Harriet Ho
London
Enticing storyline, but foul execution
Imitation is that drama that would get a vast number of K-Pop fans ecstatic upon watching with one of the phenomenal cast line-ups from notorious groups like ATEEZ, SF9, U-KISS, T-Ara, and Pristin. This series showcases the darker side to the idol scene that we may not see the extremities of, but are aware of it happening. To my surprise, the plot carries hidden mysteries and a brewing romance that shall be unraveled as the story goes on. As a K-Pop fan, there were a number of things that fascinated me about the show, but there are other things that can be critcised on which I will try to delve into. In general, this was an insightful and fascinating watch, but also a frustrating and anti-climactic one.
STORY
The focal point of 'Imitation' is showing the rawness behind the K-Pop idol scene that explores the themes of the media, corporate ideals, corruption, strict dieting, pressures for debut, secret relationships, suicide, toxic fanbases, and saesang behaviours. What I found impressive is that the writers do not shy away from this and deliver the idol/trainee experiences as authentic as they can be. As the story develops, the drama tries to portray what an ideal K-Pop industry should be like. Whilst that is far from what we see in reality as of today - and will take a long time to turn that into a reality - it does leave profound feelings on K-Pop fans to reflect upon.
As much as I found the epilogues that accompanied the drama to be quite an interesting and alternate approach in connecting the past with the events of the present, it did not do justice for Eun-Jo and Annie's story. To base the whole drama relying on minute-long epilogues to tell us the past are not reliable in explaining the actions behind both of the character's intentions. The writers essentially overshadowed the romance that left minuscule time for their case to be solved and justified, leaving us with a very ambiguous ending for both of them. This was shameful as this was one of the main reasons I was anticipating from 'Imitation'.
Onto the romance portion of the show. Undeniably, I did enjoy some aspects of the romance and the accompanying iconic scenes that bring comedic value towards the couple; serving some cute moments between the two as well, however, Ryok and Ma-ha's story lacked a lot of depth. Firstly, the bringing of the two together was an entire cliche where there were moments that were forced upon them to make them have to see one another. A strong memorable example is when they were on the tour bus together and their gift bags ended up on the floor and being switched when there were not even sitting near one another, thus how can a mistake like that happen? Whilst I did enjoy their development and somewhat maturation in the relationship in the latter of the series, the question is, was their story a bit rushed? Most certainly. They had a great start in developing their fondness towards one another again after a long time, but their story could have benefitted more if they showed their recuperating friendship, rather than rushing them to get together in the most unrealistic ways. Again, with the very short epilogues, it is difficult to understand the depths of their friendship that led to the events of where they are in the present moment to gravitate towards one another and can only be left for the viewer's imagination and interpretation. Furthermore, their relationship lacked a lot of dialogue and narrative from both of the characters in the latter that led to the outcomes of the ending, leaving them with a bland and very disatisying ending.
The love-triangle story went well at first, casting a true debate on who Ma-ha should be with, but as the story went on, it became evidently clear on who she will be with, therefore, Yu-Jin being portrayed as the loyal friend that 'protects' Ma-ha from Ryok was a misleading and unnecessary addition to the plot, with the unexplained reason of why he had something against Ryok that Ma-ha needed protection for. To put it shortly, the love triangle story is nothing new and served no purpose.
Overall, both Eun-Jo/Annie and Ryok/Ma-Ha’s stories were satisfactory. If their storylines balanced out and were unveiled from the beginning to the end of the show, then this would be a satisfying ending for all. Nevertheless, both of the couples serve a fundamental purpose in displaying the hardships of being together as celebrities and the pressures that behold them individually. It was refreshing to see this topic being portrayed as this is shunned upon in the industry.
CHARACTERS
Having a predominant idol cast was very fitting to make the story resonate with the cast more and build hype surrounding the series towards the audience. At first, SHAX was a group that I could not find myself growing attached to, but as the show develops and the members' personalities are explored, as well as seeing their growth as a group, I ended up growing fond of them and see what six years of being together can do to nurture them. In particular, I enjoyed watching the chemistry of Ryok with Do-Jin and Hyuk.
Kwon Ryok - He has a very work-orientated personality and has clear visions of his future as an idol and actor. At times he appears cold and frazzled, but I like his slight change in demeanour. Jun is a remarkable actor for carrying the emotions and weight of his character.
Lee Ma-ha - I found her character to be admirable in general. Her amazing positive outlook towards life was endearing and inspiring. I was particularly invested in how she will develop and find her own sparkle amidst her being infamously known as the 'copycat' to her senior, La Ri Ma. Despite that, that was never delved into. and her character merely was dependent on her spiraling relationship with Ryok. As the main FL who is meant to carry her group, her development is non-existent.
La Li Ma - Her character surprised me the most. She was portrayed as the unlikeable one with a malevolent trademark, but her depth in character was heartwarming. I love her hidden caring nature towards her juniors, her striking power towards people who abuse the system, and her confidence as a solo artist.
Hyun-Ji- I loved her caring and empathetic nature towards others in the beginning and it seemed like she had a lot that could be unraveled like her confidence on stage and her passion for fashion. But I feel like her unrequited love at first sight pairing with Yun-Jin was very much enforced and overpowered her to the point she would let it ruin a sister-like bond with her fellow members. As much as I strongly agree that SML's should get a happy ending, I felt like her original character personality really diminished because of this sudden sprout in romantic interests.
Other than that, what is worth noting is the shift in opinions on social conforms in the industry. Ji Hak is a notable character with his idealistic ways of running and managing a K-Pop company in contrast to NOG Entertainment. I love how Ji Hak's story as a former manager of SHAX and current CEO/manager of Tea Party tied in together to create a mysterious, yet tragic story that helped him to shift in his opinions on social conforms and stand against what is wrong in the industry. A truly remarkable and admirable character.
MUSIC
The soundtrack for the drama is good, there are some catchy tracks that include 'Show Me' by Tea Party - a song that I cannot get out of my head - and SHAX's tracks 'Malo' and 'Amen'. Both with very catchy and memorable choruses. A song that is worth highlighting is 'Constellation', or rather 'Your SIgn'. The lyrics to the song are very comforting and hold a very special meaning to those who are struggling out there. On top of the soundtrack, I really loved the delivery of dance performances that accompanied the drama to bring a genuine feel to the K-Pop-themed show.
CONCLUSION
Albeit with everything said, I believe the fault of the outcomes that were displayed in the drama was due to only having 12 episodes. If only the writers could have done better to fit everything in with that they had, then I would rate it a 8/8.5. This is just the beginning for more dramas of this genre to appear in the K-Drama scene that I will pray for to be normalised one day, If you are a KPop fan and is curious about the idol scene, then this is worth giving a go. But if you are looking for anything more than that, then this is not the drama for you.
STORY
The focal point of 'Imitation' is showing the rawness behind the K-Pop idol scene that explores the themes of the media, corporate ideals, corruption, strict dieting, pressures for debut, secret relationships, suicide, toxic fanbases, and saesang behaviours. What I found impressive is that the writers do not shy away from this and deliver the idol/trainee experiences as authentic as they can be. As the story develops, the drama tries to portray what an ideal K-Pop industry should be like. Whilst that is far from what we see in reality as of today - and will take a long time to turn that into a reality - it does leave profound feelings on K-Pop fans to reflect upon.
As much as I found the epilogues that accompanied the drama to be quite an interesting and alternate approach in connecting the past with the events of the present, it did not do justice for Eun-Jo and Annie's story. To base the whole drama relying on minute-long epilogues to tell us the past are not reliable in explaining the actions behind both of the character's intentions. The writers essentially overshadowed the romance that left minuscule time for their case to be solved and justified, leaving us with a very ambiguous ending for both of them. This was shameful as this was one of the main reasons I was anticipating from 'Imitation'.
Onto the romance portion of the show. Undeniably, I did enjoy some aspects of the romance and the accompanying iconic scenes that bring comedic value towards the couple; serving some cute moments between the two as well, however, Ryok and Ma-ha's story lacked a lot of depth. Firstly, the bringing of the two together was an entire cliche where there were moments that were forced upon them to make them have to see one another. A strong memorable example is when they were on the tour bus together and their gift bags ended up on the floor and being switched when there were not even sitting near one another, thus how can a mistake like that happen? Whilst I did enjoy their development and somewhat maturation in the relationship in the latter of the series, the question is, was their story a bit rushed? Most certainly. They had a great start in developing their fondness towards one another again after a long time, but their story could have benefitted more if they showed their recuperating friendship, rather than rushing them to get together in the most unrealistic ways. Again, with the very short epilogues, it is difficult to understand the depths of their friendship that led to the events of where they are in the present moment to gravitate towards one another and can only be left for the viewer's imagination and interpretation. Furthermore, their relationship lacked a lot of dialogue and narrative from both of the characters in the latter that led to the outcomes of the ending, leaving them with a bland and very disatisying ending.
The love-triangle story went well at first, casting a true debate on who Ma-ha should be with, but as the story went on, it became evidently clear on who she will be with, therefore, Yu-Jin being portrayed as the loyal friend that 'protects' Ma-ha from Ryok was a misleading and unnecessary addition to the plot, with the unexplained reason of why he had something against Ryok that Ma-ha needed protection for. To put it shortly, the love triangle story is nothing new and served no purpose.
Overall, both Eun-Jo/Annie and Ryok/Ma-Ha’s stories were satisfactory. If their storylines balanced out and were unveiled from the beginning to the end of the show, then this would be a satisfying ending for all. Nevertheless, both of the couples serve a fundamental purpose in displaying the hardships of being together as celebrities and the pressures that behold them individually. It was refreshing to see this topic being portrayed as this is shunned upon in the industry.
CHARACTERS
Having a predominant idol cast was very fitting to make the story resonate with the cast more and build hype surrounding the series towards the audience. At first, SHAX was a group that I could not find myself growing attached to, but as the show develops and the members' personalities are explored, as well as seeing their growth as a group, I ended up growing fond of them and see what six years of being together can do to nurture them. In particular, I enjoyed watching the chemistry of Ryok with Do-Jin and Hyuk.
Kwon Ryok - He has a very work-orientated personality and has clear visions of his future as an idol and actor. At times he appears cold and frazzled, but I like his slight change in demeanour. Jun is a remarkable actor for carrying the emotions and weight of his character.
Lee Ma-ha - I found her character to be admirable in general. Her amazing positive outlook towards life was endearing and inspiring. I was particularly invested in how she will develop and find her own sparkle amidst her being infamously known as the 'copycat' to her senior, La Ri Ma. Despite that, that was never delved into. and her character merely was dependent on her spiraling relationship with Ryok. As the main FL who is meant to carry her group, her development is non-existent.
La Li Ma - Her character surprised me the most. She was portrayed as the unlikeable one with a malevolent trademark, but her depth in character was heartwarming. I love her hidden caring nature towards her juniors, her striking power towards people who abuse the system, and her confidence as a solo artist.
Hyun-Ji- I loved her caring and empathetic nature towards others in the beginning and it seemed like she had a lot that could be unraveled like her confidence on stage and her passion for fashion. But I feel like her unrequited love at first sight pairing with Yun-Jin was very much enforced and overpowered her to the point she would let it ruin a sister-like bond with her fellow members. As much as I strongly agree that SML's should get a happy ending, I felt like her original character personality really diminished because of this sudden sprout in romantic interests.
Other than that, what is worth noting is the shift in opinions on social conforms in the industry. Ji Hak is a notable character with his idealistic ways of running and managing a K-Pop company in contrast to NOG Entertainment. I love how Ji Hak's story as a former manager of SHAX and current CEO/manager of Tea Party tied in together to create a mysterious, yet tragic story that helped him to shift in his opinions on social conforms and stand against what is wrong in the industry. A truly remarkable and admirable character.
MUSIC
The soundtrack for the drama is good, there are some catchy tracks that include 'Show Me' by Tea Party - a song that I cannot get out of my head - and SHAX's tracks 'Malo' and 'Amen'. Both with very catchy and memorable choruses. A song that is worth highlighting is 'Constellation', or rather 'Your SIgn'. The lyrics to the song are very comforting and hold a very special meaning to those who are struggling out there. On top of the soundtrack, I really loved the delivery of dance performances that accompanied the drama to bring a genuine feel to the K-Pop-themed show.
CONCLUSION
Albeit with everything said, I believe the fault of the outcomes that were displayed in the drama was due to only having 12 episodes. If only the writers could have done better to fit everything in with that they had, then I would rate it a 8/8.5. This is just the beginning for more dramas of this genre to appear in the K-Drama scene that I will pray for to be normalised one day, If you are a KPop fan and is curious about the idol scene, then this is worth giving a go. But if you are looking for anything more than that, then this is not the drama for you.
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