Shiah

I find it difficult to continue reading your article after the introduction. There’s a clear bias towards JRPGs in your mini break down of the two genres, siting WRPGs putting players in ‘frustrating loops’ because of puzzles while JRPGs give ‘tons of movement options’ – that’s negative language versus positive language. To follow up with ‘neither is better’ when your preference has been made clear is off-putting to me, and I don’t trust the rest of the article to be neutral. Make sure in the future you either keep your language and the impression of your words neutral or simply do an opinion piece if you don’t trust yourself to stay neutral. Am disappointed because the topic was very intriguing. Good luck with your future articles!

Actually didn’t really realize how much of a trope this was until reading your article. As an avid gamer, this kind of intrigues me. I feel like after the huge success of Doki Doki Literature Club, other indie game companies saw an opportunity. A market was created. I’m sure some game devs are truly passionate about bringing awareness to mental health issues in an accessible way for mass audiences, but I think some game devs saw this opportunistically. I only really recognize Fran Bow out of all the games listed because of YouTuber Markiplier’s playthrough of it and his positive reception of it. I think it’s a cool concept if done correctly, and I think the bandwagon is what is making this corner of gaming / storytelling feel oversaturated. I’m all about a good story when it comes to games (a writer turned gamer appreciating the story? imagine) so as long as it’s done right I’m okay with different takes coming into the community in the form of different games. Mental health is a topic that needs to become normalized after all.

That’s a really interesting view that I’ve never considered, she’s not one or the other but a marriage of the two. Insightful!

BoA’s Western release is what got me into K-Pop, she was the first Korean artist I was exposed to and I love her Western songs as well. I wish she had been marketed better because she has a J-Lo feel to her that would’ve fared well here.

You’re acting like these girls don’t have a choice when they do – they seek out these companies, audition, and sign their contracts, or their parents do. They are pursuing their dream, these girls agree to this lifestyle. Is it inhumane? Yes, but girls agreeing to it and seeking it out is also part of the problem. You’re also very naive to think that K-Pop is the only section of the entertainment industry in the world to treat singers this way, it happens everywhere, on every continent. The problem is on a much grander scale and people all around the world still agree to it and buy into it. Also keep in mind a lot of these companies aren’t billionaires right off the bat and it takes an obscene amount of money to debut a group. The girls will be given poor living conditions if the company is just starting out since that’s all they can afford, which isn’t a surprise to the trainees. Nor is the hectic schedule. Nor are the diets, that’s the biggest one that happens everywhere. Do these conditions need to change? Absolutely, but you can’t just sit there and pin it all on the companies or on K-Pop. The issue is more complex than that.

Of course not! Please do, I wish you luck on your thesis!

Indeed! They put a lot of emphasis on roles in the groups. I find that some groups have fallen into cookie cutter templates with their songs however, namely EXID. Each song is the same formula with Solji and Hyerin splitting the chorus, Hani and Junghwa sharing a verse or two and LE doing a verse of rap and the hooks. I think the system is becoming too formulated in that sense and songs are starting to mirror each other too much that way.

I used to follow EYK and enjoyed their reviews on K-Pop, though I found them after I was already in the realm of K-pop.

Allkpop is becoming a lot more opinion based rather than factual as of late and it’s gone to the point of being unprofessional. Recently two articles by the same writer were published ranking the top ten most overrated and underrated female K-pop idols and the way the writer went about her articles was honestly quite despicable. I wouldn’t recommend Allkpop as a source for K-pop news, I’d suggest Soompi over it.