The 5th generation of K-Pop is all the rage right now and dominating this generation as one of the top rising groups is none other than RIIZE. With talented members, gorgeous visuals, and addictive music, RIIZE is steadily making their mark on the industry. Their latest comeback with the prologue single 'Impossible' was a house track that featured outstanding choreography, and the member who caught fans' attention the most with his unmatched dancing skills was Shotaro.

Thoroughly impressed by Shotaro's flawless talent, we were left wanting more. So, it got us thinking about a dream variety show where Shotaro could collaborate with fellow K-Pop idols who were also known for their incredible skills.

So, here are the top 5 idol dancers we would love to see collab with RIIZE's Shotaro!

 

1. Shotaro x SHINee's TaeMin

The person who wants this collaboration even more than us is probably Shotaro himself. TaeMin is Shotaro's role model and as we all know, TaeMin is one of the best, if not THE best dancer in K-Pop. A collaboration between the reigning King and a rising Prince would be fantastic, to say the least. Both dancers have their own unique groove and style that, we believe, would complement each other wonderfully.

 

2. Shotaro x SEVENTEEN's Hoshi

Another dancing machine whose talent knows no bounds, Hoshi would be perfect for a dance collaboration with Shotaro. With both Hoshi and Shotaro being sunshine personified, this collab would break the internet for being the coolest and the cutest at the same time. We can already imagine the two idols getting along well together and we would love to see them come up with an original choreography.

 

3. Shotaro x EXO's Lay Zhang

If we're talking about the best of the best when it comes to dance, we cannot possibly forget Lay Zhang. The idol recently made his comeback on Korean music shows with his latest song 'Psychic'. With the man, the myth, and the legend back, we would love to see him dance with SM's rising star, Shotaro. From one dance prodigy to another, this could be a collaboration that's truly one of a kind.

 

4. Shotaro x KISS OF LIFE's Natty

Widely recognized as one of the it-girls of K-Pop right now, Natty is an outstanding dancer, to say the least. A collaboration between the two 5th-generation dance icons - Natty and Shotaro, would make the headlines for days. Both artists have a knack for a variety of dance styles and are known for their high-energy, precise performances. We'd love to see a fusion of different dance styles from them.

 

5. Shotaro x New:ID's Wilson

Currently a trainee under MLD Entertainment, New:ID's Wilson is already gaining attention from all over the world for his dance skills. New:ID's SNS is buzzing with dance cover videos and fans just can't get enough of Wilson's moves. Collaborating with Shotaro would be a great opportunity for Wilson to learn from his sunbaenim and give us even more reasons to fall in love with both of them all over again.

Which K-Pop idol do you want to see Shotaro collaborate with? Tell us on X!

The BL scene in 2024 started off with an absolute hit of a series, "Love For Love's Sake". Outside of this, however, it's been a slow start for Korean BL lovers. But it seems fans' patience have finally been rewarded, as the start of April signaled a rush of BL series. This includes titles like "Gray Shelter" and soon-to-be-premiered "Boys Be Brave". But the very first drama to kick off April's Korean BL extravaganza was "Love Is Like A Cat".

Coming as a joint venture between Korea and Thailand production companies, the BL series features Mew Suppasit, JUST B's GeonU and JM and Kim KyoungSeok. Split up into 12 episodes, "Love Is Like A Cat" follows renowned Thai star, Piuno (Mew Suppasit) and his meeting with a dog daycare director, Lee DaeByeol (JM). Piuno starts off cold and distant, but eventually something special blossoms between Lee DaeByeol that changes the two for the better.

"Love Is Like A Cat" is a comforting BL series that will pluck on your heartstrings, making it easy to become completely vulnerable and soft. It has officially reached its halfway point, transforming into the highlight of many people's week. With six episodes left, it seems like the perfect time to do a mid-series evaluation and see if the highly anticipated BL series is living up to expectations.

 

Pre-Release Expectations

News of the BL series first broke out in 2022. At this time, both JM and GeonU were still considered rookies and Mew Suppasit already had an established career as an actor. While their casting came as a surprise, netizens still voiced their excitement for the upcoming BL series. They took to social media sites, forums like Reddit, and various comment sections to express their thoughts on the announcement.

Afterwards, however, "Love Is Like A Cat" would stay in post-production for a while. They would take this time to polish up the various scenes and edit it in a way that the staff, cast, and fans could be proud of. While there were some wonderings on when exactly the BL series would release, production company, Hanyang Studio, kept fans fed through the reveal of an official trailer. Uploaded onto their official YouTube channel, the short glimpse of the BL made audiences' hearts race and expectations continued to grow higher than before.

Despite having to wait a few more months, fans were extremely patient, confident that "Love Is Like A Cat" would premiere sooner rather than later. With a glimpse of the two main couple's fantastic chemistry and Mew Suppasit's talent in acting and experience in BL, netizen sentiment towards the BL series was quite positive and would continue to remain this way for weeks to come.

 

Official Announcement And Premiere

At the beginning of this year in 2024, Hanyang Studio released new promotional posters for the drama, raising excitement even further. Seeing this, we at Kpopmap saw it as a sign that "Love Is Like A Cat" would finally be making its highly anticipated premiere, prompting us to put together an article on why fans should get excited for the BL series. The tweet of the article itself brought in a total of 676 likes, 862 retweets, and 20 replies, representing the arduous support from fans across the globe.

3 Reasons To Get Excited For BL Drama "Love Is Like A Cat"https://t.co/KHlKBokXDl#LoveIsLikeACat #MewSuppasit #JUSTB #JM #BL

— Kpopmap (@Kpopmap) January 11, 2024

And once the official release date was announced for April 1st, support couldn't stop flowing in. The drama was set to be made available through Rakuten Viki, Heavenly, and GagaOOLala, leaving audiences with a variety of different streaming options to choose from. To many, it seemed like a dream come true to have something tangible and set in stone. And as the Korean BL scene had yet to go into full swing, it was something to look forward to for the entire community.

 

Current Netizen Response

The moment the first episodes started to roll, viewers quickly began sharing their thoughts on the drama. According to Google Trends, interest in "Love Is Like A Cat" over time remained afloat throughout the year, despite nothing official being announced or shared with the public. Then, in the week of March 31st to April 6th, interest reached a record high for the BL drama. This makes complete sense due to the fact that netizens were patiently waiting for its release. And while it had a small dip, there were many people still showing "Love Is Like A Cat" immense love and interest. This is important to note as despite only being released two years after its filming, the BL community has still chosen to avidly follow the series, excited to see how the story unfolds.

Currently, as of April 17th at 1:30PM KST, netizens continue to show a positive reaction towards the BL drama. This warm response only seems to grow as the drama moves forward, increasing week by week. As it stands, 96.4% of netizens look upon "Love Is Like A Cat" favorably and hope to stay with the series until the very end.

In correspondence to this, the more the BL series is mentioned, the bigger and wider its reach has become. With a reach of over 2 million, it's no wonder why so many individuals have been raving about the web series. As clips of the drama circulate throughout social media, more people gradually come to know the beauty of "Love Is Like A Cat" and the heartwarming story it tells. The BL community is understandably hooked, and while there are some criticisms, the chemistry and plot convince its viewers to remain.

 

The Verdict

There was an enormous amount of hype coming into the series, mainly in part due to Mew Suppasit's fame and experience as an actor. However, looking across at his acting partner, JUST B's JM, along with GeonU and Kim KyoungSeok rounding out the cast, despite the episodes' short runtime of 15 minutes, netizens are more than happy with the way its turned out. At its halfway mark, "Love Is Like A Cat" is doing a good job, and while it does have areas where it falls short, audiences remain hopeful that these faults will be rectified by the drama's end.

The verdict: "Love Is Like A Cat" should absolutely be on your watchlist, whether you follow along as the episodes are released, or decide to binge it all at once the moment it's done. The fact remains that you definitely should not miss out on this wonderful gem of a series.

We're excited to see how the rest of "Love Is Like A Cat" plays out. What are your thoughts on the BL series?

Every K-Pop fan chooses a bias, yet every K-Pop fan knows that sometimes having a particular bias is not a choice. Sometimes your bias chooses you. There's just a special charm that they have that grabs a hold of you.

It is always fun to imagine how compatible you and your bias are, or if your biaswrecker is going to come in and steal their spotlight.

At Kpopmap, we have an extensive library of K-Pop boyfriend quizzes where you can test the power of fate when it comes to you and your bias/biaswrecker. You can see if you'll choose your bias or if a biaswrecker will choose you.

Here is a list of all of the boyfriend quizzes on the Kpopmap website. We have a number of other quizzes on the site too, so make sure to check them out here!

If you are interested in girl group quizzes, check them out in this article, too.

Note: This list will be regularly updated, so keep an eye on it!

 

A.C.E

 

AB6IX

 

ASTRO

 

ATBO

 

ATEEZ

 

BAE173

 

BOYNEXTDOOR

 

BTOB

 

BTS

 

CIX

 

CRAVITY

 

DAY6

 

DKB

 

DRIPPIN

 

ENHYPEN

 

EPEX

 

EXO

 

Golden Child

 

GOT7

 

iKON

 

JBJ

 

JUST B

 

Kang Daniel

 

LUN8

 

MCND

 

MONSTA X

 

NU'EST

 

NCT

 

N.Flying

 

OMEGA X

 

ONEUS

 

ONF

 

P1Harmony

 

Park JiHoon

 

PENTAGON

 

RAINZ

 

RIIZE

 

SEVENTEEN

 

SF9

 

 

Stray Kids

 

SUPER JUNIOR

 

SuperM

 

TAN

 

TEMPEST

 

TEEN TOP

 

THE BOYZ

 

The Rose

 

The New Six (TNX)

 

TREASURE

 

TRENDZ

 

TXT

 

UNB

 

UP10TION

 

VAV

 

VERIVERY

 

VICTON

 

VIXX

 

Wanna One

 

WEi

 

WINNER

 

X1

 

xikers

 

ZEROBASEONE

 

Do you have any boyfriend quizzes that you would like us to create? Leave a comment down below!