I was thinking of starting a kdrama (as well as a japanese and chinese drama here and there) review blog on Tumblr as a part of my school programme's creativity requirements and was wondering if anyone here reads a lot of fan reviews. If you do, do you have any preferences in writing style, informal or more professional? Do you follow any specific reviewer? Do you find them helpful?
Do you read fan reviews?
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I write my own weekly reviews on here about albums I like (or if I get requested). It was first imformal, and I still try to make it imformal, but I've been writing a lot more as the months go by.
I read a lot of thebiaslist, who I've realised I share similar tastes to. He helps me find releases that would otherwise go over my head. The author's one of the reasons why I started reviewing in the first place (I use his rating system since it's really easy and simple to use) and he really is useful. So, like him, I hope people find my reviews helpful too.
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Not for kdramas, simply because I don't really know where I would find them. Outside of the mega popular ones like Squid Game, and tbh, I don't need a review on that, lol. I need a review on the veritable pile of Netflix offerings that are all 6+ hour long commitments and have vaguely similar premises.
I do, however, read a lot of book reviews. I prefer reviews that focus on the substance of the offering, rather than external factors, because a lot of book reviews will be like "OMG, I love this author, 5/5!!!" or "This author got their inspiration from this outside source and now that I know that, even though there is no reference in the story or way you would know it outside of this article, I hate it, 1/5." And like, okay, but neither of those have anything to do with whether the story is good.
If there's something weird about the story, I like to have that called out. I finished a book that had a framing device of the in-universe characters interrupting the story every 1-3 pages to say boring things (e.g. "I was so scared then!"), and I don't think my book club would have picked the book if anyone had known it was going to have such a divisive element to it. For another example, Squid Game is clearly a death game story; if it was heavily advertised as such, and then no death game antics actually occurred, I'd want that called out. (As happened in another book I read recently... if you advertise zombies, I want zombies!)
Those are just my thoughts! Ultimately, you can ignore everything I just said and do what you like. I'm poking around in tumblr again myself given the twitter exodus, so feel free to share if you do create your blog! I'd be glad to give you a follow. -
For Kdramas I used to be an avid reader of Dramabeans for a year or two. But over time I realized my perspective and tastes didn't really jive with their ethos and the perspectives of their writing team. I've found I don't jive with a lot of the common blog perspectives on kdramas.
There's this common theme and perspective of many English language kdrama blogs that take on a perhaps unintentional shameful perspective as it comes to kdrama and it's modest soap opera and melodramatic roots. They often mock or are ashamed of or otherwise dislike much of the constructs in kdrama, especially older kdramas that pull heavy from those modest and trope like origins. And actively root for and cheer on dramas they see as "rising above" or breaking from or subverting those old traditions and origins.
I fell in love with kdrama originally specifically because of those origins and melodramatic lack of sophistication. I found a primal emotional weight and charm from those archetypal traditions and melodramatic stories.
So everything most blogs seek out to champion, I find less compelling. And many of my favorite treasures, get torn to bits by most reviewers.
So all in all... I don't really read them much anymore. Or any reviews really.
I just seek out dramas on my own. Though I find less to enjoy these days. Mostly I rewatch old dramas.
But to get back to your OP. Sounds cool you are starting a blog! What will you write about first? Post a link on here when you do and I'll check it out!
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