Well acted and plotted workplace drama headlined by Zhao Youting, who earns his place as true royalty among Chinese actors.
Also an office drama though more focused on starting of a career as an outsider in a hostile environment. Mark Chao, Qiao Xin an Bai Jinting are brilliant. Mark Chao and others play a role in both dramas.
- Both dramas tells a story surrounding corporate environment.
- Both main leads had a rough life, in which they suffer from unfair mistreatments and also looked down by their surroundings.
- Both main leads are very intelligent and extremely inspirational.
- Both main leads lack opportunities, hence they have to proof their worth through hard-work and perseverance.
- Both leads start from zero and work very hard to achieve success, meaning that the FL in "The Ideal City" doesn't have certification to become an official cost engineer, on the other hand, ML in "Misaeng" doesn't have any college degree.
- Because they lack qualifications ("TIC" FL doesn't have certificate and "Misaeng" ML only work as an intern who doesn't have any college degree) - they both suffer from mistreatment, where their work were stolen by the higher ups.
- Both dramas also deals with office politics, which portrayed a very severe and harsh reality.
- Both dramas have little romance, instead they tend to focus more on the main leads growth in the industry.
*Bonus
I noticed that both are filmed in a similar fashion. Especially the tone of the setting, where they use a warm-toned filter.
- Both main leads had a rough life, in which they suffer from unfair mistreatments and also looked down by their surroundings.
- Both main leads are very intelligent and extremely inspirational.
- Both main leads lack opportunities, hence they have to proof their worth through hard-work and perseverance.
- Both leads start from zero and work very hard to achieve success, meaning that the FL in "The Ideal City" doesn't have certification to become an official cost engineer, on the other hand, ML in "Misaeng" doesn't have any college degree.
- Because they lack qualifications ("TIC" FL doesn't have certificate and "Misaeng" ML only work as an intern who doesn't have any college degree) - they both suffer from mistreatment, where their work were stolen by the higher ups.
- Both dramas also deals with office politics, which portrayed a very severe and harsh reality.
- Both dramas have little romance, instead they tend to focus more on the main leads growth in the industry.
*Bonus
I noticed that both are filmed in a similar fashion. Especially the tone of the setting, where they use a warm-toned filter.
Both are Chinese business dramas that have a very talented female lead, who is exceptionally good at her job and crunching numbers. In both, the male lead and female lead have a senior/junior relationship as well as somewhat of a mentor/mentee relationship. The Ideal City has slightly more romance, but the relationship in both start off somewhat platonic.