Review of Branding in Seongsu / 브랜딩 인 성수동

Of the time I’m writing this within, I’ve spent so much time watching Korean dramas. Like it’s actually become a daily part of my routine to sit down and watch an episode or two before going to bed. I’ve always liked dramas in this way, but at the same time I have never really done this.

But because I am spending so much time watching these shows, it means that I have to try and branch out beyond my comfort zone. I’ve been watching some dramas that I never would have watched otherwise, including Branding in Seongsu.

I didn’t care for the synopsis on this show when I first read it, but what drew me in were the lead actors. I remembered Lomon from All of Us Are Dead, and kind of just shrugged and pressed play after seeing he was in the show.

And because each episode is only like thirty minutes, the whole series goes by really quickly. I think I watched it over the course of a week and felt like I was averaging somewhere around four episodes a day.

Here’s my review!

In Seongsu-dong, a marketing intern and his cold boss somehow switch bodies.

Lomon portrays Eun-ho in this series, who, chasing after his hoobae Na-eon, decides to work at a marketing agency in Seong-su. However, Na-eon knows what it takes to succeed, even if it means making everyone at the workplace hate her as she gives off the worst vibes.

That said, Eun-ho is the exact opposite of someone who should be in here. He seems to hate capitalism and taking advantage of others, and this puts him in hot water pretty quickly with the other people at the company.

But when they’re assigned to a gig that leaves Na-eon in the hospital, her mind switching with Eun-ho’s, the two of them have to learn how to survive in each other’s bodies.

The cold Na-eon becomes friendly under Eun-ho’s influence, and Eun-ho’s body, under Na-eon’s influence, becomes cold and calculated.

As both are banished to work with the team that’s in the basement, they have to figure out how to make their way to the top and figure out how to get back to their original bodies.

Things get even more complicated when their other coworkers start interfering with their personal and professional plans, then the romance subplot of this show kicks in. I find that the romance element of this show really should have just been left out.

Like it gets weird when we discover how they can go back to their own bodies, kind of forcing the love aspect in the show in a way I did not expect at all. That said, I felt like it didn’t add as much as I would’ve have wanted it to, so then it just feels weird to me.

That said, there are a lot of fun elements to this show, especially once we mix in the team from the basement. They’re kind of the comedic relief for the main part of the series, and they bring in these ideologies that are more fresh and what I would say is Gen Z.

Overall Thoughts

I find this series to be fun, but you can’t take it too seriously. As I mentioned before, certain elements of the plot kind of felt off to me, and the writing could have been better overall.

That said, for not expecting much from this drama to begin with, I enjoyed it. The fun aspect works for me, and I enjoy a workplace show that gives insight into the work culture in Korea.

Go give this one a shot if you’re interested in it.

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