Wang Chuan Feng Hua Lu (忘川风华录) Masterpost
Wang Chuan Feng Hua Lu (忘川风华录) is a Vocal synth (Vocaloid and SynthV) music project. It consists of songs themed around different figures throughout Chinese history. The project is a collaboration between different artists and creatives, with music and videos featuring prominent traditional Chinese elements. The project's title translates to "The Records of Magnificence of the Wangchuan" - In Chinese mythology, "Wangchuan" (or River of Forgetting) is a river in the Underworld that can rid one of their past life's memories, similar to the river Lethe.
A mobile game adaptation has also been developed by NetEast. Unfortunately, I haven't played it so I can't give much insight on it. However, I assume that its premise is similar to that of the idea behind the project as a whole: all these historical figures meeting each other in the Underworld after they died. Maybe.
You can find all the songs on Bilibili. The official Weibo can be found here. The game's website, which includes all characters appearing so far in the game, can be found here, and its Weibo can be found here.
(If you prefer YouTube, I've also put together a handy playlist. Please know that most of these videos are reposts though, so please watch the original Bilibili MVs if you can!)
This blog is where I will be posting everything I feel like I need to say about the songs in this project. A lot of it is lifted from my Twitter account but will be in much more detail. Note that I probably won't touch collab songs, or songs that don't focus solely on the project's own characters.
Disclaimer: I do not speak Chinese, nor am I an expert on Chinese history. Therefore, I cannot reliably translate the lyrics to these songs, nor my words should be taken as gospel. I am merely a nerd gushing about my hyperfixation.
Playlist
多情岸 【Duo Qing An】 ➼ B link
洛阳怀 【Luo Yang Huai】 ➼ B link
易水诀 【Yi Shui Jue】 ➼ B link
山河令 【Shan He Ling】 ➼ B link
簪花人间 【Zhan Hua Ren Jian】 ➼ B link
栖凰 【Qi Huang】 ➼ B link
心上秋 【Xin Shang Qiu】 ➼ B link
祖龙吟 【Zu Long Yin】 ➼ B link
如见青山 【Ru Jian Qing Shan】 ➼ B link
竹林间 【Zhu Lin Jian】 ➼ B link
天下局 【Tian Xia Ju】 ➼ B link
青鸟衔风 【Qing Niao Xian Feng】 ➼ B link
木兰行 【Mu Lan Xing】 ➼ B link
好字唯之 【Hao Zi Wei Zhi】 ➼ B link
不可道 【Bu Ke Dao】 ➼ B link
水叙湖风 【Shui Xu Hu Feng】 (collab) ➼ B link
是非 【Shi Fei】 ➼ B link
风起甘露 【Feng Qi Gan Lu】 (collab) ➼ B link
谓剑 【Wei Jian】 ➼ B link
万象霜天 【Wan Xiang Shuang Tian】 (New Year event song) ➼ B link
千秋梦 【Qian Qiu Meng】 ➼ B link
易安难安 【Yi An Nan An】 ➼ B link
惊鹊 【Jing Que】 ➼ B link
高歌破阵 【Gao Ge Po Zhen】 (collab) ➼ B link
不赴 【Bu Fu】 ➼ B link
西行 【Xi Xing】 ➼ B link
大航海家 【Da Hang Hai Jia】 ➼ B link
牡丹乱 【Mu Dan Luan】 (collab) ➼ B link
倾国 【Qing Guo】 (collab) ➼ B link
相虎 【Xiang Hu】 ➼ B link
补天裂 【Bu Tian Lie】 ➼ B link
此期盈期 【Ci Qi Ying Qi】 (1st anniversary song) ➼ B link
破云来 【Po Yun Lai】 ➼ B link
归钓吟 【Gui Diao Yin】 ➼ B link
始见千秋 【Shi Jian Qian Qiu】 ➼ B link
临川浮梦 【Lin Chuan Fu Meng】 ➼ B link
将军行 【Jiang Jun Xing】 ➼ B link
妄语人间 【Wang Yu Ren Jian】 ➼ B link
数风流 【Shu Feng Liu】 (2nd anniversary song) ➼ B link
问剑春秋 【Wen Jian Chun Qiu】 ➼ B link
起战令 【Qi Zhan Ling】 ➼ B link
人间应又雪 【Ren Jian Ying You Xue】 ➼ B link
旷古回响 【Kuang Gu Hui Xiang】 ➼ B link
墨隐侠声 【Mo Yin Xia Sheng】 ➼ B link
桃源故人 【Tao Yuan Gu Ren】 (3rd anniversary song) ➼ B link
*Note: The anniversary songs are probably for the game's anniversaries, as the project itself is more than 5 years old.
Albums
Vol 1: 溯洄 【Su Hui】
Includes character songs from Duo Qing An to Zhu Lin Jian. Features human vocals.
Vol 2: 踏浪 【Ta Lang】
Includes character songs from Tian Xia Ju to Jing Que.
Vol 3: 数风流 【Shu Feng Liu】
Includes character songs from Bu Fu to Wang Yu Ren Jian, an unreleased song titled 燕双归 【Yan Shuang Gui】, and the two anniversary songs.
Visual character guide:
PRE-QIN | QIN | WESTERN CHU | HAN | THREE KINGDOMS | JIN | NORTH & SOUTHERN DYNASTIES | TANG | FIVE DYNASTIES & TEN KINGDOMS | SONG | YUAN | MING | QING | DREAM
9 notes
·
View notes
Boys Planet Episode 8 Recap and Guide, Part 2
Ok, welcome back to Boys Planet Recaps! In the previous post, I covered the reveals of trainees ranked 27 through 12. This post will cover 1-11, as well as chair 28. Let’s go!
So, let’s look over the full list of trainees whose names have not yet been called.
Trainee Recap
For each trainee, I’ll list their rank at the first elimination in episode 5, as well as their rank mentioned at the end of ep 6, and the songs they did for the two previous missions.
Name rank-5/ rank-6 Previous Songs
Sung Hanbin 1/1 Love Me Right / Tomboy
Han Yu Jin 4 /2 Back Door / Law
Seok Matthew 2 / 3 Kill This Love /Love Killa
Zhang Hao 5 /4 Kill This Love / Tomboy
Kim Ji Woong 3 / 5 Backdoor /Love Killa
Kim Gyu Vin 6 / 6 Love Me Right /Love Killa
Kim Tae Rae 11 /7 Backdoor / Man in Love
Keita 8 / 8 Kill This Love /Zoom
Hui 7 /10 Love Me Right / Tomboy
Park Gunwook 10/11 Kill This Love / Tomboy
Kum Jun Hyeon 14/12 Back Door / Ggang
Cai Jin Xin 50 /25 Hot Sauce /Feel Special
Hiroto 21 /27 Very Nice / Rush Hour
Ma Jing Xiang 32/28 Very Nice / Rush Hour
Mun Jung Hyun 23 /30 Very Nice / Ggang
Anthonny 19/31 Love Me Right / Limousine
Jung Min Gyu 27/32 Very Nice / Man in Love
Brian 41/ 33 Back Door / Butterfly
Chen Jian Yu 45 / 35 Back Door / Ggang
Lim Jun Seo 30 / 36 Danger / Butterfly
Dang Hong Hai 33 / 37 Love Me Right / Home
Lee Ye Dam 42 / 38 Love Me Right / Law
Park Ji Hoo 44/39 Hot Sauce / Limousine
Cong 35 / 40 Very Nice / Butterfly
Ji Yun Seo 47 / 41 Back Door /Home
Wumuti 43/42 Love Me Right / Zoom
Bak Do Ha 24/43 Hot Sauce / Not Spring…
Oh Sung Min 34/44 Love Me Right/ Rush Hour
Krystian 37/45 Back Door / Limousine
Lee Da Eul 13/46 Danger / Not Spring…
Lee Dong Yeol 40/47 Very Nice / Man in Love
Park Hyunbeen 49/48 Hot Sauce / Zoom
Jung I Chan 52/49 Danger / Not Spring
Choi Woo Jin 51/50 Hot Sauce / Man in Love
Lee Dong Gun 48 / 51 Hot Sauce /Feel Special
So, I’ll give you a moment to decide for yourself who you think the top 11 most reasonably are.
Yeah, that’s what I think, too.
It’s pretty obvious that the top 11 are, in some order: Han Yu Jin, Hui, Keita, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Tae Rae, Kum Jun Hyeon, Park Gunwook, Seok Matthew, Sung Hanbin, and Zhang Hao.
And I’d say any of the following are conceivable for chair 28: Anthonny, Brian, Cai Jin Xin, Hiroto, Jung Min Gyu, Ma Jing Xiang, or Mun Jung Hyun.
So the only real suspense here is which person will survive in 28th position, because we already know that the top 11 all survive. MNET VASTLY overestimates how fascinating I will find the ranking within the top 11, and tends to drag it out. Am I alone on this? Does anyone else feel like, well, they survived, and the ranking can and will change, so who gives a rat's butt as to who came in first versus second or third?
Anyway, let's get to the ranking!
At 2:14:10 the trainees are settling in to this phase of the eliminations. My little cousin Kum Jun Hyeon tells little muffin Mun that he’s nervous, and Mun tells Kum that he [Kum] is a candidate for top 9.
Just then, we’re told that the candidates for 9th place -- in other words, those in spots 9, 10, and 11 -- are General Gunwook, Hui, and yes, my little cousin Kum Jun Hyeon.
Gunwook was expecting this in a good way; Hui was expecting this in a bad way; and Kum Jun Hyeon didn’t even know he could hope for this.
Everyone is shocked that Hui could have dropped so far, but he just nods kind of resignedly. As he said earlier in this episode, even he wouldn’t vote for an idol in his 30s, after all.
So who is 11th place?
At 2:16:15, Huta announces that it’s Hui.
For a moment, there’s just silence.
Low key saw this coming from the start. For one thing, because Hui is great at everything he does, there’s very little vulnerability there, so it’s hard to feel that affection for him that I feel for some of the other trainees, even the ones I wouldn’t vote for, like Takuto or Bak Doha. For another thing, Hui is already a debuted idol. A lot of people would say that he had his shot.
There is also the Pentagon Paradox.
Consider: Everyone in the world is either a Pentagon fan, or not a Pentagon fan. I'm not talking about antis, I'm just talking about people who aren't specifically big fans of Pentagon. If you are a fan, like I am, then of course you’d want to support Hui in general in his endeavors. I wanted Hui to survive and do well on the show because I didn't want him humiliated or made miserable. But now that we're coming to the home stretch, my feelings are changing. As a Pentagon fan, I want Pentagon to be out there doing stuff -- as I imagine a lot of other Universe do. So I -- and I think other Universe -- actively want Hui to NOT be in Bepler. Meanwhile, think about those who are not Pentagon fans. They probably wouldn’t support Hui in the first place, unless they just happen to really like him on the show. So, neither Pentagon fans/Universe nor Pentagon non-fans are likely to want Hui in the top 9, so... who will be voting for him, exactly?
And that is the Pentagon Paradox.
Huta asks Hui to say a few words, and he says: “As I joined Boys Planet, I could feel what it means to enjoy the stage after a long time. Since I was able to perform with very talented chingoos, I was so honored. It’ll be a performance that I’ll remember forever.” Then he makes a big heart with his arms, as his lips smile but the rest of his face doesn’t.
(Chingoo means “someone the same age as you”/”friend” but can also be roughly translated to “guys” -- you’ll often hear the judges call the trainees “chingoo”.)
I mean, it was pretty classy of him to focus on how much he enjoyed performing with the guys, but why not thank the Star Creators who voted for him as well? That seems mandatory, to me anyway.
Now it’s time to find out who came in 9th and who came in 10th between Jun Hyeon and Gunwook. We find out that apparently the two of them have been friends since the start -- I wonder how many other friendships we have no clue about? They’re both in the same Artist Battle song -- En Garde -- and are apparently currently roommates.
They’re also sort of friendly rivals.
We see that they’re both trying to cast a spell to be chosen ninth -- well, you gotta do something with your brain while you stand there endlessly waiting for the producers to let Huta announce 9th place. After like full on 5 minutes of dicking around, at 2:19:27 we find out that Gunwook is in 9th place. Kum jokes that he’s not going to say congratulations, but you can tell he doesn’t mean that too seriously.
Gunwook says: “I couldn’t get rid of the 10th place tag. I felt the wall of Top 9 was too high for me. I was able to grow after meeting Team Tomboy. Thank you.” Also no thanks to the Star Creators? I don’t know, feels wrong to me.
Then my little cousin says: “I thought that I should not regret whatever rank I got. I don’t have any regrets because my ranking has risen much more than I thought. I was able to improve from my Ggang performance, so I’m thankful to my team members.” Then he pauses, and says with a slightly thicker throat, “The last chingoo from my agency, Woo Jin, is here” -- and he gestures to Woojin, who was ranked 50th in the 6th episode and who was in Man in Love. We can see that, for one of the first times in Jun Hyeon’s whole life, his eyes have tears in them.
Somehow, that gets to me more than it does to see someone who is always openly emotional. “I… I hope I get good results and I can be a hyung who Woo Jin can be proud of,” he says. Then, gathering himself together, he shouts, “Woojin, I love you!”
Honestly, that’s why I watch this show. FRIENDSHIP! Fuck yeah!
I just noticed that we didn’t see Park Gunwook say anything to Park Hyunbeen, the last survivor from his Jellyfish team. Well, maybe it was edited out.
The trainees take their spots, and the rest of team Tomboy is happy to see Gunwook take a seat on one of the comfy chairs. But Gunwook doesn’t look super happy.
Next is 8th place, and Wumuti says to Keita, “I hope you don’t get called.” It’s so weird how for the first two hours, the trainees were both hoping to be called, and now they’re all hoping not to be called.
Our clue is that whoever it is, he placed first in his team. Well, that means it’s Zhang Hao, Kim Gyuvin, Kim TaeRae, or Keita. It’s also someone who has had a killing part, which means it’s either Keita or TaeRae.
At 2:23:12, we find out it’s Keita. TaeRae’s teammates from Man in Love are like, “wow, how far are you going to go?”
Huta says, as Keita takes the stage, “Trainee Keita, the master of the stage, showed perfect rap that’s close to a perfect god through Zoom performance and secured his top 9 place.”
Keita says, “Thank you so much to Star Creators for letting me sit in the Rank 8 seat again. I’ll prove why I have to stay in the Top 9.” His former teammates are happy for him, as is Park Gunwook, who leans over to shake his hand with a look of real happiness on his face. (I couldn’t find a still of when they were both in focus, so enjoy my delightful non-photoshop job here.) Aww, Gunwook has the cutest puppy face smile sometimes, I swear. I think he could pull of cute concepts really well.
Next, is the trainee in 7th place. It’s someone in the K-group, so it’s not Hao or Matthew. We don’t wait too long to find out, at 2:24:40, that it’s Kim TaeRae 💖. Naturally, he would have wanted to go even higher, but 7th place is already plenty good enough.
Kim TaeRae appreciation photoset:
Then we get to listen to his nice speaking voice as he says, “I’m truly thankful to Star Creators for giving me a great ranking of 7th place. I’ll return the favor with better songs and more confident performances. Thank you.” But as he settles down in the squishy 7th place chair, it’s clear that he’s a bit anxious and uncomfortable.
Just for fun, I’m going to measure the time between when they show the rank number on the jumbo tron and when they finally reveal who has that position.
Now it’s time for 6th place. Will it be Han Yu Jin, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Ji Woong, Seok Matthew, Sung Hanbin, or Zhang Hao? The stakes have never been lower!
We get the clue that the person in 6th got the benefit from the Dual Position Battle, which means it’s literally any of them, because they were all on either Law, Love Killa, or Tomboy.
Then Huta says something that Viki translates as, “He has a unique face and is praised for his good looking.” So again, it’s all of them!
At 2:26:47, after 80 seconds, we find out it’s Kim Gyuvin. He’s a little sad, because he wanted to go even higher, but he did get more than 5 million points.
Huta, reading directly from a cue card, asks him if he only did Love Killa for several years. Sigh, ok, fine, I guess this is a runner. Then Huta says something that Viki translates as, “Please tell us any memorable remarks on survival,” which I think is hilarious.
Gyuvin says, “Thank you for making me win first place in Love Killa. Seo Won, Matthew, and Ji Woong, thank you.” Then he adds in slow, but well-pronounced English, “And thank you for all the support and love. Whatever happens to me, I’m always able to stand strong because of you. Thank you, and I love you.”
When Gyuvin switches to English, Kim JiWoong asks Matthew if Gyubin is doing a good job, and Matthew confirms that he is. “Why didn’t you smile when I speak English?” JiWoong asks, and Matthew says, “Gyuvin is speaking well.” They seem to have a cute report.
Side note: I watched some dumb Youtube video in which someone ranted about their Boys Planet opinions. I say it was dumb because while I don't mind someone disagreeing with me on who they like or dislike, I do mind someone saying something like “Gyuvin needs to get out of Top9 right now,” while refusing to even explain why. And a bunch of people in the comments agreed, but no one had any substantive reason why. What on earth did Gyuvin do to you, people? He’s been a great performer since the Star Level Test. He’s the only one on Love Killa who managed to fucking SMILE the entire performance. He seems like a sweet kid with a nice face and great performance skills whose confidence has really been shaken by these psychopath judges. You can like other trainees better, but it’s weird to just hate Gyuvin. It’s like, these people just hate him because he gets in the way of their ships, or something. Ick.
Next will be the fifth place trainee. Will it be Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Seok Matthew, Sung Hanbin, or Zhang Hao? And why does MNET think I care all that much of the specific order amongst these five? If I weren’t recapping this, I’d just skip ahead.
Zhang Hao is getting nervous, so Hanbin takes his hand. That faint noise you just heard in the distance is a shipper squealing. Maybe it was a noise that you made. I don’t know your life.
Huta says that the trainee in 5th place is unexpected. Hey, Huta, you said that about 20th place, and the person turned out the be the person who was in 21st place previously, so I don't trust that comment at all. Then we learn that it’s someone whose ranking has fallen since the first ranking announcement, so it’s it’s not Zhang Hao, who was 5th place before already. It’s also someone who didn’t do the Vocal and Rap position in the Dual Position Battle, so it’s not Hanbin.
Which of these three is it?
I am on the edge of my seat!
Wait, hang on, let me sit back -- I have plenty of room. That’s better.*
At 2:29:35, after 80 seconds of waiting, we find out it’s Kim Ji Woong, who has dropped a bit in the ranking.
People are surprised that his ranking fell, but I’m not really that surprised. Kim JiWoong was sort of subdued and depressed seeming through most of episodes 6-7. There seemed to be some sort of heavy dark cloud hanging over his whole team, and while I think that this cloud may have condensed from evaporating drops of Matthew's flop sweat, the net outcome was a sad sad sad JiWoong. It wasn't a cute look -- people like smiling idols. Also, it seems increasingly clear that JiWoong is sort of a weirdo. He makes weird jokes, he has weird takes on things, he is comfortable with things that make other people uncomfortable, he's just an oddball. Personally, that makes me like him a lot more, but I don't know if most people are like me on that.
*That was an old MST3K joke, but it really fit here.
See, to my point about him being kind of a weirdo, when asked to say a few words, Kim Ji Woong says: “Besides rankings, I think the most important thing is an unbreakable heart. If Star Creators keep watering, I will bloom a huge flower. Thank you.”
You guys, JiWoong is a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a fitted suit wrapped in other people’s sweat. Does he know how sexual this sounds? Is this all an accident? There's no way to know, but I love it.
Then Huta says that he’ll announce that the top four, and even though it couldn’t possibly be more obvious that it’s Matthew, Hanbin, Hao, and Yujin, we still have to wait fully 45 seconds for them to actually tell us.
The fourth place trainee actually came in first place in 70 countries, including the US, France, Italy, and Switzerland. At 2:32:47 we find out it’s Matthew, who has fallen two spots. And for the record, he still would have been in 4th place without all the benefits.
In fact, the only differences in ranking caused by the benefit at all is that (a) the formerly blue haired Park Hanbin, currently 13th, and Ricky, currently 14th, would be in the opposite order without the benefit and (b) Na Kamden, currently 20th, and that peach Lee Seunghwan, currently 21st, would be in the opposite order without the benefit. So… not that important, really.
Back to Matthew. Again, I’m really not surprised that his rank has fallen. As I hinted at earlier, his leadership of the Love Killa team was low key a disaster. He came across as officious and anxious, like a yippy chihauhua. I'm not trying to be mean, because I empathize. I'm a teacher -- as I've said before, I don't teach at a school and I work with all age groups, from little kids to adults who are my parents' age -- and I know how it feels to try to lead people from a place of anxiety. People smell it on you and don't like it. It makes them feel anxious, too. They push back more. And then it makes the leader even more anxious, which creates a feedback loop. The only way to get out of it is to take deep breaths and try to relax control a little. Give the conversational ball back to the students. Ask more questions, and accept more answers. But I'm not sure that Matthew ever figured out what had actually gone wrong with his leadership, and we get a sense in the beginning of this episode that he still has a lot to figure out about how teams and leadership work.
I guess I've digressed a bit, but the point I want to make is that Matthew showed a somewhat unlikable side to himself in episodes 6-7. And then his performance in Love Killa was nothing to write home about, since he was not a good fit for the song concept (as he himself seemed to realize later). I think it's not too late for him to right the ship, but I also think that the show's editors may have turned against him, and I'm not totally sure that he's a lock for Top9 anymore.
Anyway, for his speech, Matthew says, “I’m so thankful that I’m still in Top9. Star Creators, since you send me support and love, I’m becoming a stronger and happier Matthew.” Then he does that dumb little motto thing again and in the future, when he does that, these recaps will not mention it.
Now it’s time for third place. The trainee was number one in China, which makes everyone think it’s probably Hao, but apparently Yujin is also really popular in China, and without much ado, we find out that it is in fact Han Yujin.
I love Park JiHoo in the peanut gallery saying, “So Hao-hyung will be 2nd place?” because it’s so obvious who first place will be.
Han Yujin’s voice is surprisingly deep, considering his young age. He says, “While watching survival programs since I was young” -- you are currently young, my friend -- I thought about how I’d feel if I sat in such a high place. I can’t believe this, and I’m so, so happy now. I’ll work harder to be a person who deserves this high place.”
Then Huta teases him into doing his "thigh grab" move from Law again and we see several instant replays.
Han Yujin is 15 ½ in international age. He’s only a few months older than Takuto. Ewwww.
Hey, psychopath child who told me to k!ll myse!f for “sexualizing” legal adult Park Gunwook, are you writing letters to MNET about this shit? Maybe you should be. Get your misdirected rage out that way, maybe.
So, Yujin takes his seat, and now we’ll spend almost seven minutes wasting time before we find out who came in first and who came in second, as if we don’t already know. But there was NO TIME to hear what Ricky, Chen Kuan Jui, or Zhang Shuai Bo had to say when they got their ranking, right?
Huta begins by commenting on Hanbin and Hao’s chemistry, and then we’re reminded that they were the two centers for Na Bina. We see Matthew with a slightly weird expression.
He almost looks angry. But who knows, maybe he's just trying not to sneeze.
Then Huta asks them things like “How do you feel about being a candidate for number one?” and “Do you think you can be number one?” They say the exact same stuff you’d expect them to say. Seriously, take a moment, imagine what you'd think they'd say. You got it right. That's what they said.
The only thing that’s at least slightly interesting is when Huta asks Hao if he has anything to say to Hanbin, and Hao says, "Let's debut and drink zero cola every day." Also, we find out that Number 1 has 914,268 more points than number 2, which makes it even less likely that it’s not Hanbin.
So after all that, we find out the first place is, of course, Hanbin again.
Hanbin pouts, which is a choice. I guess he feels a little uncomfortable with it--? Hao doesn't even react because he already knew.
The trainees all say “as expected” and that Hanbin is really named “Han Bina” (like Na Bina, I’m Shining). Hanbin and Hao embrace as the void itself closes in on them.
Somehow they escape the void, and then we get to hear from each of them.
Hanbin says: “I gained strength from many people who supported me. Thanks to them, I'm spending a meaningful and memorable day every day. Team Love Me Right, including [Han] Seo Bin who I really miss, and team Tomboy that brought me luck. And not everyone is here but while watching the passion of 98 trainees in Boys Planet, I think I've grown up more. I'll continue to try hard, rather than just stay in the same place. I'll keep the number one place to the end." Then, he switches to Chinese, and while Hao rubs his back and various Chinese trainees smile, he says, " I think I'm getting better because of you. Thank you, Star Creators."
(In case you forgot who Han Seo Bin is, he's Park JiHoo's friend, the rapper kid who Hui chose to be on Love Me Right. )
Zhang Hao says, “Hello, I'm trainee Zhang Hao. Today's Zhang Hao isn't perfect yet. But I will try my best and make a performance that exceeds your expectations. I'll prove that you are right to like Trainee Zhang Hao." Then Zhang Hao switches to Japanese and Zhang Hao says, “Thank you for supporting me. You're my strong supporter. I will do my best to be your pride." Thank you, Zhang Hao for giving that speech about Zhang Hao!
My theory is that Gyuvin, Hanbin, and Hao were talking in their Love Killa group about how to get more support from areas where they're less popular. Gyuvin targeted the international market in general, Hanbin targeted China, and Hao targeted Japan.
So, now that we've found out who is ranked 1-27, only one chair remains...
The final spot: 28th place
At 2:42:50 it's time to find out the last trainee who survived elimination in rank 28. Who are the candidates?
Sung Hanbin, Kim Gyuvin, Keita, and Tumblr user Boys Planet Recaps are all hoping it's Lee Yedam. Thanks, MNET, for first screwing him over by not showing his audition in episode 2, and then turning the screws now, just letting us all know that the highest ranked trainees all respect the shit out of him but that we’re going to lose him from the show.
Anyway, we find out our three “candidates”, ie those ranked 28, 29 and 30 in some order, are..
Mun Jung Hyeon, Hiroto, and Ma Jing Xiang.
And then we find out that 30th place is…
Ma Jing Xiang. Oh Sungmin is shocked.
He bows politely, and trainees call out encouragement. Huta says that MJX has “shown passionate drive all this time”, and that is a nice way to put it.
MJX seems to be ok -- he’s got to be at least slightly relieved to be able to get away from this stressful environment. He says, “Actually, I don’t have any regrets, because many Star Creators have voted for me and cheered me on. So it’s so heartwarming for me. I love you all.” Aww, that’s nice! I wish more trainees would focus on that -- yeah, you may have lost, but look at the hundreds of thousands of votes you got!
Now it’s down to Mun Jung Hyeon, who I’ve liked ever since his performance in The Real for the Star Level Test, and Hiroto, who I don’t feel like I know very well, and who has never like, blown me away with his performance. So, obviously I’m hoping for Mun. But at the same time, we only have three Japanese trainees in the top 27 -- Keita, Haruto, and Takuto. (What is with all the Japanese trainees going just be their personal name? Did MNET make them do that?) So it would be good to have another Japanese trainee around, just to make this not so much of a K-fest. And I know a lot of people really like Hiroto, so it’d be nice to get to know him better.
We scan the audience, and oh, Mun’s label mate and hyung, TaeRae, is crying a little, while his other hyung, Park Hanbin, has his hands lifted in prayer. We know that Takuto is hoping desperately for Hiroto-kun. And Huta tells us that the difference between the two is only 60,510 points -- oh, ouch!!
And at 2:47:35, we find out that….
Haruto has survived, and Mun is out.
The two of them hug. Kim Tae Rae covers his eyes with his hands.
Haruto says, in Korean, “I am so fascinated by everything that’s happening. I can’t tell whether this is a dream or reality. But I’ll do my best going forward to return the favor. Thank you.” Aww, he probably prepared that speech. Then pretty much all the trainees come running over to hug him, including a sobbing Takuto.
Then Huta says, “Trainee Mun Jung Hyun has to leave Boys Planet at Number 29 for the difference in one ranking.” Nice! What a great comment to make! So helpful.
TaeRae is really crying now, so Mun calls out “Uljima!!!” (Don’t cry!) But he’s low key saying it to himself. He goes on, “Up until Hiroto’s name was announced, I wished that I could leave after performing in the last stage.” (He means the Artist Mission.) “I’m very disappointed, but I’m sure Hiroto will perform very well in my place. … I didn’t want to make you cry!” he adds, as many trainees do, in fact, cry. “Thank you for everything, and especially, to the Star Creators who enabled me to perform twice already, I want to sincerely thank you. Thank you!”
And that’s the end of the second elimination. We pan slowly over the remaining trainees…
…and Brian is just a study in misery. Ji Yun Seo, who is actually two years younger than Brian, looks at his fellow Yuehua trainee with concern. YunSeo is such a papa bear type for someone so young, isn’t he?
Huta says some stuff about how they did a good job and will be remembered forever, but a tear is rolling down Cai Jin Xin’s face. Awww, he’s not really that good at anything but I’m fond of him. He seems like a real nice guy. Not a Nice Guy, but a guy who is nice. You know what I mean.
Then Huta congratulates the trainees who have made the cut, but warns them that they’re still not safe. To the Star Creators, he says, “For the boys who are desperately awaiting your love and cheer, we would be grateful if you would give them your precious one vote.” Park JiHoo looks dead to the camera and mimicks tapping on a phone. I love that kid.
And Dang Hong Hai says that’ll be voting. Yeah, DHH! He’s staying classy. I love it.
The voting opens! From now on, we can pick three boys only. Oh no, my heart is already broken.
But that’s about it for this episode, and this post!
In my next post, I’ll list the order I found online for the rankings 29 to 51, and give you my thoughts/ideas on what might happen next for the trainees who were eliminated. Then in another post I’ll address the five Artist Mission songs/groups, and what happened for that first hour of Ep 8, along with some thoughts on those videos they released.
Thanks as always for reading! If you're enjoying the recaps, please consider sharing them in non-Tumblr spaces because it'd be cool to get the word out and help people who like this kind of recap find me!
See you next time. <3
19 notes
·
View notes