Recently, Netflix’s new drama “Kyungsung Creature” was met with negative reactions from Japanese viewers. Some were unhappy with the show’s interpretation of historical facts, and expressed concern about the negative portrayal of Japan’s past behavior. In particular, many people felt uncomfortable with the setting based on the story of Unit 731 as Japanese. These reactions reveal the conflict that occurs at the boundary between historical fact and fiction.
This post is adapted from filmarks, a Japanese general review community.
Expectations and disappointments about the show’s production and cast
“Gyeongseong Creature” is from the writer of “Romantic Doctor Kim Sabu” and the director of “Stobrig,” and stars famous actors such as Park Seo-joon, Han So-hee, and Woo Ha-joon. While there were high hopes for the show, some viewers expressed disappointment with the storyline and characterization. In particular, there has been some criticism of the portrayal of Japanese characters.
Criticism of Japanese character portrayals
Japanese viewers felt uncomfortable with the demonization of Japanese characters in the show. He expressed concern about such depictions being broadcast around the world, noting that it could have a negative impact on relations between Japan and South Korea.
Korea-Japan relations and the impact of the drama
Viewers were concerned that “Hardcore Creatures” could fuel anti-Japanese sentiment. While relations between South Korea and Japan have been improving recently, the drama could have a negative impact on the relationship between the two countries. While Japanese people love Korean culture and art, concerns have been raised that these dramas could reinforce negative perceptions of Japanese people.
What viewers are saying
Many Japanese viewers personally expressed their disappointment with the show. With mixed expectations and disappointments about the drama’s story and characterization, many commented on the difficulty of watching the show as a Japanese.
Here are a few of them
In the first place, I thought it was unreasonable in the setting, so I started watching it anyway, and I watched about 5 episodes, but first of all, I feel uncomfortable with the description of Japanese behavior and behavior that says wow, how is that?
It’s not nonfiction, so what was the point of creating this piece with this setting? in my mind. A wry smile.
Just from the sci-fi aspect alone, there’s a lot to see here, so I think it’s more of a dive-in kind of thing.
The feeling of grotesquely dying when you don’t need to is like something out of a Korean soap opera.
First of all, I wondered if I shouldn’t have purposely created this theme in the time period of the occupied Korean Peninsula. I have a feeling.
Oh, and you’ll see a lot of people with Japanese settings, but you won’t see anyone who is Japanese, so I think that part is a bit subtle. Well, no Japanese actors in this setting.
It’s a retro period setting, but I wonder if the story spreads out too much and ends up feeling like a science fiction story that doesn’t have a good sense of time~. in my mind’s eye.
The time period setting was somewhat predictable, but I got tired of the anti-Japanese bias early on. However, it might be kind of me to give you a chance to back out of the rush, rather than suddenly getting half a day’s work where the conversation is heated. lol
That’s why there are a lot of former Japanese soldiers (731st?) who look like a picture right from the start, but the Japanese soldiers played by Koreans have unnatural pronunciation and don’t feel realistic at all to a Japanese audience (and the Japanese parts have Japanese subtitles too). Personally, I’m less inclined to look at this than the half-day rhymes. I wonder if Netflix.jp has taken that into account, and it seems to play the Japanese dub by default.
This is a drama, so it’s hard to compare it to a movie, but Godzilla-1.0 and Godzilla-1.0 have the same period background and a monster (kaiju) born from an enemy country’s weapons development as the main character, but Godzilla-1.0 does not have a development that provokes the former enemy country, and considering that Hollywood has succeeded in capturing the hearts of discerning Americans, I wonder if Godzilla wins in story and VFX.
Wait, wait, wait because I love the two main characters so much
I started to look at it with delight…
I’m not having fun with this one… I’m having trouble with the Japanese accent, and I’m falling asleep in the middle of it, so I’m retired😅.
Even when I wake up, I’m not sure if I want to watch it from the beginning… 🤔 …
In this day and age, this kind of story is
You may be (loved) in your own country, but
I also don’t feel good about artwork that depicts Japan in such an extreme way.
I’m not sure I’d watch it again for that reason too😥 .
That’s it. I won’t go into the other short ignorant rants.
