This review may contain spoilers
the good, the bad and the controversial
THE GOODJi Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung
Let's talk about Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung's new k-drama Backstreet Rookie aka Convenience Store Saet Byul. Everything that's good, bad and controversial about this drama and if this drama is for you?
I am gonna be honest with you guys, I love Ji Chang Wook. So much so that I was counting days for him to come back from the military. So it’s very hard for me to accept that I haven’t liked his previous drama Melting Me Softly.
I was really dreading this one since they announced it because of the age difference between Wookie and his co-star Kim Yoo Jung. But that is just my personal issue and not at all a reason to not watch the drama. Kim Yoo Jung and Ji Chang Wook are both very talented, very good looking people who light up the screen when they are in it. I have really liked Kim Yoo Jung’s past dramas like Love in the moonlight and Clean With passion and in this drama as well she is as lovely.
Her character is of a short-tempered alpha-girl who takes no-nonsense and can kick people’s asses if required. Let's talk about Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung's new k-drama Backstreet Rookie aka Convenience Store Saet Byul. Everything that's good, bad and controversial about this drama and if this drama is for you?
I have never seen Wook in a comedy setting quite like this, his character is funny, simple, kind-hearted, a little dumb guy who can’t fight for himself.
He is such a talented actor that when he is on screen it’s hard for me to see him as the Wookie I have seen over the years playing characters who can kick asses of 30 men without breaking a sweat. In Backstreet Rookie, there is no Ji Chang Wook there is Choi Dae Hyun.
THE BAD
Style and Makeup
Let's talk about Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung's new k-drama Backstreet Rookie aka Convenience Store Saet Byul. Everything that's good, bad and controversial about this drama and if this drama is for you?
Here is my problem with the style and makeup team, you have two really good looking people on earth as your main lead and you decide to style them in really bad clothes and terrible makeup?
Let's talk about Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung's new k-drama Backstreet Rookie aka Convenience Store Saet Byul. Everything that's good, bad and controversial about this drama and if this drama is for you?
Like????? Have you seen Ji Chang Wook?? That man can look good in a potato sack but then you put him in big XXL size clothes he is swimming in them and dark circles to show he didn’t sleep?? I mean, he even looked hot when he was frozen for 20 years in Melting me softly. I am personally offended. And then there is this weird red makeup around eyes whenever a character is drunk. BAD. I don’t even want to talk about the nose bleed whenever someone gets hit (and there is at least a handful of character who gets hit in every episode, which, eh) and the way the side characters are being styled.
Writing
Let's talk about Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung's new k-drama Backstreet Rookie aka Convenience Store Saet Byul. Everything that's good, bad and controversial about this drama and if this drama is for you?
There is so much wrong with the writing of this drama that if I deep dive in it it will be a 1000 words of just me critiquing everything about it but I ain’t got no time for that (I mean I do but I am lazy and no one cares).
Some of my main issues with the drama:
Bad double meaning dialogues.
Physical fight scenes where characters can’t even have a normal human conversation without hurting each other.
Domestic abuse as comedy scenes, where a wife is beating up her husband or Kim Yoo Jung’s character is hitting drunk, sleeping Ji Chang Wook so much that he gets nose bleed when he wakes up the next day.
Worst of all, sexist, racist character (more on that below.)
The first time Jung Saet Byul and Choi Dae Hyun meet, Dae Hyun is drunk and Seat Byul is a 19-year-old high schooler and for no reason, I can understand, she decides to kiss this random drunk 20 something man she doesn’t even know without his consent and everyone is supposed to be swooning over it? She is even wearing her school dress. As an adult, I understand the problem here but what about the majority of teen audience watching this drama who might not get why it is wrong for a grown man and a teen girl to be romantically involved.
Let's talk about Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung's new k-drama Backstreet Rookie aka Convenience Store Saet Byul. Everything that's good, bad and controversial about this drama and if this drama is for you?
Dal Shik’s (played by Eum Moon Suk) intro in the drama is him drawing an erotic webtoon and flies living in his dreadlocks. Unfortunately, it does not get better eventually. There are so many problems with this character and even if I overlook everything, the dreadlocks and cultural appropriation is still unacceptable.
Not only that they decided to give this character dreadlocks they made it look so dirty that the flies live in it. It is insulting and hurtful to people. If you think this is just a style people like to do and it is not about race then please educate yourself. I am not attacking actor Eum Moon Suk, he is just playing a role that someone wrote as spoof and others went along with it. His character in Fiery Priest was my favourites every time he was on screen he made me laugh. Moon Suk is a talented actor and he doesn’t need this look to make a scene funny, he could have had normal look and still made the audience laugh.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Let's talk about Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung's k-drama Backstreet Rookie aka Convenience Store Saet Byul. Everything that's good, bad and controversial about this drama and if this drama is for you?
Despite all this, I don’t think this drama is so bad that it can’t be watched. If you like fun rom-com and can overlook all the problems above, you should definitely watch it. I am also watching it in the hope that it gets better eventually. As a long time, Ji Chang Wook fan, writing this review didn’t give me joy. I wish he would take better scripts from now on. He deserves better. All these actors deserve better.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama starting was good till 5 episodes . After that I felt, there is no chemistry between the main leads. Their acting was great but this kind of story line is not my cup of tea. ..
I just loved the female lead story but hated the male lead and his girlfriend story .
....
But I hope ji Chang will not choose these kind of drama's again
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About other couple , I think they getmore screen space then leads but surely their story is much better than main leads story .
Pros of these drama
1) you will be in love with female lead . She is neither a naive nor a stupid female lead. She is a 21st generation girl who is responsible and lovable
2) this k-drama will teach you many good things
3) a modern type of drama
Cons of this drama
1) many controversy made itself a barrier as there are some scene which can hurt human emotion
2) I felt male lead is stupid he can see every wrong doings but still ignore them
3) not much screen space for main leads
: But on a positive note , this drama may not the best one but it is still worth watching as it can teach you many lessons.
P.s- I love ji Chang wook
But I hope he will not choose these kind of drama's again. I am missing his dramas like K2 , healer and suspicious partner
Hope he will get more fandom from his next project
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Disappointing
Likes: Kim Yoo Jung's tough character. Kim Sun Young as the momDislikes: pretty much everything else
Dropped this at ep10. This drama just didn't gel together. I think the main problem of this drama is that I don't really feel anything for any of the characters. I'm not sure why, but none of them are that likeable to me. I liked that KYJ is a tough character, because we don't have enough tough female characters in kdramaland, but at the same time, I wasn't really rooting for her or anyone for that matter.
Which brings me to Ji Chang Wook...it hurts me to say this because I'm a big fan, but I've been pretty disappointed with his acting after he got back from the army. He keeps acting in the same way, same style...that now, I don't see the character...all I see is JCW's mannerisms. I hope he will pick better projects and challenge himself more to show his versatility.
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The character I hated the most was Setbyul. I guess she was supposed to come off as quirky and likeable, but in reality she was so annoying. Idk why literally every time she thought it was okay to answer all her problems with violence. I get that they were trying to show a "strong female character", but it was done in a totally wrong way. I also really hated how she kept trying to break up Daehyun and his girlfriend in the beginning. Like she has no right to do that?? Also unpopular opinion but I actually liked the girlfriend and I feel like the drama tried to hard to make her a villain so that Setbyul and Daehyun can get together. Also, I don't mind age differences when both in the couple are adults, but in this case it I really didn't like and I would have preferred a platonic relationship, because Setbyul seemed so much more immature compared to Daehyun (another reason which I liked the girlfriend, since they were at the same maturity level).
Another character I didn't like all too much was Daehyun's mom. I noticed from a lot of reviews that people seem to like her, but I really disliked her relationship with Daehyun's dad. She was always yelling at him and hitting him for no reason?? It seemed that it was there for humour, but it made me really uncomfortable because hitting each other in a relationship is never okay.
The only character I actually did like was Setbyul's sister- I liked the whole side plot with her becoming an artist. I also liked the actor friend, and I think him and Setbyul would have made a much better couple.
Aside from the characters, the plot overall was okay. I did like that it didn't have the some of the usual stereotypes like the controlling male lead or the prolonged love triangle. I thought that the pacing was weird though, because Daehyun and the girlfriend broke up so late in the drama I wasn't really sure when he started having feelings for Setbyul. Definitely do not recommend.
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Love this drama
Right, let me just start off by saying that there is nothing overly sexualised in this drama, so I really don’t understand the backlash it got. I find the story quite interesting and different here. It is not your typical boy chases girl, girl is very soft and blah blah blah. The female character is super interesting and fun, she is very strong yet you can see her soft side too. The male lead - I cannot wait to see his character’s growth, for the moment we see this kind of a push over guy who is like a puppy listening to his girlfriend. Cannot wait how he will develop his personality and come out of this “puppy like” personality maybe thanks to the female lead.The actors have great chemistry and portray their roles perfectly. I do recommend watching the drama!
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I was really trying...
I really tried hard to like this drama. After the first episode, I was already like: nope, I don’t think I can do this. But I felt the same way about Business Proposal, and then I ended up loving it. However, the plotlines—especially the side ones—were unbearable; I watched most of them at double speed. Maybe if the drama had only 10 episodes and some of the storylines were sped up a bit, it would’ve been watchable. That constant tug-of-war between the main lead and his girlfriend, and the slightly annoying female lead at times… The drama had potential, but it feels a bit forced. Maybe if it had focused more on the main characters, it would’ve made sense. I really did try, because I liked the cast, but I just couldn’t make it through.EDIT: Alright, I forced myself to watch a few more episodes. If the first half hadn’t dragged on so terribly, I think I would’ve enjoyed the drama much more. I’m not sure if I’d rate it any higher, but at least I wouldn’t have watched it on fast-forward. The conclusion is that it’s just too long. Oh, and… the whole premise of them meeting with such a big age gap was a bit too far-fetched. I didn’t finish it, although maybe I’ll still watch the rest — there isn’t much left, after all.
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That being said, this show is garbage, even if it has its moments. And I usually don't notice those things too much, but the casual racism on display here is sickening. It's so unsubtle...
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Fight Choreography - 65/100 | Over-the-top silly fights that make no sense, but they're funny and aren't actually bad. I'm not sure if there is more fighting in the latter episodes, I didn't stick around to find out. Somehow the lead actress is a black belt in Taekwondo and it's obvious she has training. Doesn't make the fights great though. Just passable. Blame the team behind the camera.
I'm not even gonna bother scoring the rest as I dropped it. Not watching this would be my advice.
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I Couldn't Finish
I read some of the reviews here and frankly I was disappointed that so many of them just brushed over or didn't even mention the blatant racism. I feel like to put it into perspective, what if a western drama had a character like Oli London in it? Majorly offensive right? And yet so many people think it isn't a big deal, or because it's not racist towards them it doesn't matter. Racism is everyone's problem. So, why was it so offensive? The supporting character, the friend, had darkened/tanned skin, dreadlocks with flies circling his head, and he basically was pretending to be black. The flies implied that his dreadlocks were dirty somehow, which is a harmful stereotype, and if you've ever known anyone with proper dreadlocks or even done a little research you'd know and so would the producers that they actually require quite a bit of upkeep. And that scene in the shop with the Black man from Nigeria...Jamaica is nowhere near Nigeria. It is not even the same continent. And as much as all Black people are part of the African diaspora to some extent, there is a major difference between being from a country in Africa and being African-American, African-Canadian, Caribbean, Black British etc. It would be like if in a western drama you had Oli London bonding with someone from China. Like, no. Black people don't act like that. Does anybody? It's not just cultural appropriation, it's racism pure and simple. I refuse to somehow look past that to see how "great" a show it is. Racist shows are not great, or good, or even okay. It was especially upsetting as the show was being released as BLM protests were happening across the world. It also baffles me that there was not a single person on the set who was like we can't do this, its racist. It really affected my enjoyment of the show, to the point where I couldn't watch anymore. So all I have to say is, if racism isn't a deal breaker for you then go for it. But maybe think about how much you are willing to overlook for a few laughs. This show had a lot of potential but there are plenty of great dramas without the racism.Was this review helpful to you?
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It is not what i thought?
actually i had high expression on this drama becoz of main cast but after i watchd it i am bit dessapointed.. actually it is normal kind of drama not just normal but extraordinary normal 💔actually as you know ji chang wook is really romantic king but in here there r no romance at all.. sadly for me this is the worst drama ever that ji chancg wook acted.. this is rom com but i hadly seen rom or com.. in here commedy also couldnt bring me laught. Mr choi and set byul' s commedy seens is only parts i laught.. actually that story writer and seat byuls friend must bring laught but i feel disgusting when i see that story writer itz not commedy at all..he is actually not poor he is rich man soo why couldnt writer make him better person in the end tho 🙄 setbyuls frnd deserve more than that not that smelly idiot rich man.. and as for mr chois family i dont like it too thire acting good but his mom always shouting and hitting his dad is kind a boring..As for acting no doubt all cast is did best for script .. just story line is not good.. i dont have to say about jcw or seat byuls acting as u know they r d best.. and as for 2nd male lead i really love him isnt he soo cute 😍😍
Overall really not entertaining or good script but i must say its not boring at all becoz of the cast.. not slow type so u will not getting bored..
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I don't like the story
Starting of the story was good but then story became bored . Their first encounter was nice as well second one also . Then story took a leap of three years where he was strugglingin his work as he had a store where he was a working all alone as his business was not going well that's why he couldn't afford to hire a worker . Due to overworked he got exhausted and no other option left than hire a worker and she came and become a worker of his store . He remembered her due to their second encounter and thought he joined his store definitely she had some wrong motive . He never believed her but all the time he was proved wrong . At the third last episode he had feeling for her ,at the second last episode he confessed her and in the ending part of last episode she accepted his feeling and end of the story . So middle of the episodes were all bored .
He loved his second girl friend so much and his girlfriend also loved him but his girlfriend at some point thought he was cheating her because of his worker and broke with her but in the same episode or next episode she realised that she was wrong and went back to him and apologized to him but he didn't accept his feeling because he thought she was insulting his family but actually it was not liked that she didn't know what her mother was doing . My point is if she was main lead actress then story become like this the story may take a leap of some years then they meet all misunderstanding would clear and they get happy ending as she was not a lead actress so he not ready to accept her apologies and starting made a distance with her and rest you know .
I found the character Kang ji wook entry was useless if they didn't introduce this character then also there would be no effect in the story.
No for my side to this story .
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Fun and loving drama with a unique style of writing
Despite of the controversial the drama itself is good, really fun and get you excited every episode, in the middle of the overall episode it gets a little bit of repetitive, and the ending is a little bit of not satisfying for me but its a good choice of ending for all, to make a point to everyone that this is just a dramaDespite of the controversial the drama itself is good, really fun and get you excited every episode, in the middle of the overall episode it gets a little bit of repetitive, and the ending is a little bit of not satisfying for me but its a good choice of ending for all, to make a point to everyone that this is just a drama
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