How I Got Ripped Off By CNN (True story, bro)
So, interesting story, thanks to my fandom friend dual_tsubasa, who posted this link on Twitter to a certain CNN Geek Out! blog article titled (without the proper capitalization) "The beginner's guide to Japanese drama." Please read it, because it is relevant to this blog post.
So I'm sitting there reading and cringing at certain mentions of websites like d-addicts which, while they don't HOST torrents anymore, still has links to those torrents. It's my one last haven for dramas since Megaupload is down for now and Mediafire is soon to be the same. I'm not fond of getting dramas that way because if it's an older drama, chances are it won't be seeded and will take days to download. But I still use and don't want it taken down in any capacity.
Anyway, I'm sitting here reading and things start sounding more and more familiar...more and more like the information I have painstakingly research the past few years and included in my presentation for my Sociology of Modern Japan class as well as made into a panel for MTAC (Middle Tennessee Anime Convention) last year. Now, the article was worded differently, and I might have just said, "Well, she probably did the same research since some of it did come from Internet sources and there were a few added things in there" except for one paragraph:
"Often faces from big pop acts show up in dramas, such as members of long-running pop band Arashi. By using radio-popular songs as J-drama theme songs, producers increased viewership exponentially."
This information is my panel. It is not research-based. It is based on my own experience watching over 400 J-dramas in the past four or so years. I have researched dramas and drama ratings as well as current trends in Japan and how they affect the overall ratings of dramas as well as what can make or break a drama. This particular information about arashi is something I included based on my own experience in fandom. It's not written down anywhere. It's common knowledge, but not something I feel a general fan of dramas would automatically make the connection to or if they did, they could have used any othttp://www.mediafire.com/?x95zqp0jkzxho1zher boyband. I particularly used arashi because the past several years have proven that arashi dramas are popular dramas. I also said that using their songs as theme songs also helps with ratings.
I looked into this writer's other articles, and she mentions a lot of different conventions that take place around the east coast and in the south. It's probable that she was there in my panel last year and took notes. I was too busy freaking out and trying to explain things and being weirded out by the two rows of 40-something year old balding men in the front to notice who was doing what.
As evidence, I offer my panel presentation for your viewing pleasure.
Japanese TV Dramas
So go read the article, check out my presentation, and tell me if you think the author copied my panel. Honestly, I still have a nugget of doubt, but it's very odd.