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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A Refreshing Youth Tale
In our sub-continent kdramas are tend to popular for it’s not-so complexed love stories which are quite swoon worthy to teenagers and probably that’s why the other genres which are also excelled by Korean writers are often suppressed among those rom-coms.In that list the new 2021 slice of life youth Korean drama “Racket boys” also placed. So, this kdrama enthusiast now gonna tell you why Racket boys is your next series that wipes out all your sad -life mental tears and filled your brain with feel-good steroids (and you don’t need to hide in blanket while watching it with the fear of ‘when hyped romance scene pop up!’ cause you can express freely all your binging emotions of the drama even by sitting in your couch with your siblings,friends,parents even with your grandpa.This netflix drama follows the story of 4 boys who are aiming to achieve their dreams with racket in hands while living their daily beautiful life in a countryside of Korea. But the plot doesn’t justify the drama as it’s so much beyond the description.The male lead Yoon Hae Kang forced to move in far from the capital city as his father’s financial situation crushed and as a result he had to give up on playing his favorite baseball . After moving out he found the surroundings troublesome as well as the people live in the village .And here comes the whimsical part of the series where he embrace all of it slowly like the game of dominoes. Everytime he got attached with these incredible personalities around his new atmosphere you will scream as if you’re the one who’s standing and having sweet bickering with them in your very own house block with childishness hidden inside you.
In every episode of this drama the creator always tried to cleared up the incomprehension between relationships of two kinds of polar opposite. Sometimes it shows how both city peoples and village peoples can be kind while in the both places evil can also exists.
Reflection of our parent’s love towards us and how differently all of them says “I love you” to their child is another praise worthy script narration we’ve seen on this series.It makes our heart melts immediately and we took a moment from our life resembling our parents affection towards us and sends thanks telepathically to them (as we are too shy to tell them directly!).
Two majors part of Racket boys is Dreams & Friendship. This drama portrays the wonderful journey of reaching towards goals while showing their struggle, sacrifices, parental obligation and physical boundaries;yet with amazing friends and adults around them they’re continuously inspired to fly high to their ambitions.
Even all of the reasons aren’t enough for you to sit and binge the drama let me tell you apart from high class storytelling and great acting skills of all the actors out there you will encounter with brilliant eye candy cinematography ,countless humours ,empowering soundtracks and a lot of BTS references ! And as earlier if you are the fan of k-contents only because of rom-coms then let me convince you with one more line that it has multiple simple yet realistic love stories which will makes your heart flatters and your lungs will filled with butterflies !
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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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Warm, cozy comfort
This is such a fun sports drama. I’m usually not a fan of sports dramas, but they really outdid themselves with this. It had a good pacing, and was rather insightful and motivating, not to mention that the story was great.I had a lot of fun watching this show. The main badminton plot was interjected by the stories of the lives of everyone in the village, which was a welcome respite and somehow didn’t take away from the show at all. My favourite villagers have to be the city couple, watching them grow and bond together with the villagers was extremely sweet.
This is a show about growing up and getting better, about outdoing yourself, sportsmanship and class.
It was wonderfully written and executed.
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definitely love it
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This review may contain spoilers
It takes a village to raise the best junior badminton team
Watching this show is like eating a whole tub of ice cream by yourself. It is a little naughty but so satisfying and a guilty pleasure. You almost feel a little embarrassed to admit you liked it so much.This show has all the things that you'd decried about tropey, over-the-top scripts with questionable story telling but it has so much charm and energy that you didn't realise until you are hooked and it is too late to bail.
A lot of that energy came from the young cast. There are a lot of testosterone, teenage angst and bravado on display and sometimes it can feel monotonal but most of the time, the young actors, especially the Racket Boys, pulled it off. A special mention goes to Tang Jun Sang. He was impressive in Move to Heaven and he did not disappoint in this show. One to watch as his career develops. Kim Kang Hoon was a joy to watch, a mix of cuteness and determination. The veteran actors provided the glue that gave the show cohesion and a nurturing environment for the youngers to grow and be themselves. To be honest, some of those roles are from central casting and there is not a lot of depth to their characters but the fact that they are instantly recognisable is also comforting within this dramaverse.
As you can imagine, humour is central to a show like this but some of it is pretty crude and they are served with extra cheese. The show can be cringy as it farmed all the clichés and set up tropey situations just to milk the laughs/tears. What made it worked is the ensemble cast (both young and old) and the fast pacing so that you are never given enough time to analyse each scene. For much of the show, there is a definite coda, see setback -> overcome obstacle -> plot advances/character grows -> rinse and repeat. The show also tapped into many other themes beyond sports, found family, friendship, romance, dislocation, alienation and many more. Even a bit of supernatural towards the end which you can only shrug and say "why not". You would think it is a mess and it was but you are too invested to care (or you'd have dropped the show a long time ago). You'd forgive a lot of their trespasses just to see what happens next. However, this is a doubled edged sword as you knew things will never get too rough and the reward is always a few scenes away.
However, not everything can be dismissed offhandedly. The way the show dealt with antagonists can be quite tone deaf and lackadaisical. Foreigners and city dwellers are easy foils. Bad people will do bad things, end of story. The whole land developer subplot was heavy handed and farcical.
Romance was a big part of the show and a source of minor frustration as the teasing and push/pull goes on and on. There is little skinship to talk about but it is rated PG15+ more for other contents.
I have read some comments on the badminton games were not realistic. I beg to differ. I doubt any sport based drama has ever portraited their sport 100% realistically. Drama and plot development must come first so tight editing and a bit of CGI are used to create tension and magic. I think the young actors did their best to impress us on how physical and challenging the game is at elite level and I'm sure they'd have sweated through tough training sessions as well. They deserve a bit more credit.
One thing that did irked me was how Kang Tae Seon gets to play in the national team selection match against the ML. According to the show, Kang has not played badminton for 10 years. Putting aside his fitness and skill retention there must be some kind of ranking system so that people have to demonstrate a certain level of merit to earn a wildcard entry but to go straight to the top seemed to take the mickey out of the system, Consider his character was introduced late in the drama and probably will not show up again (unless there is a season 2), it served little purpose other than to take the ML down a notch and to humanise the head coach.
Even with the questionable subplots, I definitely enjoyed this show and it demands very little from you. The less critical you are, the more enjoyable this show will be. Like I said, it is a guilty pleasure that you can binge watch easily.
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Wholesome & Lighthearted
The wholesomeness of this show has led me to post my first ever review of a Kdrama series and whilst I am more of a fan for romcoms this show has warranted special recognition for its natural and comforting story. I loved each character and the way in which friendship grew between the boys. Although, I loved the sports aspect I wish there was more of a focus on the competitive side of sports and also more sport action would have put the cherry on top. Regardless, this was a show that I would 100% rewatch again as it had everything you could ever ask for in a hit show. I hope they make a second season. Otherwise... I am craving for more sports kdramas! Give this show a try! You'll love it quirkiness!Was this review helpful to you?
Comfort Drama
I started watching this drama after my friend recommended this to me. I started watching this drama when it's already halfway through the entire series. I'm not really into sports drama before this but I become super invested in this drama and I keep on watching the current episode multiple times while waiting for new episode. I love their friendship and also the side story of the supporting cast. This drama is so warm and each episodes gives me comfort. All the young actors are so talented... love all of them.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Innocent, light and refreshing
This series is a breath of fresh air, literally! The country setting and the vibe of the small rural community brings back memories of summers in my grandparents village. The story revolves around ordinary people with extraordinary hearts. In a time where people are cooped up in tiny spaces and in isolation because of Covid, the camaraderie and warmth of local folks caring for each other, even going out of their way to lend a hand, was heartwarming, refreshing, and hopeful to be honest.The sport itself is not the most technical so if you want to watch it for the sports side be prepared to be disappointed, however, it would be unfair to judge it only for that. What you will witness instead is the development of friendship that was brought together by the sport and one can tell that this relationship is for keeps! From the awkward first introduction to the proud and trusting faces in the final games, these boys are bonded for life!
The only thing I thought awkward was the dad/coach, I couldn’t quite understand what his role was exactly. It would seem that he’s vested in the team and in the next episode it doesn’t seem like it. This made it hard for me to relate to his character. It seemed like the writer needed a coach but can’t seem to decide if he is to be strict or be the easygoing type and yet the boys needed to get to the final game. That is just my own opinion and in no way reflect his acting ability. Speaking of which, the young cast was just perfect and the acting chops are impressive. The FL, though, I thought was a little on the flat side but maybe this was just her character no? The adults were all good too!
My final say is go and watch this without delay if you like something light, innocent and funny :) Don’t forget to thank me later, lol ;)
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Delightful Story
A delightful story about young people who are the underdog in a sport and come back to fulfill their dreams. It also shows us how adults need to be supportive and even as parents sometime we forget to let our children dream. I love the community and how they help the kids and how the kids help in the community. The friendship that they develop and how not to be a sore loser. There is much to learn in every episode while enjoy it. The actors were great in their performance and I hope to see much more.Was this review helpful to you?
