I wasn’t going to recap Boys Planet (and technically, I’m still not doing it), but I’m watching the series and thought others might appreciate a spot to discuss it. So, each week I plan on dumping a few of my random thoughts about the show. Again, this will not be a full, detailed recap. But, if you have something you want to mention make sure to include it in the comments!
Thoughts on BOYS PLANET Episode One
Thoughts on BOYS PLANET Episode Two
Thoughts on BOYS PLANET Episode Three
Thoughts on BOYS PLANET Episode Four
Thoughts on BOYS PLANET Episode Five
Thoughts on BOYS PLANET Episode Six
Thoughts on BOYS PLANET Episode Seven
Coming Soon: Artist Battle
This week’s post will be brief because this episode was three hours long and I fast-forwarded through most of it. Basically, we got eliminations and filler, along with a behind-the-scenes lead-up to next week’s “Artist Battle.”
“Artist Battle” is the much-anticipated original song round. As much as I like hearing original music, I’ve always hated how they box these songs so heavily into genres. It feels like the genre tag is more important than the song itself.
The first revealed song is of the “oriental pop” genre, which seems like a… problematic description. There’s also one called “funk pop” that doesn’t sound remotely funky. Surprisingly, the song that’s sticking out to me most from these (very short) previews is the one they’re calling “sentimental hip-hop.”
Overall, the songs sound like pretty much everything else in K-pop right now. Same old tropes.
The show then spent almost an hour documenting the selection of teams and parts and roles and etc etc. I have to give the producers credit. It must hard to wring any drama from “who will be sub-vocalist 4?”.
I fast-forwarded through this, so feel free to comment if there was anything worth noting!
Eliminations
Rather than go in numerical order, they announced in groups again. I’m still not a fan of this format.
There weren’t many surprises here, but now we’re down to a much more manageable twenty-eight trainees.
Things that stood out to me:
Hui dropped out of the top nine.
Takuto is still hanging in there, somehow!
Matthew dropped two spots.
The number one spot is unchanged.
Field Day
As if this episode wasn’t already long enough, the producers treated us to some extra filler.
Season two of Produce 101 Japan featured a drag show as one of their filler segments and it was a ton of fun and very memorable. For Boys Planet, some of the guys donned wigs and tiaras for a game of “Protect the Princess.” So… not exactly a drag show.
I don’t know. I fast-forwarded through this, too.
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I’ve heard the previews of the songs and oh my. ‘Over Me’ and ‘En Garde’ sound so nice. I can’t wait for those songs to be released.
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Same! I’m especially excited for En Garde.
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Why does the demo for ‘En Garde’ sound like Verivery? There’s no way it’s them right?
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Ok, I hear a rumor that A.C.E’s Donghun, Chan, and Jun sang the demo for ‘Over Me’.
WHY CAN I ACTUALLY HEAR THEM???
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mnet isnt rigging in the traditional way anymore, this time it’s more sinister and subtle! its painfully obvious who they want in the final lineup (i suspect they dont want hui in the group as his company has plans of launching his career as a soloist)
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who do you think they want in the group im honstly not sure how they feel about jay
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Thank you once again for taking one for the team, Nick. I can’t believe that there were no performance videos this week. OK maybe yes sure I can believe how elimination day can take All Day, how this works.
As for who went through and who didn’t, I had to specifically google it, ‘https://planet999.fandom.com/wiki/Boys
as the list was not on the top scroll of allkpop or soompi. That is how little this is getting attention in kpopland. And then I realized how few of these kids I know by name anyway. Other than Anthonnnnyy who was eliminated (with a named like that). Jay is out of the top 9 as well. For Hui, my humble opinion, I don’t think Hui is gaining any fans but staying at the same support level. I think the others contestants are gaining fans from eliminated contestants supporters rolling onto whoever they like is left. Someone in some subreddit has crunched more numbers, but that is my working hypothesis. Or maybe it is being quietly rigged, softly softly.
Moving on …
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I didn’t ever really expect Hui to make it in. A lot of people really, really don’t want him in there, with a lot of different reasons, too (ranging from “he just doesn’t suit the style the new group is going for” to “he deserves more promotion on his own and shouldn’t have to resort to a project group” to “the 2007 kid is a shoo-in and almost his entire life is a bit too excessive an age gap”, plus some less kind offerings). Personally, I think Jay really ought to make the final lineup so there’s a clear vocalist to toss all the flashy moments at, but I think Twitter hates him for something, so odds are dicey. At the taping I went to, it seemed like he was the only person within maybe the top 30 who no superfans handed out slogans for. At least Hui has ride-or-dies on the Korea side.
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Forgot to add: I love the guy, but I don’t really want him in there, either! I’d be happy if he made it, though. He just looks like he feels extremely out of place every time I see a clip of him, which makes him seem more out of place, which makes him feel it, which makes him seem it…
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honestly i agree i never wanted him in there either tbh but do you think jay will make it hes my one pick and i’m really rooting for him
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Is seok matthew your one pick? I am currently obsessed with kim ji woong who kinda dropped a few places too😀.
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Probably, but I’m not *super* attached to anyone at this point.
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Now that my 1 pick has been eliminated, I’m not really watching the show anymore but will tune in for the performances. However, I’m never that excited about the original song portion of survival shows, since most of them tend to sound like b-side rejects. Maybe Over Me will be a good one?
As for rankings, I think Hui won’t make it back into the top 9 again, Takuto (and Shuaibo) will go next round, Matthew will drop even more given his ambiguous edit but still make it in the end, and Shanbin will be P01 wire to wire. Watch me be completely wrong about all this.
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Who was your 1 pick? I kind of feel the same way about not really watching the whole thing with as much interest anymore. I was telling myself not to watch this show but I ended up watching anyway with Wumuti as a 1 pick, and he’s now eliminated… hoping for Seunghwan to at least get something good out of this concept evaluation (oops sorry, “Artist Battle”) before he inevitably also gets eliminated because of lack of screen time. I’ve also been hoping for Keita to do well, just hoping the international fans manage to get him over the finish line somehow by the end because it seems to be shaping up to be a tough ending.
(though I have to say while I’m not really invested I’m also still kind of rooting for Junhyeon to get into the group – I generally watch variety content even from groups I don’t really follow musically and so far he’s really been sticking out to me as someone unabashedly funny who would do well on variety lol)
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It was Mnet’s punching bag Ma Jingxiang. That’s too bad about Wumuti, he really shone in LMR and Zoom! I feel like there were so many talented contestants (Anthonny, Lee Yedam, Park Jihoo, etc.) that would have caught on with voters if only they got a little screen time over the chosen favorites.
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do you think jay will make it hes my one pick and im really scared for him
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Honestly I don’t know how Mnet feels about Jay…it seems like they would be okay with him making the lineup but they prefer Seungeon or Taerae as main vocal? Unfortunately I think not being a strong 1 pick among Koreans will hurt him.
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im predicting sometime hanbin will be knocked out of his first place spot by the end of the show
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The Dance Practices for the songs just dropped !!!
Sadly, ‘En Garde’ was slightly underwhelming but ‘Over Me’ and ‘Say My Name’ Over Delivered. When the songs actually release, I’m having those 2 on repeat
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I’m talking about the songs btw not the choreography. All 3 choreographies are nice
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im personally really scared for jay and i hope he makes it but i really dont know anymore i have a fealling he light but what do yall think i also think sung hanbin might be knocked from first soon
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might*
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Ep 8 had a lot of fillers but I’m looking forward to the performances – some of the teams had interesting songs and team combinations. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with survival shows, and boy’s planet has been pretty underwhelming for the most part (with a few standouts, ofc), but JTBC’s Peak Time has been really fun so far. The performances have been exciting and the overall vibe is a lot more uplifting. Rather than antagonizing participating teams or creating unhealthy rivalries, there’s a lot more interaction and growth – which is exciting to see, especially when it’s already-debuted groups or idols that are competing, not solo trainees.
Are you watching Peak Time?
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Oooh, I love Peak Time…I knew most of the groups but it’s still nice to see them get some well deserved praise. I was hoping BDC would go further but I’m super impressed by Vanner and NTX. I swear Vanner disbanded years ago but I’m glad they’re still around and able to showcase their amazing talent. I swear this show is like a PDx101, Mixnine, The Unit reunion and I’m living for it.
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It’s a surprising mix of everything I’d want in a survival show T-T
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