The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

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jackruff
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The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by jackruff » Jan 5th, '19, 15:16

Don't you feel the same?
I've been Jdrama fan since "love generation" and "beach boys" first broadcasted on my local tv station...but the Jdrama trends soon fades away from my local tv....that's when the difficult times start...I only get late release (years from original air time) from some bootleg drama collector with bad quality hardsubbed....
When I finally hooked into internet so glad I found dramawiki & asianwiki which leads me into d-addicts and then jdramacity(RIP) and nyaa....
Then came immediate raw release but another problem occur.....I never master/learn proper japanese so subtitle availability it's vital here....for those who don't master japanese (me) they must be patient with raws until "subber the saviour" release their subs...another devastating moment when nobody picks your desired drama for subtitle It'll be raw forever.... :D
Sometimes I envy with korean dramas (not quite my taste btw)...thanks to the massive korean wave it makes english(other major language available also) subtitles released almost as fast as the raw release.....
That probably not gonna happen with japanese drama which became more hard to find and lesser known...but I survived it until now..
I'm still big fan of japanese drama......When I watch japanese drama with english subs I get learning to interprete two languages (jap+eng) simultaneously (english is not my first language)...which is good for me.
See ya next time..and keep lurking into this forum..

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by Keiko1981 » Jan 5th, '19, 16:25

Well, that's been the problem from the very beginning and why fans started making subtitles themselves. The Japanese entertainment industry doesn't appear to be very willing to share their dramas (and other popular culture) with an international audience.

Unless

1. Spend a couple of years and learn Japanese. Jump on a plane and work as a English teacher, or for another company in the land of the rising sun.
2. Are lucky and live in a country/area that provide a TV channel with (few) Japanese dramas with English subtitles.

My best suggestion for you if you *really* are into Japanese popular culture. Put some effort into trying to learn some of the language, in the long run you will find it helpful.

Take a couple of weeks and learn Hiragana and Katakana. Pick up a Japanese beginner book, or learn by watching on YouTube.

Code: Select all

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOcym2c7xnBwRNLWXOAtlN-9dbLkctxV-
I myself, first I bought a book, during one summer learned Hiragana and Katakana. Then asked several times if my school could have a Japanese class. (Which they didn't). I ended up taking a 30 hour evening course in my neighbor city. Over the years I've picked up some kanji, basic phrases, and grammar. Not enough to translate a whole drama myself, but enough more easily follow a drama. Read Japanese articles/Wikipedia etc.

And "Rikaichamp" is a good addon that you might find helpful if you use FireFox.

To sum it up, with the little I know. I still find it very helpful.

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by jackruff » Jan 6th, '19, 05:42

Thanks.nice detailed suggestions.
I'll keep it for my future references.
As for me the easiest way to understand a little japanese probably some common/simple word(s) I knew...
But when they started talking fast/complicated that's when I lost in interpretation...

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by ladyxenax » Jan 7th, '19, 07:55

I can relate to that. It's not like I'm in desperate need of English subs though - my limited knowledge of Japanese which I've picked up over more than 10 years of watching J-dramas and J-TV helps me to understand 80% of the dialogue. I used to be quite ok with waiting for subs and for raw until I got into Korean and Chinese dramas.
Getting the subs and a HD rip of an episode on the same day of broadcast, the feel when a TV-series is officially uploaded on youtube - I feel like I'm getting too spoiled.

Trying to learn Japanese is ok of course but not everybody has the will or time or interest to study, and I can understand those people who want just to relax while watching fave dramas with quality subs. That's why so many have drifted away to Korean or Chinese drama fandom where subs and the series are easily available.

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by pato » Jan 8th, '19, 06:34

The k-pop fashion influence will fade away in 2 or 3 years probably. So eventually it will be same story for korean drama anyway.

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by OldAnimeLady » Feb 2nd, '19, 13:39

I found myself getting frustrated at interviews and variety shows not getting subbed or Locked ..which means they are useless to me...I have started learning Japanese (its only been about 1 and a half year since I started). By using 9-10 phone apps. I can now read quite a bit of hiragana and katakana and recognize about 100 Kanji (which is nothing). Self taught and realized 20 years of anime taught me NOTHING!

Also I learned how to sub, that is helping me to pay attention and learn as well, cleaning up badly worded english subs (working on "Demekin" now) helps reinforce what I do know.

i would rather say "look i am trying"--vs "why havent you done this yet"

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by bertiwooster » Feb 2nd, '19, 15:14

I can definitely relate. I have spent years studying the Japanese language (even doing an immersion program) and I still miss a great deal if there aren't English subs. Still, I do think Japanese doramas are becoming more available and I remain optimistic that as more people see these doramas there will be greater interest and more will become available. I also enjoy K-dramas and I think their popularity will make people more willing to try doramas and then they will come to love them as we do. Yes, I admit I'm an optimist by nature, but things do seem to be moving in that direction I think. :P In the meantime, we all owe a great deal to those kind souls who devote the considerable time and energy to making the doramas available and doing the hard work of providing subs. :notworthy:

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by Yanez » Jun 26th, '19, 05:24

I have to confess not having the foggiest idea about K-anything (I only watch J-dorama and J-movies, sorry) so I can't really judge on the difficulty of being a J-dorama fan as compared to something else...but to me the biggest obstacle in being a J-dorama fan per se is that it's so difficult to find people to share this passion with IRL; here they dub everything, therefore 99% of the people are too lazy to watch anything with subs (and 99% of that 1% still wouldn't watch anything subbed in another language - i.e. English)

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by Keiko1981 » Jun 26th, '19, 05:42

Yanez wrote: Jun 26th, '19, 05:24 ..but to me the biggest obstacle in being a J-dorama fan per se is that it's so difficult to find people to share this passion with IRL...
So very true, and it makes places like these online so much more important.
The dubbing isn't an issue in Sweden, they usually make subtitles.

It's only on very rare occasions you see something Japan related. For example if a movie has won some kind of award, then maybe it can be shown. But dramas no. Most recently being a news segment when the cast filmed Idaten in Stockholm.

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by Yanez » Jun 26th, '19, 09:00

Keiko1981 wrote: Jun 26th, '19, 05:42
Yanez wrote: Jun 26th, '19, 05:24 ..but to me the biggest obstacle in being a J-dorama fan per se is that it's so difficult to find people to share this passion with IRL...
So very true, and it makes places like these online so much more important.
:cheers:
Keiko1981 wrote: Jun 26th, '19, 05:42 ...
It's only on very rare occasions you see something Japan related. For example if a movie has won some kind of award, then maybe it can be shown...
Exactly! And then again, whenever I find one of those extremely rare J-movies which have actually been dubbed (i.e. "Our Little Sister" / Umimachi Diary) and show it to friends & relatives, they all totally ADORE said movie! Thus proving, I think, that there could definitely be a market for those, if only the local distributors deigned themselves to make the effort and import something good from Japan instead of the usual, trite and utterly useless hollywoodian crap... :sweat:

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by jackruff » Jul 2nd, '19, 11:02

some youtube accounts have tried to spread jdrama especially the less known/old but popular jdramas which seems to be already off the radar unlike the new jdrama...if you had luck with your keyword you'll find something like "love generation" or "mukodono" and "pride"....
Recently I've been digging into my jdramas collection and enjoying rewatch bit old dramas like "haken no hinkaku", "danda rin", and "somatou kabushikigaisha"...and I still remember how hard is to get them episodes in the past..
For jdrama fans-warrior out there...don't give up enjoying this rare and unique entertainment...

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by metalosaurio » Jan 10th, '20, 02:16

So many of what I read here resounds with my experience.
I only got to know Jdramas after studying japanese for some years and starting to feel that I couldn't relate much to the media people around me were so excited in relation to Japanese culture (anime and manga mostly).
So while it has been great to find finally something as appealing as dramas it feels now there's less and less people to comment about whatever I do in japanese.... if that makes any sense .....

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by ChaleChangZambarau » Dec 31st, '21, 21:22

This is very true, i only had one friend who was interested in dramas and she loved K-dramas while I enjoy J-dramas. I have been studying japanese for many years but as I study other languages too I have not yet reached the point where I can watch dramas with no subs. This is my goal though. I do appreciate subbers :cheers: , they have made watching J-dramas a fun experience for me.

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by octavia » Mar 25th, '22, 11:34

When I first started watching drama, it was easier to keep up with the seasonal drama, their subtitles and raw videos. Nowadays, nearly every subber has their own personal sites or preferred social media app and it's really overwhelming to keep up with all the stuff. The fansub map here is really helpful. I hope fansubbers rediscover this site and release their subtitles here. I even set up a discord only to to be in touch with jdrama community lol. I miss the old times when you can find all the subtitles here in this site.
I hope Netflix, amazon prime and Disney plus will focus more on jdrama series ( I hope they will get the licence of NHK, WOWOW, TBS drama more. Netflix released Nihon Chinbotsu episodes each week on the same day it was aired in Japan. They should continue doing that :roll )

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by usagivie » Mar 16th, '23, 10:30

Currently, kdramas, kpop and webtoon are still dominating. i my self went to the flow by watching, reading and listening to it.
I still follow jdrama through cable tv channels and sometimes netflix.
but in cable tv, the dorama is very limited and always repeated (not so fresh dorama).
maybe if you subscribe to netflix you will get more doramas.

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Re: The Obstacles being JDrama Fan...anybody feel the same?

Post by 떡볶이나리 » Oct 7th, '23, 09:25

I used to watch quite a few of JDramas but not as much these days, though I am trying to watch more of them! Honestly subs has been a big problem for me, haha. With Korean I do prefer subs as I am not totally fluent, but even if there aren't any, I can still comfortably watch things in raw and understand things for the most part, which has been useful for some more obscure movies or at the time unsubbed dramas, haha.
With Japanese that falls apart and I so often hit dramas I want to watch, but that don't have subs, sadly. Though I do plan on picking Japanese up eventually, and seeing how similar it is in many ways to Korean it should be way easier for me to learn it at least.

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