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(Written February 25, 2025)
We’re halfway through the trauma, folks! Haruto and Junkyu will face their own challengers at some point, Yoshi will have learned by now that no one saw him rap, and CEO Yang has been revealed to be the most withholding father since Tywin Lannister! Fun Fact: South Korea does offer universal mental health care, but the idea of therapy is so stigmatized over there, not many people use it. Whoo-hoo! All set for Episode Six? Let’s gooooo!
We pick up where we left
off. The announcer will introduce two
new challengers to face Haruto and Junkyu.
Did BlackPink choose these challengers?
Nope! CEO Yang did! Because of course he did. The first challenger is one of the Japanese
trainees, Keita.
In all seriousness, there is a special place in my K-pop heart for Keita. This kid has been through the survival show wringer, even after debuting with Ciipher and EVNNE. He’s been smart enough to get his songwriting and composing credits throughout his career, one of the most business-savvy things you can do in the music business. And if that isn’t enough, his K-pop profile says his personality type has morphed from ENFP to ISTP. What does that mean? Not a clue! On to the battle!
Wait, CEO Yang is going to go ahead and tell us the second challenger’s name. It’s Jang Yun Seo, a non-Treasure member who will go on to try his hand at acting after this.
Haruto is getting his game
face on. Junkyu looks like he’s ready
for some fun. I love that these two
opposite personalities will be in the same group.
Keita will challenge Haruto, and Yun Seo will take on Junkyu. We get a flashback, but let’s just establish that I won’t be recapping the flashbacks anymore unless they’re important. The first battle is Yun Seo vs. Junkyu, and the song is “Beautiful” by Crush.
Oh my God – those beautiful high notes Junkyu can hit have me floating on air. What a voice. Yun Seo really tries, but his voice is unsteady, and he doesn’t have Junkyu’s charisma. He looks and sounds nervous. Junkyu looks like he was born to be on the stage. Yun Seo doesn’t have that star quality and hasn’t been training long enough to at least fake confidence I hope acting is working out better for him.
When the song ends, Yun Seo knows he’s lost. I see it on his face. Junkyu chooses the gold card, and I’m surprised to see it’s the audience vote. I’m not surprised to see the audience chose Junkyu. And not that we asked, but CEO Yang also chose Junkyu. Yun Seo takes it well and returns backstage.
Haruto and Keita is the matchup I really want to see. These are both talented rappers. This should be interesting. At the time of this show, Keita has been training for five years and Haruto for two, but Haruto is currently ranked first on Team J and gets better reviews. I would argue this puts them on equal footing.
The song is “OYeah” by
OLNL. Showtime.
This feels like a real rap battle. It’s exciting. I like Haruto’s rapping better, but Keita has more charisma. His dancing flows better with the music, which Haruto’s moves are a little stiff. But again, I think Haruto’s the better rapper, so this is tough. I’ll understand how the vote goes either way.
Haruto chooses the gold card. It’s the audience card, and they choose Keita.
Everyone looks stunned, especially the trainees backstage, who were sure it would be Haruto. Keita now gets to join Treasure 7. Haruto is stunned but keeps it together, blinking back the tears and keeping his head up. He then finds out that the CEO card went for him instead of Keita. Just the random choice of a card determined his fate. Sometimes I really hate these shows.
We now have a new Treasure 7
team. Keita, Mashiho, Junghwan, Yeon
Gue, Yoon Bin, Junkyu, and Yedam.
CEO Yang takes the mic and tells them that in the next round, they’re going to narrow it down to Treasure 6. I can’t help wondering why he hasn’t chosen to eliminate a few trainees if he’s determined to make this group smaller. WE know Treasure will wind up being ten, but he doesn’t. There’s no point in keeping so many of these trainees around.
Whatever the reason, we’re moving on. The show cuts to a few days later. Treasure 7 enters a bit convention center and sits in front of a big TV screen. The screen lights up with a message saying today’s the day they will be narrowed down to six. The only ones guaranteed spots are Yedam, Junkyu, and Yoon Bin (our Zero/O-Wave guy). They were the top vote-getters from the previous battle. One of the remaining four will go back to being a regular trainee.
Now things get weird.
Each of the Top 3 has to
choose a partner to go on a date with at a nearby amusement park. Yedam chooses Yeon Gue. Yeon Gue reacts with a strangely forced
smile, and I have to wonder if he’s as weirded out by this as I am.
Junkyu chooses Keita. Keita is disappointed because he wanted to be
paired with Yedam. Is that why Yeon Gue
wasn’t so thrilled? He wanted to be
someone else’s date? What exactly is
going on here?
Before we get to see who the
third pair of dates is, we watch the current two couples enjoying the rides and
walking around with selfie sticks.
During these dates, Keita’s voiceover keeps complaining about how he wishes
he were with Yedam instead, and I’m starting to wish Junkyu had chosen someone
else and left Keita’s ungrateful ass back at the convention center.
As they walk around, Keita asks Junkyu why he chose him. Junkyu says he’s seen Keita perform really well on the show. Keita actually tells us in a voiceover, “I hope Yedam thinks like that.”
Seriously, what is going on here? Why are they are amusement park dates? Why is Keita suddenly obsessed with Yedam? And what does any of this have to do with putting a K-pop group together?
I guess the others were on dates too, and the odd one out had to wander around the park by himself, because now they all return to a meeting place, and now the Top 3 must choose new dates. Oh, goodie, Keita! Maybe Yedam will pick you now! And if he does, what exactly do you hope will happen?
Are they trying to test the chemistry between these guys? The chemistry can’t be anything but awkward when they’re being told to look like they’re having fun on camera.
Anyway, Yedam is choosing his
next date, and he chooses Keita.
Squee, I guess.
Junkyu chooses Mashiho, and Yoon Bin chooses Yeon Gue. That leaves Junghwan to wander around the amusement park by himself, because this makes all kinds of sense.
We now follow Yedam and Keita. Yedam asks Keita, “Out of the top three, who would you like?” and Keita says, “You, Yedam,” and now I just feel vaguely uncomfortable and want to give these two some privacy.
Okay, from what the translators are finally telling me, each of the Top 3 will choose someone they want to team up with in an upcoming battle, and the one not chosen will have to go back to being a trainee. Again, this is NOT the way to put a musical group together, but I’ve been screaming that into the void ever since I started doing these recaps.
Anyway, now it’s time for our Top 3 to choose their partners. The four to be picked are stationed throughout the park, and each Top 3 person will have to go up to them and choose them. I feel like I’m watching a finale episode of The Bachelor.
First up is Yedam. Junkyu is worried Yedam will pick the one he
wants. Joy of joys, Yedam chooses
Keita. Keita legit looks like he’s accepting
a marriage proposal.
Now Junkyu goes looking for
his partner. Both he and Yedam have
awkwardly walked past Yeon Gue, who is stationed in the middle of a walkway,
looking forlorn and hoping to be chosen.
I’m honestly surprised no one in the general public has stopped him to
ask if he’s okay or needs medical attention.
Seriously – the producers have him standing in the middle of the walkway, so the Top 3 have to awkwardly approach him and mutter apologies as they walk by. The other three trainees waiting to be picked get to wait in areas away from foot traffic, but poor Yeon Gue has nowhere to go and nowhere else to look, and he seriously looks like he’s lost and wants his mommy. I can’t believe this show did this to him.
Both Yedam and Junkyu laugh uncomfortably and mutter something vaguely pleasant as they walk past him, and I am cringing so hard, my face is in the keyboard. Yeon Gue, sweetie, just give the balloon to a kid and go play Skee-ball. Make them come looking for you if they really want you. Screw the show producers.
Junkyu chooses Mashiho, who waiting in an empty food court by himself, relaxing and having a soda. Now only Junghwan and Yeon Gue are left to be chosen. Yoon Bin has to pick one of them.
He passes by Yeon Gue,
muttering, “sorry.” If I were Yeon Gue,
that would be the breaking point. I’d
grab a bus back to my parents’ house and plan a slasher movie-inspired revenge,
picking off the YG employees one by one.
This show set him up to be embarrassed like this in public, wearing
bunny ears and carrying a balloon. He
looks like a kid just realizing no one is coming to his birthday party.
Yeon Gue walks over to the railing of the walkway, fighting back tears. Not only does he have to go back to being a trainee, he’s been cruelly humiliated on television. I really hate this. No wonder Tumblr Treasure fans tell me they can’t bear to watch this show.
We suddenly cut away to the larger group of 21 trainees being gathered in a huge room. I don’t know where this is or why we’re here. They stand in front of a small stage, and suddenly the announcer from the last battle is here, saying there’s going to be another battle. The trainees need to pair up in teams of two. That leaves one out, and he will be paired up with rejected trainee Yeon Gue, unless Yeon Gue really has thrown himself over the amusement park railing. Where is he, anyway? He’s not in this room.
Turns out the show has psyched us out. We see the footage again of Yoon Bin walking past Yeon Gue and saying “sorry.” Then, as Yeon Gue sadly walks over to the railing, Yoon Bin doubles back and sneaks up behind him. He’s choosing Yeon Gue after all. But Yeon Gue is still embarrassed and keeping his face buried in his hands. Yoon Bin is jumping and laughing, but Yeon Gue can’t just emotionally switch gears like that.
This is officially the worst show I’ve ever recapped.
Yoon Bin is still laughing,
and I can’t even blame him because he was probably told to pull this prank by
the show’s producers. Meanwhile, HERE is
where the show made Junghwan wait:
I want to fly to Seoul and burn the YG building to the ground.
We return to the stage area, and a downcast Junghwan joins the remaining trainees. And it just doesn’t stop. The announcer says he will pick random trainee names out of a box, and each one will choose the one they want to team up with. It’s a popularity contest, and someone will not be picked and will have to be on someone’s team by default.
I pretty much fast-forward through this while part of my soul dies. Even though I’m racing through it, I can see that future Treasure member Jae Hyuk keeps to himself, afraid to volunteer to join a team for fear of being rejected.
Want another Fun Fact? When Treasure does the reality dating show Shining Solo, Jae Hyuk is the only member of his team who doesn’t get a jewel. Why doesn’t YG Entertainment just literally kick this kid down a flight of stairs? They clearly want to.
Jae Hyuk finally does team up with Si Yun, a trainee I can’t find anywhere in my notes. Si Yun will go on to debut with a band called Ampers&one. I’ve vented about K-pop’s obsession with ampersands before and will not go back into it now.
We get a long segment of the
trainee teams rehearsing for the battle.
Finally, all the trainees gather on what looks like an upper level of a
parking garage.
This is where they learn that three of their teams will be chosen to compete against the Top 6. It will be Treasure 6 vs. 22 Trainees.
We get an aerial shot and
finally see that they’re on top of a building.
This is a dramatic setting. It’s
a great location for a rap battle.
The announcer tells us we’re
getting special celebrity judges. They
are the K-pop group Winner, and they will be judging the proceedings in a
conference room for some reason. They
review footage of all the teams rehearsing so they can pick the three teams
that will challenge Treasure 6.
Winner, far from the action.
Back up to the roof. The first of our challenger teams will be Seung Hun and Byoung Gon, neither of whom will wind up in Treasure. The second duo will be future Treasure guy Doyoung and partner Do Hwan, who will also wind up in Ciipher, along with Keita. Our last challenger team will be two Treasure guys, Jeongwoo and Haruto. I still don’t know how all of this is going to work, but at least we know who’s involved.
But the announcer says we’re not done yet. This battle will be an elimination round. One trainee from each unit will be eliminated, “no matter what.” Does he mean all the units, or just the ones competing? The way the trainees are reacting, I think it’s all the units. Otherwise, the ones who aren’t competing would be safe.
I also thought we were going to do the battle here on the rooftop, but suddenly we move forward to later that night at the training center. So why were we on the roof? What was the point of filming up there? Did YG get evicted from their building?
Okay, so now we’re at the training center. Our trainees are upset that this is an elimination round. We get flashbacks about how they all became friends and started training together. We have about eight minutes left in this episode, and I think we’re just running out the clock.
Now suddenly we cut to Kobe,
Japan. We see Yoshi putting flowers on
his father’s grave and speaking to him.
(His father passed away when he was in junior high.) I’m not posting a screenshot of this because
the whole segment feels really invasive.
I will just post this picture of Yoshi and his dad because it makes my
heart so happy:
Yoshi is now the only man of his family, looking out for his mom and sister while chasing his dream. He tells us that even when his mom is sick, she still has to work because her husband is no longer there to help. He’s desperate to debut so he can take care of her.
We move forward to
D-Day. The stage is set up like a boxing
ring.
We might get one battle in before the episode ends, which should finally lighten the mood. Our trainees are very nervous.
The announcer steps into the ring. He tells us that the eight units that weren’t chosen to compete now must battle to determine which one gets eliminated. Okay, so this isn’t just going to be the three pairs battling the Top 6. I’m so confused.
Our first team gets into the
ring, and it’s Yoshi vs. Mahiro.
These two are old friends, and now they’re competing for one of them to be eliminated. Mahiro will go on to do the Produce 101 survival show and then debut with a Japanese boy group called BUGVEL, so he’ll be fine when he gets eliminated. I just want to finally see Yoshi perform.
They’re doing “B-Day” by
iKON. Let’s do this.
Holy shit, Yoshi is an amazing rapper and dancer. He owns the stage. That sweet, shy, soft-spoken kid turns into a full explosion of energy onstage. Mahiro is a talented singer, but I can’t take my eyes off Yoshi. The camera just loves him.
In the audience, Haruto breaks down in tears, knowing one of his friends up there is about to be eliminated.
CEO Yang is the sole decider on these battles. He praises them both, saying they are like twins and have a great chemistry. But he has to choose only one survivor. He says the eliminated one should return to the YG branch in Japan and keep practicing hard.
The survivor is Yoshi. One step closer to being able to provide for
his mom and sister.
The rest of the trainees are crying, especially the ones from Japan. They have to mourn the loss before they can congratulate Yoshi.
Yoshi and Mahiro go backstage and say goodbye. Then Mahiro gets on the elevator and leaves. Hang in there, my guy. You will debut eventually. Hopefully Produce 101 won’t be as brutal as this show. We end the episode with Yoshi sobbing outside the elevator, and I’m emotionally exhausted.
I’m a completionist when it comes to these recaps, I’m going to keep going with this show. But afterwards, I’ll need something more uplifting to watch while I wait for Boys Planet 2. If you have any ideas, let me know in the comments, and tell me where I can stream it.
My God with this show. See you next episode.
Episode 7: This show finally gets good.
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