Not like Japan was practically annihilated by nuclear bombs and innocent humans melted into nothing with their…
It's not on the victims to be accountable though. It's on the aggressors. And there's been no accountability so far. People will take the chance of giving punishment if remorse can't be found.
The longer this goes on (or if he/his agency ignore it completely), the worse the effect on SK audience, precisely because there has been so little remorse or even acknowledgment on the part of Japan for so many years. Every small incident where they show they're insensitive or ignorant of what the country has done to its neighbours will grow out of proportion with the lack of any kind of reaction from them.
Again, we'll see how big of an impact it will have when the drama airs. I think this will be revisited if it's not solved sooner, though.
This was good :) One of the scifi superhero kdramas that lands the ending. My major problem with it is that it's…
TK girl could have just eaten chocolate for her calories. Much denser than just some breads. I wonder if they explain why she doesn't do that in the webtoon.
That little girl at the end with the piggybank LOL - she should go into pro baseball or cricket at least, she has more strength than a regular pro hahaha~
Whatever happened to Mr. Lawyer lawyer's cancer/tumor caused by drinking?! I thought they'd revisit that.
Just how much time does MinSook lose by going back to help him? We're talking months, years, half her lifespan, what?!
So, given fire girl survived, there HAVE to be some others who also did? And do any of them recover their powers? Or once it's gone, it's gone?
According to the spending rules... SangWoong CANNOT recover the money at all. Where the heck did they get all the money to buy the freaking ap't?!
Moneylender lady's daughter never even made an appeareance. I'm a bit sad about it. I wanted to see MinSook's competition LOL.
This was good :) One of the scifi superhero kdramas that lands the ending. My major problem with it is that it's short and there's not a lot of development on the villains, they're just villains because.
And then there are a few things that rub me wrong. Overall though, a fun watch. Short though. And a long time coming, I guess we won't be seeing a second season or something.
ETA WAIT, the FL is Jeong JiAn?!!! Can't help myself then... LISTEN UP, JEONG JIAN!!
Not like Japan was practically annihilated by nuclear bombs and innocent humans melted into nothing with their…
There are articles where what the media is reporting is treated as gospel, why be picky on this one?
And TBH, I am not all that heated up about it, since it WAS a long time ago and maybe he did educate himself since (or at least learned to keep his mouth shut in topics like this), OR never intended it the way it was taken.
That being said, I've read a lot of comments in this topic dismissing or excusing what happened in the past because it was long ago, and Japanese people learn a different history than the rest of the world. or about forgiving and forgetting and moving on from this... And even blaming Koreans for being too sensitive on such topics while ignoring other problems or accepting Japanese culture (and their market) for Korean businesses and so on and so forth.
It needs to be said that
1. history is known now. There are no excuses possible for what Japan did pre- and during WWII. Yes, the population also suffered. Still, these things happened and not all of them were done by the leaders - the soldiers got blood drunk and participated willingly. Read up on the Nanjing Massacre, it was NOT something they were forced to do individually. They turned it into sport.
2. There has been basically no accountability for it. There were very few feeble apologies tendered by Japanese gov'ts in the 80 years since, and nothing much beyond that. This is not ancient history. The last Korean comfort woman who recently died did so in Feb '25. Beside her, there were thousands of Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipino, Korean women taken as comfort women for the Japanese troops. And then there were the Europeans and Australians taken prisoners who didn't escape the same fate (though in far smaller numbers). Japan never apologised for this at all. Nor for the massacres, or for Unit-731, for anything. And they keep visiting Yasukuni yearly, to honor their war criminals. This is not going to go away anytime soon.
Going back to the actor - he said what he did. Whether he meant it that way or not, it's the way it was perceived outside Japan. The least they could do would be to explain what he had meant or offer some apology. I guess we'll see if they'll wait for it to blow over or not.
Almost halfway through, this is good. There's a flair to it that's usually missing from scifi/scifan kdramas. I can't see where it's heading, but so far so good.
What the hell, is the universe plotting against me, I have two weeks to write an important paper and it's the holidays and then two Hou MingHao dramas drop at once and then a Luo YunXi drama, and Cashero just also dropped, why is this my life now and where is all the time I need?! T_T
If Netflix can't cast anyone with a past like that, they would never cast anyone. Every country k-lled millions…
That's also okay.
To note, though, a discussion about the morality of killing is NOT politics. It's either philosophy OR (if religiously motivated) religion/religious attitudes as compared to dogma.
If Netflix can't cast anyone with a past like that, they would never cast anyone. Every country k-lled millions…
Yeah, well, that's kind of hypocritical, isn't it. ~Others do it, so why not everyone~.
The fact Americans celebrate Thanksgiving has zero relation to Japanese people praising the kamikaze (or any other "special" unit). Or any other country praising their perceived heroes. So let's leave it aside (which also doesn't mean it's good that the Americans do it. IIRC, they just made a try at giving up the Columbus Day celebration - which also comemorates the beginning of a colonisation movement - can't even call it a war when diseases did most of the work - and the genocide of native tribes across those continents. Yes yet another genocide).
This actor praised his own grandfather FOR being in the kamikaze special unit though he didn't get to become one. It's not praising a hero. I myself think he wanted to show how his grandfather was brave to even consider it BUT if his grandfather had done it, he'd have attacked Allied ships indiscriminately, according to whoever told him what to target. Any and all ships. As did the others who did become kamikaze. As mentioned before, this is an age where we don't measure bravery in acts done according to such orders. AND HE WOULD HAVE DIED WHILE KILLING MANY OTHERS.
Is that okay according to your rule of all killing is inexcusable? So if one praises a (would-be) killer... what does that make them?
PS One has the liberty to watch the drama or not as they want. So do all Koreans who take offense of this actor being part of the cast.
If Netflix can't cast anyone with a past like that, they would never cast anyone. Every country k-lled millions…
(Side note: Why are you censoring your own words? Is this a new trend of being unable of even writing words deemed cruel? LOL, that's such a... thing.)
What you're writing about is called whataboutism. Yes, country X did this, so what, country Y did it before. And even if country Y did it, then let's see why country Z did it too.
It's not how this goes. Japan DID those atrocities. They DID invade Korea and later China, they DID kill civillians by the tens of thousands, they did commit horrific acts against people they ENSLAVED in the countries they INVADED. It's not up to debate. These things happened.
YES other countries were involved repeatedly in colonisation wars. We're a warmongering species. SO WHAT? It doesn't erase or counter what JAPAN actually DID. THEY DID THIS. And they have to own it. Which they don't.
Which leads us to - the actor very probably didn't intend to praise the ACTIONS of the kamikaze in the war. Or maybe he did (that's the whole idea, and what he needs to clarify). Going by your whatabaoutisms, it's like some German actor up and suddenly starts praising the SS because his grandfather was part of it. Or like some American being ~proud of his heritage~ and showing off (or talking about) scalps his grandfather (or great-grandfather, by now) took in the Indian Wars. It's STILL unacceptable, no matter who does it. It just happened this time it's this actor.
Not like Japan was practically annihilated by nuclear bombs and innocent humans melted into nothing with their…
That's rich, coming from a (presumably) US person, when it was the US who used two nuclear bombs against Japan in the first place.
Japan never acknowledged they did anything wrong in China, or took much responsibility for the comfort women in Korea (which they had invaded and colonised since 1910.) The people in charge for Unit 731 negotiated giving away their data in exchange for no prosecution or basically no repercussions for their acts against humanity. Their prime-ministers keep visiting Yasukuni and revering war criminals. The current prime-minister is a history revisionist who wants to deny any and all wrongdoing of Japan in or before the WWII.
As long as we're not starting to lie to ourselves, that's not going to be forgotten. Read about it, don't lie to yourself.
PS As for the actor's in case words, he might not have intended to praise the kamikaze or Japan's bloody history. But he could also have worded it a bit more carefully or at least acknowledge the bad with the good, which doesn't seem to have happened. THIS is still in the 21st century. If we go around pretending nothing ever happened, it'll happen again.
If Netflix can't cast anyone with a past like that, they would never cast anyone. Every country k-lled millions…
So according to the rules you set, a country's soldiers killing in defense are morally equal to the soldiers of the country doing the invasion?!
It's true that death is death, and that there's no black and white in war and killing. BUT. At the same time, there's a difference between having to fight and kill enemies to defend yourself and going to another country to fight and kill because your leaders feel like conquering that country.
And in this case in point, it's not even about a relatively simple conquest/colonisation war. Japan took Korea in 1910 and started invading China in 1931. This was way before WWII even started. Even before the Nazis got into power in Germany. These were not consequences of Japan being dragged into war against their will. THEY were the oppressors. Because they could.
Unless your point is that if a country is unable to defend itself in the face of a prepared aggressor, then they deserve what's happening to them? That's basically the ~might is right~ principle that fueled nazism and is now fueling some very concerning action of the world's top superpower. AND one of its former Cold War opponents, who (if we're lucky) isn't such a superpower any more.
Because you see, when you fail or refuse to recognise or admit historical facts, they tend to come up again in present time.
Who decides that which side is evil and which side isn't? Both sides kill human being. So it's better to come…
Nobody told him to praise the generation that produced war criminals. He could have abstained or said anything else praise-worthy about them. Just not that they were in the army and part of that unit at all.
It's not that anybody's trying to cancel HIM, but Koreans (and Chinese people too) have a right to not welcome him in their houses/country even if via TV.
And I'm sorry but for the Japanese it's part of their CURRENT culture. Mme Takaichi, their prime minister, is a history revisionist and holds what we'd call ultra-right wing views on most things. Her party is right-wing and won't admit any wrongdoing on Japan's part in WWII. They keep honouring their "war heroes" that are basically war criminals in Yasukuni Temple every year. They deny having ANYTHING to do with the comfort women (which is a big deal in SK) or even acknowledge what went on in Unit 731.
To be that uninformed in this age is not something that's easy to separate from the person.
I don't think it'll impact the drama that deeply, depending on how big his role is. But let's not pretend we can just pass over anything and everything someone says just because they can act, or play some instrument, or sing, or write, or paint or anything artsy. And yes, their views DEFINITELY colour their art in the eye of the beholder.
He could just apologise and clarify what his intent was in using those words, because I could bet right now he didn't think he was being a war crime apologist, but more being appreciative of his own grandparent that he knew. But we all know he won't apologise like THAT, and even if there would be an apology, it would be at most forced by these current circumstances, that is to say, not an apology at all but damage control. (And I think there won't be even that PRECISELY because Japan at this moment in time is not really feeling they did anything wrong at all so they'd frown on HIM if he caved).
Don't whatabout me. This is a story about a Japanese actor who, maybe unaware of larger implications, once praised war criminals (not even saying his grandfather WAS one of them, though it sure looks like he was in training to become one).
There is ZERO ambiguity about what happened in WWII. Evil deeds in the past or present on either side do NOT excuse evil deeds that have happened. It doesn't matter who did them. You HAVE to call out the apologists and whataboutists. This is NOT dead history to a lot of people. There are STILL some people who remember, even if they're very old now. And you cannot erase history. Educate yourself.
They had other activities and the fan meeting wasn't among them, IIRC. And yeah, he probably would not be one…
The sassaengs said SOMEONE told them there were security breaches in that complex, so I wonder why didn't the FL follow up on that - I would have. But then she's a lawyer, not a detective. And the drama detective didn't even care enough to investigate what happened around DRI for the past few weeks, not even to find out about that particular incident THAT WAS IN THE NEWS. (HOW THE HELL DID THEY MISS IT?! If their whole accusation was based on the fact that ~nobody had the entry code and so DRI was the only possible suspect~ then maybe check if anybody else EVER entered without permission, LOL, he's an idol, even police detectives, or especially police detectives should know how crazy people can get when obsessed. Maybe that guy isn't such a bright detective after all...)
I'd also be looking into whoever, if anyone, got some insurance on DRI either dying or anything else happening to him. That company boss looks more like a thug than an actual businessman, LOL.
3 
BTS are the bomb, LOL - "I'm making them fall in love", hahaha, top matchmaker energy :D
The longer this goes on (or if he/his agency ignore it completely), the worse the effect on SK audience, precisely because there has been so little remorse or even acknowledgment on the part of Japan for so many years. Every small incident where they show they're insensitive or ignorant of what the country has done to its neighbours will grow out of proportion with the lack of any kind of reaction from them.
Again, we'll see how big of an impact it will have when the drama airs. I think this will be revisited if it's not solved sooner, though.
That little girl at the end with the piggybank LOL - she should go into pro baseball or cricket at least, she has more strength than a regular pro hahaha~
Whatever happened to Mr. Lawyer lawyer's cancer/tumor caused by drinking?! I thought they'd revisit that.
Just how much time does MinSook lose by going back to help him? We're talking months, years, half her lifespan, what?!
So, given fire girl survived, there HAVE to be some others who also did? And do any of them recover their powers? Or once it's gone, it's gone?
According to the spending rules... SangWoong CANNOT recover the money at all. Where the heck did they get all the money to buy the freaking ap't?!
Moneylender lady's daughter never even made an appeareance. I'm a bit sad about it. I wanted to see MinSook's competition LOL.
And then there are a few things that rub me wrong. Overall though, a fun watch. Short though. And a long time coming, I guess we won't be seeing a second season or something.
ETA WAIT, the FL is Jeong JiAn?!!! Can't help myself then... LISTEN UP, JEONG JIAN!!
And TBH, I am not all that heated up about it, since it WAS a long time ago and maybe he did educate himself since (or at least learned to keep his mouth shut in topics like this), OR never intended it the way it was taken.
That being said, I've read a lot of comments in this topic dismissing or excusing what happened in the past because it was long ago, and Japanese people learn a different history than the rest of the world. or about forgiving and forgetting and moving on from this... And even blaming Koreans for being too sensitive on such topics while ignoring other problems or accepting Japanese culture (and their market) for Korean businesses and so on and so forth.
It needs to be said that
1. history is known now. There are no excuses possible for what Japan did pre- and during WWII. Yes, the population also suffered. Still, these things happened and not all of them were done by the leaders - the soldiers got blood drunk and participated willingly. Read up on the Nanjing Massacre, it was NOT something they were forced to do individually. They turned it into sport.
2. There has been basically no accountability for it. There were very few feeble apologies tendered by Japanese gov'ts in the 80 years since, and nothing much beyond that. This is not ancient history. The last Korean comfort woman who recently died did so in Feb '25. Beside her, there were thousands of Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipino, Korean women taken as comfort women for the Japanese troops. And then there were the Europeans and Australians taken prisoners who didn't escape the same fate (though in far smaller numbers). Japan never apologised for this at all. Nor for the massacres, or for Unit-731, for anything. And they keep visiting Yasukuni yearly, to honor their war criminals. This is not going to go away anytime soon.
Going back to the actor - he said what he did. Whether he meant it that way or not, it's the way it was perceived outside Japan. The least they could do would be to explain what he had meant or offer some apology. I guess we'll see if they'll wait for it to blow over or not.
Mr. Lawyer lawyer is the best, LOL.
Also, good music.
At least they're on different networks, still, this is kind of iffy for them to do.
To note, though, a discussion about the morality of killing is NOT politics. It's either philosophy OR (if religiously motivated) religion/religious attitudes as compared to dogma.
The fact Americans celebrate Thanksgiving has zero relation to Japanese people praising the kamikaze (or any other "special" unit). Or any other country praising their perceived heroes. So let's leave it aside (which also doesn't mean it's good that the Americans do it. IIRC, they just made a try at giving up the Columbus Day celebration - which also comemorates the beginning of a colonisation movement - can't even call it a war when diseases did most of the work - and the genocide of native tribes across those continents. Yes yet another genocide).
This actor praised his own grandfather FOR being in the kamikaze special unit though he didn't get to become one. It's not praising a hero. I myself think he wanted to show how his grandfather was brave to even consider it BUT if his grandfather had done it, he'd have attacked Allied ships indiscriminately, according to whoever told him what to target. Any and all ships. As did the others who did become kamikaze. As mentioned before, this is an age where we don't measure bravery in acts done according to such orders. AND HE WOULD HAVE DIED WHILE KILLING MANY OTHERS.
Is that okay according to your rule of all killing is inexcusable? So if one praises a (would-be) killer... what does that make them?
PS One has the liberty to watch the drama or not as they want. So do all Koreans who take offense of this actor being part of the cast.
What you're writing about is called whataboutism. Yes, country X did this, so what, country Y did it before. And even if country Y did it, then let's see why country Z did it too.
It's not how this goes. Japan DID those atrocities. They DID invade Korea and later China, they DID kill civillians by the tens of thousands, they did commit horrific acts against people they ENSLAVED in the countries they INVADED. It's not up to debate. These things happened.
YES other countries were involved repeatedly in colonisation wars. We're a warmongering species. SO WHAT? It doesn't erase or counter what JAPAN actually DID. THEY DID THIS. And they have to own it. Which they don't.
Which leads us to - the actor very probably didn't intend to praise the ACTIONS of the kamikaze in the war. Or maybe he did (that's the whole idea, and what he needs to clarify). Going by your whatabaoutisms, it's like some German actor up and suddenly starts praising the SS because his grandfather was part of it. Or like some American being ~proud of his heritage~ and showing off (or talking about) scalps his grandfather (or great-grandfather, by now) took in the Indian Wars. It's STILL unacceptable, no matter who does it. It just happened this time it's this actor.
Japan never acknowledged they did anything wrong in China, or took much responsibility for the comfort women in Korea (which they had invaded and colonised since 1910.) The people in charge for Unit 731 negotiated giving away their data in exchange for no prosecution or basically no repercussions for their acts against humanity. Their prime-ministers keep visiting Yasukuni and revering war criminals. The current prime-minister is a history revisionist who wants to deny any and all wrongdoing of Japan in or before the WWII.
As long as we're not starting to lie to ourselves, that's not going to be forgotten. Read about it, don't lie to yourself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731
PS As for the actor's in case words, he might not have intended to praise the kamikaze or Japan's bloody history. But he could also have worded it a bit more carefully or at least acknowledge the bad with the good, which doesn't seem to have happened. THIS is still in the 21st century. If we go around pretending nothing ever happened, it'll happen again.
It's true that death is death, and that there's no black and white in war and killing. BUT. At the same time, there's a difference between having to fight and kill enemies to defend yourself and going to another country to fight and kill because your leaders feel like conquering that country.
And in this case in point, it's not even about a relatively simple conquest/colonisation war. Japan took Korea in 1910 and started invading China in 1931. This was way before WWII even started. Even before the Nazis got into power in Germany. These were not consequences of Japan being dragged into war against their will. THEY were the oppressors. Because they could.
Unless your point is that if a country is unable to defend itself in the face of a prepared aggressor, then they deserve what's happening to them? That's basically the ~might is right~ principle that fueled nazism and is now fueling some very concerning action of the world's top superpower. AND one of its former Cold War opponents, who (if we're lucky) isn't such a superpower any more.
Because you see, when you fail or refuse to recognise or admit historical facts, they tend to come up again in present time.
It's not that anybody's trying to cancel HIM, but Koreans (and Chinese people too) have a right to not welcome him in their houses/country even if via TV.
And I'm sorry but for the Japanese it's part of their CURRENT culture. Mme Takaichi, their prime minister, is a history revisionist and holds what we'd call ultra-right wing views on most things. Her party is right-wing and won't admit any wrongdoing on Japan's part in WWII. They keep honouring their "war heroes" that are basically war criminals in Yasukuni Temple every year. They deny having ANYTHING to do with the comfort women (which is a big deal in SK) or even acknowledge what went on in Unit 731.
To be that uninformed in this age is not something that's easy to separate from the person.
I don't think it'll impact the drama that deeply, depending on how big his role is. But let's not pretend we can just pass over anything and everything someone says just because they can act, or play some instrument, or sing, or write, or paint or anything artsy. And yes, their views DEFINITELY colour their art in the eye of the beholder.
He could just apologise and clarify what his intent was in using those words, because I could bet right now he didn't think he was being a war crime apologist, but more being appreciative of his own grandparent that he knew. But we all know he won't apologise like THAT, and even if there would be an apology, it would be at most forced by these current circumstances, that is to say, not an apology at all but damage control. (And I think there won't be even that PRECISELY because Japan at this moment in time is not really feeling they did anything wrong at all so they'd frown on HIM if he caved).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjing_Massacre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women
Don't whatabout me. This is a story about a Japanese actor who, maybe unaware of larger implications, once praised war criminals (not even saying his grandfather WAS one of them, though it sure looks like he was in training to become one).
There is ZERO ambiguity about what happened in WWII. Evil deeds in the past or present on either side do NOT excuse evil deeds that have happened. It doesn't matter who did them. You HAVE to call out the apologists and whataboutists. This is NOT dead history to a lot of people. There are STILL some people who remember, even if they're very old now. And you cannot erase history. Educate yourself.
I'd also be looking into whoever, if anyone, got some insurance on DRI either dying or anything else happening to him. That company boss looks more like a thug than an actual businessman, LOL.