When I saw a twitter account making a list on why the boot was sketchy I was over it. I was like 'please, don't do this right now, I don't want to read this'. The tweet might be written by an angry young fan on a note app with spelling mistakes that make it not look credible, but after reading discussions on Reddit pointing out the same problems, I do agree that this case seems really odd/suspicious.

From a business standpoint, it doesn't make sense to eliminate a member in the middle of a comeback preparation, wasting all of that effort, resources, and capital they've already spent. The team and SKZ members also would have to work to re-record, re-shoot, re-do their performances in a short amount of time. And especially the performance part, this doesn't only affect their upcoming album but ALL songs in their entire discography. They'd have to figure out who's going to cover Woojin's part and how they're going to re-do the coreo. Woojin's a main vocalist too, his range is quite high and I wonder who would do all of his parts.

JYP made the statement and cleared everything about Woojin from their site and upcoming SKZ album preview so fast, it does raise the suspicions that they want nothing to do with him as fast as possible to avoid further damage.

People are speculating on whether Woojin left because he wanted to, or JYP kicked him out. 'Personal circumstances' could be anything, really. It could range from serious crimes which could harm the whole company and group's image like drugs or assault, to stupid shit like violating the rookie dating ban. If it is indeed something bad, then it's clear that JYP wants to distance themselves from whatever happened as fast and as clean as possible, and everyone involved in this signed an NDA so that whatever it is won't leak out to protect the group and company.

JYP's statement is very similar in wording to the case of Day6's Junhyeok back in 2016 after his dating scandal. The difference is that, there was a scandal to relate to back then, and in Woojin's case there was nothing that indicates that he is in any kind of troubles preceding the announcement. Both termination was quick, and without a word from the terminated party. It's hard to tell at this point whether the person involved is silenced by the company or chose not to say anything.

Of course, with the ambiguity of the (translated) statement, it could mean both ways, it could mean anything.
1) Woojin left Stray Kids because of his personal reasons, there are no other options, we respect his choice. He terminated his exclusive contract. Please continue to cheer on both Woojin and Stray Kids.
In this case, personal reasons could mean illness (physical or mental), family matters, creative differences, irreparable relationship with the team due to personality differences, etc.
2) We had to let Woojin go because of his personal circumstances that we can not accept. We terminated his contract. He's on his own now, you can continue to cheer on him if you want, but please focus on Stray Kids.
In this case, circumstances around his personal life could be dating despite the dating ban for rookies, maybe he dated a fan?? Or idk, did drugs, money laundering?? Assault? Did he hit someone?? It could be anything, really.

If it's mental problems, JYPE would've facilitated Woojin to get better and give him options whether or not to participate in the next comeback or other activities like TWICE Mina.
If it's creative differences, JYPE would've stated so just like Somi when she terminated her contract.
Unless it's something really bad that resulted in immediate termination, JYPE could've put him in hiatus and then terminate his contract later like Sunmi or Jay Park.

Chan left a message on SKZ's fanship board and this too could be interpreted as anything. People said Chan not even mentioning Woojin's name as a 'red flag' but we don't know. He's trying to address STAYs because, at this point, no one is saying anything other than JYPE and the fandom is confused about what happened. I think not mentioning the name could just be part of the contract to not involve a person in any way anymore as soon as their contract is terminated. Legal reasons. Or out of respect because Woojin does not want to be involved or mentioned. It could be anything. One thing I know for sure is their bond will never be broken. They went through so much together.

People keep comparing the case with Hwall (as I did in my last post) but in Hwall's case, we're aware of his health problem from a year back. Hwall ended his activities with TBZ but did not terminate his contract with Cre.Ker. The circumstances around the two cases are too different to compare.

Honestly, the K-Pop world is full of secrets and most companies are hush-hush about whatever happened internally. Unless Woojin or an insider starts to talk, I don't think we'll ever know what happened. And I also don't know if Woojin is going to pursue celebrity life after this.

I saw Woojin trending high worldwide on twitter today and I had a gut feeling that this is something bad. If it's a celebration of something like a birthday, 1) it would trend at midnight in Korea, 2) It would be a birthday hashtag not just a name. If it's teasers or releases, it would trend at 6PM or midnight. If it's a viral fancam or whatever, it would happen in the afternoon or the evening. Nothing is announced in the morning unless it's bad news. Woojin withdraws from Stray Kids. My heart dropped.

( why )

Speaking of, last week we also heard the same news about Min withdrawing from We In The Zone. In the middle of a comeback preparation. Not to mention it's going to be their FIRST comeback, ever.

I've experienced witnessing group disbandment and member departures, but it never gets easier.

Like I mentioned before, I kinda lost my passion for Stray Kids. It's not that I don't love them anymore, this just proves that I'm not capable of being a multi-fandom person because I have my full love and attention for just one group.

Stray Kids are about to debut. They've been releasing teasers for the album, they're doing a debut con, etc, and I found myself feeling indifferent about all these. Every time there is a Stray Kids VLive I go check it out but left after a couple of minutes out of boredom and short attention span. I found the kids ... not that interesting to follow individually and personality wise. Also, JYP doesn't care about international fans to even bother to hire a translator in this day and age. Livestreams I kinda understand, but they have a lot of pre-recorded contents and they are still releasing them without any subs. I am lost. I have to keep checking if anyone did a fansub on VLive and patience is a virtue I do not posses.

The end of the TV show, them changing their stage names, and not being able to see the music making process had distanced me with what initially made me fell in love with them. Yes they are super adorable and talented and beautiful, but my head is full of BTS (who is not even actively promoting at the moment).

Stray Kids are doing a pre-order for their debut album and I haven't put in mine yet. It's kind of expensive to get the set (2 versions), and we haven't seen any previews of what we're getting yet to choose just one. Again, I loved the physicals that I got for the Mixtape, the quality is top notch. The poster is beautiful, I love how it comes with a matte coating. The postcards, I LOVE. They actually comes in postcard size, we got 10 cards and they can be used as a postcard, unlike other companies that can't differentiate postcards with any other cards. However, ... I don't collect physicals, actually. I'd rather save to get more BTS stuff in the future.

With the Mixtape, I felt a strong emotional connection with the boys, having to watch and listen to Hellevator every day back then and witnessing their struggles on the show. I know the songs, I'm familiar with the concept, I wanted the boys to do well. With this one? I'm not sure if I'm still as invested in them as before. I'll sit this one out and cheer from afar. I'm sure the music will be great, I'll probably just buy the album on iTunes.

Stray Kids is about to debut, very likely within this month and I found myself losing interest in them so fast. My head is still full of Bangtan, busy wondering what is coming and when the next comeback is going to be.

The winter olympics has slowed down the K-Pop world and it seems that I lost some of my passion as well along the way.

Stray Kids released a debut trailer yesterday. It was alright. I kinda felt like... I know I shouldn't compare, but this concept feels similar to Bangtan's N.O.? In which the members are a part of a uniformed world, and then they rebel against the system. Like, a statement to criticize youth problems in the society. I like the concept, but I'm still not sure if these nice kids can pull off that kind of weight on their shoulders just yet. Interested to see what kind of music they will come up with, albeit lesser emotional investment in the group themselves.

They're doing great. They got endorsement deal already, they got decent number of followers on social media, they are super adorable and pretty, they're going to have a debut con in a huge venue. They're doing more than just great. I just can't feel a strong connection to them anymore. Probably I will get hyped later near their debut. We'll see.

I have to say I don't understand this release at all and I wonder if this is just because I don't understand how JYP works. At fist I was sure that they'll debut with all the songs from the show featured in their first album. The songs are great, and if they decide to debut with a full-length album, they got half of the materials ready! But instead, we got a pre-debut 'mixtape'. This title confuses the hell out of me. Since this is a 'mixtape', I thought there will be no promotion and we won't get anything but of course I was wrong. The company would want all the monies that they can get.

This is NOT a mixtape like what I understood it to be, but an ALBUM called 'Mixtape'. The difference is just that this is a warm-up album that will lead to an actual debut. Album number zero. They are not officially a debuted yet, but promotional activities are very similar to that of an actual album! They're releasing the album both digitally and physically, they released Grr performance video (again, this term confuses me a lot, it's more of a dance/choreography MV) and even went to a music show and performed 2 songs at MCountdown. Just when I thought that's all we're going to get, they're releasing Young Wings 'performance video' (just call it an MV, GDI)!

I'm not complaining, but if you ask me, I prefer to be mentally prepared before something drops. Maybe I'm too used to getting timelines just like what every group is throwing around before a release nowadays.

Babies are also having MANY fansignings with the one on last Saturday being their first.

When are they debuting again? People say next month, but I don't think that's possible. They're still in the middle of this mixtape promotion thus have no time to prepare for an actual debut??? And as producer-dols they'd also have to make the songs themselves?? Also, Winter Olympics, if that affects the entertainment industry at all??

They are selling very well for a predebut album with this many fansignings (power of the Big 3). They're also gaining popularity well and even snatched number 21 on brand reputation ranking of December 2017 (thanks to their TV show). Since they're a rookie group, I thought I would have a chance to get into one if I go to Korea but now I'm not so sure anymore. Last night I calculated how much money I will have to spend to buy 10 albums. The slot for fansignings are 100 - 150 people per-event. Daily album sales are around 1,000 to 3,000 so for a good chance I will have to purchase 15 to 30? That's already a lot of money not including everything else (flight, accommodation & transport fees). That doesn't even guarantee a slot. And for what? A close 1 minute interaction with each member I mostly can not communicate with, and a fansign experience which I wouldn't be able to understand anyway? Still contemplating whether I should get the official fanclub membership.

I watched the last episode while still coping with Jonghyun's passing, the overall atmosphere in the K-Pop industry was still very gloomy then and I couldn't get enthusiastic about these kids as I were before. More over I already knew the outcome because I wasn't watching it live, so there was nothing to get really excited about? However, the kids were performing well, they are very solid and strong as a group and I'm really really happy that they get to debut together. Glad to see eliminated members get praised by JYP.

And then! I got excited when I saw the Mixtape announcement!!! Finally my babies are out there officially even though not really. I thought they were going to release a debut album but nope, first up is pre-debut mixtape with all the songs they produced on the show. Which is great! And kinda make sense? People have heard most if not all the songs and Hellevator was already released individually long time ago. I get that the company would want to release them all as a predebut project bundle and later officially debut the group with a completely new music, new concept. I love the songs so much and I pre-ordered the physical copy to support baby kids.

It's a great way to keep the audience interested & not wait too long before debut, the songs were great on the show and hopefully will do good on the charts, too. I'm really hoping that they'll make an amazing debut that will shake the industry.

I changed my twitter theme and I'm loving it! :D



Grrr is cool (the English title is Beware? Why not kept it as Grrr? This is rather confusing). I don't think we'll get any more MVs from the mixtape, but we did get Hellevator MV, Hellevator performance video, Grrr performance MV and other songs performed in units as part of the show (4419, School Life, Yayaya, Glow). I've purchased the songs, can't wait to listen to them after work today!

I cried last night thinking of how lonely and how much in pain Jonghyun was. I guess it finally sunk in on me that he is really gone, and he left us in the most tragic way. I cried a lot more than when the news first break, maybe this was what I needed to let this go, to accept this harsh reality. I talked to my Shawol friend and she thanked me for contacting her saying that it means a lot to her. I cried even more. There are so many people hurting right now, we all feel so powerless that we couldn't do anything to help one poor soul.

I couldn't help but watching news outlet videos of Jonghyun's colleagues going to the funeral hall to pay respect for him. Everyone walks fast, avoiding attention, gloom all over their faces, some were seen crying. They all had their hair down, eyes down, walk in groups and in silence. This was not something anyone thought they would have to put in their schedules. We've never seen so many artists coming into one place, regardless of agency, regardless of their activity status, and yet the atmosphere was very somber.

I tried watching Stray Kids last night but my heart was just not in it. They couldn't cancel the whole show because it involves live performance and live broadcast of the episode, they have organized hundreds if not thousands of viewers to come to the studio for the show. This is the final episode which is very crucial and I understand. They canceled the planned simultaneous VLive broadcast though so if I were to watch, my only choice was to stream. I turned it on in the middle, but my internet connection was not strong enough so I quit. I didn't care what the result would be at that point anyway. But later last night I saw on twitter that they decided to debut them as 9, which is yay? I felt like a fool. I cried for nothing. I was worried for nothing. There is no way that JYP isn't going to debut them as 9 after all this, it was all just a ploy. I was crying for kids being fake kicked out of an undebuted group ... now I'm crying for an idol who took his own life which is a much bigger, real-life problem than just a fandom plot. I'm numb, I feel empty inside.

Right now my mind and my heart are just not in it but once I recover I will catch up and hopefully I still have the passion and love to support this baby group when they debut next year.

PS. It is said that 96% of the live voting was in favor for a 9 members debut. In my mind was WHO ARE THE OTHER 4% AND WHY THE HELL DID THEY VOTED AGAINST IT. It could be just staff putting in votes so that it's not too extreme, it could be abstain votes but honestly seriously all of them worked hard, they deserve to debut. They have an MV with more than 10 million views with 9 members in it, people are already invested in them, this is the only way!

'Today was such a good day!' I thought before going to sleep yesterday.

My best friend from high school whom I lost contact with found the youtube channel I was doing with another high school friend, and she messaged me saying she misses me so much. Unlike any other high school friends which I probably would avoid at any cost, she was very close to me back then and now I realized how much I've missed her as well. We had a nice chat and promised to meet up & catch up this Friday! I even told my mom about this I was so happy.

Other than that I was probably happier today because I had more cardio exercise than usual and my body released a good amount of endorphin. I'm glad I did that! I was thinking to go straight home but my trainer told me to go on more cardio after our session. I asked her how much should I run and she said 3km. I was thinking to cheat and do just 2km instead since I already ran 1km before the session. But as I was running on the treadmill my trainer went to check-up on me and somehow I got huge motivation boost and continued on a steady speed for a good amount of time.

I went home from the gym and watched Run BTS which was another great episode. It was so funny I couldn't stop laughing and I couldn't shut the hell up the whole time.

Highlights :
- Sleepy kids. Sleeping kids. Pajama kids.
- Kookie as the most adorable sleepy baby ever
- Tae super duper cute Tomato song singing scene
- Tae trying to guess what a scrubbing pad is actually called
- Namjoon being super considerate, giving clues to his brothers by whispering on their ears and switching seat with Tae for that Kung Kung Ta game because he knows Tae struggles with words.
- Namjoon pulling the blanket away from Jungkook trying to wake him up
- Yoongi is like, the grumpy old man of the group but when being put on spotlight like this, given the responsibility to MC, he did such a great job! So good!!
- Yoongi scrambled to close the box when the lid got stuck
- Yoongi laughing in silent when Jungkook fell over for tossing on the bean bag but continue sleeping on the floor... it was heavenly
- J-Hope being sunshine as usual
- Kids couldn't figure out the word even after Yoongi gives them hints and shout the hint instead lol it was so funny 'saying it loudly doesn't make it right'
- Jimin sitting there for a while after being waken up
- THE FUCKIN TOMATO SONG

BTS officially hit 1M sales for Her on Hanteo. Unimportant information : I was reading Korean tweets about this and just realized that it was han-to. EO like in Seoul! Not han-te-o like how I pronounce it in my head the whole time lol. Mind blown.

There were also ... other BTS good news. I read a lot of shit on daily basis it's hard to remember every single one of them. Was the billboard year end chart released yesterday as well? If so, then yes that, too. Great. Awesome.

ALSO in Stray Kids news, I was still butthurt over Felix's elimination I decided to stick to my word and not watch last night's episode live like I did normally. It was until a subber said on twitter that there was a scene of Hyunjin putting on uniform and go to school(!!!!) and I just couldn't miss on it so I turned it on. My stream took a while to pick up so I missed the uniform part, but I did catch Hyunjin practicing with Changbin and he did a great job!

I also managed to catch baby Jeongin calling his parents and being adorable as usual. Unrelated to the ep but that scene from Spot Kids of Jeongin and Jisung where Jeongin yelled 'don't kiss me!' was adorable as hell. Jisung was like 'I did not'. And then Jeongin was 'but you did back at the dorm' LMAO THESE KIDS. I understand though, I always think my little brother is super cute all I wanted to do was to kiss and tease him all the time no matter how big he has gotten.

My stream was lagging bad and I wasn't interested in seeing anyone from GOT7 tbh so I turned it off again. And then!!! They were saying on twitter that JYP is giving the two eliminated members another chance!!!! Hooray! Or not. IDK man, I'm still butthurt. I haven't seen the ep but they said he will judge based on the final stage which is going to be broadcasted live (on VLive as well!) who (how many) deserve to debut. Which is UGH. I don't want to get my hopes up just to get crushed again in the end! Anyway, I will watch the episode properly. I hope my babies can show JYP the best stage there ever is so he debut them as 9 in confidence and Stray Kids will rise in 2018. I will come to you, kids. Show the world that you can do it!!

I took a nice hot shower, prepared a super cute outfit for my date with Ade before sleep, went to bed early. I didn't have my allergy triggered which is awesome. Everything was good. It was a very good day. Oh except for my leaking AC, I hope they fixed it.

I remember how excited I was at the beginning of the show because I've never followed a group from before debut. Well now I regret that I ever did hahahaha.

I had a bad feeling before last night's episode and my intuition was right. ... They kicked out Felix.

Poor baby. He was trying so hard to practice singing, dancing, and on top of that, adapting to Korean life, learning the language and perfecting his pronunciation. He's such a likeable personality on the show, it's hard to imagine Stray Kids without him. His voice has such unique character to it, I'm sure with just a little more guidance and training he would be able to utilize that to his maximum potential. Honestly JYP said he lacks charisma but when he performs, I can see charisma. And with strategic part sharing his deep voice would add greatness to Stray Kids' songs.

I cried myself to sleep last night. I woke up this morning sleep-deprived with pain in my eyes. I hate myself for getting too invested in this shit. I could hear my past self telling me 'What did I say? Don't get invested in survival shows!'. I felt tricked. I got into Stray Kids believing that it's a non-elimination show. I fell in love with the kids. Fuck JYP. I know there's still a chance for both Minho and Felix to get back to the group, but I feel so broken now. If this is merely for applying mental pressure to the kids to get them stronger and closer, it's too cruel!! This is mental abuse. God, the kids breaking down like that and tiny little Felix practicing alone til morning and crying at the end!!! MY. HEART. CAN'T. TAKE. THIS.

Are they kicking him out from the dorm too just like they did with Minho? WHERE THE FUCK WOULD FELIX LIVES, he was already living there before the show even started. I can't do this.

What is the point of training period if they didn't give them proper time and teacher? These kids are still super young, they have so much potential.

Fans are telling each other not to give up, participate in the survey for the final decision and shit but I'm too old for this and I'm exhausted. I do not want to invest any more of my time, energy and feelings if I do not know for sure eliminated members are going to be brought back ever. What's the point of getting your hopes up just to get crushed again? That's just self-torture. I'll sit here and wait. If they didn't debut together, fine I'll be a casual fan. If they did debut together, then I might be a stan.

Funny that I was just thinking to change my default icon to Felix. Nope. Ain't happenin until I know for sure that he's debuting.

It's a very different experience when your favorite/bias is the one who got eliminated/quit. It's too painful you'd lost all your willing to support the group. I'm getting flashbacks of Luhan leaving EXO and how for a while every time I see EXO I was reminded of that pain and disappointment I felt when everything went down.

Kids are cute. I don't know the history of YG vs JYP battle so the battle doesn't really do anything for me. SKids's rendition of BP's 'As if it is your last' was interesting, I like their dark style so much. Generally I love songs with minor tones and synthesizer sound so SKids is definitely right up my alley. Anyway, the battle was alright? Other than Bang Yedam stole the show last week, I found the other performances as just okay. I think both parties did a great job. YG trainees are just as adorable as SKids.

FELIX IS MY BABY, OKAY. Being nervous and foreign, he had difficulties understanding YG's questions to him and that scene ended up being super funny, hahah. That and the gun pun and how he wrote Korean words in big letters but missing a consonant was the highlight of this episode for me. He is so cute.

I can't wait to see their reaction on how they managed to gather massive crowd in the next episode. I'm also super excited for Yayaya performance/music making. What I'm not really excited about : possible elimination. WTF happens in the next episode? Kids were so broken everyone was shown crying. I can't with this emotional roller coaster. Also if they kick Felix out, I'm out.

I said in the beginning of this whole thing I believed that Stray Kids is going to be big, but now I'm not so sure anymore hahahaha. BANG FKIN YEDAMN STOLE THE WHOLE SHOW LAST NIGHT. He's so good he's still number 3 on Naver's trending topic today. Damn that kid is good. I've never heard of him and I'm not familiar with any previous competitions he was on, so I didn't know what to expect but DAMN, SON. His voice, I can't even describe it. I'm dumbfounded. I can not recover from that. Stray Kids is cancelled.

I mean, yes, Jisung and Changbin also killed it with their rap, but now more than ever it dawned on us how Stray Kids doesn't have a strong enough vocalist (this is like... the opposite of GOT7?). All of them are adorable yes, but members other than the 3RACHAs are just cute with somewhat questionable skill/talent. I mentioned this before, most of them don't stand out and are not memorable. I want them to succeed, but their so-so performances and JYP's criticism - which is almost the same thing every time - left me frustrated. At this kind of times I tend to hold on to my last resort which is ... 'at least they're in Big 3'. They are guaranteed some level of fame and success even from before debut, before the group is decided. They will gain more confidence and be better performers as time goes by. I'm still excited for next episode and the busking mission!

Survival shows are hard to watch. I said in previous entry that I'm all for the weeding of weak links, but as it happens, I found myself more attached to the kids than I thought I would be, regardless of their personality, skill, talent, visual, or performance quality. We just NEED the group to stay together!

Many started watching Stray Kids believing that this is a non-elimination survival show, assuming it would focus more on grooming all the members before debut. But alas, they actually are eliminating someone. And this could be a first of many, we'll never really know until the end of the show. Plus this kid they eliminated is one of the most good looking ones = the most popular among fans. Of course the show also broadcasted the highly sentimental scene where most of the kids broke down in tears after the decision was made. They believed they were to debut together. They've spent day and night practicing, they've been living together, they themselves couldn't accept this harsh reality. At this point any member eliminations can only lead to one thing : fandom turmoil. It's not exactly a pleasant thing to go through very early in the day though it probably made the young community stronger by standing behind the same cause : to get that member back. I don't know if this elimination is just a catalyst to get people talking about the show because it certainly would be bland without any drama. Drama creates buzz. Buzz gets people to watch. More viewers = more potential fans to support the group after debut.

People's desire for something will only become greater once the thing is gone, realizing that they've been taking that lovely thing for granted all this time. This time, the thing is Stray Kids OT9, group unity, group identity, and the lovely, smily, kind-hearted, handsome, great dancer Lee Minho. They introduced the group as 9, recorded (and sold) Hellevator song as 9, had a very popular MV with 9 members in it, everyone believed that it would be very unlikely that they're going to drop anyone from this established - though undebuted - group. They can't do that unless they want rage. Well we were WRONG.

However, according to rumors, Stray Kids (the show) will last for 10 episodes and then Stray Kids (the group) will debut sometime next year (presumably February or March). If that is true, the last episode will be broadcasted on December 19. And then there will be some 1.5 - 2 months off time before the actual debut. Things can change during that time if not while the show is still airing. Bringing back an eliminated contestant isn't a new concept to survival shows, and certainly JYP himself isn't unfamiliar with that. The way JYP handled the situation previously was somewhat questionable, but shows that there is still a chance. Minho has some time and space to grow. With strong enough reasons and demands (also of course JYP's approval), Minho may get a chance to be added back to the group before debut.

I read on twitter that these kids will probably debut sometimes around Feb - March next year which is... too long from now! I'm so impatient and unfamiliar with K-Pop world. When the show first aired/announced I thought the debut is coming soon after. They had the first MV out, too. Only now that I realized I have to go through this whole show first (IDEK how many eps there are, wiki says 10), then they'll debut once they wrapped everything up. I... don't know if I could survive with that long with so little contents. I've been listening to Hellevator on repeat for a while now and I'm scared that this will ruin the song for me.

Anyway, with the debut being so far away, I kinda lost my enthusiasm... I still enjoy the show, just not as ~hyped as before. Now I get why they put in filler plots like playing at the game center. It's kind of sad being in such a small fandom with limited resources and contents, I need them to debut ASAP! Also, with the whole country's attention pulled to survival shows, it seems that SKids isn't gaining as much popularity as I thought it would. JYP is one of the big 3, surely they have the power? Their show is at 11 PM on a weekday, that's very late for a show that supposed to be marketed to school girls (I mean the members' average age is 17.8, who else are they targeting?). I don't know about Sixteen at all, but Twice is such a successful product of a survival show I wish the boys would've gotten the same attention and success. Also also, it is mentioned that this is a non-elimination show which actually kind of ... IDK hampered the excitement even more? In a "Oh, they're going to debut anyway so I don't have to watch the show, I'll just wait and see their debut and decide later whether I want to support them or not" kind of way. Yes it's still good to build the hype and get people to know the kids, but I'm not sure how effective the show is. I think most young girls in South Korea are still stuck on Wanna One, I see so many foreign fans instead of Korean ones in various platforms. I don't watch a lot of shows or follow a lot of groups so I don't know how the boys' talents & personalities appeal to the viewers. But they're okay, great talent, nice visuals, a little bit awkward but who's not when they're just debuting.

Anyway, in this episode I enjoy watching the critics from JYP part. JYP asked about their experiences, give suggestions, and changed their parts. The playful part was... okay? They cute. My favorite would be Felix. The MV shooting part is nice as well.

I was super excited that they FINALLY released Hellevator song. I've been wanting to buy it since the MV was out, I ripped the song off of YouTube simply because there is no other choice. It's probably part of a media play to see how popular the song is, people kept the MV on loop and it reached 7M views before the official release. I personally like the color version of that scene with Hellevator written on it compared to the black and white one on the official release. Not everything dark has to be monochrome, kids.

I just mentioned about non-elimination thing but the fandom is currently under some kind of fear that there's possibilities of elimination. Stray kids were seen in public recording their show two times and Minho was missing in both occasions. I don't know how to feel about this, he could be sick and just resting, he could be deemed unfit for the group, he could be a plot twist to the show to apply mental pressure on the boys, he could be whatever. He's still in all other official medias of them (VLives, clips, group photos, naver Thursday Kids posts, etc.). I guess at this point we just don't know.

To be completely honest I'm in favor of weeding out the weak links before debut. They need to be a solid group! Weak links would make them look amateur, just like JYP said. A shock therapy might work to push them further.

At this point I'm so obsessed I pledged that I will go to Korea next year to see them. They are too young for me to stan but they are so adorable akdfhaskfjdashlkjdf. I've never followed a group from their birthing process and I'm super nervous/excited/impatient about their actual official debut.

Okay so. Episode 2. As much as I think it's sweet to see them getting together, assigning rooms, cooking, playing games, and being charming in general, I... would rather see more of their creative process and or other efforts for debuting, tbh. I understand that some stuff are company secret, but I felt like the playing part was too long, and the part showing them actually choosing the tune, creating the lyrics and melody, practicing choreography to the song - which are crucial parts of this whole debuting process - felt too rushed. All of the sudden they had to perform in front of JYP with the whole ensemble, we don't even get to know why and when Felix changed his hair color. I would want to know how they choose outfits and hair colors and such. I mean yes the stylist did those but still. Like also they couldn't show us them discussing the name "Stray Kids"? It's such an important part of this all! It's a name they choose for themselves, which probably is a first in the idol industry. I like the reasoning behind it and it sounds like something young boys would come up with. Also, I want to see recording part? Or is it coming?

That said, it is important for the company that viewers had a lot of chance to get more attached to the boys to ensure ~fandom loyalty~ after debut.

ANYWAY! It's hard to see them kind of failing to meet JYP's expectation because... I totally could see what he's saying. Chan is too kind & nice for his own good. We can see in this episode that the 3RACHA kids are definitely the leader in EVERYTHING. They're so good! Chan has been composing and making his own music, Changbin and Jisung are kind of geniuses. Changbin has a very clear aesthetic and artistic direction, what concept he likes, what kind of music he wants to do which is very good. Jisung is the youngest of 3RACHA and he is so good!?!?!? He raps and sings and his performance is the most stable of them all. He writes crazy long rap lines which is so good for someone his age???? So much talent confuses me.

As for the rest of the kids .... hmm. I know the show had to show some vulnerability for TV appeals but they looked so shaky in this episode it's kind of unsettling. The first Hellevator performance in front of JYP was so raw most of their vocals sounded weak. All members are very adorable, good looking kids, but lacked confident (and skill). Jeongin was very very worrying. He is a cute a bubbly, lovable maknae but his singing is not good and his dancing... he's so slow in picking things up. Now I could see why BTS Jeongguk is called Golden Maknae. He's good looking, really good in dancing he's even teaching his hyungs, he's also smart, very good in singing, can rap, can draw well, very clean, obedient and well-mannered. Very talented and likable. His weakness is probably just English and he's not the most articulate when talking but it's because his RL personality is actually shy and quiet.

Back to Stray Kids! Felix is good at dancing and his voice is very distinctive, but as a foreigner he probably will have difficulties if he is given the task to rap many lines in Korean. He is cute and I love him, but I couldn't see his strong point, really?

Seungmin is super cute and good at singing, not the strongest personality though. He's a good kid.

Hyunjin IS GORGEOUS. His face is just stunning. I love his rapping in Hellevator MV, but once he had to do it live while performing, it was not as stable as Jisung. Haven't seen enough to judge other skills of him.

Minho is a nice, kind, caring kid. Doesn't stand out enough though, personality wise? Good at dancing but that's... it. All these kids are too nice.

Woojin... also doesn't stand out. This is a very bad thing to say, but I kinda could see why SM didn't debut him as NCT member... Like, I want to root for him but to be frank he's just average.

Hopefully all of them will grow and learn as an artist, gain more confidence, and with JYP's push they could be a strong, solid group. Can't wait for episode 3! Can't wait for all episodes to air and the kids to actually debut, actually.

I watched what's left of the livestream last night as I got home because I'm so excited for them! Trainee kids are so adorable. It's interesting to see the trainees work hard for a trainee showcase to show their best performance. It is kind of scary + risky though, because by watching these videos, looking at how hard they are working and how emotional they are, it is very likely that we'll be attached to the kids. They aren't even guaranteed to debut, we'll never know when we'll see them next. Anyway the teasers and everything leads me to believe that this show is going to focus on grooming this team of 9 before debut, a prologue episode of idols' career that we don't always see in the industry.

I've never followed any idols from JYP and I know nothing about JYP himself, this is the first time I've seen him. He does seem to have a strong character and knows what he's doing. He says the girls were stronger if you see individual skills but the boys were better as a group. The point I agree the most with him is when he says the group performance is great, but they lacked of charisma. It is normal since they're very young, they're under great pressure and they don't have many experiences. JYP says in the clip that they look like amateurs and the company certainly doesn't want to debut anyone who are rigid and looking like amateurs. Most rookies appear quiet and shy on camera because they aren't used to the exposure. I'm not familiar with many K-Pop groups, but if you ask me whose debut is most memorable I'm going to go ahead and say B.A.P again. They were relentless with Warrior. They appear so strong and intimidating despite coming from a smaller company. They dyed all members hair blonde, something that was never done by any other group ever. Their rappers Bang Yongguk and Zelo spits some crazy lines. Yongguk has such a character to his voice, he's a very charismatic leader. Tiny little baby Zelo was 16 yet his rapping is so good! They stomped on stage, sung live and impressed everybody. That image of them was so strong I still listen to Warrior.