GOT7 Real Thai episode 5 [fin]

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

(click screencap to watch episode)

Source: kshow123

GOT7's Real Thai:
Ep1 | Ep2 | Ep3 | Ep4 | Ep5

In the last episode(!?) GOT4 go in search for the remaining sacred objects, Bambam has both a scary and a #deep moment and in the end a hard-working thai ahgase gets a surprise (but since it's GOT7, ofc there's also pranking involved).

Noooooooo I'm sad this is the last episode. I thought we'd have more, this seems so abrupt! What a refreshing combo from GOT7 to see in variety for a change, and what great advertisement for Thailand lol (I mean, I wish they hadn't been split up as much but, oh well).

I can't find any gifs but here, have this screencap of Jinyoung. You're welcome.

Comments

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry I don't wanna be a debby-downer first thing in my own post but I was pretty shocked by the MC's final costume and I don't wanna overreact since idk anything about the context but tbh it kinda ruined the ending for me for what otherwise was quite a sweet episode (tho tbh overall not the best of the bunch and I'm not a huge fan of pranks that involve getting people stressed and anxious but for some reason got7 kpop loves those! Maybe I really am just sensitive lol).

*stares at Jinyoung to cleanse mind*

[daynr.livejournal.com]

what the hell was the outfit? Man, I have to wait until tonight to watch.

[donaldjdrumpf.livejournal.com]

Just watched the ep and yiiikes that last costume was so offensive. I also think they shoulda just kept the prank simple and not put the girl through hell, I always feel really bad for the ppl needlessly being put through anxiety for the sake of ~drama.

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

I was confused bc I've not heard anyone else talk about the costume so it took me completely by surprise and was like, am I the only seeing this rn? Hello??

Omg mte like the "it's just a prank bro!" afterwards doesn't really undo the fact that you put people thru a lot of distress for your entertainment, geez.

[lydzi.livejournal.com]

I just watched and wtf were they thinking...

[donaldjdrumpf.livejournal.com]

Bless u op for that screencap. Makes me want to get down on my knees and show my appreciation to him

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

Truly a man of the people, giving the people what they want

[donaldjdrumpf.livejournal.com]

Yass But get in line behind me

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

The audacity of this comment

[henolam.livejournal.com]

I meant to watch but i still haven’t... don’t know if i’ll ever bother tbh

isn’t this show that they said they were nervous how revealing~ or whatever it was. was it? lol

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

I mean idk was it revealing but I guess if them showing their bare faces and had that one mission where they expose some less idol-like "secrets" of themselves or others then I guess it was revealing but not really much different from other got7 variety.

[yuujinchous.livejournal.com]

now that it's over, i realize they probably meant "revealing" in the sense that a lot of it is just them hanging out, eating and wandering around? and they didn't "dress up" as much as they probably would for other shows. it does feel a little less script-y but in the grand scheme of things it's not really all that different imo

[yuujinchous.livejournal.com]

i watched it yesterday and holy shit! aside from the fact that i'm not really sure whether it's my place to say anything at all, i realized i simply don't know enough about this sort of thing to make a clear judgement. my initial reaction was to immediately label it as blackface but in the context of thai culture, does that apply? like a part of me feels like it's "just" a really really terrible, severe example of colorism but i really don't know. i would love to hear what everyone else who has watched it has to say :o either way it's nagl and such a dumb, needless addition to what was overall a really sweet reality show. sigh!!!

mark was not here for it though! you could tell by his face. but even so, i know they can't just get up and start calling out their staff for that and i know a lot of other, different factors play into it but i couldn't help but side-eye them for just sitting there and watching those clips (seemingly!!) being unbothered. i know i know. A BIG SIGH. as much as i was warming up to that comedian guy, this completely turned me off of him! lmao ah well as expected i guess

anyways, aside from all that it was a really cute episode. i didn't mind the prank so much honestly because i /know/ it was gonna have a more than wonderful ending but yeah, i see how people might be bothered about that! that girl was so sweet and inspirational, and she danced so well! i hope she has a bright future ahead of her :') her vocal coach was hilarious and it killed me when she got the jinyoung stamp of approval for being a really good actress lmfaooo

bam, once again, was the best! i can't believe he trekked through that 3000 year old site in the dead of the night oh my god i could NEVER! he was so scared, poor baby lmfao. and when he got emo about got7 :') it's interesting to me that he thinks/they think their first three years were sort of a failure because that's what... from debut until their flight log series? i can't believe they don't consider just right and if you do a success because just right did best digitally iirc? and if you do got them a ton of new fans, me included hahah. flight log was a really really good series imo but earattack was such an annoyance kjlhflkh glad they got rid of him!!! anyways yes got7 will rise even further!!

also here have a gif

태국만 가면 반팔을 입는 그 녀석 pic.twitter.com/OoThaIbWKR (https://t.co/OoThaIbWKR)

— 데일밴드 (@purrpurrjbjy) February 13, 2019 (https://twitter.com/purrpurrjbjy/status/1095678553398534144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

Ia that because I lack knowledge of the context/history it's hard for me to say anything, but it does look like at least colorism to me idk?? Like I read that the god is based on an actual ethnic group in Thailand that's dark-skinned with curly hair and while they're just doing a very literal cosplay you look at the whole thing and it's the skin, the wig AND the red lips? All of that makes it just a little too much and too close to looking like a caricature meant to ridicule than simply show that hey, the god is dark-skinned (we don't know is the ethnic group like a minority already facing stereotyping etc. but it's stated in the subs the god is compared to the "beast" in Beauty and the Beast and you could ask what that is rooted in and why). And just because we won't be hearing any backlash from Thai people doesn't automatically mean it's okay.
I admit tho that I'm looking at it thru a very strongly western/european-influenced pov and it could all be just a very unfortunate coincidence... I'm just a little sad this is the episode we're ending it on because of this. We were doing so (relatively) well...

Another stream of thoughts:
I feel like in kpop the idea of success is so tied to certain things like it's not just having fans and getting to perform, you gotta perform well on Korean charts both digital AND physical and OFC win on music shows (this one is a dumb criteria to me when it's so obvious there's a lot of factors that play into a music show win that have nothing to do with quality of the music or artist) and possibly have name-recognition with the general public and when you think how saturated and competitive kpop already is the bar of success seems unnecessarily high (tho they were a group from the Big3 which gave them more pressure no doubt, but afaik JYPE wasn't nearly as well off back when GOT7 debuted as they are now, or?). I think in kpop they stare too much on the prices and awards and measure their success based on that, and the system no doubt enforces that mentality.



Whatever can we have a bonus episode with just Jinyoung sitting and walking around looking like a snack, I wouldn't mind.

[yuujinchous.livejournal.com]

yes exactly! and just to be clear, i'm not trying to make light of this situation by simply passing it off as another case of colorism. i really do wonder about the context. personally i hear about blackface mostly in a north-american context so it's sort of hard for me differentiate? which is why i would love to hear other opinions. i absolutely agree with you though, the wig and the red lips and everything added another layer of ridicule to something that is already absurd and terribly dehumanizing. and they were doing so well until that moment too! i was rooting for them sigh

oh for sure! i've come to understand that it's really really difficult to achieve all that at the same time, especially if it's a boygroup. got7 do win a good (albeit a little inconsistent) amount of music show awards every promotion round which i personally do not really care about but it clearly makes them happy (some more than others imo) so i hope they keep winning them! aside from that though, i do hope they end up getting a daesang and a dome tour in japan one day. they still have a long way to go but i'm sure they must be aware that every group has an expiration date and while they are super optimistic about achieving so much more in the future, i can't help but worry sometimes since they're in their fifth year now. sorry to be a downer about that! i'm sure a lot of fans disgree. i've seen exo achieve all of these things already so in a way, got7 are my baby chicks that i worry and fuss over lmao. i don't know! i've typed up so much and deleted, and re-typed again lmfao there is so much to say, i don't even know where to begin! i just hope they're happy at the end of the day c:

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

This is a super late reply but anyways:

Oh I didn't think you came across as making light of it and it's good to at least offer another pov for the sake of discussion. It's been a few days now and I've seen more people point out how messed up the MC's costume is so at least it isn't just being brushed off, which I guess is good :/

On some level I also wish GOT7 won bigger awards/bigger tours in the future, for THEIR sake, but on one hand I feel a little bittersweet that they're gonna struggle to prove themselves in this system as long as they aren't winning those music shows or awards whatnot. I mean I get that that mentality isn't just in kpop, it's all over the world in showbiz, but then I think of albums like VERSE2 (random example lol but also not really because) that album didn't any awards but is considered a all-rounder what comes to the concept, visuals and music and I'd dare say almost everyone fans and non-fans alike have nothing but good things to say about the album, and that's the kind of image I want for GOT7 (tho I get that a subunit vs. a group play on different levels at least in kpop, also interesting to see how JUS2 to performs on charts/tour etc. in that regard).
It sucks that idol groups are considered to have their expiration date and especially with GOT7 I see, and I say this as a fan, that because of the individual members own interests and different popularity in different fields I don't find it to be completely reaching to say they perhaps find more success in their respective fields than as a group (I mean I think they're already performing really well as a group in certain things but there's always something that they or should I say JYPE and their marketing team lbr keep missing and stopping them from reaching, uhh, whatever the "right kind of success" that they're after. Idk, this is just speculations on my behalf and we both could probably speculate and lament over this for ages lol. At least if nothing else, almost everyone in the group have something to fall back on if or when that expiration date catches up with them :P

[yuujinchous.livejournal.com]

heheh no worries!

yep i agree with you! i think in a way they know that awards aren't /everything/ and i'm sure they have talked about that side of their business before but i also do understand that it doesn't stop them from wanting to win those awards. and i totally get that! which is why i really want them to win some of that stuff and get those opportunities in the near future. but i also think a lot of it simply just comes down to luck! and sometimes with got7, i do feel like they're rather unlucky in that sense. like you mentioned before, how they debuted at a time where jype was sort of struggling. and well, just competition with other groups! there have been a few times where i was like, if so-and-so group hadn't debuted and hadn't been so successful at a certain time, i'm sure this award right now would have been got7's. i hope i don't sound like i'm trying to belittle their own efforts but it does come down to that sort of luck a lot of times. and i hope they too know that many factors that play into their success is just stuff that is out of their hands.

i agree about verse 2. in a way, that album achieved much less success than i wanted but at the same time, much more success than i expected! lmao it's very fascinating honestly how many people straight up consider it one of the best kpop albums like /ever/, whether they are got7 fans or not! and yes, for got7 to have that sort of recognition would be a dream. idk how or why it worked with verse 2. i feel like it's something that happened... idk, accidentally? jype didn't really do anything different in terms of promotion. and fans didn't either i think? except for constantly yelling about how great it is lmfao but even so!! how did verse 2 achieve that kind of recognition idk :o was it just the aesthetic and the lyrics that grabbed everyone's attention? hmmm

oh definitely, they are working hard on having a back-up plan... which is honestly the smartest thing to do! jackson in particular seems to be everywhere all the time, it's crazy. but even so, i almost feel like it's him that is the hardest to figure out? what exactly is his plan after got7? he's dropping songs here and there but none of them really go anywhere in terms of success i feel like... although maybe it's because i don't follow chinese charts very much. idk. but even so, his career is kind of all over the place right now? he doesn't seem to be very interested in acting so what is his main goal?

omg i'm sorry i digressed SO MUCH and idk if i made any sense... lsdhggkjgllh

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

I think you're right that there seems to be a lot of just pure bad luck in their path that blocked them from achieving certain things (I'm not very good at keeping track of these things but anyway) and that's kinda frustrating to us but probably even MORE to them and I don't usually think much about it until one of them actually mentions it and it's like damn :/

I think Tomorrow, Today had a great message/lyrics that just really resonated with its core demographic and - not to sound like I'm dismissing GOT7's efforts but - you don't really find the same kind of depth in most of GOT7's (or in kpop dare I say??) lyrics. Other than that idk either tbh! And the rest of the album had good production, but what's the thing that made it different (the sound was definitely different from GOT7's usual stuff but idk what there's to say about that). Maybe them being a subunit and not having the same kind of pressure as a "official" group kinda detaches them from the formulaic idol-music. People (?? well on omona at least lol) also liked both JB's and Jinyoung's solo music.

Idk about Jackson but he seems to be doing pretty good(??) and I think he just wants to be taken seriously as a artist and be a household name in China and in the world (and get filthy rich while doing so lol) BUT rn he's also seemingly grasping every opportunity he can get his hands on and idk if he even knows exactly what kind of people he's meeting and if what he's doing is the best way to go about things lol but what do I know!

[apori.livejournal.com]

Late comment, mainly for OP, whom I actually thought about while seeing some of the shots of your man. He was thoroughly beautiful throughout this show, if that needed to be said at all.

I watched the hole season this weekend (not that it was very long, could've easily done more! oh well) and outside of that awful thing we all agree on (WHYYYYY was that in the show at all, it added NOTHING but ugliness), I really loved this show.

It was nice to see GOT4 and some different dynamics (and I'm a Yugyeom stan so I don't say this out of spite to the missing members) than basically we hardly ever see? Loved that. Loved the Thailand stuff and how they actually did some traveling and reflected on how superficial their work trips to BKK can be compared to this. Squirmed at how they couldn't go a few days without Korean food (most of my friends are like this😭 so I've had to suffer through it many times) you're in Thailand the food is AMAZING.

I hope they do something like this again in the future.

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

Woooo! I cracked up when they introduced him as “the deity has given him a handsome face and the ability to be boring” asdfgh I mean we all agree but did they have to come for him like this lmao


Looking back on the series as a whole, I agree it was a fresh breath of air for GOT7 content. It had its hiccups (the Korean food thing was so unnecessary lol and then the final episode really brought down the overall good spirit of the show with the ugly costume and then the prank which I guess is up to one's sense of humor whether you find it funny or not but a lot of people don't seem to really like these kind of pranks) and I would've hoped they could've done more missions together as four instead of splitting them up all the time ugh, but other than that it was fun and way too short!

It seems like 2019 will be the start of new kind of GOT7 content with this show and now the subunit(s?) so I'm curious to see what they'll give us!

[apori.livejournal.com]

I've really fallen out and haven't been keeping up much at all lately :( but will try for Jus2 (how can I not!) so hoping you make posts and I will try to be there. Actually that was one of the nicest things about this, for some reason seeing GOT4 like this reminded me of 2014 era, there was something simple about it, idk. Agree on seeing them on missions together as a whole, they were already at reduced capacity! Although I really want to go to that waterfall Youngjae went to lol (I think Onew went there for his Thailand trip on OFD as well).

Another thing that struck me watching this was how they mentioned BamBam has lived in SK "half his life", and he's still so young. It really brought it home to me just how young he was when he left, and to be honest he's probably one of the ones who has come the furthest to me if I do a debut/2019 comparison. Also their Thai sucks lol, they can say hello and thanks that's it, after all this time.

(Also: I randomly looked at Jackson's insta because it came up as a suggested account, and it's been at least a year since I looked at his, and ...... hmmmm, interesting to say the least eye emoji.)

Yeah sorry these are completely random thoughts, but I'm grateful for this show overall, and if 2019 continues like this (minus you know what) I'm very happy.

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

Yeah when you put it like that re: Bambam, he's really the one that's gone through a huge transformation! (maybe the second one in lin would be Jackson). I only hopped on board the fandom around 2015-2016 so I don't really know how they were during their first years tbh. But maybe it's bc of their dynamic and all the members having such different backgrounds but them being older and wiser(?) and having more room to express themselves there's just a million different ways GOT7 could go and I have no idea what's in store tbh (idk am I concerned or excited over that lmao).

Speaking of Jackson, I don't really follow him that closely (his "brand" and imagine is drifting further and further away from my personal taste) but the pieces of information that I see on my twitter... I have no idea what his goals are atm and how former-vine-stars-turned-youtube-stars have to do with it but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested to see where it all leads lol!