ShortCircuit

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.

Mr. Lawyer lawyer is the best, LOL.

Also, good music.

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

Glory AND The Unclouded Soul at the same time? But... why?

At least they're on different networks, still, this is kind of iffy for them to do.

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.

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.

The title makes it sound as if he was an alcoholic before - he just says he cut off alcohol and coffee, which, good for him! :D

(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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

This is in the open for those who cannot be bothered to look up some historical facts.

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.

Happy holidays to all of us! (Including all the people who make dramaworld go on, from actors to the last tech team member out there :D)

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.

TBH... I too WOULD take umbrage about praising WWII soldiers who participated into the evil deeds of their forces, special or not. Yes, his grandfather was not a kamikaze (maybe he didn't get the chance before the war ended?) but have some cultural sensitivity and read the freaking room, 70/80 years on. One wonders what the discussion topics around this subject would go in a war criminal's family, in private. Or in someone's family who would have wanted to be a bigger part of it but missed it.

And even if they were not directly involved... there IS such a thing as collective guilt when it's about genocide - even if you haven't personally taken part of it, just don't praise it. If it comes up, don't praise it, it's not that hard. Or at least acknowledge that while your family members were there, if they were not in command and giving the orders, then maybe they were just too un-informed or brain-washed or propagandised to realise the horror as it was taking place.

Because - there are so many things to remember, including but not restricted to Unit 731, the Nanjing Massacre, the comfort women, the way they STILL revere war criminals in the Yasukuni Temple - Korea and China DO have true reasons to not be happy with Japan. And now they managed to elect a ruling party that placed that extremist as a Prime Minister... It's definitely not the time to stir the waters around Japan's wars of aggression on neighbouring countries.

As for the drama - I hope it doesn't suffer. But I think it probably will, except for the int'l audience (and that's going to be such a strange thing to look at, LOL, given that most kamikaze pilots ended up attacking Allied forces and not exactly the Korean navy, if there was one at all).

They had other activities and the fan meeting wasn't among them, IIRC. And yeah, he probably would not be one to take it in stride (his manager's reactions show he might be a bit hard to manage, LOL).

I think the company is a bit shady with him (like, huge red flag when he said that ever since he had signed up with them, he never got to be his own self and had to be their puppet as according to the contract). Maybe the group was a big revenue thing for them and something happened - with the mysterious woman, maybe - and now they have to make some investments and get DRI big which they don't really want to actually commit to, seeing their boss' actions...

So yeah, a pretty shady deal overall.

I think they put the burn scar in the drama as a callback to the fans because there's NO way they could've included the reason for it. Just pretended it's there to make WWX wonder what the hell happened to LWJ to get the whip scars and the burn scar and all. (It's basically never revisited again, which, knowing WWX, even if there wasn't a novel explanation, would NEVER stand. He'd be too curious to see what happened.)

Bits and pieces come through in the chibi donghua too - like the non-canon fan-theory of what LWJ was doing for all those long years of missing WWX, never ever lighting an incense stick for him (NOT THAT KIND OF INCENSE LOL), but maybe playing Recollection to him every time he could, just to see if his soul would echo back. It's so cute :D

LOL, yeah, I don't really want to read the manhua. Thank you for the link, I'll maybe check and see how they did the papapa (MAYBE!), because MXTX... can't write such things LOL.

I must've missed that, LOL. I didn't check too far though anyway, just a bit. Then yes, that's the canon. LOL. Including the dream. Told you LWJ was going to get time in jail if anyone ever read his mind about WWX :D

If ANYTHING, anything at all, will ever be the doom of WWX it's going to be his big, unchecked mouth LOL. He keeps using it to dig deeper holes for himself and then lays in them all ready for LWJ to come... to the rescue.

I absolutely love the confession. I am pretty sure someone somewhere was keeping a betting pool about if/when it was going to happen. And I love that LXC got to be the matchmaker (he started the whole discussion, though MY is the one who keeps needling.)

(And did you catch that LWJ is jealous of HIMSELF? He asks about WHY didn't WWX reject that blindfold kiss, since he didn't know whom he was kissing, LOL. It was YOU, LWJ you idiot, so why so jealous? :D)

ETA And there WERE only 33 whip scars, LOL, 'cause he defeated 33 seniors to defend WWX. And the burn scar... *AHHH*. Now you have to read the novel. Maybe :)

ETA2 The mangadex version I looked at still looks censored to me. I wonder what I'm missing. (Though I am not really all that interested in reading it, since I still don't like the art).

I think she's just a red herring so far, since DRI is/was involved with her.

Maybe the group split or was about to split because of her involvement? Or the group members got into a competitive love triangle/quadrangle around her?

But I think it would be JaeHee. Maybe.