When it comes to this blog I’m almost 4 months behind with my updates (on account of the fact I’ve been journalling media since the beginning of the year and only started this blog in April time). However, this month Debut or Die! has consumed my life to the extent that I absolutely must talk about it right now or else I’ll… Die!
Lately I have been reading quite a few idol webtoons. BL Titles like The Path of a Star, X’s Partner, Do it for the Fans Not Me, Shoot for the Stars, and Love Remedy were my gateway into this sort of genre but I also checked out a non-BL title (unheard of for me) The Rogue Producer Survives as an Idol.
In the episode comments for Rogue PD on Tapas someone mentioned Debut or Die so I naturally wanted to check it out. I found the webtoon easily. And I was immediately hooked.
It’s hard to quantify how much of a kpoppie I am but Produce 101 (pd101) was a quake which still sends aftershocks through my life. Produce 101 Season 2 (broduce) was the time when I made a bunch of kpop friends, but pd101 was game changing for me. I downloaded all the episodes and rewatched that first season countless times until my laptop gave up and I lost it all. There are still trainees I think about a lot and groups (whether they debuted as Bulldok did, or groups like Twinkle from Elephant Entertainment that never even made it to debut) that I think could have been great if their penniless companies could capitalise on their exposure from the programme. In the same vein there are so many performances, tiny editing moments, and voting options that sit in my mind.
What does all this have to do with Debut or Die!? Well fancammer Ryu Gunwoo suddenly wakes up in the body of Park Moondae and finds out that he must debut (within 365 days) or die! The quickest way he sees is to get casted on Relisted! Idol Incorporated, a survival show aiming to form a Kpop group from a pool of trainees from assorted agencies whilst utilising public voting. Essentially, he tries to debut through Produce 101.
I’m not sure to what end DS. Back wanted the inspiration to be a point of comparison in the novel, but SOHEUN and Jangjin’s work on the webtoon telegraphed this very clearly. The visuals of the broadcast, the details of the stock graph hand symbol in the dance, and the settings for the trainees were shown a great deal of care and I really loved everything I saw. It felt like a chance for me to relive my glory days as a viewer. Except this time, Machiavelli himself was on the show doing everything he could to save his own skin.
As patient as I tried to be when it came to conserving my Tapas ink by utilising the WUF (Wait Until Free) episodes, my voracious appetite for this story won out and I caught up within 3 days. Biased as I am considering my love for an Mnet survival show, I truly believe that anybody who hasn’t seen any such programmes would find the whole thing compelling. Whilst nostalgia was the spark that had me progressing beyond the free episodes, the incredible pace and marvel of the story itself fuelled my need to read on and on.
Please read this! The art is gorgeous and the story is incredible!!!
Hush Nili 
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