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I feel that I wasted my time!
The Good⌲ The main romance is alright, though there is not a whole lot of it.
⌲ The friendships
⌲ Muscular Teacher Watermelonface
⌲ No love triangles (though as I said, there is not that much romance to begin with)
⌲ Chae Soo Bin did not disappoint.
The Average
⌲ FL's family (heavy character adjustments here)
⌲ Tak's backstory
⌲ The underutilized Min Do Hee
⌲ Kang Daniel was bad, but I expected worse for his first appearance as an actor, he is not totally hopeless like Lee Minho.
⌲ The cleaning lady
The Bad
⌲ The crime/procedural part of the story is full of intelligence insulting plots. (Windows password 4 digits, copy protected video, lack of food during boot camp & countless others)
⌲ Corruption in kdramas is always portrayed in a really weird way, here it's worse than usual.
⌲ The first three episodes are about abuse by older students, this is no fun to watch, should not have wasted more than 30 minutes on that.
⌲ Assault is a crime, even in South Korea, Uhm Hyuk should be in prison not training cadets.
⌲ There is no satisfying conclusion, the ending is just whelming.
⌲ Dae Il's random romance with Hana
⌲ *'s meaningless death, I did not even feel sad, just confused.
⌲ The cadets investigating stuff.
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Poor plot, couldn't digest the whole thing. Early half was good.
I don't really write reviews but had to sign up to present my frustration on this drama lolThe first half definitely suited the coming of age, university, hardship, and every other tag mentioned.
I was getting used to the awkward built up to the story with the confused ML's character (still not sure what character Daniel was supposed to portray, other than being the son of the commissioner, I couldn't find any male lead trait), the whole unnecessary bullying from the seniors/trainers but somehow the authorities supporting and calling it their "college culture", the female lead joining the "police" just because her crush studies there..... the plot suddenly changes as these 20 yr old students start chasing and solving crimes on their own. They were then randomly able to run across cities, and knock off some goons, what happened to the strict college timings and training?
I get that they're "rookie cops", but the main crime/corruption/chase/culprit plot is so weak, I lost it when they start unlocking the laptop's code like that, their inability of sending the video inside to the detective, the female lead suggesting the ML to give the video to the ML's father, the ML actually confronting the main culprit by himself, it actually started getting boring as the plot became extremely predictable later on.
It also sounds so unrealistic that a big-name CEO, who actually is able to keep hold of the whole national police authorities, is simply busted by two students, in his own hideout...what! It's unfeasible for a small group of students to carry out such an event on their own and that too without letting anyone else know.
Dae-il's death is a cheap, predictable, and overly used sacrifice plot in crime dramas. The ML was even more stupid for not understanding that Dae-il was in trouble even with that last phone call.
The main crime plot was extremely lacking proper execution, almost a joke to the real-life corrupted police system. It got even funnier when all of the high-ranked police authorities all together resigned from their posts within a single blow!?
I felt no attachment to any of the character's backstories as well, felt like a complete waste of cast due to poor story and direction.
Stayed for Kim Tak and Shin Ari, as they stood out more than the main leads for me. Couldn't get used to the ML's character until the end. The only thing I liked about this whole drama is the random goofiness among the friends and couples. Crime and suspense-wise, an utter disappointment.
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HIDDEN GEM
An honest short review for Rookie Cops. I started watching it without any expectation, but turns out to be a fluffy one and unexpectedly thirsty for every episode, it was a light drama with lots of fun, cheeky romance, great friendship, and society's infamous shortcoming that people must take it thoroughly, one thing that this drama slapped me so hard is that voicing out and having the ability to face your flaws is the best thing to do to avoid the nearest problem and befriend for good ones. Regarding for Ep. 1 to Ep. 16, it was good! The flow of the story was kinda fast, every happenings moving immediately, which was incredibly satisfying. The plot, the cast with filled of bonds was lovable, there's no dull moments (not gonna lie). Nevertheless, Rookie Cops is the best drama so far for 2022! Worth watching!Was this review helpful to you?
Mindless mediocracy with great friendship.
I'm not gonna lie. There were some scenes so dumb I had to pause the episode in the middle of them and stare at the wall in my room trying to prevent the neurons leaking from my brain. The show is made with the idea of kids as the target audience. Lack of realism was not even the worst part, it’s the complete disregard of logic and continuity.Yes, the writing of the main plot was a pile of trash. It made so little sense and it was presented in such a bad manner, I found it amusing. The villain was a poorly written joke, the twists and the character’s reactions to them were comical and the conclusion to the story was all over the place. Not to mention the last minute redemption arc for one of the bad guys.
That said, the show shined when it focused on more mundane aspects of the police academy and the growing friendship and bond between the main characters. We’ve got a variety of different characters which led to many funny and heartwarming moments when they started to open up to each other more. Learning how to lean on others and ask for help, how to trust your friends, how to communicate with people with different outlooks in life and previous experiences. That was the best part of the show.
The fair share of romance was fine. Personally, I couldn't care less about the main couple and a lot of it had to do with the performance. Thankfully, we’ve got more than enough screen time for the second couple that was far more natural and adorable. I also got a massive second lead syndrome from the female lead’s senior.
As for the performance - I have never seen a more obvious case of someone getting cast for their name and not their skill. I adore Kang Daniel, I do. He is an extremely talented performer and entertainer, but he just cannot act at all. He literally made me cry from laughing from his bad performance. His face was just white wall of emotions and the line delivery was less expressive than Alexa or Siri. He did fine with the scenes showcasing more daily stuff, but any moment that needed to tap into these more raw emotions, he failed miserably.
Others did a lot better. Granted, most characters lacked depth, so these performances were not exactly that demanding, but the cast did their best to deliver a good performance and chemistry. Especially impressed with Park Sung Joon in the last few episodes.
Production value was great, but that’s exactly what one can expect. There were a few editing mistakes and a lack of continuity between shots, but these were small details that are hard to avoid in any drama.
Overall, I had fun for both good and bad reasons. Enjoyed the friendship and characters a lot, and laughed about the poorly written plot and the whole investigation aspect of it.
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solid 7.5
i think it is worth watching if you enjoy youth theme dramas mixed with some dark topics here and there.the acting is okay, it's kang daniel's first drama and he is the main lead so don't expect him to be /that good/. the rest did well.
the story itself holds a lot of meanings, i reaaaally enjoyed their friendship, it's probably what made me go through the last episodes since it was focused on serious topics.
the couples were ok as well, i was rooting for them in the beginning but during the middle and the end it was like alright, they're cute but even if they were not together it would be whatever.
the characters itself were nice, love hanna, ari and tak but the whole gang was amazing <3
ps: daeil, i love you!
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I expected it to be different
I started watching it because I liked the concept of a school of cops. However, the drama is more like a typical police mistery series, with a different beginning because of the school.The romance is really cute and sweet, but I think that once they're together (I'm not gonna say who so that I don't give any spoilers) it's like they forget about it and it doesn't have importance anymore.
The acting was so good, I liked how the actors managed to portray their feelings. The music was really good too, specially "Because of You". The characters were so cute and I liked all who formed the friend group of the kdrama.
Overall, even if it ended up being the same topic of every police mystery series, it was cool and well managed so I enjoyed it, but I expected it to be a little different of the usually used cliché. I don't wanna mention it because I consider it as a spoiler.
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All over the place
Maybe it's because I am used to crime dramas like Mouse and Flower of Evil and Youth/Coming of age dramas like Reply series and Start Up this messed the bar for me.The storyline was all over. At first it was good. It started as a good dramas with them tackling student life as KNPU. Then they stated to solve crimes without any help from their superiors and missing the ball each time. I figured after they messed up with the one case regarding the missing kid they would have recruited help for solving the case with the CEO.
Then it's how they solve the crimes. With the missing kid they didn't even think to check up on him physically to make sure he was okay after that botched stakeout or at least notify superior. When they did solve the case they got rewarded but the kid was missing for a month because of their botched stakeout. They got rewarded for fixing their own mistake technically.
In regards to the women phone he realized she was running from something or someone but still have someone else the phone and didn't think twice u til after she died.
When the friend died. They didn't think as cops studying in university when he was saying I think I am in trouble to alert the police to ping his phone. Earlier he said their was a commotion and they told him to call 911 and they didn't connect the dots until days later due to the horn.
It was just all over. It's like they started with them standing up to their seniors was like the test run, loan shark was stepping stone and bam they can now solve wide spread corruption..
Acting: The acting was okay. The ML but not the best. It was more like an amateur performance. From reading the comments it seems like this is his debut role. I hope his acting improves.
FL. Her acting was okay also. Her acting along with some of the students and KNPU staff was the better in the cast. I think it's because they had more experience overall.
TaeK: His performance was more of a hit or miss for me. When he had to express emotions during the scene with him, his best friend and the dad I didn't like iit at all.
Villian: Mostly a miss for me.
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journey through sweetness and tragedy
it was a nice watch for first youth k drama of this year ....i liked how the story followed in the drama ..they showed the mental and physical hardships of the chracters and how they matured all together with each other...the sudden tragedy at the end was a shock to all of us but the cast did a wonderful job in displaying their chracters..but i expected more from this and the starting was a bit slow for me so 8 is the most i can give to this piece...but i would say if u r thinking to watch or not i would say yes ...so go for itWas this review helpful to you?
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Better than I expected
When I found out Kang Daniel was gonna be the lead of this drama, I hesitated to watch it cause he has no previous experience in dramas but good that I gave it an opportunity. The story is not game changing, but it doesn't pretend to be one, it's interesting and easy to watch, cliches everywhere along with experiences you can only find in a police academy. The characters are growing as the drama drops more episodes, the love story is fast paced and cute, Chae Soobin and Kang Daniel have a beautiful chemistry and if you have reached episode 8 you can see it with your own eyes.We are already in the half of the drama, but I love to see more of the friends group that I wish it has more episodes.
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Enjoyable series.
I really liked this series. I'm not going to lie, there were times I skipped some scenes because they were too boring - for me - and the acting wasn't phenomenal, but it's a good show.There is humor, love, several storylines - simple, action, lots of friendships. And if the acting of the actors were not incredible, their characters were endearing.
I sincerely think that this series would benefit from having a second season. We followed our characters during their entry, their training, over their college years, now I would like to see what they give as cops. I would also like more depth to their characters, and more complex storylines.
I really think the show scould be elevated further to its full potential.
Anyway, I would say that this series has everything you can look for in a typical K-drama, with a good production, good dialogues, good scenes whether fighting or character interactions.
The series was not that intense, mostly light-hearted. I sincerely hope for another season to raise the level of this good start that this season has given us.
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What even is this....
Shamelessly copy-pasting their homework from Police University (2021). Nonetheless, the drama had the worst combination of anything and everything which ruined any appeal for it. It would have been a tiny bit better if the drama didn't have any romance. Aside from the first 2 minutes and 42 seconds of the introduction scene of the first episode, this drama was a waste of carbon emissions.Was this review helpful to you?
