I binge watched the first part of this survival show. The objective was to create a new Japanese boy group following the footsteps of the successful NiziU Japanese girl group launched through the same process by JYP in 2020.

From what I understood, there were some delays into production and release of the show, first auditions were held in the first quarter of 2022 and the survival show was only released into two parts in the last quarter of 2023. I did not watch the girl season but I was very curious to see the show as the boy group made their official Korean debut on the 20th May 2024 and I wanted to catch up with the show without knowing any of the members to keep the suspense going during my watch.

I enjoyed it overall. And I am glad that my favorite candidate made it to part 2. There were some really talented individuals and I am happy that at the end we have a mix of experienced JYP Japanese trainees as well as newcomers that grabbed the opportunity and got to the next step of the program. In terms of casting, I am overall satisfied. I was a bit surprised at first to see that there were cities in which auditions happened where none candidates made it. Out of the pool of participants, there might seem at first sight to be a bit less number of extremely talented people to chose from (compared to some other survival shows I have seen)...but some of the ones that made it have clearly a lot of star power quality.

The show could have been edited to be better paced. I liked the audition process with the various challenges, it was a bit formulaic but at least allowed us to see the cast under various angles and also under quite a bit of pressure. JYP is sometimes tough in his critics (you feel the pain especially when one of your favorites is under it) but at the same time, I felt the program worked because of his presence and (not always but sometimes) insightful sentences. There are no dramatic moments between the candidates: not sure if it is because they are all Japanese and that culturally it plays a role in their interaction on screen, or if it is more linked to the way they edited the show...I did not miss the angst but without JYP insufflating a bit of pressure, the show would have fell a bit too flat.

I enjoyed the music overall, all JYP company ones of course (Stray Kids, NiziU, 2PM, JYP,...). But I must admit it was a bit repetitive sometimes...I would not have minded a bit more variety and hopefully it will be the case in Part 2.

I would recommend this to people that enjoy boy group survival shows. There are no evil editing between the candidates and overall I found the participants quite likeable and driven. Not all, but enough candidates spark my interests thanks to their performances, and I feel it is always fun and motivational to witness the progress of young people trying to do their best and honing their skills. Show was a bit formulaic with some repetition in the songs but still it is pretty enjoyable.