Pro's and Con's (because many reviews take mostly one side)

The concept of I-Land can be understood without having seen all the episodes. In this review I would like to describe both 'good' and 'bad' aspects of the show, so that I don't tell anyone directly that they should or shouldn't watch the show. There are no major spoilers in this review, just small facts.

Pro's:
- their experience definitely helps the trainees of Bighit (the 23 participants)
- once a trainee has been selected to leave the show, he knows what his goal must be to have his debut later on
- they make close friends with different age groups (1998-2006)
- they improve their ability to work in a team
- they broaden their horizons with the help of their team members
- they learn that compatibility is very important ➡️ a dispute MUST be solved with talking to each other, you can't just hope that it will be over sometime without doing anything➡️ they get to know each other better, understand others more, become more selfless / cooperative / supportive to each other
- they learn how much responsibility a leader and the person with the most singing/dancing parts have ("the team is as strong as the weakest member")
- they learn that it can be either harder or easier to reach the goal as a team
- all participants are from different countries (South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Australia etc.)
- the songs are sooooo good!!
- the participants are absolutely good looking... Stunning! !! (just to mention that too)

Con's:
- the show did some of them dirty
- 'uninteresting' members are rarely or not at all shown, which can lead to them getting fewer votes in global voting
- the drama is always shown (there are mainly good moments to be seen, but of course in the middle of it scenes are shown where a participant behaves stupidly and then no good moment is shown by him ➡️ which can lead to less votes)
- it focuses mainly on dancing (they have to sing and rap well when performing, but it doesn't seem as important as dancing and facial expressions
- They have to choose each other out and into the team
- they have to distribute their parts in songs with each other ➡️ they went through all the parts of the song and one of them wanted every part (because he didn't get the last part) every time but never got the part (he probably got the feeling that he is not good enough)
- because of the scoring points (0-100) they get the feeling that they have never given a perfect performance
- they all make friends with each other, but they don't all make their debut together at the end (only 7/23)
- you automatically have a favourite, but you have to hope every episode that he gets further
- they have to solve tasks as a team, but are valued against each other in the evaluation

I think bighit should have done the kind of survival show that Straykids did (a fixed group being tested to see if they have the potential to make their debut). Still, the show contains many beautiful moments that make the audience love the participants.
I hope my review is helpful and my english isn't too bad :)

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A story which would've needed more time to progress

This Korean movie is actually quite interesting. It is something different and not a typical BL drama. However, while watching it, I had the feeling that it could have needed more time to progress. The story develops quite fast and in the beginning I didn't really understand if they were rehearsing the play or if the conversation was taking place in 'real life'.
Of course, it should be noted that this film is only for those who don't find it too repulsive when a boy who looks barely 20 and a man who is already in his fourtees, kiss. Their acting was incredibly good, but I personally didn't like the way they kissed.

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