REVIEW: Imitation
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Re-watch value: 3 out of 5 stars
SYNOPSIS
*From MyDramaList*
Lee Ma Ha is a member of the new K-pop girl group Tea Party, formed by Ji Hak, who was once the manager of the famous boy group Shax, but resigned after the sudden disappearance of member Eun Jo in the middle of a concert. Prior to joining Tea Party, Ma Ha was a member of the group Omega III, which disbanded on its debut day due to a tragic incident involving a former trainee at the group's company. This led Ma Ha to support herself by performing as an impersonator of the popular solo singer La Li Ma, gaining her public notoriety. Starting anew with Tea Party, Ma Ha finds herself repeatedly crossing paths with Kwon Ryok, the center and most popular member of Shax who is still haunted by Eun Jo's disappearance three years later. While Ryok initially dislikes Ma Ha due to her imitation of Li Ma, the two eventually begin to grow interest in one another and start a secret relationship that could put both of their careers in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Lee Yu Jin, Ma Ha's loyal friend who is the center of the rising boy group Sparkling, has been in love with Ma Ha since their idol trainee days. When he notices the budding relationship between Ma Ha and Ryok, he determines to protect her from Ryok and lead Sparkling to beat out Shax as the most popular boy group in the industry.
RAMBLING
*beware of spoilers*
Musical K-dramas are my jam. (No pun intended.) I had the bare minimum plot for Imitation in my head before I was like, “Yeah, I need to watch this show ASAP.” Praise be, it delivered and danced its way into my ~smooth like butter~ K-pop heart. It is the Dream High sequel we should have had, especially considering they stocked the cast with real K-pop idols, including Park Ji-Yeon from T-ara, Hwi Young and Kang Chan-Hee both from SF9, Lee Su-Woong from Boys Republic, and Jung Yun-Ho, Jong Ho, San, and Seonghwa (4 out of 8 members!) from Ateez.
A brutal look at the predatory nature of the K-pop industry? Seedy dealings with shady company CEOs? Grooming teenagers hungry for fame? A strong, meaningful romance? Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at brutal. (Jerry Maguire reference, anyone?)
It was my first encounter with Lee Jun-young (playing Kwon-ryeok) and Jung Ji-so (playing Lee Ma-ha). Both were convincing as K-pop stars and managed a believable romance. Thankfully, everyone was on their A-game with their singing and dancing, as well as the overall production of the live shows featured throughout Imitation. (It’s not much of a surprise for lead Lee Jun-young, since he’s a member of U-KISS.) I felt the right energy and vibe from the live performances, and the costuming, lighting, choreography were all excellent (for a TV show imitating real K-pop).
My heart broke with the DOA debut for Omega 3. Them getting ushered off stage—their stage, the one they prepared for with clear eyes and full hearts (Friday Night Lights, eyy)—only to mourn twice over, for their failed career and the suicide of a dear friend.
The show did a marvelous job of showcasing just how people move on and pay their respects to a friend, a sister, who was lost to suicide. How do you overcome the same pressure that drove her to jump into eternity? You give your dreams the good old college try; you gather yourself to fight every day just for a chance to be seen or heard; you write a hit song with an underrated producer and a handful of your closest K-pop idols. The last one is very specific to Imitation, but it works nevertheless. You memorialize their struggles and pain in a song that likens their entire being to a star… a very catchy, emotional song btw.
You know what, most of these performances are too good. Looking back, I can't believe these are performances for a drama, it seems so real.
Switching gears, I was afraid Ryeok would be this cold, stoic hard ass, but he just needed the right person to make his heart flutter and open him up to happiness. Ma-ha is a great, sympathetic heroine, and you root for her immediately. She was this bright, yearning hoobae who knew him before he became famous. It was the classic trope of leads having an entire past together, but theirs was quite authentic. She looked up to him as a street dancer in their small town, and he helped her learn how to dance. He got scouted and left without warning, thus their reunion was sorta captivating. He always found her cute and amusing, so their present-day relationship simply grew from there.
Favorite moments included him desperately trying to find her number through other people and eventually rebooting his old phone. I enjoyed Ryeok searching for romance advice from his group mates, who are all in the same relative romance prison as Ryeok, so it was pretty squirmy to see him dance around with hypotheticals. Ryeok stealing the company van just to see her; or Ryeok planning a night hike date. The quest for privacy was a huge stumbling block for our couple, but it is super pervasive in the real K-pop industry. Real romantic relationships are elusive and never on public display—unless you want to get cancelled by your own rabid fans? It’s probably the most bizarre and unfair part of being a K-pop star tbh.
I appreciated how the second female and male leads were resolved without any bloodshed. Yoo-jin (played by Ateez’s Yun Ho) was friendzoned for years and realized that he actually cared for Hyun-ji, Ma-ha’s Tea Party/Omega 3 mate. It might have been overly simplistic, but I found it easy and refreshing. Shout out to the 3rd couple: Yi-hyun (played by Hwi Young of SF9) from Shax and Yoo Ri-a (played by Minseo) from Tea Party. They had fantastic chemistry, and I really wouldn’t have minded more screen time and a fleshed out story for them (outside the studio). They were more magnetic than the Hyun-ji and Yoo-jin coupling.
La Ri-ma (played by T-ara’s Park Ji-Yeon), on the other hand, had a way better character arc. She throws herself at Ryeok to no avail, becomes mildly antagonistic toward Ma-ha, and then completely backs off from pursuing Ryeok or intimidating her imitator Ma-ha. She instead supports them as a couple, helping them solve problems and resolve petty misunderstandings. She’s intuitive to their roller coaster relationship. Furthermore, you’d think she’d be a total diva and mean to the starry-eyed trainees at her small company, but she’s not; she’s like a mother or unnie to them, buying them food and cheering them on.
Her unwavering support for the trainee girls leads her to abandon the small company once it gets bought by Shax’s company. Her only condition for joining the fledgling JH Entertainment is for CEO Ji-hak to also sign her hoobaes. I love her first rehearsal in the basement studio of the JH coffee shop home base. She looks in the mirror and flicks off the fake mole/birthmark she evidently had been applying to her face her entire career. It was a clear sign that she’s going to be herself, no lies, no gimmicks; it’s a fresh start.
All in all, I highly recommend Imitation for anyone who has been looking to fill the musical K-drama void in their life. It’s only 12 episodes(!) so turn up the music.
Did you see Imitation? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below!
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I can’t believe how perfectly they nailed each of their live action looks when compared to the webtoon characters.