TeSTAR’s reality show maintained its buzz even after entering Season 2.
No, in terms of general-public appeal, it actually received even better marks.
Season 1, which had been scheduled for television broadcast, had pulled respectable ratings, so the gap before Season 2 aired on TV was drastically shortened.
Just one week.
On top of that, the WeTube edit and TV edit differed slightly in footage, so hardcore fans ended up watching both.
Of course, there were still more viewers who took advantage of the kind and speedy labor of netizens instead.
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[Working Holiday TV Extra Cuts (1/3)]
: (video)
0:43 Cha Goyoung’s grandmother interview
3:58 Big Sejin whistling
5:02 Park Moondae smile compilation
========================
- Grandma’s pick is Chungwoo… as expected, he’s my man
└Wash your feet and go to bed
- H-Holy shit, Lee Sejin is even good at whistling? Just how far are you going to take this
- You smile while giving freebies? Park Moondae, guilty
Since Idol Inc., this was the first time TeSTAR as a group had been exposed so directly to the general public through the variety-show side of things.
Naturally, the fans happily enjoyed this opportunity to promote them.
For a while, it had seemed as if VTIC would sweep everything up by themselves, so of course they were delighted to see TeSTAR pushing forward like this even during an inactive period.
[TeSTAR’s Working Holiday Season 2 begins]
[TeSTAR member who kept getting called hot the entire time he was serving in Murica]
[Idol who measures exactly 30g by hand]
During the very first week Episodes 1 and 2 of Season 2 aired, dozens of popular posts rose and fell across the internet every single day.
The momentum didn’t die in Episodes 3 and 4, the sightseeing episodes released the following week either.
[TeSTAR’s Manito Sightseeing Trip!]
For this sightseeing trip, the members drew lots and became one another’s Manito.
[Kim Raebin: Chungwoo hyung!]
[Ryu Chungwoo: Ah, I got Moondae.]
[Bae Sejin: …Lee Sejin.]
And they had to secretly buy one of the “gifts I want” that the member they had drawn had selected beforehand, without being discovered.
The plan had been: Let’s laugh at TeSTAR desperately playing spies, something completely outside their nature, in order to avoid the penalty.
However…
[PD: Deep friendship as you think of your fellow members! This will be a sightseeing trip that shows the power of friendship!]
[Ryu Chungwoo: Ah, that’s true!]
[Ryu Chungwoo: Then let’s all pretend we don’t know.]
[Production Team: !!!!]
Ryu Chungwoo’s completely innocent and transparent solution destroyed the entire setup.
The members stood in a line, entered the shopping mall one at a time, then came back out carrying completely wrapped gift boxes.
[PD: E-Everyone. Aren’t you curious who your Manito is?]
[Lee Sejin: Nope~]
[Kim Raebin: Since their identity will be revealed in half a day anyway, I believe I can endure the wait!]
Even in the face of the PD’s desperate pleading, TeSTAR didn’t budge.
On top of that, Cha Eugene even misunderstood the PD’s words as a question.
[Cha Eugene: Ah! Me!]
[PD: Ah, of course! Eugene-ssi, you’re curious, right~?]
[Cha Eugene: No! I know! Manito is Spanish! Friend!]
[Park Moondae: !!]
[Moondae finds the maknae’s erudition unfamiliar….]
The PD clutching his head and Park Moondae marveling without any expression were cross-edited together with impeccable comedic timing.
It was a cliché-breaking development made possible only because the previous episode had already gotten plenty of comedic footage out of the production team tormenting them while they ran the shop.
And that wasn’t the end of it.
In the latter half of the broadcast, they secured not only entertainment, but professionalism and warmth as well.
The evening after they had thoroughly explored the safari and shopping mall.
[Lee Sejin: Should we make a toast over there? With soft drinks!]
[Ryu Chungwoo: Shall we? What do you think?]
[Seon Ahyeon: I-I’d like that…!]
[Bae Sejin: Let’s only order drinks.]
The segment started with this sort of conversation, as though the members were about to have a sincere talk at a pub and provide an obvious editing point.
Then one factor completely changed its character.
[Lee Sejin: Is that a karaoke machine on the stage? Ah, this place has a karaoke concept!]
The place TeSTAR had entered was a karaoke bar equipped with a karaoke machine.
[Ryu Chungwoo: Come to think of it, I think Moondae wanted to sing.]
[Park Moondae: Me?]
[Lee Sejin: Waaah~ Applause!!]
[Park Moondae: (Tibetan fox)]
And after fooling around, TeSTAR somehow ended up grabbing hold of the karaoke machine and singing.
[Park Moondae: (singing passionately)]
[A professional wreaking havoc in an innocent tavern]
[He sings so unnecessarily well that you wonder whether he really needs to go this hard….]
The captions were playful, but the skill itself was excessively undeniable.
It was also the first time the reality show had really highlighted TeSTAR’s actual profession.
[Cheers and applause pouring in]
Having that skill validated among foreigners who had absolutely no familiarity with them gave the viewers a strange sense of vicarious satisfaction.
And it wasn’t only Park Moondae.
[Lee Sejin: Hyungnim~ How about a song?]
[Ryu Chungwoo: Shall I? Raebin, want to sing with me?]
[Kim Raebin: I will do my utmost!]
The members took turns using the karaoke machine, alone or in groups of two and three.
There were hardly any Korean songs available, but it didn’t matter, since everyone knew how to sing at least a few pop songs anyway.
Later, caught up in the atmosphere, they even ended up singing and dancing to an old American boy-band song with a customer they didn’t know.
[Cha Eugene: You got a vibe~ (meaning: You’ve got some skills)]
[Customer: I know! (meaning: I’m drunk)]
[This stylish customer was so moved that he even bought them drinks]
By keeping the jokes alive here and there while essentially satisfying the qualities of a music variety show as well, the episode became even richer in things to watch.
TeSTAR didn’t force themselves to sing their own songs or make promotional remarks.
They simply let the time pass naturally.
Thanks to that, viewers could enjoy the content itself without feeling burdened by blatant promotion.
[Seon Ahyeon: I-I think if we order any more here, we’ll be in debt…!]
[Lee Sejin: Whoops.]
[Park Moondae: We should probably get going.]
And when they returned to Cha Eugene’s house at the end, the footage of them exchanging gifts reached the peak of heartwarming content.
[Ryu Chungwoo: Moondae gave his cushion to Eugene, remember? So I picked this.]
[Seon Ahyeon: What I prepared is a wrist rest. Raebin uses the computer a lot, after all….]
Just as the scene seemed about to end on that harmonious note—
[Cha Eugene: The popcorn is delicious!]
[Bae Sejin: ????]
The camera showed Bae Sejin standing dumbfounded after receiving an absurdly huge, jumbo-sized tub of popcorn from Cha Eugene.
[Bae Sejin: W-When did I ever ask for something like this…!]
Bae Sejin’s protest was abruptly cut off, and a caption appeared over peaceful background music.
[After reviewing the evidence]
[On Bae Sejin-ssi’s gift list]
[there was “snacks.”]
[Cha Eugene wins by a landslide]
And in the end, the final shot was of Bae Sejin waddling away while carrying the enormous popcorn tub.
Ending on a burst of laughter left a pleasant aftertaste.
Then an enticing preview was added afterward to build anticipation, making it excellent variety entertainment all the way through.
Naturally, the response could only remain favorable.
- Seriously fucking hilarious
- Please make this into a series and keep producing it with other idols tooㅠㅠ
- I think it’s fun because it’s TeSTAR, so please stay with TeSTAR for a long time
- These days I seriously live waiting for Wednesdays. Please keep it going for a long, long time~
Of course there were also territorial comments from fans of other groups, but the popularity had reached a point where people who genuinely liked the variety show itself were starting to appear.
Naturally, the fans began screaming.
- Please comeback before this high wears off
- Strike while the iron is hot, you T1 bastards
- Promote something, you bastards
They were desperate pleas not to let this variety-show boost simply pass them by.
During awards season, the anxiety had been less intense because there had been an obvious inflow factor—the awards-show stages.
But right now, there was no promise of any other schedule.
- What if they add more tour dates because they think domestic interest is fine? There’s a very real possibility they’ll get even bolder about sending them overseas
- I heard Miry-nay debuts next month. What if our boys’ schedule gets pushed back
- These bastards having no sense isn’t exactly new, so I’m nervous;
- They’re not seriously going to keep milking the reality show to death like this, right? Please don’t squeeze it dry, quit while you’re ahead and get back to their actual job
Fortunately, before the next week’s reality-show episode even aired, new information appeared.
[TeSTAR <Enchanted ME> Seoul Encore Concert Ticket Opening Notice]
It was news of the Seoul encore concert.
- FINALLY
- Holy shit I’m so happy
- I’ll finally see their faces again after so longㅠㅠ
└You have to succeed at ticketing first before you can see them
└I’m planning to succeed even if I have to sell my internal organs
As if they had never been worried about additional tour dates, the fans were delighted by the addition of a Seoul concert.
It wasn’t simply because they would be able to see the members in person.
A concert in Korea, their home base, offered possibilities for expanding into other content.
For one thing, it meant the group would be returning to Korea, and for the sake of efficiency, it was common to follow that up with domestic schedules rather than immediately sending them back abroad.
For example, a comeback with a new album.
- I know it hasn’t even been that many months since Picnic, I have a conscience too, I’ll be satisfied with a single
- Even if they just book some festivals or events, that means more chances to go see them offline
- Moondae, wait for me, noona is breaking her savings account and coming… This time I’m definitely going to a fansignㅠㅠㅠㅠ
TeSTAR even had a precedent of revealing a new song at their first concert.
Fans throughout TeSTAR’s communities began getting ahead of themselves with the expectation, Maybe the comeback isn’t that far away?
- Raebin just posted proof he’s using the wrist rest Ahyeon gave him. Obviously he’s trying to hint that he’s working on something
They had even reached the stage of creatively interpreting every single social-media post from the members as a comeback hint.
And not long afterward, the agency really did post an activity teaser.
- Huh?
But it wasn’t TeSTAR.
[Miry-nay Debut Intro – ‘NO magic in this WORLD’]
It was a teaser video for their juniors’ debut.
- Ah fuck, sharing the agency channel is already annoying
- Wouldn’t it be better if each group just uploaded to their own official channels from now on
- The girls are cute though, I’m rooting for themㅇㅇ
TeSTAR fans either grumbled and ignored the video or clicked on it briefly out of curiosity.
However, some people clicked because they felt a strange sense of incongruity.
Magic? …Magic?
The background color is purple….
And from the very first scene, they encountered a mise-en-scène that felt oddly familiar.
[…….]
With the sun hanging at the edge of the earth, a teenager in a school uniform standing by a window bathed in orange light turned around.
It was a composition they had seen somewhere before.
- That’s Magic Boy
The association was far too obvious.
Read only on MUGEX
One in the morning, Korea Standard Time.
I was sitting in an airplane seat while traveling between schedules, watching the video that had been uploaded an hour ago.
Surprisingly, the airline offered Wi-Fi.
“Hmm.”
On the screen, an idol in a school uniform was framed by the window in an extremely familiar composition.
Then, suddenly, they jumped through the window.
They fell onto an enormous spiderweb beneath a dark night sky, transformed into a cocoon, and faded out.
The part that evoked “Magic Boy”…
Lasted exactly three seconds or so at the beginning.
“Oh.”
They used their heads a little.
I gave a small laugh and turned off the video.
In fact, I had already heard the news indirectly.
The junior group’s title track had ultimately been decided as the previous candidate song that the members themselves had written and composed.
Then what was this?
They want to milk it for whatever they can, right up to the limit.
They at least wanted to squeeze one promotional payoff for Miry-nay’s title track out of using “Magic Boy.”
Only to the extent that they could defend it as a fragmentary “homage.”
They would gently bait TeSTAR’s fans without going far enough that, even if the fans openly raised the issue and got angry, it would be easy for them to gain public support.
They had taken only the useful core out of the junior’s persuasion using my advice, while merely brushing lightly against the trap I had laid.
…They used their heads well.
Fine.
I’d admit it.
I didn’t know whose idea it was, but apparently the company had pooled its decision-making at a level somewhat more intelligent than I had expected.
And it irritated me more than I had expected.
This won’t do.
Couldn’t I practically feel them trying to scrape together even a little achievement according to their own vision?
I really hate the sight of them making all the decisions among themselves while leaving the people actually taking the bullets out of it.
I had avoided doing certain things because I didn’t even know where I would be living half a year from now.
But I was starting to feel tempted.
Let’s split them into factions.
I should stir up some internal conflict at the company.