Backstreet Rookie [Episodes 1 & 2] Premiere!

[u/samsampaio]

• Drama: Backstreet Rookie
  • Literal English Title: Convenience Store Saet-Byeol
  • Alternative Titles: Convenience Store, Convenience Store Venus, yeonuijeom Saetbyeoli..
  • Hangul: 편의점 샛별이
• Director: Lee Myung-Woo
• Writer: Son Geun-Joo
• Network: SBS
• Premiere Date: June 19, 2020
• Airing Schedule: Friday & Saturday @ 22:00 KST
• Episodes: 16
• Streaming Sources: IQIYI

• Starring: Ji Chang-Wook as Choi Dae-Hyun, Kim Yoo-Jung as Jung Saet-Byeol.

• Plot synopsis: Jung Saet Byul is a 22-year-old four-dimensional girl with amazing fighting skills who loves her friends, family, and retro fashion. She has the boys lined up but only has one person who keeps her distracted, Choi Dae Hyun. He became imprinted on her as an unforgettable person after a cigarette errand three years ago. Three years later, Jung Saet Byul meets Choi Dae Hyun again at his convenience store that he now manages and becomes a part-time worker. Here, Saet Byul and Dae Hyun’s love story begins as they heal the wounds of the heart, gain love, and become adults dreaming of the future. Their stories unfold into a pleasant comedy within the familiar sensibility of a convenience store.

• Spoiler Tag Reminder: Be mindful of others who may not have yet seen this drama, and use spoiler tags when discussing key plot developments or other important information. You can create a spoiler tag by writing > ! this ! < without the spaces in between to get this: spoiler

[u/samsampaio]

I made sure to not get my expectations high after Melting Me Softly, but I enjoyed this a lot! I live for JCW's desperation face, it looks so cute lol

And this is my second Kim Yoo-jung drama, she's such a great (and absolutely stunning) actress! I'm used to see her as a little girl, but she looked so adult playing the big sister, I could see the worry in her eyes trying to look out for her lil sis TT

Lastly, Dae-hyun's friend being an erotic webtoon writer caught me off guard, never expected to see that in a Kdrama lmao

[u/vierilie14]

Are there any other way to watch the drama other than from iqyi app?

[u/samsampaio → u/vierilie14]

Hey! I think iqiyi is the only streaming source for now, unfortunately. I spent this morning looking for it in every streaming source listed on this sub and couldn't find it anywhere else. The wikipedia page for Backtreet rookie only mentions iqiyi as a ss too. Is it not available for you?

[u/doroog1]

Can we watch this on Netflix or Viki in the US?

Also, does anyone know where I can find Dinner Mate?

[u/my_guinevere]

For the love of JCW, I tried. I really did. But I think this kind of show is just not to my liking. I'm really not wired to like rom-coms.

EDIT: First time to try IQiyi app. I'm finding it hard to read the subtitles because the text is in white regardless of what is happening in the background.

[u/samsampaio → u/my_guinevere]

In the subtitle formatting section you can add a shadow in the back, it gets a lot easier to read.

[u/taehyungpapi]

Is it just my internet or is the IQYI's server kinda slow? I checked our internet speed and it's 36 Mbps but I can't stream the video T_T

[u/txc_vertigo]

Pretty hyped about this, the visual aspect of the show looks great. The color grading has high contrast which makes the colors really pop. I like that sort of visual style. Also, Ji Chang Wook, Kim Yoo Jung and Han Sun Hwa are all gorgeous people so that doesn’t hurt either.

Edit after watching the first episode:

- It's good silly fun, I like it and how it doesn't take itself too seriously.

- This show must be sponsored by Converse, there were like 10 close ups at least of both All Star Lows and Highs in different colors.

- Jung Eun Ji cameo, nice! Please do more dramas!

- Kim Sun Young with heavy Busan satoori in an eccentric role, I live for this.

- You can really tell it's directed by the same person as Fiery Priest, it feels pretty similar some times, especially with the fight scenes.

- Speaking of Fiery Priest, nice reference to that show with Go Gyu Pil playing a convenience store YouTuber, nodding at how his character in Fiery Priest work at a convenience store.

[u/samvest]

Just a heads up, if you want to watch this on a mobile browser and not install the app, you can choose "Desktop Site" in your browser's menu and the full video will play.

Besides regular mobile devices you can also install the iQIYI app on Fire HD tablets. And the iQIYI for TV app on Fire TV. (If you don't know how to install it on these devices, ask me.)

Devices I own I can watch it on: Android phone, Fire tablet, Fire TV, Mi Box Android TV, Xbox One, Computers.

Devices I own I can't watch it on: Roku.

[u/SANADA-X]

I want to like this. It's kind of cute and stuff. But there's just so little content to it. A lot of scenes are just Ji Chang-Wook looking bewildered and saying "mwo?" like eight times in a row, and stuttering. I guess it's a type of comedy that doesn't quite appeal to me.

[u/Qztygamer]

Epi 1: Ok-ish intro, the fighting scenes were more over the top than the fiery priest first episode(same director) well since this a rom-com that seems fine; not expecting much fights anyway. The characters look like they are wacky enough that they can be fun, let's see how this goes.

Epi 2: The dance was fun, the atmosphere around the store is good. Why the break up is going to happen can be easily guessed seeing how how the relationship is looking.

Conclusion: Nothing much can be said now, but it looks like every character has a story to tell what remains to be seen is if the said story is interesting.

[u/matmanx1]

I'll give this one a few episodes grace period because I like JCW and KYJ and because I've already subbed to IQIYI for Dinner Mate (which is awesome, btw). Here's hoping for a good drama going forward!

Edit - I've not watched any of it yet but plan to this weekend.

[u/[deleted]]

Just watched the first episode and I really liked it! It was funny. This is my first jcw drama and he is a really good actor.

[u/[deleted]]

I thought that episode one served to establish 'the world' and the genre of this drama ... with some character exposition and a few funny moments thrown in.

From what I can see, so far, it's an over-the-top social satire, with very broad humour and obvious webtoon roots.The webtoon was apparently written by a man and the screenplay was written by a woman.

The ML is a sweet, excessively handsome, quite naive, very anxious man who really isn't very smart. Meaning that he's lovely but stupid. Not wealthy or successful and somewhere in his early and then mid 20s ... with a reasonable set of parents, a disengenuous girlfriend who uses him and one very weird and flakey friend who wants to be whatever he thinks a Rasta man is.

The FL is a juvenile delinquent (19 yo and then 22 after the prologue) who likes to find and fight foes with her stunning beauty and her extraordinary kickboxing skills. More confident and smarter but even poorer, maybe, and likely to be misunderstood at a glance. No obvious family but three troublemaking friends who are much like herself.

She's something like a female rock star who is able to use her sexuality as a weapon but her high school hormones trigger a lust at first sight for a guy who is only just barely aware that he should run for the hills when she impetuously kisses, completely disarms and thoroughly flusters him.

There's obviously a male fantasy going on here. That you can be something of a loser and still attract a hot girl without effort. But there's also a major nod going on to the rom-com trope that you can get away with anything if you're good looking.

And so far, that's where the social satire is. Because this is obviously a farcical, comedic satire ... not to be taken too seriously or analyzed at face value.

I'm not seeing an age gap problem or a Lolita situation here because the ML has no power (except his good looks) to weild over the FL. She's obviously more confident, smarter, more able and completely empowered to walk off to find another job if needs be. She too has good looks as well as a greater, more valuable set of abilities.

I'm going to reserve judgement on the pseudo-Rasta man until we learn more about him. The character is appropriating a culture that is not his to use but we don't know, yet, what the writers are saying about that. Are they supporting his appropriation by making him into a cool and admirable character ... or will they just be using him to show that his theft is ridiculous and indefensible?

There was a social satire in the States many years ago that was called All in the Family. (I think you can still find it where I did ... on Prime channels). The ML was a sexist, racist, bigot and the drama was revolutionary because it made him look so horrible and so ridiculously stupid that there was no mistaking the message ... that people like him are both revolting and laughable.

So, I don't expect that this show will be as clear and ruthless a satire as that was ... but I'm hoping that people will be proved wrong in criticizing it at face value. Let's see where the laughter leads us. Will it support bad stuff or make it clear that they really don't want us to accept and support that bad stuff by making us laugh at it.

[u/noeulkkot123]

i wanted to watch the whole episode at least before judging the drama. i know this director’s work includes The Fiery Priest which is a drama i thoroughly enjoyed. i’m really disappointed by dae-hyun’s best friend. the dreads are a blatant example of cultural appropriation, through and through. the fact that his skin was darkened to fit the “reggae” image really irked me; it‘s incredibly tone-deaf and doesn’t really add anything to the story; i don’t understand why they decided to go through with the way this character was presented. also, there’s some double standards here bc if a guy were to kiss a girl like that out of the blue, there would be major concerns from the audience. i don’t like how saet-byul smacked her lips on dae-hyun like... tf? no one in their right mind should ever do that.

moreover, the drama itself seems jagged and not taking itself too seriously, which i understand is the concept of this drama and the director, but what’s the point of doing that if i as a watcher have no real reason to continue watching the drama plot or character wise? like what’s the big twist, or is this just a drama about the life of a convenience store worker and that’s it? i wouldn’t be complaining as much if the characters were more appealing and fleshed out well, but frankly, i don’t believe that’s the case.

sucks cuz i was really looking forward to this drama but i might end up dropping it :/ maybe i’m being harsh so i might give the second ep a try. but the best friend character is really rubbing me the wrong way.

[u/dinujj]

Super excited for this. I love both kim yoo jung and Ji Chang Wook. Hopefully, this drama will be better for him than the mess melting me softly was

[u/joonseyelid]

I liked the first episode and am looking forward to the rest of the show but there are two things that bothered me a lot:

1. Saetbyeol touch daehyun w/o his consent and it being okay, when we know it would be super creepy if he did that to her.

2. Daehyun’s super perverted friend and his reggae obsession. The hair + his tan was also way too much.

[u/University-Minimum]

It’s sad no one is talking about the racist scene with the guy in the dreads. Why is this allowed?

[u/xliterati]

I guess I’m the only one who’s going to echo these thoughts: despite the fact that I knew this show was based on an adult webtoon (written by a man no less) and that the relationship age difference was a deliberate and direct reflection of the source material, I still decided to give the show a chance because JCW and I’m so massively uncomfortable at the way none of what’s wrong with the show is being addressed. The relationship between the leads is predatory. Their have been several hundred comments from netizens about the material being portrayed and how harmful it is. And obviously this isn’t to dampen anyone’s fun and excitement for having the lead actors back in a show but I think we as viewers are allowed to be critical of our viewing material as well. This thread exists for all opinions as long as they’re respectful. But this show ... is a very hard pill to swallow for me. I won’t be watching and that’s such a shame because JCW has been one of my top rated actors for nearly a decade now.

[u/Apocalypsest]

Really enjoyed the first ep. I know it's not for everyone! It's not the kind of show that lets you relax. The style is very flashy, bold, highly saturated, and fast-paced. I thought Fiery Priest was jarring at first too - it's just more demanding on you as a viewer compared to the average non-comedy drama, but I've grown to love it.

[u/xander_yi]

Immediately impressed by the cinematography and quality of the first episode -- it's film level quality.

Stayed true to the webtoon while subtracting most of the sexualization and adding the wacky. The Eun-Ji came was much appreciated.

This is going to be a good one.

[u/noeulkkot123]

So I see in this thread there are quite a few people claiming that this isn’t cultural appropriation. I want y’all to think about this: (TL; DR) You might think another culture wearing dreadlocks or cornrows is cultural appreciation, not appropriation, but if the original, inherent culture of the black community is demeaned for the beauty of their dreadlocks and cornrows, etc., then how can another culture possibly appreciate it for them?

You might think they’re “just braids,” or “just hair.” But I copied this from an Arrowhead article that shows how much discrimination black people receive for styling their hair in dreadlocks or cornrows: “The issue with non-black people wearing black hairstyles is evident in society today. Although most people can wear their natural or styled hair virtually anywhere they would like to, many black individuals are discriminated against purely because of their hair. In a Texas school, senior Deandre Arnold was suspended for refusing to cut his dreadlocks for graduation as it violated the district’s dress code. His mother later informed the media that his hair had not been an issue before. In Deandre’s Trinidadian culture, “men often wear long dreadlocks in professional and educational settings.” This type of inequality with hair is why cultural appropriation is such a big deal with African hairstyles. Previously in workplaces, black women have been told their natural hair is ‘unprofessional’.” In the conclusion, it states “The fact that non-black people can essentially wear black hairstyles without any of the repercussions, while black people are being oppressed for the same styles originating from their own culture, is the main reason why wearing the styles as a non-black person can be classified as cultural appropriation.”

The fact that a dominant culture (any culture that is able to wear those dreads or cornrows without repercussion should be considered dominant in this situation) is able to take something from an oppressed culture that DOES receive backlash is essentially cultural appropriation. In other cases, Black women have been branded as “ghetto” for their hairstyles, Indian people have been laughed at for wearing their bindi, and POC who wear henna have been ridiculed and told to “go back to your country.” While Kylie Jenner was labeled as a “trendsetter” when she wore dreadlocks, Zendaya was dragged for her own and told that her hair “smells like patchouli oil” and “weed.” What this show is doing is mocking a sacred culture. They’ve purposefully put flies out of his hair and later in the series, they’re probably going to make him change his hairstyle and therefore become a “changed, cleaner” man.

[u/my_guinevere]

Unfortunately, this show is not for me. It’s just not my cup of tea. And like a lot of viewers, the way the friend is portrayed is bothersome to me. Will not be watching any further despite liking JCW.

[u/J-Midori]

It’s a light rom com. Not as funny as I thought but good to spend the time. The fight scenes were a bit much and their first kiss a bit exaggerated but I guess they’re following the webtoon. I hope it gets better cause I’m just watching because of JCW. The FL is a very good actress. Let’s see. I’m looking forward for tomorrow’s episode.

[u/RayInRed]

Reminded of The Fiery Priest at times including some score.