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Answerman - Regret-tinged Nostalgia

It is a too top-down heavy approach in the form it is being implemented.
It lacks the synergy and interaction with one's demographics compared to for example Crunchy. Heck, even Funi would beat it on that front. It's dictated from the top and people be damned to have any say or influence on how it should operate/get better. Or at least that's the general impression I get....

noblesse oblige wrote:

That last question brings up an interesting point about the rather subjective nature of "coolness" and something I have been curious about for some time now.

Y'mean, why hasn't someone grabbed mdo7 and told him that nobody on the planet likes Korean stuff except other Koreans?...While emphasizing the point by repeatedly smashing his face into the computer monitor?
It was cute/annoying on the boards for a while (substitute "American" for "South Korean", and you've got Snomaster...PERIOD)--But if he's going to break out of his cage and start scribbling his nationalistically obsessed geek-banner-waving on the actual archivable columns, that's it, SWAT teams, shut this guy down. NOW.

To that K-issue, I don't really follow Letter-pop or Letter-dramas, so maybe I'll care about how great Korea's cultural export is when they start making anime.

walw6pK4Alo wrote:

To that K-issue, I don't really follow Letter-pop or Letter-dramas, so maybe I'll care about how great Korea's cultural export is when they start making anime.

They kinda did and it's pretty terrible.

Despite all of this effort, it's unmistakable that other countries, namely Japan's rival country South Korea, have made far more headway into the hearts and minds of Westerners over the past 5 years or so. Korea's TV dramas and pop music have had a huge cultural impact on American shores. I wouldn't call them mainstream per se, but the audience for these things went from seemingly tiny to roughly as significant of a force as anime fandom (overplayed, inexplicable hit "Gangnam Style" notwithstanding). That fast ramp-up was quite a boon, and got a lot of press attention. Anime did too, back when it was growing by leaps and bounds. By comparison, Japanese music and TV dramas haven't had anywhere near the same levels of success. In fact, the few times any have been given a real release in the West, they've largely face-planted.

"Cool Japan" -- an easy to ridicule phrase if ever there was one -- has been sharply criticized as a waste of money and overly complicated, as such things often are. That's probably accurate, but even if it's not, government programs can only do so much. The real ideas and meaningful effort have to come from the companies in charge of making the stuff. And therein lies the real problem: while Korea's pop culture is very internet savvy and visually stunning, Japan's media business is still very much grounded in the 20th century.

Compare, if you will: piracy has always been a problem for K-pop, so the industry was one of the first worldwide to jettison physical CD sales and make their money via touring and merchandise.

I've spent years trying to navigate and understand the Japanese reason the entrenched Japanese entertainment business refuses to do things that will clearly make them money, and start growing a bigger audience overseas. Part of it is definitely arrogance ("This is one of the biggest stars in Japan! If we're going to invade America now, I want my client to be paid what he's worth!"), the ever-present expectation that audiences in the West will work exactly like they do in Japan (ludicrously priced CDs and all), and a demand for control that simply isn't tolerated elsewhere. In my opinion, the Japanese entertainment industry has sabotaged itself with its methodology, and until that changes they won't be able to grow much of an overseas audience.

In The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture, Euny Hong outlines the reasons Japan’s reign has come to an end:

“First of all, Japanese pop culture, like the Japanese archipelago itself, is too isolated from the rest of the world to have remained a sustainable global influence. […] Others, like pop culture critic Lee Moon-won, point out that Japan is a big enough consumer market as it is (the population is 100 million) and is less dependent than Korea is on foreign exports. For many Japanese companies, it’s not worth the huge risk of a very, very costly overseas marketing campaign.” (200-201)

In addition, she cites that “many of Japan’s video games are for the Japanese market only,” the Japanese are reluctant to learn English (“J-pop bands don’t strategically include non-Japanese members, for example”), the presence of online distribution channels like YouTube and the use of subtitles which Japanese companies refuse to take advantage of, and the practice of grooming potential stars much differently than their Korean counterparts (201-202).

Furthermore, celebrity endorsements work differently in Japan anyway. Jason G. Karlin writes in “Through a Looking Glass Darkly: Television Advertising, Idols, and the Making of Fan Audiences” that

“unlike celebrities in the US, Japanese [talents] do not endorse products. Instead, image characters lend their star image to the brand, but without implying any direct endorsement or testimonial. The Japanese celebrity is not making any claims or representations for the product. Indeed, in most commercials, the celebrity never even mentions the name of the product.” (74-75)

On the other hand, K-pop idols are much more willing to play the long-game and adapt to their Western counterparts in both business practice and image. This is especially easy when K-pop is already so familiar and hip to an international audience that recognizes its references immediately without needing to Google eight separate pieces of background information to get an idea of what’s going on with the sounds or visuals.

I just want a South Korean company to enter the console market, give me something that will revitalize my love for console gaming.

To that K-issue, I don't really follow Letter-pop or Letter-dramas, so maybe I'll care about how great Korea's cultural export is when they start making anime.

Justin's answer to mdo7 is so pro-K and anti-J that mdo7 could have written it himself, LOL.

I don't spend as much time here as many other folks do, but even my limited browsing has been enough to make me tired of that one-note drum beat. And to see it taking up valuable space in an Answerman column is depressing.

Oh wow, my question (the last one) got answered, Thanks Justin!!!