Always on the pulse of the next new beat; that’s NCT 127 for you. Since their impactful debut in 2016, the K-pop sub-unit of SM Entertainment’s Neo Culture Technology (NCT) coalition has long been associated with their futuristic cascade of hip-hop and electronic sounds with powerful choreographies to match—each tune more experimental than the next. Composed of Taeil, Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Jungwoo, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Mark and Haechan, the group’s versatility has proven to be one of the group’s greatest strengths over the years, in part due to the international make-up of the group.
Undoubtedly, it is also what makes them capable of diversifying themselves across the NCT universe—one only needs to turn their attention to the group’s youngest members Mark and Haechan, who are also an integral part of another popular sub-unit NCT Dream. And it is this very fact that they’ve chosen to hone in on in their first docuseries titled NCT 127: The Lost Boys, which likens every one of the members to the Lost Boys of Peter Pan—who had left their faraway homes behind in pursuit of their dreams. Broken down into four succinct parts, we entered the first episode expectantly and here are some of the preliminary thoughts we had post-watch. Fair warning, expect spoilers ahead.
- The first thing that caught my attention was how the storyboarding very much plays into the magical quality of its metaphor, despite the supposed nature of it being a documentary which often carries a more sombre or serious tonality to it.
- Concept-wise, I’m appreciative of the fact that the docu series has chosen to tell each of their individual pre-debut stories—it gives an alternative perspective to why and how they’ve each come so far and is unlike much other K-pop documentaries which usually focuses on the journey of the group together.
- The unabashed use of animations, paintings and theatrical set-ups is such a joy to witness; it’s a welcome stylistic choice that makes the watch all the more enjoyable.
- Onto Mark’s past. He’s definitely one of the members I’ve always been curious about considering how he vacillates between so many NCT units and I think his segment was a poignant sum about how he truly feels about being literally, everything, everywhere all at once.
- It’s so endearing to see how all the members expressed their admiration for Mark—and that additional affirmation of Taeyong and Mark’s reliance on one another when they’re on stage is truly the cherry on top.
- Haechan’s such a sweetheart and his willingness to be so vulnerable about his personal life and family is something you don’t see often in these sorts of K-pop adjacent documentaries.
- No doubts about this one: I’ll be looking forward to the live ending performance at the end of every episode here on out.
Watch NCT 127: The Lost Boys on Disney+ here.
