Backstreet Rookie (2020)

ITS A SIMPLE LIGHT HEARTED DRAMA

I rarely finish watching an ongoing dramas and due to this i rarely watch ongoing dramas.. i usually wait for it to finish and then binge-watch it. BR is one of the few i watched while it was ongoing and didnt drop it midway.

The first thing i want to say to those who decide to watch this drama is its not as problematic or as controversial as some people projects it to be but its not the best drama out there either.. this drama definitely dont deserve all the controversy surrounding it.. people over exaggerated every action in the drama as if this created everything thats wrong in the word.

One thing that made me like BR is that i officially became a fan of both JCW and KYJ.. i never got the hype behind KYJ until i saw this drama(i have only seen her in moonlight drawn by the cloud and i dropped that drama half way through). she is like a breath of fresh air onscreen.. she brings a certain kind of energy whenever she is onscreen.. i have seen that kind of energy only in jun ji hyun and park bo young.. KYJ is kind of like a younger version of JJH to me.. i always found jcw to be one of the best looking guys out there but this drama made me appreciate him as an actor.. he can pull off a character like daehyun who dont have any special skills or charm pretty well.. if you want to see JCW as the charismatic and charming kdrama lead then you will be disappointed with daehyun but if you want to see JCW as an actor then DH is one of his best roles..

the story is very simple and the characters seem real.. one of the very few dramas that show both the good and bad of almost all the characters.. none of the characters are pure evil or perfect.. everyone has their pros and cons.. the different thing i found about this one is, it starts off by showing the negative side of every character and then slowly shows the depth in them.. characters like DH's father and SB's sister might come off as extremely selfish and self-centred at the beginning but its just that the way they do things are not the ideal way..

PROS
1. the relationship development of SB and DH is really good. there is understanding, mutual respect and trust b/w them as well as they give each other personal space. KYJ and JCW have good chemistry without a lot of intimate scenes. they both are good actors so all their emotional scenes came out well.. like the characters, their relationship also started on a questionable note but ended up being so beautiful.. it started as an obsessive infatuation of SB towards a good-looking older guy who was nice to her but ended with uplifting each other and correcting each other's flaws.. even though there is an age gap there is a sense of equality in their relationship.. DH takes the front seat when one of them needs to be wise and SB takes the front seat when one of them needs to be bold or strong.. they complement each other quite well..
2. SB and DH's mother's relationship. they both are hardworking and sincere but are taken granted by their family.. so they both understand each other very well.. all their scenes are high on emotions.. again the actress playing DH's mother is amazing.. she is good as the loud but good-natured mother.. she clearly can make you love her in one scene and irritate you in the next.
3. DH's personality. i personally loved his character. he is at times too good for his own good but is a very respectable guy. he might not be a macho alpha male but has the patients to deal with things the right way.. he is sincere and gives his 100% to any relationship he has.. he stayed loyal to his gf because he is a loyal person and his gf deserves his loyalty and not because he was blindly in love.. he clearly liked SB's company but also knew to draw the line..
4. since the drama didnt had any high tension moments or cliffhangers, it was like a stressbuster.
5. the emotional scenes of the drama were really good.. one of the best i have seen. you can connect with every character and understand why they get emotional..
6. SB and her friendship with her 2 bff esp GB.. GB might be from a rich household but clearly understands the struggle SB faces and is always there for her.. those two girls are friendship goals..
7. SB's character growth.. the makers kind of put a bump to it on ep15 but quickly clears it on ep16.
8. BR had one of the most satisfying endings for me.. there was no proper kiss but still every scene of DH and SB was worth it..
9. parasite and the fiery priest reference. i just finished watching fiery priest when i started BR and FP reference and guest appearance from some of the FP cast were hilarious to me. the parasite reference fits perfectly into the story.

CONS
1. the stretching of DH-YJ relationship. it becomes a bit repetitive after a point.. we get it why they are together and also get it why they shouldn't be together.. the makers have made that pretty clear by ep 7-8 but still the breakup happens only on ep 9.. also the actress playing YJ was the weakest link in the cast.. she has very limited facial expressions. like every other character, she is also not too good or too bad but since she is the roadblock to the union of SB-DH as viewers we tend to hate her the most. DH becomes an unlikable person when he is with YJ and he might come off as a weak guy when he was in the relationship. the showed how this relationship is eating up his real self.
2. there were some scenes and characters that should have been cut short and more screen time should have been given to the leads in the end of first half of the drama.. ep 7-9 was a bit dragging..
3. not enough fluffy romance b/w the leads.. this one was supposed to be a rom-com but ended up being a comedy slice of life drama with a pitch of romance here and there.. there is a lot of meaningful and emotional scenes b/w SB and DH but dont have much typical romantic moments..
4. the time gap.. the makers didnt made the time gap b/w the breakup and DH starts developing feelings for SB more evident.. if you give importance to minute details then there is a lot of time difference b/w DH's breakup and his feelings for SB but if you dont notice it then it might feel like DH started falling for SB within a week of the breakup.. EB's sister debuted after months of training but it might look like she debuted within weeks of joining the agency. same with SB's exam.. it looks like she wrote the exam after 2 days of studying but the time gap is only evident when she remembers the flashbacks with DH helping her with her studies..

there were some episodes i didnt enjoy as much as the rest but when i look back i liked the overall drama.. this drama definitely deserves a try..

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This is a very typical comic-styled comedy, with really outrageous special effects and random jokes.
I'm a huge fan of the drama trope memes they inserted here and there, including a guest appearance of the Temptation of Wife OST somewhere when side characters were breaking the fourth wall.

Forget about the romance though. Honestly I couldn't find much chemistry between the two leads, and the second female lead arc went on for wayyy too long (and the second male lead arc way too short! I had severe second male lead syndrome for that guy but he didn't even put up a good fight)

I would recommend this for the laughs, especially if you're a kdrama veteran and can see through their play on drama tropes (though they end up committing a few themselves)

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The controversial “Backstreet Rookie”, was it any good?

Plot : Let’s start with, why it’s controversial. From what I read online, the main complaint was it’s too raunchy and of course the caricature of “Reggae boy”. But putting it all aside, It’s a pretty unique love story. First of all,it’s realistic. The main love interest isn’t some rich guy with a multimillion company, but just your average hard-working guy. To be honest the first 2 episodes I didn’t like, after the 4 episode I started to really enjoy it…but the two last episodes were a disappointment.Overall I would recommend it if you are tired of the cliche k-drama plots and want something fresh and more “grown-up” , but still silly and fun
THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN OUR MAIN COUPLE(S)?:
So our main couple is Choi Dae-Hyun and Jung Saet-Byul ,yes we do get a little love triangle situation but it was gone half way of the show,so I don’t feel like it’s relevant to talk in this context. Was there chemistry between Choi Dae-Hyun and Jung Saet-Byul? Yes and No,let me explain…First 4 episodes you could feel the awkwardness,I don’t know how or why,but you could feel they are not really comfortable with each other. After that I started to see the chemistry,but in my opinion, there were not enough cute scenes overall and that’s a shame!
HOW IT ENDS:*Mild Spoilers*
I was disappointed…they tried to wrap up all the loose ends in one episode…ONE EPISODE!!! And you could really tell they where rushing…the actual ending wasn’t that bad,just the feel of the whole episode was bad…sorry not sorry

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What a waste of time

I thought the first episode was really funny but a lot of cringe though and I did not like the potrayal of dreads on that webtoon guy. However, by the 3rd episode the show was starting to get on my nerves.

I don't like JCW's character. He was too nice and so gullible. It's ridiculous. I hate ML like this. Yes you can be nice and honest but you don't have to be a doormat and act stupid or blind to things right in front of you. I have to stop watching these kinds of dramas. I also didn't understand why his girlfriend even likes him other than his good looks when she is so ashamed of him and his upbringing.

Almost every character is annoying with no redeeming qualities. I hate that rich people in these dramas find it abhorrent that their child may be in love with someone they find beneath them. Dae Hyun has his own business and works hard to live a good and honest life; what is so terrible about that? The class system is ridiculous.

I never drop shows so that's my character flaw and I guess I should but this was 16 episodes of nonsense that actually could have ended at episode 13 when all main plot issues had been resolved. Yet it carried on for 3 more episode just to make ML and FL not get together until the last episode. STUPID!!

I really have to stop watching my sister's recommendations.

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Don't waste your time on this drama

Started watching it because of JCW, Tolerated because of JCW... BUT JCW disappointed me..i had so much expectations. I thought it may be interesting after some episodes but NO.
This four dimensional girl Jung Saet Byul is so nosy and annoying, Her one sided love is irritating.
How cringe to see they tried to portray cuteness and innocence but also a lil bit of maturity and strong.It is unacceptable and unrealistic ( just in my thoughts).
Story is boring ,Not a little bit of romance & No chemistry, not even Comedy. I can't understand exactly when lead's romance started. 🤦
Characters aren't good and mostly were use less with this kind of boring script and also predictable.
Highly Disappointed. Don't waste your time unless you want to watch meaningless drama.

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Excellent drama but wasted potential

The Backstreet rookie surprised me with a strong and self-assured protagonist and that despite having a superhuman strength she is completely docile, honest and hardworking. In fact, the drama is carried by Kim Yoo-jung who is undoubtedly the pillar of the drama.

About the age controversies I found it completely incoherent, she was 19 and he was 26, there is nothing pedophile about it, it is actually a very normal age difference between couples ... And this affected the whole drama because because of the couple's criticism I am sure that the director cut the romance between the protagonists to avoid further criticism.

The Jamaican character doesn't seem offensive to me, he is just a boring character, he was grumpy and not sympathetic.

Ji Chang-wook's character bothered me too much as he was indifferent towards Kim Yoo-jung, he had a full sense of the even obsessive love she felt for him but at no time did he need affection for her. Okay that he was committed and it was the right way to deal, but the coldness and indifference he had for Yoo-Jung bothered him a lot, but when he finally separates from his first girlfriend and finally starts to empathize and consider Yoo's feelings -jung, so the character was cool for me

But I didn't understand in the penultimate episode Kim Yoo-jung rejecting Ji Chang-wook. It didn't make any sense, she has an unconditional love for the guy, she chased and did everything to win him over. Her rejection of her dating request was a very stupid way for the director to show that she didn't want to show romance between the two, reserving the last minutes of the drama for her to accept dating and thus end with the "happily ever after."

That was the most frustrating because the chemistry that existed between the channel was and not seeing 1 episode dedicated to the romance between the two made the huge drama lose points for me ... Because you end the drama with that feeling of incomplete ...

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That ending though...

I am really a fan of Ji Chang Wook also known as Wookie. Knowing the fact that this series is new, I got my self available in watching the 16 episodes. The first episode got me hooked. But the next episodes got me hooked with fire volcano, the webtoon artist and the second lead of the series.
I got disappointed because the story became draggy. The kiss scene is only shown in the first episode( and it was a controversial one, that's it).
Backstreet rookie, it seems it was ended in a very fast phase. The ending was nice, but still they can still showcase more.
I want more! I don't need season 2. I just need a little twist of the ending.
Woookiiiiiieeee please another series please. Please give justice:)

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Family Drama from an adult webtoon? Backstreet Rookie : Hold My Beer!!

There are quite a few successful drama adaptation of webtoons like Whats Wrong With Secretary Kim and Mystic Pop Up Bar, The reason why these webtoon based drama succeeded was because the story was good if not great and had some scope for character and plot development.
After seeing this drama caught up in all sort of controversies after only 2 episodes, I actually read a couple of chapters of the manhwa "She is too much for me" to see what the fuss is about
- This is not a typical damsel in distress K drama, in fact it appears to be the other way round. The female lead clearly shines, this drama is more centered towards the FL than the ML. Kim Yoo Jung overshadows everyone in this drama, yes even the veteran JCW. It is hand's down her drama!
- The manhwa "She is too much for me " is an adult webtoon so it is no surprise that it has the "asian kink" of sexualizing school girls and a grown man fantasizing about a teenage girl at its core, However why the writers choose to adapt this webtoon into a 'family show' is a mystery. This isn't Reply 1988 or even a Smile Dong Hae
- However it is to be noted that the directors and writers are trying their best to "tone down" and "cleanse" the adult content of the webtoon and the actors (especially the female lead) are doing a good job with their roles.
- As the main backdrop of the drama is the convenience store, the sub plots have limited range...ML suspecting the FL of stealing cash from the store, ML getting in trouble for selling cigarettes to minor, expired food etc
- I have read a couple of chapters of the manhwa and I did not come across the reggae friend of Dae Hyun , (who is actually a Korean in the drama as well as in real!) The way he he portrayed as an adult webtoon writer with licks coming out of his hair, Saet Byul's friends calling him a caveman/ neanderthal, Saet Byul giving him weird looks for comical relief is again unnecessary, disappointing and has surely backfired
- It is clear from Episode 1 itself that Saet Byul is chasing Dae Hyun and probably do whatever it takes to separate him from his girlfriend Yeon Joo. She is clearly shown to be infatuated with the male lead for no particular reason from the moment they met. The male lead is not a regular K drama alpha main lead but more of a 'guy next door' with a flat personality and little charms but still has two women vying for him (an alpha go getter Saet Byul and successful and elegant Yeon Joo). It is very brave of Ji Chang Wook's part to take up a role of wimpy male lead like Choi Dae Hyun.

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I watched this drama because I really like the main actors. Since I watched it while it was airing, I stuck around despite there being many contrasting points of view for the drama.

The Good:

1. My favorite part of the drama was the relationship between SB and DH's mom. Those parts make my heart warm and also made me tear up sometimes.
2. The acting of all the characters is good and one of the things that made me stick around.
3. Some of the tributes to previous dramas are funny.

The Bad:
1. As everyone's concern, the age gap between the actors made me wish that they had a platonic relationship more than a romantic one. I think I would have been totally okay, even happy if the main leads did not end up together but instead had a sibling sort of relationship.
2. The relationship between the 2FL and the ML was very long and just did not end. Maybe the main leads would have convinced me more if the 2FL and ML had broken up earlier.
3. The gags and side characters. Some of the gags were overdone and made me a bit uncomfortable, ML's parent's relationship, ML's friend, and FL's friend's characters and relationships being a few.
4. The side characters got sidelined by the end.

Overall:
I would most probably not recommend the drama to anyone, but there are some funny scenes. If you are really really bored and want to watch something then you could watch it, but there are plenty of other funnier dramas to watch.

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