Jdramas vs Kdramas

zola wrote:.

Suffice to say, the most popular ones are the 14-20 ep drama series. Another interesting thing to point out is that the kdrama Winter Sonata was extremely popular in Japan and actually had it's dvd release there before it was released in Korea (though not much before). Furthermore, kdramas are by far the most successful out of all asian dramas in terms of asian market and overseas sales (i guess these are just statistics but they reflect viewer popularity).
~zola

Isn't that because Kdramas are better marketed it? Official DVD releases with eng subs while the Japanese is always in raw format, meaning their target is their own country.

Akakage wrote:

. Characters always die in 1 of 2 ways.
a. Fatal diease, good bet it'll be cancer.
b. Hit by a car.

I'd like to send K-drama another idea of dying..."Committing Suicide" :hehe: So, far I've not seen one like that in K-drama.

Koreans always commit suicide going in to the sea and vanish :hehe:

boltar wrote:

Whoa. Not to start a flame war or anything... but can you please back up what you mean by 'Kdrama has no character."? I've never seen 101st proposal or its Korean remake that you speak of, but how does borrowing ideas from a series make the entire genre of Kdrama have 'no character'?

That's only my Opinion and you can have yours and I'm not starting any fire. I respect yours btw, there you go but I still stand on my own opinion.

Koreans always commit suicide going in to the sea and vanish

Can you tell me which one is that?

boltar wrote:
Second, I'd like to say that there are a lot of crappy Kdrama series that I didn't really care for. However, there are also a few series that can be very touching and far exceed the qualities of Jdramas that I've seen (though few they may be). The two that comes to mind are "Bright Girl's Success Story" and "Over those Green Fields" (a series that hardly anyone talks about). Basically, I think Kdrama has a lot of swing as far as quality goes: the really good ones are REALLY good and the really bad ones are REALLY bad.

This argument applies to jdrama as well. You have to admit that there are some really terrible jdramas out there too, but once again it all boils down to personal preferences. ^_^;;;;

For example: Some people love SOS, some people hate it. There doesn't seem to be much of a middle ground for that one, and the reasons why some people like it or not are purely personal.

Of course, while I don't think the intention of this thread was to act as a poll for comparisons (sorry!), it is certainly interesting to see other people's opinions (biased one way or the other as the case may be :D )

I ain't no expert, but if you really want to boil it down, it seems like the biggest differences are in length and content. The length of a traditional kdrama is much longer, therefore it impacts the story and character development. In kdrama, there also seems to be a good appreciation for melodrama (a lot like cdrama too, if you ask me....), which is just accentuated by the length of the series. (Thank god "Kinyoubi no Koibitotachi e" was only 10eps -- I really wanted to slap some ppl silly there... :shakehead: :sweat: :beaten: )

Jdramas appear to have a larger variety of genres, but I admit that my exposure to kdrama has been very limited.

Anyways, since the original intent of this thread was to find out information to use in a research paper, I am hoping you are asking the same question at a kdrama site as well...Try to get both sides of the story...
^_^;;;

Hmm...I've never seen any of them, but how do you suppose the NHK serials measure up against the longer kdramas? The content of those might be more comparable to the long kdramas.

Akakage wrote:

Shiri is much better. Last Witness is good and Yesterday is too long. JSA is quite Ok

Oh, amen. Don't get me started on K-film. Shiri and JSA are really great films; war types have commented harshly on the minute details, but, if you look at the overall deal, both films take quite a risk in the type of story that they're telling and, to this day I don't think either film has received the attention they sorely deserve. I mean, the subject matter concerns a very real thing going on in their country (I mean, this goes without saying).
I only stated 2009 Lost Memories as this is a "J vs. K" drama thread; you not only get to see two great actors from two different countries interacting in the same film, but, quite a bit of a history lesson as well with regard to both countries.

Hahah. Yeahhh, Yesterday seemed a bit confusing, but, as S. Korea's making a go at the sci-fi' category that deserves, at the very least, an "atta-boy" from all of us, there seemed to be something substantial, something "meaty" about Yesterday as a sci-fi' film.

The hottest film right now? Old Boy. And guess what (if you don't already know)? It's based on a manga. Taeguki (and experts will tell me that "that's the wrong spelling!" eek! :rolleyes: ) might be another notable film right now, as it features the aforementioned Dong Gun Jang and Friends' Won Bin (yes, "ThatWonBin" from Friends).

One thing K-drama and K-film have in common is (and I think it's a bit of a trend now; if you go visit certain notable K-film sites, you'll find a growing disdain for how a lot of K-film makers are becoming "Hollywoodized"; this during a "screen quota" struggle with which they're going through right now [or is it over?]) the tackling of taboo subjects. Specifically for K-drama, such "taboo" subjects include "guy finds out girl he likes is related to him" with a bit more implications than what Lucas intended in Star Wars :rolleyes: . . . the only time I saw this done in J-drama was in . . . gosh, the name of the show escapes me . . . [potential spoiler here if you're a Takenouchi Yutaka fan] Merry Christmas in Summer was it? [potential Takenouchi Yutaka spoiler over]; for K-film . . . it's two things, and the delivery IS raw when you see it: 1) the aforementioned, "let's unify N. and S. Korea ya'll" theme; and 2) "alternative lifestyles" (male-centric to be exact. Notable films are Bungee Jumping on Their Own, Desire, and Road Journey . . . for the record, I've seen none of 'em, but the subject matter is known by film-ites. Also some of the carnal scenes in all of K-film . . . man . . . I think the only Japanese film that can counter all of K-film's naughty scenes in one swoop is Realm of the Senses [and those of you who've seen this notable arthouse film know exactly why, right?]).

Have a nice day.

ruroshin wrote:Yes I was there when that kdrama/jdrama thread on soompi started. It such a contrast to this one, people were praising the kdramas while flaming the jdramas like no tomorrow :sweat:

I watch both and like both however I will say jdrama has an edge because the jdrama industry has been around a lot longer and thus have produced a large quantity of quality dramas compared to the Koreans. I do agree with the variety in jdrama whereas around 80-90% of kdramas follow the same formulae.

In nearly every single kdrama you will find at least one of these elements, most of the time many of them:

1. A prince like character who is rich and power and is interested in the girl. This usually has another guy character who is poor and is also competiting for the girl's heart. Rich guy always loses.

2. A bitchy girl character who does just everything possible to make the life of the main girl miserable right up until the end. It seems almost mandatory to have this character in every single kdrama.

3. Characters always die in 1 of 2 ways.
a. Fatal diease, good bet it'll be cancer.
b. Hit by a car.

4. Its not kdrama if people don't cry and cry lots, even in comedy!

5. Parents are always disapproval of their child's marriages. It so hard to marry the one you love in kdrama. Gotta go through hell first. :hehe:


I have to say out of all the kdramas I've seen only Ruler of Your Own World was brave enough to not follow any of the typical kdrama plot. Even the fatal diease cliche was done in a more positive manner and not used for cheap emotional tricks. Instead of OMG our main character just discovered he/she has a fatal disease near the end, it so sad what to do *snif snif* ROYOW revealed it in the first couple of episode and the character decides he will make the most of what he has left in his life.

On the whole, I don't think members of either forum have seen enough of the other type of drama to comment. After seeing your list of 'stereotypes' I'm positive you haven't seen nearly enough kdramas to really be able to say "In nearly every single kdrama you will find at least one of these elements, most of the time many of them:..."

I think most of your stereotypes arise from dramas that were extremely popular overseas because within Korea, most dramas do not necessarily follow your list - furthermore, what's popular overseas is not at all reflective of what is popular in Korea (i judge popularity based on viewer ship ratings)

here are some dramas that at some point were in the top 5 most viewed programs on Korean TV that did NOT follow your stereotypes - they range from currently airing to 13 years ago.

Pilot - early 90's drama about 2 guys who wanna become pilots and they both fall for the same stewardess - no one dies, everyone is of equal class, if you cry then you're just weird, no bitchy girls, no parental disapproval.

Da Mo - summer 2003 drama about a female police officer (takes place 200 years ago in Korea) and her mission to track down a criminal who turns out to be her long lost brother - though not equal class, she's of the lowest social class (i.e. close to being a slave) and he's an outlaw, even the police officers in general are considered lower middle class, there's no parental disapproval, no bitchiness, yes you will cry but that's because everyone dies in the end - but they all die because one is murdered, one is executed, and one commits suicide (err, sorta hard to explain without spoiling) but the idea is that it still doesn't follow your stereotype

A Good Person - summer 2000 drama about 2 guys who are the sons of a mafia boss and a cop who fall for the same woman. Both are of about equal social standing, no parental disapproval, no death (err, a side character dies but that's because he's shot by a criminal and he's not a main character), no bitchy character

1 % of Something - Fall 2003 drama about a grandfather who meets a girl he hopes to make his grand-daughter in law but when he match makes his grandson with her, she says that they are 99% different and only have 1 % in common - no death, no disapproval, no crying, no bitch, etc.

Punch! - Fall 2003 drama about a girl who's brother was a boxer but died. She becomes a boxer and ultimately falls in love with the person who killed her brother (accidentally killed that is during a boxing match) - no death outside the KO at the beginning of the series, not really sad at all, no disapproval, yes there is a bitch but she plays a VERY minor role and she's just one of the many rivals of the main character (boxer rivals).

She's the boss - Fall 2003 drama about a girl who's the daughter of a crime lord and who pretty much beats the shit outta everyone including the main guy but the main guy is equally 'wealthy' - no death, disapproval, crying, etc

Summer Scent - Summer 2003 drama about a guy who loses his girlfriend in a car accident (this happens BEFORE the series even starts i.e. it's the premise for why he's depressed) but falls in love with a girl who received a heart transplant from his dead gf. There's no crying in this because it's not uh... sad - the death of the gf is an event that happened 3 years ago and has no real importance in the series - i.e. you don't even see any scenes of it. no real bitch per say because the 'bitch' is someone who's pissed that the main girl could betray the man she was engaged to for the main character - she doesn't try to make life miserable and the bitchiness is fleeting. though one guy is wealthy, the other guy isn't exactly poor since his apartment and wardrobe are pretty f*ckin loaded and money/status is never an issue.

Dr. Hojoon - 1996 drama about a doctor who heals everybody.

Attorney Park - 1994 drama about a pro-bono attorney.

The 2 Detectives - 1997 drama about 2 detectives who bring down a large crime organization - very similar to mission impossible in terms of investigation style.

I could list many more dramas that hardly fit your 'stereotypes'.

And by the way, all of these dramas did just as well, if not better (in cases such as Da Mo, Dr. Hojoon, and Attoney Park) than Autumn Fairy Tale. Winter Sonata, Beautiful Days, and Glass Shoes were mad popular overseas but in Korea, they almost never were in the top viewed dramas.

Furthermore, even in dramas where there is like parental disapproval - there's ALWAYS A GOOD REASON. Like for one, having been engaged to someone for 5 years and then the day before your wedding, running away from home. Or, wanting to marry the son/daughter of someone who murdered your father. etc

So basically i'm saying that these 'flames' and differences of opinion and stereotypes exist mostly because you and ppl on both boards simply have not seen enough of what was truly popular in both countries to be able to make any sweeping statements.

^_^

take care yo,
~zola

Zola

If you don't mind me asking...how popular were the dramas that didn't have the normal vital ingredients.

Also...Summer Scent did indeed have a b itchy girl. It was the sister...remember her. She ended up hating her best friend because the guy she liked...liked her best friend.

I'm just pointing this out that's all.

As I stated before...I like both.

When the original person asked the question what's the difference between the two...I think some people have given some really good answers.

I think each society and audience drives what TV drama makers give us for each Japan and Korea.

It seems courtships do take longer in Korea than in Japan. Also...parental approval is almost a must for Koreans where as Japanese may not necessarily agree but they understand the ultimate decison lies with the individual. Now I'm not saying all Korean families are this way but it appears this is the image they like to project or believe in.

Obviously...this takes Korean relationship more time to develop in a drama....thus some people think long or drawn out.

Those tragedies that we see in many Korean dramas....well...that's what people seem to like. The audience likes these. I really liked the Monday/Tuesday series called Rosemary. Yeah...it has cancer in it but IMO it was really good....and sad.

Perhaps since Jdramas have been around longer....everything that can be done almost has been done from a romance standpoint. Accordingly, producers are forced to come up with new ideas and different format or platforms. I'm sure this will happen with Korean dramas too if this is what the audience wants.

Oh...one more thing...every Korean TV drama has a MEAN HEIMUNI (GRANDMOTHER)! HA HA! :mrgreen:

I practically grew up with J-drama rather than K-drama so it's very hard for me to be very objective in judging both countries' drama. I tend to favor heavily to J-drama. I think liking those dramas also depend upon your personality itself. As for me, I really don't like things slow and prefer things straight to the point that's why seeing J-drama is far more favorable for me... :mrgreen:

Perhaps, some ppl like to be enticed with melodramatic story in what K-drama mostly offers. As for me..I rather skip that :hehe: so...comparing J drama to K drama will be like devil circle..it goes on and on and on...because both have strong supporters. If you want to know which side I am on...well of course that would be JDRAMA!

zola wrote:

On the whole, I don't think members of either forum have seen enough of the other type of drama to comment. After seeing your list of 'stereotypes' I'm positive you haven't seen nearly enough kdramas to really be able to say "In nearly every single kdrama you will find at least one of these elements, most of the time many of them:..."

I think most of your stereotypes arise from dramas that were extremely popular overseas because within Korea, most dramas do not necessarily follow your list - furthermore, what's popular overseas is not at all reflective of what is popular in Korea (i judge popularity based on viewer ship ratings)

This is true but I neither live in Korea or Japan and so have to judge both by what can be seen outside. So on that bases I am judging both j/k dramas equally and if the most popular of kdramas (overseas just for you) all show some of these sterotypes what are we surpose to think?

zola wrote:
Summer Scent - Summer 2003 drama about a guy who loses his girlfriend in a car accident (this happens BEFORE the series even starts i.e. it's the premise for why he's depressed) but falls in love with a girl who received a heart transplant from his dead gf. There's no crying in this because it's not uh... sad - the death of the gf is an event that happened 3 years ago and has no real importance in the series - i.e. you don't even see any scenes of it. no real bitch per say because the 'bitch' is someone who's pissed that the main girl could betray the man she was engaged to for the main character - she doesn't try to make life miserable and the bitchiness is fleeting. though one guy is wealthy, the other guy isn't exactly poor since his apartment and wardrobe are pretty f*ckin loaded and money/status is never an issue.

I have seen this and I totally disagree. The death of the gf has an IMMENSE affect on the current event, if not then they (the 2 main characters) would not of broken up halfway through the series over it when the girl found out! And I can't believe you say there is no crying, there were a ton of crying throughout the series. There is a bitch, the utterly selfish sister who thinks the guy totally belongs to her regardless of what HE thinks. She even told the main girl to not even try to take the guy, in other dramas its "all's fair in love and war".

Oh and one last thing, what did the gf died of? Yup hit by a car :rolleyes:

zola wrote:
And by the way, all of these dramas did just as well, if not better (in cases such as Da Mo, Dr. Hojoon, and Attoney Park) than Autumn Fairy Tale. Winter Sonata, Beautiful Days, and Glass Shoes were mad popular overseas but in Korea, they almost never were in the top viewed dramas.

If its only popular in Korea then it doesn't do us any good because we don't get to see it. You may also ask why it is not popular overseas? Can you identify a reason for this?

zola wrote:
Furthermore, even in dramas where there is like parental disapproval - there's ALWAYS A GOOD REASON. Like for one, having been engaged to someone for 5 years and then the day before your wedding, running away from home. Or, wanting to marry the son/daughter of someone who murdered your father. etc

I'm not saying if there was a good reason or not, doesn't change the fact that its still an overused plot.

zola wrote:
So basically i'm saying that these 'flames' and differences of opinion and stereotypes exist mostly because you and ppl on both boards simply have not seen enough of what was truly popular in both countries to be able to make any sweeping statements.

How much is enough?

I have seen:

All About Eve
All In
Attic Cat
Autumn in my Heart
Beautiful Days
Bright Girl's Success Story
Fireworks
Goodbye My Love
Hotelier
Innocence
Love Letter
Snowman
Propose
Loving You
I'm Still Loving You
My Love Patzzi
Models
Ruler of your own world
Summer Scent
Winter Sonata
Glass Shoe
Mr Duke
Four Sisters
Friends
Romance
Shoot for the stars

the discussion has become more and more interesting ! after reading through zola and ruroshin's post, I can say that both of them have strong points

but ruroshin is true about this

zola wrote:

Furthermore, even in dramas where there is like parental disapproval - there's ALWAYS A GOOD REASON. Like for one, having been engaged to someone for 5 years and then the day before your wedding, running away from home. Or, wanting to marry the son/daughter of someone who murdered your father. etc


ruroshin :
I'm not saying if there was a good reason or not, doesn't change the fact that its still an overused plot.

yes... it is still an overused plot...
you can't make it different even with different reason..

besides that like what ruroshin had said... for people who are not living in korea/japan... we can only judge the drama from what we have seen..
maybe there are also many japanese drama that are sucks but we just don't have chance to see it bcos they're only aired in the country... so we are suppose to judge the popular one and yes... korean drama always has the same plot...

like in hollywood... there are also many movies that are great and also there are many bad movies too... but ppl love hollywood.... why? bcos they are judging popular movies and it comes out that most of them(not all) have different plot and interesting...

but still zola... you gave a good point ;) it's just that I think ruroshin's point is stronger.... but hey.. your points are also good.




I discover korean drama first before starting to know jdrama... but I prefer jdrama over korean drama...

well in my opinion japanese dramas are more direct to the point and the poltting is really fast.. :chatter: you can see this as an advantage but there are times that you got confused in some character because they dont put much detailed on the character...

in a korean drama well as the other's opinion is the plotting is kinda slow but you will really know what the character is for, why the series needed the char... ;) but mostly korean dramas has this kind of plotting one of the lead role has a turmoil cancer :shakehead: , like autumn story, beautiful days or if this is not present the lead role will have amnesia.. very tragic.. but i guess this is one thing that korean writers want to share to everyone that if you love someone you will fight for your love :love_eyes:

zaza_tk87 wrote:
I discover korean drama first before starting to know jdrama... but I prefer jdrama over korean drama...

Good choice! Just stick with that :P I watch K-drama sometime when my mood is really, really good or if there's Song Seung Heun..hehehehe :mrgreen:


To ruroshin..are these K-dramas good to watch (since I don't want to waste my time):
-Mr. Duke
-Starway to Heaven
-Summer Scent.

akakage wrote:Good choice! Just stick with that

I WILL!!! :hehe:

Akakage wrote:

Good choice! Just stick with that :P I watch K-drama sometime when my mood is really, really good or if there's Song Seung Heun..hehehehe :mrgreen:


To ruroshin..are these K-dramas good to watch (since I don't want to waste my time):
-Mr. Duke
-Starway to Heaven
-Summer Scent.

Overall I kinda enjoyed Mr. Duke even with the usual trappings. Rich girl, poor guy, rich bastard guy (guess who wins :D), disapproving parents :hehe: Choi Ji Woo is really pretty in this one and I like the shy timid chemistry she has with Kim Seung Woo.

-Stairway to Heaven, I have not seen it all yet and I won't past judgement on it until I've seen at least half of it. IMHO kdramas tend to start out great but fizzle out and drags on in the second half e.g. All In and Summer Scent. So I'll wait till we get into the second half before I give my opinion.

Summer Scent - Like I mention before, starts out good and was nice and light but got rather draggy in the later parts. Had to force myself through the rest but only because of Son Yeh Jin :naughty: she makes it watchable.

ruroshin wrote:

Overall I kinda enjoyed Mr. Duke even with the usual trappings. Rich girl, poor guy, rich bastard guy (guess who wins :D), disapproving parents :hehe: Choi Ji Woo is really pretty in this one and I like the shy timid chemistry she has with Kim Seung Woo.

-Stairway to Heaven, I have not seen it all yet and I won't past judgement on it until I've seen at least half of it. IMHO kdramas tend to start out great but fizzle out and drags on in the second half e.g. All In and Summer Scent. So I'll wait till we get into the second half before I give my opinion.

Summer Scent - Like I mention before, starts out good and was nice and light but got rather draggy in the later parts. Had to force myself through the rest but only because of Son Yeh Jin :naughty: she makes it watchable.

Yeah..that's what I'm afraid of..draggy in the second half.. :shakehead: with the exception to All In and Bright girl success..I like those.

Thanks a lot Ruroshin! Kamsa hamnida :hehe:

Lunamauro wrote:I am doing a research for a paper. Can you please help me answering the question?

i was doing a research in korean drama which i just finished it...
i need 1 year to finished it :shakehead:
but my research is related to advertising science that's why i research for brand LG and Samsung product placement in korean drama.

so anyway...i agree with most of everybody opinions ini here...
k-dramas...has a long episode...16-32 episodes...mostly has a tragic ending (like loveless said cancer thing)...some of them concern about the view of scenery story setting..like endless love, winter's sonata and summer scent...they usually has an individual bad person role character whether she or he...and the korean drama also has something love connection between the main character......

as for doramas......more simple and less episodes than k-dramas....
for me more interesting than k-drama cuz doramas has more rich stories...they could made story from anything...from cake (antique)....sushi (shota no sushi).......ping pong (ping pong)...a pet..erm not exactly a pet :hehe: (kimi wa petto)...etc

but these only my point of view....
:mrgreen:

ara, hahaha, well here goes a couple replies ^_^

First, I err, live in the states so I too don't live in Japan/Korea (though i have lived in Korea for my childhood). Anyhoo, I guess I'm wondering how you see your dramas. The way I see mine is that because I'm a fansubber, many of my friends (within the fansubbing 'world') have collections/dumps of drama files. Being a Kdrama fansubber as well and frequenter of soompi's kdrama forum, I get my Kdramas from there. Since I'm Korean, I can watch the Kdramas without any subtitles of any sort and for the jdramas, one of my close friends who is fluent in japanese makes me scripts.

The reason I ask this is because I'm wondering how you watched your drama series - through vcds from hk/taiwan/china (i.e. popular overseas stuff) or if you just had access to some assorted collection with subbed and unsubbed footage. I find that more jdramas tend to have some sort of subtitling - at least in the vcd realm so I could see why you'd be able to watch more of those.

Which leads me to that list you made. All of those are of one type. Even within Japan, dramas are divided between like romance stories or comedies, action based, anime based, etc. It is the same in Korea - I'm not sure exactly how things are done in Japan but in Korea, between 9 PM and 12 midnite, is considered the 'melodrama' period for dramas - just about all dramas dealing with some type of love story or more serious plot are shown during that time. (Remember that Korean culture is extremely conservative - the late times is to prevent kids from watching the dramas ^^; - go figure)

Anyhoo, most of the other dramas I listed are shown at other times not during those hours. These days, things are changing a little since Koreans themselves are getting sick of melodramatic stuff. And viewership is starting to change from 10 PM (which used to be the peak time for # of people watching TV) to earlier dinner hours which is when the more lighthearted/variety dramas are aired.

Autumn Fairy Tale was NOT very popular in Korea. Just like the other 2 seasons dramas, it did NOT take the first spot as most popular drama (err, i think winter sonata did for 2 or 4 episodes but that was it). And yet, Autumn Fairy Tale and Winter Sonata are used as the two most prominent examples of Kdramas - why? I don't really know. All I can say is that it's popularity in other Asian countries far exceeded that in Korea - which reflects the tastes of those countries and NOT Korea. I agree with you that your judgments can only be based on what you have access to but at the same time, all the Indian people in my area are really really wealthy and drive BMWs/benz's,etc. But India is one of the poorest nations in the world. Just because I only see one stereotype and haven't seen the rest mean I can judge a whole culture on that basis.

Also, in Summer Scent, when I said there wasn't a death, I meant that there was not a death within the series itself. The plot was about a guy who couldn't get over his girlfriend - or rather, was confused. It was NOT, guy meets girl, guy falls in love, girl dies, guy mopes, guy meets new girl, guy is happy again. Rather, it was the latter half. Also, the sister being a bitch? I'd hardly think so in the terms that you originally put - "evil bitch who's main goal is to make life absolutely miserable for the main girl. And if you think about it as you watch. She's NOT that type of person UNTIL she finds out that the main girl is betraying her brother and herself. In a sense, this would make the main girl herself a bitch and that other girl being vindictive. If she truly were the bitch you described, she'd be like Yoori in Stairway to Heaven or the bitch in Tomato, or the bitch in Glass Shoes, etc.

When you mention 'If its only popular in Korea then it doesn't do us any good because we don't get to see it. You may also ask why it is not popular overseas? Can you identify a reason for this?'

My answer is that yes, you DO have access to those files since almost all dramas in korea are captured just like jdramas. And if you look around, most have detailed episode synopses. Also, all I can say about what's popular overseas is that you are seeing what ONE group of people likes. In other words, you can't say, "All kdramas are such and such." This is very much like the arguements made against anime. For the past 2 decades, anime was considered extremely violent, loaded with random porn, and terrible compared to disney animation. Why? because we had dragon ballz, we had hentai, we had sailormoon. But was that anime? Of course not and these days, people are realizing that with cartoon network's big push and the growing anime industry in the US. You could say. 'but we only have access to what is popular' but that again does not suffice as an excuse to make a generalization against all of anime culture. The same applies to KDramas. I was ctually recently hired for YesAsia as an independent contractor translator for Kdramas because they were interested in marketing dramas that HAD NOT been bootlegged in other countries and that had been popular within the country itself (I err, can't say any series I'm currently working on because I signed an NDA but given a little time, you'll see the different series that are released).

Hrm... the next comment you make about parental disapproval being an overused plot isn't err... really applicable. What I mean to say is that it is, as someone else mentioned in another post on this thread, an inherent part of Korean culture that the relationship process takes a LONG time in Korea (err, that's not altogether correct in cases such as arranged marriages but marriages involving prior dating, falling in love, etc, take a long time) and almost always, there is parental disapproval. This is just a fact of Korean culture - just as in American soaps and many Japanese dramas, the main couple sleeps together at some point in the drama. To put things in perspective, I could say, "In every jdrama, the couples are always getting laid with each other... that's so overused." It's just a difference in culture. And usually, it doesn't form the crux of the plot (i.e. the plot isn't about a couple trying to convince parents to allow their marriage - there have been a couple dramas about this but they are far different than the dramas you listed). I guess, to be honest, if I were to get married, even to someone of equal social standing, my parents would always be against it until they approved of pretty much everyone and everything about the other family - that's just part of being Korean.

That list you made is like me saying, how much anime is enough?

And then listing off 20 hentai anime titles. That's not variety. Someone asked in another post how popular the other dramas were and the really big hits in Korea were hardly what you listed. All In was a big hit, yes. But the others were relatively popular but weren't the really big hits as the ones that I listed. And why is it that these are the only dramas you saw? Prolly because they're the only ones you had access to (i.e. the ones that appealed to HK and taiwanese ppl to bootleg). Like the Japanese people, Korean broadcast companies hardly care about overseas audiences - which is why almost all the DVDs of great series they have (Dae JangGeum which is a cooking drama and DaMo which is an action/depressing/incredible drama) aren't subtitled.

Finally, yes, I do have access to many jdramas which aren't subtitled and I am fortunate enough to have japanese fluent and japanese friends. But for the most part, jdramas that I have seen that have equivalent Kdrama counterparts didn't appeal to me - the characterization was too accelerated and many plot elements weren't very thoroughly explained/examined. I guess that's a matter of taste and opinion too but at least when I do make a comparison, I judge based on similar premises rather than say after watching a load of fukada dramas, 'damn, all jdramas have this whiney main character girl and blah blah blah'
(i.e. fukada kyoko drives me crazy ^^;)

take care yo,
~zola

on a side note, i'm not trying to flame anyone here and i mean no personal offense. i'm just trying to explain things a little better so that people can see that a lot of their views are reflective of only a small bubble they are within. ^_^

Akakage wrote:Quote:
Koreans always commit suicide going in to the sea and vanish


Can you tell me which one is that?

On the first episode of Romance the main charcters father commits suicide that way, on Stairway to Heaven the evil sister attemps suicide but she is stopped. I think on Autumn Tale someone attemps suicide the same way too but is stopped (can anyone confirm this one?)

Takez0 wrote:

On the first episode of Romance the main charcters father commits suicide that way, on Stairway to Heaven the evil sister attemps suicide but she is stopped. I think on Autumn Tale someone attemps suicide the same way too but is stopped (can anyone confirm this one?)

This happened in Majo No Jouken/Forbidden Love too. Hikaru's mom (Hitomi Kuroki) tried killing herself this way :mrgreen:

They are all practically the same. Somebody name me one single drama (Japanese, Korean, or even Chinese) that didn't have ANY of the following:

1. Cancer or terminal illness
2. Mean grandmother
3. Mean mother in law
4. Love Triangle or rectangle or whatever shape
5. Hit by car
6. Suicide by drowning in ocean
7. Parents not approving of some marriage
8. A wedding ceromony
9. A funeral
10. Fire
11. Fight scene
12. Somebody having an affair/cheating
13. Older man younger woman
14. Older woman younger man
15. Somebody having a handicap

Heck...some dramas have all of the above in one drama series! :beaten:

If they didn't have the stuff above...we probably would not watch these "dramas". They would be too boring...they would be like our ordinary daily lives! :beaten:

:mrgreen:

ha- gotta point! :mrgreen: