The ultimate trainee show - Produce 101 Review

Okay, I am pretty sure you know Produce 101, the Biggest trainees survivor show in Korea, literally.

I have been wanting to write about this show since it ended last week, but it was a hectic week in school, so it got delayed.
Hopefully, now that the Crush MV is out, I ain't too late.

Let's start! With 101 trainees on board, at least at first, Mnet really went all the way with their new idea, with Jang Geun Suk as the MC.

I love their shiny Produce 101 Logo haha. Really, no sarcasm here, haha and to add on to the glitter, I give them credit for such a great reality tv show. I will look forward to their other version with male trainees in the near future.
Back to this show, the girls on the show all have a dream to be singers/kpop stars, and it is really inspiring in a way. Pick Me is absolutely the anthem for people with a dream from now on. <3
Despite controversies, I think the show is still pretty fun to watch. I know, I know the Korean entertainment industry isn't exactly the picture perfect one behind the surface, but some of these kids have trained for such a long time, there is pretty much no turning back and I do think it gave them a rather good exposure. (so.. i guess i can forgo the terms in their contracts)
Also, any press is good press, right? ><

Sure, Mnet is famous for "devil editing" haha and the screen time is so bias, like it contributed to Sohye getting into top 11??? Also, some of the "trainees" are already in girl groups (yep, I am talking about DIA's members) haha like they are just there to gain more supporters through the show... The editing really does make a big part of the show too. Like how Cathy and Chanmi had edits that made them look bad at certain points of the show, which I do think contributed to their lower votes than expected.
... I still feel that Produce 101 is a solid trainees show. I dare say the best one out of all that I have seen, just because they actually show them training and interacting "behind the scenes".
Plus the show's missions: girl group debut songs, position and concepts, were really well planned, though how votes are cast still remain a concern. Haha ohman, like can there ever be a fair way of voting? ):

I do like the online voting (11 choices and later on, one vote) >< To be honest, I voted whenever I remembered to do so!
On the subject of whom I supported, I had my eyes on a few trainees (won't name names) but unfortunately only some got into the final 11. (Hey, but I am not too upset, I do think they will all debut soon since they had publicity and increased fans from the show!) ^^

Ok, second last part of my rant: I really really love the concept mission! All the songs are super good, like totally the best album ever, if only Mnet found a way to debut everyone... Maybe like 1 group per month, will that work? I am sure they will make tons of money too! Gateun haneul gatuen sigan gateun goseseo 24 si gan 24 si gan This is ya story It don't matter Yum Yum Yum Yum on my on my fingertips nanana ~~~ #earworms 

Finally, on the last episode, where they revealed I.O.I!!! What? erm AOA's cousin group? sorry >< I wasn't too keen on the group name haha but whatever works. :) I believe they restarted the votes for this week, and many trainees who were in the top 22 because of their extra 10k votes last week fell short.
Regarding whether I think that the trainees deserve to be in the top 11, eh I ain't too concerned tbh. After all, this was only a unit group that was promoting for a short while. (Or maybe it is because too many of the trainees that I liked didn't make the group oops.) I do think that it is going to be a great exposure for the trainees that are in I.O.I to experience their promotion period. However, I must say that I will be tracking their promotions and following them for these next few months!

Cue CRUSH ~ produced by Ryan Jhun
This song is solid hit man, and a really great debut song for these girls. ^^ Though I might have thought that fingertips was more catchy on the first listen, Crush is definitely more appropriate haha.
Their MV went more for a raw and rough look though, ohwell...

Anyways, overall, I do think that this is a really interesting and entertaining show, highly recommended! ^^

Find me on Twitter @raycherr or join the conversation in the comments below!

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JTBC Code Episode 8 Finale Review

Disclaimer: This is not really the final episode of Code. Some do refer to episode 8 as the end of season one. The winner went on to play another "round" of Code, which was much better executed. 


So, we have the final 3 on Basement 1 and they are so close to getting out of this building, at least for one of the three finalists: Oh Hyun Min, Shin Jae Pyung and Jeong Jun Ha!

I will say that this is probably the one of the better episodes all season, just because it was easier to catch what was going on during the show. The puzzles somewhat became the stars this episode, as they had more screen time, haha.

They started the main match by opening two rooms, the green one and the mirror one. There were a total of four clues per room that will unlock the locks that lead to the red room, which held clues that unlock the ticket to the final round.

However, at most two players are allowed in a room at any one time. Once three clues (in a room) were deciphered, the room would be out of bounds within 10 seconds. As the game progressed, Hyunmin and Junha ended up in the same (mirror) room and they got to the red room first. Meanwhile Jaepyung was solving the puzzles all by himself and got to the red room a little late, as Hyunmin had already moved on to the final round.

In the end, Jaepyung was out of luck as Junha solved one of the puzzle seconds before he did.

In Final Code, they played Betting Royale, which included a total of 7 rounds of quick brain games that lasted no more than 20 seconds. An example, would be a multiple choice question about how many points were recorded after six darts were shot and landed on the target.
A bit lacking in my opinion, as the whole game ended so quickly. Hyunmin was really great at betting and answering the questions, so no surprise here, he won!!! Quite an overwhelming win, actually. Congratulations!

This pretty experimental concept on TV this new year, with Code: Secret Room, has definitely caught our attentions as escape rooms become even more of a hit these few years. While it was lackluster at times, I thought that it was great for JTBC to put this out for the audience. :)

~~ End of Season 1 Code

...

Or is it?

O.o As it turns out, Hyunmin had the chance to choose whether to go back 5 levels down for a chance to double his price money when he entered the elevator. and he decided to go for another challenge against "tougher competitors".

I was really surprised when I saw that. When I first watched it, I thought it was just one single challenge but turns out I heard wrongly! Woah, there were San E, Eddy Kim and Choi Jung Moon etc on B5! Then, the machine turned on and said welcome, WTH?!

Haha, I really thought that this was the end of Code after Hyunmin won, because the show just isn't the best thing on TV. >< To have a second season right after, is a really serious investment for such a show format by JTBC.

... Erm, so I am guessing that this isn't the end then, and I will check back next week, to see if we are really moving on to the second season!

For updates, find me on Twitter @raycherr ~~
Thanks for reading!

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JTBC Code Episode 7 Review

Nearing the ultimate escape of the building! Basement 2, and a short review today.
On this level, cracking the codes and locks will get them 1/2/3 markers. Markers, you say? Yea, today they got to play climbing the ladder. (Click on the hyperlink if you are interested in the game!)

Two players will end up winning the game while the other two go to Last Code. Pink colored hair Heechul and Pink colored shirt Junha lost, and have to play a rather lame boring game. Out of four tiles(head, body, arms, hand) they have to guess which tile the opponent played. In my opinion, this was a rather slow and meaningless game... The two players did however try to make it fun, but still, I thought that this "psychological" game was more down to luck than really reading the other player's mind, because it was a rather simple game.

And with that, Heechul lost, sending Junha off to face the KAIST alliance on Basement 1.

Also, I am not sure if it is just the video I watched but I never saw the reveal of what happened leading up to the outcome during Main Code. (might be bad editing... :/) I really want to know how Hyunmin's plans worked out! Maybe even some more afterthoughts from them would be nice too.

Verdict: Watch for Heechul's eyeliner and wits but overall, not a great episode.

So, the FINALE is next week!!! XD
In the meantime, find me on twitter @raycherr! :)

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JTBC Code Episode 6 Review

With 5 players left, it is on to Basement 3! Two players get to succeed in escaping during Main Code and the other three will go to Last Code. 

In Main Code, there were 4 different colored hints (red green blue yellow) to be found and they will lead to 4 different pass code which can only be successfully keyed in once. While I liked this refreshed rule, it was a pity the show missed out on the opportunity for us to guess and confirm our answers for the remaining codes that were not solved. 

Also, each player had an additional guest that they brought to help them out this episode. One of them you might be familiar with, Girl's Day Yura. She was Heechul's guest. :) While some of the guests did a pretty good job in helping them solve clues, others were pretty lost. Haha I'm not naming people yea but in the end it didn't really matter. Hyunmin still figured out the code first, with just 2 hints. 

On the subject of Hyunmin, it seems like the other players are starting to become really weary of him especially Jaepyung, after his closest ally Youngjin was eliminated. However, the players still always end up helping this maknae. (Which let to Hyunmin winning this round...) :/

Nothing against Hyunmin, but he just doesn't give out the underdog vibes for me to want to root for him now. I do understand his competitiveness though, and his mentality to keep his head in the game. 

Jaepyung was next to escape, and then we moved on to the 3 way match. They had this board game where they had to reach the finish circle(red) twice in order to get an escape card. Their winnings count will start over after one of them gets a card. 

I included this amateur drawing >< haha as reference so you can see how they get to move along the lines. 

How they play is that for every round they have 7 blocks (from 1 to 7) and they play one of them, which is then discarded. The player with the larger number win, unless two of the players have the same larger number then the last player wins. He will move the token piece one step(circle) closer to himself. Once one of the player moves the piece into his red circle, all their blocks are placed back into play. 

I can imagine this game as one that is more complicated and have more players. This sure has great potential as a more developed game. :) Though of course, it wouldn't make for good TV with too many people either, hmm. 

With three players, this game was forgettable... Then, Sunghyun was eliminated. 

Verdict: Meh. Not the worst episode but not that interesting this week either. 

Anyways, Happy Lunar New Year everyone!!! :) 

Find me on Twitter @raycherr or comment below~ 

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JTBC Code Episode 5 Review

Argh, the feeling of sourness is pretty strong after this episode of Code. But I will get to that in a second.

This ep, titled Poker Code, had a game format that still involved players cracking codes and solving puzzles but was revolved around them getting a good hand. Not too bad a way to refresh the game. This additional layer definitely had players working together (or at least trying to) more than they did in previous episodes. In fact, they pretty much had to share information and try to swap cards in order to get a good hand.

To do so, players had to open locks and get chips, which are then used to get new cards. They started off with only 1 card that they picked randomly from the deck, and then they could exchange, buy, discard cards, keeping their hand at at most five cards at one time.

In the end, Shin Jae Pyung did a really good job with his cards, securing him a place to escape this level. Together with Hee Chul and Baek Sung Hyun, they exited with straights. Leaving Lee Yong Jin who was in the alliance with Jaepyung and Heechul having to face last code despite getting a three of a kind '9'. Also, left to face last code, is Hyunmin who sacrificed his cards for Sunghyun to get a straight.

Moving on to Last Code with 3 players. With the use of a six faced dice, players will get 2 (non-overlapping) numbers assigned to them. They had 3 black-statue-tokens each which kind of symbolise their lives. Lose all tokens, and the player will be eliminated. Taking turns to roll the dice, if the player who was assigned the number that is faced up on the dice will get to "steal" another player's token. The tokens are transferable at anytime in the game.

Then comes the sour outcome. At the beginning of the game, Yongjin was doing so well, collecting so many tokens, leaving Hyunmin with 1 left. Then he had the golden opportunity to successfully escape from Last Code by taking Hyunmin's last piece. He hesitated. With the hope of collaborating with Hyunmin and to not be so cruel in the game, he decided to "give Hyunmin a chance". In a cruel turn of luck, that was Yongjin's biggest mistake and regret. Never did he know that he would be looking at the dices turn in favour to Junha's assigned numbers, and at his collection of tokens disappear one by one.

Ultimately, Yongjin was left with none, and became the player to be "stucked" on the fourth floor. I especially liked the last segment where the narrator gave a closing statement on Yongjin's run in this floor. How he was always helping and giving in to others, became his downfall. To give those of you who didn't manage to watch the episode a better idea, Yongjin helped Jaepyung and Heechul with their straights, he thought that with a 3 of a kind, he could be the 3rd to escape but Sunghyun beat him to that. ): Then, also letting Hyunmin have another chance in last code was how he "gave up" his place. Overall, I felt that Yongjin really had a tough run this episode. While he wasn't that strong a player in the previous episodes, I truely sympathised with his situation and outcome.
I did however like how the show edited this and viewed it like a lesson that Yongjin could learn from.

Verdict: A solid episode, except for some of the dry parts during the game.

Find me on Twitter @raycherr or leave your comments below! I would really like to connect with other fans of such game shows. :)

P.S. I'm pretty curious why are there no SuJu fans subbing this show in English??? ): #heechul

See you next week!

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JTBC Code Episode 4 Review

In episode 4, the players became pretty awkward around one another as less than half of them will get to escape via Main Code (3 players) while the rest move on to Last Code.
This time round, only one room was available at the start of the game, and as time passes, the doors to the adjacent rooms will open one by one.

Code: Every player has an allocated number and they have to figure out the sequence. Hints like "There is no one behind Hyunmin" is given to help players solve the code.

Sounds a little to me like The Genius "Scamming Horse Race". Pardon me for the constant comparison to this other show, I can't help it, they are too similar... especially looking at the preview for next week.

Hmm, alright, back to the current ep. Song Hyun was ultimately not able to escape from the 5th floor. I guess her time was up in Code too, after all she has been to all the Last Code segments. (and all the females are "gotten rid of" from the game, eh) Also, Last Code was a little boring, there were 5 cards numbered 1 to 5, each player will pick one card each and they would have to guess whether the last card left unpicked had an odd or even number. Players could tell the truth or lie about the card. In the end, everyone told the truth in the game and Song Hyun was not on the same page as the other 3 players. I guess the segment was lacking a little in the psychological aspect, they could potentially have dig deeper into Song Hyun's reasoning not to trust the others.

Sighs, I do enjoy escape games and puzzles, if only Code had it in a format that was more lighthearted or perhaps recorded outdoors!? The set is getting dull quick too, so, so many things are just not working for Code. Is Bumdi really right about Code as the worst show of 2016? I refused to believe it, but after 4 episodes, I don't know anymore. Great concept, poor execution.

I know a lot of you guys are not able to watch the episodes, due to the lack of English subbers. My guess is that many weren't too impressed by the show, and feel Code isn't worth your time (?). If Code ever gets more interesting than the 2nd ep, I suppose the chance of it getting eng subs will increase tremendously. Till then, you can keep up to date about Code here, or just wait for Crime Scene season 3 yea.
I will be back next week, in the mean time, you can find me on Twitter @raycherr :)

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JTBC Code Episode 3 Review

Hi there. :)

Quick new update on this episode's rule: Players will enter 1 of the 4 rooms in pairs and every 30mins, they will switch to either adjacent rooms. Probably the best part of the episode because they had a woah moment, when the players realised that players who started in adjacent rooms will never get to meet each other in the following turns. O.o

Last Code: Players fire 2 shots at any other 3 players. Player with the most damage at the end, loses and "stay on the 6th floor". Simple, but with a very sad outcome, at least that's what I felt.
Why is it that so many (korean) shows on Tv feature way more males than females? Haiz, and while there are some girls that will try to come up with an alliance to keep them in the game, it is so sad to see Song Hyun kill off Yu Ri here... ):
Plus, some channels have had shows feature an all female cast do so well(reception and ratings)! ): Maybe someone should seriously consider having an all female cast on some games show, Hot Brain: Problematic Women** anyone? haha.

I am no expert in the demographic fields, so I shall jump to expressing my opinions on this show. I'd say Code is falling a little below expectations for me. :/ Yes, with every episode, the show is getting better, but there is something lacking in this particular one. I can't quite get what it is missing but probably some bad ass editing or games that are more out of the box? hahaha don't mind that pun. ^_・

For sure the improvement in this show is well appreciated. However, if you ever watch other game shows, especially Liar Game* and compare them, you are going to find that Code is a not that great of a substitute...

Alright, I will see you guys next week!
In the meantime, find me on twitter @raycherr!

*Japanese Manga, check it out! Inspired The Genius ~
**Hot Brain: Problematic Men is a show on JTBC where the guys play IQ games

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JTBC Code Episode 2 Review

Hello, hopefully you are still interested in Code after many pretty bad reviews about the first episode. Why? Heh because honestly, the second ep is better in my opinion. There was much improvement and the episode flowed better.

The format is still the same as before but many subtle changes really made a difference. It wasn't as chaotic as in the first level(ep 1). What a relief! We could actually catch on to way more this time round.

I will briefly highlight two changes.
First change:
Code introduced a mechanism that allowed for players to move across the 4 different rooms for about 30 seconds, and then the doors would shut, leaving whoever was inside whichever room to have to stay for a specific duration (~30 minutes), before the next period when the doors opened again.
This made the players split up and was only interacting with a few other players in the same room. It certainly made the show easier to digest in terms of the social interaction parts. I really liked that I could identify who was in which room cracking which codes with which other players at one time.
Also, like what Hyunmin realised, there was an additional layer to this change. While the players who were with lesser players could solve and get more clues, they were missing out on getting together with more players to share clues and figure out the ultimate code.

Second change:
Code actually "paused" the show!?! For some of the puzzles, they actually let us have about 5 to 15 seconds to view the problem. We now have time to look at some of the problems in more details even if we were watching from the TV, and can play along. Really appreciate this addition as it allowed for increased viewer engagement. Yeah! :)
Edit: Okay, they did display some questions on the screen for a period of time for ep 1 too but I guess they did it more this time round, and encouraged the viewers to play along. :)

By the end of episode 2, I certainly recommend this show if you like escape game rooms and IQ games. ^^

Thanks for reading! Check out ep 1 review here if you haven't! :)
I am rather curious who are your favourite players? I think I quite like Jun Ha hehe

Sorry for the abrupt end, till next week, find me on twitter @raycherr ^^

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JTBC Code Episode 1 Review

Let me know if you guys want to see a recap of the games they played too. Comment below or tweet me @raycherr :)

Sooo, after we have all watched The Genius and Crime Scene, we now have a new intellectual show on TV by JTBC, introducing CODE!

Haha, alright so basically this show has a group of 10 players and the players will go through MAIN CODE, which is like the main match in the genius, except it is not. They will be placed on a set like those you play in escape game rooms, and they all try to solve puzzles to unlock the locks, which has different clues in them. They will then use the clues to figure out the main code to escape the room. For the 1st ep, it was a four number code. They will play till 4 members are left in the room, and then these 4 players will go to LAST CODE, which is like a death match. One of these 4 players will be the last to crack the code/game and be eliminated. If I am not wrong, there are monetary amount rewarded every week for the first person to escape the room.

This sounds really promising doesn't it? Especially after I watched Hot Brain: Problematic Men Escape Room Specials, I was really excited, I mean I really enjoyed those episodes. However, while Code was interesting, especially for peeps like me who love to try their hands at these puzzles, it failed as an entertaining show in many ways. ):

I will give credit for the great cast they have on the show, brainy peeps that have different strengths are definitely the way to go. Hyunmin!
However, the way the main code went in the first ep was disappointing. :/ In most escape game rooms, you try to crack a code on a lock, which leads to other clue(s). In this one however, there are plenty of clues waiting for the players to find and solve them. This is when the whole thing gets really messy. Different players are solving different puzzles/problems and they are all interacting with different players all at the same time! Imagine the amount of action that is happening on set. This means that they have to have a really good editor to edit out the meaningful parts, or they will end up with a disaster, which I feel is not too far from the truth after the first episode... ): They had to show how all the clues were unraveled and interaction so that the show made sense. However, it was just way too fast paced for anyone to watch, especially on TV! If the viewers couldn't play along, I feel that it is such a pity.

That being said, if you viewed it on a device that allowed you to pause the show, it could be rather fun to try to solve them on your own before viewing the solutions. :)

Afterwards, the remaining four players who were too slow to crack the code moved on to play the last code, which is not exactly a physical code, but a problem. They were handcuffed and locked up in a manner that had a inelastic rope looped from the wall to the handcuff. The players had to move themselves a few feet away to reach a key and "escape".
Eh... This was a little surprising to me, because... this problem was on Problematic Men. I was like say what? If they watched the show, wouldn't they know the solution already? Which is a problem, but that is always a problem on these kind of game shows. :/

Haiz, if the next few episodes had a different format, I am thinking it could be promising, but if they continue with these "weird" escape game rooms that are more straightforward and focused on individual's abilities to solve puzzles than anything, it would be such a huge letdown. I will still be watching ep 2 to see how this show is progressing!

Overall, I would say this is just a show that highlights the celebrities' strengths in solving the puzzles, which will definitely get boring at times.

Yep, so I just gave my 2 cents about this show. Let me know what you guys think. :)

Edit: episode 2 was better, read review here! ^^

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The Genius 4 Finale Episode 12 Review

Hey fellow readers! :) Thank you all so much for reading through my reviews these past few weeks!
I am so sorry about the delay for this last one, maybe I just wanted to lengthen my time with The Genius and not be done with it...

Alright, for now let me get on with the review!
So it's Jang Dong Min vs Kim Kyung Hoon, the King and the King Slayer.
The introduction was pretty awesome, I liked how it started the last episode with this excellent story. However, I can't help but feel that the intro arc was making viewers feel more compelled that Dongmin should win. It was as if it was attempting to make Dongmin appear like an underdog again, and make us want to support him more. When in fact, he never was the underdog this season, plus Kyunghoon was more of the underdog/black horse. Haha I wonder... Winner's edit?

Then we saw all the returning players from this season! :) So nice to see all of them again! They had to choose who to support and it was pretty even.
Moving on, 2 new games! 1. Number Janggi 2. Mystery Sign (They never got to the last game Black and White)

1. Number Janggi/Chess
Like Kyunghoon, I don't really play chess, but I thought that the game itself was very interesting. Pity Kyunghoon couldn't read Dongmin's play too well. Dongmin had a good strategy to reveal 2 of the opponents tiles at once. I also really like that the narrator was guiding us along and explaining the situations (or possible scenarios). It really helped in quickly increasing my understanding of the game. I thought that receiving guidance from the eliminated guests for this game was also really cool. It was cool to see the players showoff their understanding and strategic side like that. :)
This was like a mix between Battleship and Chess, and looked super fun to play. This is definitely one of the games of The Genius that I'd love to play myself. ^^

2. Mystery Sign
This game to me, paled in comparison to Number Janggi... Players had to figure out how the equation was formed using hints. It wasn't exciting as it would have been boring to watch if you didn't play along and it was slightly frustrating when you couldn't get it/not good with calculations.
At first I thought that Mystery Sign was going to be a super Mathematical version of 5:5 but it wasn't really too similar, and lacked the excitement, compared to other math games like season 2 Final's Truth Detector(secret code). Kyunghoon was a mess, maybe he wanted really badly to win and he placed himself in worse situations numerous times, by becoming overly anxious. Like what Youhyun said, Kyunghoon gave his answers way too fast/soon; and I thought that he lacked the composure that Dongmin had in all the solo matches.

So yep, the winner is crowned, and he is Dongmin!! Again... haha ><
I am super happy for him! :D Okay, sure I didn't exactly supported him this season but it was really cool to see him outperform himself and win again! Dongmin is really an all rounder. He is so smart and doesn't back down in individual matches. Woah, who can beat him?
Plus, I wanted to add on that I always thought of comedians as super smart and creative people, because they are often really witty and always coming up with new ideas. Dongmin winning this definitely make us not look down on comedians anymore. :)

And as for Kyunghoon, it was such a good ride with him in the game all these 12 episodes. He outperformed the viewers' expectations and made such good progress with a lot of the games. :)
Crazyyy smart player that I will always admire but be like I can't bear to look at your performance in the first 2 main matches this season haha.

Alright, so it's officially the end of my reviews for The Genius Grand Final.

As for whether this is the end of The Genius, we don't know. I read somewhere maybe another producer will take over, but who knows... They said "till next time" in their exit speech so as a fan, I am hoping with all my heart that this show will continue and I will see players competing again next year. :/
If not, maybe I could watch the franchises. Or maybe they will make Liar Game Korean Season 2. That will be cool too. Oh man I am so sad that my fave tv game show has ended its season.

Hopefully I will get to see you guys again next year with a brand new season! ;)
In the meantime, find me on twitter @raycherr :D
Once again, thanks for reading! Appreciate all your comments and interactions! <3 <3 <3

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The Genius 4 Episode 11 Review

Woah woah woah! XD The Semi Finals are over.

This is super exciting.

But first, ep 12...

Kim Kyunghoon really did such a good job understanding this game which let to his victory and direct entry into the #GrandFinal. I am super impressed by his skills throughout this season and how he climbed all the way to the top from a troll/crazy character. :) 

Okay, I must acknowledge that both Dongmin and Hyunmin probably knew the last amount too but they fell short with the mind games all the rounds(especially the last) and they went straight to the death match. 

While I enjoyed this game How Much, it was a newer concept and fun to watch, I thought that it lacked certain elements that could have made it the most memorable. The last round was for 4 points, to me it was way too much, granted that all the players understood the game really well. If it was played again with more players and they had more time to share information (perhaps even within players themselves) and a few more modified rules, this, I feel would be an even better game. Also, it was rather lacking with the SNL guests and their vague replies, but their humor made up for it haha. 

So Dongmin decided to go against Hyunmin, as he thought that he probably was going to go into the DM and wanted to pick his opponent. Finally, we witnessed a rematch by the same players this season! I was waiting for something like this from the start! :) At first, I was like 12Janggi is going to be an easy victory for Hyunmin but I guess not... Apparently everyone else practiced it, as expected of The Geniuses, so it made for a different kind of game where everyone was prepared. It was a tough match too but ultimately Hyunmin was defeated. (Dongmin! How can you be so good at all the games? haha) This was not exactly the best season for Hyunmin to play on after watching the past episodes, he fell into the shadow of Dongmin way too much and was read by him too when he strayed. I find that a little upsetting but sadly it's the reality. ):

So... There we have it our 2 finalists. *claps claps*

Side note, Dongmin never gave way to players who haven't won before... (haha sometimes I wished he did though as he was a little overpowering heh... ><) 

It will be really cool to see Kyunghoon to go head on with Dongmin. I liked both of them a lot in Season 3 and now they are rivals at the end game, woah. Though, I can't see Dongmin show any weaknesses in the final. Kyunghoon is very right about Dongmin, Dongmin is really an all rounder and probably a perfect player in The Genius. Kyunghoon, on the other hand, is someone with a lot of potential, if he can misguide Dongmin in the final games, he will stand a chance at the title and grand prize. Looks tough though. :/

I don't really want to admit this but I am rooting for Kyunghoon haha, let's fulfill your role as King slayer and become a King yourself! He showed great versatility and abilities this past few games, thus while his chances don't look promising, I do hope that he will put up a great fight and somehow win it! ;)

#underdog #troll #kingslayer

Alright, next episode will be the last one for this season! ):

Keep the conversation going on twitter with me @raycherr or in the comments below!

See you next week when we will see who wins, plus all the players this season! ;)

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The Genius 4 Episode 10 Review

Woah. And then there were 3. Next week will be the semi finals already!!!

This episode, they played a new game with Mini Games and Hold'em Poker.
Edit: Sorry for the delay! Here's my review! :D

All Players had to bring in a guest of their choice to play together. I thought that it was rather interesting to see Hyunmin bring in a past guest brought by Kyungran; I thought that he would have people of his own capabilities from perhaps the KAIST the Genius, but I guess it could be that they hit off well enough to play together. Furthermore, they did really well! Okay, his guest not so much in the minigames as compared to some of the rest of the players, but overall they were a pretty good team! I would like to point out that it is rather interesting to see how in different seasons they could have different games that would benefit bringing in a certain type of guests. This time round it was more on the IQ side, which definitely made Kyunghoon’s guest do very well in the minigames. (23 and doing his PHD, wow) Back to the players, OMG Dongmin was so good at the sticks challenge, he is really a hidden gem in the IQ arena, not only is he sociable, but also good at this kind of visual games. :D I will say I wouldn’t mind him winning this time round anymore, after all he has proven himself way more than he did last season too! :)

However, overall this main match felt a little underwhelming. Not too much was going on and the minigames got rather boring after like 2 rounds haha. Also, just like Seed Poker, winning just 1 round got you quite a significant number of garnets, and it’s tough to change up the game more easily. It was wonderful though, to see Hyunmin convince others to go his way, he is definitely stepping up his game too, very deserving win for him this time round. Too bad, all went the wrong way for Jinho with his bolder moves.

Moving on to the Deathmatch, ”Practice Bug” Kyunghoon is totally killing it. I am almost certain he could beat someone else in the last deathmatch, 12 Janggi if needed to too. He was so good in so many of those deathmatches, and I guess practice does make perfect. How he knew that by giving up his low cards when the card holders showed a low number card on top was beneficial to him was daebak (fantastic) too. Too bad, Jinho fell short, but YES they played such a great game.

I felt so sad that Jinho felt quite a lot of pressure to perform and give us Genius moments this season. He never did perform that well despite knowing the games pretty well and deep. Quite a pity... Ah, I still love Jinho though, for all that he has contributed in the Variety/Reality TV game shows in Korea. <3 #IconOfTheGenius

Also FYI, I saw spoilers on twitter before I watched )::: It totally killed the mood for me to root for Jinho to win, because I knew that most likely he was going to be eliminated. Haiz. (note to self: I need to stay clear of Facebook/Twitter from Saturday night till I finish watching the episode.)

Next Episode, we have guests again! Woah. I can't help but feel like Dongmin is going to get an upper hand with his social skills. However, finally there is a more calculative game which definitely will be more for Kyunghoon and Hyunmin. (hahaha the joke about Dongmin's calculation in chain auction last season...) I am picturing a tough fight, we shall see, I'm looking forward to it! XD

Thanks for all your comments in the last episode's review! :D 

For now, you can tweet me @raycherr or comment below. 

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The Genius 4 Episode 9 Review

And so, my winner's pick has fallen. ):::

This was a rather good episode I feel, especially after a few weaker ones, though of course not the best one this season. Having the guests interact with the remaining players was rather cool to see who had the social abilities to work with people even outside of the game. Yep yep, Dongmin dominated again... Or should I say dongminated again hahahah >< I also liked how Kyunghoon sounded like Sunggyu when he interacted with Sangmin. O.O

However, I somehow feel like the guests were rather bias in a sense that Ahyoung went with the mindset of making sure Kyunghoon didn't get to win... Not exactly the best decision for guests to just target someone. Also, I wished that more eliminated players this season got to come back and play ): Furthermore, we didn't quite get to see some guests like Jongbum and Doohee do much to shake up the game. 

Alright, now that I have ranted a little about the guests, back to Horror Race II! I liked the slight changes about carrying other pieces and the mud (though the latter didn't make much of a difference). It made it slightly easier for characters with more supporters to still get to move forward a little. It started off with a brilliant move by Hyunmin to have 1 overlapping character with one player each. However, it proved to be a sad drop from there on out as the players kind of saw through him and didn't want to play with him 100%. Junseok had an interesting start to the game with the least number of players sharing the same characters as him, however it also meant that fewer players were supporting his characters... Kyunghoon and Junseok were doing rather well with their white chip, until they were just 2 players who were supporting them full on. 

I will fast forward to Dongmin winning the game with the help of 3/5 returning guests. Once again it just showed us how good of an influencer he is. Even Hyunmin couldn't understand how he got 3 guests and Jinho to back him. Me neither. :/ Looks like Dongmin stands a really good chance of winning, especially if he gets into the final 2. 

Kyunghoon lost and he chose... Junseok. I am upset. I kinda wished that Hyunmin would go to the Deathmatch for once just because he hasn't played. I was really hoping Junseok won but he didn't, so there goes my winner's pick. I really thought he did fantastic this season! :)

Deathmatch was the most awaited Quattro!!! Finally! :D

And they were playing with... players who were quiet and unresponsive? How rude, haha! The social aspect of this game which we all loved in season 2 ep 1 was gone for motionless players that could only swap cards. I thought the change was alright though. Now for a little game talk, I was thinking that the shuffle was a really important one. Kyunghoon got super lucky with three 6's? Wow. Meanwhile, Junseok wasn't too good with his draw. I thought that getting a (few) 0 card/s might be good at first and then if you let it/them out nearer the end, it might be interesting to make your opponent get them. I wished they had more silent players though, 6 players felt too little. 

A roundup after this session, 4 players left: Jinho, Dongmin, Hyunmin, Kyunghoon. 

I am seriously looking forward to how the last few episodes will play out. Also, now that we have come so far this season, the likelihood of seeing a non-winner win this grand final is looking pretty dim. ): I hope to see them win of course, but I guess if Jinho/Dongmin won again, I would be happy nonetheless. 

Next episode! With selected guests playing separated mini games... Looks really interesting and I am looking forward to see how it plays out, seems like Kyunghoon and friend will do well, but it could be misleading.

Crunch time! ;D 

Find me on twitter @raycherr or comment below! 

Cheers & I will see you next week!

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The Genius 4 Episode 8 Review

Harlow everyone, I am back with episode 8, getting pretty empty in the Genius studio yea...

Main match: Minus Auction II
Ooolala another auction game. To be honest, I have yet to re-watch minus action in season 2 and others are telling me that it is a really good episode... >< I WILL watch it soon haha and edit the post after.

But in the meantime, I had a really vague memory of the mainmatch this episode so I re-watched ep 8 with English subs. This also explains why I am uploading my review so late... ):

At its core, this game is about finding the right numbers and getting the sequential ones while earning as many chips as possible. However due to the hidden numbers, luck was involved once again to hinder some players who played by similar strategies used in season 2. Very interesting...
Jinho shined for a little this episode with his smart use of getting 34 to earn as much chips for number 35. Though it didn't last too long, when 32 came out, everyone else were bums and had little chips to last, cancelling out Jinho-Hyunmin's plan to eat up even more chips.
In such a slight change of rules of the game, Kyunghoon was also very smart to change up his strategy to use more chips and bargain with garnets, especially since he had way more than the other players. However, while he stood in a good position to win with the smaller numbers he got, he decided against Junseok's idea for a joint win???!!! I still don't really understand his relationship with Sangmin and the rest of the players. It was a game for him to win and he decided to let that pass. ): He said that he was reminded of Sangmin hyung and couldn't abandon his team?!? What team haha. His team wasn't going to win and suddenly he doesn't want to win too and be one of the possible DM opponent? Was he doing some image control there, hahaha it is really unbelievable how he thinks through the games. Ohwell but he wasn't picked so perhaps he was indeed thinking long term. :/

Finally Kyungran lost due to a hidden 26... How unlucky. :/ And she picked Dongmin to go to the Deathmatch. I was rather surprised by her decision, usually players went for opponents that they thought they could beat, but kudos to her bravery for taking on Dongmin.
Did you guys realised that Kyunghoon actually predicted that Dongmin was most likely to go to the Deathmatch??? O.O
However Dongmin just demonstrated to everyone that not only is he very good socially, he is able to play one on one and win. I was super impressed by how systematic and fast he was. A total all-kill for Dongmin. <3

I wanted to bring up Kyungran's words when she was about to leave. "Her responsibilities as a female player." There were really too few female players in The Genius. Final 5 are all male players. Hopefully they can get some girls who are more bold to be on the future seasons, if any. ^^

Next week we see returning players WOOHOO ... wait... eh most from previous seasons??? ): Haha I am excited to see them again but then... I really wanted returning players from this season. ):
Sangmin's back. (& Kyunghoon is his dog) With Horror race II. ;D

Okay I am excited but there are so few episodes left... ):
Keep up with the excitement with me on twitter @raycherr
Read my other posts on The Genius here too.
Cya next week!

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The Genius 4 Episode 7 Review

Hi! Wow it's already the 7th round and the space looks really pretty empty now. ): I miss all the season 4 players already. 

In Seed Poker, it was really nice to see a political game underneath it's poker exterior. While I would love to play this game myself, I do feel that there could be a little too many variables involved... Plus every time someone wins, he gets at least 7 chips which is a lot, considering the fact that everyone starts with 15 only. 

This time round we saw Jinho try to make an individual move to not stick with Dongmin... Erm, bad idea. We all love Jinho for his brilliant moves in Season 1 where he managed to get the show delicious Genius moments, but in the Seed Poker, it pretty much blew up in his face. With more complex games, and everyone having much ideas and different motions to play the game, the variables are now higher than ever. I thought that perhaps, he (+Kyungran +Hyunmin) got a little too greedy too with trying to get the last 3 points, but then again they could be right to want to make sure that Kyungran won. 

Jinho playing both sides this time was a little suspicious too. Haha, like I never thought that he needed to play with spies on his team to win. To bring in Jungmoon as the spy was even more questionable, but to his credit, it did save his ass life on The Genius after reasoning with  Kyunghoon. :/

Jungmoon sighs, I am just upset with her game play now. She chose to play the dark way again??? Why on Earth did she want to be a spy and betray her alliance members again? After all, she is definitely not the best spy out there and the players suspect her moves pretty frequently too. I wished that she played a more loyal game but it was too late, she was finally picked to play in the Death Match by Kyunghoon, and was eliminated. 

Why Kyunghoon picked Jungmoon instead of Jinho, I am not too sure. :/

Short break: okay, this is a bit creepy after I look at this for a while haha. >< reminds me of Caroline...

They played Same Picture Hunt (still not Quattro :/) and (by luck) Kyunghoon won. I have to say memory-wise, he was pretty on par with Jungmoon in this game but I guess you could say that he got all the right tiles in the right places, like 2 of the same in the row? Woah. 

Hahaha so I have to admit, I am starting to like the Kyunghoon that we are seeing again. The crazy Kyunghoon in episode 1/2 was just not really doing it for me... And... I will also admit that if you ever do read my private posts on season 3, I had like a crush on him in episode 2 then because omg he was like showing so much vulnerabilities... >< Season 4 Ep 1/2 was a turn off but now, I am starting to value him as a worthy player in this game again. :)

I want to mention Junseok too. I believe you guys know that I have picked him as my winner's pick. I do think that he has a fair chance of winning still depending on who is his opponent at the end game. Though, it is hard to see that more people would give the supporting items to him instead of to the other players (e.g Kyungran/Hyunmin).

Thanks for reading! Do tweet me @raycherr or comment below! I really like it when I can engage in a conversation with you guys. Cheers!

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The Genius 4 Episode 6 Review

Ahh this time I am posting late, my apologies. 

Garnet Thief... This episode had one of the more complicated game and game plays to digest, or is it just me? ><

I felt that the editing was also a little lacking this time round but perhaps it is just that there was so much going on, and was hard to fit into the time-slot?? >< 

So let's start with the editing. It mainly centered around Kyunghoon and Jungmoon this time round in terms of shocking reveals during the main match. Jungmoon got the short end of the stick and was, I think, portrayed under a less desirable and respectable light than Kyunghoon... Their games had much parallels with the spy/betrayal and secret codes, interactions with Dongmin and Hyunmin. Jungmoon's edit was somewhat like the edit of how Hyunmin fell in episode 4. Similar, yet lacking. :/ It was really such a pity when her secret signs were misread, and she was just thrown aside. Of course, both of them were sneaky to go off against their own foursome haha. Seems like the "dream team" Dongmin + Hyunmin + Kyungran + Jinho are looking really tight and strong. Kyunghoon is really good at recognising the situation now and he made sure he was the only spy over on the other side. Plus, they managed to end the game in a 5 way tie to win?!? Totally beyond expectations to have a nice ending for this alliance. Back to Kyunghoon, what's up with his suddenly upgraded game play? Haha I love it, but he was so crazy previously, this didn't seem possible anytime soon. The edit for him was really good this episode too, wow. I'm starting to think he faked it all along to build up a "dumber" character so that it will be to his advantage in games like this... 

Also, I was really quite surprised Junseok wasn't one of the players to do something shady in the Mainmatch. I am guessing that he doesn't like to be part of the "dream team" and is okay with working with less popular players/underdogs? 

Moving on to the Deathmatch, Junseok was picked as the elimination candidate. Urgh his bold and direct game play is creating much troubles for him as he becomes the easy target. I declared that my winner's pick is Junseok previously, and I still think so but how he is picking on players like Kyungran is just unnecessary in my opinion. I wonder why he is doing that... Haha. Then he picked Yeonseung as his opponent. Why not Jungmoon? 

So, they played Monorail! Argh when is Quattro going to come out? ): Hahaha it seems like it is never going to get picked even though I keep wishing for it to happen.

I am totally loving the English phrases used between Junseok and Kyunghoon. Leave it! Doesn't matter! Awww so swag hahaha they should totally just form an alliance till the end and use English to strategise since they both studied in the US. Okay sorry that's never going to happen, just a fantasy of an English viewer... haha. 

So monorail was a much shorter game than I expected that ended in 1 move... I was like no no no Yeonseung don't say it can't be completed! But it happened. ): Props to Kyunghoon for the idea too. This season Yeonseung really proved to be a smart and worthy player with his highlight in episode 4 where he outwitted the rest with Junseok by earning the most from selling fishes. I thought that he would go far... Oh man I am so emotionally attached to all the players, it's ridiculous haha. 

So next week looks exciting! >< Jinho and Kyungran finally steps up in the main match!?! I really hope so. The poker game just makes me miss Youhyun... #Stillnotoverhisdefeatinpoker 

And that's all for this review this time round, feel free to tweet me @raycherr or comment below! :) No worries, as long as it's related to The Genius, I don't delete them.
If you feel like reliving this season, you can browse through the previous posts here.

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The Genius 4 Episode 5 Review

Hey there! 

The Genius argh I get so emotional watching this season hahahaha. All the emotional attachments that I've built up since season 1, and now an all-stars season, I just become super tense during an episode. Whenever I see someone not doing well, I will feel so sad for them. Whenever I see flashbacks to past seasons, I choke a little.

Anyone feels the same? ):::

Okay, I admit episode 5 wasn't the best episode for me thus far. Yes, I've been wanting a "group" game for a while now, but this wasn't the kind of game I was looking for... :/ #Loyalists&Rebels was rather similar to #ZombieGame #JuryGame and somewhat like a group version of the first game this season #IDexchange While the individual convict in ID exchange made that episode a great start to the show, this episode's game was one with a group on the outs.
I deem it to be rather unfair. Why? The rebels were the minorities and had to work against more players to reach a separate end/aim. An individual rebel was responsible for the whole group's performance as well, and could easily pull down fellow rebels as shown. They had to put up a front no matter what (that is if the players play by the rules of the games), and it came down to luck to see who got to play the rebels.
I guess I could be totally wrong though, the producers had this game included because there had to be a way for the rebels to win... right? :/ However I still think that it's bias because most likely if you pick a loyalist, you could just sit pretty and get by the week. Just let Dongmin sniff out who are the rebels haha. But seriously, he was amazing again in spotting Kyungran and Jungmoon. Youhyun totally let himself get caught though haiz. Also, Kyunghoon managed to get Jungmoon right too! Hmm Jungmoon was really unlucky with her picks to be a zombie and a rebel... and she isn't really the best actress out there, so... ): Though I have to say how she can remember π to the 100 decimal place is super daebak. :) Too bad her knowledge became why Dongmin managed to read her...
It was really a sad end game scenario where it was either her or Kyungran going into the deathmatch. Haiz, such extreme option, to live or to "die"... I don't think she will be labelled as a betrayal though like what the narrator implied, Jungmoon did what she had to do.

Alright, so Youhyun vs Kyungran in the Deathmatch and I was surprised that Kyungran was willing to leave the poker games in the mix. I was so confident that Youhyun was going to beat her hands down, but... I really can't believe it sometimes. I have come to realise that luck plays a significant proportion of the games and it could really change up the strategies that the players had in place. I don't really like it, but I am accepting that things don't always go according to plan and that luck can bring in a bit of fun element to the games.
I enjoyed the flashbacks used throughout the whole season thus far and when they played out the scene with Kyungran playing Indian Poker from Season 1 finale, as a parallel to this Deathmatch, I definitely felt that I was tugged at my heartstrings. If she lost again with a 10 card, I am pretty sure we all would have lost it. Such an intense sequence!

So in the end, Youhyun lost. He lost in the game that he probably was most confident in. :/ Noooooooooooo );
Sigh, though I have to comment that everyone has been such graceful losers, they were really grateful to have the chance to play again and I think it is really admirable. Like when you see someone gets voted out on Survivor, and they say good luck to the rest. It's such a warm feeling.
Some of you might know I was rooting for Youhyun as one of the players to have the most potential to win. Such a pity he fell short of that goal. However, Ooooo Jinho broke the season 2 curse and was not eliminated, phew. Maybe it's because he claimed that he was from S1? Haha.

Garnet Match again next week! Haven't seen much deals with garnets going around though... See you guys then!
In the meantime, please do comment below or tweet me @raycherr
:)

P.S. I'm starting to support Kyunghoon more! Is he really Lee Sangmin? O.O hahahhahaha

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The Genius 4 Episode 4 Review

Omg shocker. 

Woah, this has got to be the most shocking reveal on the show yet. O.O The edit was really on point, I was so sad that Jinho was most likely going to be the elimination candidate. Also, Hyunmin looked like he was going to do super well and then WOW. WTH happened!!!??? Hyunmin became the elimination candidate??!! 

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The Genius 4 Episode 3 Review

I guess he played too hard too fast.

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The Genius 4 Episode 2 Review

This post is full of spoilers, you may or may not want to read the following post before you watch the episode!

So, I can't believe it, there are fans who found the post on episode 1 despite me not posting the link on social media, special thanks to all who commented!

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