Kate

Am I the only one who felt extremely uncomfortable by the past kids story? Gene was teenager and Nubsib was a child. It just did not sit right with me. While Sib having feelings for Gene is fine, kids do that, and Gene was his first friend... they also implied Gene liked him and this just gross. Like, when Gene was writing in the novel by the end of the ep "They meet again and relit their affection for each other"... like. no. What do you mean relit the affection? There should be no affection of that context between them in the past in the first place lol

Id definitely took me some time to start dropping shows. At first it makes sense to just watch everything, since it's a whole new cinematic experiences with dramas. But after a while, as you said, the issue of the same overused cliches and tropes shows up.
That said, I know quite a few people who've been watching dramas for years and yet still are not willing to drop any show, even if they don't quite enjoy it anymore :)

Thank you for writing such an useful article! And for including some of mine!
I will definitely check some I have no read yet :) There are so many talented writers on mdl, good to have someone who is willing to bring the older articles back to live :D

Okay. Let's say Tian's parents had nothing to do with it. Still, all people involved in organizing and taking part in the race should be punished. Obviously the one who hit Torfun should get the worst one, does not mean Tian should get none. Especially since it was not one time stupid mistake. The car race was something they did more than once. It does not matter no one got hurt in the previous times. It's not like when you drunk drive you only get punished when you hit someone. If you are caughy drunk driving few times, you will at least loose your driving license. And illegal racing is bigger deal than drunk driving.

this show still has a place in my heart, but I rather have episode 8 and 9 not exist lol

They have ban on Korean entertainment more or less. Of course they will not want any Korea contestant. And even if they would, I highly doubt any Korean trainee would want to participate, since it would most likely lead to them not being able to have career in Korea (the negative sentiment goes both ways, Koreans dislike everything China related which is seen by all the controversies with dramas being cancelled or getting in trouble left and right).

As far as I know Japan is not strong supporter of CCP, and yet they have the biggest number of trainees outside of China. Not to mention, the agency that 4 of the extremely popular trainees in the show support separation of Taiwan from China... or at least there is controversy about them viewing Taiwan as a separate country.

Are there some politics involved in the show? Of course. There always are. Them blurring all the logos of companies that are against the work camps is an example of that. But it does not only in China but any country.
My problem is, you did cherry picked information you wanted to present. There is one Russian guy that got cast from audition. There are many Japanese trainees. There are guys from US in the show. The number of trainees outside of China, from countries supporting CCP is not really big.

edit: So I just checked the trainees profiles (ones not from China). I was slightly wrong, but my point stays the same: there are barely any trainees from countries supporting CCP.
3 guys from Russia (2 eliminated in the first elimination round). Lalush is still in coz fans keep him as a joke. He was cast last minute, was suppose to be just a translator for other trainees.
2 trainees from all over the place (moved a lot) - one born in Cuba, one from US.
13 Japanese trainees.
2 Thais
1 US
1 Ukrainian
2 Japanese-US ones (one just moved to Japan, one is half American half Japanese.

Well... Korean not being in the show for one, is the result of them having bad relations with China atm, but also massive entertainment and music industry of their own with their own shows that are exactly like Produce Camp. They are simply not appealing for Korean market.

Compare it to Thailand, which does not have as big of a music market is the context of boy/girl bands, no system of training like China nor Korea and far less chances to have a music career. It's obvious for them this show is a big chance.

Not to mention there are a looot of Japanese trainees and contestants, and overall the whole season is quite global with trainees from many different places. From what I see, because there is also Youth with You airing at the same time, they simply might have had problems gathering enough trainees, hence they opened it for the more global participants.

Thank you for explaining the whole process. I guess getting all these benefits is good, but it for sure should be organized better. Both teams that had trainees leave for shooting did quite poorly in their performance (even tho one team won, the performance was still meh). I think the show itself should always be priority...

thoughts on all performances in the comments under spoilers

pt2. episode 6.

➥ Fix Me
⤏ PRACTICE: All the arrangement and different styles they played sounded good and I would easily listen to all of the songs tbh. That said, damn I hate the message of the song: your love is the only thing that can fix me? Bitch get a therapy, what is this TharnType the Musical?
⤏ MENTORING: I don't think the dance was necessary. I get that they are to make a boy group, but they picked the vocal specialty for a fucking reason, reason being they want to sing, and dance might not be their strongest point lol
⤏ PERFORMANCE: The song was GOOD. The vocals were on point. All the high notes were clear and on pitch. I also loved the set!
⤏ CONS: Yeah... the dance was unnecessary. I mean, these were some BAD body waves. Another thing was the rap, it was too aggressive and sharp for the song. They should just have the whole rap section in that softer melodic style. They wanted to show that they can do all: sing, rap and dance, but because the rap and dance was a lot weaker than the singing, the whole performance fell short.

➥ I Don't Care
⤏ PRACTICE: ...you don't pick a song coz you like the artist. You pick a song that you can actually sing and show your skills in. That was kind of annoying tbh. Wangxing needs to be less chill about this competition. The "reading hate comments to tap to your inner anger" bit was funny lol
⤏ MENTORING: Why they have to ask other trainees for mentoring and not the mentors themselves? Why the fuck they add segment "Oscar rap class" lol Now that I think about it, rap mentor was suggesting team Fix You to add dance to their performance lol Why not tell them how to improve their rapping? Except from Zhou Shen all the mentors are pretty useless lol
⤏ PERFORMANCE: This song is so ridiculously hard. From the lower to high notes, the melody line and right emotions and attitude. I'd say, for how hard this song is, they did pretty good. At least vocal wise.
⤏ CONS: Some were a bit behind, song sang too fast so in some parts it sounded a bit messy. The biggest problem tho... the performance felt empty. They didn't quite know what to do with themselves on stage lol You can have dudes standing still on stage and it can still feel like they are dominating it. Here... it was just... empty. Not coordinated at all.

➥ Therefore I Am
⤏ PRACTICE: So much respect to Lelush. Even tho he does not want to be part of the show, he still tries his best to not hurt other trainees during the performances. I just hope people would stop being dicks and stop voting for him... Out of respect to him as human being I wish him elimination in the next round. That said, bish be like: I'm too old... bish is my age hahaha Also there are 31 years old trainees in YWY hahaha Age is just a number.
⤏ MENTORING: Amber could be good "performance" mentor, where she would teach them about expression etc. Coz that's all she does. She never gives any technical tips for the dance itself.
⤏ PERFORMANCE: Yo! That IT inspired beginning with the balloon! Pretty cool! Overall, it was not bad. they did good with the editing, so I didn't even notice how bad Lelush was tbh. It was smart to never use him in the center too. Hiroto did AMAZING job. He looked like a little evil trickster.
⤏ CONS: Lelush... I mean. Let's get real. This performance would be better if they had really skilled dancer instead of him. The practice and dancing the choreo would be faster and they could work harder on details.

➥ Joker
⤏ PRACTICE: I love how Rikimaru is "choreographing" by sitting on a sofa and listening to song. Not moving at all lol That's a new fun way of doing it hahaha I love how he made sure that each part of the choreo represent the different strength the members have. Damn... good shit.
⤏ MENTORING: You don't mentor the mentors lol
⤏ PERFORMANCE: Rikimaru is FUCKING BEAST! He is not human. First of all... I never never seen a trainee be more seductive than him on stage lol He is such a sweet potato behind the scenes. The last part of the choreography was UNREAL. I replied it like 5 times.
⤏ CONS: Music arrangement was quite weak. Except from the last part I feel like it lowered the energy of the whole performance. With some work done on the song, to make it "pop" a bit more, it would be better. It just wasn't on the same energy level as the choreo. And because the arrangement was not as good as the dance, I was quite happy they did not win lol

➥ Crab Dance
⤏ PRACTICE: Awwww... how they tried to cheer Amu up was just adorable and so precious. He Yifan is a really nice person with a really nice deep voice lol
⤏ MENTORING: Again, Amber talking about the energy, vibe and expression and not the actual dancing...
⤏ PERFORMANCE: yeah... i am not impressed. I mean, I appreciate the freedom with which they performed. Them not being afraid to look silly and funny for sure was a good aspect of the whole stage... but that's kind of it.
⤏ CONS: The fun performance is good ONLY if the moves are literally perfected and all dancers are in sync. This ain't that. Some were slower, some were faster... overall it was a bit of a mess. It just did not feel effortless, so I could not enjoy is as much as I should.

➥ You Better Not Think About Me
⤏ PRACTICE: Patrick might not be the best singer in the team, but I like his tone and style the most. Nine is such a cute shy leader I cannot. Keyu and Patrick - never dying ship. I love this friendship so much. "Have I ever bullied you before? Yes, always. But you never show it". I am dead hahahaha
⤏ MENTORING: I just love vocal mentoring here. It just the only good and useful one!
⤏ PERFORMANCE: oof.... this shit was amazing. I never knew Nine could hit such a high notes. The set was beautiful. And this is also exactly what I mean when I said you can have 5 dudes just standing on the stage and it would still be enough. Overall... yes. Just big yes. I have no cons to talk about lol

Thoughts on performances from pt1 episode 6.

➥Believer
⤏ First of all, Yetao without long hair gives completely different vibe. With long hair he had this fancy, elegant but powerful presence. Now he gives this fresh, cheeky youngster vibe.
⤏ PRACTICE: it was fun but also sad. There are a lot of moves that can cause an injury so yeah, I did feel bad for them. But then, most of them picked the song themselves so they have to deal.
⤏ MENTORING: What makes me a bit annoyed was Amber's bit. Granted she might have actually talk about their dancing, but the fact their "dance class" was about expressing their "battle cry" and not how to fix the technical aspects etc... Compare it to Lisa, who goes into great detail about the smallest moves etc. Damn.
⤏ PERFORMANCE: Props for the camera men and editing team coz they did this performance justice af. This was fun and exciting. Obviously Yetao slayed coz he is king, queen, god, and whatever you want to call him. I was also extremely impressed by Xingyao. This was literally perfect song and choreo for him.
⤏ CONS: they weren't the smartest with picking the positions. The ones being lifted and standing on other members should have been the smallest/lightest members. Move that got Peiquan get kicked in the face? If they picked someone shorter to be lifted and two tallest people to lift him, shit would not happen coz Peiquan would have enough room to slide.

➥Lemon
⤏ MENTORING: Yeah, this is a good example of mentoring. Actually talking about the skill they are suppose to mentor them for. And with just one comment we can see vast improvement. This happens when you cast qualified people to mentor the trainees. He pointed out all the shortcomings of each trainee and taught them how to fix then. Yes. Good shit.
⤏ PERFORMANCE: That said, wow that performance was bad lol I only liked one guy: Wei Ziyue. He had really nice vocals. I legit don't get why he didn't get more lines. The only one who sounded stable throughout the whole performance with nice tone. BUT since everyone sucked so bad, it was hard to remember how good he was. You only end up remembering how they messed up as a team, and not that one person was good. Poor dude. Wish him all the best. I am SO HAPPY he got noticed by the mentors and was able to show off his beautiful vocals after the voting tho. I truly LOVE his tone.
⤏ RANDOM THOUGHTS: Tho I have to say that I disagree STRONGLY with the fact audience only cares about the performance and not story behind it. Sure, the on set audience maybe, but fans and people who watch these performances online often care more about the story behind the performances than the stage itself. Coz that's what makes these idols more relatable, that's what makes the audience form emotional connection to them and make people care. I will forget a good performance in a month in the sea of other good performances, but I will forever remember the hardships and all the stories behind how the stage even came about.

➥The Whale Transformed Into an Isolated Island
⤏ The outfits are so ugly I am sorry, but they look like they were made 5 minutes before performance lol
⤏ PRACTICE: When I watched them practice I thought that Liu Yu is quite similar to Jun Liu from YWY. They both use a lot of visualization to explain the moves to other trainees.
⤏ MENTORING: Okay so they literally have emotions/acting class (as we saw in other episodes) so why is Amber wasting her dance mentor time always talking about the emotions? As if she was not quite qualified to be dance mentor (me stating obvious facts).
⤏ PERFORMANCE: Liu Yu is so expressive. Every time they showed his parts in the performance I started crying. It's unbelievable how skilled he is in performing. Like, I guess most people will say Santa is the best dancer, but for me he is behind Liu Yu. Santa is amazing in technical aspect, but for me his dancing lacks the emotions, the soul and the message. Liu Yu is a whole package.
⤏ VERDICT: Am I surprised they lost? Nope. I think believer performance was better fitted for on set audience coz it was all about power and movement and stunts. TWTIAII needed that facial expression close ups with camera to truly sell it.

➥Love Bird
⤏ Overall, Caelan slays and is fun and nice and talented. I think this shows that the confidence and good energy can help sell a performance even if the skills are not quite there. Coz damn, this stage was fun to watch. It was just truly fun. I was smiling the whole performance. Also, props to all 3 non dancer, coz I legit did not notice them not keeping up etc. It looked like a well done performance.
⤏ Ugly Dance Party is my type of party.

➥Feng Ding
⤏ Not gonna lie. Rap performance was the one I was the most excited for. And also, Oscar is sooo good looking.
⤏ PRACTICE: I appreciate how they took into consideration the style of the song while picking the center. It's not always about who has the best skill (tho all 3 who wanted to be center are amazing) but also who fits the song the best and will elevate the stage to a next level. That was really smart of them.
⤏ I REALLY like Liu Zhang as a person. Since auditions episode he amazed me. Anyone who is capable of admitting their mistakes and prejudice and learn from it has a place in my heart. It's great to see him work so hard, even tho it's all new to him.
⤏ PERFORMANCE: THEY BURNED THE STAGE! Omg they delivered. This is for sure my favorite performance. Legit got my heart beat soooo fucking fast. The energy was SO GOOD! The delivery was PERFECT! THAT HOOK WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD! I am so fucking impressed. I am soooooooooooo amazingly happy they won against believer lol

Thank you so much for the article! I've been getting more and more into slice of life lately (maybe I'm getting old, and I prefer the chill type of cinema now lol). And since I always preferred character driven show over plot driven ones, this genre is starting to perfectly fit my taste :D

this is honestly a bit ridiculous. It's obvious that Yihang's team was greatly affected by him not being there during the practice at first... I would rather not have Youth Camp and all the additional shows, just the backstage stuff or more videos from practice, if it meant they can practice in peace and make the competition fair.

Anyone can tell me what kind of shooting did Yihang in episode 11 that he could not participate in practice fully? Coz if it;s anything for YWY I will be amazingly pissed.

It makes no sense for them to be allowed to do anything outside of the show as it airs, so I would say it's fair to assume it was either Youth Party or any other additional thing. But this just so not fair to take trainees out of the practice for shit like that, since it's greatly affects their performance on stage and might lower their ranking...

He was not behind the wheel but he organized the car chase in the first place. And when his friend told him to call of off, he said no.

He is quite irresponsible, and even his good intention keep putting people in risk. And again, at the end of the day, people should be punished for their crimes, organizing illegal car chase is a crime that led to someone dying. He was not punished for it coz his parents had money and influence.

For me the case is simple:
victim > family/people close to victim > perpetrator and people involved in the incident on the side of perpetrator

But you are putting Tian ahead of everyone else who was hurt in this scenerio. I am ALL up for his redemption, as long as he faces consequences of his actions and not have everyone cuddle him and tell him how he did nothing wrong and should forgive himself. That's why I don't have much problem with Tian himself, since he rightfully sees how he was partially responsible for what happened. I am pissed about everyone else saying he was not guilty of anything, how it was all not his fault and even using dead girls name to make Tian feel better.

So how about we just let go of all people who broke the law from prison if they feel guilt about what they done? How about during the court cases we just ask the person: do you feel guilty, and if they say yet we just let them go, coz they suffered enough lol What kind of logic is that.
He literally broke the law by organizing illegal car chase and did not get in any legal troubles simply coz his parents made the case go away with their money.

Sure, his friend who was driving should face the biggest consequences, but Tian is not guilty free. He and Tul organized ILLEGAL car chase in which someone died. Tul said: how about we call if off, you ain't feeling good. And Tian (coz pride was more important to him) said nah, and told his friend to drive instead. He is not blameless, and for me he should either face legal or social consequences of his actions.

Not to mention, Chief saying maybe Torfun chose him to receive the heart was just disrespectful, taking into consideration Tian was partially at fault coz of the organizing of illegal car chase AND he was NOT suppose to get her heart in the first place, but he got it coz the parents literally used their money to get it (which also mean, someone how needed it did not get it).

The writing is not good, since they literally swept under a rug Tian's involvement, he was never criticized for it and people close to Torfun never got the closure coz people involved in the illegal car chase never got punished.

yeah but this is not really a case of survivors guilt.
He felt guilty coz he was in fact partially responsible for Torfun's death in the illegal car chase him and Tul organized. It's completely different from feeling guilty coz you are the only one who survived a traumatic event. What adds to his guilt (tho I think this he should not feel guilty about since he had literally no control over it), is the fact he was not suppose to get the heart. It was suppose to go to someone else, but the parents bribed whoever had to be bribed to get the heart to Tian.
I actually think they are doing really poor job so far with dealing with the situation. They are doing their best to make Tian look blameless in the situation, with everyone assuring him it was not his fault, that he should not feel guilty and that Torfun would forgive him. Not once they addressed the fact Tian is actually partially guilty. For everyone the fact he was not driving the car was enough to just ignore his involvement completely. Except from self inflicted guilt, he faced zero consequences of his illegal and irresponsible actions.

The writing in episode 9 truly amazed me. They were able to make me dislike Tian (not coz of his own behavior, but rather everyone around him) and make Chief make literally no sense.

I was afraid the writer and director won't know how to handle their own conflict by the end of the show, but with how good episode 1-7 were, I started to be hopeful. Well... I should have trust my instincts lol

The only thing I can say is: Justice for Torfun and happiness for Longtae

Glad you enjoy my reviews lol
I do have instagram tho I barely post there. Will send you @ in message.

They would not speak out if the outrange would not be big enough.
Also, the % is impossible to tell. But the petition to stop the airing of the show got 127,000 signatures in one day. So that's a lot.