge to leave a job that you are unhappy about and go back to what you really wanted to do.

A sentimental story brimming with life lessons

It is the showing of how the heroes turn their pains to motivations that spurs the connection of the heartfelt story to the audience. Each of them has to stay afloat because more than what is paid for to get the job done, it all goes down to proving their self worth as a person.

The depth of friendship you get with people you meet at work will be different from the passing friends, especially if you have worked together for a long time. Because little by little and through stories and deductions, they know you better as a person.

In Misaeng, the implied, direct, and disguised friendship established by the characters propels the predictable conflicts to a flowing narrative, because the inclinations and struggles of each character are thoroughly presented. Each triumph won, each business secured – reverberates a success story that viewers can feel and relate to.

For the jobless and people who wish for a different job, it will be a great encouraging watch. It gives a brave nudge on how businesses should give fair treatment to aspiring regular employees following the results of the scorecards out of an honest hard work. And whether a probationary employee came from a reputable school should never be treated as an advantage.

It is hard these days to find an emotionally absorbing drama that follows the fundamentals of how storytelling emerges to inspire people.

We often have to discover stories to escape from problems, so sitting down upfront with a courageous TV presentation chronicling what’s true and real, what we hide to people relying on us, and what we don’t want to admit because of ego, has had me feel high-spirited to surmise that fulfilling personal goals need not happen in an instant. That timing coupled with passion is a potent combination to have in your pocket when achieving career goals.

Misaeng is definitely one of the best produced and written drama of all time with its simplicity and amazing depiction of the daily life of the working class. Without frills, it is an inspiring story to watch – either for all of us on board and those soon to be boarding onto the cruel corporate world.

Photos’ source: tvN