#i only have n*tflix if that's a factor

[what-breaks-my-heart]

OMGGGGG YESSSSSSSSSSS I'VE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR 2 YEARS!!!

Miniseries has evolved so much over the past 5 years and N*tflix has done a major part in it.

It's inevitable for miniseries to evolve over time, but the evolution caused by Western streaming services, while bringing kdrama to a wider audience, resulted in long-term degradation to the kdrama industry.

Circa 2017 - 2019, the South Korean market, and the existing markets kdrama had been exported to were peanuts compared to the potential new market in Western countries, specifically youth and adults who exclusively rely on streaming services for entertainment.

We know that one of the biggest concerns in drama production is finding sponsors/investors. Given how strict regulations are in South Korea (at one time there was even a regulation that broadcasting companies could not serve advert in the middle of a drama, resulting in broadcasting companies chopping one episode into two episodes), the prospect of big cash from N*tflix who were just starting to diverse into kdrama (and had set aside a buckload of budget for it) was (and still is) an easier alternative. There were only a handful of companies in South Korea willing to sponsor/invest in kdrama anyway.

The stars were aligned, and more and more miniseries were produced over the years with N*tflix money in the budget, either directly produced by N*tflix, or by virtue of N*tflix purchasing the right to distribute the drama locally or elsewhere.

Mind you, the common goal of this partnership is to secure and retain new markets (a strategy that marketing people may refer to as blue ocean strategy), so the production, e.g., writing, casting, cinematography, tries to cater to the international (mostly Western) markets as much as possible.

The implication?

Kdrama (miniseries, to be exact) becomes extremely popular and well-known. Even those who had never considered to watch a kdrama despite their friends recommendations before started to dip their toes into the kdramaland.

More money is offered by streaming services to produce kdrama - entry of new players, more budget offered by each of the player.

The South Korean broadcasting companies offering free and paid services started to lose viewership, sponsor money, and it goes down the spiral. To counter this? They started to appeal more to the international viewers (not in totality, but enough for a long time viewer to notice).

Miniseries produced with streaming services money focuses more towards the international markets in their production (a logical product positioning strategy).

Gone are the days of miniseries having 20 episodes. In 2017, 20-episode miniseries was a norm!

And whatever happened to mid-length drama? They have pretty much gone extinct!

Most miniseries nowadays suffer from what I call a Westernisation syndrome. I often critique miniseries of recent years as Hollywood script with Korean cast. Because they fail to retain the 매력 (charm) of kdrama that made me love kdrama when I started watching it in 2008 (I was 15 and it was a mid-term break).

Like I said, a number of factors would have contributed to this phenomenon but N*tflix played a major part in it so I've been on strike against kdrama produced with N*tflix money in their budget.

Unfortunately, miniseries are a lost cause for me. Since last year, most of the kdrama I'm watching are daily drama and weekend drama. In the rare occasions I find a miniseries deemed worth spending my time on, I would consider giving it a chance (which I may not end up watching since the satisfaction of watching it is still not guaranteed).

I do reblog gifsets for kdrama not produced with N*tflix money even if I'm not watching them as a sign of support to the gifmakers (also sometimes I just find them neat).

That being said, I will stick to daily drama from KBS and MBC which thankfully still retain their charm since their main target demographic are housewives and elderly people who stay home.

not to sound like an annoying karen, but i honestly, truly feel that netflix has fucked up the kdrama genre for good.

just 10-ish years ago, there were kdramas that the big 3 korean channels (SBS, MBC, KBS) would broadcast and then there were kdramas that the main cable channels (jTBC and tvN) would broadcast. and between those groupings, you got everything. you got 16-20 episodes of dramas that had heartfelt writing, filmed with bright colors, filmed with concise plots, that most of the time, ended WELL. you got a GOOD ending that was complete. the works felt authentically south korean. yes, there were cheesy tropes and moments that made you cringe, but it felt so real. and you had SO many kdramas airing during the week! you couldn't keep track of just how many!

cut to netflix coming in and making it big with kdramas with squid game and some romantic works and then suddenly they (and disney+) are making these short kdramas, less than 10 episodes, with generic filters, generic plots, and poorly written scripts that are just mere shadows of what kdramas used to be. they end shitty 90% of the time. and worst of all, they feel like american shows. and no, i don't mean sex scenes or action scenes because hey, i love change there, but i mean the entire VIBES are just off. they're not the kdramas i fell in love with, the ones that felt so human. and thanks to these big, foreign companies coming in, the main broadcast channels have basically shut down 1/2 their timeslots, and so many dramas aren't even getting aired these days.

yes times change progress is great robots will probably replace us all in a few years blah blah, but it's really depressing to me personally since i have such fond memories of the utter joy of kdramas, especially from the golden era of 2008-2017. and while there are some that escape the netflix!americanized! curse, it's unfortunately the majority that remain nothing but commercial puppets, rather than authentic entertainment.

[oswlld]

Reveal Your Watch and Rewatch List

tagged by @jemmo & @talays-portkey ♥♥♥ (tyyy, was tagged all the way back in august, this has been a long time coming) having done this in apr and in july; i told myself that if i was tagged again, i would do my next update in october so ta-daa

watching

andor (eng, s1) — the only show i am currently keep up with week to week. it’s brilliant, utterly brilliant. the three-episode model keeps the writing/action/tension contained, keeping me in this welcoming chokehold until the very end of the season. that is how you keep your storyline moving, for a 12-ep season, without it feeling dragged out. and the story itself has a low, raging rumble against this very real world backdrop. i just want to exist in this world forever, peeling away all the layers of the rebellion and the empire. stripping all that we have known about the force and everything that the existing franchise builds on until all that’s left: empirical fascism and oppression. and we are being gifted this fantastic premise with a character that can’t narratively die. because we already know his fate. this description is in all lower case, but you best believe i am screaming this the whole way through.

somebody feed phil (eng, s4) — this and the below show are two that i have been watching slowly, splicing up all the episodes between when i started in the summer to the end of the year. i am tackling this show one season a month, which is always a breath of fresh air in between all the dramas i have scheduled. phil is an absolute delight to watch and the choice of locations are so well thought out. i already have a trip to plan for nyc in the near future due to this show. i dread the day i run out of episodes to watch…. oh no lol

guardian (cmn, s1) — as i said prev, this is also a show i have split up my time through the year, tackling this show 10 eps per month. I have seen 20/40 so far and it’s great so far! to me, its very reminiscent of shadowhunters (a prev jessi hyperfixation). if you give me mediocre vfx + found family trope, i will eat it all up i love it so. and the two leads go from 0 to work husbands by the second epsiode, i love that for them. they have such amazing chemistry and like somebody feed phil, i will mourn the day i finish this show.

planning to watch

glitch (kor, premiere) — as i write this, i will be starting this show in the evening. osmosis went HARD on my dash lol i mean, the premise and the vibes are all there. i am going into this blind, only with the knowledge of the two actresses having great chemistry together. the space/alien aesthetics are just a bonus. can’t wait to find out what it’s all about, stay tuned.

werewolf by night (eng, movie) — this is also a last min decision to do, esp for halloween night. when i heard about this show, i wasn’t sold on the concept until i saw that gael was the lead and directed by michael giacchino. the man who has gifted us with the ost for LOST and Up! directed a marvel movie????? i am all in. and this all before knowing anything about the plot.

sleep with me (fil, s1) — my first filipino show sched on my watchlist YAYYY!!! for me, it’s such a hard sell to make me watch a filipino series. but this one really peaked my interest, it also being the first gl for me to tackle this year. i know lovi from the one that got away, so im excited to see what she’s like here. hope there’s more filipino content on my radar in the future. the only other show i have on my deck is gaya sa pelikula but have not determined a date for it. maybe summer 2023??

after this show, i do not have any new bl/gl’s on the calendar for the rest of the year. I am waiting for osmosis to kick in for anything coming up. feel free to check out what i do have on deck, thru jan 2023.

rewatching

bad buddy (thai, s1) — i originally planned for a rewatch by myself at the last week of the year, marking the one year anniversary when i started watching this show. it always marked the beginning of my bl/asian drama journey, so it felt right to get this on the calendar for me. sometime ago, i was informed that the fandom was planning a rewatch in october, so i immediately reshuffled my entire rest of the year to accommodate for it lol. what else is there to say, im returning home.

vice versa (thai, s1) — and in replacing my original plan, of rewatching bad buddy at the end of dec, i have now scheduled vice versa. its my birthday week, ofc i want to see my son and my solemn face moonchild. i miss them. SO. MUCH. ugh

-

tagging @pranink (nice to finally meet you!), @suppaloscurse (for the emotional turmoil she put me thru this past weekend), and @casualavocados (what are you up to over there?)

[cherrymagik]

How tua tv show ruined hotel oblivion

Before I say anything: THIS IS IN NO WAY AN ATTACK TOWARDS ANYONE YOU ARE 100% FREE TO ENJOY WHATEVER CONTENT YOU WANT THIS IS JUST MY OPINION AND YOU ARE FREE TO DISAGREE (just don’t be an asshole abt and we’re good) also SPOILERS!!! for both tv show and comics

(a while back I saw a post by @fivehargreeves and i have since then been putting off this post bc i want to elaborate on it but i am too lazy and i know i never really post stuff here but this is something i feel really strongly abt especially after that s2 finale)

When I first read the umbrella academy comics one of the things I loved the most about was the world building. It was so crazy and weird (in a good way) and while I still loved the story and characters, for me the most fascinating part of them was the world. It was a world so much like ours, yet completely different and the little details in the background or those offhand mentions of aliens or other "weird" stuff made the tua world feel more alive and interesting. So obviously when n*tflix announced they were adapting the comics into a show i was thrilled. But when I watched it I was... disappointed to say the least :/

Ex. 1 The Umbrella Academy's debut- In the comics, the first time the world met the umbrella academy was when "the day Eiffel Tower went berserk" (literally)

It turns out the Eiffel Tower had been a spaceship all along establishing the first villain in the comics: Zombie Robot Gustave Eiffel. But the innthe tv show we get.... a bank robbery 😐 (not as impressive as the Eiffel Tower imo) THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SUPERHEROES FOR GODS SAKE! Why are they fighting petty crime? Let them fight the Eiffel Tower you cowards!!!

Ex. 2 The Orchestra Verdammten- (@/fivehargreeves post talks specifically abt this issue and summarizes most of my thoughts so i will say very little on this point) In the comics the main antagonist for vol.1 was an orchestra made up of musicians who had gone crazy (for one reason or another) and gone missing after joining the Orchestra Verdammten. But once again the villain is replaced with something very common and might I say mediocre. This as we will see is a running thing in the show: make most of the elements that made the comics stand out and replace them with more common/normal elements.

Ex. 3 Watering down/changing most characters' powers- Would you believe me if I told you it was Klaus that stopped the moon from colliding with earth? No you wouldn’t because in the tv show his powers are so... useless. And he was not the only one who’s powers got watered down (even though he is one of the most notable examples)

Luther/Spaceboy: his powers remain the same (as far as we have seen) however I am detaching points bc i don’t like how his character arc was handled in the show

Diego/The Kraken: first of all WHY THE FUCK DO YOU THINK HES CALLED THE KRAKEN -A MARINE MONSTER- YOU IDIOTS???!!! but seriously, why did they ever think it was a good idea to ever change his powers? It takes away so much from his character! Diego’s power is breathing underwater not whatever object manipulation bullshit they gave him in the show. His powers have NOTHING to do with knife throwing yet he is still as good at it in the comics as in the show; he got that good just from practice. He obsessive with his goals and we don’t get to see that in the show bc they completely changed his powers!!! They just took part of The Séance's and gave them to him! (@/fivehargreeves also has another post on this so go check it out bc it’s better worded than mine)

Allison/The Rumor: Oh my god I could talk about her all day and how dirty they did her in the tv show!!! In the comics Allison has the power to alter REALITY ITSELF

see: (click images to view)

she manifested a whole ass statue to life! And in vol.2 (the Kennedy assassination one) she was the one that killed Kennedy! She made his head explode just by rumoring him. But noooooo they had to sideline her in s2 so they could pursue a side plot for 'wokeness points' (i am happy that they dealt with the racism she would most likely have faced in the 1960's BUT they took away ALL her protagonism in the comics and had her be a minor character) if it hadn’t been for Allison the world would have ended -> murdering Kennedy was the only way to save the world

Klaus/The Séance: ugh where do i start? Klaus is extremely powerful in the comics, like I said he was able to stop the moon from colliding with earth. Not only did they have his powers watered down, they also took away all his telekinetic abilities in the show. Also, the only way his powers can be blocked is when he’s wearing shoes not drugs (i also want to point out that the way his addiction is treated in the show is weird and sometimes even uncomfortable to me but that is another topic for another time). His ability to summon the dead are almost nothing like in the show as compared to the comics he is called The Séance you know but whatever where he not only does he speak TO the dead he can also MANIFEST them through him which was probably the most important factor in stopping Vanya/The White Violin in Apocalypse Suite + not giving him his EXTREMELY WELL DESERVED FAME!!! 😤 THE AUDACITY!!! (I have talked abt Klaus before on another post)

Number Five: I don’t have much to say about him except that he is a lot darker in the comics and not as loving about his family as they make him in the show *cough* shooting vanya in the head *cough* but for the most part.... he’s fine ig (my main problem is they make him idk? too playful(?) in s1 when he actually he is all dry humor and dark jokes)

Ben/The Horror: doesn’t really appear in the comics so nothing to say here

Vanya/The White Violin: not including her transformation in the show was cowardly and having her be manipulated by a man was uh kinda problematic if I may say so. We only ever see her use her powers in vol.1 since she was crippled by getting shot in the head at the end of it and hasn’t been able to do much since then. Her story has been completely changed in the show and i am still not completely sure i like it. Her dealing with trauma and coming to terms with her childhood are quickly brushed away and not really delved into as opposed to the comics where she is still trying to process it

Ex. 4 Technology- The World in the comics is a lot more sci-fi than in the show where it almost an exact copy of ours. For one: the chimpanzees. In the comics Pogo isn’t the only one, we can see a lot of others in the background

Also stuff like the televator or the hotel oblivion are never mentioned or alluded to in the show

Now to get to the main point of this post: IT IS IMPOSSIBLE AT THIS POINT THAT THE TV SHOW WILL BE ABLE TO FOLLOW HOTEL OBLIVION'S PLOT BECAUSE IT DEPENDS ON THERE BEING VILLAINS!!!

This are superhero comics! Maybe we don’t see them fighting all the villains that appear in hotel oblivion, but the fact is that they are there! They are part of the world and part of what makes it breathe and come alive on the pages. To paraphrase (albeit a VERY simplified paraphrase) Watchmen (don’t tell me it didn’t influence tua bc IT DID and i can prove it) 'if there are superheroes then there are villains' especially in a world where superpowers exist and technology is a lot more advanced than in watchmen where they were all normal people (with the exception of dr. manhattan). But by dumbing down the world in the show we are left with a flavorless setting that has no effect whatsoever on the plot (compared to the comics). Maybe some aspects like the Sparrow Academy will be included (I am kinda scared to think where they will go with it) but it won’t be Hotel Oblivion. In s1 I could point out where the comics had influenced the show, hell even in s2 you could see the comic's influence but... Hotel Oblivion? I don’t see any possibility of it getting to tv and that’s the truth