Part 1

Part 2

Critical response

With the rarity of idol-produced content including the opposite gender due to K-pop fans placing themselves into parasocial relationships with the idols they support, Shining Solo sparked displeasure from such fans in Korea prior to its airing, expressing: "It makes no sense for an idol to appear on a dating show" and "I don't necessarily wish to see an idol with someone of the opposite gender".^[17] Its first episode earned a rating of 0.5% (based on Nielsen Korea) due to its late time slot and the domestic fandoms' reaction;^[17] however, its virality in Korean community sites piqued favorable reviews from the public^[18] recording a viewership of 1% by the sixth episode.^[18]

Shining Solo was commended for breaking walls within the industry and setting an exemplary method to display boundaries in idol fandoms. It attained positive response from both domestic and international audience.^[18][19] Its success in Japan allowed the series to expand on eight additional streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime Video.^[20]

Viewership

Shining Solo ranked first on Lemino following its premiere and received warm reception, quickly spreading by word of mouth.^[21] It recorded the highest daily viewed content amidst all K-pop variety productions in its history,^[21] and soon ranked first for four consecutive weeks,^[22] maintaining a high amount of views on the platform.^[20] In Korea, the show received attention on social media after it aired, and found success in Taiwan and Thailand competing against local content.^[23] Shining Solo ranked first on Thai OTT platform OneD's entertainment category for four consecutive weeks,^[20] and seventh in its overall category by the third week.^[24] In Taiwan, the series placed first on friDay Video's entertainment category.^[20]