4 ms·

It's weird making a divide between western and asian here, especially on an article based on South Korea. Asia is very diverse, and there's massive differences

It's weird making a divide between western and asian here, especially on an article based on South Korea. Asia is very diverse, and there's massive differences in the content produced across different countries. South Korea is essentially on-par with the US in terms of production quality, whereas live-action Japanese shows are b-films at best. Also, I don't know what shows you're watching, but it's hard to understand what you're describing. A lot of anime (including some of the most popular) are full of cynicism and irony. Evangelion, attack on titan, ghost in the shell, etc. Korean shows especially tend to have this. Squid game being a prime example, but also most of the revenge shows (itaewon class, the glory, etc). Also, overacting is purposeful in Japanese shows (annoyingly), but less so in serious Korean dramas. Rom-coms everywhere purposely have overacting, because it's funny.

jimmyjazz14 3y ago
You are right that I shouldn't lump all Asian media together when I meant Japanese and South Korean. Also I said cynicism is less present not all together missing. I think there is a difference between portraying cynicism and espousing cynicism. I think shows like Evangelion and Squid Game portray a cynical world view but it is portrayed in a negative way not endorsed as a positive world view. Much of that is up for interpretation though I guess. There are other aspect that affect this as well context, contrast, etc. Maybe its not so much that western media is more cynical or ironic maybe its just that they don't do it in a way that works well in the story.