TV Show Digest
Korean TV network Mnet that previously had the Produce series out, is back with yet another series of the same kind of marketing under the name Girl’s Planet. Girl’s Planet is the % season of the produce series. The production house and network Mnet promises to maintain ethics and regulations after being embroiled in controversy in past about rigging the show results to favor some contestants over the others. The aim of this competition was to create a Kpop girl group consisting of nine members. These members would be chosen amongst trainees and idols from South Korea, China, and Japan. 99 contestants were selected out of the vast 13k applicants for the show. The new group is going to be called kep1er. The group of 99 girls is divided into three groups namely the K-group, J- group, and C- group.
The Feel-Good Part
One of the good aspects of these shows with respect to the trainees and idols is that they are exposed to an audience. This exposure whether they win this or not carries some amount of credibility for them in their career as an artist. The constant competitive environment will keep the trainees on their toes and raise their skills exponentially. The elimination rounds were held three times all in view of the audience and after the third and final elimination round the group, kep1er was finally announced with the line-up. The concept of the show is designed like a universe, there is a planet 9 that contestants get selected. All the while the contestants are also placed in groups called cells. An entire cell can be eliminated at the same time. Those who are selected to the planet 9 can however change the cell in order to save themselves from getting eliminated.
The Disappointing Factor
It’s a reality show type of series that revolves around the lives of trainees in the kpop sector. We get to see what kind of prep goes into doing a live stage, make-up, practice, choreography, training for vocals, rap, dance, diet, etc. If you are someone who gets easily bored by this, it is very skippable for you. On the other hand, if you do like this kind of show, you may find that there are some more deserving candidates than others.
In-Depth Analysis
There are changes in the voting system since this time the competition is held at the multinational level involving three countries that have very shaky political ties to each other. Judges have more discretion this time around. So that is one plus point. Participants are ranked with more objective indicators than simply focusing on dance, vocals, rap, and visuals. Voting was open to all viewers from every country apart from the members’ participation country as well. However, there are many dislikes for this show as many people believe this is produce 101 in disguise. Domestically the show in Korea has been declining in its rating. But that was never the goal for Mnet while rolling out this show. They wanted the focus from international markets which they successfully got after forming the group kep1er.
Star Power
Although there were 99 girls on the show, some members from Korea, Japan, and China were exponentially more successful than the others. From the K group the following members were the most talked about when the show aired in popular sites.
CLC’s Yujin
Cherry Bullet’s Jiwon
TXT Kai’s sister Bahiyyih
Former SM trainee Kim Chaehyun
LIPBUBBLE’s You Dayeon
BVNDIT’s Seungeun
FANATICS’ Doah
From the C group these members were famous:
FANATICS’ Chiayi
Youth With You 2’s Zhang Luofei
Youth With You 2’s Xu Ziyin
Su Ruiqi
Gu Yizhou went viral for her chaotic introductory clip
CHUANG 2020’s Shen Xiaoting
KSGIRLS’ Cai Bing
And from the J group the following members were famous
Hayashi Fuko is known for her dance covers
Nagai Manami is part of the drum group Nowa Daiko
Former JYPE trainee Sakamoto Mashiro
Cherry Bullet’s May
Orange Latte’s Kishida Ririka
Ezaki Hikaru was the centre of the J-Group introductory stage
Sakurai Miu had taken part in the Nizi Project
Overall Opinion
Girl’s planet is a fun watch, you get a lot of insight into how hard idols work to get where they do in their careers. Some aspects of the reality show are extremely problematic like showing the contestant’s puffy faces alongside them with full makeup. Instances like these need to be monitored as these are what give rise to more and more archaic beauty standards.
