Why can't Japan make good movies anymore?

leonanime123 said:

I thought Hula Girls's score isn't too high.
Besides, Japan has a huge problem of the lack of varitey of genres (mostly personal, family, and other "relatable" drama films. Which on their own aren't bad, but the filmmakers don't produce much outside of those types of films.) and creativity (The latter problem is even bigger than what Hollywood has been facing recently.).

Touka said:

Hula Girls has an audience score of 83%. To put that into perspective, that's in the same region as films like The Matrix, Kill Bill, Nightcrawler, and Toy Story 2.

I respectfully disagree. The drama is certainly Japan's most loved genre, but I don't think they lack variety in comparison to other countries. Action, adventure, period film, thriller, and comedy are all well represented in live-action, and science fiction and fantasy are covered extensively in animation (and Godzilla films). To say Japanese films lack in creativity, well... That's just a sweeping generalisation.


What is this based on, precisely?


Disagree massively. Read Aaron Gerow's "Recognizing 'Others' in a New Japanese Cinema." He explains how contemporary Japanese film has shifted its focus to explore beyond typical Japanese identity. Shunji Iwai's Swallowtail Butterfly did this over twenty years ago.

karambia said:
i do agree hula girls was overrated. few thing i noticed its mellow, sentimental story about famous local (and important) resort with simple premise "zero to hero" "loser to winner" premise that local audiences seems to love (shall we dance, water boy, swing girl, just to name some) but fell short in execution in many ways. in other way its good to see aoi yu and mitsuyuki yasuko cute dancing and it's ironically made the name of lee sang il, which later of his fimography far excel
the later points also quiet hit the spot (oh well they do have variety of genres, but by generalization contemporary do pretty badly executed) but its problem share by many filmakers in this world. in japan, extremely it will be like filmakers vs production committee(the producers) + audiences taste . it's quiet obvious that the former(s) often will be just like this, by exaggerate iteration
(start at 8:05)


still i think there so much creativity while rehearsing the same trope/premises. in fact their love/obsession with family oriented theme often offered unique perspectives, and is one that made them distinguished from any form of cinema, in general.
kazoku wa tsurai yo just reversal homage of tokyo story, but with comedic twist. and its works


in the end it's just side of spectrum of their cinema, like other places where mainstream cinema tend to condensed and saturated into particular type of and the crowd, let's said, just tend to hype the wrong movie.
there times the great and good one came from little coverage whether local or international, sometimes just lack of buzz (tho' kinejun is still the right place to sort it out) . here good stuff(imo) from last year with ground reality check in contemporary issue but still relatively unknown or unheard

leonanime123 said:
I'm talking about live-action movies.

Japan currently can hardly make live-action science-fiction, fantasy, crime-drama, action movies without turning them into anime. Miike did make 13 Assassins, but it's rare, and not to mention it's a remake.

Btw, Miike currently has a bad reputation for remaking films and adapting anime into terrible live-action films.

How many live-action actions, adventure, thriller films made in Japan can be put to the level of its Korean (Old Boy and Park Chan-wook's masterpieces) and Hong Kong/Chinese counterpart (Crouching Tiger, Infernal Affairs, Steven Chou's genre-breaking comedy, martial art movies), not to mention Hollywood level?

There is a reason, though not completely justified, Japanese animation appeals to more people than their live-action films.

Moreover, https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2016/12/hirokazu-koreeda-on-the-problem-with-japanese-cinema/

Japan has also the issue of lack of creativity. especially in the post-2010s...

leonanime123 said:

I'm talking about live-action movies

Japan currently can hardly make live-action science-fiction, fantasy, crime-drama, action movies without turning them into anime.

How many live-action actions, adventure, thriller films made in Japan can be put to the level of its Korean (Old Boy and Park Chan-wook's masterpieces) and Hong Kong/Chinese counterpart (Crouching Tiger, Infernal Affairs, Steven Chou's genre-breaking comedy, martial art movies), not to mention Hollywood level?

Miike did make 13 Assassins, but it's rare, and not to mention it's a remake.

it's a remake

Btw, Miike currently has a bad reputation for remaking films and adapting anime into terrible live-action films.

There is a reason, though not completely justified, Japanese animation appeals to more people than their live-action films.

pMoreover, https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2016/12/hirokazu-koreeda-on-the-problem-with-japanese-cinema/

Japan has also the issue of lack of creativity. especially in the post-2010s...

karambia said:
i'll just delve into this
quiet vague , do you mean live action came from adaptation something ike that, or live action movie in general>following touka he just mentioned live action all along


my question is, since when those become standard that defining. these problem with audiences narrow perspectives and demand
people gotta accept (for now, and for most of parts) those bunch just not their forte, for many lot reasons/factors of their contemporary industry issues. their strong points place in another spectrum. it's like when Sci-fi fan saying overall [insert country] cinema is not good because they didnt find any good sci-fi flick in that country
also the mention of holywood level is vague. if you mean spectacle alike, standard coverages then it's not guaranted quality instead mostly just popcorn crowd pleaser. production level neither willl never be clear, sole definite criteria to judge things in cinema, especially as an art form.

i didnt get this one. to always condemn it leisurely, what's wrong with remake tho'. lot of great things, classic from the past was also simply remake or some sort.

i agree with this. miike fell short as "populist" name that easily pick by foreign when mentioned their local cinema, well including me . in reality lot of his stuff either hit or miss -or just simply, abudantly passable. if only the guy know to slow down and picky with his projects.

i see this relative isue. but if you mean contemporary i can understand it.

koreeda wont be the one has problem with their local, tho' most of those way too conformist rather than speak out their contempt

im not sure. either you just watch wrong (choice) of movies, with the wrong pre establish mindset and expectation (more likely) or this whole matter just cliche "subjective" experience, perception

should've clarified on the "creativity" part.
I meant that the Japanese film industry adapts existing source materials, ranging from the typical manga, novel, real-life events far too routinely even compared to Hollywood.

As for the issue of remakes and creativity, my two points are: 1. (related to the point above) 2. Too many recent Japanese films are adaptations of manga, novel, real-life incidents (the apparent rising of manga adaptations and J-horror remakes...), and this itself isn't entirely a bad thing either (And also shared by Hollywood), but it also shows the edge in creativity. 

Even Miike has fallen to that level, and his reputation in Asia, at least in China and Taiwan since I could only read articles and forums from their countries, has flopped in recent years, stating him as someone losing his talent and becoming the king of bad remakes (Terraformers...)

I believe that, honestly, Hollywood is still among the top dogs when it comes to creativity. Don't get me wrong, they are only the shadow compared to its past glory, and they have been consistently making terrible movies, but in the far side of the spectrum, they are still revolutionizing their existing formula.
In action movies, they expand the scale of their action sequence 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BnOebsDtAQ&t=69s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKAHGwCyamc&t=1072s (Cooperating and combining efforts from other fields like their military to make actions new.)

No, you misunderstood.
I meant Japan almost seems to limit themselves to much more narrowed types of films (Family-oriented drama being their primary.).

Never did I say about those films themselves were bad, however. My point was that they can hardly do much outside of family/personal drama (Although those films mostly possess high quality), comedies, which you agreed in an earlier post. 
They can't make movies from genres outside of those above like both Hong Kong cinema and Korean cinema; both film industries have a more balanced take-on of various types of films, which itself, as I said, isn't entirely a bad thing, but it shows that Japanese film industry is limited. 
However, I do apologize to bring Hollywood to this discussion. Although the point related to Hollywood is about how modern Japanese film industry (in the 1950s, it rivaled the then Hollywood.) rarely make crime drama, action, thriller, adventures that are close to Hollywood in terms of scale (the setting of the film and , additionally, the complexity of the plot [Not the complexity of the meaning behind the story.]) and cast, while Korean, Hong Kong (along with Chinese cinema), and Indonesia cinema have popped out works that rival the best Hollywood movies in the above regards, like Infernal Affairs, Old Boy and other Park Chan-wook's work, Train to Busan (a revolutionary work of the zombie genre.)... Though the problem itself isn't necessarily bad, it reflects on how far Japanese film industry can go.

However, I do want to address that my points aren't the reason why Japanese film industry is "inferior" as you have to judge things as they are, but I want to tell the traits I've seen in Japanese cinema that hinders them in competing with Cinema from other countries (Not that it's that important, though. Besides, they don't seem to care.)

karambia said:

karambia said:
@leonanime123

 
i see. This also i quote from somewhere i remember. so you mean by lack of more original material?

Filmakers (+writers) won't have easy pass to submit their original projects(or, less popular, lesser known source material) because big studio (for japan, the holy production committee) already been known in pragmatism in businesses*, which mean they'll pick projects that seems safe bet, either popular source material or just franchised of any previous hit. There this global tendency, here how modern capitalism work apparently. Unless someone can make name, established, like chris nolan or koreeda in Japan, or success to make some hit, whether commercially or artistically and put their names into the spotlight and producer consideration. Well even some top name still found himself has hard time with funding their project. essentially it was like problem anywhere, including US.

It's just point that japan consumerism has take it too far? I do agree. But again essentially not all of those "adaptation" lack of creativity-for whatever its mean-
It wont be, except mere generalize. Not to mention original=/= guarantee quality.
Sometimes it's just ask how selective the audiences. Somehow i found thing contradicting when we ppl seems demand newness/freshness but still ironically continuing consume formulaic stuff we tend to despise

*I remember read article with naomi kawase, and she mentioned lot of lesser, independent production houses shut down because, well businesses just weren't good at all.

even to look his recent terrible, i dont think he lose it. there still his quirk, trademark mis e scene. Long past his prime? Probably. its just, along his years as filmaker, the way he extrovert-ly exercise his output that way just dried thing up. wont totally close any possibility if there new hit, tho' seems unlikely. his earlier more intriguing for delve into. Well yeah just my two cents regard him :/ the guy sure divide me

like i said above. In the end Spectacles-based just one side of spectrum in cinema. I wont argue this where Hollywood is (still) the best in the world, even for other industries want to match up, and look for contemporary japan wont near excel- especially put budget wise in consideration

but that just kind of foolish and defeatist criteria imo. how its relevant for example, if someone want to scope his story for harsh living, touching human drama that set in rural village covered with snow circled by mountains. By no mean we can applied the same standard. The cinema in general shouldnt just define with one particular gimmick. But sadly it did happen

by the impression i can understand . Well personally i dont see them limiting themselves. There Lot of it outside human drama - family oriented theme, and actually had way more in local box office but obviously it didnt reach. In generalization japan has bellow par of others. I dont believe this lack of talents, or even resource, its just their industry need to take new direction if they want to improve that aspects of their.

there isnt so much disagreement instead of probably idk, just some misunderstanding from me, apologise then

just like you said, they seem wont to be care, much. not taht important i agree.
its concepts stand "by them and for them only" which international appeal rarely put as consideration. Im not sure to say for they audiences kinda stupid, because those ppl seems to self aware but they just bite and eat it away. I think its more lot to talk in sociological, insecurity, consumerism, escapism. Probably combination of that idk,im not even sure with the terms i justvmentioned. In the end the demand for quality -in the aspects we talk about- obviously should ignite/start by themselves.
In other way, i thought thing applied for audiences anywhere

leonanime123 said:

It's interesting to see Japanese go all out in their anime as Americans do with their Hollywood movies.
At the same time, Americans just stay safe with their animation projects like Japanese do with their live-action films...
Things seem to always go in reverse when it comes to "East and West"...

Moreover, Japanese live-action films aren't selling too good even in the Asian market, and I can feel first hand because I'm Taiwanese myself. (I recall a mistake typing Taiwanese as "their"... don't know what happened, though...)

I would love to discuss acting in Japan, if you are interested.

Btw, how do I tag people without quoting them? This is my second day using this forum.

Never have I said or suggested that originality can be completely translated into quality, but originality can be an aspect of quality.

Like, one of the best film in the history of cinema, Godfather, is an adaptation of an Italian novel. However, if a director can create a film or story that is just as good as Godfather without being dependent on existing source materials, wouldn't his efforts be even more impressive?
Don't get me wrong, it's impossible to create a story solely by one's own imagination; one must get inspiration from outside sources to form ideas (Otherwise, learning and personal experience have no meaning at all.).
However, when adapting existing source materials, your construction process would more-or-less strictly follows the materials themselves, and while making an original screenplay, you need to organize the ideas that you've thought of or taken to form a coherent and complex story by yourself. I would say that takes even more courage and care.
This is a reason why many viewers criticize Hollywood for, and while I don't believe film adaptation itself is necessarily a bad thing (Godfather is an adaptation, Jurrasic Park is an adaptation...), I can relate to them on a certain level.

hotsushikun said:
@leonanime123

One more thing, i have seen quite few Japanese actors and actresses singing up for an hollywood, only Tadanobu Asano, Reiko Kikuchi, and Mana Ashida are the only known J-Actors/actress to appear in hollywood films, i haven't seen a lots of more Japanese actors/actresses like Ryosuke Yamada of Hey! Say! JUMP starring in the Hollywood films at all.

We are getting a lot of stars from Chinese/Hong Kongers and Korean these days.

I feel like Japan could have lead by commanding these J-Actors/Actresses to appear in more Hollywood films to me.

(sorry for my poor English)

leonanime123 said:


I've to say, based on my viewing experience of post-90s Asian films, Old Hong Kong actors (Tony Leung and Antony Wong > Ken Watanabe and Hiroyuki Sanada) > Old Chinese actors >= Korean actors > Current Hong Kong actors > Japanese actors (as a whole) = current Chinese actors in terms of acting skills.

However, this may not be true, but Japanese actors being bad at acting is not just the westerner's point of view but also Asians'. I've seen multiple Taiwanese and Chinese forums discussing how unnatural and cringy modern Japanese actors, especially TV actors, act and finding Korean actors doing better jobs, at least more naturally.

Even Japanese audiences have complained about their film industries value celebrities' social image and popularity over their acting skill.

leonanime123 said:

Beliefs of originality being equal to quality or originality being an aspect of quality?

I feel that Japanese actors have the tendency to overly rely on their facial expression, overacting in other words, even in those serious family drama films.

To put it this way, their film actors and TV actors (one of the worst group in Asian cinema, along with Chinese TV actors.) don't act like how Ken Watanabe and Hiroyuki Sanada's more realistic and grounded style.

karambia said:
ofc it mean to the former, is that not that obvious. just said thing not happen in movie but other medium as well

i guess these should be more understandable by ppl that lived geographically -and culturally- close , but guess i m wrong.
i had talked about these somehwere before. from what i can comprehend so far, japan just trap in their own galapagos, very often, including their acting culture. by generalization, their actng culture is like, continuation of the conservative class in the past. it's like -by exaggerated example- toshiro mifune's make leap into today . there ofc, modern western oriented class of acting ( realism, naturalism , or whatever, im not sure) paved the way but what i noted, the influences of old theather(or traditional stage play like noh and kabuki) is really strong and derivative. many of their actors from the past came from that background (theater trope background).
it is like, if we compared that shakespearean actors still legit even today only in japan it's defned them as a whole, by oversimplified parable. they will tend to be more melodramatic, with overfaciall expression, over gestures, over the top, over reaction, and by ppl that narrowly getting used by today standard of realism, over acting.....

is it diminished bad acting or it didnt exist in japan? not that what i mean. there should be exist bad shakesperean actors so thing just obvious. it's just if people want to criticized they should separated it by context. not every over [insert] is determined bad acting it could be the preferable styles, not that should be always made an excuses.

in recent years, hanzawa naoki i think is where the epitomes of these styles , worked at best:


but if you thought that is all about you can stomach , then ofc no. there this ground on realism-cliche obviously.
i'll not put koreeda as it will be overused example. how about more unheard, hiroshi ishikawa's


i dont think there really one group better to another as how to defined it really vague just to based some performances where ppl tend to see it only by mainstream cinema/tv series. i'd seen quiet, fair share of pool of contemporary japanese actors(old and young, including underrated , unheard) for example and i cant think so like what you did.

joohyunbae said:
sorry but, when japan had good movies..? lol that's news to me

Mark Schilling of Variety said:
The official Japanese box office numbers for 2018 are not yet in –the Motion Picture Producers’ Association of Japan (Eiren) will announce them in late January – but preliminary figures don’t look great for the home team.

A total of 29 Japanese films made JPY1 billion ($9.0 million) or more. This compares with 38 that passed the same milestone in 2017.

Faced with the prospect of more decline at home, as Japan’s aging population continues to trend down, the Japanese film industry is increasingly looking abroad for everything from new markets to fresh inspirations.

Mark Schilling of Variety also said:
In the latter category are Japanese remakes of foreign films. Examples include local versions of “Ghost” (1990), “Unforgiven” (1992) and “Sideways” (2004), but in recent years sources of material have been shifting from Hollywood to Asia, while production numbers have ticked upward. Among such Asian film remakes include: “Sunny: Our Hearts Beat Together,” Hitoshi One’s reworking of a 2011 Korean female buddy movie; “You Are the Apple of My Eye,” Yasuo Hasegawa’s remake of the 2011 Giddens Ko hit about teen romance in Taiwan; and “Memoirs of a Murderer,” Yu Irie’s 2017 detective thriller based on the 2012 Korean film “Confession of Murder.”

Also, though not a remake, “Ten Years Japan” was inspired by “Ten Years,“ a 2015 omnibus speculating about the state of Hong Kong in ten years’ time. Supervised by this year’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda, the film features segments by five young Japanese directors set in a near-future Japan.

Despite all this Asian ferment, the highest scoring Japanese remake is Yuichi Fukuda’s “50 First Kisses,” which earned $11.0 million. It is based on “50 First Dates,” a 2004 romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler.

Eric Margolis of Vox said:
But a few hundred miles east, Parasite and director Bong Joon-ho’s victory forced Japanese filmmakers and critics to reconsider the state of Japanese cinema — an industry that has arguably been in decline since the mid-20th century, when directors like Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu transformed global cinema forever.

“Despite the groundbreaking success of anime, Japanese live-action movies haven’t gotten attention since as far back as Kurosawa,” wrote film journalist Tsukasa Shirakawa days after Parasite’s win. “It’s left us wondering why.”

“Japanese cinema” (日本映画) was trending on Japanese Twitter right after the Oscars, with cinephiles and film directors alike airing grievances about a film industry that is deeply flawed despite ample talent and a global appetite for Japanese goods.

“Korea has been making world-class movies for decades, but Japan either can’t or won’t do it,” one cinema enthusiast tweeted.

“The thing that makes me upset is that if you go back 30 years, Japanese movies, just like Korean movies today—or even more so—were huge critical successes overseas and had an influence” on global cinema, added Satoru Murata, a DJ and photographer.

“South Korea’s soft power is eclipsing Japan’s,” New York Times reporter Hiroko Tabuchi tweeted.

Eric Margolis also said:
Parasite won the International Feature Film Oscar and went on to take Best Picture; Japan’s hit anime film Weathering With You failed to make the International Feature Film shortlist. K-pop is a worldwide cultural phenomenon; J-pop has an international hit once or twice per decade. New York’s trendiest restaurants these days are Korean, not Japanese.

jal90 said:
@mdo7 This analysis will have more weight when a Korean film winning best picture at the Academy Awards is anything more than a very specific circumstance of a single hit. Korean cinema is not exactly at an absolute highest internationally.

This shit talk about Japanese filmmakers awaking when the industry stays pretty strong in content also needs to stop.

Also very cool that you talk about Ozu, who took 30 years of steady career before he got any kind of international recognition.

The same dumb fearmongering whenever Chinese or Korean animation do any good. Competition is not a reason for setting up alarms.

mdo7 said:


I've already warned people on ANN and MAL since 2014 that Japanese film was lagging behind their South Korean counterpart. It's already well known that Japanese film couldn't hold candle to their South Korean counterpart, I've stated it in one of my post from 2016. Also what you said about this:



Actually, it does. Go read this locked MAL thread about anime industry suffering from Galapagos Syndrome. That's a good reason to panic about Chinese and Korean animation could one day surpass their Japanese counterpart.

jal90 said:

And just because you've been saying this shit since 2014 doesn't make this shit less abrasive, alarmist and anecdotal. You talking about how much Japanese cinema doesn't hold a candle to Korean cinema and its huge comeback represented by a single film when Kore-eda won the Palme d'Or award in Cannes two years ago. Shut up.

Hollywood Reporter said:
The absence of a congratulatory call or message for Cannes Palme d'Or-winner Hirokazu Kore-eda from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has fueled speculation that the themes of social exclusion in Shoplifters (Manbiki Kazoku) have angered the conservative leader.

Japan's leaders are usually keen to tout international recognition of its citizens and today the government announced that Abe had decided two-time Olympic figure skating gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu would receive a prestigious People's Honor Award. The prime minister personally congratulated Hanyu after his victory at the PyeongChang Winter Games earlier this year.

Abe issued an official congratulation in October last year to Kazuo Ishiguro, the Japan-born British author, for his Nobel Prize in Literature triumph, despite the fact that Ishiguro grew up in the U.K., writes in English and speaks little Japanese.

jal90 said:

You are saying that Korean cinema has more international presence than Japanese cinema based on an article and an anecdotal case that has become the most internationally lauded Korean movie ever made. The thing is, like any other country that isn't the United States, most box office hits in Korea don't translate to international hits, and just like any other country it has bombastic exceptions from time to time. Most of the international success is held at festival circuits where Japan has similar success rates.

mdo7 said:


It doesn't matter, when Parasite won Best Pictures at the Academy Awards, the fact a Korean film like Parasite became the first foreign-language film to win best pictures at the oscars, that send message to all foreign film everywhere. It's already getting a lot more attention around the world just for that, that's why Japan's film industry is reacting strongly to Parasite's win at the Oscars. It won't matter if Japanese films appear more on film festivals around the world, because of Parasite's big win at the Oscar, it's going to embolden Korean films outside of Asia (and you have to factor in K-pop's global popularity). It's going to be hard for Japanese films to gain the same status it once had long time ago.

Yes, it's significant that PM Abe didn't congratulate Hirokazu Kore-eda 2 years ago, because that tells me that how's bad Japan's leadership aren't taking their film industry seriously.

jal90 said:

Abe's move sounds like an ideological one and not simply neglecting the industry. That's why I called the Japanese government a bunch of assholes basically.

Jal90, you also said:
Also yes, Korea has some mainstream presence but that doesn't mean that Japan doesn't and that doesn't mean that the Japanese industry is at threat. I know people there are constantly comparing themselves to the neighbor industries but that doesn't mean in any way or form that Japan is becoming non-existent in the world or that the industries are falling. And just because there is a competitive mindset doesn't mean that we have to buy blindly their alarmist discourse with a huge component of desire for cultural supremacy when international success can never be any other than anecdotal or niche specific for any country that doesn't have the presence of the US.

Palme D'Or-winning director Kore-eda refuses invitation from Japan culture ministry

Kore-eda announced his refusal in a message posted to his website, saying that turning down the invitation is "the right thing." In the posting dated June 7, he also revealed that he had turned down similar requests from local authorities.

"Reflecting on the past where the film industry became united with 'national interest' and 'national policy,' I tend to think that keeping a clear distance from government authority is the right thing to do."

karambia said:
There different perspective.



source:
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180608/p2a/00m/0et/019000c

Eric Margolis on Vox said:
In addition to the poor working conditions, public film funding in Japan implicitly discourages filmmakers from more daring political themes and messages in their work.

“Grants from the Agency of Cultural Affairs are influenced by the content of the proposed film,” Ito said, “so filmmakers tend to regulate their expressions in ways that prevent them from drawing on political themes.”

It’s uncommon to see social critiques like Parasite in Japanese theaters. And while Shoplifters may be an important exception with its spotlight on poverty, Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo ignored its success, not even giving Kore-eda a congratulatory call — most likely because of the movie’s social themes.

Japanese director Tadao Satō recently noted that in the golden days of Japanese cinema, movies pulled in ample profits, funding the budgets of artistically ambitious films.

“But today, young filmmakers are not happy with the kinds of movies produced,” Satō said. “Without a way of making profitable films, we haven’t reached the next stage, which would be to invest the profits to make high-quality artistic films that boost the prestige of studios.”

karambia said:
it has nothing to do with abe. koreeda makes it clear he wants to stay away from the politic narrative.

vox is too biased as left-leaning sources just want to connect the dot as to fit their agenda--just like what you did. it was Karen cesspool that shocking to see Asian countries like japan technically still a bunch of conformist and conservative-minded.

karambia said:
there no obligation for a country leader either but if you want to perceive it that way, suit yourself.

karambia, you also said:
there are reporting regarding the objective but then also their "journalistic" assumption, which is nothing different than a mere opinion. if vox just confirming your bias that everyone is always oppressed and should stand against something then suit yourself.

you always have an issue with japan vs Korea thing which like, it's just you.

The problem is there are people on anime forum including MAL that are not happy that Korean pop culture is overshadowing anime, and J-pop.

So if people want to attack and insult K-pop and being racist towards Korean. Then people like me are going to start to be critical of Japanese creative industries.

People should be able to criticize the Japanese industry for not being able to catch up to their Korean counterpart, but people shouldn't be insulting and/or attacking Korean pop culture just because K-pop, and webtoon "robbed" and overshadow anime and manga of their international fame.

karambia said:
*snip*

there are some people that not happy. there also some people that also embraced Korean pop culture while still consuming japan pop culture. there also other people that either not care for one or both of them

karambia said:
*snip*

mdo7 said:

EDIT: OK, looks like I can't send a PM to you. Is there a way you can make an exception.

karambia said:
urm, well, ok. let's see

mdo7 said:


Karambia, I just got this news coming out today just now. Hirokazu Kore-eda's next film will not be Japanese, it's going to be Korean:

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Next Film is a Korean Drama Starring Song Kang-ho, Bae Doona & Kang Dong-won

Other sources: Variety, Soompi

This is really unexpected. I didn't expect Kore-eda to do a Korean-language film.