Interesting
It was alright. I really enjoyed the friendship and family dynamic among the main characters, and there were some funny moments. However, I wasn’t a fan of all the random side stories—they made the show a bit boring. I found myself more interested in the players and their friendships rather than the parents and neighbors. The romances didn’t impress me either; they felt unnecessary. I definitely did feel like it was dragging a bit too. Overall, it wasn’t terrible, but I wouldn’t watch it again. I’d still recommend it though!Was this review helpful to you?
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Cute and light
So wholesome! Even with themes that can be for mature audiences (e.g suicide), they tackle it nicely. As a sports drama, I think it shows quite a bit of strategy (This drama is making me want to play badminton right now!!) and shows a lot of what competitive sports would feel like for rookies of the sport.I really enjoyed this light hearted drama. Really showed a lot of friendship, family, self-discovery, and most importantly character development.
I've seen a few of Kim Kang Hoon's dramas and most of them are great and he makes a great impression on me through the years from his lovable acting. He is a teenager now and this drama is so fitting and made me love him even more! From casting him as just a "kid of the mom extra" to "Teen who is lovable and treats his friends and family well", we see a little more depth and dialogue compared to his other dramas.
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Badminton Dreams
Racket Boys (2021)Absolute gem!! 🏸
Likes:
1. I came for the sports themed dramas and stayed for the kids! Haekang, Yoondam, Woochan, Yongtae, Insol, Seyoon and Hansol were perfectly casted! I'll predict they are the new generation Kdrama prince and princesses in the making!!
2. I love the kids' friendship and romance. Esp Haekang's growth from hating the village life and his team and becoming passionate about the sport. And how he had found his real friends. Even with the other teams.. they maybe rivals on court but off court they were close.
3. Coach Yoon, Coach Ra, Coach Whitewolf .. sometimes as adults we think we know it all, but sometimes it's good to learn from the kids too.
4. The badminton matches. I read they all trained for 6-9 months.
5. Took me some time to warm up to the villagers but they were good people. And became family to the badminton team. Especially cried when grandma passed away.
Dislikes:
The only reason why I didnt give full 9.5 is because I didnt like the plot about the city guys trying to buy the village.
I'd like a season 2 but i'm afraid it won't be as good so i'll just rewatch this.
Rating: 9.25/10
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Cute and relaxing slice of life drama
I enjoyed this drama. It was a nice, fun and innocent story about teenagers and their passion for badminton. I liked how the characters had created this sense of community not only among the players but especially among the villagers. I also really liked all the BTS references 😂😂😂 Those were probably the funniest!!! But in general there were a lot of fun things about this drama.Some things that got on my nerves was for example the behaviour of Hae Kang. He was way too full of himself. I just couldn’t really identify myself with him, or tbh with any of the othet characters either… Thats mainly the reason why I gave it a lower ranking.
In general I just couldn’t really align with any parts of it.
I also wouldn’t say it was bingeworthy. Like I was fine just watching one episode a week or sth.
Although it didnt get me especially hooked, I would say that the story was still very cute and wholesome.
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Recommended if you’re in the mood for something light, funny, and full of hope.
This show was so damn wholesome, I couldn’t stand it. Between the badminton teams (both boys and girls), the folks from the village, and just every damn thing – I was in constant love. I watched this weekly, as the episodes were releasing so I had a bit of a wait between episodes but that didn’t diminish my love for the storyline, the characters, and every dang thing about this show. I finished each episode, every week with a giant smile on my face because I loved it all.There was a slight pause in the airing of a week’s worth of episodes due to the Summer Olympics and I was really bummed about that. I was watching both the Olympics and this show so I had a little attitude during the break but alls well that ends well and this show definitely ends well. It felt like every episode was a freaking season finale but we only had a week to wait between seasons.
I really adored the boy’s badminton team. Seeing them struggle to be taken seriously with the constant threat of shut down (of their program and season) and just overcoming obstacle after obstacle had me rooting like crazy for the whole lot of them. I loved how close they got to each other. I loved their ups and their downs and I absolutely loved the way that they teased each other and supported each other. I loved their truth bench and how different each of them were from the other. They became a family in the real sense and I loved it to pieces.
What I loved a lot about this show was how every character was a three-dimensional character with flaws and not cookie-cutter characters that fit a mold. I loved that each character had charms that were specific to them and they all had their own unique situations and struggles. On top of that, the village as a whole had struggles, and seeing each village member come together to bring the bad guys down just made this whole show that much better.
This show introduced me to new actors that I wasn’t aware of before and it also showed me that actors who played characters that I absolutely hated in other shows had what it takes to make me fall in love with them in this one. I couldn’t stand Choi Hyun Wook’s character in Taxi Driver but I adored the hell out of him as Na Woo Chan in this show. There’s a lot to love about this show. It has charm in spades and a cast of characters that you will come to adore with every fiber of your being. This show has grit and it has a heartwarming story that will hook you right from the jump. I absolutely recommend this if you’re in the mood for something light, funny, but full of hope. This drama doesn’t disappoint.
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A True Feelgood KDrama
This had been on my watchlist since last year when lots of viewers mentioned that it gave off a similar feel to the "Reply" series (which I loved). All I can say is I can't believe I put off watching this gem of a drama for so long! I had absolutely no expectations going in and by the time I finished all the episodes, I get why so many comments remark about the wholesomeness of this drama. This is one of the few dramas that I've actually watched more than once!Likes:
-Tang Jun Sang as Yoon Hae Kang. Hae Kang lives as if he's the main character of his life and I aspire to have that kind of confidence. He's a bit whiny in the beginning but gradually warms up to his badminton crew and I loved the character growth! Besides that, Tang Jun Sang did such a great job with this role. I ended up watching "Move to Heaven" afterwards and you wouldn't believe that the same actor played two characters that are polar opposites of each other. I'm looking forward to seeing him in future productions!
-Badminton crew's friendship. They resolved misunderstandings and over time, they became like family to each other. It was just so wholesome to watch!
-It brought light to a sport that honestly doesn't have as big of a following compared to like baseball or soccer. The badminton smash shots were pretty good and accompanied with the on point BGM, it made the scenes all that more exciting. Sometimes it felt like I was actually there watching the match live.
-Gosh dang the romance was so pure and cute, my fan girl heart almost couldn't take how cute it was. Now whenever I hear that OST, I'll always think of that couple.
I know for sure there's little to no chance of a season 2 with how we basically got a mini epilogue anyway but I can't help but want to see what's next for the badminton squad!
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one of the best drama in 2021
I don't have anything to said but this drama actually a perfection for me. I don't even dare to skip any second in this drama.My first impression about this drama is it will be boring sport drama but I'm totally wrong. The plot is focus on sport, friendship and the most important is the story of village people. Some people might complaint about the unnecessary romance part. But people need to chill, it's just a middle school lovey dovey.
For those people getting confused why this series only get around 8.5 in mydramalist but low than 2 in imdb, this is because a racism thing towards Indonesia during episode 5(?). Don't feel bother to watch this series just because it's getting low rating in imdb.
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my heart is full
I have never felt this comforted by a kdrama ever before. This show is the DEFINITION of comfort drama. I feel so empty now I don't know how I'll go about my days without seeing my comfort characters everyday. Definitely a kdrama I'll rewatch again and again. The story was so rich, so many lessons about loss, love, family, sickness, friendship, age... I got attached to every single character and I truly felt my heart aching for them. I'll never forget Haenam. This show deserves so much more recognition. Aaaa I can't say goodbye to them what do I do now...Was this review helpful to you?
Life full of Hardships that is Wrapped with Purpose
This show does not only show you the reality of what life truly is and how it is dealt with or endured, but it also shows you that there could be enjoyable things living in that kind of life. This show may seem predictable at first, but its predictability contested my expectation and gave me a surprise that I never thought I would receive. It was a very nice 18 hours and 43 minutes of time that I spent. Worth the watch, so please give it a try. :)Had a few doubts when I started this series, but oh man, talk about not judging the book by its cover!! First off let me just say, a very well-written series and although its main theme is sports, it tackles all the themes of life and society very well, with some great highlights on real-world issues. The kids are superb and their dialogue delivery makes all the difference in adding an extra punch to the humor! Some episodes are a real emotional roller coaster and you will end up crying in a few of them, but that just goes to show how well the series has been written. The chemistry between the cast is great and some do put up very convincing performances. The writing makes you connect with every single character and I thoroughly enjoyed all the episodes. This is one of the best Kdramas I have watched so far and highly underrated. A must-watch for all!
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One of the underrated drama
I found this drama on Netflix and did not expect much from it as most main cast were new actors. The story and supporting actors are the backbone of this drama. The direction was fab too.Story - simple with not many twists and turns but the way of delivery is unique
Acting- young tae , coach yoon and coach Ra with national team coach are a delight with on point acting. Head coach and Hae-in as well as villagers from neighbourhood are good at acting their part. The only thing I felt missing were lead players acting it left lots to be desired.
Direction- it’s well presented story and delivery is its strong point
A must watch if you want those nostalgic school memories or you need a shot of inspiration.
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Top-Tier Slice of Life/ Coming of Age Drama
What I love about racket boys is how they portray each story and each life substantially. The illustration of everyone's life story is important and meaningfully special. You can pick any plot in an episode and, there is a moral to be learned. The plots are so emotional and hard-hitting, showing support within the family, friends, and the community. The flow of narrations is so smooth that time slipped every time you watched racket boys. The casting was so great, the bond of racket sonyeondan is so wholesome, you can say they are having so much fun, off and on cam. The cinematography is top-tier! Racket boys haven't been done airing yet I can say it is on the top list of a slice of life/coming-of-age drama. yeoksi Shin PD!Was this review helpful to you?
Review on drama itself and not on the Indonesia controversy.
Besides the low ratings the drama got on portraying Indonesia in bad way, I would like to do actual review on drama itself.The drama is very light hearted and light paced one, at certain times I felt it as too slow and boring. It only been racist in one episode, and leaving that aside, the drama was good at initial episodes but later episodes I didn't feel much thrill. I didn't expect thrill since this not an action drama, but I expected it to be more entertaining which it failed me. So if you are someone who is completely ok with a very slow paced and completely light hearted drama, than this is good for you.
In my opinion, this is only a one time watchable decent drama.
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