in which i attempt to rewrite history

so. remember like forever ago when i was like "once produce japan finishes, i'm going to post a comprehensive recap of all my survival show groups"? i finished watching the produce japan finale archive. today's the day.

none of you care but listen, /I/ care. and hopefully for those of you reading this it's a fascinating little r/hobbydrama or whatever insight into "wow, there's a fandom for that?".

season one: my ioi

1. Ng Sze Kai (1994): center (first place is always this; gets special parts in the songs), lead rapper
2. Kim Juna (1994): main vocal
3. Kim Sejeong (1996): main vocal, visual (designated prettiest face)
4. Hwang Insun (1987, i think? it's officially '89 but she maybe lied): leader, vocal
5. Hwang Sooyeon (1992): lead rapper, main dancer, vocal
6. Jeon Soyeon (1998): main rapper, lead dancer, vocal
7. Kim Chungha (1996): main dancer, vocal
8. An Yeseul (1995): lead vocal
9. Kim Minkyung (1997): lead vocal
10. Kim Sohye (1999): vocal, rapper, maknae (Korean term for the youngest, which is always officially designated in kpop groups for some reason)
11. Ki Heehyun (1995): main rapper, lead dancer

my lineup skews much older and more heavily vocal-focused than we ended up having. i've also soured on jeon soyeon in recent years but this ranking is based on her show conduct only. regarding insun: you'll notice a trend that i'm really fond of the old person archetype on these shows. this was even before i was ""old"" myself.

season two: my wanna one

1. Hong Eunki (1998): center, main dancer, vocal
2. Kim Jonghyun (1995): leader, main rapper, lead dancer
3. Yoon Jisung (1991): lead vocal
4. Kang Dongho (1995): main vocal
5. Takada Kenta (1995): lead vocal, rapper
6. Noh Taehyun (1993): main dancer, vocal, rapper
7. Zhu Zhengting (1996): lead dancer, vocal
8. Lai Guanlin (2001): lead rapper, maknae
9. Ha Sungwoon (1994): main vocal
10. Kwon Hyunbin (1997): rapper
11. Bae Jinyoung (2000): lead vocal

the fact that we were robbed of jonghyun leader AND eunki/zhengting interactions after skinny love is so criminal if i'm being honest. anyway, the funny thing about this lineup is that all the members are relatively close in age to each other and then jinyoung and guanlin are children by themselves.

idol producer: my nine percent

1. Zhu Xingjie (1994): center, lead dancer, main rapper, lead vocal
2. Chen Linong (2000): lead vocal
3. Wang Ziyi (1996): main rapper, main dancer
4. Li Quanzhe (2001): main vocal, maknae (this is less of a thing in china (and japan) than in korea, but whatever)
5. Zhou Rui (1992): main vocal
6. Ling Chao (2001): lead vocal, visual
7. Jeffrey (Dong Youlin) (1995): lead vocal
8. Qin Fen (1991): leader, lead rapper, vocal
9. Dong Yanlei (1996): rapper

weird big age gap strikes again! also it should be noted that all of these rankings sort of take place in an extended universe with each other; zhu zhengting, who was my #7 pick on broduce, was my onepick for idol producer, which i watched while it was airing. he's excluded from my top list because, if i were in control of the universe, he would be in wanna one and wouldn't have gone back to china in the first place.
rest in peace to idol producer i remember absolutely nothing about most of these boys. i'm not really a cpop person.

season three: my iz*one

1. Nakano Ikumi (2000): center, lead rapper, lead dancer
2. Park Minji (1999): main vocal
3. Honda Hitomi (2001): main dancer, vocal, maknae
4. Bae Eunyoung (1997): main rapper, lead dancer
5. Lee Chaeyeon (2000): main dancer, lead vocal
6. Motomura Aoi (1997): main dancer, vocal
7. Lee Kaeun (1994): leader, main dancer, lead rapper
8. Kim Sihyun (1999): lead vocal, visual
9. Choi Yena (1999): lead dancer, lead vocal, rapper
10. Na Goeun (1999): main vocal
11. Yabuki Nako (2001): lead vocal
12. Goto Moe (2001): vocal

and this is the first time i have a contestant in my top 11 who didn't make it past the first elimination for real! god. ikumi was my onepick from the jump and she was one place away from making it into the top 58... seriously so tragic.

season four: my x1

1. Ham Wonjin (2001): center, lead vocal
2. Kim Yohan (1999): vocal, rapper
3. Yoon Junghwan (2001): main vocal
4. Kang Minhee (2002): main vocal, visual
5. Cho Seungyeon (1996): leader, main rapper, lead vocal
6. Kim Hyunbin (2002): lead rapper
7. Kang Hyeonsu (1996): lead vocal, lead dancer
8. Baek Jin (1995): main dancer, lead rapper
9. Lee Jinhyuk (1996): main dancer, main rapper
10. Song Hyungjun (2002): lead dancer, vocal, maknae
11. Kim Dongbin (2001): rapper

the age distribution is once again SO WHACK! also this season was just so bad i'm kind of glad that the korean version of the produce franchise imploded after pdx because i don't think i could have made myself sit through another season like that one with like, so many ex-idols and preexisting fanbases competing with each other, weird editing, unfollowable storylines and largely unlikable trainees, just....... this season was so bad. yeah.

japan season three: my me_i

1. Katou Kokoro (2000): center, lead rapper, vocal
2. Koyama Mana (1998): leader, visual, vocal
3. Abe Nagomi (2007): lead vocal, maknae
4. Shimizu Keiko (2006): main rapper
5. Sutani Yurara (2005): main dancer, rapper, vocal
6. Kurokawa Honoka (2005): main vocal
7. Ebihara Tsuzumi (2007): main vocal
8. Kamio Ayano (2006): lead rapper, vocal
9. Iida Shizuku (2004): lead vocal
10. Matsushita Miyu (2000): main dancer, vocal
11. Tanaka Yuuki (2004): lead dancer, main rapper

here we are! i'm not gonna make you sit through any more! i've been very lucky this season to have my one-pick make it into the final group; this is a rarity for me!!! generally, around 4 of my top eleven make it in, but of my one-picks, only zhengting (on ip) and kokoro have actually made it.

you may be getting more of these posts from me; a good friend of mine wants me to watch girls planet and boys planet, and then i might watch the first two japan seasons because i liked this most recent one so much.

i hope this was at all interesting to you guys lol