#zhang shuai bo

[boysplanetrecaps]

Boys Planet Eps 9-10 Recap: Switch

Hello, lovies! As you may know, I already wrote a recap/master post for episode 9, and another one for episode 10. This recap focuses just on the stuff that’s relevant to team “Switch” -- so their rehearsal period in episode 9 as well as their rehearsal footage and performance in episode 10. But you’ll have to switch to the full post first, which is my cheesy way of saying to click read more! 🙂

The Trainees Here’s a list of the trainees in this group along with their rank as of episode 8 and their two previous missions:

Kim Tae Rae 7 / Back Door -K / Man in Love

Keita 8/ Kill This Love - G / Zoom

Park Hanbin 13/ Hot Sauce - K / Law

Yoon Jong Woo 15 / Back Door - K /Home

Na Kamden 20 / Back Door - G / Law

Zhang Shuai Bo 23 / Back Door - G / Feel Special

The First Rehearsal Segment

At 31:45 of episode 9, we visit with team Switch for four whole minutes!

They start by deciding who would get the killing part, and Yoon Jong Woo says he doesn’t want it because it’s all about confidence, and he has none. Also, I kind of get the feeling that he's a little over the whole thing. Can't blame him, but I hope he shakes that off.

But you know who does want the killing part? - the formerly blue haired Park Hanbin. 

Surely, though, he won’t be able to do a good audition? He can’t learn the choreo that fast? 

But he gets up and does the killing part for his team and does it flawlessly. Better than Kamden, who has had a week to prepare. TaeRae, comparing Hanbin’s dance to the video on the tablet, says, “how much did he practice?” (We’ll come back to that in a second….) 

What happened is this:

Park Hanbin looked at the numbers. He knew his initial team, En Garde, would almost certainly lose all or most of Ji Yun Seo, Lee Ye Dam, Oh Sung Min, and Hiroto. Hanbin knew that if Hiroto or one of the other three survived elimination, then his team would have one extra trainee. They’d probably vote out Hiroto, or whoever else survived, which would mean that Park Hanbin would be stuck with his 10 seconds of subvocal 3 as his only contribution to the team. There was a vanishingly slim chance that Kum Jun Heon or Park Gunwook was going to yield the killing part to him, or that his team would award it to him from merit. So, betting on the chance that at least one of Hiroto, YunSeo, YeDam, or Sungmin would make it, Hanbin learned the choreography to Switch, while also learning the choreography to En Garde, with the plan of volunteering to switch to Switch. 

You guys, I told that story to my fella, and he was like, “that is some Rian Johnson, Knives Out, Poker Face level of machination and plot surprise,” and I was like, yeah. Accurate. 

I don’t think that Park Hanbin liked Switch better the whole time or anything like that. He asked the Star Creators to put him in En Garde. But Hanbin wanted a Killing Part, and he was willing to work twice as hard as anyone else in order to get it. 

Now, what about Kim TaeRae? I think that Hanbin and TaeRae talked about this ahead of time. Remember, they’re both with WakeOne. They auditioned together at the Star Level Test. TaeRae is a vocalist and probably relies on Hanbin to help him with choreo when needed, at the agency. Hanbin knows that TaeRae isn’t a hyper-social butterfly, nor is he hyper-audacious, pushing for the parts he wants. TaeRae somehow or another didn’t get main vocal in Backdoor. Like, what the fuck? So Hanbin knew that someone other than TaeRae was likely to end up with that juicy subvocal-1 part in Say My Name. Not great for TaeRae. But meanwhile, Hanbin also knew that TaeRae is much beloved by the Star Creators, and is an excellent singer and a decent dancer. Hanbin knew that he, Hanbin, would be able to teach anyone how to dance. He also knew that having TaeRae on his team will benefit both his team and TaeRae, because it’ll ensure that TaeRae gets a main vocal part and it’ll ensure that his team has at least one top-9 trainee and at least one trainee who can sing really well. It’s win/win/win for Hanbin, TaeRae, and their team. Also, having TaeRae on his team meant that he’d have one more chingu who would be sure to vote for him to have the killing part. And also also, since TaeRae and Hanbin are both at WakeOne, what’s good for one is good for the other, because they’re undoubtedly going to debut together eventually and their fame and future success is tied together.

Notice how TaeRae asked, “How much did he practice?” when Hanbin did the killing part -- not “how does he know this?” or “did he practice this?” TaeRae already KNEW that Hanbin had been practicing this. He was only surprised as to the extent of it. That’s further proof that they talked about this in advance. 

I love this so much, and I just love Park Hanbin. That kid is the Jeon Soyeon of this batch of trainees. I mean, not necessarily in terms of song composition or whatnot, but in terms of brilliant strategy. Whether he debuts in Bepler or not, he’s going places. 

Also, Na Kamden is just a sweet guy, isn’t he? Losing the killing part, he just says, well, Hanbin is really good. You’re good too, Kamden! This whole team is pretty strong, and this is the performance I’m actually looking forward to the most at this point. 

So here’s the part distribution -- wait, Keita is sub rapper 3? At first I thought that Keita must have been planning something, but as I watched more, I became less sure. Oh no...

Anyway, they start practicing, and the editing focuses on how TaeRae is having a little trouble learning the choreo. It's! Shocking! That a Main Vocal! Would have a little trouble! Learning choreo!!!! 

Even his hair won't cooperate. Don’t worry. He has Hanbin there to beat the steps into him! 

Now, let’s skip to 30:00 in to Episode 10.  It’s D-Day and the boys come out on stage, all dressed in super bright colors.

Key asks Hanbin about rehearsal, and we jump back to the team’s first meeting with the psychopath dance teacher. We’re reminded of how the team ended up together, and the dance teacher says that this is a good team, with several trainees who got a good result in the second challenge mission -- Hanbin came in first for Law, TaeRae came in first for Man in Love , JongWoo came in first for Home, and Keita came in first for Zoom. 

But their dancing isn’t perfect, how dare they not be perfect after like 12 hours of rehearsal?

Especially TaeRae, who at some points didn’t dance at all but just sort of walked because he is a VOCAL and was going to be SINGING at that point. (1) Aren’t they allowed to adjust the choreo? Isn’t that part of the assignment? And (2) Let me get this straight, you fucking psychopath -- you want TaeRae to be dancing “powerfully” WHILE HITTING THE B ABOVE MIDDLE C? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? That’s several notes higher than that high F# they made the boys hit in Na BiNa. This is fucking falsetto territory, and you want him to dance “powerfully” AT THE SAME TIME? I hate these dance teachers so much sometimes. Human beings have human bodies. Jesus Christ. This is why singing in Kpop is going down the drain -- because they want people to dance “powerfully” while hitting B4. 

The judge guy actually helps a bit (shocker, right?) by suggesting a modification for the choreo for TaeRae, but TaeRae doesn’t understand, so he makes him do it over and over like 19 times before getting off his lazy evil ass and showing him. 

That night, Hanbin asks Keita why Keita didn’t go for a bigger rapping part…

Hey, I know what you readers like. 

… and Keita says, “I don’t have any energy left.” Keita interviews that he’s lost a lot of confidence. Oh no, Keita!! Oh NO!!!!  

Back at rehearsal, Na Kamden, who is really a good guy, hands over leadership to Park Hanbin, because he thinks -- no, he KNOWS -- that Hanbin will do a better job. Everyone at home is like, “wait, Hanbin wasn’t already the leader?” 

They work on the dance, both the big picture and the details, sometimes over and over and over. 

Then, like the fucking genius and sweetheart that Hanbin is, he gets Keita involved in fixing up the choreo, which does two things: (1) re-energizes Keita and (2) utilizes their resources! Yes. 

Just a little nudge from a friend seems to spur Keita back into action, and soon they’re all involved, all dancing. 

40:30 The Performance

So we skip to D-day. 

The judges are looking over the stage, which is set up to look a bit like an arcade, with bright day-glow colors. There’s an elevator door that is going up to the 9th floor -- referencing their desire to go up to the top9. 

Out in the audience, Wumuti is spoiling it to the audience that the concept of the performance is that the boys are stuck in a video game world. The fact that he knows that is an indication of how much of the performance was determined by the boys who were in each group before The Great Reshuffling. This implies that a lot of the stuff the various teams are doing might be the result of the hard work of trainees who aren’t in that group anymore. This is all really messed up, MNET. 

And the boys come out on stage to perform. It’s time!

My Take:

I know I’ll be in the minority here, but I actually like this song. I know, I know. But listen to the studio recording of it and maybe it'll grow on you. It's like a weird NCT song mated with a Black Pink song and had a child that mostly took after its father. But I'm fine with that. I also really liked the dance practice. I feel like I can focus more on how good their dancing is -- especially Yoon JongWoo, who is wearing white here, and seems to be trying his best to remind us that he would have been fucking fantastic in Over Me. They look like they’re having fun, like I just sort of want to jump up and join them dancing. They just have good chemistry and seem like friends. It’s one of those things that makes Twice so fun to watch, is the feeling that you’re watching a group of friends having fun rather than a group of coworkers forced to work together.

As for the Stage Performance: 

Overall, they do a great job. I wish we saw more of Keita, and I wish the camera work and outfits let us more easily see their dancing, but it was a cute, fun, lively performance. I don't have a ton to say about it, but I enjoyed it. Hanbin was the standout for me in the live performance -- though I'm telling you, Yoon Jongwoo stands out in the dance practice I linked above, and I think he would have stood out a lot live as well. Kamden, Keita, and Z-Bo did well too. I thought it was all really cute and cheerful.

TaeRae’s live vocals sounded great, because I love his vocal color, but still, they are just a bit shaky here and there. I hope he gets some more vocal training because he really could be great. Baekyhun wasn’t perfect when he debuted either and with more time, he has better learned how to control that powerful instrument he was born with. TaeRae needs to work on his mix, and his agility, but I know he can get there. 

Afterwards, we find out that Zhang Shuai Bo got the lowest score, with an obviously punitive 402 points. You and I and he and all the other trainees know that this is the audience punishing Z-Bo for his “bad behavior” in earlier episodes, and I’m really sad for him, actually. I’ve come around to him -- yeah, it wasn’t cool to be passive aggressive with Solji, or to leave Woongki to sing the whole chorus by himself. Not cool, Z-Bo. But on further review of the situation, I think I was wrong to think that Z-Bo was being rude to Woongki in general -- Woongki has no animosity toward Z-Bo, so why should I? Plus, Z-Bo did a good job in his Switch performance and didn’t deserve such a low score. This was actually the first time that I really understood why some people are big fans of his -- he looked great on stage, actually! The dumb hair extensions really worked, the ugly pants looked good on him, I don’t know, he made it all work. But he seems resigned to his fate. 

Who came in first? Well, obviously Park Hanbin, with 741 points. 

This is his third straight time coming in first in the mission.

He’s slightly less amazed each time it happens.

He interviews that he’s starting to gain confidence. Well, I should hope so, lovey! 

That brings us pretty much to the end of this recap, but I do want to say that if you like slightly weird kpop songs, give Switch another try, ok? Listen to the official studio audio and use headphones. It’s actually a pretty cool song. It’s ok if it’s not your thing, I totally respect that, but I think the live performances on this show are consistently hampered by a poor mix -- the vocals stand out like it’s karaoke, and that’s not great for your overall enjoyment of the song. So it really can’t hurt to just give the song another try when you can really hear all the cool touches on the low and high ends. I’ve come to really like it. 

And that’s really the end! 

See you in the next one, lovies! It's Say My Name .

[emeraldbabygirl]

nct - yuta, mark, ten, rennie, jisung, xiaojun, johnny, taeyong, hendery

monsta-x - hyungwon, chankyun

bts - suga, jungkook, taehyung, jin

pentagon - wooseok, yuta, shinwon

nu'est - ren

b1a4 - cnu

cnblue - jungshin

n.flying - jaehyun, chahun, dongsung, seunghyub

onlyoneof - junji, kb, yoojung

2pm - taecyeon, nickhun

got7 - jb, mark

lunafly - teo

shinee - key, taemin, onew, minho

winner - seunghoon, taehyun, jinwoo

ikon - bobby, donghyuk

dbsk - jaejoong, changmin, yoochun, junsu, yunho

exo - chanyeol, kris, tao, luhan, xiumin, lay, kai

infinite - dongwoo, sungyeol, sungjong

u-kiss - kevin, dongho, kiseop

dalmation - donglim

m.i.b - kangnam

mblaq - lee joon, mir

boyfriend - the jo twins

ss501 - kim hyun joong

ftisland - hongki, jaejin

uniq - yibo, seungyoun/woodz

b.a.p - yongguk, jongup

txt - beomgyu, huehue, yeonjun

seventeen - jun, jeonghan, the8, mingyu, vernon, woozi, joshua

beatwin - sunhyeok, yoonhoo

sf9 - hwiyoung, zuho, rowoon

lucente - parkha, z.hoo

a.c.e - donghun, jun, sehyoon

vixx - leo, hongbin, ken

teen top - niel, minsoo

knk - youjin

victon - seungwoo, hanse

1team- bc

omega x - xen

k.a.r.d - j.seph

stray kids - hyunjin, jisung, felix, i.n

day6 - youngk

super junior - leeteuk, eunhyuk, heechul, donghae

imfact - jian, lee sang, ungjae

block b - jaehyo, p.o, park kyung, zico

newkidd - hwi

cross gene - takuya

ateez - hongjoong, yeosang, seonghwa, mingi, wooyoung

big bang - gd

bonus: kim jae wook

bonus: kim woo bin

bonus: park bo gum

bonus: park hyo shin

myname - gunwoo, junq

m.pire - haru

topp dogg - atom, xero, sangdo, bjoo

14u - loudi

2z - hojin, jisub, bumjun, junghyun, zunon

alphabat - gamma

n.tic - jion

dkb - yuku, heechan, harry june

vav - ace

target - boun, oojin, g.i

wei - yoo yongha

kingdom - ivan, mujin

to1 - chanhyuk, donggeon

mcnd - win, huijin

ghost9 - shin, prince

e'last - romin, rano, wonhyuk, baekyuel, yejun

blitzers - chris, go_u

nik - parkha

megamax - iden, jaehun, jini

argon - kain

epex - baekseung, mu

b.i.g - heedo

mirae - lien

xdinary heroes - gaon, jooyeon, junhan, o.de

oneus - xion, leedo

onewe - cya, dongmyeong

cravity - minhee, serim

xeed - jaemin

bz boys - seunghyun

xodiac - beomsoo

the rampage - hokuto, kaisei, itsuki, takahide, ryu, riku, yamamoto

psychic fever - jimmy, weesa

ballistik boys - matsui, sunada

j soul brothers - hiroomi

fantastics - keita, yusei yagi

atlas - erwin, nice, muon

travis japan - noel, genta, umi

zero base 1 - ricky, jiwoong

7 men samurai - konpi, bana-san, rinne

treasure - haruto, junghwan, hyunsuk, jaehyuk

bang yedam

jo1 - shosei, kinjo

snow man - hikaru, fuka, daisuke, raul, date-sama, koji, ren

boys republic - sunwoo

kim woojin

lucas

justb - geonu

the rose - woosung, dojoon

fistbump - hyunwoo

sema - sema

ini - rihito, jun

bonus: maeda gouki

bonus: jun shison

ryuji sato

bonus: shuntaro yanagi

bonus: masataka kubota

bonus: kanta sato

bonus: akhisa shiono

bonus: yuki yamada

riize - wonbin

great guys - dongin

cix - bae jiyoung

4mix - ninja, folksong, george

xy - gai, p star, furutatsu, kanji, jay, karma, kairi, kyohey

miyavi

yoshiki

hyde

gazette - aoi, kai, uruha, ruki, reita

highlight - dongwoon

buck-tick - atsushi, hyde, yuta, imai

t1419 - gunwoo, leo, sian

btob - minhyuk

click b -minhyuk

younite - dey, eunho

orbit - ooon, youndong

d-crunch - minhyuk, jungseung, dylan

unvs - eunho

enhypen - sunghoon, jake

hihi jets - syoya igari

sugizo

dir en grey - toshiya

sug - takeru

yohio

golden bomber - kenji, yutaka, jun

bonus: kento yamazaki

bonus: dori sakurada

bonus: takumi saitoh

arashi - matsumoto jun, oguri shun

bonus: haruma miura

bonus: go ayano

bonus: hu xiaoling

bonus: mizushima hiro

kat-tun - jin akanishi

itagaki mizuki

8turn - myungho

wataru vasayegh

onf - j-us

p1harmony - intak, theo, soul, jongseob

bonus: zhang shuai bo

bonus: song jae rim

bonus: takenouchi yutaka

bonus: paing takhon

bonus: ryu jun yeol

bonus: hu yetao

wang lin kai

wow - daro yoon

jeff satur

the7 - woochul

mont - roda, narachan

xenex - uhyeong

dawn

dios - hyun

n.ssign - doha

trendz - havit

lun8 - chael

82major - seongil

hoppipolla - jeonghun

@witchy-weve-monbebe ok I wasn’t going to post it cause I know there’s more but this is all I have so far. I have no idea what to do with the list I wanted a visual guide lol but idk what to do with it hehe I have pics from Pinterest I can use but yeah idk

[shookethdev]

a o e i i er ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong i ia iao ie iu ian in iang ing iong u ua uo uai ui uan un uang ueng ü üe üan ün a o e er ai ao ou an en ang eng yi ya yao ye you yan yin yang ying yong wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang weng yu yue yuan yun b ba bo bai bei bao ban ben bang beng bi biao bie bian bin bing bu p pa po pai pei pao pou pan pen pang peng pi piao pie pian pin ping pu m ma mo me mai mei mao mou man men mang meng mi miao mie miu mian min ming mu f fa fo fei fou fan fen fang feng fu d da de dai dei dao dou dan den dang deng dong di diao die diu dian ding du duo dui duan dun t ta te tai tei tao tou tan tang teng tong ti tiao tie tian ting tu tuo tui tuan tun n na ne nai nei nao nou nan nen nang neng nong ni niao nie niu nian nin niang ning nu nuo nuan nü nüe l la le lai lei lao lou lan lang leng long li lia liao lie liu lian lin liang ling lu luo luan lun lü lüe g ga ge gai gei gao gou gan gen gang geng gong gu gua guo guai gui guan gun guang k ka ke kai kei kao kou kan ken kang keng kong ku kua kuo kuai kui kuan kun kuang h ha he hai hei hao hou han hen hang heng hong hu hua huo huai hui huan hun huang z za ze zi zai zei zao zou zan zen zang zeng zong zu zuo zui zuan zun c ca ce ci cai cao cou can cen cang ceng cong cu cuo cui cuan cun s sa se si sai sao sou san sen sang seng song su suo sui suan sun zh zha zhe zhi zhai zhei zhao zhou zhan zhen zhang zheng zhong zhu zhua zhuo zhuai zhui zhuan zhun zhuang ch cha che chi chai chao chou chan chen chang cheng chong chu chua chuo chuai chui chuan chun chuang sh sha she shi shai shei shao shou shan shen shang sheng shu shua shuo shuai shui shuan shun shuang r re ri rao rou ran ren rang reng rong ru rua ruo rui ruan run j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jin jiang jing jiong ju jue juan jun q qi qia qiao qie qiu qian qin qiang qing qiong qu que quan qun x xi xia xiao xie xiu xian xin xiang xing xiong xu xue xuan xun

NAKU 🫵

[eyenaku]

Ji ji fu ji ji

a o e i i er ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong i ia iao ie iu ian in iang ing iong u ua uo uai ui uan un uang ueng ü üe üan ün a o e er ai ao ou an en ang eng yi ya yao ye you yan yin yang ying yong wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang weng yu yue yuan yun b ba bo bai bei bao ban ben bang beng bi biao bie bian bin bing bu p pa po pai pei pao pou pan pen pang peng pi piao pie pian pin ping pu m ma mo me mai mei mao mou man men mang meng mi miao mie miu mian min ming mu f fa fo fei fou fan fen fang feng fu d da de dai dei dao dou dan den dang deng dong di diao die diu dian ding du duo dui duan dun t ta te tai tei tao tou tan tang teng tong ti tiao tie tian ting tu tuo tui tuan tun n na ne nai nei nao nou nan nen nang neng nong ni niao nie niu nian nin niang ning nu nuo nuan nü nüe l la le lai lei lao lou lan lang leng long li lia liao lie liu lian lin liang ling lu luo luan lun lü lüe g ga ge gai gei gao gou gan gen gang geng gong gu gua guo guai gui guan gun guang k ka ke kai kei kao kou kan ken kang keng kong ku kua kuo kuai kui kuan kun kuang h ha he hai hei hao hou han hen hang heng hong hu hua huo huai hui huan hun huang z za ze zi zai zei zao zou zan zen zang zeng zong zu zuo zui zuan zun c ca ce ci cai cao cou can cen cang ceng cong cu cuo cui cuan cun s sa se si sai sao sou san sen sang seng song su suo sui suan sun zh zha zhe zhi zhai zhei zhao zhou zhan zhen zhang zheng zhong zhu zhua zhuo zhuai zhui zhuan zhun zhuang ch cha che chi chai chao chou chan chen chang cheng chong chu chua chuo chuai chui chuan chun chuang sh sha she shi shai shei shao shou shan shen shang sheng shu shua shuo shuai shui shuan shun shuang r re ri rao rou ran ren rang reng rong ru rua ruo rui ruan run j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jin jiang jing jiong ju jue juan jun q qi qia qiao qie qiu qian qin qiang qing qiong qu que quan qun x xi xia xiao xie xiu xian xin xiang xing xiong xu xue xuan xun

[sherlock-is-ace]

I'm going to personally murder every single person who was present for the dual position battles! What the fuck do you mean zhang shuai bo got first place in their song when cha woong ki did literally everything?! He singlehandedly carried the entire performance and the entire team!! the only thing shang shuai bo did was complain and blame everyone else!!

[liamoig]

Star level test

Zhang Shuai Bo

Choi Woojin

Kum Junhyeon

Cha Woongki

Oh Sungmin

Park Hanbin

Kim Taerae

Lee Jeonghyeon

Mun Junghyun

Wumuti

[buddhamethods]

woongki not winning the feel special stage after singing the whole chorus by himself TWICE (hehe),making the whole choreography BY HIMSELF and with those two cunts gossiping behind his back is actually going to push me over the edge like im so upset im going to puke. zhang shuai bo it's on sight bitch

[moon-marley11]

Zhang Shuai Bo-A kpop group with a vaporwave/dreamcore/weirdcore/fruitiger aero concept would be nice, or maybe a cgroup with a painting inspired concept kinda similiar to Red Velvet's Feel My Rhythm but with inspo from mythology like INVU or an abandoned concept with LDR type of music.

[genshinresource]

Genshin Impact 2nd Anniversary - CN VAs’ Voice Messages (Unsubbed)

List of characters in the video & their VAs under cut (not by appearing order)

Venti - 喵酱/Miaojiang

Zhongli - 彭博/Peng Bo

Raiden Shogun - 菊花花/Juhuahua

Nahida - 花玲/Hualing

Lisa - 钟可/Zhong Ke

Diluc - 马洋/Ma Yang

Razor - 周帅/Zhou Shuai

Rosaria - 张安琪/Zhang Anqi

Hu Tao - 陶典/Tao Dian

Yun Jin - 贺文潇/He Wenxiao (normal voice) & 杨扬/Yang Yang (singing voice)

Yelan - 徐慧/Xu Hui

Yanfei - 苏子芜/Su Ziwu

Kaedehara Kazuha - 斑马/Banma

Yoimiya - 金娜/Jin Na

Arataki Itto - 刘照坤/Liu Zhaokun

Kamisato Ayato - 赵路/Zhaolu

Tighnari - 莫然/Moran

Collei - 秦文静/Qin Wenjing

Dori - 王晓彤/Wang Xiaotong

Candace - 张琦/Zhang Qi

Cyno - 李轻扬/Li Qingyang

Nilou - 紫苏九月/Zisu Jiuyue

Aether - 鹿喑/Luyin

Lumine - 宴宁/Yanning

Paimon - 多多/Duoduo

Dainsleif - 孙晔/Yesun

[bopinion]

2022 / 13

Aperçu of the Week:

"Aristocrats could have spared themselves and their peoples much misfortune if they had not abolished court jesters. Since truth is no longer allowed to speak, it acts."

(Carl Ludwig Börne - 18th century German journalist who is considered the inventor of the feuilleton)

Bad News of the Week:

Vladimir Putin's current military aggression in Ukraine is often called "the TikTok war". Because it can and will be documented for the public by anyone with their smartphone, bypassing all official restrictions. So a Chinese app, of all things, is a building block of civil resistance? Far from it. Because TikTok censors. And even in Germany.

Corresponding investigations by ARD (the German public broadcaster) were grudgingly confirmed a few days ago by TikTok parent company ByteDance: yes, word filters are also used in this country. In concrete terms, this means that content that has polarization potential - for example, due to the use of the word "National Socialism" - is simply not displayed. So even neutral, factual publications on some topics simply fall under the table. This is a major problem for the LGBTQ+ community in particular, since even the word "homosexual" is effectively banned. And certain individuals are also "left out," such as Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who accused former sports official Zhang Gaoli of sexual abuse in November 2021.

This sheds light on the accountability of social media, too, in shaping opinion in a society. Take Telegram, for example: the Russian messaging service has become an important communication medium for opposition forces in many repressive countries like Iran. And in the current Ukraine war, it is also the primary medium used by, for example, Kiev's mayor Vitali Klitschko to inform his citizenry. On the other hand, the operator refuses to comply with any (Western) minimum standards for platform obligations, such as deleting hate speech or fake news. Which makes it a popular medium among many clear enemies of society - from neo-Nazis to QAnon supporters.

The bottom line: where there is a lot of light, there is also a lot of shadow. The much-vaunted fourth power in the state has the essential task of observing and also criticizing authorities, but it must not allow itself to be instrumentalized to be misused as a mouthpiece by enemies of democracy. From the general agitation against Judaism as the motor behind the aspired world domination up to the concrete planning of overthrow intentions, e.g. before the storming of the U.S. Capitol last January. Whoever publishes whatever statement must answer for it. It's as simple as that. But since regulation (as always) lags far behind real developments, it comes down to personal commitment. Which presupposes a fundamental understanding. Which still doesn't work for Facebook, for example - and that's been around for 18 years. Sad.

Good News of the Week:

First Starbucks, now Amazon: despite the triumph of predatory capitalism, workers continue to succeed in effectively demanding their rights - in this case, by forming works councils to fight with unions for fair employment conditions. For it is simply unacceptable in a community of solidarity (and we are currently learning, after all, that this is the binding agent of a functioning democratic society) that the billionaire boss flies into space as a hobby while his employees do not even get the time to go to the toilet during working hours.

Every ruler can only be a ruler if his people let them be ruled. Whereby a benevolent, well-meaning monarch has always been able to sleep more peacefully than a misanthropic despot. Otherwise there will be a revolution. On a large scale as well as on a small scale. Which for us means, for example, that we only order something from Amazon if there is no other source of supply and no alternative product available. Which still happens often enough. Nevertheless, it's always a good feeling to walk into the local bookstore and order a book, which is then only in your own hands two days later and combined with a second tour. But with the satisfaction that the stationary retail trade has a chance of survival. Because the idea of downtowns that have died out and are only populated by stressed-out delivery truck drivers parking in the second row with their hazard lights on gives me the creeps.

Personal happy moment of the week:

There is a (well-founded) prejudice that Germans don't really appreciate quality in food: European importers say that the best is taken by the French, the good by the Italians, then comes the rest - and the Germans simply take the cheapest. This weekend, we disproved that. Friends came over for a late breakfast. Our standard solution - so to speak, the typical Bavarian Brunch - is actually white sausages. But really good ones from a selected butcher. With pretzels, sweet mustard and wheat beer. But what do you do when your guests are (partly) vegetarians? For example, scrambled eggs with shrimp and green onions. But above all, yesterday I went to the weekly farmer's market at our place and got eight different kinds of cheese. At a price that was then probably rather un-German. And what can I say? It was appreciated. And there's still some left, so we'll be eating cheese and bread (that core German competence is probably undisputed) tonight. Pure indulgence. Which is worth it.

I couldn't care less...

...that since yesterday most Corona-related restrictions have been abolished in Germany. In the office today I was the only one with FFP2 mask. And in the supermarket not alone, but clearly in the minority. Anyone who makes his behavior dependent only on regulations must know what he is doing. As if the virus had lost its threat potential at midnight. Now it's up to everyone to decide for themselves what they think is right. That's how a free society works. So don't look at me stupid - I won't look at you stupid either. At most astonished.

As I write this...

...I look out of the window in amazement. In March we had the hottest March since weather records began a good hundred years ago. Including drying of nature, which - remarkable in Germany! - even led to forest fires. And now there are ten centimeters of snow outside (in April!). And there are actually still people who deny climate change, unbelievable.

Post Scriptum:

One of my personal favorite musicians, US jazz innovator Jon Batiste, won 5 Grammys yesterday. Primarily with his remarkable last album "We are" that I also enthusiastically reviewed almost a year ago. Surely the jury was impressed by this... ;-)

[attheexactlyrighttimeandplace]

Films of 2019: personal recommendations

I wouldn’t consider myself a film fan: in 2018, i only went twice to cinema and before that i didn’t put a foot in a cinema for at least 2 years. So 2019 was  exceptional for me: my local indie theatres had fantastic programs making a large place to asian cinema (almost as if it was a festival) and i ended up watching 12 films (few that i even even rewatch 2/3 times) in few days. 

Nationality matter a lot in my list, so here the details: 5 japanese films/documentary/animation, 5 chinese films/documentary, 1 korean film, 1 Singaporean film).  

2019 was the year of chinese independent cinema. My recommandation would thus be to start by the following chinese works but only if you’re not afraid of very long films, romantic slow paced stories with mindblowing edit and possibly confusing timeline. 

The elitist club of the directors/masters in full command of their art who produced true masterpieces:  

An Elephant Sitting Still by Hu Bo (China)    

So Long, My Son by Wang Xiao Shuai (China)

Ashes is the Purest White by Jia Zhang Ke ( China)

Long Day’s Journey into Night by Bi Gan (China)

A japanese addition: A Family Affair by Kore-eda Hirokazu, the most deserved Palme d’or since years.

Not as perfect but still very brilliant: 

Asako I&II by Hamaguchi Ryusuke (Japan)

A Land Imagined by Siew Hua Yeo (Singapore)

A return to childhood: japanese animation films by the greatest masters.  

The Castle of Cagliostro by Hayao Miyazaki (Japan)

Mirai by Mamoru Hosoda (Japan)

The “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” award goes to the documentary:

One child Nation (USA)

Technically i watched it on tv because it was the only way but it got a theatrical release in few others countries, and it’s the essential complement to So Long, my son, in order to understand the full context of the film, so i kept it in this list..  

“I didn’t get the hype though i tried” category, also known as the unpopular opinion: 

Parasite by Bong Joo Hoo (South Korea).

Anyone who watch k-drama regularly would have guessed the major twist miles away. Since the construction of the film depends entirely on the narrative manipulation, once you removed it, there’s not much to enjoy. Everything else: acting and directing felt lazy, except Song Kang Ho who was completely underused.    

[netlex]

An Elephant Sitting Still (2018) China

Director Hu Bo ( 1988-2017) died by suicide 

Cast Wei Bu Peng Yuchang Huang Ling Wang Yuwen Yu Cheng Zhang Yu Wang Jin Li Congxi Li Kai Ling Zhenghui Yu Shuai Zhang Xiaolong

Hu Bo’s film, based on a story with the same title from his 2017 novel Huge Crack, paints a thankless portrait of contemporary China where many of the country’s glaring contradictions are exacerbated to the point of no return. Taking place over the course of a single day in a featureless town in northern China, the film starts with its four protagonists, each for different but equally dismal reasons planning to escape the dread of daily life.

Review

Le destin croisé de deux adolescents, d'un vieil homme et d'un jeune chef de gang

[xembongda]

Xemdabanhhd đưa tin: Soi kèo Jiangsu Suning vs Shenzhen, 14h30 ngày 18/9 – VĐQG Trung Quốc

1 Soi kèo Jiangsu Suning vs Shenzhen 1.1 Soi kèo châu Á Jiangsu Suning vs Shenzhen 1.2 Soi kèo tài xỉu (Over/under) Jiangsu Suning vs Shenzhen Soi kèo Jiangsu Suning vs Shenzhen Soi kèo Jiangsu Suning vs Shenzhen, 14h30 ngày 18/9, cúp FA Trung Quốc 2020/21. Nhận định, dự đoán tỷ lệ kèo Jiangsu Suning vs Shenzhen chính xác nhất.

Soi kèo châu Á Jiangsu Suning vs Shenzhen Đã 2 trận đấu liên tiếp trôi qua, Jiangsu Suning vẫn chưa thể kiếm về được chiến thắng. Họ bị những Dalian Pro hay Guangzhou R&F cầm hòa vô cùng đáng tiếc ở tình thế là đội bóng dẫn trước đối thủ.

Xem thêm: Xem lai bóng đá

Tuy nhiên nếu nhìn vào tổng thể, đây vẫn là khoảng thời gian khá thành công đối với Jiangsu Suning. Đội bóng này hiện có được vị trí thứ 2 trên BXH, chỉ xếp dưới nhà ĐKVĐ Guangzhou Evergrande. Bên cạnh đó, thầy trò ông Olăroiu cũng rất đáng khen khi quyết định chuyển sang lối chơi khoa học, khi sẵn sàng lên bóng từ phần sân nhà thay vì dùng những đường bóng dài như trước đây.

Jiangsu Suning vào hiện tại đang rất khát khao để chấm dứt chuỗi trận không mấy tốt đẹp kể trên. Và may mắn cho họ khi đối thủ chỉ là một Shenzhen, con mồi ưa thích của đội bóng này.

Thống kê trong 6 trận gần nhất Shenzhen chạm mặt Jiangsu Suning, chỉ đúng 1 lần niềm vui thuộc về Shenzhen. Còn lại, Jiangsu Suning là kẻ có được chiến thắng chung cuộc.

Shenzhen đã chống cự bằng mọi thứ có thể, nhưng Jiangsu Suning là một đội bóng quá già dơ và bản lĩnh. Điều này sẽ lại được họ thể hiện trong trận cầu tới trước Shenzhen.

Khi thiên thời, địa lợi, nhân hòa đều đang ủng hộ Jiangsu Suning, rõ ràng kèo thắng sẽ rất khó thoát khỏi tay đội chủ nhà. 90 phút sắp tới chắc chắn không dễ dàng, nhưng đó chỉ càng tô điểm thêm cho 3 điểm của Jiangsu Suning.

Chọn Jiangsu Suning

Soi kèo tài xỉu (Over/under) Jiangsu Suning vs Shenzhen 5 trong 8 trận kèo bóng đá gần đây của cả Jiangsu Suning và Shenzhen không thể xuất hiện quá 3 bàn/trận. Rõ ràng đây là con số không đủ tốt để 2 đội bóng này trông chờ vào việc tạo nên một cuộc rượt đuổi tỷ số hấp dẫn sắp tới.

Chọn Xỉu

Đội hình dự kiến Jiangsu Suning vs Shenzhen

Jiangsu Suning: Gu Chao, Abduhamit Abdugheni, Yang Bo Yu, Joao Filho, Li Ang, Xie PengFei, Zhang Xiaobin, Tian YiNong, Wakaso Mubarak, Ivan Santini, Citadin Eder.

Shenzhen: Guo Wei, Mi Haolun, Ju-Hun Song, Pei Shuai, Ge Zhen, Ole Selnaes, Yuan Zhang, Yuanyi Li, Gao Lin, Harold Villarreal, Thievy Koulossa.

Phong độ gần đây Jiangsu Suning vs Shenzhen

Dự đoán tỉ số Jiangsu Suning vs Shenzhen: 1-0

[boysplanetrecaps]

just some thoughts about the Switch performance

after the cut

So I was thinking about it, and as much as I enjoyed the Switch performance, I think that piling a big, bright, silly concept on top of an already genre-bending song was just too much of everything, you know? 

Hear me out. What if, instead of being… spirits? question mark? from a video game…? in a day glow arcade… 

They’re styled kind of like Exo in this performance off Kokobop, minus the frizzy hair. They’re wearing simple low-rider sneakers. They look clean and healthy.  They might have on some leather bracelets or things like that.

The stage is set up to look like a tropical beach at sunset, like could they make it look like there's sand under their feet somehow? And at a key moment we change to night time on the beach instead, and there's a bunch of twinkle lights on the palm trees that light up.

The boys are playful and charming, just like they are in the dance practice. 

Right? 

And then during TaeRae’s adlibs at the end, the sun comes up again!

What can I say, I have a vision. 

[boysplanetrecaps]

Boys Planet Episode 11: Recap and Guide

Hey, fellow Star Creator! Are you ready to have your heart smashed to smithereens? …. No? Me either. In fact, I'm late getting this recap to you because it was hard to type with my heart next to me in a basin of saline solution. But I managed.

Let’s go!

At 0:38, we start off with the boys hanging out at their dorms after their third mission, high fiving each other and expressing some anxiety about the upcoming eliminations. They have to pack to go home now for a while. The staff has set up a photo booth for them to make some memories.  In case anyone thinks that there’s animosity between Woongki and Zhuang Shai Bo, there definitely isn’t.  

The trainees go back back home, awaiting the next elimination ceremony. 

Pretty sure that’s Ricky, just being mysterious and painting roses in a graffiti covered studio, because how else would Ricky spend his time when he’s not performing?

We spend a little time with Han Yujin and his very popular pretty mother. We also see Keita and Kum Junhyeon hanging out with Eunho from Younite and Hwi from Ciipher -- it seems that Junhyeon used to be a trainee at Rain company and trained with some or all of the Ciipher, which explains how they both know Hwi, but I’m not sure the impossibly faced Eunho fits in (seriously, who has a face like that? He looks like a Bratz doll come to life, in a good way). I also don’t know how we never knew that Junhyeon and Keita have been friends this whole time??? They’re just out having a meal and talking about how young Kum Junhyeon was when they used to train together. We see a lot of other stuff, including Kim JiWoong at a dog cafe, even though he’s apparently allergic to dogs. They’re all visiting with friends and family.

Then we see the guys all packing to go back to Planet Camp, even though many of them know that they probably won’t make it through this elimination ceremony. It’s pretty sad. But remember, they’re all going to be ok, right, team? A lot of them are signed with good companies and will probably debut in 2025, if not sooner. So deep breaths. It’s ok!

Then we visit with Park Hanbin, who is wearing a very soft looking blue sweater, as if anticipating future MNET shows. He says he’s worried about not being able to debut. Park Hanbin, you silly goose. You’re going to debut whether or not you make it into Bepler. Listen to BPR Noona. I know of what I speak.

6:15 Now it’s time for the elimination ceremony!

So, I actually watched the live streaming ceremony, which popped up on my phone as I was getting ready to go to sleep. Cannabis is legal where I live and so I might have been particularly ready to close my eyes, you know? But I watched, my eyes blinking heavily, because I wanted to know! The things the boys were saying weren’t translated, so I was only able to catch the gist. Also, the live broadcast was just a raw feed of them, and without the editing and background music, it felt like I was watching a first rehearsal. 

Anyway, as usual, we start with the boys backstage talking about how nervous they are -- us too, guys -- and then coming out in small groups based on their most recent challenge mission. They do various kinds of schtick, and once their whole team is out they do a combined schtick. It looked heckin’ awkward in the live broadcast, but edited down it looks much better.

Here’s the order they come out:

Kim Tae Rae, Na Kamden, and Zhang Shuai Bo (Switch)

Keita, Park Hanbin, and Yoon Jongwoo (Switch)

Wang Zi Hao, Ollie, and Haruto (Supercharger)

Woongki, Takuto, Seo Won (Supercharger)

Zhang Hao and Lee Jungheyon (Over Me)

Ricky, Chen Kuan Jui, Jay (Over Me)

Sung Hanbin and Han Yujin (Say My Name)

Yoo Seung Eon, Seok Matthew, and Kim Ji Woong (Say My Name)

Hui (Lee Hoe Taek), Hiroto, and Lee Seung Hwan (En Garde)

Kim Gyuvin, Kum Junhyeon, Park Gunwook (En Garde)

And who is their Star Master this time? In the live broadcast, she stood with her back to the camera for just a few seconds and then came in, but of course, in the edited version, there’s 15 minutes of guessing first. 

But it’s Jeon Somi! 

I would impale myself on those spikes every time I moved slightly, but she makes it look good.

If you’re not familiar with Jeon Somi, she is a successful soloist who went through the reality show gamut. First she was on a show called Sixteen, a reality competition show that created the kpop giants Twice (you know, the ones who sing “Feel Special”). She didn’t make the lineup of Twice, but she got pretty popular from being on the show. Then she was on the first season of Produce 101, the precursor of Girls Planet/Boys Planet, and ended up pretty much killing it, taking first place in the final episode and becoming the “center” of project group IOI (pronounced “eye-oh-eye”). Check out their song Very Very Very if you want to see what IOI is like.

After IOI disbanded, Somi became a soloist. I love her song Birthday -- my fella doesn’t like much kpop, but for whatever reason he loves Birthday. (He specifically loves how she she says “eyyy”.) Despite it being a pretty great song, Birthday wasn’t a huge hit because she was “f a a t “ at the time (she absolutely wasn’t, and even if she was, it shouldn’t matter, but people can really be The Worst, and also her stylist didn’t know how to dress a young woman with actual boobs). Anyway she has other songs now, like Dumb Dumb, and she’s frighteningly skinny now, so she’s a lot more successful. I think she’s always been a sparkly fun person. I wish she’d given her cue cards a bit of a read before she came out on stage, but… whatever. Oh, and if you’re wondering, she’s 22, half Korean and half white, and was born in Canada.

The boys go crazy when they realize it’s Somi -- Kamden says he won’t be able to sleep tonight, and a few of the others talk about how tall she is. She’s 5’8, which is fairly tall for a girl, especially in Korea. 

She reads some usual stuff off a cuecard, and then adds, “It’s not easy being on a survival show, is it? I remember HATING this studio myself” (as in, when she was on Produce 101). The boys give her some serious snaps. 

We find out that people in 182 countries voted a total of 31,750,293 votes, and that trainees ranked 1 through 18 will survive. We also find out that during the first phase of the announcement, they’ll only be announcing trainees from 11 through 17 inclusive, which is only seven people, so this is really silly. 

After that, in the live broadcast, Somi said something that MNET translated thusly: “I know how much effort and sweat they have put into this far because not only I but so many world star creators are sending their cheers to them. Believe in your time and the sweat dedicated, and get with it to the end.” That part didn’t make it into the final airing, as far as I can tell, but I think it’s funny. She read it at top speed, sounding like a bored flight attendant reading the same safety instructions for the millionth time, and not looking up from the cue cards once. Maybe that’s why they didn’t air it.

Anyway -- so now that the stakes have been established, we bring up two teams to start with: Switch and Engarde. 

First Round of Eliminations 

Here are the 12 trainees who are waiting to hear their fate, in order of their rank in episode 8:

6 Kim Gyu Vin Love Me Right - K / Love Killa/ En Garde

7 Kim Tae Rae Back Door - K/ Man in Love/ Switch

8 Keita Kill This Love - G/ Zoom /   Switch

9 Park Gunwook Kill This Love - K/ Tomboy/ En Garde

10 Kum Jun Hyeon Back Door - K /Gang /    En Garde

11 Hui Love Me Right - K / Tomboy /En Garde

13 Park Hanbin Hot Sauce - K   /   Law/ Switch

15 Yoon Jong Woo Back Door - K /Home/Switch

20 Na Kamden Back Door - G /Law /Switch

21 Lee Seung Hwan Danger - K/ Gang /En Garde

23 Zhang Shuai Bo Back Door - G/ Feel Special /Switch

28 Hiroto Very Nice - G/ Rush Hour/ En Garde

Somi announces that they’re going to announce the trainee who is 11th place, who got 2,365,604 points. It’s someone who did the killing part.

Then she gives the clue that the person in 11th has the family name “Park.” Well, that’s either Park Gunwook or Park Hanbin. Gunwook doesn’t want to be announced in 11th place; Hanbin would be delighted to be in 11th. So they sort of awkwardly grin at each other from across the aisle. 

At 17:13 And then we find out that it’s Park Hanbin! So they’re both happy! Everyone is proud of him and a little surprised.

Look how happy Z-Bo is for him, and everyone else, too! That’s their fearless leader! 

He says, “I won’t be able to be the shiniest star on Boys Planet, but I want to be the one and only star. Since this could be my last chance to shine the brightest, I’ll try to give a great performance.” Somi tells him he shines brightly already, and his gives her a huge, eye squinting grin. That’s doing to be a “happy memory for a sad day” for him -- one of those happy memories you return to when you need a boost. But hopefully Hanbin won’t have too many sad days in front of him.

Kum Junhyeon says to Park Gunwook, “he didn’t deserve the low ranking,” which is so true. Park Hanbin has been great since the first day. It was just hard to get to know his personality at first.

In the live broadcast, Somi asked him to show his “favorite facial expression,” and he did, but it’s all so weird. Does anyone else think that Kpop is getting a bit too codified? Can there be any mystery or general stage technique that isn’t parsed down into the tiniest bits? Anyway, that doesn’t make it into the final broadcast, which is all for the best 

As Hanbin walks up to lonely seat 11 all by himself, Jay says, “Park Hanbin serves and deserves,” which is a great way of putting it. 

Here’s the floor plan to help you figure out who is sitting where as the episode goes on-- that’s P-Hanbin in 11th. 

This is where the live broadcast ended, so I was a mixture of happy (I was so stoned and sleepy and just wanted to close my eyes) and contented (at least my Park Hanbin is safe!) and furious (seriously, MNET?). But that’s all they gave us, the fuckwits. 

Rank 12 is next, and it’s someone from En Garde, someone who stood out because of best friend energy, so that could be a lot of people. 

We find out that it’s Park Gunwook! He’s fallen from 9th place to 12 -- everyone is shocked, and there’s a silent pause before people start applauding. That peach, Lee Seunghwan, who probably isn’t going to make it through this elimination, gives him a high five and tries to cheer him up, but he looks really sad.

Sad, but still cute! I like the ruffly hair.

Ok, everyone’s super surprised that he fell out of the top9, but I’m not that surprised, really. Don’t get me wrong, I still quite like Park Gunwook and am rooting for him to succeed in life. I’ve heard that some people dislike him, but I think he’s essentially a sweet guy who jokes around in uncomfortable situations. I also think he’s talented, with a loveable face, and I hope that Jellyfish will figure out some way to promote him if he doesn’t make the top 9 here. 

That all said, he’s been showing the same part of himself again and again on the show. It’s that super masculine, powerful style of dancing that he always does, you know? I think people are just a tiny bit tired of the powerful powerhouse of power. I feel that way a tiny bit myself. I didn’t need him to do something super cute like Say My Name or something mega sexy like Over Me, exactly, but I think I would have liked to see him in something more like Switch -- something that requires a different, more lighthearted style of dancing. I think he can do it, so I hope that he can show that in the next episode. 

Who’s next? Rank 15. Who could it be?

It’s someone known for his unique facial expressions, and it’s an extrovert, so it could be a lot of them -- not Keita, Hui, Hiroto, or Lee Seunghwan who are introverts, but any of the rest. (Is anyone else surprised to hear that Kim Taerae is an extrovert? He comes across as more of an introvert -- probably MNET editing striking again.)  Anyway, it could be almost any of these six…

And at 22:45 we find out that it’s Yoon Jongwoo, who had been ranked 15th in episode 8. 

Everyone is super surprised, including Jongwoo himself. I think he was expected to be eliminated after his ignominious treatment in episodes 9 and 10, but seriously, watch his fancam from Switch. He’s such a good dancer and performer. He’d be a benefit to any team he’d be on. I really hope he does a cover of Over Me and puts it up on Youtube. Just putting that out into the universe. 

Kum Junhyeon and Kim Gyuvin have given up on casting spells. 

Who’s next? Rank 16. Who could it be? 

Park Hanbin mutters to himself, “This is daebak.” I should have mentioned this in an earlier recap, but for those of you newish to K-culture, “daebak” means something like “amazing” or “surprising” or even “cool.” Sometimes people just say “daebak” as an exclamation, in which case it means something like “wow!”

Everyone is anxious but Zhang Shuai Bo, who already knows that there is a 99.99999% chance that he is eliminated. He probably didn’t even pack anything in his suitcase. His new brown hair looks nice, though. 

It’s someone who’s rank has fallen, and someone who never had a killing part. That could be a lot of people. 

And at 25:49 we find out it’s Kum Junhyeon. (The Viki subtitler spells his name Guem -- the G/K sound in Korean is sort of halfway between G and K, so you see it either way depending on the transliteration system in use. And there’s a lot of variation in how people transliterate vowel sounds in Korean, which is one of the reasons I learned to read actual Korean sybmbols!)

Kum Junhyeon has dropped a lot from 10th place. I don’t have a specific theory as to why he dropped, but I kind of think that he’s stopped looking like one of the it-crowd, somehow. Put on a team with Gunwook and Gyuvin, he sort of faded into the background. I like Junhyeon a lot -- he’s charismatic, funny, open-hearted, and a really great singer -- and hope he debuts, but I don’t think he’s going to debut with Bepler. I think he knows that too -- he looks like he’s going to cry. 

We hear from each of them. 

Yoon Jongwoo says, “Since I came here without expecting anything, my memories here are so precious. I kept telling myself to be in the final, at least. And I ended up being here. I’d like to thank the Star Creators who support me one more time.” 

Park Gunwook says, “I really wanted to be on stage one more time. My goal coming here was moving on to the final.  Thankfully, I’d be able to join the final with such a high ranking. I’m relieved. I’d like to express my love and gratitude to the Star Creators who support me.”  

Then Somi asks Gunwook to do something aegyo, and he chooses instead to do something kawaii instead. He says, in Japanese, things like “I love you! I like you a lot!” (The on-screen words are transliterated Japanese with Korean translation underneath.)

Side note: “aegyo” is a thing in K-culture. It’s when idols and other performers do over-the-top, cloying, saccharine cuteness as a… mini performance. It’s quite popular among Koreans, and is often requested by variety show hosts, but international audiences often don’t like it. Personally, I don’t like it, but it’s not my culture and it’s not my place to say “stop doing thing because I don’t like thing,” you know? Though I really do wish they’d stop. 

Anyway, Gunwook speaking Japanese spurs Kum Junhyeon to do his speech in Japanese as well, and he sounds like a first semester Japanese student. It’s much cuter than his old “I am 5 years old” shtick, though, I’ll say that. 

So, this group takes their seats, and everyone wonders, Who’s next? But there isn’t anyone else in this group. 

Though the show plays danger music to make it seem otherwise, it’s fair to assume that Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Tae Rae, Keita, and Hui are probably in the top 10. But unless Na Kamden, Lee Seung Hwan, Zhang Shuai Bo, or Hiroto is ranked 18th, they’ve all been eliminated. 

The trainees think that Lee Hoetek/Hui might have been eliminated, but that seems extremely unlikely. The people who’ve been voting for him as of episode 8 are probably going to keep voting for him -- he just hasn’t done enough to attract new people to him. I don’t think he’ll make the final lineup, but I don’t think he’ll be eliminated today.

Then Somi announces that she’s heard that “on a beautiful day, the trainees spent a day full of doubts and suspicion.” 

Oh no.

It’s… 

30:05 FILLER TIME

If you’re not into Kpop -- and even if you are a little into it --  you may not know about the whole ecology that surrounds idol groups. There are these variety shows, such as After School Club and Weekly Idol, shows where idols come on and get made fun of and forced to do silly things, like dance to their songs at 2x speed, or chicken fight, or answer trivia questions, or whatever the show feels like doing to them. 

There’s also a custom of idols creating content specifically for their fans, to hold up their side of the parasocial relationship. They joke around, they play games, they cook or eat food, and most importantly, they talk to the camera like it’s their girlfriend and talk about how much they miss their fans and want to see them again. This stuff makes me uncomfortable, but I know a lot of people like it. 

Anyway, all the “filler” stuff we see on Boys Planet is a good introduction to the kind of content you often see on shows or videos like these. As such, even though it’s filler, it’s actually an audition for a big part of the job that they’ll be doing as idols. Plenty of idols are known as much for their reality show appearances as for their performance skills (if not more so). 

That said, there isn’t a lot to say about this stuff -- it’s just cute fan service. Here’s a super quick recap:

The boys gather outside at an area with big platform tents, on what must have been a lovely sprint day. Park Hanbin is wearing that same soft looking blue sweater, and Kim TaeRae is wearing a sweatshirt that says Thrasher on it, with just enough dark tape over the logo that they don’t have to blur it. My 17 year old self fainted dead away when she saw that Thrasher logo. Is there anything cuter than a skater boy? (Other than my fella, who is the cutest boy of all boys.)

The trainees are told they will have to dress like cute animals and spend a self-sufficient day in the forest - - which is complete bullshit, but that’s ok. 

First, they have to put on loose pajama pants without using their hands -- which is an excuse to help each other and touch each other’s crotchal areas with their feet and teeth -- in order to choose which team gets to wear which animal outfit. That part is actually pretty fun to watch, especially when Chen Kuan Jui uses his powers of stretchiness to get’er’done.

Once they get their animal outfit on (they’re just big loose onesie outfits), they’re all told that each team will have a “raccoon” in it (basically, like a mole -- someone who ruins everything) and that they have to figure out who it is. They have to go into a tent one by one to find out if they’re the raccoon or not -- it’s not as if they choose to be the mole. If the team can figure out who’s the raccoons amongst them, then everyone else wins the prize, but if they don’t, the raccoons win the prizes. The stakes are high.

Say My Name comes in first and chooses unicorn. 

Switch comes in second and chooses something red; I can’t tell what it is. 

En Garde comes in 3rd and chooses dinosaur.

Supercharger comes in 4th and chooses something pink; I can’t tell what it is.  

Over Me comes in last and chooses something black. 

Over Me’s raccoon is revealed immediately as Lee Jeonghyeon, and he says, “thank you” and that he’s confident he can do it. Just more MNET spotlighting him to try to get another K-group member in the top9 if possible. 

They’re hungry and have to play a game where they spin around until they’re dizzy and have to poke at a board with ingredients written on it. The best things are in tiny boxes, which are hard to target. But most of the trainees get at least something decent for food. 

Then they play another game to win dessert -- prizes range from shaved ice to “healthy tea” -- and this game is my least favorite Korean reality staple, “Scream in the dark.” It’s this game where they all wear huge headphones that block out most sound, and have to shout at each other and read each other’s lips. This game is played on all the idol shows, and it’s really not my favorite. Maybe it’d be more fun if I were a fluent Korean speaker…? Also, it’s obviously going to be hard for non native speakers from G-group. 

This part goes on for approximately 3,791 years, so if you’d like to skip to the end of it, go to 49:18. 

After that, the boys discuss who amongst them could be the raccoon (mole). We find out that each raccoon has a purple raccoon symbol stamped on his foot. So they choose who among them is the raccoon and then that person has to reveal their foot. 

Though Over Me’s team seems to suspect Lee Jeonghyeon, they cast out Jay, almost as if they are the general public viewing the show. Of course, Jay is innocent.

Switch team picks Keita, but he’s innocent as well. Turns out the mole was Park Hanbin! Back when he found out that he had to be the mole, he said -- with his face hidden and voice distorted -- “I can’t lie!” and collapsed on the floor. But he was good at it after all! Have I mentioned lately that I really like Park Hanbin? Because I do.

Say My Name team picks Sung Hanbin, and he’s also innocent. Turns out it was really Han Yujin. Interestingly, when he was chosen as the mole, he said, “I’m good at this kind of thing.” A rare glimpse into the personality of Han Yujin.

Supercharger picked Wang Zi Hao, and he is in fact the mole. 

En Garde team picked Kum Junhyeon, and he’s also innocent. Turns out the real mole was Park Gunwook. 

The raccoons have won! Their prize is a variety of high fashion outfits -- in other words, their animal onesies. (Ten bucks says they all got to keep their onesies anyway.)

And that’s the end of the filler!

56:50 SECOND ROUND OF ELIMINATIONS

They joke about the game for a bit longer, and then go back to the eliminations. 

Next up will be the other teams: Supercharger, Over Me, and Say My Name. 

Ricky says to Jay, in English, “Let’s survive together.” Kim JiWoong leans over to Matthew and says, quoting from Love Killa, “Oh I’m sorry, did I make you anxious?”

Here’s everyone who’s up on the chopping block, in case you would like a refresher as to who is who. I’ve listed their most recent rank as well as their three challenge missions.

1 Sung Hanbin Love Me Right - K / Tomboy / Say My Name

2 Zhang Hao Kill This Love - G/ Tomboy/ Over Me

3 Han Yu Jin Back Door - K   / Law / Say My Name

4 Seok Matthew Kill This Love - G/ Love Killa/ Say My Name

5 Kim Ji Woong Back Door - K /Love Killa /Say My Name

12 Jay Love Me Right - G/ Home /Over Me

14 Ricky Back Door - G/ Rush Hour /Over Me

16 Haruto Love Me Right - G / Zoom/ Supercharger

17 Yoo Seung Eon Very Nice - K Home Say My Name

18 Seo Won Very Nice - K Love Killa Supercharger

19 Wang Zi Hao Kill This Love - G Law Supercharger

22 Chen Kuan Jui Kill This Love - G Butterfly Over Me

24 Lee Jeong Hyeon Love Me Right - K Gang Over Me

25 Takuto Danger - G Rush Hour Supercharger

26 Cha Woong Ki Very Nice - K Feel Special Supercharger

27 Ollie Hot Sauce - G Zoom Supercharger

Who’s up first? 13th place. Who could it be? 

Someone who’s noted for their talent (thanks, that’s unhelpful). It’s someone from Over Me. We see Park Hanbin with his hands folded, as if in prayer -- he’s hopeful it’ll be his WakeOne teammate, Lee JeongHyeon. 

At 1:01:00, we find out it’s Jay. 

We see that Jay’s Korean support is painfully low -- only 62,829 votes, while everyone else announced so far has had 200,000+ -- while his global support is super high --  1,400,606 while no one else has broken into the millions. He’s a little sad because he’s dropped another spot, and it’s looking less and less likely that he’ll make top9 in the end.

Honestly, at this point, I think it’s better for Jay that he *not* debut in Bepler. Looking at what’s going on with Kepler, all the fan wars and stuff, I think he’s better of not in that kind of situation. Who wants to debut based on global vote and then have to go to fan meetings in Korea where literally no one acknowledges you? He’ll have a more fulfilling career using this as a spring board to make his own music and release it mostly online, the way that B.I. and Jackson Wang do. Let K-netz hate him all they want, and let him just sing in English like he’d probably prefer to do. I’d much rather have B.I.’s career than, say, Park Jihoon’s. (Though I do absolutely love all three of the songs I linked to, for the record. But Jihoon’s stylist noona deserves serious sanctions. His whole MV team does. Send them to the naughty step for a few hours to rethink their choices in life.) There’s life after Boys Planet and it doesn’t have to involve Bepler. 

Who’s next? 14th place. Who could it be? 

Someone indispensable -- so team Supercharger hopes it’s Haruto, as do we all, right? Haruto is everyone’s unproblematic fave. 

At 1:02:34, we find out it’s Yoo Seungeon.

Yoo Seungeon is signed to Yuehua, along with current trainees Ricky, Zhang Hao, Han Yujin, Ollie, and Kim Gyuvin, and eliminated trainees Brian and Ji Yun Seo.  He really is quite young to debut, and doesn’t really need to debut right now -- it seems quite likely that Zhang Hao and Han Yujin will make the final lineup, and Ricky and Gyuvin have a decent chance, so the Yuehua team that debuts in 2024 or 2025 will start off with a lot of momentum. It still can’t hurt for Seungeon to have more exposure, so it’s nice that he made it. He seems like a sweet kid and a genuine talent. All that said, I’m so worried about Haruto I can’t think straight. 

Who’s next? 17th place. Who could it be?

Everyone is hoping that it’ll be themselves, and this is so painful. Cha Woongki tries to keep from hoping. The person is known for their rapping, so of course I’m hoping for Haruto, but there are a lot of rappers here. 

Somi says that the person has two “ng” consonants. 

Korean reading time! The little circles you see in Korean have a few different roles. Often, they’re silent, like when they come before a vowel. For example, the family name “Lee” (which is really pronounced more like Ee) is spelled 이, as you see above on Lee Jeonghyun’s name. (That straight up and down line thing is the -ee part. You also see it in the final syllable of Woongki’s name -- 기.) When you see the circle thingy at the top of a name, it’s more like “w-” sound. When it’s at the bottom of a word, it’s a -ng sound. That’s why you see it in the top and bottom of 웅 for Woongki (and for Kim JiWoong, also) and in 왕 Wang. You also see it in the bottom of Lee Jeonghyun’s second syllable. 

Of course everyone has tons of little circles in their names since they do so much work in Korean writing -- even before I could read Korean I could always tell Korean from other writing systems by the little circles. 

Who could it be in 17th place? At 1:05:05 we find out it’s It’s Lee Jeonghyeon. He burst into tears, which seems to surprise his fellow WakeOne trainees Park Hanbin and Kim TaeRae. Of course people are happy for him but sad that they (or their other friends) didn’t survive. 

We get told that without the benefit, he would have been in 19th place. 

The surviving trainees get to make a speech. 

Jay says, in slow English (probably to make it easier for non-native speakers to understand): "To all my friends and family watching from all the way back in the states, I just want to say thank you so much for tuning in every week and screaming at the television.” Somi, who is Canadian and fluent in English, says “Blow them a kiss!” and he does.

Yoo Seung Eon says, “First of all, I never imagined that I’d survive in a high rank of 14, so I feel like I’m dreaming. I have no words to describe how I feel right now. Also, thanks to my Say My Name teammates who created the greatest performance, I really love you.” 

Lee Jeonghyeon says, “At every survivor announcement, I was always on the verge of disqualifications. So today, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to make it. But I’m really grateful to the Team Over Me who practiced hard, so we could get benefits.” Then he says, in extremely halting Chinese and Japanese, things like “I love you” and “thank you”, with Hiroto and other trainees helping him from the sidelines. 

They take their seats, and Lee Jeonghyeon regains his cool. 

1:09:00 THIRD ELIMINATION SEGMENT - TOP 10

So, let’s look at the list of trainees, in their episode 8 ranking order. Those marked in green have already been seated in 11th through 17th place. 

1 Sung Hanbin 2 Zhang Hao 3 Han Yu Jin 4 Seok Matthew 5 Kim Ji Woong 6 Kim Gyu Vin 7 Kim Tae Rae 8 Keita 9 Park Gunwook 10 Kum Jun Hyeon 11 Hui 12 Jay 13 Park Hanbin 14 Ricky 15 Yoon Jong Woo 16 Haruto 17 Yoo Seung Eon 18 Seo Won 19 Wang Zi Hao 20 Na Kamden 21 Lee Seung Hwan 22 Chen Kuan Jui 23 Zhang Shuai Bo 24 Lee Jeong Hyeon 25 Takuto 26 Cha Woong Ki 27 Ollie 28 Hiroto

Speaking of falling out and making room, Somi reminds us all that Park Gunwook has fallen out of top 9, leaving a space for a new person. From context, the only person it could be is Ricky -- unless in some weird world it’s Hui. I just don’t think Hui is doing well enough on the show to make top9.  So yeah, given the obsessive nature of of Ricky’s fandom, I’m assuming he’s a lot of people’s one-pick and will probably be in the top 10, along with Sung Hanbin, Zhang Hao, Han Yu Jin, Seok Matthew, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Tae Rae, Keita, and Hui. I’m trying to think, could any of these have fallen out of the top 10, leaving room for Haruto? And I don’t think so. I think Matthew will have fallen a few ranks, but I don’t think he’s fallen out of the top 10.  And Hui -- I think he’s more nervous than he has to be. But we’ll see. 

Next up, we find out the “candidates for 9th place”, ie, the people ranked 9th and 10th. And it’s Hui and Matthew.

Hui is relieved, as he’s been thinking the whole time that he’s been eliminated, while Matthew is resigned to what to him is bad news. Matthew was ranked 2nd and then 4th, so falling to 9th or 10th is a steep drop. I really wish he’d just been sweet and nice about the part switch, because he did a great job in Say My Name -- I think the best in the group -- and he definitely lost some fans. I’ll add, however, that he might have lost those fans anyway as we moved from pick-3 to1-pick. The dynamics always change a lot when we get to the 1-pick.

Matthew and Hui come up to the front to find out who came in 9th -- and it's Matthew.

Matthew says, “I want to thank all the Star Creators for allowing me to stay in the Top 9. Hanbin hyung, Ji Woong Hyung, Yujin-ee and Seung Eon-ee, I was just so happy to be with you. I want to become more cool like Hanbin hyung and JiWoong hyung.  Thank you, and I also hope we’ll all be successful together.” Really putting on those retro-rockets, huh? I hope it helps -- I think he’s a great performer and would make a good member of Bepler.

Hui says, “I came worrying that I may have to go home today. I really want to thank the Star Creators for allowing me to get such an unexpectedly high rank. I also wanted to thank my En Guard team members who’ve worked so hard with me. I would like everyone to stay with me to the end, and although I cannot give amazing benefits like Boys Planet, I will becomes an amazing Hoe Taek and I will show you a good side of me.”

As Matthew goes to take his seat, you can hear Yoo Seungeon rush over to give Matthew-hyung a hug. Jay also comes over and says something in English but I can’t quite make it out. 

Next is 8th place. Who could it be? Well it’s one of Ricky, Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Tae Rae, or Keita. And at 1:16:42, we find out it’s Ricky! 

Ricky says, “It’s so cool to enter the Top9 for the first time. I can’t believe it. Honestly, the sofa looked so comfy that I wanted to try sitting in it at least once. I will show an even more improved version of me during the final stage.” The show makes a big deal out of how “sofa” is probably not a Korean word or the right word for these chairs, but, whatever, everyone knew what he meant.

We hear Jay call “Ricky!” and it’s honestly very pleasant to hear someone pronounce it like that. (Not going to say “correctly,” just… correct to my ears, you know?)

Side note: with his hair styled down like this, I actually don’t recognize him. I mean, I know it’s him, but my brain doesn’t believe me. 

Now it’s time to find out who is in 7th place. Well it’s one of Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Tae Rae, or Keita. 

And at 1:18:39, we find out it’s Kim Gyuvin.

I like the return to a messy mop of hair. 

He says, “I want to thank you all for allowing me to end up in such a high rank. Through this final stage, I will prove to you why I need to debut.” Then he adds in uncertain Japanese, “I will become a more improved GyuVin. I love you.” Hiroto coaches him from the other side of the room.

I mean, I know that that interim ranking showed him really low, but it never occurred to me for a second he’d fall below 17. I think he might have been worried, though. He’s gotten some hate online. He sits down in the comfy chair and gives that weird smile of his. 

Next is 6th place. Who could it be? Well, it’s one of Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Tae Rae, or Keita. Because it’s someone whose rank improved, it’s either TaeRae or Keita.

At 1:21:17, we find out it’s Keita. Nice! I knew he’d make it. I’m glad to see his rank improving. His Korean support is low, but his global support is insane. He’s the first person to outscore Jay in the global vote. (He outscored Jay’s Korean support, as well.) 

Keita says, “I am just so happy and grateful to be able to move onto the final. I will keep doing my best.” Then he bows. That’s Keita for you. 

Next is 5th place. Well, it’s either Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Tae Rae, or maybe Zhang Hao. The person is popular with teenagers, and his charming point is his shy smile. TaeRae doesn’t have a shy smile, but Yujin does. 

At 1:22:58 we find out it’s Han Yujin, who at previous eliminations was 4th and 3rd.

Lee Jeonghyun turns around to look up at Park Hanbin and wonder out loud, “What place is TaeRae in?” Again, all three of them are signed together at WakeOne. And hopefully will all debut together ASAP. 

Han Yujin says, “To the Star Creators who have shown me much love ever since Na Bina was released,  I will work even harder from now on.” Then he adds in Chinese, “Hello. I’m 17-year old Han Yujin. I love you all. You’re so pretty. Thank you.” It doesn’t sound too bad to me but I don’t know Chinese.

Somi teases him about his legendary “Noona, I love you” thing and she asks him to say it to her. (Other trainees watching, including Kum Junyheon and Kim Gyuvin, mutter that they’d be happy to tell her that too.) He says, “Somi-Noona, I love you!” and Somi melts. It’s actually pretty cute, even though I have very little patience for this shiz.

As he goes to his seat, he’s mobbed by some of his friends, including his Yuehua teammate Ricky, who jokingly asks him to say “I love you hyung” to him, and his other Yuehua teammate Kim Gyubin, who seems happier for Yujin than he was for himself. 

Next is 4th place, who only scraped past 5th place by a few thousand points -- I’ll do a point analysis at the end of this recap -- and it’s obviously  Kim Ji Woong or Kim Tae Rae, or maybe Zhang Hao. 

Almost immediately we find out it’s Tae Rae. 

Hair stylist noona was really feeling the ruffley bang look today, wasn’t she? 

TaeRae says, “To my Star Creators who have always supported me, thank you so much. I will do my best to repay you for your love and support with an even better performance on the final stage.” Then Somi makes him do a big weird laugh and it’s… weird. But he’s still cute. 

He goes to take his place, and someone runs to hug him -- I’m pretty sure it’s his WakeOne teammate Park Hanbin.

Somi says she’s going to announce top 3, and Chen Kuan Jui says, in a big, bright, almost-not-sarcastic voice, “who on earth could it be? I’m so curious,”  Big snaps for that, CKJ.

Obviously it’s Kim JiWoong, Zhang Hao, and Sung Hanbin. 

Ok, so the show reminds us that the top placing trainee in the final episode will get to do a solo song on the group’s debut album, and we’re shown a clip of Kepler performing, with a focus on the first-place-winning Kim Chaeyoung. Thing is, though Chaeyoung came in first (and though she’s talented and sweet and I like her), she is definitely not the most popular member of Kepler these days. I checked a few different random rankings and she was ranked anywhere from 4th to last depending on which list I looked at. She has fans, definitely -- I’m sure plenty of people like her! -- I’m just saying that she’s not the runaway queen of the group or anything. Focusing on her just reminds us that it doesn’t matter AT ALL who comes in first, not even on the final episode, and definitely not now, a week out from first. 

(Side note: Another example of this is Ni-Ki from Enhypen. He finished in fourth place in the show I-Land, and spent some time in the unfavored zone for the trainees, but is now the runaway king of the group, with his fancams showing millions of views. The public who votes for reality show trainees aren’t necessarily representative of the entire Kpop viewing population.)

Despite the show basically shoving that fact in our face, it continues to act as if we really care who will specifically will be first, second, and third. Also I think we all know who is third. But WHO COULD IT BE?

At 1:28:49, we find out it’s Kim JiWoong. 

He says, “I am grateful and think of it as an honor to be able to provide comfort and happiness to others. Thank you.” I actually adore this guy. He’s a complete mystery of a human and I adore that. 

Then there’s some dumb bit where Somi makes him do aegyo and it goes on way too long. 

So now it’s time to announce who came in first between Zhang Hao and the impossibly, ridiculously perfect Sung Hanbin.

They say a lot of the normal, “what if confident, but polite?” type things, and then we find out that apparently Sung Hanbin helped Zhang Hao with the “Over Me” choreography to add some waacking elements. They weren’t even on the same team, and Hanbin still took time out of his schedule of providing solar power with his smile to go help his friend. 

And at 1:34:19, we find out that Hanbin has taken first again. 

He says, “Well, for this past Artist Battle mission, there was such a big benefit on the line, so I wasn’t really able to predict this. Please continue to cheer for me so I can run for the finish line, shining as bright as I can. My Say My Name members, I love you.”

Hao says, in his halting way, “I am so grateful and happy to be able to rank 2nd place again. I will continue running without stopping. Please continue being happy through my passion.” Then he adds in extremely halting Japanese, “motto ganbarimasu” -- kind of “I’ll keep going/ I won’t give up.”  His vote tally shows that he is more than 800,000 points ahead of 3rd/4th/5th place (which are almost a tie).

But it’s nothing compared to Sung Hanbin, who is more than a million points ahead of Hao. 

Sung Hanbin is dominating first place in a way we’ve never seen on the produce series. To put this in perspective: 

In Produce 101 season 1, Jeon Somi and Kim Sejeong traded off between 1st and second, with Somi actually falling to 4th place at the 2nd elimination before finally finishing in first.

In Produce 101 season 2, Park Jihoon, Kim Jonghyeon, and Kang Daniel held first place at different times. 

In Produce 48, Sakura, Lee Gaeun, and Jang Wonyoung held first place at different times.

In Produce X 101, Kim Yohan and Kim Wooseok traded off in first place.

In Girls Planet 999, Yurina was in first place in ep 5 and didn’t even make it into Kepler. Shen Xiaoting was in first place for most of the rest of the time, and then only made it into Kepler in 9th place, and Kim Chaeyhun came in first despite not ever ranking above 8th place before that. 

Granted, all four Produce seasons were known for straight up vote rigging, so maybe one person really was the most popular the whole time. But regardless, Sung Hanbin’s DOMINATION of first place is completely unprecedented in previous seasons of this show, with or without vote rigging. If he comes in first on Friday morning, it will be something we’ve never seen before on this show. 

Anyway, our top 9 is seated. Hey, if this is the debuting team, I’ll definitely follow them. 

1:36:26 Chair 18

This is the part where they announce who is ranked 18th, ie, the very last survivor. I’m not going to go in much depth here because this part isn’t fun to recap, you know? 

Haruto notices that Supercharger is still completely seated in the gallery -- no one has made it through the elimination. That’s the worst. 

Here’s who’s left, with their episode 8 rank. 

16 Haruto 18 Seo Won 19 Wang Zi Hao 20 Na Kamden 21 Lee Seung Hwan 22 Chen Kuan Jui 23 Zhang Shuai Bo 25 Takuto 26 Cha Woong Ki 27 Ollie 28 Hiroto

Who’s most likely to take that last spot? I hope Haruto, but really it could be any of them other than Z-Bo, Takuto, and Ollie, in my opinion. Let’s find out. 

Somi announces the FOUR candidates for spot 18 -- that’s so cruel. 

They announce Wang Zihao, Na Kamden, Cha Woongki, and Hiroto -- representing China, USA, Korea, and Japan.

Of course, this means that Haruto, Seo Won, Lee Seung Hwan, Chen Kuan Jui, Zhang Shuai Bo, Takuto and Ollie all have been eliminated. 

I can’t believe it about Haruto. The way he hangs his head just breaks my heart. I don’t even want to screen cap it. I didn’t see it coming so it was just a punch in the gut.

I’m sad for all of them, really, but aside from Haruto, I’m also especially sad for Lee Seunghwan, who, you may not know, already went through the reality show ringer once and was a member of 1the9, a group whose promotions were severely impacted by covid-19. Poor Seunghwan -- luck just never seems to be on his side, though he’s handsome, sweet, and talented. 

Side note: I was all up to date and ready to get this recap out on Saturday or something, but I just… didn’t… want to write it. I watched the whole thing taking quick notes to use as the basis of my recap later, and when Haruto was eliminated I just fast forwarded to find out who did survive and then turned the episode off and didn’t come back for several days. So if that’s how you’re feeling about it, me too. I guess maybe Haruto didn’t look like a viable candidate, so people gave up? Or maybe people thought that other people would vote for him, that he’d be safe? It’s strange to me that Hiroto beat Haruto in the final ranking. Nothing against Hiroto at all, but I’m just surprised. 

Anyway, let’s finish this. 

21st place turns out to be Hiroto, the only eliminated member of En Garde. From his spot on stage, Park Gunwook mutters to himself, “If we’d just gotten 1st place….” A general to the end, worrying about his troops. I will hear no talk about Gunwook being “mean” or anything like that. 

Hiroto says (in slow, careful Korean), “I didn’t get a good result because I was lacking, but…” (Woongki interrupts quietly, saying “that’s not true,” and Somi looks heartbroken) “...I am happy if the Star Creators were happy while cheering for me.” It’s a very sweet speech.

Somi says, “You are not lacking!” and Hiroto’s face lights up. She continues: “None of you are lacking! All of you here are amazing!” There, that’s my girl. That’s my Somi. 💓 She is so much more human than pretty much any judge or host we’ve had on the show so far -- well, Sunmi was great too, but she was barely there. Somi knows exactly how these trainees feel and relates to them as equals, even though she’s successful and they’re not there yet. I’m glad she’s here. I bet she made this easier for them.

Next we announce 20th place: It’s Woongki. 

His final speech is at 1:39:55 and it’s great. He says, “When I said that I would appear on Boys Planet, people told me that what I want is different from what I can do, that my time is up, and that I would learn to face reality. But I feel like that’s not true. Through Boys Planet, I was able to learn more about my potential as Cha Woongki. Woongki boy is just beginning. Thank you!” and then with a bright smile, he bows. Yeah, Woongki! 

Somi says, shaking a cue card in the air for emphasis, “Don’t give up on your dream!” And Woongki cheerfully says, “I won’t!” 

Finally, we announce 18th place, which means announcing 19th place at the same time. 

18th place turns out to be Na Kamden. Jay practically falls out of his chair in relief, and we see Z-bo’s face is lit up with happiness. Ollie gives him a congratulatory hug -- probably the whole English speaking crew got pretty close at the show. Other trainees gather to console Wang Zi Hao, who is taking it in stride, as he takes basically everything in life. 

Kamden says, “Honestly, when I wasn’t called before, I was organizing my thoughts and emptied myself of expectations.   But thank you so much for allowing me to stand on such a large stage as the final.” Then he adds in English, “Love you Mom!” and then in Korean says, “I made it to the final!” 

We check in with Wang Zi Hao. he says, in Chinese, “I was grateful to be able to experience these times together with everyone. I will treasure the fact that I was able to make good memories with you all at this starting point of my life. Thank you.” He’s such a sweetheart. Haruto mentioned that Wang Zi Hao joined Supercharger voluntarily in order to help Haruto -- isn’t that sweet. There’s often a G R E A T   A G E N C Y   R E S H U F F L I N G following a show like this, so I’m hoping that WZH ends up signing at another agency so we can see more of him in the future. 

Somi wishes the ten eliminated trainees the best, and we pan over them. Haruto seems to be having the worst time of it -- the rest saw it coming, at least. 

Here is the complete final ranking -- filling in the last few spots with some help from the internet. 

Sung Hanbin

Zhang Hao

Kim Jiwoong 

Kim Taerae

Han Yujin

Keita

Kim Gyubin

Ricky  

Seok Matthew

Hui

Park Hanbin

Park Gunwook

Jay

Yoo Seungeon

Yoon Jongwoo

Kum Junhyeon

Lee Jeonghyeon

Na Kamden

Wang Zihao

Cha Woongki

Hiroto

Haruto

Chen Kuan Jui

Lee Seunghwan

Seo Won

Ollie

Takuto

Zhang Shuai Bo

Sung Hanbin is 1,046,481 points* ahead of Hao, who is 816,760 points ahead of 3rd place. However, JiWoong, TaeRae, and Yujin are all within about 25,000 points of each other, making them virtually tied. Then there’s 432,355 points between Yujin and Keita, so that puts Keita down kind of a tier. Keita is only 51,928 points ahead of Gyuvin, making them almost tied. The next few ranks are all about 130k-150k apart from each other, like a stair case, but then there’s a big gap (311,148) between Matthew and Hui. But from Hui down to Na Kamden, they’re all pretty close together, like 6000-60,000 apart --  especially if you remember that Lee Jeonghyeon got that 200,000 point benefit. 

*I say points because they’re not straight up votes, due to the K/G weighting thing.

What I’m saying is that unless something drastic happens, I think that Sung Hanbin and Hao will be 1-2 on Friday; JiWoong, TaeRae, and Yujin all look like locks as well, and from Keita down to Matthew, things could easily move around, but it’s not looking super-duper likely that many people from Hui down to Kamden will end up in the top 9 -- unless Park Hanbin continues his meteoric rise and Matthew continues his sharp fall.  If you're curious, here's the ranking of the top 18 if only Korean votes decided things:

Sung Hanbin

Kim Tae Rae

Kim Gyu Vin

Han Yu Jin

Kim Ji Woong

Zhang Hao

Yoo Seung Eon

Na Kamden

Kum Jun Hyeon

Park Hanbin

Hui

Lee Jeong Hyeon

Ricky

Park Gunwook

Yoon Jong Woo

Seok Matthew

Keita

Jay

And here's the ranking if only Global votes decided things:

Keita

Zhang Hao

Sung Hanbin

Jay

Seok Matthew

Kim Ji Woong

Han Yu Jin

Ricky

Park Gunwook

Yoon Jong Woo

Kim Tae Rae

Hui

Kim Gyu Vin

Park Hanbin

Kum Jun Hyeon

Yoo Seung Eon

Lee Jeong Hyeon

Na Kamden

I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that.

So... the next phase is the one-pick vote. I could rant at length about how dumb the one-pick system is in terms of creating a sustainable group. Groups that are truly successful tend to have multiple members that are popular among fans. There’s a popular boy group that I personally like only 2 members of, so I really can’t consider myself a fan of that group. Meanwhile in Exo, I basically can’t pick a favorite because I really like almost all of them. So letting us vote for multiple members would tend to create a situation in which the group is all loved by all the fans.

The rest of the episode was the boys preparing for their next song, and I have to admit, I don’t much care about those two last songs. The performances happen AT the finale, once the audience has already voted, so there’s kind of no point to them.  

Here are the two groups for the two songs:

Hot Summer Sung Hanbin  Kim Taerae  Kim Ji Woong  Ricky  Lee Jeong Hyeon  Kim Gyuvin  Han Yujin  Keita  Yoon Jongwoo  

Jelly Pop Hui  Yoo Seung Eon  Zhang Hao  Park Gunwook  Kum Junhyeon  Park Hanbin  Jay  Na Kamden  Seok Matthew 

Who knows, maybe I’ll recap the rest later, but I wanted to get this posted. 

Hope you’re all doing well, and I hope that your one-pick makes it. 

[boysplanetrecaps]

Boys Planet, Episode 7 Recap Part 5: Feel Special

Ok, well, I know some of you were waiting for this recap of the trainees’ cover of Feel Special by Twice… Here it is! Warning: I spend a few paragraphs talking about why I love the original song so much. But you can skip that if you’re not interested. 

I watched this whole segment before I started writing this recap, and honestly, I’m not so psyched to talk about it. It was just kind of a bummer. Part of it is because I love the original song, like, a lot. A lot a lot.

Just give me a minute here to gush about Feel Special, or if you don’t care, go ahead and skip the next few paragraphs. 

Both the lyrics and the video for Feel Special tell the story of how the friendship between the girls gives them strength to overcome the way the public views them. Jihyo is being “watched” by TVs, possibly representing how she’s in the public eye (maybe for dating someone?). Nayeon is in this cold, hard room all by herself, in this beautiful but uncomfortable outfit, maybe symbolizing the weight and coldness of being so popular. Momo feels “too big” and out of place. Jeongyeon is all alone and doubting herself. Sana feels abandoned, out in the rain, maybe a reference to when the Korean population turned on her for something innocuous she did. Mina is a sort of ice princess in an alien forest, Chaeyoung is this super modern chick in a lonely modern dome, and Tzuyu feels like just a doll.  (Dahyun is fine. Dahyun doesn’t have a problem.) 

And what happens? They SEE each other. They connect. Jihyo and Nayeon see each other. Mina and Chae rescue each other. Momo and Tzuyu find each other. Dahyun saves Sana. And Jeongyeon sees herself in a new light, as someone who can have friends after all.

This look that Chae gives Mina -- I tear up every time. If you know that Mina had just taken some time off for extreme anxiety, and if you know that this look is real, genuine look that Chae was really giving Mina -- it’s beyond touching. I never saw Chae look like that before or since in a Twice video.

So the song gives me all the feels. It also sort of reminds me of the time toward the beginning of my current relationship when I realized that someone might actually really love me and how amazing that was, like a fucking miracle. So yeah, I tear up pretty much every time I hear this song. I don’t want to lose that, you know? I like tearing up every time I hear it. It’s a happy kind of tears. I know it’s a dumb kpop song but it’s not a dumb kpop song to me. 

Because of that, I don’t want to spend too long on this performance because I don’t want to ruin the song for myself. Ok. Let’s do this. 

As a reminder, our special feelers are: 

Trainee name (rank)   Star Level test /Challenge 1 /age final star level

Cha Woong Ki (25) Bloom Bloom /Very Nice - K/ 20 ⭐⭐

Zhang Shuai Bo (36) Reveal /Back Door - G/ 21 ⭐

Lee Dong Gun (48) Criminal /Hot Sauce - K / 17 ⭐⭐

Cai Jin Xin (50) Reveal /Hot Sauce - G/ 19 🚫

When we first saw them in episode 6, they were looking at each other like this, and Cai Jin Xin was saying, “I love our team,” and we were all excited for it! But a shadow loomed on the horizon, as no one seemed to want to take on a big vocal part.

So, we pick up with the team at rehearsal with the judges. 

And Zhang Shuai Bo, who up until this segment I’ve liked for no real reason, is being a passive aggressive sulky child. He’s half-assing the choreo in a really, really obvious way and pouting. 

I do not like this. 

Look, I fight so hard to not be swayed by MNET editing, but I don’t know how MNET editing could create this impression falsely. Maybe other trainees are also doing this and MNET isn’t showing it, but I can only judge what I see. If you’re unhappy, Z-Bo, then do something about it or suck it up. This passive aggressive “quiet quitting” thing ain’t it. 

I loved that Solji just stopped the rehearsal.

And then we’re reminded that this is apparently Z-Bo’s favorite song, which just makes all of this even worse. You chose this song for the wrong reasons, that’s on you, bud. But shouldn’t it be at least kind of fun performing your favorite song, no matter what? Man, if I had a chance to do a semi-pro cover of like, Automatic by Red Velvet, or The Eve by Exo, or Feel Special by Twice, with someone to teach me the choreo and let me sing it to people who are excited to be my audience? I mean, scary, but fun! 

I just keep thinking about Xuan Hao, the initially white haired center of the G-trainees’ Burn It Up team, the one who fucking werked that pink feather boa during the prank bit? You might also remember the way he collapsed into his chair to cry after his whole team was eliminated, and how MNET then dangled salvation in front of him only to let him know that he’d come in 54th.

I know that Xuan Hao would absolutely, positively, never have acted like this. If he had this opportunity, he’d make the most of it. So would've Kim Min Seoung, the super talented, backflipping member of Back Door who MNET ignored completely. Or Han Seo Bin, Park JiHoo’s partner in crime. Or Park Min Seok, the WakeOne trainee who showed his true mettle as the leader of the benighted leftovers team who did Danger. Or Park Gwan Young, who showed us his surprisingly good vocals in Burn it Up. Or determined Chen Yu Geng, or my duckie Ouju, or General Gunwook’s sergeants Jang Yeo Jun and Han Yu Seop, or genuine Hong Keon Hee, or unlucky Hyo, or good-natured Ichika, or five or ten others I could name. I am not necessarily saying that every single one of these trainees is more talented or more “deserving” of a spot on this show than Z-Bo is, but I am saying that from what we have seen of them, not one of them would half ass his choreo in front of the judges just to make a whiney point about how his part is too hard. 

They start over, and when they're done, the psycho judge tells them, “we’re fucked. This is humiliation. Letting you go up on stage like this will be a humiliation for you guys, me, and Boys Planet.”

Weirdly, this is the first time I think I’ve ever seen this judge just say what was on his mind in a genuine, almost vulnerable way. He doesn’t look like he’s specifically trying to make them feel bad -- I think he almost doesn’t care about them at this point. I think he is actually thinking about his job responsibilities and how he’s going to have to get some wheels turning to make sure that their performance can even be aired. In other words, he’s annoyed at them because they are going to cause extra work for him. That’s just my take.

Solji does have a specific, useful piece of feedback, which is that they aren’t supposed to just be doing a straight up cover -- they’re supposed to be putting their own spin on it and showing their own charms. But, as Woongki interviews, they haven’t made any of their own choreo because no one on the team knows how to, and, presumably, because the group leader hasn’t pushed them to do it.

Cai Jin Xin wears the L sticker on his shirt, but other than that, I see no evidence that he’s the leader. Woongki is the one giving pep talks and doing most of the work. He also isn’t really complaining about it in his interviews. 

That’s not to say that CJX is being a terrible teammate. You can see that he’s invested in doing his best. Also, he’s providing free translation service for Z-Bo, who, unlike, say, 15 year old Takuto, has apparently not learned a word of Korean this whole time. 

Side note on that: Languages are hard, and some of us are worse at them than others, and we can’t possibly all be fluent in all languages. But I’ve traveled a lot and been to places where I know only a few words in the local language, and most of the time, people just are glad I tried to say a few words. Just a hello in Khmer or Thai or Greek before switching to English, and I'm rewarded with huge smiles. That’s all most people want -- just to know that you give a shit enough to try. It would seem so different if Z-Bo were just trying a little. Most of the other trainees are learning some Korean, even just an extremely basic pigeon Korean that is probably mostly nouns and unconjugated verbs. Cong speaks in one-word and two-word sentences a lot, and he's mostly understood. Many of the foreign trainees took the time to memorize a Korean speech for the elimination ceremony. Others spoke in their native language but added a Korean phrase or two, like a kamsamnida. What I'm saying is, it doesn’t make Z-Bo a bad person that he hasn’t learned Korean, but it makes him stand out as uniquely unwilling to try.

Anyway, back to CJX. You can tell he’s trying to do his best on the song, but he just feels lost. Same with Lee Dong Gun, who is completely willing to sing, just not really… able. 

But Z-Bo can't sing the song in the high key, and when the team tries transposing the song down, he barely tries to find the note he'd have to sing. It really seems obvious that he just doesn’t want to do it. It’s really not a good look. Again, I am trying so hard to look for how this could just be editing, but I can’t see any way it could be. 

Woongki ends up stepping up to not only choreograph the whole piece, but also sing the hardest part that Z-Bo can't, or won't, sing.

Later on that night, Z-Bo is hanging out with CJX in their dorm room, and they're talking to each other in Chinese. (That’s fine, by the way. I’d probably revert to my native language when I was alone with someone who spoke it.) But he’s using the opportunity to speak Chinese to say things that maybe he doesn’t want people to hear him saying.

First, Z-Bo refers to Woongki by aiming his foot toward the bed Woongki sleeps in and saying “he”, rather than calling him by his name. That’s what you do when you don’t know someone’s name. Look, maybe I’m wrong and maybe the translations are misleading or something, but if he doesn’t know Woongki’s name at this point, that’s fucked up. And to point with your foot? I think that's rude in any culture, but I think it's even worse in Asian cultures. I might be wrong.

Then Z-Bo says, “If things don’t work out, the production team will help us out for sure. They won’t let the four of us stand on stage staring into space.”  I have no way to know whether or not that’s true, but to express that thought out loud shows a depth of entitlement that I have no wish to plumb. I mean, he is probably tired and all that, but this wasn’t just a stray thought with no precedent in his other behavior -- this is the apex of everything he’s said and done recently. Somehow both a depth and an apex, I guess. 

A few days later at dress rehearsal, the judges are aigoo-ing most of their vocals and general ineptitude. When they’re done, Master Lee, who often delivers the best and most well deserved smack downs on this show, says,

“I’m curious. As you practice, don’t you realize, ‘we’re not good enough’ and think it through?... What do you do at those times? Think ‘time will resolve it,’ is that it? Or think, ‘since the camera only captures the major parts, we’ll just skip through these,’ is that it? Is that what you’re thinking? The Star Creators will be coming and the whole world will be watching you. If you’re not prepared, don’t you get nervous? Even if we give you solutions to the problem, would they get fixed?” 

Then after their feedback, Z-Bo rants to CJX in Chinese, inches away from Woongki and Dongyeol and just counting on them not to understand him. He says, “This was to be expected. He (and he points to Woongki) didn’t tell us what the choreography was about and we never agreed to it.” You can SEE him pointing. I don’t know how else to interpret this. 

And MNET comes through with the receipts, running a clip to show Woongki explaining the meaning of the song and choreography. Hoo boy. I guess that Z-Bo might just not have understood, but I assume that CJX would have translated. 

By the way, I’m not blaming CJX here. I’ve been in his shoes -- a popular person wanted to gossip with me about someone and I didn’t really know what to do. When someone like that wanted to gossip with me, I felt like, CHOSEN, you know? They’re telling ME this stuff, so they must like me. I’m on the inner circle now! They like me better than the person they’re talking about! Of course, since then, I’ve learned that (a) if I agree with anything they say, they’re likely to go tell that person that I said bad things about them (b) if they’re talking shit about them to me, they’re also talking shit about me to them, 100% of the time.

So, nowadays I know what to do -- I say, in a really pleasant voice, “I can totally understand how you’d feel that way, but I like [person] and don’t really want to talk about them when they’re not around. Let’s talk about [topic] instead.” Usually they say something defensive, like “I wasn’t gossiping” or something, and I let them off the hook, saying, “of course not, everyone talks about everyone sometimes, it’s normal, don’t worry,” and then plunge into the new topic. Sometimes if it’s someone I don’t know well, I pretend that it was my New Year’s Resolution to not gossip. Like, I blame it on myself that I don’t want to participate -- not that there’s anything wrong with them, it’s me who is being the weirdo. 

So yeah, I’m not blaming CJX. He seems a bit uncomfortable with Z-Bo’s comments and we never see him adding anything. He just doesn’t know how to get out of the situation he’s in. 

Anyway. 

True to Z-Bo’s prediction, production does in fact step in a little, giving them an extra vocal lesson with Master Lee and an extra dance practice with LipJ. You get the sense that these appointments were definitely not originally scheduled -- they’re held in weird small rooms we’ve never seen before or since.

Meanwhile, poor Woongki interviews that his ranks have been dropping the whole time, from 10 down to 34 at the most recent announcement, and he’s worried. “If this doesn’t work out this is the end for me.” Surely not, Woongki. Awww. 

I also feel sorry for Lee Dong Gun, who is only 17 and is actually a decent dancer. He’s just not much of a singer, poor kid.

So we go to the performance. 

That link is actually to Woongki’s fan cam. 

My take: 

Donggun’s dancing didn’t fit the style of the choreo-- he overdanced almost every step. But bless him, he was trying.

CJX didn’t do so well, but I know he was really, really, trying too. 

Z-Bo sang kind of decently, though it was kind of unpleasantly shouty, and he had a great smile and flirty interactions with the audience. I didn’t necessarily get the sense he was trying his hardest, though.

Cha Woongki was the Jihyo, Nayeon, Dahyeon, and Sana of this performance, put together. He was also the Mina, Momo, Chaeyeong, Jeongyeon, and Tzuyu. He truly carried the team.

The editing

The editing was pretty kind. The reactions were mostly pretty good, and they didn’t zero in on small mistakes. The weak and often incorrect dancing was mostly hidden by the camera angles. 

By the way, what is with cutting to Seo Won constantly during this whole segment? Are Seo Won and Woongki besties and I missed it? Do people ship them or something because they’re both a little bit effeminate (which is dumb)? What did I miss?

The voting

The boys go to sit on the folding chairs of doom, and we find out that Z-Bo has won the fan vote with 703 votes. Most of the trainees are completely shocked, because they all expected Woongki to get it, but Woongki is a pro and rolls with it. 

Look at everyone in the background looking at each other in disbelief. That’s formerly blue haired Park Hanbin top left, doing that incredulous smiling thing he does. There’s Jay in the center, and Limousine’s Park Jihoo on the right, and Lee SeungHwan 🍑 and Bak Doha behind Jihoo. Everyone is shocked -- it’s not a K versus G thing, it’s universal. 

But Woongki manages to smile and clap. He has been a complete pro this whole time, though. He has not had a single negative word to say about Z-Bo in the confessional -- I am sure that if he’d said it, they would have used it. But he must know that Z-Bo views him with contempt. I feel certain that he picked up on it when Z-Bo would talk shit about him in Chinese just inches away. You really can feel that. It’s hard to explain, but you just know. So he almost certainly knows exactly what Z-Bo thinks of him, and he is smiling and applauding because he’s a fucking pro. 

I know that Z-Bo might have “evil edited.” I really am trying to imagine how this could have been misconstrued, but in the end I think that this wasn’t evil editing. I think it was honest-to-goodness shitty behavior. And it is extremely galling that Z-Bo won the fan vote over Woongki. 

I was talking about this with my fella, you know, the one who makes me feel special, and he said that he’s been where Z-Bo is. I guess we all have been. You know, when you’re really good at something in your personal circle, and then you go from your small pond to a big ocean and suddenly no one cares about your special talent. You can feel so lost that it changes your whole personality. And I get that, I do. I’ve been there too. But when I was like that, I was being an asshole. I see it now, and I regret it, and I’m glad that I’m more in tune with myself now where I can catch myself feeling envious or overshadowed and just give myself some time away to process. 

So, it's a human thing, and not always a sign that someone is an irredeemable jerkwad. Maybe he’s a hopelessly entitled, privileged pretty boy actively sabotaging his team out of laziness and selfishness, as he seems to be. Or maybe he’s not really that bad, and within a few weeks or months he’ll snap out of it and apologize to Woongki and strive to do better going forward. I don’t know, and neither do you.

One thing we do know is that Woongki doesn’t want us to go after Z-Bo or anyone else on his team. Look at the message he left on his fancam video (this is google translate).

In case you can’t read the comment, Woongki basically is saying that he really loves the song Feel Special by Twice-sunbaenim, and that he feels that the Star Creators are the ones who make him feel special. He then says that his whole team -- and he names them all -- worked hard, and asks you to please support the entire team and vote for them. 

So, whether Z-Bo is an entitled jerk or just a guy who is feeling scared and out of his league, let’s follow Woongki’s lead and be polite, right, fam? No death threats or anything -- we can all agree on that! I’m sure my readers already know, though. 

AAAAAAnd with that, we have finished this one! 

If you need a palette cleanser, here is a video of Exo's Kai and Twice's Momo dancing together. Yes, this is a youtube video of a tiktok being posted on tumblr. Enjoy it. 

Or go on to the next one -- "Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms."