Times have changed now. Not much modesty anymore!
Though I’ve always hated those women-dance-while-men-ogle-at-them scenes in many Hindi movies. It made me soooo uncomfortable.
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Good observation. That’s true. They are not really integrated. In fact, it isn’t true that Soompi is made for promotions for Viki. If anything, and if what I’ve been told is true, “sisters” are and have been facing “sibling rivalry” for a long time.
When Viki removed the comments section beneath every episode of every drama, I thought, hmm… so “sisters” are finally joining hands and working together, supporting each other. I thought Viki was preparing to merge or link their comments section with each respective drama thread. But I was wrong. It never happened.
Then I thought, hmmm… perhaps Soompi fangirls or fanwriters would “promote” Viki’s upcoming/new/on-air titles. But I was wrong again. It never happened, well, not in any equitable way. I guess the K-wave is as strong as ever, perhaps strongerr to date. It’s tidal surge is so strong that it’s crashing and crushing others (like C-drama, J-drama, T-drama, etc) into oblivion. I guess I can’t complain, lol, because the tidal surge has swept me along too. Haha. Although I must say that I’m still digging my heels into the sands of the others (some C-dramas and some J-dramas).
In any case, it’s Viki/Soompi’s prerogative to do what they want, and to promote, or not, what they want.
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Whenever I open the Viki app, I am told that it is in fact powered by the fans . Use your voice or your keyboard to enact changes that would benefit the sub teams, the viewers, the Community.
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TBT, “our” voice/voices are almost non-existent. Just look at the multitude of suggestions and completed surveys being given to Viki for their consideration, and look at what has and had been implemented thus far. Also, just look at the use of bot/pre-subs vs volunteer-subs. It’s no wonder many volunteers have acted with their feet.
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Believe me, when I am saying that most of the old school veterans’ fingers are sore and their voices are hoarse. You make suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, suggestions, …
And when some points are turning into reality, you jump, but you need to know if it ever happens most of the time it is months at some point years later. Really often nothing changes.
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I don’t believe that Viki ever criticized Backstreet Rookie. Soompi ran articles about the controversies surrounding the drama. Harsh words were posted by some Soompi readers while other Soompi readers defended the drama. Yes, Soompi and Viki are both owned by Rakuten, but they operate as separate entities. As to why Viki would liscense the drama, as I seem to recall there were many requests for the drama by Viki users when it first came out, and I saw a lot of disappointed comments when the drama was not acquired by Viki. I can only speculate that the interest in the drama by many Viki users did not go away and Viki probably continued to get requests for Backstreet Rookie. The leads are very popular actor and actress. Offensive content is a subjective matter. What one person finds offensive, another person does not, and vice versa. I think Viki is trying to offer a broad range of content to viewers. According to the Viki Homepage, Backstreet Rookie is currently one of the Top 10 most watched dramas of the week, so Viki is just doing its job of acquiring Korean content that Viki viewers are interested in.
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ahh yes… I don’t remember reading any personal opinions of the Soompi writers. It was mostly translated stuff only.
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I’m not so sure about that… But what do I know?!
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I honestly don’t see a lot of fans now like they used to have in the past, but I do see many ppl. eager to become volunteers, and working in the dramas, so they can watch dramas for free. At that rate (imo), they gonna go bankrupt. Well, I do know that this streaming sites merge with other companies and that’s what keeps them afloat. RAKUTEN is a very powerful company in itself so it will work out bc of the billions? of fans from all over the world.
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I’m not sure about that. But they can use their billions 
to back up Viki and its fans. 
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I think that Soompi is called a “news aggregator.” It pulls whatever it thinks will be Asian drama click bait from around the Internet for K-drama “netizens.”
“Netizen” is of course a combo of “neti” as in “neti pot” and “zen” as in Zen Buddhism (which many Americans fist heard of in the 1950s and 1960s thanks to the work of D.T. Suzuki).
So naturally we can count on the “netizens” to read and absorb K-drama information with calm demeanor and thoughful discussion. Maybe? Sometimes?
(From Dreamstime)
Last night I found a poem I wrote back in early spring as a part of my ongoing processing of releasing a recent crappy relationship to the Universe to blow away and dwindle into the right size for a rueful memory. I include it below.
It strikes me as the standard process for unhappy chaebols, recovering serial killers, abandonded children, and clueless second-tier characters in most K-dramas (and many other Asian dramas as well).
This kind of selfish, dismissive, “me-me-me” relationship (don’t forget to blame your mama for your drama) is for sure not what Saet-Byul and Dae-Hyun have going on.
I don’t know how much writers for any Viki drama “write ahead” for shows that air on Korean networks and then get “rushed” to Viki. How much wiggle room do they have to push a story line forward based on ratings and comments?
I am really liking this show. It’s a typical family drama, only it focuses on just three or four families, rather than every family in Seoul, Incheon, Busan, and those odd relatives who keep popping in from Boston, MA and Chino, CA with strange graduate degrees . . . I am settling in for a good run.
(Created with Gimp 2.10)
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This is a point well-made.
I had cataract surgery three years ago, which took me from being extemely near-sighted (not able to see clearly more than two inches from my nose) to being REALLY far-sighted ( I can see street signs a block away without glasses in bright light).
So if I am not wearing my glasses when I watch Viki (which sometimes happens when I am tired and cannot find them), I can see what’s going on and read subtitles, but I miss a lot of details. And if I run in and out of the room trying to cook dinner or vacuum the hall or reorganize a bookshelf at the same time (because that’s how I do), there are bits I miss and only rewind to watch if what I’m watching has a very complex plot.
Backstreet Rookie does not have a complex plot, and Dal Sik and his relatively infrequent appearances so far have not made an impact on my consciousness. With a little effort, they probably could edit out all but the least offensive moments when he is on camera.
Some people might be offended at THAT, but unless it can be proven that Dal Sik in all his “glory” is absolutely essential for the development of the story, why not remove unnecessary dumbness?
The actor can go on and try for better parts (though maybe he should change agents . . .).
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It’s not just because it’s sporty looking… RAKUTEN is a Barcelona’s (football club) main partner! Barcelona is a really really popular football club. So young boys will wear what their favorite football player wears!
I don’t know if you’ve heard of him, but this guy is Lionel Messi (yes, the guy from “Do you like Messi?” Weightlifting Fairy pickup line 
) He’s one of the greatest football legends.
“Rakuten became the Main Global Partner and first-ever Official Innovation & Entertainment Partner of FC Barcelona in 2017. As a global innovation leader, Rakuten supports the players, organization and fans of FC Barcelona with its technology, resources and innovations across e-commerce, communications, fintech and digital content.”
Really? Because I’m pretty sure “Netizen” stands for interNET + citIZEN
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I’m joking. Trying to make the point that many “netizens” think they are wise and cool when they are silly and excitable and worry about stuff that really doesn’t matter.
Not like anybody I have the pleasure and privilege of interacting with . . .
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I can’t think of anyone like that around here. 
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I’m pretty sure the articles are based on what that author is watching. There are some dramas where you just get ratings and stills updates. That’s it. But there are others where you get the behind the scenes, the “X things we loved and Y things we hated about ______ drama” articles, episode recaps and all sorts of other stuff. I think that means the author is actually watching it.
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Look— it’s ranked #2 in the Currently Trending drama list, throwing even Doom at Your Service behind it!
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Type Barcelona, Messi, Rakuten into a search machine and look for images … These kinds of shirts?
You will find those all over the world because Messi is a top soccer player and has a huge fan base.
You don’t remember, when Rakuten started to sponsor the FC Barcelona and you scrolled down to the bottom of the page a huge banner showed the soccer team of Barcelona? And we were all like - What does it have to do with watching drama? And all of a sudden it vanished again.
P.S. LOL I just got to see Viki’s post, I don’t know how it will be in the future since Messi is changing Clubs going to Paris. @vivi_1485 This will get expensive for the little Messi fan, but well, Christmas in only 4 months away.
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Funny you mentioned Messi, considering how he just left FC Barcelona 
Ayayay! Everybody has their panties in a twist over that right now. As a non-fan of anything football I find the hype about the news hilarious!
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I thought just like you, citizens from the “net” (internet), I’m sure that this is the correct combo :)
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