Wow, I haven't written anything on here since March. Right before the pandemic. Tells a lot about how I procrastinate at work by writing journal entries, and never actually do this at home. Mid-March was the last time I commute to work, back when life was normal. Everything was normal. I went home that day and have been mostly home since. It has been half a year, it's insane. If you'd ask anybody a year ago, nobody would've guessed that they'd be working from home for half a year, and even longer.

Anyway. I've missed so much stuff that has been going on, but I want to write about my current, new, fresh obsession which is I-LAND. I did not intend to watch this show. I was aware of it, but IDK I just wasn't feeling the idea of torturing myself with another survival show that I wasn't going to follow-up after. I was just a little curious at the beginning, but the hype around the show wasn't that good. It's shooting in the middle of a pandemic, they reduce the amount of production staff, there were issues with the safety of the moving stage (?) that a contestant and staff were injured quite badly that they had to withdraw. Plus this is a joint production of Big Hit and MNet, while they're still in the hot water because of that Produce controversy. It just seems like the general public wasn't buying into it at all. Ratings were low, reviews were bad. Of course with me being active in the online KPop world, I was still exposed to it every now and then. I knew there were Japanese trainees, I knew there were ex-Big Hit trainees. Some names keep on popping up, so yeah, I was familiar with some of the names as well even when I have never watched a performance ever.

Here comes Episode 7. BTS guest-starred on it. Well, now I just had to watch it, hadn't I? I got into I-LAND starting at the end of Part 1 and the start of Part 2, which is a good point to start. The number of participants has been reduced to 12. It's easier for new viewers to learn about them, compared to the 23 participants at the beginning of the show. BTS was so much fun to watch. The participants were so excited to see BTS in I-LAND and giving advice on how to overcome their concerns even when they don't meet in person.

My impression at the beginning of watching the show is; I wanted to support Japanese trainees, mainly K and Taki because I've seen their brotherhood on some clips previously. I know Taki is very popular because his name always trends worldwide every Friday after I-Land airs. I did not like Heeseung. I don't even remember why, probably because I read something negative about him and I just believed it, I guess. I also did not like Niki? Simply because he sabotaged Taki at the beginning of the show. I did not have any strong opinions about other participants. I didn't even know that Hanbin was Vietnamese. I quickly learned their names and faces after Episode 7.

Fav scene: BTS answering trainees' questions (Jay's was particularly funny), Taki calling his mom.

Episode 8 was BTS Test. It was tough to watch. Taki was clearly struggling with basically everything. I realized then that he just wasn't ready. I don't see him with the right skills or mental capacity to debut. He had a hard time having to lead the Fake Love team, even with the best members he could ever choose. I regretted voting for Taki. And then there's K and Niki drama which I hate. I did not like watching both of them during this drama. I don't think what K did was wise. He scolded Niki like that and it ruins the whole mood of the team. I don't like how Niki handles that part, too. Even after K pointed out that he shouldn't add that extra movement into the routine, he still just went ahead and did it in front of Sungdeuk. I was not on either side of the argument. At the end of the episode, they showed us the mid-result of the global voting and it was... kind of shocking. Taki came 4th, which makes me even more regretful of my choice to vote for him all week. K came 9th, which I think is influenced by the evil-editing people were talking about. He said he couldn't understand how Sunoo and Daniel ranked 1st and 2nd, higher than Heeseung who has been in I-LAND the whole show. The worst of it all was Jay, who was the original I-LANDER in Episode 7, ranked last (11). I felt compelled to help him. That week I voted for K, Jay, and Jake. Taki ranked last but was not eliminated because of his team. Geonu was eliminated in his place and I do not care too much.

Fav scene: Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Heeseung goofing in their practice room.

Episode 9 was Flicker VS Dive Into You. This episode does not give me a good feeling about K. He's certainly is really good at dancing, but this episode did not paint him in a good light. Heeseung ranked 1st in BTS Test so he had the benefit of choosing his members and song. He chose K knowing that K is really good, but K ruins the mood of the team. He's bossy, he shows discontent every time someone says something he disagrees with, and he throws responsibility away when he was questioned (vocal coach scene). Well, now I regret voting for him. The 'drama' ended with them talking to each other about the problem which was a good opportunity for everyone to learn how to communicate but still left a bad taste in my mouth. This episode shows Jay on the opposite side of K. He was playful but hardworking, funny but still considerate of others. He assigns roles based on strength of each person. He was just an impromptu leader but we could see how well he leads his team, and everyone likes his presence, unlike K. This week I was still voting for K, Jay, and Jake. Top 3 got the benefit of going out and it was really, really nice to see them having fun. The present scene was sweet. Jake ranked first and got the benefit of double the vote he receives in 24 hours.

Fav scenes: Sunghoon skating!

Episode 10 SEVENTEEN performance team came to I-LAND. The kids were shown messages from the fans and were given fan letters. They were so happy. They were answering fan requests, Jay was shown the scene where he cried, everyone had a good laugh. They also left messages to each other, plus Jay dramatically choose to write letters to each and every one of them because he thought he was getting eliminated the next day. It was so touching and seeing their bond and friendship definitely makes us want to support them to the end. Taki was eliminated and I do think it was time for him to go.

Fav scenes: Hoshi pointing out how Jay and Jun look-alike, Sunghoon feeling tortured by having to be cute, Sunghoon crying after watching the video message from Jake, Jay scolding Jungwon for being pretty even when he cried, Jay writing letters with Doraemon hand, kids being so happy for fan letters, Sunoo asking Jay to turn off the lights from behind the scenes.