Imitation (TV series)


Imitation is a South Korean television series starring Jung Ji-so, Lee Jun-young, Jeong Yun-ho, and Park Ji-yeon. Based on the webtoon of the same name, it tells the story of the lives of idols in the entertainment industry, centered around the secret romance between a member of a rookie girl group and a member of the top boy group in the industry. The series aired on KBS2 from May 7, 2021, to July 23, 2021. The drama was aired on Rakuten Viki Originals and iQiyi in selected regions.
WWW program.kbs.co.kr/2tv/dra...

Synopsis

After her dreams of debuting as an idol are dashed due to a tragic incident involving the former member of her group at her entertainment company, Lee Ma-ha supports herself by impersonating the solo singer La Ri-ma at cheap events. She and the members of Omega III are given a second chance at stardom when Ji Hak, the former manager of the famed boy band Shax, recruits them to rebrand as his new girl group, Tea Party. Ma-ha suddenly finds herself thrust into the spotlight, using her La Ri-ma impression to gain Tea Party attention from the public—both positive and negative.
Ma-ha repeatedly encounters Kwon Ryok, Shax's most popular member, at various idol events. Despite his successful career, Ryok is still haunted by the disappearance of group member Lee Eun-jo during a concert three years prior. While initially annoyed by Ma-ha, he develops feelings for her and they start a secret relationship that puts their careers at risk. Lee Yu-jin, Ma-ha's close friend and fellow idol, notices their budding romance and is determined to protect Ma-ha from Ryok and lead his own group, Sparkling, to dethrone Shax as the top boy band in the industry.

Cast

Main

Supporting

Tea Party

Shax

Sparkling

  • Lee Su-woong as Kim Hyun-oh
  • Park Seong-hwa as Nam Se-young
  • Choi San as Son Min-soo
  • Shin Soo-ho as Tae-geun

NOG Entertainment

Others

  • Shim Eun-jin as Byun Jung-hee
  • Yeon Si-woo as Annie / Jang Yu-ri
  • Jo Jung-chi as Kim Ha-seok / Ammonite
  • Kim Ji-sook as Eun-jin
  • Nam Jung-woo as Go Ba-wi
  • Choi So-yoon as So-yoon
  • Lee Hwi-seo as Tae-ri

Special appearances

Production

In October 2020, it was announced that the popular webtoon by Park Kyung-ran Imitation would be made into a television series with Jung Ji-so, Lee Jun-young, Park Ji-yeon, and Jeong Yun-ho in lead roles. Imitation marks director Han Hyun-hee and screenwriters Choi Sun-young and Kim Min-jung's second collaboration after Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung. In March 2021, it was announced that Imitation would be moving its first air date up from late May to the beginning of the month, in order to fill the empty time-slot left by the indefinite postponement of the drama ''Dear.M.''

Promotion

As part of the program's promotional campaign KBS created social media accounts on Instagram and Twitter for Shax, Sparkling, and Tea Party, posting photos, interviews, and other special content related to the characters, as though they were real groups. The posts sometimes reference events that occur in recent episodes of the show. Additionally, the actors portraying members of Tea Party and Shax were slated to perform and be interviewed on Music Bank in-character, promoting their singles "Show Me" and "Malo" respectively. Each of the three groups, as well as the character La Ri-ma, are set to release individual mini-albums of their in-show songs.

Original soundtrack

Singles

The following is the track list of singles from Imitation: Original Soundtrack.
;Malo
;Call Me
;No Answer
;Show Me
;Diamond
;If We Were

Reception

Commercial performance

With 0.8% ratings, Imitation recorded lowest ratings for KBS2's drama, tied with 2020 drama Welcome, and second lowest overall for free TV behind MBC's Dae Jang Geum Is Watching with 0.7% in 2018. On the 6th episode Imitation recorded 0.4% ratings, the lowest of all time.
The drama however, was well-received among the international audience. It received a rating of 9,5% on its online streaming service Rakuten Viki ranked among the most popular dramas on the platform during its two-month run.

Ratings

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