Incomplete Life a.k.a. Misaeng (미생, 未生) is a Korean workplace drama aired on the cable network tVN in 2014. It's a Slice of Life story based on the wildly popular webtoon about office life and corporate culture in South Korea. The title refers to a concept from the strategy game Baduk (바둑) or Go where a player's piece could either "live" or "die" depending on the rest of the gameplay. The webtoon uses many detailed references to Baduk as a metaphor for life and its challenges as the main character, Jang Geu-Rae (Im Si-Wan), was once studying to become a professional Baduk player. However he failed to achieve his dream and now must somehow survive in a desk job alongside the rest of Korea's mass of corporate drones. The clueless intern is thrown into a team with the beleaguered Chief Oh (Lee Sung-Min) and his trusty sidekick Dong-Sik (Kim Dae-Myung), leading to conflict as the last thing the Chief needs is an incompetent kid to manage.
Tropes:
- Arc Words: "Yes!" "Endure!" All courtesy of Chief Oh.
- The Atoner: Chief Oh Sang-Sik.
- Berserk Button:
- Don't mess with Chief Oh's team or mention his former employee who died.
- You really shouldn't badmouth Chief Oh in front of Geu-Rae. Or Dong-Sik for that matter. They will both punch you.
- Casanova Wannabe: Han Seok-Yool is a known pervert.
- Career Versus Family: A problem for the female workers at One International. One of the characters is a mid-level manager who's just returned from maternity leave and often feels overwhelmed with pulling double duty as a career woman and a mother. Also one background character accidentally got pregnant with her third child shortly after having had a second one, earning her scorn from the rest of the company for having to take time off so soon after returning to work.
- The Determinator: Jang Geu-Rae. He always pushes through, no matter how difficult or humiliating the task.
- Young-Yi as well. Despite the crap she has to put up with, she holds her head high and gets her tasks done efficiently and well.
- Drowning My Sorrows: A lot of the drinking really is a part of the corporate culture. But frequently things do just get too much for a character, and they'll crack open an extra bottle or can without the pretense of socializing, to dire physical effects for many who have been in the game a while.
- Loser Protagonist: Geu-Rae. He starts out with only a GED and a computer course to his name and has to go through hell and back to prove his usefulness at the company. Can sometimes go into This Loser Is You territory.
- Nepotism: How Geu-Rae gets his job at One International.
- Pet the Dog: The managers, especially Mr. Oh, have many small but significant moments involving the four rookies, and Geu-Rae in particular.
- Salaryman: The series is like a love letter to salarymen everywhere.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: The other interns view Geu-Rae's hiring as this and are initially very hostile to him because of it.
- Slice of Life: Focuses on the minutiae of office life.
- Work Com: Not to the same extent as say, The Office, but it has its moments.
