Mnet girl group survival program, Girls Planet 999, started out with 33 participants from each country, South Korea, China, and Japan. Up until the second elimination, only 27 of them remain. (The final debut line up consists of 9 members)
There are 3 members who are most likely to debut
1. Kawaguchi Yurina
2. Sakamoto Mashiro
3. Ezaki Hikaru
You can clearly see it from the result of the votes
#2. Kawaguchi Yurina. Total votes: 4,661,720 (Korean votes: 271,551; Global votes: 1,991,757)
#3. Sakamoto Mashiro. Total votes: 4,578,894 (Korean votes: 214,579; Global votes: 2,288,333)
#4. Ezaki Hikaru. Total votes: 4,176,316 (Korean votes: 214,409; Global votes: 2,012,295)
However, the most popular Japanese participant, Kawaguchi Yurina, is actually getting negative reactions from Japan
(NB: I don't speak Japanese and the Korean translation from Google translate is a little bit off. Correct me if I'm wrong)
I like Yurina, but she never speaks in Korean during her speech. It's okay to speak in broken language as long as she speaks in Korean even if it's just one word, right??
(NB: questions about how Yurina gets a lot of votes from South Korea)
She's not working hard and doesn't learn Korean, but how come she becomes the center? I'm so sad.
'I agree. The other Chinese or Japanese trainees at least say 'Thank you for voting me' in Korean, and then continues their speech using their native language'
'This bothers me too. She doesn't have to speak fully in Korean. She could try to memorize one or two sentences to show people how she wants to learn Korean. Maybe she's busy practicing for the mission or simply doesn't have the time to learn Korean, but I think it'll affect her popularity.
'It's a program that includes three different countries, so they don't have to speak in Korean and there will be translators who would interpret what they're saying. She should try to at least learn..'
Kawaguchi Yurina is known for being not talented in Japan and uses poor strategies to promote herself, which makes people don't like her. However, she's really popular overseas. Maybe it's because of her looks. But Korean idols are not only about the looks, but also the talents. So, I think it'd be better if the ones who get to debut are not only beautiful but also talented.
If Kawaguchi Yurina gets to debut, I wouldn't like the group, so this needs to stop. Her target is to become a Kpop Idol, but she doesn't even speak Korean. The other trainees have admired Kpop and made efforts to be in this program.
The conclusion:
1. She wants to be a Kpop idol, but she doesn't speak Korean at all?
2. Don't Koreans prioritize skills before anything else? She's considered talented?
These are the kind of reactions Japanese netizens show to Kawaguchi Yurina. As you can see, Japanese viewers are very clueless about how she's really popular in South Korea and other countries. She's currently getting a lot of hate in Japan.
+ A little bit of background.
Sakamoto Mashiro is a JYP ex-trainee and talented. She's also very fluent in Korean and has great leadership as seen in the show. Therefore she gets positive reactions from the viewers.
Ezaki Hikaru was judged for her looks at first and got a lot of hate because of it. But she succeeds in showing her talent on the stage and the viewers start to see her in a different light. And people think she's getting cuter and cuter as time passes by. Besides that, she also speaks Korean.
Kawaguchi Yurina is very popular in South Korea and other countries, only Japanese netizens seem to dislike her.
-I like Yurina but now that I think about it, I never heard her speaking Korean while that JYP ex-trainee and Hikaru keeps on speaking in Korean...
-Oh, seems like Japanese netizens really care about their Korean skills. Well, speaking Korean is a must if you want to be a Kpop idol...
-But I have to admit that Yurina is really beautiful...
-I dropped this show because my pick was eliminated
-Koreans don't even watch this show...
-It's fascinating how Japanese netizens dislike her because she doesn't learn how to speak Korean...
-In order to become a Kpop Idol, you have to, at least, know basic Koreanㅋㅋㅋ How are you going to understand the lyrics if you don't speak Korean?
-I was wondering what kind of show this is, so I looked it up and the rating is only 0.8%. Seems like Koreans don't even watch this show.
-Yurina is beautiful, but in terms of talent, I think Mashiro and Hikaru are superior...
-Do people even watch this show...?
-I immediately understand why she's popular right at the first sight, though?ㅋㅋ She's beautiful...
-Whoa... Mashiro is really pretty...
-Mashiro speaks more Korean than Japanese, maybe 1:9?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-She's pretty... Why are people hating her?? I should start voting for her from now on
