J-Pop vs K-Pop

I will not say that I am a huge fan of K-Pop, nor am I a huge fan of J-Pop, but I am more familiar with J-Pop than K-Pop.  But I find myself very impressed with the K-Pop groups I have seen.  The other day I saw a “Girls’ Generation” cover of “Dancing Queen” – they did it in English, and without a discernable accent.  It was extremely high quality.  Frankly, it was much higher quality than I would expect out of a J-Pop group.  More frankly, any J-Pop group save, perhaps, Babymetal.

There seems to be a cultural difference between Korean and Japanese pop, and I have remarked on it before.  The Japanese seem to value cuteness and approachability, and talent doesn’t seem to matter.  The Koreans seem to deliberately cultivate unapproachability and perfection.  Their idols truly seem to be meant to be idols, meaning, objects of worship.  But the Japanese groups don’t really need talent – hardly at all – as long as they can gain a following of people who will buy their albums and “support” them (meaning, voting in senbatsu competitions and buying their products).

Now I’ll admit I don’t know a whole lot about K-Pop, but I know what I saw the other night, and that was quality.  Some groups are a little more fun than others, like Crayon Pop seems to have more of a J-Pop sensibility to it.  The Japanese seem to think “ganbatte”, or “try my best”.  They’ll prepare as much as necessary and get it done.  The Koreans seem to think “If I have to try, I’m not good enough.  I’m going to nail this.”  And holy cow, do they.

Which do I like better?  I don’t know.  If I’m looking for cute and poppy, J-Pop pretty much fits the bill.  If I’m looking for actual quality, it’s K-Pop all the way.  The poor J-Pop groups – particularly the really popular ones like AKB48 – really don’t stand a chance.  They’re cute, they’re funny, they’re silly, they’re adorable, and Korean singers and dancers wipe the floor with them.

But then, they know this.  They know exactly what they are, what they do, and why they’re there.  Maybe it will translate to success in the future for them – I know aces like Takahashi Minami and Sashihara Rino have gone on to decent careers.  But not all.  I don’t think that would be tolerated in Korea.  The standards are far, far, far, more exacting.*

* There are exceptions, on both sides.  So stop typing.  🙂

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iSmarty
4 years ago

わあああ~!I never thought I’d see an emoticon in your posts! lol

iSmarty
4 years ago
Reply to  bakatsundoku

Yeah, I figured this one may have been sarcastic.

iSmarty
4 years ago
Reply to  bakatsundoku

Yep. Well, honestly, most of the time, it does sound like you don’t want anyone to say anything lol.

iSmarty
4 years ago
Reply to  bakatsundoku

Haha that comes with your personality. It shines through your writing as well. The way you write and appear to people is somewhat cold and rational. I also assume you are assertive, so you write down your thoughts and that’s your personal status quo then. That’s how it feels, even if it’s not your intention. I noticed it’s very common with xNTJ types, they have this icy vibe of “stay away, I’m gonna do it my way anyway” lol.

iSmarty
4 years ago
Reply to  bakatsundoku

Yeah, I guess opening up a little bit might help.

iSmarty
4 years ago
Reply to  bakatsundoku

Hmm, like for example your “general disdain for the quality of comments on the Internet in general”. You could try to not take it too seriously and to not always expect the worst of people. I mean, yes, high-quality stuff is hard to find, but what can you do about it? Not very much, at least not right away. So you might as well just embrace it. If you don’t enjoy it very much, you don’t have to be part of it, but you can at least not let it shut you off, you know what I mean? Opening up to everything you would call “stupid” lol. In this post, for example, did you assume some crazy K-pop or J-pop fans might attack you or something? lol. Because I didn’t really think anything like that, but then again, I’m not a crazy deluded K/J-pop fan, so who knows.

iSmarty
4 years ago
Reply to  bakatsundoku

Yeah well, that is stupidity (unconsciousness/ unawareness) at its best.

iSmarty
4 years ago
Reply to  bakatsundoku

Well, I do believe that if you write a certain way about a certain content, you will attract certain people. In your case, you often seem to write about things you don’t like, so maybe that’s why there are also more people reading your blog who like to fight and are more likely to bash you.

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