Sports dramas are something that I've rarely watched, generally speaking the dramas I watch are romcoms with the occasional thriller thrown in there. That's why I'm pleasantly surprised by Racket Boys, the very first true sports drama I've watched. Despite the large ensemble cast, with most of the lead actors being really young, and juggling a bunch of plotlines, this extremely heartwarming drama has totally stolen my heart and left this nice warm feeling inside me. Without further ado, let's take a look at this absolutely wonderful drama.
SERIES RETROSPECT AND REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT)
It's undeniable that the drama's central plot element is sports, specifically badminton but at its core, this is a coming-of-age story as well as a story that revolves around family. It could've very easily been a drama that focused purely on our characters' badminton adventures and have the bulk of the drama be their matches but no, the director and screenwriters have taken the time to flesh out all our leads and give them interesting stories. Heck, even the side characters get a ton of development which makes them feel like real people with real issues. While a good amount of screen time is spent on the court, what really helps this drama shine is the village setting, which is where all our character relationships get built up. In short, Racket Boys is a very character-driven drama.
Our main character of Yoon Hae-kang (Tang Joon-sang), an ex-badminton prodigy who left the sport for baseball, is a super entertaining character to watch and out of all the characters, the coming-of-age plotline applies to him the best. Hae-kang started out the drama as arrogant, rash and rude, character traits that for all intents and purposes don't really change even till the end, with his catchphrase "it's me, the one and only Yoon Hae-kang" probably being the single most repeated line throughout the series. He thinks badminton is lame and inferior to baseball, only joining the soon-to-be-disbanded team after much persuasion, but over time, he rekindles his love for the racket sport and forms new friendships. Although his puffed up exterior can come off as a little unlikeable, Hae-kang hides a far more sensitive side, masking his fears and insecurities behind loud actions while also having amazing situational awareness, being able to easily pick up on someone else's emotions and act accordingly. We see this most often when he helps teammate Jeong In-sol (Kim Min-gi) save face on multiple occasions while still being his usual gregarious self.
While the drama makes it known that Hae-kang's return to the badminton scene is a huge plot point, it takes the time to make sure we know our other lead characters well and understand their motivations. Bang Yoon-dam (Son Sang-yeon), the team captain, wants to make his family proud as an ace player and constantly worries about whether he'll get selected as a national youth athlete. When Hae-kang shows up, Yoon-dam's top spot is threatened by the former prodigy, which only adds further to the captain's stress. Ultimately, he works through his struggles, realising that even if he's not a better player than Hae-kang, he can still be good enough to soar above others and does make it into the national youth team.
Na Woo-chan (Choi Hyun-wook), the gentle giant, is often considered by others to be the team's weakest link, largely focusing on defense rather than offense. He comes from a strict upbringing, with his military father disapproving of his son's badminton participation, so Woo-chan desperately tries to perform well to prove to his father that this is the sport for him. His stagnating skill level weighs on his mind and he even contemplates quitting the team but after finding out that his father secretly watches all of his games, silently supporting him from the wings, Woo-chan perseveres and practices harder than ever, even becoming part of the duo that brings home the long-awaited gold at a national competition.
Lee Yong-tae (Kim Kang-hoon), the youngest of the bunch, is a talkative happy-go-lucky chap who treats his older teammates like his family, especially since he's a child of divorce and his father lives in the wild, leaving his son mostly to his own devices. He idolises national player Lee Yong-dae (a real life athlete who even makes a cameo appearance) and does everything just like him, even down to imitating his techniques on the court. This is mostly detrimental since his opponents can read his play style easily just by watching videos of Lee Yong-dae but by the end of the series, Yong-tae learns the importance of playing like himself and is able to rise above the challenge, developing his own skills on the court.
The four young male leads all have their own trials and tribulations, and the screenwriters have done an excellent job in building up their stories and making them relatable characters. Their chemistry as a group is palpable and believable, really immersing you in their family-like dynamic and showcasing the acting prowess of these young actors. Choi and Son don't have many huge credits to their names, having either played small roles or stuck mostly to web dramas but they've given us wonderful performances this time round, and as for Tang and Kim, both of whom have been in some pretty huge productions in the past, they continue to shine in their roles.
We can't talk about our cast without mentioning our young female leads Han Se-yoon (Lee Jae-in) and Lee Han-sol (Lee Ji-won), talented national youth badminton players. Just like with their male counterparts, these two also get a good amount of development and believable struggles, making them characters that we care about. Se-yoon is an elite player who dreams of being the youngest South Korean national badminton player (aka part of their Olympic team) and everywhere she goes, she wins. Just like with many other hugely talented athletes, the world (or at least their country) is constantly watching and making comments about her, and of course this gets to her. It's bad enough for adults but imagine a 15-year-old having so much pressure on her to succeed, so much so that she thinks she can't afford to lose. In fact, she only loses once in the entire drama and while she acts fine on the surface, she finally cracks emotionally and lets her tears fall, sobbing into Hae-kang's shoulder (more on this later).
Se-yoon is initially presented to us as a tsundere, very standoffish to those around her and basically being solely focused on badminton and nothing else. As the story progresses, she starts opening up to the people around her and occasionally becomes the middle schooler that she should be. Ultimately, she accomplishes her goal of becoming the best and gets selected for the national team, even beating the player she considers her idol (who's played by Girls' Generation's Kwon Yu-ri in a cameo). Se-yoon perfectly encapsulates the idea that even the best can't win all the time but even then, they won't let one failure stop them from climbing back to the top. Although Se-yoon doesn't really let her emotions show on her face, the few times that she lets her emotions free are portrayed wonderfully by Lee Jae-in and you really feel for her.
In contrast to Se-yoon, Han-sol is best characterised as "second best", not out of my own opinion or anything but because this is an element that's heavily explored in the drama. In a competitive team with the nation's best youth athlete, Han-sol will always be in her shadow, even if she's an excellent player as well. As far as we're concerned, she's performing on the same level as Se-yoon, both girls becoming national youth athletes among other things but Han-sol is never in the spotlight. At first, it seems like she's ok with that and continues to support Se-yoon but no one likes playing second fiddle forever and Han-sol eventually snaps, arguing with and pushing her best friend away from her right before an important competition. When it comes time for a national junior tournament, Se-yoon is unable to participate because of a clashing world championship (which she wins), leaving Han-sol as the team's best and final singles player.
She's stressed, understandably so because she's never had this much riding on her before and she doesn't believe in herself. At the final moment though, Se-yoon makes it just in time to cheer on her partner and Han-sol wins the match, with their team emerging as the tournament's winners. While we don't really get a true resolution to their fallout, the two girls have likely reached a mutual understanding that regardless of what the public says about each of them, they won't let that get in the way of their friendship as well as their personal development in badminton. I've only seen Lee Ji-won as a side character with not that much screen time so I'm pleasantly surprised to see her performance here. Even though she also doesn't appear that much in comparison to the other leads, she's still well developed and has a very relatable struggle.
This drama does have romantic subplots, namely between Hae-kang and Se-yoon as well as Yoon-dam and Han-sol but they're not the central focus. Yoon-dam and Han-sol's romance is really more for comic relief, although there're some intense moments like when Yoon-dam assaults a line judge for harassing Han-sol, but their shyness at being a couple is adorable and probably very similar to a real life budding middle school romance. Hae-kang and Se-yoon's romance is more played up, and is actually fairly important to the story since they have some history with each other. They start the drama at loggerheads and as K-drama law dictates, they eventually warm up to each other and have a fairly cute and supportive relationship.
Racket Boys is the perfect example of how to cast characters by picking age-appropriate actors, especially because we're talking about characters who're still in middle school. Despite the fact that only 1 of the 6 lead child actors are actually in middle school, the rest either being post-high school, high school or elementary school, it's close enough that we still get realistic portrayals of characters that we loved to root for while maintaining enough elements that make us exasperated as human beings. A lot of times you'll see K-dramas where high schoolers are really people in their late-20s or even 30s and it's ridiculous so props to the casting director for casting appropriate actors.
I've talked a lot about our lead characters so far but we're still missing two of them. That's right, I haven't mentioned the husband-wife badminton coach couple of Yoon Hyeon-jong and Ra Yeong-ja, aka Hae-kang's parents. The thing I liked the most is their realistic portrayal as a family, Hyeon-jong being the kinder and more fun-loving father while Yeong-ja is the more serious and work-driven mother, with both parents playing off each very well. Hyeon-jong is absolutely hilarious to watch and when he tries everything to get closer to the boys like attempting to join their chat group only to get rejected, it really gets you chuckling. Despite the fact that he might come off as a bit of a joker, with a good amount of comic relief coming from him, he demonstrates incredible coaching skills and dedication, taking time to review past badminton matches and formulate strategies for his team. He knows how to capitalise on the boys' strengths and cover for their weaknesses, creating a bonded team that can overcome any challenge.
I really liked Hyeon-jong's character development throughout the series and seeing him go from someone who just wanted to make money to a caring father figure to his boys, raring to go the distance for them. It was in stark contrast to Yeong-ja, who spent more time with her team than with her family, functionally being very absent from many of her children's growing up years. This is something that Hae-kang resents her for and she tries to make amends, behaving more like a mother than before. I would say that when compared to her husband, Yeong-ja doesn't have as much character development but it was still heartwarming to see her become more involved with her family. Huge props to veteran actors Kim Sang-kyung and Oh Na-ra for their expert portrayal of this quirky couple.
Now, I said at the start of this post that the village setting is one of the most important elements of this drama and the "village spirit" is one of the best parts of this series. If you liked the camaraderie and cast interactions in Reply 1988, Racket Boys has more than enough of such moments as we see the leads not only interacting with one another but also with the large cast of supporting characters, most of whom live in the village. From the affable village chief Hong Yi-jang (Woo Hyun), to the cynical and jaded Shin Song-hee (Baek Ji-won), and the hilarious old married couple of grandma Oh Mae (Cha Mi-kyung) and her husband (Shin Cheol-jin), all of them have their own distinct personalities and backstories which make them super interesting.
Probably the best showing of the aforementioned "village spirit" is when city couple Kim Tae-ho (Jung Min-seong) and Shin Pil-ja (Park Hyo-joo) move to the village to commit suicide after their careers go up in flames. They're generally treated with animosity the moment they arrive, adding further to their depression but are inadvertently saved by Hae-kang, who gives them homemade curry on their planned suicide date, and Oh Mae, who gives them kimchi as an apology for being rude to them. Over time, the couple do their best to fit into the village setting, going out of their way to help everyone and while it's tough going initially, they're eventually fully accepted into the fold by their fellow villagers. To quote an opposition MP in my country, it really "warms the cockles of my heart" to see the villagers coming together as one big extended family and the fact that none of them are throwaway characters makes it all the better.
At the end of the day, I'm sure many of us have gone through similar situations as these characters. Maybe you tried your best but failed when your goal was just within reach, just like Hae-kang when he didn't make the Olympic team. Maybe you lost confidence in your ability because of the advent of a more skillful newcomer, just like Yoon-dam when Hae-kang first joined the team. Maybe all you wanted was to do what you loved despite what everyone else says, just like Woo-chan and his family. Maybe you blindly emulated someone you idolised to the point that you lost sight of yourself, just like Yong-tae imitating his badminton role model. Maybe you felt like the weight of the world rests on your shoulders and you can't show any sign of weakness, just like Se-yoon trying to maintain her undefeated streak. Maybe you don't want to be labelled as the afterthought anymore, just like Han-sol's insecurities about being second to her elite partner.
I can't say for certain if everyone feels the same way but I daresay that I find this drama's lead characters the most relatable ones I've ever come across and the strong performances by the cast more than sell the show. Well developed characters combined with a heartwarming story give us a final product that's an absolute joy to watch, a series that I firmly rank in my top 3 dramas. In the end, so many valuable lessons have been taught throughout this series but the bottom line is this. Regardless of whatever struggles you might face in life, I hope that you'll be able to persevere and have faith in yourself, and eventually you too will succeed just like the Racket Boys. Thanks for reading.
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