Stopping at Chapter 21 to drop a review for potential readers.

You know this premise. MC is a former idol with regrets, regresses and uses his knowledge and experience from the future to walk the road to success. This novel has the standard idol formula but it's done well. In his previous life MC was injured and couldn't debut but was an idol trainer instead, so he has both knowledge of idol management and the skills to be idol. Regression starts out before the company's debut group is formed, so while... more>> he's confident that he'll get in, MC still has to try out again. The MC is also already familiar with his potential groupmates since they were trainees together. These things give the story a slightly different start than other idol novels which makes it interesting even if you've read a lot of them. As the story goes on, their group becomes known for being more comedic compared to idol groups in other series, giving them a unique feel.

While the writing is good overall, there are, of course, some cheesy or dramatized aspects. Those kind of things I can overlook easily tho because I got my serious entertainment novels somewhere else, I'm just here for a good time. I will say that the author seems to have a talent for Cursed English. One of the potential names for their group, for example, was "Elated." The name of a rookie group survival show is "Pick We Up." The stage name of an idol is "Tucan". I wish this was fake. The gratuitous English could be either entertaining or cringe to readers, though to me it feels like getting jabbed in the ribs every time I read it. I thought it wouldn't be fair to dock a star just because English isn't the author's first language which is why this remains a 5/5, but man was that a difficult choice.

The novel is officially licensed and available for free on Wuxiaworld. After Chapter 21 you need to collect points to unlock new chapters, but you get points for checking in every day so if you aren't willing to pay and ARE willing to wait you can eventually unlock all chapters for free. Need another idol novel to satiate your eternal idol novel craving? This one's a good choice. <<less

Reviewing since the review section looks a little lonely despite not finishing lol, read to 150.

As the other reviewer mentioned, this is mechanically solid despite interesting choices with English-- no unnecessary drama, social media comment portions aren't overwhelming, they actually practice on screen, and there's a decent balance between performances/reality show content. However this is absolutely a flower road novel without face slapping. The MC is the most loved member of the group both internally and externally, opportunities conveniently fall into their path one after the other, the group never... more>> takes an actual loss, and any evil is strictly carboard cutout.

I don't personally mind this type of story if it's done right, but. No drama means No Drama. The majority of issues are either wrapped up or ignored in 1-2 chapters. Personally, if I'm not worried for the MC, I'm less motivation to go back and continue reading later. The MC never gets really affected by anything that happens, there's about 1/3d of a chapter where he reflects and that's it. If the MC doesn't care about others why should I? Especially when this is written in 1st POV (except stages) and he's not an unreliable narrator. It reads like the author wanted to give MC problems but couldn't bear to give him Actual Problems. MC also doesn't have any strong attachments to others. There's no one he's been genuinely happy about getting a second chance to re-do things with or any connection notably he laments losing due to regression.

The author bounces between emphasizing the skills he built pre-regression and forgetting them. MC regressed 6 years from 25 to 19 and was an idol trainer working with a major group pre-regression. However, MC doesn't appear to have carried over any habits/attitude of a trainer. It's not that I necessarily want him to be a leader (of course everyone relies more on him than the formal group leader anyways lol) but the mindset transition between trainer and idol was way too smooth. It feels like wasted plot potential.

At no point does MC think "I should preemptively help X do Y because he's good at it in the future and use my previous experience as a trainer", it's just "oh yeah X is good at Y so I can push him into a role now and he'll figure it out on his own since he did later". MC might be a "determined protagonist" but it's internal only. He's pretty introverted and passive socially, the "confident protagonist" tag was rightfully excluded. I don't think being introverted is negative, but the way MC is written does cancel out the "determined protagonist" tag for me personally.

I'm genuinely not sure what skills MC built up pre-regression vs what he has naturally (albeit, via protagonist halo). I personally don't think the fact he's a regressor adds anything substantial to the plot. He saves himself from the accident that ruined his career as an idol but everything else is honestly possible under the umbrella of luck and good intuition. If it was changed from regression to a "I can see the future" plot nothing would change.

One thing that I did really like is that within the group it's easy to remember who is who because they have distinct roles/settings. Despite this, none of them leave a lasting impression. A fatal flaw for me personally-- the charm of idol groups is idol group interactions, otherwise I'd only read solo artist celebrity novels. While they have unique interests and settings, they all have similar personalities and became increasingly 2D as time passed, with similar 'voices'. Actually all background characters have similar tones in dialogue thinking about it, so it's probably just the way the author writes. The best way to put it is that everyone's permanently at 75-80% energy except for the few sad moments they temporarily drop to 25-30% energy for.

This review is on the critical side, but I do consider it a decently solid novel (hence 3 stars). There's just nothing especially memorable-- solid premise, but lacks execution. I don't think I'll read past 150 personally and if I do I absolutely won't reread. Take this with a grain of salt however, I did not finish the novel. It might get better and a lot of things I mentioned were personal preference. If you're willing to invest a bit, I recommend reading to chapter 54 since that's the last chapter to of the Pick We Up arc and will give you a decent taste of group energy/dynamics. <<less