Riding the coattails of Steel Troop's success, THE SOLDIERS launched with a similar feel of military competitions and drills, but with a slightly different concept. Bring in foreign leaders, pick your members, and compete for a chance to represent Korea in a national competition. Unfortunately, the show failed to delivered what made Steel Troops shine in my eyes...the sense of unity and heart.

I'm not sure if I would have felt differently if I saw Soldiers first, but I just found it pretty boring. Others I've spoken to felt the same way. I think it's because you don't really get to know the members that well. With Steel Troops, there were no given leaders but that was the fun part...you get to see which members step into that role. You get to see their personalities and their growth. Whereas in the Soldiers, you are chosen by a foreign leader who knows nothing of Korean culture or the language and all the members have to rely on them. You don't see the members grow. You just see their frustrations of not being able to communicate. The foreign leaders were unprepared imo for the intensity of the Korean competitive spirit and games. I felt like they thought they were there to teach their ways and how to safely complete the drills, when everyone else was just there to win. They started to get it later, but I felt like it was too late. I thought that gave an unfair advantage to the Korean leader who not only has the advantage of knowing the language, but also being familiar with these types of games.

Also I didn't really feel like each team had a bond. In Steel Troop, because each team was comprised of the unit they served...they already felt a connection and pride of belonging to the same unit. In Soldiers, because each person had to compete to get into a team, it was like everyone was just out for themselves in the beginning.

Also Steel Troop had MC panelists who contributed to the overall entertainment. This show did not which made it more boring in my eyes. If you haven't seen Steel Troop, then maybe without having that comparison, you may enjoy this. But for me, I can't help but compare and without having anyone to root for, I lost interest pretty quickly.