Backstreet Rookie (2020)

Pior dorama do ano

Preparados pra maior vergonha alheia que a Coreia do Sul já nos mostrou desde Playful Kiss?
Se eu puder colocar esse dorama em 1 palavra: asqueroso.
Começa pelas representações racistas inacreditáveis. Eles mostraram o cabelo afro como sujo literalmente para uma metáfora da mente "suja" do escritor de webtoon erótico. Quem quer teve essa ideia, merece uma bofetada bem dada. E associaram esse escritor a sujeira e perversão, e ele caracterizado com a mais nojenta e digna de pena blackface que eu já vi na vida. Um estereotipo que os sul-coreanos aprenderam com os estadunidenses. Depois de 1 década ganhando dinheiro roubando a cultura afro e fazendo apropriações culturais no k-pop, é de se esperar que os coreanos tenham o mínimo de respeito pelos negros e sua cultura. Talvez demore mais pro séc. XXI chegar a Coreia.
Sobre o casal: péssimo. Nem era um dorama pra adolescentes, mas não teve beijo de verdade, só selinho de quando ela era menor de idade na história. Claaaaaaaaro que a história fez o típico clichê definido por pedófilos "ela era safada e sabia o que fazia". Gente sem bagagem cultural pode não entender, mas esse é um enredo bem conhecido pelos assediadores de garotas. Ridículo.
Que raiva da rivalidade feminina cultivada nesse drama. Sem nenhuma razão, as personagens se odeiam simplesmente por causa do protagonista masculino. Elas se odeiam, brigam, discutem. mentem e tudo por causa dele. Ele é um amor sim, mas não tenho paciência.
E o enredo geral desse drama foi chato, clichê e mal-feito. Eu assisti porque amo os atores Ji Chang-Wook e Kim Yoo-Jung e eles atuaram muito bem. Foi desperdício de química não ter cena de amor, nem mostrar eles namorando. Terminei me perguntando o que eu estou fazendo da minha vida desperdiçando meu tempo precioso naquilo.

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Don't corrupt your mind without giving it a try

I'm really glad that I watched this drama without reading stupid reviews because this was hell of a fun ride.

Let me tell you something about what's special about this drama

The best part about this drama is that all the characters, character development and the decision they make felt realistic which not many dramas have and after a long time watching a show doing this was so refreshing.

the casting and acting was flawless and while people are saying that JCW's character was boring then I don't know which character is interesting because if you just want every character in the drama to jump around, fight and shout without any reason then yeah JCW's character is boring. but man how good he plays this role. just from his expression you can feel how the situation is. he played as the most pure character ever and he nailed it which is not easy. and same goes for KYJ. she did a fantastic job playing the cheerful character. and if both the characters are cheerful then they don't match well.

I didn't got bored for even a sec and an hour long episode felt like 10 min.

and on top of all

You don't watch a drama because it will help you in your work or exams. You watch it to enjoy and if a show is entertaining then it doesn't matter even if the story, characters or acting is trash. if you enjoy it then that's all you need. I know so many dramas, movies and animes I know are trash but I still enjoy them and that's what I think matters the most.

just give it a try and if you don't like it then that's fine too. just go with the flow.

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Honestly It's NOT THAT BAD

People tend to read a lot of reviews and had a lot of judgement even before watching a show. But honestly this show is pretty good. Not to 10/10 kind of good but definitely deserve at least an 8/10.

To be honest, I got affected a little by knowing they had a lot of controversies after airing the first two episodes which I think it's pretty sad for them to have such an unlucky start because honestly it deserves a better rating.

For those who were saying that JCW doesn't shine in this show, it's pretty wrong. I personally think he doesn't have the need to receive cool hero roles like Healer, Baek Dong Soo or K2 in order to shine; which he really shows his good acting here as well, alongside with Kim Yoo Jung. I'm always very impressed how she captures a lot of details while acting, every expression of hers are telling a story, honestly one of the actress who presented very natural and good acting skills despite being young.

Let's talk about story, simple yet entertaining. It gives you a great laugh time to time. It might not have a big WOW storyline but it was better than a normal story too. For those who think it is super boring, trust me, there are much more worse ones out there. But standing in an objective perspective, if you hardly know any of them or don't like the casts, you might not be able to watch to the end. Because I love the two main casts and I was waiting for the couple to get together so as long as there's a reason to watch then it's worth watching! The two main leads are pretty cute, and when both of them smiled together, the visuals just exploded hahaha! I believe the kiss scenes were being cut because of the controvery, that's a shame. That's why I think this drama is basically just unlucky but it's not bad!

Side note: I really enjoyed The Fiery Priest characters coming out here and there, so for those who haven't watch it you must be wondering who are those people, you have to watch that too as it is the same director!
No wonder I've been sensing a strong "fiery priest comedy" from the very first episode?

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Lighthearted romantic comedy centered in convenience store

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 South Korean comedy romance with 16, 70 minute episodes.

Choi Dae-hyun (Ji Chang-wook) encounters a gang of female high school students after suffering a setback in a relationship. The leader of girl toughs, Jung Saet-byul (Kim Yoo-jung), Saet-byul tries to bully Dae-hyun Into buying cigarettes but instead steals a kiss from him. She was immediately attracted to the handsome young man who made a sweet gesture of flowers and a stuffy to a girlfriend who obviously did not appreciate it.

Three years later, Dae-hyun has resigned from the corporate world and is running a family owned convenience store. A chance encounter brings Saet-Byul back into Dae-hyun’s life and when she notices he is looking for a part timer she persistently seeks the job to be closer to the man she likes. Da-Hyun is two years into a relationship with another girl who does not see his worth. Saet-byul is determined to show she is no longer the troubled young girl Dae-hyun first met and steal his heart in the process.

Spoiler alert! I really loved the female lead character Saet-byul she is basically a street toughened kid in the beginning. Being poor is hard wherever you live and it was admirable how she sacrificed herself to give her sister a stable teen age life and start on adult hood. The sister acted just as expected when she was young but showed great character growth when she expressed to Saet-byul that she knew and appreciated what she had done for her. I liked that the younger sister was able to be successful as an idol. I liked all of both of their friends and it added a lot of interest with the things that happened in the multiple relationships. Choi Dae-hyun was perfectly sweet as the male lead character. He was responsible, stable and noble. The second guy was a gorgeous idol who was hopelessly in love with the beautiful Saet-byul he credited her deceased father for the foundation of his success and felt responsible to watch over the two girls. I did get a little bit of second guy syndrome. I loved how Choi Dae-hyun‘s family took Saet-byul in when she had nowhere to go and even later took in her little sister. It was something my parents would have done so I could identify. The love story was sweet and the two looked amazing together. Kim Yoo-jung is so pretty that she was an incredibly believable pair with handsome Ji Chang-Wook. I highly recommend this as a light hearted feel good romantic comedy.

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When it's so bad, that it's good...

Over the top, filled with cringe comedy and ridiculousness; this drama somehow made me go from shaking my head at its antics to thoroughly enjoying it in an endeared manner

First of all let's talk about the elephant in the room. I am not going to deny that this show is problematic. Even if we skip the fact that this 'family drama' is derived from a very ethically questionable adult webtoon and is bound to direct attention towards the source material, there are still many other things to frown upon.

In the very first episode, the FL (a highschooler) kisses the ML (an adult and a stranger) without his permission, then goes on to be very handsy with him throughout the show despite knowing that he has a girlfriend, beats up people left and right and well, basically does a lot of what your typical drama 'bad boys' usually do. (It's inappropriate behavior regardless of the gender.)

Then, in a very ignorant fashion, for comedic purposes the drama introduces a supporting character (ML's best friend) that has angered the international community for culture appropriation and rightfully so. Korean dramas have never been known to handle sensitive topics 'sensitively' and should know to stay away from them which Backstreet Rookie clearly does not do. It helps that he has reduced screen-time as episodes progress and that the fast forward button comes in particularly handy for his scenes.

So if these things make you shy away from the drama then it's completely understandable and you should do you.

But now for those who were able to walk past the controversy: The thing is while being ignorant, the drama clearly is not malicious. It's pretty obvious that they are just trying way too hard to be funny and sometimes it strikes true and you're left in fits of laughter and other times it doesn't and the result is just embarrassing.

Soon we realize that the FL; a young girl who doesn't have it easy, who lost her father too early, who has been raising her sister alone is quite a lost child inside. She is aggressive at first in her persuit for the ML (who is the only one who seemed to give a shit about her) but soon she becomes more mature and thoughtful. She is strong, stands up for herself and those she cares for and loves fiercely. After you get through the first episodes, she becomes an increasingly likable heroine and you can't help but root for her.

This role doesn't do anything for Ji Chang Wook as an actor. His character is not the typical male lead and not very attractive. He is a pushover, a 30 year old man who lives with his parents, doesn't have a lot of self respect, let's people run over him and despite his good looks, he doesn't do much in the beginning. However, soon you see his strong sense of justice, his love for his own family and the fact that he is literally an actual good human being and so you warm up to him.

The acting is great across the board. The main couple looks so good together (the romance follows with both of them being legal adults) with great chemistry. The OST is stunning and the cringe comedic camera effects during action scenes also grow on you after a while.

The best thing about it, is that even though it's very obviously in your face slapstick, the drama comes with these surprisingly heart warming and emotional moments that sneak up on you and hit you in the feels.

Also, since it is by the same creators as The Fiery Priest, it has A LOT of drama references that are absolutely gold and leave you roaring with laughter.

Overall, it's a light hearted romantic comedy, that doesn't take itself seriously.

So I'd say if you tried the show and couldn't get past the objectionable material, that's perfectly fine but if you are one those who want to watch this show and are hesitating just because of the negativity surrounding it, I suggest you give it a try and let the drama make its case first.

Enjoy!

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Offensive in some areas, good in others but pretty enjoyable for me

Backstreet Rookie is a tough one because it created so many controversies that I can't even count them lol. lSome were unfounded like the ones against the protagonist couple. Problematic scenes? where? They barely had any romance scenes at all so ??? Ok to some the first kiss may have been offensive to some but there's much worse in other Korean Dramas it felt like some of the audience was way too harsh on this one. The one controversy I did agree with was the Daeksil one. His character was offensive for many reasons and I admit his scenes were pretty hard to get thru esp in the beginning. I learned to ffwed thru him and enjoy the show without him in it.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way I think it's easier to rate this show better on the acting, the plot and the story and the parts that I enjoyed,

The emotional parts in the drama were surprising. They were exceptionally done when they wanted to go deep into it like the differences of class in Korea(Rich vs. Poor) the bullying, the emotional strains some situations can cause on people and when people feel inferior to others. For this show being rather silly I liked how that was shown those moments touched me.

The character arcs were good too especially Saetbyul's I think her character growth was the best on this show. KYJ did a good job wiht this character too. JCW was soo good too. Loved how he portrayed that innocence, romance and sweetness of his character. Choi DaeHyun showed that he can do more than the strong, action heroes all the time. I know some of his fans didn't like this role for him but I did. Just like I liked SB for KJY. I see why they chose to do this show and IA with their choice.

The romance was pretty enjoyable, it was a slooowburn without any physical affection and although I was disappointed at first, I was satisfied with it at the end. Like I mentioned somewhere else what mattered to me in the end was if I believed the love between the characters and I did.

The OST was okay I only liked the main love song which was Something. Not much of the OST was memorable.

My Overall Rating( 9.0). I'm just gonna go with my gut, the reason I'm giving it a high rating while others may not is because I liked it. Despite it's flaws and the controversies I enjoyed watching it every weekend. I looked forward to it & it's one of my favorites of the years. I'm gonna miss it but I can always go rewatch when I feel like it XD.

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DEFINITELY SEEN BETTER BUT IT WAS FUNNY

Since the very first episode Backstreet Rookie has been quite the scandal, and after completing the drama I can agree with the fact that there were problems: romanticizing student/adult relationships, black cultural appropriation and the fact that the whole was tagged under 'family comedy-drama'. At first, like many, I took that first episode rather lightly, saying that since it's a webtoon adaptation the facts and events are very unrealistic and that I should not put too much thought into it. But the more I read discussions and opinions from others the more I realised that although it's all unrealistic it can have a bad impact or trigger some people, which made me further realise how unsensitive that first encounter between Saet-byul and Dae-hyun was. Although it was she who started everything and kissed him it was still giving a wrong message to younger audiences who might confuse that fictional love story of 10 years into something romantic and to try in real life. Also,o it was insensitive towards people who had similar bad and traumatic experiences. The second point is there's best friend Dal-sik, whose character was just totally wrong for me. His presentation, behaviour, and style were just so offensive and that will be just the biggest mistake the writer or PD teammates in my opinion and the fact that until the very end,d they didn't try to change or develop anything about him. Of course,e he was funny, but also cringey and disgusting.

From what I heard this kind of drama was popular in South Korea in the '90s but for audiences today, with all the talks about gender equality (do we want to talk about father being beaten up religiously lol), race and just everything was offensive and ignorant. Of course,e we know, SK is usually pretty insensitive in these cases, but honestly, if they gave some points a little though,t it would've saved them so many of those complaints and hate towards the actoro.

Now let's talk about how it was funny, despite everything I discussed above. Because it was silly, stupid, completely unrealistic and very colourful. Everything was just a mess at times, but that's exactly what made it funny and at times relatable. Apart from all the bad stuff, it's just a 'normal' rom-com, although kinda slow, it had all the elements and I don't regret watching it tbh. I'm happy how so many people, me included, realised everything wrong in the drama but still gave it a chance.

The OST was really good, and that's totally what I loved most out of all the drama. The acting was also good, it was a new kind of role for JCW but although his character had problems he did a decent job.

Those who want to watch it, do it with an open mind, knowing all the negative stuff about it, if you don't want to get triggered or disappointed. I've seen better but it's a funny watch.

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Sassy and Funny Rom-Com

***8 Aug, 2020 - UPDATE: I watched the final episode today and I have to say that they wrapped up the series satisfactorily. My only gripe is that there was no actual kiss on the ending. I wish that they allowed the main characters to have that one epic kiss but I suppose with all the controversy of Backstreet Rookie, maybe they want to play it safe. It was still fun to watch, though. I hope someday JCW and KYJ will have another project together.***

**11 July, 2020 - UPDATE: I watched the 2 latest episodes of Backstreet Rookie and it still has not failed to make me laugh. It’s so funny, it cracks me up. Sorry other people did not like it. This show ain’t for everybody, I suppose. But hey, please don’t ruin it for the rest of us. I’m talking about people who put in the complaint against this drama. . If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. Some of us actually look forward to watching this show every week.**

I never expected to enjoy this series so much. I can’t wait to watch upcoming episodes. The story is great, so I don’t understand where the hate is coming from. I haven’t found anything particularly offensive while watching it.

I love the chemistry of JCW and KYJ. They’re too cute together. There’s a lot of laugh out loud moments for me.

Another thing I like about this series is how they incorporate cartoon style graphics with some scenes. I thought that was pretty cool as the female lead performs action sequence.

When I watch behind the scenes video clips online, it’s refreshing to see how much fun the actors are having by playing their characters.

Give this K-drama a chance if you want something different and enjoyable.

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Light-hearted Rom-com

Not sure why this drama is rated as low but personally I've seen worst drama that as higher ratings than this. I would describe this drama as a light-hearted romance comedy.

Pros: The leads are visually appealing and the acting is good and the music/soundtracks are memorable. The over-the-top antics of the 2nd leads may or may not appeal to you.
Cons: There are no real depth to the story so if you are looking for some life-changing lessons or etc then this is not the place for you.

Personally, my wife and I enjoyed this very much. Overall, I would say I had a good time watching this and have no regret's on the time spend on this.

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Totally underrated

I'm writing this review just because i think the ratings are really unfair with this one.

Ji chan wook nails the character so much, that you can see a diferent, well built and totally relatable person.
The heroine is strong, determined, soft hearted and beautiful, she is not anoying, nor naive and doesn't feel like a victim even though she actually is. The character development is so deep!!

THE SUPPORT CHARACTERS are so amazing that make you forget about the main couple, and sink into their reallity even if you havent lived anything like that (I mean episode 10) it's brilliant acting combined with emotional impact and values... something you dont see coming and that is not common to see on tv.

100 % recomended, you have the comedy, the action, the romance, the interesting and fresh plot and don't pay attention to the critics and bias referring to this title, just watch the first 2 episodes and you'll be hooked on it.

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This one is killer

I started this after many viewers flagged this with sexual harrasment and racism ??. But there is NOTHING WRONG with this. Female lead is too much badass maybe that's why many are complaining ?. I don't find anything wrong. Actually it's in my top 5 list of all time. Too much engaging. Dont go for others views. Sometimes MDL sucks. She is way too cute to handle.

Edit
Almost toward the end. I'm suprised how this picked up after second part. From 8th episode it picks up so much. I mean it. It gets better like hell. Sudden glow in drama in half. Lots of emotional scene mixed with mesmerizing love b/w main couple and their parent too.

Edit - Finally it ended and I think it ended very well. Though they teased us with kissing scene. I can forgive them as last episode was did a lot well. Kuddos to the parent of DH what a great role both of them played. Most of their were so emotional and loving. Some might think they are the lead couple.
BUT still i think there was too much focus on the that "EX" thing. One cannt focus much of main couple due to annoying EX (YJ) .
Totally loved the chemistry the glow in their eyes was phenomenal. Like they really felt for each other. There was age gap but it never felt like that. Both did so childish thing. Cutiee cutiee. No wonder JCW is such a great actor.
Loved how both of them loved each other opinion. They didnt forced the other to behave as they want. Wether it was ML or FL. Sacrifices for each other without being proudy at same time. Unlike most of the drama where either lead force the other one. There was nothing like that. Waited for each other till both of them were comfortable. How cute.

I really really want their another project like anything. There weren't too much pure romatic moment b/w the lead. I really want either season 2 or another project.

Definitely worth your time. Dont think a second whether to watch or not. JUST GO FOR IT. Perfect drama to lighten the heart and life the mood.

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