Come and Hug Me, The Rich Son, Goodbye to Goodbye, Your House Helper… Strange titling aside, this puts the European part of Viki at a severe disadvantage. They’ve filled out the ranks with these Chinese dramas that not only look outdated, but they’re also seriously low-budget. No thank you! No offense, but I don’t want to watch some poor drama shot with a paper camera. Even a cheap phone can shoot in 4K, yet you give me these Technicolour relics. I don’t want any European exclusivities, either. I want everyone from around the globe to enjoy the same things. Yeah, I’m a Revolutionist or whatever. Imagine that… Everyone enjoying the same things… This world would rather burn than allow such a thing. In the here and now, though, let’s make it fair for everyone, at least on Viki.
I know, right? I also don’t care for Chinese dramas and their wooden, fake acting. It’s good that they are there because there are people who are fans, but now they have displaced k-dramas completely. And to us Europeans it’s even worse, as you say.
To be fair, Viki is doing all it can, but their hands are tied. Kocowa is grabbing them by their “attributes”.
The only solution is for every k-drama lover to boycutt the Kocowa website, not buying subscriptions there so that they will close it. These companies make enough money selling licenses to Viki, Dramafever etc., they shouldn’t be greedy and destroy other peoples’ businesses.
Yes, it’s even more upsetting, because people want to volunteer their time and effort in exchange of being able to watch a series, and this is not granted. And sometimes not even translating in another language is allowed.
But I do understand why. Kocowa doesn’t want competition. If they have the same series on their website, only in English, and viki has it in 20-30 languages, it’s obvious that those speakers who can more or less understand English but would feel much more comfortable in their own language choose viki. Right? Therefore Kocowa prohibits viki from doing other language translations. And even English, sometimes, because they know that viki translations are often much better.
So the point it to slowly transition away from fan-translations. With certain perks gone and the need for timely subs, is that really a bad thing? I appreciate what everyone is doing… Actually, I don’t. I mean, I appreciate the work, of course, just not the effort toward a" for-profit company." It’s like volunteering for IKEA… Sure, they have good food, but I expect to get paid by such a company.
Please, respect the work of the people who made these Chinese films or dramas! They worked hard for this and they have talents too! If you can do the same thing with a phone, we wait to see the result…
Plus, you’re not the only ones on Viki. If I’m on viki, it’s for Chinese dramas (AND I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE). I do not really like Korean dramas, dramas with fantasy romances mostly (BUT I DON’T DEGRADE THEM for my preference). I understand that you do not like exclusivity in US, and not in Europe. However, do not attack Chinese works! Viki opens more and more to something other than Korean dramas, it’s a very good thing. Thank you for supporting this fact. For exclusivity, it has nothing to do with chinese dramas & movies!
Hey, Peace & Love, My Friends! Let’s respect each others preferences
THANK YOU VIKI FOR YOUR OPEN MIND WITH CHINESE WORKS! WE LOVE YOU!
Driven by your passionate and impulsive reaction, you only noticed and copy pasted the critique. My very next sentence was
I never said viki should only have the content I personally like. There is place for everybody and their different tastes. Provided there is enough variety to provide enough content for everyone (variety which now is in danger because of the Kocowa thing)
This said, I maintain my right to freely voice my opinion about dramas I’ve watched. In a civilized manner, of course. For instance, I never said “whoever watches these is stupid” or anything offensive like that.
Oh, I’m sorry about that. Please forgive my harsh criticism. You’re right. Someone did work very hard on making them. We should respect one another, including our preferences. I just wish the dramas on Viki were equally distributed, so everyone could enjoy his or her favourite genre and the titles within them.
My experience with the Viki-generated subs hasn’t been very positive. I have worked on 4 projects where Viki generated subs and segments and at the moment the program is still “learning” because it makes mistakes. And we have to fix those. And unlike in other projects, we get no credit for it at all (I even got minus segments on one project for working on it - they said they would fix this, but still waiting), while it’s very frustrating to do.
So in the end, people experience a drama that’s nicely timed and has good subtitles, still due to the volunteers, but the credit goes to Viki. Is that better? Not in my opinion. I’m not completely against the system, but as it is now, it’s frustrating.
It may be that you have not yet met “the right drama” to change your view.
Nirvana in Fire…was not filmed awkwardly with a phone. It has an extremely-talented cast, a well-written plot, it is well-filmed and has no lapses where you wish for something else to do. Every moment has meaning.
That drama happens to be the drama that changed my mind considerably personally - and made me a fan of Chinese dramas much more than Korean and Japanese. I watch now about 3-4 Korean dramas a year now - although I also volunteer there as well as for Chinese dramas. (We have yet to have something I wish to see here like “Sanada Maru” in our Japanese catalog. )
I have watched PLENTY of Korean dramas. So many that I have qualified to be one of the Channel Managers for the Sageuk Channel here.
I have chosen to take a global perspective, I watch things from around the world. I sympathize with the difficulty of being unable to view a drama you would like to see. I hope that in a global business environment, and with the competitors now showing a better catalog in Korean and Chinese dramas and films than two years ago…(example: Netflix)…that this company will not only expand the dramas to your regions, but also ensure the quality of the subtitles.
Many people volunteer here out of frustration with the poor quality of subtitles available and years of being unable for their friends and family to view dramas in a way they would enjoy more, being able to understand the full intention of the actors and writers.
One would hope for a future that not only embraces Chinese and Korean dramas of excellence, but also the volunteers who were and are the foundation of this company…and the fact they too are indeed and first, foremost, FANS.
Only those with ardent flames in their hearts give their love and time for something to those they cannot meet or know around the world.
Let’s respect each others preferences 