I am sure most people came to watch because of your favorite idols in the cast and the chance of seeing something sweet in the middle of what we assume to be the showbiz, but let me tell you something: it's not about the romance.

What actually hooked me from the beginning was the mystery, the real "why" EunJo left when SHAX was on their peak of popularity. From then, things only spiral.

Forget romance, forget the cliche brooding-male lead and over-optimistic female lead. The true beauty of this show is the background and how it influences on the lead's behavior.

Let me give you a run: there are 3 main points in the story about the idol groups themselves. 1) We have the privilege of a big company with SHAX and how, even with their inner struggle, they had a head-start to fame from the beginning; 2) We see the struggle to debut groups from medium companies, like what happened with SPARKLING. They had to work their asses off to stay on verge of disbanding. A medium company do not assure you any security unless you make it big; 3) Last but not least, we see TeaParty trying to break through from an almost non-existent company - JH Entertainment; aside from those 3 examples, we also have LALIMA, who debuted in a unknown company after leaving a big company behind. She carried Queen Ent alone with her success.
You can find many examples of what I'm talking about on internet. Groups that debut and disappear, groups that barely make it, and groups that barely debut but break records because of the name of their companies.

Not just that, but we see about the diets, about the blackmail, about the fanservice and the fact that many idols don't have control over their own lives. Their fans do. Everything is for the fans. Everything is for the sake of making money.

Plot line aside, I know that the production wasn't the best, but I really don't blame the production channel. They had to do it in a rush (it was supposed to air in late July, not early May, but a fake (? i'm not sure) scandal with an actor from the drama that was supposed to air first made them remove that drama from the grade, moving Imitation's release date) and I assume it affected greatly what they had planned to record and edit to put the drama together in time, same with the marketing movement and such. That on top of the cast having a lot of idols means that their schedules may conflict sometimes (it's known within the fandom that the ATEEZ members, especially Yunho, barely had time to sleep during the period of Kingdom's recordings, and I assume the same happened to Chani).

If you can ignore the cringe romance that fills the foreground, the story is quite interesting and keeps you wondering about the real life behind the cameras and the idol life (a few things even sound ironic if you research about the cast and make connections with the show itself).

It's not the kind of drama I would re-watch, especially because it talks about certain heavy topics like suicide, low self-esteem, power manipulation and such, but it's definitely worth the shot if you can look past the cringe-y things that they shove in your face and look for more subtle traces of the real idol world behind all the make-up.

PS: Shax are amazing, they really are, but I'm stuck listening to Diamond since the damn release