Rocket Boy Squad (2021)

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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Un très bon moment de franche rigolade accouplé à une émotion certaine

Jung Bo Hoon a peu écrit. Mais il a bien écrit.
Après "Prison Playbook" et les turbulences drôles et attachantes d'une cohabitation forcée entre prisonnier , le scénariste nous conte ici une tranche de vie à travers le regard de joueurs de badminton. Si on peut regretter que le badminton, qui sert ici seulement de scène pour nous retranscrire des relations humaines, que cela soit entre les joueurs ou entre les villageois, nous pouvons applaudir tout de même sur l'écriture brillante de ces personnages.

Ah le badminton, je me revois encore voler avec insouciance durant ma prime jeunesse vers le filet, raquette à la main, plongeant avec "classe" sur le volant capricieux... C'est une des raisons qui m'amènent aujourd'hui à écrire sur "Racket Boys", ça et aussi ma tendance naturelle à aimer les dramas traitant de sport (ne pas oublier que l'un de mes mangas de chevet reste encore et toujours "Touch" mais aussi "I'll Generation Basket"...).

C'est un sport loin d'être aussi populaire que le basket ball ou le football (chez nous) ou encore le base ball.
Du moins, c'est ce que je pensais.
Après quelques petites recherches (afin de ne pas me coucher trop bête), j'apprend que le badminton était assidûment pratiqué en Chine il y a 2000 ans de cela. Plus proche de nous, en Angleterre, le battledore and shuttlecock serait l'ancêtre du badminton. Le badminton moderne quant à lui est inspiré du jeu indien poona.
A ma grande surprise, le badminton, celui dont on ne parle jamais, est non seulement le sport le plus pratiqué en Asie ( j'ai toujours naïvement cru que c’était le base-ball…) mais aussi le deuxième sport le plus pratiqué dans le monde après le football, dont le nombre estimé de pratiquant s’élève à 100 millions. Oui, si c’est le sport le plus pratiqué en Asie, c’est plutôt logique….
Il est tout autant logique que les plus grands champions viennent d’Asie. Le pays avec le plus de médaillé aux jeux olympiques est la Chine suivi de l’Indonésie et de la Corée du Sud. Voili, voilou un petit peu de culture sportive.

Mais revenons à nos moutons….Ce drama parle donc de badminton. Du moins, le cadre de ce drama est le badminton. Il faut avouer que le badminton sert ici de base pour nous conter les amitiés d’une bande d’adolescent ainsi que de leur relation avec le monde des adultes à travers leur coach.
C’est un des points négatifs de ce drama : la pratique du sport n’est qu’un prétexte et est donc survolé. Il n’y a aucune explication dudit sport en question. J’aurais aimé, un peu comme dans « Ping Pong Life », des petites touches d’information sur le sport, les règles, les techniques. Nous voyons peu d’évolution au niveau des joueurs, que cela soit durant les compétitions ou dans le peu d’entrainement qui est mis en scène. Yoon Hae Kang est doué, on nous le répète sans cesse, tout autant que Han Se Yoon, ils rencontrent donc très peu d’adversaire qui peuvent réellement les mettre en échec. Il y a donc peu de suspense et peu de remise en question sur leur aptitude sportif. Les autres membres sont plus ou moins talentueux, avec quelques minutes éparpillés sur leur avancement sportif, mais rarement en profondeur, juste assez pour nous rappeler que leur rêves restent tout de même leur sélection nationale et la victoire nationale.
Les affrontements que cela soit amical ou lors d’une compétition sont mis en valeur esthétiquement mais ne sont pas assez passionnants, sportivement parlant. Le spectateur n’assiste pas réellement à une tension lors de ces fameux matchs. Ce qui n’enlève en rien la valeur émotionnelle de ces jeux. Malgré tout ,on y prend du plaisir.

Deuxième point négatif : Si l’amitié des garçons et filles est brillamment mise en valeur tout au long du drama, j’aurais aimé un peu plus d’emphase sur leur relation familiale. Hae Kang est le seul adolescent en relation directe avec sa famille. Bien que l’entente soit bonne avec des fluctuations classiques parents-enfant, au final cela ne durera que le temps d’un épisode. Il y a donc peu d’évolution ou de démonstration entre les protagonistes et leur famille. Juste un liseré, comme Se Yoon et sa mère ou Woo Chan et son père. Touchant mais si peu comme In Seol et son père. Ou inexistant comme Yoon Dam ou Han Seol.
Un parti pris du scénariste qui plaira. Ou pas.

Troisième point négatif : La narration un peu brouillon. Sûrement volontaire. Mais je n’ai pas réussi à m’adapter et à apprécier les nombreux aller-retours entre les nombreux protagonistes. Cette impression, un peu comme un échange de volant, où la caméra saute entre les événements, ces coupures volontaires afin de donner plus de poids à un suspense, que nous devinions au final assez rapidement, étaient frustrantes, de mon point de vue. Un peu comme les réalisations, caméra à l’épaule, volontairement choisi, mais qui ne plaira pas forcément à tous.

Mais alors, me direz-vous….Malgré ces défauts, qui n’en seront pas pour d’autres, c’est un drama qui reste de qualité. La réalisation comme souvent est claire et fluide, avec des images naturelles et une mise en scène esthétique.
L’écriture des protagonistes est plutôt réussie et il vous faudra peu de temps pour vous attacher naturellement à chaque protagoniste. Les liens, que cela soit entre les adolescents ou les villageois, sont émotionnellement bien construits. On rit souvent devant les répliques fantasques de Hae Kang ou devant les actions puériles des divers protagonistes. Actions qui cachent bien souvent une générosité débordante d’affection. L’amitié entre les différents adolescents est mise au devant la scène servant ainsi de moteur à leur désir d’avancer et de grandir. J’ai particulièrement apprécié le fait que cette franche amitié fut rapide à se mettre en place et faisant front face aux obstacles sans jamais faiblir. Il n’y a donc pas de place à la frustration des éventuels malentendus ou de problème relationnels.

Les romances sont mignonnes, on apprécie aussi ici la drôlerie et la chaleur de ces romances, qui correspondent bien à l’idée que j’ai encore en mémoire de l’adolescence et ses premiers amours.

L’histoire des villageois, sans être exceptionnellement bouleversante, reste vraiment agréable à suivre. Chaque personnage a sa propre histoire. Celle qui m’aura la plus émue est celle des citadins, Shin Phil Ja et Kim Tae Ho, leur évolution a été la plus flagrante et leur implication la plus bouleversante.
J’aurais aimé un peu plus d’interaction entre les jeunes et les adultes, le peu qui a été montré m’ayant fait stupidement sourire.

Un drama qui aurait mérité plus de profondeur certes, mais avec un indice émotionnel assez élevé vous obligeant à sourire tout le long, voire parfois a retenir subrepticement vos larmes. Si vous recherchez un drama simple à suivre, sans aucune frustration, avec beaucoup d'amour, n'hésitez pas.

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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!

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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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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!

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