Korean drama vs Japanese drama

mdo7 said:


There are some innovative TV dramas coming out of South Korea that might appeal to you just to let you know.

Gymkata said:

I'll check them out - which ones would you recommend?

semss said:
@mdo7
k-drama and k-movie already adapted couple from many japan resources long b4 (talk anime, manga, j-drama), But I still in doubt for ama-chan besides the format(I'm thinking like that too about the episode ^^ which is fine), because the licensed by NHK maybe not as easy as it sound, maybe, bcoz I've not heard any side already adapted their drama from what I've known(for NHK) , but if korean production house have interest, it's just matter of negotiation I guess..

Gymkata said:

I'll check them out - which ones would you recommend?

*btw, what I mentioned above referred to the romances which I'm a sucker for in any meduim :)*

mdo7 said:


Well that's why I'm hoping South Korea can be able to acquire the remake right for that drama.

I mean South Korea is no stranger to remaking J-dramas:

J-drama, Operation Love became Operation proposal for the remake

Kaseifu no Mita/I'm Mita your housekeeper became The Suspicious Housekeeper for South Korea

the 2002 J-drama, I Don't Need Love, Summer (愛なんていらねえよ、夏 Ai Nante Irane Yo, Natsu became That Winter, the Wind Blows

So you see if these J-dramas can get K-dramas remake then it shouldn't be hard for Ama-Chan, and Summer Nude to get Korean remake. If they can remake it and with a strong and well-known casts then it can become a big hit outside of South Korea.

semss said:

yeah, it's been long enough history for that and i'm pretty aware of that(maybe between taiwan~korea~japan~china~hk it's not a new thing for drama series or movie for remake and stuff), been it direct remake, or other/new adaptation like
hana yori dango(japan)~meteor garden(taiwan)~hana yori dango(japan agaiin)~boys over flover(korea)
summer nude, if it captured their interest, acquire the license just matter of negotiation imo, ama-chan, well still have a doubt about it license, but i don't have problem personally why don't it been remake, i just hope they are not mess with it if that happen ^^

mdo7 said:


Yeah I missed those too. It's sad that HK dramas ain't it used to be. I found out 2 weeks ago that TVB has shelved 5 of their dramas for being low quality. Also when you watch TVB production, they can't really hold candle compared to K-dramas and Taiwanese dramas.



Well I would agree with you on that. But I'm starting to see K-dramas doing more creative thing like for example have you watched these dramas:

The Village: Achiara's Secret (this one is a bit different from your usual K-dramas)

D-day:



and Descendent of the sun from KBS looks very promising:

shiroi-ookami said:

I'm surprised and happy about your reply! I rarely find ppl still knowing about the old HK dramas.:D
So true! I grew up watching classic TVB and ATV dramas and I'm sad to see that the golden days are over. In the late 80s and early 90s, the dramas were so great and memorable. Also, some of the best HK actors were from that era.

shiroi-ookami said:
Thank you for the recommendations! I'm putting them on my PTW-list.:DD The village looks particularly interesting! I love mystery/thriller and koreans are really good in that genre (hence why I love K-thriller movies).
I do think that there are some creative k-dramas post-2010. It's just that I'm not too fond of the idol-ish cast. Esp the guys are too dolled up for my taste. Many of them look like they take more time in the bathroom than me.xD

FahtahSensei said:
I don't think this is real :(

semss said:

spike lee would be like xD


and look like it was damn real http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0415321/

FahtahSensei said:


Dat shheeiiit be legit? Horry fluck!

zeracchin said:
I'm so glad this topic exists because I actually watch a lot more (Korean) dramas than anime. :-( Nice to know there's others who enjoy the art of melodramas. Personally I prefer Korean dramas to Japanese ones.

mdo7 said:

Yes it's pretty sad indeed. Were you aware that ATV is going to cease broadcast April of this year:

WSJ-Hong Kong’s Oldest TV Station, ATV, to Shut Down

Hollywood Reporter-Hong Kong's ATV to Close After Denial of Broadcast License

Variety-Hong Kong’s ATV Halts News Broadcasts as Financial Crisis Deepens

Variety-New Owner May Be Too Late For Hong Kong’s Struggling ATV

It's very sad to see this channel, RIP. There was another HK channel that made drama that could've rivaled K-dramas but they no longer make them:

HKTV Stops Production, No More Dramas After September

Farewell HKTV Dramas, thanks for the memories

It's very sad that none of HKTV dramas ever got international release on Dramafever nor Viki (fans of K-dramas would've like or love those dramas). I'm very sorry that fans of Korean dramas and Taiwanese dramas aren't branching out to HK dramas. As I said, if South Korea remake some of TVB dramas (or if TVB remake K-dramas), then a lot of K-dramas would branch out to HK dramas.

I'm really surprised that TVB has not considered remaking K-dramas, it would get a lot of attention outside of Asia if TVB had remade these:





Hidden Identity:



Had TVB or any Hong Kong station had remade these today, I'm sure there would be a lot of people you can talk to about HK dramas today.

shiroi-ookami said:


Yes, I've heard about it. A shame, really. ATV was the first tv station in HK. ATV has been struggling since many years, and there was a fierce rivalry between it and TVB. TVB got a lot more money and more high profiled actors and actresses back then. And now with ATV gone TVB is practically holding monopoly (no competition results in bad productions), so there's no wonder that ppl are watching more K-dramas, as South Korea offers more variety.
Yes, HK could adapt some K-dramas, but even then I doubt that they could truly make good dramas like they used to. Sure, it will get some attention worldwide. The problem lies in the cast and crew. Many of the high profiled actors are now going to Mainland China, and the new generation of actors can't make it up...

mdo7 said:


Yeah when I heard TVB was doing a rip-off or should I say "unofficial remake" of My love from the Star. I literally facepalmed when I heard about it.

About the cast and crew, beside remaking K-dramas into local format, if TVB was able to get well-known K-pop idols in their TV dramas, then more people in the west would talked more about HK drama just like Korean and Taiwanese dramas are getting. I know some K-pop idols that can fluent Cantonese (ie: Lim of Wonder Girls, Henry Lau of Super Junior-M, Jackson of GOT7). Had TVB, ATV, and HKTV had put these idols in their TV dramas, then fans of K-dramas and Taiwanese dramas would branch out to HK dramas, it's suck that they didn't thought about using K-pop idols in their drama. I mean Choi Siwon of Super Junior was in this HK film but TVB couldn't get K-pop idols for their TV dramas.

I'm aware of the lack of new faces for HK entertainment industry, it's been brought up couple of times. Hong Kong unlike Japan doesn't seem to share an ambition to replicate their own Hallyu Wave, this is where Taiwan is ahead of both Japan and HK. Taiwan has already been studying their Korean counterpart on how to replicate this.

shiroi-ookami said:


As China got more money and resources, generally, HK is trying to please the chinese market, more than trying to be diverse and more creative. The problem is, that in order to be able to enter into the chinese market, HK production is subjected to censorship and limited themes in storytelling.

Also, the lack of competition in HK market is what's dooming its success globally. But now, there's only TVB and the TV network is getting lazy. HK audience itself is branching out to K-dramas as it is tired of it's local production. Even during the 90s when ATV was already struggling, ATV could still pose some serious competition for TVB. So in that golden time, HK dramas was very much successful in Asia. But that was before we had the internet. Now, K-dramas are successful not only because of its diversity and K-pop popularity, but also because of favor of time, now, that we have the internet. There's more effort to bring K-dramas into the global market, there are more english fansubbers who subtitle K-dramas and so, naturally, K-dramas can reach a much wider audience through the internet alone.

Back in the 1980s, it turns out that television programmes with foreign languages and subtitles were not so uncommon. In 1984 the German mini-series ‘Heimat’ was broadcast on the BBC and proved popular due to the weighty subject matter of Nazis and World War Two. In 1988, the Hindi series ‘Maharabhat’ was extremely popular on the BBC, with around five million viewers.

I agree, that the lack of new faces can also be a factor. But as I mentioned above, HK film industry isn't trying to be more creative in storytelling. So they rely on familiar and famous faces such as Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok, as they certainly guarantee box office incomes. But it doesn't necessarily mean success overall. Take for example the latest John Woo movie, The Crossing (though it's a chinese production). It has well-known japanese, korean, taiwanese and chinese actors, but the movie is shitty and didn't do well in the critics.That's a good example, that even if it has a stellar cast and a renown director, it doesn't mean, that the movie would be good.

I personally don't regard it as a good development. Sure, if they can act and are talented, I'm fine with it. But I do get the feeling, that many idols are playing safe most of the times and rely too much on their already established popularity and pretty faces. That's why I don't believe that HK-TV could do better productions by casting K-idols, even if they would get some more attention globally by doing it. Popularity doesn't necessarily mean good productions, but I do get where you're coming from. At least more ppl would watch HK-TV because of the K-idols.

mdo7 said:


That's the problem, when HK was given back to Mainland China, everything went downhill (not quickly but slowly declining).

mdo7 said:

I do agree the internet was the big factor for K-dramas success, the OST/soundtrack was what lead to K-pop popularity (along with Youtube and strong marketing).

To be honest, I did some research I found out that TVB, ATV, and other HK had a missed opportunity to export their TV dramas beyond Asia. I found out in the UK, that they had broadcasted foreign shows in the 80's:

The growing popularity of subtitled television in the UK

The Returned: how British TV viewers came to lose their fear of subtitles

to quote one of the article:



Had TVB and ATV knew about UK broadcasting foreign dramas back in the 80's, and had some of their best 80's dramas shown on the UK TV airwave. I guarantee TVB and ATV could've created a "Hong Kong Hallyu" wave in the 80's if they had done that. Many of the 1980's HK stars could've become not only household name in Asia, but in the UK and Europe too if TVB had their dramas shown on BBC. This probably would led TVB and ATV to be more ambitious and actually target the Latin/South American and Middle East market if they had done this. That means Chow Yun Fat, and other well-known actors from that time could've appeared on BBC TV dramas if that had happen. But now it's too late, and that opportunity missed. It would've been interesting if Hong Kong had known about the UK broadcasting subtitled foreign TV dramas, and had it broadcasted in the UK I'm sure everything would've been different today.

mdo7 said:


There's a lot of K-dramas that didn't do well locally was able to do well successful, I already mention the Korean version of Itazura Na Kiss doing better on the international level. I do agree that there are K-dramas that doesn't live up to expectation. You also got to factor local and international audiences taste may differ on how they like certain K-dramas.

For example, MBC's Angry Mom (you can watch it on Viki) didn't so well in Korea when it was broadcasted, but the international fans/viewers had a better reception of this drama citing it was different from the usual K-dramas they watch.

Another example is KBS's Moorim School, that drama was originally 20 episodes but now got cut to 16 episodes. Despite the criticism it got in South Korea, it got a better reception amongst international fans/viewers outside of Korea.

See that's what I mean by taste will differ between local and international audiences. So I really don't care if the production is not that good, I've seen low budget dramas with an innovative storyline and can become a hit.

To be honest, if I was the head of TVB and I found that there are fanbases for these Asian dramas, I would've gladly remake a K-drama and cast a well-known K-pop idols in a supporting (or leading) role for the HK remake and hype it up to a international audiences like K-dramas and Taiwanese dramas got. If I was the head of TVB, I would gladly remake this KBS weekend drama, Wonderful Days:





For my HK/TVB remake:

I want Felix Wong to play Kang Dong-Saek (previously by Lee Seo-Jin):

Felix Wong:



Leo Seo-Jin:



Linda Chung as Cha Hae-Won (previously by Kim-Hee Sun):

Linda Chung:



Kim Hee-Sun:



And here's what will attract fans of K-dramas and Taiwanese dramas to branch out to HK dramas:

Got7's Jackson to play Kang Dong-Hee (previously played by 2PM's Taecyeon):

Jackson:



Taecyeon:





Since Jackson is one of the few K-pop idols that can speak fluent Cantonese (given that he was born in Hong Kong), I think that would be the attention grabber for fans of K-dramas to watch HK dramas. I'm hoping Taecyeon can give Jackson acting lesson. You see if you want K-dramas fans to branch out to HK dramas you not only have to remake K-dramas, but also put a K-pop idol in there and trust me, that remake will become the talk of the town amongst fans of K-dramas and they'll branch out to HK dramas.

If you're worried about the dramas may not do well in HK, I don't expect it to do well in HK. Heck, I don't expect the remake to become as big as Heart of Greed but if I was head of TVB, I would care more about gaining more international audiences and give Hong Kong a better images, and get K-pop and K-dramas fans to branch out to Hong Kong Entertainment, that's how I would do it if I was head of TVB.

shiroi-ookami said:
Totally agree with you on that! That's what I've noticed as well. Ppl say that the death of Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui truly marked the end of the golden era of HK entertainment industry. Even though the decline was already visible starting from around 1995/1996.

shiroi-ookami said:
Wow! That's really interesting! I didn't know that. I do wonder how much it would've influenced the global reception and perception of HK TV, if HK had realized that chance and would've broadcasted in the UK. It's kind of even more frustrating now, when thinking about how they missed that chance...

I see your point, and actually, I do agree with you. As it stands now, I also rather like HK TV to get more attention regardless whether the dramas are great quality-wise. If HK could regain some of its former popularity, that could mean that some of the classics from the 80s and 90s would have a chance to become more recognized globally by re-releasings.

On a personal note, I'm curious how HK would adapt some of the popular K-dramas. I wonder why that idea hasn't occured to the HK TV networks yet.

mdo7 said:


Beside the one you mention and HK under China control led to the decline of HK pop culture dominance, I think the Edison Chen scandal may have led to more negative image of HK pop culture. Even now, I read it from Variety that HK film industry is still on life support.

Yep, had TVB and ATV in the 80's knew about the UK market, and took a big risk by having a HK TV dramas broadcasted on UK TV like BBC 4. It could've spark something on the same level as Winter Sonata did for Japan and Dae Jang Geum/Jewel in the Palace did for the world. If that had happen, then many of HK celebrities and stars today would've become famous and a household name today like their Korean counterpart.

I would like to see it too but the problem is today's fans of Asian TV dramas are too focused on Korean and Taiwanese dramas. They're not branching out to HK dramas, and even if TVB was able to release some of their best hit dramas on Dramafever and Viki, not a lot of people will watch it, only quite a few will take it seriously.

I already mention on TVB's War and Beauty, the problem is on Viki it only has 330 fans compared to Korean and Taiwanese dramas which can get over 10,000+ fans . War and Beauty may have had a lot of awards, but sadly not a lot of people are watching this award-winning drama. The same thing happen for Heart of Greed, it won a lot of critical acclaim and yet only few people on Dramafever watch the drama despite Dramafever tried to hype TVB to K-dramas fans. Sadly, a lot of the TVB dramas are under-rated on both DF and Viki compared to Korean and Taiwanese dramas.

So the only way for fans of K-dramas to watch War and beauty and Heart of greed from TVB, you have to remake it as a K-dramas so people will watch the original. That's how many K-dramas fans (the one that never watched Taiwanese dramas prior to the remake) ended up watching Taiwanese dramas, 3 of them got Korean remakes and they actually got people watching Taiwanese dramas. So I think it could do the same if the HK dramas could get Korean remake, then people will branch out and watch HK dramas.

Yeah that baffle me too, I mean the Philippines is much poorer then Hong Kong and yet they're able to remake K-dramas into localized format. If that country was able to remake K-dramas, then why can't TVB do the same.

shiroi-ookami said:
Though I think that some of the HK actors like Tony Leung, Andy Lau and Chow Yun Fat are still more household names than korean actors in general, or at least that's what I gather. But if you talk about current TV actors and music artists, then I agree, Koreans are nowadays more well-known.

however j-dramas are also popular, not as popular as before now that k-dramas is taking over.

Well, yeah. There's not enough J-drama subbers either. And the ones who are still around can end up really half assing their translations. I WISH I could find First Class 2 subbed, I tried watching the raws, but my Japanese ability is obviously crap, near nonexistent, limited to kind of certain sentences and words. Sadly I really enjoyed the first season, even if the subbers translation for the first season were not the best effort.

shiroi-ookami said:
My experience with taiwanese tv series is very limited so I can't tell if they are getting more attention now. But if what you say that some of them are getting attention due to K-drama remakes, I wonder how the remakes were in the production in the first place. Did Taiwan make efforts to get korean producers remaking them? Or was it due to the success of the dramas that korean producers got the ideas of remaking them?

LATimes said:
Taiwan and Hong Kong have long been dominant forces in Asian pop culture, Fung said. But Korean dramas and music have in recent years taken over, in part thanks to government support.

South Korea began to organize the support and export of cultural products. Government-sponsored creative content agencies evaluated South Korean TV shows, pop songs, films and books and identified the best markets to export them to, Fung said.

The result has been an unprecedented boom of Korean cultural exports — Korean cosmetic products in Chinese makeup stores, K-pop concerts in Latin America and endless plays of the Korean pop hit "Gangnam Style" in nightclubs all over the world.

The Taiwanese government is following South Korea's example, Hsia said. "The Fierce Wife," its creators say, was created to compete with Korean dramas.

Set TV and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office could not provide statistics showing how well the show is performing in Latin America, but in Honduras and Argentina, the show was so popular that it returned for a second run. Set TV is considering introducing four other Taiwanese dramas to Spanish-speaking audiences this year.

And though "The Fierce Wife" may be a Taiwanese show created in the style of a Korean drama, it has the soul of a telenovela, said Luis Cardenas, director of programming at LATV, the network that owns KJLA.

shiroi-ookami said:

That's a shame and it would be not that far-fetched for HK to remake it, when even the Phillipens could do it. HK/China and Korea have more similarities in cultural background, and as I mentioned before, the acting style and atmosphere overall are similar too.

mdo7 said:


I don't think Chow Yun-Fat, Andy Lau, or Tony Leung would've done the same achievement that Korean celebrities did outside of Asia. Like for example, in Latin/South America when K-dramas got popular several Korean celebrities became household name in area like Mexico, Peru, Chile, etc....

in early 2000's, several K-dramas was shown in Mexico and after it was broadcasted over there several Korean actors like Jang Don Gun, Ahn Jae-wook, Kwon Sang Woo, and Choi Ji Woo became household name in Mexico after their dramas was shown, I'm not making this up:

Mexican Fans Clamor for Jang Dong-gun and Ahn Jae-wook to Visit Mexico

Have you ever seen any Hong Kong celebrities appearing on Spanish-language magazine and being treated like Hollywood stars down there? I never seen this for HK celebrities. Also several Korean celebrities have became popular in the Middle East thanks to K-dramas (that something no HK celebrities was never able to do).

Sadly, a lot of them are underrated on streaming sites too. I mean on Viki, several J-dramas are popular while others aren't (it's worse when some of the dramas don't have any English subtitles). With exception of the few, several well-known J-dramas have so few international fans like Galileo has 535 fans compared to Itazura Na Kiss season 1 and season 2 which has over 100,000 followers. On Crunchyroll, the same drama is missing episode 4 (due to the guest character being a member of Johnny's idol). On Dramafever, we do have a few J-dramas, but a lot of people on DF has recently complain about why J-dramas aren't being licensed/picked up recently.

Even fansubs of J-dramas are getting dropped according to what people online told me, and I'll quote this person from Crunchyroll forum:



So yeah, J-dramas is not as popular as you think because of accessbility and many fansubbers have dropped translation projects.

One reason: Taiwanese rom-com dramas are so similar to Korean one, so it's possible that fans of K-dramas could relate to Taiwanese dramas hence why they could branch out to Taiwanese dramas.

So when I saw that many of the K-drama fans branch out to Taiwanese dramas because of what I said above. That make me question: Could this work for HK dramas too? Could TVB remaking K-dramas help get fans of K-dramas to branch out to HK dramas? Could Korean remake of hit TVB dramas help K-drama fans to branch out to HK dramas the same way Taiwanese dramas got?

shiroi-ookami said:
I know that Hollywood is not everything, but let's face it, Hollywood is still dominating the entertainment world. That's why when there's talk about the effect and phenomene of Soft Power, Hollywood is one of the best primar example (I once studied the effect of Soft Power because I was writing about the japanese popular culture and its impact globally in my dissertation).

But even if Korea is the king of pop-culture cool now, can Korea hold onto the crown better than its Asian predecessors? That's a question Euny Hong addresses in her new book, "The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture."

"I think it can," she says. "The difference between cool Korea and earlier Asian pop culture waves is that Korea has been working to make this happen for almost two decades. Korea is cool because it decided to be cool — it's the first country in history that has made being cool a massive policy priority, backed by the Korean government to the tune of billions of dollars."

The fact is, the machine of Korean pop culture is as sleekly designed, systematically engineered and massively marketed as any Samsung gadget. It's not just a gigantic money-making industry, it's also the primary source of "soft power" by which the nation seeks to shorten its path from war-torn, third-world country to the top ranks of world influencers.

"Koreans have a deep-seated desire to see the nation recognized and validated," Hong says. "We study harder than anyone in the world, we work more hours, and it's all because of this need to see us finally come on top."

American pop is often seen by nations around the world as an invading force, crushing native alternatives with the unfair-to-the-point-of-being-weaponized scale of its marketing budgets. Korean cool, by contrast, is recognized as the product of hard work and ingenuity, developed by a nation that just a few generations ago was newly bisected by war and mired in desperate poverty. In the fastest-growing markets in the world — Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East — K-pop is aspirational in part because it holds out hope that they, too, will someday be able to join the ranks of the global economy's cool kids.

Again, this is just my personal experience. Here in Europe, I see more fans of K-dramas and J-dramas. And on mydramalist I notice it as well (though K-dramas are mostly favoured). J-dramas are certainly more popular than HK TV dramas. Recently, taiwanese dramas are catching up too. Still, Japanese pop culture is still very much loved, especially Jpop and Anime/Manga. And as many Jpop idols are acting in dramas as well, these respective dramas get the attention as well.

HK does make rom-coms, but most of their shows are not so romance-based but rather revolve around things like redemption, family, society, so that's probably why HK dramas aren't that well received? I don't know, maybe this has changed as well. As I said, I don't keep up with it. I personally notice that rom-coms are generally the most popular genre, not only in Korea but also oversea.

They could do some rom-coms, implementing elements from k-dramas. But first and foremost you always make shows and movies to suit the taste of your local audience. And maybe HK audience isn't as much fans of rom-coms as the korean audience?

mdo7 said:


Actually this is being challenged because of the globalization of foreign media. I read couple of articles about South Korea may challenge US dominance around the world thanks to K-pop and K-dramas.

But even if Korea is the king of pop-culture cool now, can Korea hold onto the crown better than its Asian predecessors? That's a question Euny Hong addresses in her new book, "The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture."

"I think it can," she says. "The difference between cool Korea and earlier Asian pop culture waves is that Korea has been working to make this happen for almost two decades. Korea is cool because it decided to be cool — it's the first country in history that has made being cool a massive policy priority, backed by the Korean government to the tune of billions of dollars."

The fact is, the machine of Korean pop culture is as sleekly designed, systematically engineered and massively marketed as any Samsung gadget. It's not just a gigantic money-making industry, it's also the primary source of "soft power" by which the nation seeks to shorten its path from war-torn, third-world country to the top ranks of world influencers.

"Koreans have a deep-seated desire to see the nation recognized and validated," Hong says. "We study harder than anyone in the world, we work more hours, and it's all because of this need to see us finally come on top."

American pop is often seen by nations around the world as an invading force, crushing native alternatives with the unfair-to-the-point-of-being-weaponized scale of its marketing budgets. Korean cool, by contrast, is recognized as the product of hard work and ingenuity, developed by a nation that just a few generations ago was newly bisected by war and mired in desperate poverty. In the fastest-growing markets in the world — Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East — K-pop is aspirational in part because it holds out hope that they, too, will someday be able to join the ranks of the global economy's cool kids.

Well I don't live in Europe (what part of Europe do you lived in? UK?) some of the European fans have told me they have difficulty accessing J-dramas due to accessbility issues. But from what i was told no TV station has broadcasted J-dramas but I seem some recent development regarding K-dramas.

I saw an article from the Guardian that speculate that K-dramas could become the first East Asian TV dramas to be shown subtitle on UK TV. I'm not sure if Japan's J-dramas will cash in on the foreign drama fad. I mean in Latin/South America not a single J-drama got dub or broadcasted in Spanish like their Korean or Taiwanese counterpart. So don't expect J-dramas to be shown on UK TV or any foreign TV.

I don't think lack of romance in HK dramas is the reason why K-drama fans aren't branching out to HK dramas. It's not fully understood but as I said, a lot of K-dramas fans won't branch out unless you give them a reason. When South Korea started to remake 3 Taiwanese dramas, and when Taiwan remade some hit K-dramas, it just got K-dramas fans branching out to Taiwanese dramas. I can't explain how or why remaking K-dramas or Korea remaking hit Taiwanese dramas made international Hallyu fans branch out to Taiwanese dramas, it just seem to work. So I thought the same can be applied to HK dramas.

About the local audiences, if I was the head of TVB I wouldn't relied on local audiences since I learned from my Korean counterpart. You have to target the international audiences outside of Asia and in order to do that, you have to remake a well-known/hit K-dramas to get fans of K-drama to watch HK dramas. Beside Wonderful Days, I would remake other dramas.

I would remake 2 weeks, and other innovative dramas like for example, I would love KBS's Assembly to be re-imagined in a HK setting:



I would also want to remake Yong-Pal in a HK setting:



If I was head of TVB, I would be ambitious and more innovative when it comes to drama like I would want to remake this drama from Korea:





I never seen TVB doing a modern high school drama like Hi School love on. And I want to cast new faces for that remake and include a guest star from the original K-dramas. This is how I would make TVB dramas a lot better.

shiroi-ookami said:
But I actually don't see it happen that S-Korea or any other nation's media replacing US dominance. Challenge, yes, but not replacing.

shiroi-ookami said:
We could apply that to japanese pop culture as well, so I don't really think that Korea sets itself apart from any asian country in terms of hard work.

CNBC said:
Another fundamental issue is the gap in perception of a concept as soft as "coolness".

The government may be laying out the money to promote Japanese culture, but what a bureaucrat or a big business executive may think is cool can be very different from what someone overseas may think.

For example, the Japanese often still think that, sushi, tempura and sukiyaki are seen as the gold standard of Japanese cuisine overseas.

But in fact, it's the more down-market ramen soup noodles that are all the rage right now, said Kokami.

"People overseas are very interested in Japanese culture but the government's idea of what is cool can be off the mark," he said.

shiroi-ookami said:
I just said, that j-drama are popular as well, compared to other media such as chinese, indian or HK TV. That's all. Ofc there are many japanese dramas that unfortunately don't get the recognition they deserve, which applies to many other dramas as well.

you said:
Besides, I don't watch many dramas. I watch more Anime. When I get to watch TV shows, most of them are old ones from HK. So my knowledge and experience are very limited, especially concerning current things of development.
I can count on my fingers the numbers of japanese AND korean dramas I've completed till now.^-^°

you said:
I wonder if it has to do with the overal looks and air of the actors as well. As my experience are limited I can't tell, but maybe taiwanese actors and actresses appeal more to the taste of koreans?

you said:
But I also wonder if HK doesn't have that ambition, because it's part of China and can't freely remake whatever they want. You know, restrains on creativity being one of the main issues.

mdo7 said:


Well Korean entertainment is becoming a big mainstream alternative to US entertainment because its different and as that CNN article, people view US entertainment as invasive and "unfair" to local entertainment. I guess they wanted to see something different hence why K-pop/K-drama and probably in the future Taiwanese entertainment. I mean even in England/UK, non-English entertainment are increasing in popularity.

Well not from my eye they're not. If J-dramas are popular like you claim then a lot of J-dramas on Viki (which I know is available in most of Europe) would already have more followers (just only 3 or 4 J-dramas on Viki has a lot of fans, while others are ignored). Sad but true.

I would recommend watching more dramas from Korea and Taiwan, some of these are becoming more popular then anime. if you need help, this KBS World weekly preview video will help you:



or if you want a shorter version of the video above:

I don't know maybe that could be it. But I do recall that It started with a Kiss became very popular in South Korea when it was shown in 2008. This is a video of Ariel Lin and the cast of the drama in South Korea:



There was talk about Ariel Lin entering the Korean entertainment industry citing her good Korean (she studied Korean in her university), and now after Chen Bolin became the first Taiwanese actor to enter the Korean industry. It is to be seen if Ariel Lin will follow Chen Bolin footstep.

No I'm seeing China remaking/adapting Korean stuff and also I'm seeing Chinese entertainment firm are making a footstep in South Korea:

Yonhap News-China's leading entertainment agency to enter Korean market

Chinese entertainment firm enters Korean market

China’s increasing presence in Korean entertainment

I think TVB just lack the balls and ambition to do a remake of K-dramas or allow South Korea to remake some of their hit dramas. I mean TVB never took advantage of the Latin/South American market. And just for the record, Dramafever didn't get TVB drama until 2014, and Viki got TVB dramas last year so this show that TVB don't take the international market outside of Asia seriously like their Korean and Taiwanese counterpart.

shiroi-ookami said:

As I say, compared to other media like HK, j-dramas are still MORE popular, but its popularity is declining. That I never denied. So, we actually agree. But I just pointed out in contrast with HK TV shows as an example. Like, I can more likely find more j-dramas subbed and shared than HK-dramas online.

you said:
Yes, increasing in popularity doesn't meant that they would take over and dominate the entertainment world. I just can't see that happening, but it's a good thing that we have more variety now, mostly thanks too to the internet.

shiroi-ookami said:
Back to Japan losing its coolness, yes, it's been a quite discussed issue. Even though the japanese gov is supporting the so-called Cool Japan, the Anime industry has been losing creativity because due to increasing production costs many companies are playing safe now, making the same kind of Anime.

shiroi-ookami said:
What I think makes k-drama so successful is, that they are mostly visually very appealing. Many actors and actresses are beautiful to look at and from what I gather so far here in this forum (I skipped through some comments), is that it is one of the reasons why ppl would prefer k-drama over j-drama. And I get the same feeling about taiwanese actors as wel, they have simillar looks and air, especially compared to HK artists.

You said:
I just realized that I keep getting notifications from this thread...

gaijinalyx said:
I prefer Japanese dramas. I don't know about you, but I feel the acting of Japanese actors than the Korean ones. And as for the story, I prefer how precise the stories of jdramas, on point and no unnecessary flashbacks & boring scenes. And also too many side characters for Korean dramas, side character's stories too, which makes the drama slip off from the plot. I guess that is how they make or stretch the story to make it longer and to fit a 16-24 or even longer episodes.
I also prefer decent looking guys, good looking enough that still you can see some imperfections rather than idol-looking dolls, that can't act or too afraid to ruin their faces to make a facial reactions. And Korean actressses always yell, i think that is how they portray strong women characters. But it is annoying to me.
And also, why there must always be a hint of romance for every drama genres in Kdrama?

Androsan said:
Japanese all the time! K-doramas are boring and they are all about melodrama and love triangle. I find j-dramas much better and japanese actors are way better than korean actors.

Androsan said:


Sorry, I stopped watching k-doramas in 2015. The last k-drama I watched was The Bridal Mask because of a dorama-challange. Not interested in k-dramas anymore.

mdo7 said:


Just to let you know, they've been getting more innovative for the last 2 years.

Defendent

D-Day

I can name others, but K-drama has become more innovative for the last 2 years. So far, J-dramas has not reached the same mainstream popularity outside of Asia like K-dramas has gotten.

I take it you don't watch Korean period drama, am I correct. You never watch Hwarang, or Love in the Moonlight. What about Hwajung: Splendid Politic

DateYutaka said:


lol all you talk about is poplulaity any nothing elese nothing abot the artistic side

thats cause you dilsilke deabing the facts about government involvement and stuff like the goverment culture blacklist in south Korea

somthing japan has never had

DateYutaka said:

lol all you talk about is poplulaity any nothing elese nothing abot the artistic side

thats cause you dilsilke deabing the facts about government involvement and stuff like the goverment culture blacklist in south Korea

somthing japan has never had

Gymkata said:
@DateYutaka

Yeah I read about that in the NY Times. We're no paragon for arts patronage in the U.S. but the terms "Cultural Ministry" makes me squirm. Makes me wonder who in the kdrama industry is on that list...

mdo7 said:


Then why don't you explain why K-drama fans don't branch out to J-dramas:

Why aren't Japanese drama as popular as Korean drama?

Why do you think people prefer watching K-Dramas over J-Dramas, C-Dramas, TW-Dramas?

The 5 Most Common Comments about Non-Korean Drama

Why do people usually choose K-dramas over J-dramas?

Is k-drama more popular than Japanese drama?

Would you like to explain why 2 Korean dramas are getting American remake:

ABC To Air 10 Episodes Of “God’s Gift – 14 Days” Remake Without Pilot Test

US Remake Of “Good Doctor” To Air Pilot Episode On ABC

So why hasn't Galileo been given a American remake, care to explain that?

Gymkata said:
@DateYutaka

Yeah I read about that in the NY Times. We're no paragon for arts patronage in the U.S. but the terms "Cultural Ministry" makes me squirm. Makes me wonder who in the kdrama industry is on that list...

Gymkata said:
@DateYutaka

Yeah I read about that in the NY Times. We're no paragon for arts patronage in the U.S. but the terms "Cultural Ministry" makes me squirm. Makes me wonder who in the kdrama industry is on that list...

ir blocked some people form funding who thye find undesirable
this Comes from the fact im huge fan of Korean muisc but when i tyr an tlak to people thye have no idea one what im talking about
alo fo times even people who no casually bout Jspanese uisc [ if thye know muisc outside of stuff orm anime] will know B'z TMN X/X Japan YMO Th e stalin RsoenFeild and so on why is this cuase the Japanese arts and culture minstray doe snot block people example Yoshiki just layned solo in Hong King and Xjapan are turing UK and EU this comgin off there onw skill and abilty
has there korean equalnet ever doen the same no cused there not funded and there a very good band too if you like 80's NWOBHM style metal most so called korean muisc fans only knoe of artist tha have been backed by th Govermnat and KBS [ the Publlic Brodcaset in ROK] but noraml korean od not speal out agesi ths like say what haoppen with say the sex pisotals in the uk lack of govermnat fundeding in akin to a ban really

hebiSmoker said:
@DateYutaka
so you mean it was "indirectly" ban/blocking them

Lol idk about undesirable but I can see their prgmatism to get more appeal by "selling" a more likeable act.

DateYutaka said:


nope its not pragmatic[ its censorship simple] its akin to wat the uk tried to with the pistols in the 70's but they failed

but the ROK people do not stand up ageant it

its one steap above a video nasties style idea [ the blacklist is]



if you not from the uk or no nany hting abot that look up video natsies


but in this case it not film only i is t all art

hebiSmoker said:
wait, I got confused a bit in translation.

So you say government obviously won't help with funding and even "advertising" because of these "black list" selling somekind of contagious~undesirable idea/art or against the government or what? I mean what kind act is them, can you elaborate some from the "list" and the cause of it