[비즈한국] "Do you like basketball?" Even without this line from Haruko Akagi in 'Slam Dunk', there were an unusually high number of people in mid-1990s South Korea asking if you liked basketball. It was the effect brought on by the popularity of the manga 'Slam Dunk', the 'Basketball Festival' where star-studded college teams dominated, the NBA (National Basketball Association) represented by Michael Jordan, and the drama 'The Last Match'.
'The Last Match' featured a large cast of youth stars at the time and depicted a quintessential sports drama where friendship and love blossomed among young people, eventually overcoming setbacks to find success, centered on the rivalry between Myeongseong University and Hanyeong University. It remains one of the most highly regarded sports dramas to this day.
Lee Dong-min (Son Ji-chang) and Yoon Cheol-jun (Jang Dong-gun) were best friends who had played basketball together since childhood. Thanks to Dong-min’s exceptional skills, Cheol-jun, along with Ho-seong (Park Cheol) and a few other friends, were set to enroll in the basketball powerhouse Silla University together. However, when Dong-min suddenly chooses Myeongseong University (actually as a condition to receive financial aid for his mother’s surgery), Cheol-jun and his friends are unable to go to university and feel betrayed by him.
Amidst this, their friend Ho-seong loses his life in a traffic accident, and the rivalry deepens as both Dong-min and Cheol-jun fall for Jeong Da-seul (Shim Eun-ha). The story mainly follows Cheol-jun, who, after a year of studying for entrance exams, enters Hanyeong University and starts playing basketball again to defeat Dong-min. After many twists and turns, they reconcile and face each other in the Basketball Festival as true rivals.
'The Last Match', a story about young people in their early 20s colliding and competing over dreams and love, offered a thrilling sense of excitement and the unique joy of sports to its audience at the time. Such stories and sensibilities will always resonate. Of course, looking back now, the 90s-style cringe-worthy lines like "Yeah, that's all I am" or "If you keep doing that, I'm going to kiss you" provoke laughter, and the somewhat clumsy basketball moves of the "great" team players are a bit pitiable. Yet, the sight of youth sweating, colliding, and pushing forward remains beautiful (perhaps it looks even more so as I get older).
Moreover, the cast of 'The Last Match' is a dream lineup even by today's standards. Younger people might not realize it, but it starred Son Ji-chang, who enjoyed immense popularity at the time, and featured the prime-time beauty of Jang Dong-gun, who was a rookie then but later became one of South Korea's official "top handsome" actors. Lee Jong-won, who played Hanyeong University's Kim Seon-jae—a rival who eventually becomes friends with Cheol-jun—was also a youth star. Park Hyung-jun, who played the positive basketball genius Jang Yong-ho, and Heo Joon-ho, who mostly took on tough guy roles as the captain of Myeongseong University, also stand out. Even Park Jae-hoon, a former Yonsei University basketball player brought in late in the show to play Michael Choi, who was only good at dunking, gained huge popularity after appearing in just four episodes.
And then there were Shim Eun-ha, Lee Sang-ah, and Shin Eun-kyung. Shim Eun-ha, who sparked the "Da-seul boom" with her innocent beauty, was truly breathtakingly beautiful. There’s a reason why, in 'Reply 1994', Seong Da-jung shouted, "Sang-min oppa's Da-seul has arrived!" Lee Sang-ah, who played the bold Choi Mi-ju, who made a "straight-line dash" at Dong-min, also boasted a cute beauty befitting her status as a "goddess of stationery covers." Shin Eun-kyung, playing the tomboyish Kim Su-jin, who appointed herself as the manager of the Hanyeong University basketball team, also showed off her popping personality.
In line with the popularity of 'The Last Match', 1994 marked the peak of the basketball craze. In particular, the Yonsei University basketball team, which stunned by defeating professional industrial league teams, featured stellar players like Moon Kyung-eun, Lee Sang-min, Woo Ji-won, and Seo Jang-hoon, winning the 93-94 Basketball Festival. The popularity of their eternal rivals, the Korea University team with Jeon Hee-chul, Yang Hee-seung, Kim Byung-chul, Shin Ki-sung, and Hyun Joo-yup, was no less significant. This heat eventually led to the launch of the Korean Basketball League (KBL) in 1997.
Seeing those who were active as the 'Last Match generation' now serving as coaches in the 2018-2019 SKT 5GX playoffs, which recently concluded with the victory of Ulsan Hyundai Mobis012330, makes me realize how fast time flies. Moon Kyung-eun of the Seoul SK Knights, Lee Sang-min of the Seoul Samsung Thunders, and Hyun Joo-yup who led the Changwon LG Sakers... Even the fact that the theme song of 'The Last Match' is frequently played as background music for Seo Jang-hoon, who is active as an entertainer on shows like 'Knowing Bros', stimulates the nostalgia of those who loved basketball back then.
If a drama is popular, its theme song is bound to be loved as well, and the theme song of 'The Last Match' played a part in driving the drama's popularity. Anyone who spent their school days in the 1990s knows the "Big Three" songs that swept school field days and athletic events. I’m talking about the theme songs of 'Pilot', 'Walking to Heaven', and 'The Last Match' (Infinite Track’s ‘To You’ was a default, and depending on age and region, the theme song of ‘Dodgeball King Tongkki’ was sometimes included in this list).
The 'Last Match' theme song, sung by Kim Min-gyo, was eventually found to have plagiarized a Japanese song, but it was loved as a song perfect for field days due to its thrilling intro, typical of 1990s drama themes, and passionate lyrics suitable for a sports drama. I sang this song at a karaoke bar recently, and without me knowing, the old athletic meet dance moves just popped out (early childhood conditioning is a scary thing).
To the youth who are still running toward their love and dreams today, although you might not know this drama or song, I dedicate these words to you.
"If it gets hard, it’s okay to stop and shed tears~ But don’t forget that this is just the beginning~ I’m betting everything, for every moment~ You know, there’s no such thing as practice in our lives~ Until the day I can finally smile at the end~ I won't give up, after all, I have a dream."
About the writer, Jeong Soo-jin?
Because I liked movies, I worked at the film magazine ‘Movie Week’, and because I enjoyed travel, I worked at the travel magazine ‘KTX Magazine’, but my constant object of affection was drama. My hobby is reading character introductions on the websites of new dramas, and I spent 12 years living a failed deadline life because I kept getting obsessed with old dramas every time I had a deadline. Recently, after realizing that everything I like is on YouTube, I’ve been poking around here and there like an adventurer exploring a new continent.