This review may contain spoilers
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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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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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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Worth to Watch
To be honest, I don't really know why this drama could get a low rating. I really like this drama and keep waiting the next episode, the only weakness is that they only air one episode per week ;( This drama tells about Kwon Ryeoc and Lee Ma Ha, they both knew each other before they became idols. Ryeoc is a k-pop idol who is in a top group SHAX while Lee Ma Ha is a rookie who has just entered the entertainment industry.Lee ma ha ever failed to debut and she evr think to give up on becoming an idol. Because as we know, there are many agencies that consider the age of the trainees. However, when the Tea Party group (Lee Ma Ha's group) started to be known, she began to get involved again with his long lost contact senior, Ryeoc. After coincidentally met many times, Ryeoc finally realized that he likes Lee Ma Ha and couldn't help but express his feelings. Meanwhile, Lee Ma Ha himself falling in love with him, but hesitates because she's scared to destroy her (Tea Party's) dream.
I support this drama very muchhh, MOSTLYYY the actorsssss!! Hurry and watch this dramaaa
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I'm a 2nd generation k-pop fan and I started to watch this just because of its k-pop genre
Yes!!! I was a SONE and I supported almost every k-pop groups back then when k-pop fans stan for multifandom. For some reasons, I was far away from k-pop since around 2013 and so the only one cast I know in this drama is T-ara's Ji Yeon.Let me talk about my first impression.
As I mentioned above, I watched this drama without even knowing who are the main leads. So I felt complicated while watching the 1st episode. I couldn't remember who is who. At first, I thought the female lead doesn't suit with the character as a k-pop star. She is quite short and I don't feel comfortable with height difference among the members of Tea Party. But I don't feel anything with her hair. For the male lead, I realized that he is the main lead just at the end scene of the first episode where his car passed by walking Lee Ma Ha in the dark. My bad :-(
As I continue to watch, when I can recognize all the casts, I have fun watching the drama. The plot is not very special yet addictive and I progressively fall in love with the character Kwon Ryok. I thought he is tough at first but I melt down whenever I see his smile. I did a deep search for him and found that he is multi-talented.
I want to praise the female lead for her hard work for the dances. She is not a k-pop idol but she manages to be one. Also I feel a good chemistry with the male lead. Second leads are also good too. OSTs are also catchy.
One thing I feel annoyed by this drama is that just one episode per week is not very satisfying.
I want to thank this drama for letting me know that a man called Lee Jun Young exists and I feel like I found another talented guy to support. I become his fan and waiting for his next Netflix film with my SNSD' Seo Hyun, Moral Sense.
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so slow so pointless
is this the result of "fangirls only care for the male lead so the fl is ignored as a human"?she's so obsessed with him, she's practically a saesang. she idolizes him so much but worse she belittles herself more. "he's too good for me", "there's no way he would like a lowly person like me", "he's a star that I dared to sit next to" like girl chiiillllll
in skip beat, Kyoko idolizes Ren as an actor not as a person, and when she thinks "how dare I like him" it's becasue she has issues with love in general. she didn't want it to change her so she was more reluctant to like him.
here, this is just a mess done for fangirls. your oppa is hot and everyone love him.. I mean yes, my oppa is hot, jun was the best part, after he started to chill and show his cute side that is.
again, who even stans a cold jerk? I personally like my idols because they're humble, sweet, sometimes awkward and dorky, on the screen of course, they might be calm and chill with their friends, but in front of the camera and worse in front of the staff they all need to show their "respectful" side
there was an older idol maybe from suju that said if you don't greet the staff with kindness you won't make it long in the industry
but in dramas they always like to show idols as jerks, and worse the 2nd fls are obsessed with a guy that clearly is not interested. girl you deserve better!!!
ALSO, THE WORST part, the car accident.. she was just STANDING there, she was not in danger, she was not kissing someone else, she was just there, what a dramatic waste of time.. then her overreaction in the hospital, like again girl chill
the only things I liked were jun's smiles, the 2 members who supported him and Ri Ah's potential love interest Jae Woo (?). atleast that girl knows self worth and she cares about her dream, plus the guy is sweet from the start and he's cutely awkward when he's trying to show interest
and that's the button line, a guy mistreating you, yelling at you and judge you "for your own good" is not a love interest, that's the horrible misconception of idolized male leads and the hallyu wave..
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Absolutely loved it!
Although I was disappointed with two things. Will get to that at the end of this review.A drama about the Kpop industry- the companies that “own” them, and the struggles they go through to become stars/ idols. First 3 episodes were boring, but it did pick up after that. The storyline was I guess what many trainees and idols have to endure these days- controlling companies and managers, being overworked, fanatic and obsessive fans, peer pressure and competitiveness between teammates, dating issues etc.. it’s kinda sad really that these celebrities don’t have or are not allowed to have their own personal life or freedom.
I did enjoy the dance performances by Shax and Sparkling- I thought Lee Jun Young who played the ML Kwon Ryoc was an excellent dancer, a class above the rest. His voice also was really good. I particularly enjoyed his jealousy moments :P which I found hilarious. Unfortunately I found the FL to be somewhat a disappointment. She was cute and all but I found her character lacked depth and gust. The outstanding female character would be La Ri-Ma, who we all hate in the first few episodes, but she redeems herself as the show moves along, looking out for her juniors and standing up for herself.
Now come the two disappointing factors:
1) The romance. I liked the initial tug and pull between the leads. Especially coming from Kwon Ryoc, I could feel the intensity and chemistry, the times when he said he missed her and wanted to see her. However after they started dating, it lacked PDA, and their two kissing scenes were, sorry to say, quite pathetic lol. Imagine sitting on a bench with your bf/gf, gazing at the stars and you are seated like 3 feet away from each other! I mean what the??!! The other couples also lacked any real connection and chemistry.
2) What happened to CEO Park? Was he still able to remain at his post after the email was released etc? And after Shax left NOG? I’m also not sure which company Shax ended up signing with- was it JH Entertainment? It was kinda rushed and unclear.
If you’re a Kpop fan, I reckon you might enjoy this. Not a real romance drama, more about growing up and discovering yourself. There are some life lessons to take from this, and an eye-opener for those who are clueless about the industry. Enjoy :)
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