Binge, Stream or Skip? Drama Review // Backstreet Rookie 《편의점 샛별이》

 

You can watch the trailer above or start watching episode one here on Netflix.

Warning! Spoilers ahead.

I was just browsing through Netflix trying to find my next watch when I chanced upon this hidden gem. Not a Ji Chang Wook fan but definitely a fan of the actress who played the female lead, Kim Yoo Jung, whom I kind of watched grew up from a child actress and bloomed into this wonderful actress. I have always thought that even at a young age, her acting skills were at the top compared to most others in the same industry. So I was actually pleasantly surprised to see that her skills could further level up in this series. Honestly, I didn't think much of this series when I started it, I just wanted to watch something light to pass time but it actually delivered past my expectations that I finished it in two days. Let me dissect why I think this series is bingeable in the sections below.

Synopsis (taken from AsianWiki):

Choi Dae-Hyun (Ji Chang-Wook) walks despondently through a residential back alley after getting dumped by a girl. Sitting nearby are three high school girls, including Jung Saet-Byul (Kim You-Jung). She thinks Choi Dae-Hyun is cute and asks him to buy them a pack of cigarettes. Instead of getting cigarettes, they girls receive a lesson from Choi Dae-Hyun. He thinks the girls are just a bunch of knuckleheads, but Jung Sae-Byul is now even more smitten with him and kisses him. 3 years later, Choi Dae-Hyun manages his family owned convenience store. Although, high school girls like to come in and take pictures with him, the store doesn't make a lot of money. Choi Dae-Hyun has also decided to put up a "part-timer worker needed" sign, due to the heavy hours he has been working. Sometime during the night, Jung Saet-Byul walks into the store. She is now an adult and applies for the part-time job.

The Great:

The relationships portrayed in this series. And I don't mean just the romance, but also the friendship, the kinship, etc. Which was one of the reasons I supposed that made this series exceeded my expectations because I was expecting all that nonsensical, cliche, fluffy romance but was instead hit with all the feels of family and bromance and sisterhood. There were so many moments that made me tear up and guess what, it wasn't from the romance of the two leads.

The Good:

Of course, there will always be irritating characters that lurked throughout the series, trying to sabotage the relationships and/or hard work of others. And as always, the lead couple will prevail. As irritable as these characters may be, it wasn't frustrating to the point that I had to watch the episodes on x1.5 speed. And that's a good sign.

The Bad:

The ending got me baffling. I liked how they ended with a scene where they showed the female lead making her way into the convenience store to apply for the part-time position, which is similar to the start of the series but just in different clothing and of course, the relationship between the two leads are different at the end than at the start. But that feel good scene just had to end with the camera panning out and showcasing that the two leads were in the middle of a set and then proceeds to circle the set, showing the staff members. While I think it is great to show the people working behind the scenes, they should have shown it as a post credit scene or something. Perhaps, they just wanted to show very clearly that this is a drama and that people should not take it seriously.

And I would say it worked. So as much as I was touched with certain moments in the show, my feelings completely vanished after that last scene. Maybe this was why this series wasn't talked about while it was airing despite having a popular actor and actress for the leads. And I have never heard of this the slightest at all from anyone, not even my drama-fanatic friends. Because the series doesn't let you bask in the after feels.

The Ugly:

I wouldn't exactly drop a drama for this point but I thought I should still point out that in any series, they should always watch the wardrobe of the characters carefully. The female lead, despite living on paycheck to paycheck, can somehow afford to wear a different set of clothes every single time. Not to mention, she even has a younger sister to feed.

Other notes:

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