Welcome to Kdrama and Ramen

A struggling badminton coach takes a job working with a middle school team in the countryside to help support his family.  But his children aren’t thrilled about the move.  And when they arrive to find a team on the verge of disbandment, who don’t even have enough members to compete, he realizes that he is going to have his work cut out for him. His task is easy.  If he can win a championship, the team will continue to get funding, otherwise it will cease to exist.  To make matters worse, the dorms are forced to close and he has no choice but to take in his 3 team members.  But  the surprises continue when his wife, who is also a coach, shows up with 2 of her team members as well.  Now they will live as one big happy family, as Coach tries to raise up a competitve, winning team.

Lee Jae In as Han Se Yoon

Han Se Yoon is a successful badminton player who is accepted as the forerunner for all future titles and a spot on the national badminton team.  But the pressure of living up to those expectations often leaves her feeling lonely and overwhelmed.  When her coach takes her home to live with her and her husband’s badminton team, she is reacquianted with Hae Kang.  The two had met on the child athelte circuit years ago, and Hae Kang’s kind support of her had never been forgotten.  And as she gets to know the more grown up version of Hae Kang, she finds someone who understands the difficulties of being a leader and can offer her support during her more challenging times.  

Han Se Yoon is quiet and keeps most of her emotions bottled up inside.  Even with her closest friend and partner, Han Sol, she is careful to always appear steady and in control of her situation.  It isn’t until she is reunited with Hae Kang that she starts to feel like she can show her true feelings.  Lee Jae In did a nice job with this role.  Her character did lack some of the complexity and development that Hae Kang had. But her portrayal of this lonely, anxious athlete was believable and I enjoyed seeing her character learn to embrace some of the joy of being a young person.

Oh Na Ra as Ra Young Ja

Ra Young Ja is a legendary badminton player who coaches a girl’s middle school team.  But she still uses her connections in the sport to help promote her players.  She is Hae Kang and Hae In’s mother although she has spent most of their childhood coaching away from home.  Now that her family has moved to Haenam, she has moved home with her star players in tow.  

 ♥ Interesting Villagers

This drama did a nice job of giving us interesting local folks, who have their own stories to tell.  The balance here is nice and it gives us some more mature stories.  Each villager had a reasonable story arc that presented their particular backstory, gave it a bit of arc, and then closed it with an even hand  that never overshadowed the main story.  For many, I think a whole drama that only focuses on the limited life experience of middle schoolers may have felt a bit lacking.  Between our coaches and the village residents, we get an even dose of life drama at its best.  

♥ Cameos

There were so many fun and unexpected cameos in this drama.  The familiar faces, many who have worked with this writer in the past, were such a warm touch.  At first, when I saw such big name actors showing up, I wondered how they would fit into the overall story.  But it was even more special when I realized they were just passing through.  I always enjoy cameos, but these ones seemed especially well done.  

Redevelopment

While I have praised the weaving of the local resident into this story, the one plot line that just didn’t work for me was the whole redevelopment story.  First, it felt way too predictable. But also, the need to create a villain seemed unnecessary and uninteresting to me.  These kinds of small town politics stories don’t tend to be my favorite anyway, but I felt like our town people were interesting enough on their own, without bringing in the greedy big business angle.  

Ra Young Ja

I felt like we didn’t get enough of Ra Young Ja’s story as a mom.  What motivated her to chose work over being home to see her kids grow up?  With the success she had as a player, you would think she could have worked in any capacity she wanted.  Why did she decide on a life on the road and how did that impact the kind of coach she became.  We did get some insight into her character with the death of her mother, and maybe that influenced the kind of mom she chose to be.  But I would have liked to see more about her and her relationship with the kids, both in the past and now. 

“Racket Boys” give us a nice ending with both victory and some chances to work harder and grow more.  I appreciated the balance.  By the final episode, most of our local characters have gotten closure to their particular stories.  So that leaves us with our young athletes.  Most importantly, Haenam beats the Seoul boys in the school championship.  This secures the future of both Coach Yoon and the badminton program. It also allows Hae Kang to keep his promise to finally tell Se Yoon how he feels.  But despite his confidence, Hae Kang does not win the position with the national team.  But even that is not all bad. It sets up a very sweet scene where Hae Kang goes to Se Yoon and cries on her shoulder, while she gets the opportunity to comfort him in the same way he had comforted her.  It also means, that Hae Kang will continue to work toward his dream, which means staying with his friends.  The following school year, Yong Tae is the only member of the team left in middle school.  He has become the team leader and mentor to the new, younger players who have joined.  And the other four members are now in high school.  And while they talk big about taking charge of this new team, they all jump to attention when they are called.  The final scene shows a heated match, but surprisingly it is now Hae Kang and Se Yoon playing together against their former partners, Yoon Dam and Han Sol.