Imitation (2021)

Empezo bien, termino meh

Cuando el drama arranco con la presión que los idols tienen que sufrir para llegar a donde estan, los problemas que trae y como sufren los que no alcanzan este sueño me atrapo casi que sin querer porque me encontré empezando el drama muy tarde en la noche pero sin darme cuenta ya había mirado casi media historia pero a medida que avanza todo empieza a decaer y siento que no se da el peso que era necesario. Me pareció muy interesante el recorrido de tea party desde que era omega 3 hasta que pudieron debutar, ese sube y baja de emociones que pasaron ellas me lo hicieron sentir y creo que este fue el punto mas fuerte del drama.
En fin, no es el mejor de los dramas pero da una vista que creo q cada vez es mas conocida de la realidad de ser un idol y como estos chicos se apuestan la vida por este sueño en una sociedad tan competitiva como lo es la de corea del sur.
(Abro un paréntesis para hablar de jung ji so, personalmente en este drama la adore, ya la conocía de otros drama como the cursed y doom at your service pero en este como principal pudo demostrar todo lo que tiene y espero muchos proyectos de ella. Alguien mas encuentra un parecido entre ella y jang na ra? porque no pude dejar de notarlo en todo el drama osea hasta su forma de llorar me recordó a ella, también me parece muy pero muy cute pero también la veo en algunas escenas como por ejemplo cuando se vuelve caminando cuando trabajo de extra en la primer película que participa y sino supiera que es ella creería que tiene entre 12-15 años jaja)

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They told the wrong story

As a whole, this series was a 5 for me, but the last episode was an 8.

The thing is, the finale was disconnected from the whole rest of the story and was the conclusion to a narrative that wasn't actually actively explored.

And this drama would have been so much better if that had been the case! I really wish the romance plot had taken a backseat (the main couple had absolutely no chemistry anyway) and the story would have focused more thoroughly on what the last episode touched on. Trainee life, and the grueling, challenging, often heartbreaking process hundreds of hopeful kids put themselves through.

But I guess actually telling Annie and Eun-Jo's story would have been too controversial. But can you imagine? The story of two young kids in love, who get signed to different agencies, then one gets to debut and be loved by millions while the other continues to be miserably exploited all while having to hide their relationship. And then the emotional fallout of her committing suicide and his journey to try and forgive himself, find his love for music back, and try not to hate this voracious industry that can make dreams come true just as easily as it can crush them. Oh, it would have been so much better! And the emotional impact of that last song would have been like a kick to the chest.

I'm sad that so much potential got wasted. Also, considering the fact that way over half of the cast are idols, there was wasted opportunity there too. The drama was at its best when the characters were singing, dancing or preforming in some way (being idols, basically). Every song and choreo was amazing. But the show totally failed to take advantage of all the talent it'd cast.

Honestly, just watch the first and last episodes, all the ones in the middle aren't that good anyways.

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Don't read the webtoon before watching the show

So.......started watching the drama and then turned to read the webtoon. Bad decision. You will be so disappointed how nothing is even taken from the webtoon apart from the names of the character and La Ri Ma's characterization. Everything else is a completely different element. Think of it like it is the alternate universe.

I don't mind webtoon and the web drama not being the same, but they butchered the characterization of everyone so bad that it is hard to get over the show. If I judge it purely as a normal rom-com web drama, it will still get a below-average rating from me. The characterization is not good - forget about development - you don't understand what the characters are supposed to be or what their purpose is. They are trying to do so many angles but only flushing out 10% of the details on every angle.

You don't understand why the leads are gravitating to each other. Zero. Nada. Zip. It would have been nice if they just show the flashback of the leads to make viewers understand why they seem to have that pull to each other. They are trying to do a mystery reveal per episode but it just comes across as confusing and zero context.

The webtoon itself is not perfect, but the characterization and motivation of each character at least were more developed and I can understand why they do certain things or why they act a certain way. Ma Ha of the web drama was just a blank canvas. They showed us this drive to wanting to debut but we don't even know what her motivation is. Why she is doing it. Then she gets swipe up into this weird "can't stay away from the male lead, looking longingly at him" for no reason at all. It's like her thoughts are not express at all. She is just a robot that was told to move and do actions as instructed. The other side characters are okay but just backdrop. Yu-Jin was more front and center than the webtoon but just a a tool without any context to his background and motivation (why did he even auditioned to be a trainee in the first place - in fact, why did any of them did, just because they wanted to?) The male lead was also a mystery. No idea why he does the things he does.

Also, what is with all the sob soulful background music playing whenever they have this looking at each other or missing each other? It's so out of place and just doesn't fit. Or at least I don't think it is pairs well. At all.

So so disappointed. I can see past them not following the webtoon cuz hey, it is the characters I am always invested in. But since they butchered the characters so bad, I definitely rate it low purely looking as a rom-com web drama.

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shameless cash grab

This drama isn't a waste of time. I watched it because of SF9 and ATEEZ. I ended it because I had to.

This drama markets itself showing off all the idols involved, in reality most of it they are not even there. Yuno isn't the second male lead, he is barely in it. I find it shameless because the posters and trailers, they are so far off. If you really watch this drama you get nothing. I got insulted by how selfish the leads both are. They are idols and pursing that, but I refuse to believe these young adults love each other so much that they are willing to straight up quit the idol life completly.

It would be fine if Ryeok was a soloist, but he's supposed to be a part of the biggest Kpop group at the time. He has members, supporters. Unlike an idol who is appreciative of his fans and his motivation is for them, he loves Ma-Ha. For what? Because she's not like other girls. I kid you not, there is nothing that they show that they love eachother. Their relationship is posed as some sort of love that can't be, and that the audience should want them to be together. Honestly I hate the both of them for being so selfish and stupid. Ryeok gets in a car crash because he's staring at his girl. I can't make up how stupid and shameless this is. The hype must be behind people that don't care. I've seen a webtoon adaptation done right, but this takes itself way too seriously and in the end it's offending to me as someone who loves all types of media.

This drama is bad bad. They use the idols barely, and it shouldn't have been made. The whole idea of the source material isn't something I buy into, because the primary motivations of the characters are all surface value that offer nothing deep or complex. All the characters have to be paired with the other idol groups. It's like 12 people exist in this world and 10 of them barely. I can't stress enough how much I dislike this, recommending only for those who want to see SF9 and ATEEZ but for about 5 minutes of screen time each episode and that's them being generous :)

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I almost dropped this drama due to its lackluster reviews, and the FL rubs me the wrong way as she always look sleepy and sad even when she's peppy. It must be the eyebrows or the horrendous hairstyle she sports that is just bugging the beejeebies out of me, but the ML's visual more than makes up for it. I couldn't believe this is the same guy from Love and Leashes as Jun Young looked so nerdy there despite the occasional half-naked scenes. I'm telling you it's all in the hair.

But before I digress further, I must say that this drama grew on me. I wasn't really expecting much from a cast mainly comprised of K-pop idols, but they are decent and you can see they are trying their best portraying their roles that are not too far from their profession. I enjoyed the parts where they were being idols: the practicing, the dancing, the music, the on-stage presence is as expected but nothing further given that they don't have much to work with.

A drama that tries to expose the dark side of the K-pop industry seemed good on paper but how it was executed was not. It is like the drama is trying to do so many things at once that it failed to excel in any one area. It is also trying to do a David vs Goliath story with a small entertainment company going against a conglomerate, but the end fell flat as nothing much was done except an article by a lone journalist that will most likely be forgotten by the next juicy gossip.

The plot suffered from the uneven, choppy writing as it tries its damned hardest to pair off couples that have no chemistry except for convenience's sake. But if you are willing to overlook all these weak points, and just focus on the feel good story of people reaching their dreams in spite of obstacles, then "Imitation" is not so bad as it seems.

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Great slice of trainee/idol life with a romantic element

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 South Korean romantic drama with 12, 60 minute episodes. It is based on a webtoon of the same title.

First I will provide a synopsis then review.

Synopsis
This is a slice of life drama about the music industry that follows struggling artists from their trainee time through finding success or struggling to get their big break. The lead female character, Ma-Ha (Jung Ji-So) is a hard working trainee who has relentlessly pursued her dream of going on stage with a group. She was on the verge of debuting when tragedy struck and her and her fellow group members were literally pulled off their debut stage. Trying make a break for herself she is doing side shows where she imitates her idol, Ri-Ma (Park Ji-Yeon) who doesn't take the imitation as a compliment. Ma-ha gets a sudden second chance at debuting with her original debut group. CEO Ji-Hak (Danny Ahn) has a reason for giving the the trio a second chance which is slowly revealed through the series. The new group, which they title Teaparty is being funded in a very unique way, they are salaried at first. The other two group members, Ri-A (Minseo) and Hyu n-Ji (Lim Na-Young), had been undergoing hardship as well since their failed debut but they all stayed together even being roommates. Ma-ha does a little of everything capitalizing on this unexpected chance and her presence in many aspects of the music and acting world brings her into frequent contact with Kwon Ryeok (Lee Jun Young) who, at first, has no respect for her as he sees her as an imposter who can only imitate others. Ma-Ra gets a lot of hate over imitating such a popular star. Her fellow band mates, and her friend from her trainee days, Lee Yoo-Jin (Yun Ho) keep Ma-Ra's spirits up as they know she has her own unique talent. Shax, whom Kwon Ryeok is center stage for, has found success but like all high profile boy bands has to be very careful of their image particularly to their fans. As Kwon Ryeok's feelings change from hostility to understanding to admiration to infatuation for Ma-ha they both find that life in the limelight does not look favorably on romance. Yoo-Jin sees Ma-Ra as more than just a friend and is a little earlier in his career and takes more risks to get close to Ma-Ra but she doesn't, at least at first, see him that way. Who will Ma-Ra be drawn to and can they all find a way to make their growing fame, romance and friendships all work out?

Review
I really like slice of life stories in general and those that focus on the acting or music industries in particular. The South Korean music industry has so many unique aspects it is very interesting to get a little bit of inside perspective. So few actually make it to debut and even those that debut may not become well known. This drama explored many issues specific to to being an Idol and the journey that trainees take. Professional jealousy, slave contracts, good companies versus bad companies, suicide, and relationships. I enjoyed it for the music and talent on that level alone. I recommend it to anyone that enjoys slice of life, likes watching about idols or the industry, or likes a fairly straight forward story line. There are not a lot of surprises or twists or turns. It is not light hearted, it deals with very heavy topics but it is entertaining just not deep or complex.

*Spoilers
Ryeok and Ma-ha's slow build romance was compelling. There was a definite loneliness for him and she was one of the few that could break through his rough bad boy persona. I found their relationship very heartwarming. I appreciated the irony of how much grief he gave his former group member, Lee Eun-jo (Kang Chan-hee) over his relationship with Girl group member Annie (Yeon Si-Woo) only to have a relationship like that himself. He felt very guilty over his role in Eun-jo's disappearance. The story between Eun-jo and Annie was very tragic. What was a little confusing is why they showed her collapsing from exhaustion and then never really explaining that but suddenly she is dead. I think they were trying to make that part of the mystery but it seemed disjointed for her to have had that issue and then suddenly suicide it made it seem the overwork was what was driving it and not larger issues. All of the relationships and even conflicts within and between the groups was interesting. I did not find it very believable that so many relationships would have developed where all of the Tea Party members were seeing one of the the Shax members. There were so many problems, early on, when Shax fans got wind that Ma-ha and Ryeok had even interacted, it was odd that later so many were actually seeing each other romantically but it was as if the fans no longer cared. And they never addressed that change. They indicated they were seeing each other in secret but we saw how, before, the secret could never stay hidden so it didn't make sense that all of a sudden they were all able to keep it a secret form the fans. They say Eun-jo's and Annie's song as a group but it seemed only Shax got the credit for it. With Tea Party it appeared they only had one or maybe two songs which made it hard to envision them as a super success.

Unlike other reviewers I did not find the fact that the male lead or female lead weren't idols a huge downfall. I thought they both acted very well and their role as idols was believable. In fact I thought Lee Jun-Young had this amazing super star aura especially when they had the shots where Shax was sort of lined up in a V formation walking toward the camera, it was breath taking. If Ma-Ha was a bit unpolished because the actress was not a K-pop idol in real life, the storyline really accounted for that. She was a struggling trainee then a newly minted idol so any awkwardness or lack of polish was fully understandable with that in mind. Plus there was this overall impression that Tea Party would have this sort of limited success. They constantly showed this contrast between sort of B string idol groups like Tea Party and super stars like Ri-Ma and Shax. I thought the story dealt with and showed how those two levels of success cause this stratification within the K-pop world where that limited success means those B String are often treated as lesser when those A listers are around.

For me personally the suicide aspect was very heavy. I have two work colleagues that committed suicide so it really brought it all back. In both cases I had spoken with the person the day before and now constantly replay that final conversation any time something like this reminds me. I liked the way this drama portrayed the way the pain of something like that never goes away and how, while the person may think their action will hurt at first but make things better later is not true. Annie's death did not save Eun-jo in fact it ended his career. So many people around her were impacted by that tragic event. I think that is ever present on trainees and members minds as they are under an undue amount of pressure for people so young and isolated from their normal friend and family network.

#Imitation
#JungJiSo
#ParkJiYeon
#ParkJiYeon
#MinSeo
#DannyAhn
#LimNaYoung
#YunHo
#LeeJunYoung
#TeaParty
#Shax
#Sparkling
#KangChanHee
#YeonSiWoo

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All Begins with a Rookie….

Let’s talk about the female lead…

I started to like Jeong Ji So, the female lead, in the series “the Cursed.” Her acting skills still needs a lot of work, but it was good enough for me to be intrigued. Her performance in this series was honestly average, but I still anticipate to see her future work, if the stories would be in my liking. There were still something missing in the way she acts, but I still like her….


Let’s talk about the steaming hot male lead…
Oh where would I begin haha… I like his facial expressions when he is dancing. He is more passionate on stage compared to when he should have actually shown more affectionate side of him with the FL. There is a chemistry with the FL and ML, but there seems to be something missing. I was so impressed with his acting in “Love and Leashes,” although his character there was different. For me, his performance is really good, since I hadn’t seen so much similarities on how he portrayed these two different roles. He was able to make my heart flutter with both of these dramas….

Overall opinion…

It is quite sad that this drama had received low viewership ratings (according to wikipedia.) Honestly, the series is way much fun to watch compared to those other dramas who were really popular. There was no dull moment, i didn’t have to skip parts because I was getting bored. The dancing moves were good, it was not amazing, but I can say it was a little above average (although I really don’t know how to dance haha… such a critic.) I guess it is nit that popular because most of the actors were still rookies, but their performance were really good. The series gave all the actors the chance to shine even for a few seconds, and their moments were something that have caught my attention. I really like how they gave opportunities for these rookies to be seen. I hope to see more of these kind of stories, where we can see great dancing moves and promising talents…


╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

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Overall good enough

I decided to give this drama a try because it's the acting debut of half of the members of Ateez, but I was surprised to see several sides of the Kpop industry popping up during the story, which made it more interesting to follow. Unfortunately the main plot wasn't as satisfying as the theme: the characters' decisions and sometimes even dynamics often didn't make sense. It's truly a shame because I feel that if there had been more space for the story to unfold and for the characters to truly shine, it might have led to a better result. At the end of the last episode I felt like there was still a lot mode that needed to be explained, and storylines that hadn't been explored enough. Since I didn't read the original webtoon I can't tell for sure, but that's what it felt like for me.
Props to whoever produced the original Kpop songs for Tea Party, Shax, Sparkling, and La Lima, which went way beyond my expectations.

In conclusion, I recommend watching if you're a fan of any of the actors featured here or if you're a Kpop fan looking for a cute story themed after the industry.

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Una historia que prometía, lo logró, pero decayó.

Imitation es un drama que anticipé demasiado y vi sin falta cada semana.
Primero hablaré de las cosas que más me gustaron.

1. La realidad de los idols bien representada
Esto es más que nada al principio de la historia. Debo decir que quedé impresionada con la crudeza con la que mostraban ciertas dificultades por las que pasaban los trainees. Sentí el dolor y la frustración de los personajes con cada obstáculo que se les presentaba.
Algunos detalles de la industria del entretenimiento coreano que yo considero que supieron representar bien son las sasaeng, lo difícil que es ser trainee y poder debutar, y la nula privacidad con la que cuentan los idols en lo que respecta a sus relaciones amorosas y asuntos personales.

2. Los protagonistas.
En general, este par derrochaba ternura. Mi parte favorita del drama fue ver cómo se desarrollaba su relación. Eran muy tiernos y tímidos, lo que hacía que yo no dejara de sonreír con sus interacciones. En especial Ryeok, su personaje al prjncipio nos lo presentan como un chico frío y serio, completamente enfocado en su carrera y que no se inmuta con nada. Pero conforme ahondamos más en su personaje, nos damos cuenta que tiene un lado romántico, tierno y encantadoramente adorable. Me sorprendió gratamente ver los distintos colores que ofrece.

3. Personajes secundarios.
Personajes como La Rima, y el par de Shax, Hyeok y Dojin, mejoraron la historia cuando la trama principal decaía un poco.
La Rima fue un personaje que me hizo agarrarle más cariño y simpatía con cada episodio. Al principio no me gustaba que la metieran innecesariamente al romance de Ryeok y Maha, porque creía que ella tenía mucho más que ofrecer. Pero cuando nos mostraron más de su personaje individualmente, quedé satisfecha.
Hyeok y Dojin, por otro lado, me encantaron desde un principio. Me sacaron unas cuantas risas con sus ocurrencias y me encantó lo mucho que apoyaron a Ryeok en todo momento.

Ahora, hablaré de lo que no me gustó de este drama.

1. Una trama que prometía mucho, pero 12 capítulos no fueron suficientes.
Considero que este es el principal problema del drama. Abordaron muchos temas interesantes sobre la industria del entretenimiento coreano, pero casi ninguno me dejó satisfecho. Yo culpo de esto a la falta de tiempo. No sé qué fue lo que determinó que este sería un drama de 12 episodios, pero creo que con 16 o 20, habría la oportunidad de profundizar en más temas como las dificultades que sufrió Annie, el comportamiento horrible y cuestionable de Hyun Oh hacia sus novias, las sasaeng y la relación de Maha y Ryeok haciéndose pública.
Durante todo el drama uno de los principales problemas era que no se podía revelar la relación de Maha y Ryeok porque las fans locas de Shax harían pedazos a la pobre de Maha, lo que también afectaría a Tea Party y Shax. Incluso nos mostraron lo que son capaces de hacer por un simple suéter. Pero, después de hacernos sufrir tanto con este problema, queda completamente olvidado en los últimos capítulos, y aunque estaba muy feliz porque Maha y Ryeok estaban por fin juntos y sin obstáculos, debo decir que quedé un poco insatisfecha.
Sobre el CEO de NOG, y toda la historia de Annie, aunque no diría que lo dejaron como un final abierto, no me gustó la forma apresurada con la que contaron las cosas, creo que un tema tan delicado debió de ser abordado de mejor manera, y nos debieron de haber mostrado que ese CEO recibiera su merecido.

2. Redimieron a los personajes muy fácilmente.
Este punto está ligado con el anterior, y es que me molestó mucho que solucionaran los problemas tan rápido.
Yujin, aunque inconscientemente, lastimó mucho a Hyun Ji, y estuvo años enamorado de Maha. Pero de un capítulo para el otro, me salen con que Yujin ahora quiere a Hyun Ji, y con una disculpa simple, se hacen novios. ¿Qué demonios? Entiendo que Yujin nunca fue consciente de los sentimientos de Hyun Ji y por eso no se daba cuenta de que sus acciones la lastimaban, pero Hyun Ji se merecía algo mucho mejor.
Luego tenemos a Hyun Oh, un chico que no dejaba de soltar comentarios despectivos hacia Maha, que era un completo hipócrita, y además manipulaba emocionalmente a sus novias. Hizo tantas cosas que te hacen odiarlo, así que no entiendo cómo esperaban que aceptara tan fácilmente que se quedara en su grupo y todos le dieran otra oportunidad. No le tengo nada de empatía a ese personaje.

3. Una mala elección de pareja secundaria.
Ya hablé un poco en el punto anterior de por qué no me gustó ver a Yujin y Hyunji juntos, y el hecho de que les siguieran dando escenas no me gustó. Lo siento, pero no les veía nada de química y siento que ese precioso tiempo pudieron habérselo dado a Ria y Lee Hyun o Annie y Eun Jo, quienes eran mucho más interesantes.
No quedé satisfecha con la última interacción de Ria y Lee Hyun, ellos merecían más escenas juntos que permitieran un desarrollo de su relación.

4. Las actuaciones.
Entiendo que la mayoría de los integrantes del cast son actores novatos y en su mayoría idols que no tenían experiencia actuando antes. Aunque la actuación no es mala, sí sentía en ciertas escenas que me dejaban a deber.
Y es que es extraño, porque en los primeros episodios no me sentía así. En todas las escenas de Omega 3 sufriendo por la muerte de Annie y de su oportunidad de debutar siendo arrebatada de sus manos, me gustaron mucho las actuaciones de las chicas. Pero más adelante, sentía que esa chispa que había visto antes ya no estaba.

En conclusión, Imitation fue un drama que, a pesar de haberle encontrado tantos puntos negativos, me gustó. Lo disfruté cada semana, y siento que los puntos a favor que mencioné, de cierta forma compensan algunas cosas que no me gustaron (pero no todas).
Sí recomiendo este drama, porque a pesar de todo enseña una realidad sobre la industria del entretenimiento coreana que creo que todos deberían conocer. Sobre todo lo recomiendo a fanáticos del kpop, siendo una creo que lo disfruté y me impactó aún más.

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interesting with a few gaps

firstly, i'm not going to deny that the only reason i watched this was because of the fact that i'm an atiny however it was an average drama in my opinion.

story:
it was interesting to say the least because we saw the reality of an idol life and their struggles however there were alot of gaps in the story. like how did yujin go from liking maha to hyunji within an episode and i felt like maha and kwon ryuk barely had any chemistry. other than that, the storyline was pretty good and the mystery aspect made it even more better. they also talked about triggering topics within the idol life as well as sasaengs (obsessive fans) which was a good message to the wider world. but the chemistry with the supporting actors were even more better like ria and ihyeon despite barely getting any screen time and dojin and hyuk: their best friend relationship was very sweet and cute. i also loved how la ri ma didn't play the average second female lead and was badass enough to do what she wanted to do - she saved the drama.

acting/cast:
despite some of the characters barely having any chemistry, the cast weren't a bad choice. it was good that they had actual idols like yunho, san, jongho and seonghwa from ateez; jiyeon from t-ara, jun from u-kiss, hwiyoung and chani from sf9; nayoung from ioi and pristin; park yuri from jxr; lee su woong from boys republic because the drama felt a little bit more realistic and the actors themselves could relate with the storyline. i wouldn't change the cast as much but iw ould try to get actors who have alot more chemistry.

music:
the ost was elite. it potrayed how sparkling was flop group and songs from the drama are even charting despite them being fictional groups.

in conclusion: it's an okay-ish drama but the chemistry makes it feel a little bit awkaward

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Who made this one episode per wek rule? We need to talk.

Imitation is an idol setting drama so I was skeptical because I'm avoiding anything featuring high school romance or idols setting.

But hold on.

I knew I had to at least try an episode because Jun was in it. He was really good in Class of Lies. I believe he was good in his other projects too. In addition, Jung Jiso is not an idol. It's a plus point for me to see real actors/non idols in an idol drama.

Plot : I like the cramped plot. I tolerate the drama better than the webtoon. More sense and realistic. Clearly shows the ugly side of South Korea entertainment. I used to be in the fandom culture so it is relatable. Screenplay can be elaborated more for characters' depth and developments.

Acting : It is fine. There are bunch of idols and I put less expectation anyway. If you were watching dramas for high quality acting, this is not for you. It is mediocre as a whole. Nevertheless, I like the main casts. For me, Jun & Jiso were still shy around each other so you don't see any sizzling chemistry but the innocent polite type of chemistry between them. The same damn feeling when I watch soft jdramas.

Music : Goodness. The production gave all out for this drama and blessed me with tons of great songs; also great voices like Ria and Maha. Jiso is surprisingly so talented. Not to forget "Finally now, it's my time" line remains iconic to me.

Overall, it is a decent idol drama. Perfect for a binge too!

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They Worked Hard & Did an Amazing Job - A MUST SEE DRAMA!

OMG.... To begin with.. I was fully expecting to drop this drama. Only because I felt that this type of drama with KPop idols doing a Kpop story was not going to keep me interested.... BOY HOW WRONG I WAS!!! However, I won't go into any of the drama ... I think it would be best for you to watch it to get the full impact.
First lets look at the casting: What KPop groups are here
A. U-Kiss Lee Jun Young who is your leading male
B. Ateez Jeong Yun Ho who is 2ML
C. SF9 Chani 3rd ML
It doesn't end there... there are several other 3 other Ateez members, SF9 and Boys Republic.
I have to express highly how INCREDIBLE these young men did with there characters, and how extremely well their acting is. I don't know if it's because they are so familiar with how KPop idols deal on a daily basis... so it was easy for them to relate to their characters. However... they still deserve a Standing Ovation. These young men are from different entertainment companies ... and unlike some of their fandom, they worked closely together and respected & worked hard together to make all this happen.
I've only heard of 2 of these groups (Ateez & SF9), not a fan of their music.. however I'm definitely a fan of their acting .
As for the young ladies... the leading lady is only actress, wasn't in music. Park Ji Yeon (LiMa) apparently has plenty of experience in the music field.
Also for Im Na Young the pretty (tea party) .. believe it or not, she's known as a rapper.
Then we have Kim Min Seo (RiAh) the tough one. Who has had musical experience.
All in all.... BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO for doing such an Excellent Job with all the characters.

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