Otiose

Netflix forced her out. They tend to lean towards woke on these issues. Look at how they mutilated The Witcher series where Henry Cavill was forced out.

I doubt Ha Young knew the details of her family's connection to the Japanese during the occupation. If she had known she would have kept quiet during that interview.

The argument that people alive today have benefitted from what their collaborator ancestors did during the occupation is weak at best for several reasons.

Ha Young is four generations removed so any benefit is extremely weak and cannot justify any legal recourse to her or her family, and certainly should not justify retaliation against her for a few prideful comments during an interview. I'm guessing that like all families her parents and grandparents neglected to mention the negative associations of her great grand father and emphasized only his positive accomplishments.

I suspect among Koreans alive and about it is the exceptional person who does NOT have any ancestors who collaborated with the Japanese during their 50 year occupation.

And along more provocative lines, I also suspect that the horrible 50 year Japanese occupation by Japan on net benefitted Korea as a whole. The Japanese at that time were the most successful Asian culture at the cutting edge of Westernization and it is undoubted they brought painful but important improvements into Korea. Sorting out blame for what happened more than 80 years ago is something attractive to the narrow minded self righteous types. In fact it cannot be done by even the most dedicated person who in any case cannot because of the knowledge problem: no one alive today can know all the relevant facts.

I hesitate to point out that as far as occupations go, both Korea and Japan have 'occupation' forces in place since the end of WWII.

I do not mean to take anything away from the very real struggles by Koreans to bring real democracy to Korea, but I suspect most are not aware of the role President Reagan had in bringing that about. When in the fight against the 2nd world totalitarian regimes the 1st world US (democracy) supported many dictators in the 3rd world there was a saying post WWII to the effect that so and so dictator may be a son-of-a-bitch, but he's our son-of-a-bitch. President Reagan decided to resolve this contradiction. He quietly sent high level emissaries to several of these 3rd world dictators and directed them to transition to democracies and then retire. I remember the short list included Panama, the Philippines, and also South Korea.

“We must all turn our backs upon the horrors of the past. We must look to the future. We cannot afford to drag forward across the years that are to come the hatreds and revenges which have sprung from the injuries of the past.” Quote from Winston Churchill, who also said, “If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.”

Today we should leave righting past wrongs to God to sort out and leave Ha Young to live her life.

Flex X Cop 2 stands out as an unusually strong sequel that follows an equally strong original.

A Bona Fide Killer is my best so far in 2026, very entertaining with surprising twists. It blends comedy, action, and drama, sometimes emphasizing one or the other and making the whole work.

Thanks. This is the type of culturally specific nuance within the story that non Korean speakers inevitably miss. Thanks again.

What was the significance of saving Yeo Ri's name as 102 on his phone?

What are some of the better shows you're watching?

From what I've seen in the first six episodes of A Bona Fide Killer he's doing great and fits it like he's always been acting.

Perhaps we'll eventually reach a point when the revenues from made in Korea movies and series generated by audiences outside of Korea will sufficiently exceed those from inside Korea to make these types of kerfuffles irrelevant.

I suspect if we were to examine the family trees of most Koreans the results would go far to quiet down the enthusiasm to throw stones at Ha young for her modest boasting about a tainted ancestor. Korea was occupied and fully controlled by Japan for 50 years. By comparison, most of France was under Nazi control during WWII for about 5 years. Most French boast about their families' taking part in the Resistance, the group of active resisters who fought at great risk against the German occupiers, and no one brags about family members who collaborated. The impression from accounts of the French that most during the war risked life and limb to save Jews and fight the Germans. However, I read of a study done many years ago which attempted to quantify how many French people were actually part of the Resistance. The results were interesting. The estimates of people in the Resistance were a low single digit percentage, while the collaborators were in the much higher double digits. That was during five years. In Korea the occupation lasted 50 years. I suspect pretty much everyone alive back then to one degree or another had to accommodate their daily struggle to survive with the fact of the Japanese were there to stay and intent on assimilating all Koreans into their empire. That means that it is highly likely that pretty much all Koreans alive today have several members in their family tree who were 'collaborators' by whatever definition you might choose. Ha Young's real sin is to have bragged about her ancestor when the commonly accepted practice is to say nothing. I'm sure she's learned much from this episode and will never speak of it again.

I suspect if we were to examine the family trees of most Koreans the results would go far to quiet down the enthusiasm to throw stones at Ha young for her modest boasting about a tainted ancestor. Korea was occupied and fully controlled by Japan for 50 years. By comparison, most of France was under Nazi control during WWII for about 5 years. Most French boast about their families' taking part in the Resistance, the group of active resisters who fought at great risk against the German occupiers, and no one brags about family members who collaborated. The impression from accounts of the French that most during the war risked life and limb to save Jews and fight the Germans. However, I read of a study done many years ago which attempted to quantify how many French people were actually part of the Resistance. The results were interesting. The estimates of people in the Resistance were a low single digit percentage, while the collaborators were in the much higher double digits. That was during five years. In Korea the occupation lasted 50 years. I suspect pretty much everyone alive back then to one degree or another had to accommodate their daily struggle to survive with the fact of the Japanese were there to stay and intent on assimilating all Koreans into their empire. That means that it is highly likely that pretty much all Koreans alive today have several members in their family tree who were 'collaborators' by whatever definition you might choose. Ha Young's real sin is to have bragged about her ancestor when the commonly accepted practice is to say nothing. I'm sure she's learned much from this episode and will never speak of it again.

Because many people think it's a great script? It's a close call because I've seen some good series this year, but this is the best so far.

A Bona Fide Killer is an intriguing mix of serious issues lightened with just enough comedy. A new mother must balance her career and her at home duties with a young child and a husband who have no idea what she really does at work. At work the story does not shy away from her job as an expert assassin.

I just finished episodes 5 & 6 and this just gets better and better with an enjoyable collision of new subplots, new characters, and more backstory reveals.

My best find of 2026.

For every saint in your family tree there is a sinner, if not a dozen.

Thanks for pointing out that Asian Boss video on “How Netflix Ruined Korean Dramas Forever”

I in particular appreciated the background history on how K dramas evolved. However his title is a bit of clickbait overstatement and this is true for several reasons.

Early on he reviews how K dramas had limited distribution outside Korea and compensation was limited and delayed or never achieved. Later they realized they were underpricing their distribution deals into China, Japan and SE Asia and began to charge more - a market adjustment in pricing to reflect a higher market determined value.

All the production companies rejected the script idea for The Squid Game repeatedly over years and then Netflix stepped in and financed it, which started a major shift as Netflix started accessing more Korean product both licensing older shows and initiating new productions. The value of these products both new and old was suddenly higher which led to more money flowing in not only from Netflix but also other foreign streamers eager to get in on the deals. Is this ‘hyperinflation’ as the Asian Boss terms it or simply a market adjustment. Netflix immediately distributes Korean product into over 190 countries. Disney+, Hulu, AppleTV also all have major extensive distribution networks that generate greater income and therefore profit which in turn means that as the global markets discover the higher value of Korean product they of course are going to pay more to obtain access to new productions (or license older stuff now having higher value). This is not hyperinflation. Inflation generally means paying more in nominal currency for the same value, but these Korean productions are worth more and therefore that higher demand generates higher income for the makers. How that income is distributed down the production chain may have problems but those existed before Netflix and continue now but due to no fault of Netflix.

Is there any ‘trap’ at all? Yes, the makers of Korean product are incentivized to pursue bigger budget productions but are the incentives any different regarding creativity and safety? Under the older system of much smaller budgets and profits, weren’t they also just as motivated to pursue ’safe’, known and sure productions? The Squid Game could have been made years before Netflix picked it up but wasn’t, because it was too different, and therefore unsafe? Netflix took the risk and benefited. So there is no trap. All that’s happened is that the global market has discovered hidden value in Korean storytelling and is paying up to gain access. More money floods into the Korean system and of course this destabilizes - temporarily - the system but have the creative incentives changed? I doubt it. Imbalances may have been created but this is not a collapse nor are K dramas ruined forever.

Apparently she used an accent/dialect different from modern expectations for that historical period. Since I can't tell one Korean dialect from another and am dependent on the English subtitles this issue doesn't impact my enjoyment of the series and her acting, and I suspect for the great majority of the international audience. The discussion confirms that for the subtitle dependent audience, we're not able to understand a dimension of meaning that exists for the native Korean speaking audience.

Whether the Korean audience reaction has any impact depends in part on what percentage of total revenues that audience generates compared to the total revenues from the international audiences. I've read in past articles here that some Korean series were considered failures in Korea but big hits abroad (e.g. It's Okay to Not Be Okay?). Are we going to see Korean productions that are made to appeal to the international crowd and deliberately ignoring Korean sensibilities?

Her character is an interesting one, a capable, talented daughter of the king, but kept at a distance so she carves out her own role. I've only seen a few episodes but am looking forward to what happens to her.

I watched Unnatural and found it better than average Japanese production. However, it could use a Korean make over especially if they get rid of that piano background music.

If Kim Se Jeong's agency issued any statement it might better have been, "We do not comment on personal matters."

I tend to agree although if one happens I would give it a try. It's been awhile since I watched it last, but I remember that as satisfying as the whole was there were some questions about their happy ever after ending. The Goblin immortality curse remained absent the sword. And his bride remained a mortal, so their relationship would be one of a series of aging cycles for her including death and rebirth, and then they would need to find each other again. All the big reveals have occurred, character arcs developed so it would be tough to create a new situation to restart and develop a new story.

The old spelling - Vampyr - immediately evokes the old style vampire and hints at the traditional blood sucking Bram Stoker Dracula type.

Very helpful comment. When I first read the article I was confused. Why would the actors in a Korean historical drama wear Western clothes? "The webtoon is set in a fictional European kingdom..."