Paper short abstract:

Through exploring the portrayal of the hero in the Korean original and Japanese remake of the television drama Cain and Abel, I explore the complex relations between the Japanese television industry and the rise and effect of the Korean media in the region.

Paper long abstract:

For years Japanese media, and in particular television, was ‘self-sufficient’. Local productions took up most of the broadcasting schedule on open channels, and foreign content was limited in amount and mainly broadcast on cable and satellite. The introduction and success of the Korean television dramas in the early 2000s, first on satellite channels and then on open ones, gave rise to a mix of reactions spanning from fascination of the neighbouring country’s content to a sense of competition and subsequently a fear of the influence of this close-but-other rising media giant. This led to the reduction of Korean dramas on the main open channels and gave rise to a new phenomenon: Japanese remakes of Korean dramas.

Looking at television drama remakes through the broad lens of audio-visual translation, Japanese remakes of Korean dramas present a unique field through which to explore the state of the television industry and the Japanese mediascape and its role in society. Focusing on one pair of dramas, Cain and Abel (SBS, 2009) and Cain and Abel (FujiTV, 2016), and in particular the protagonist, this paper explores how Japan negotiates what it sees as ‘Japanese’ vis a vis the rise of Korean media in Japan and the region at large.

Using close reading and textual and narratological analysis of the portrayal of the protagonist in both the original Korean and Japanese remake of Cain and Abel, I argue that the new phenomenon of Japanese remakes of Korean dramas signals the realisation of the industry of the need for new ideas vis a vis the rise of Korea, but the practice of remake enables a controlled exploration of foreign content to fit the expectations of myths prevalent in Japan.