Gacha Games and the Korean Gender War, a Musing

It's 2:00 AM in New York. I'm poring over my notes. I have an important client I'm meeting tomorrow. I should really sleep.

Instead of sleeping though, I'm lost in thought. I imagined that this video on Korean gacha games, and hand symbols, and gender, would be fun, light-hearted,  and straightforward.

But it's not.

The circumstances surrounding the Korean gender war are extremely sad: extremely troubling.

I think about my Korean friends, many of whom are women who left Korea still single, and have no desire to return.

I think about the Korean men I've known, and how frustrated and depressed they are.

I think about how deeply frustrated and desperate a person must be to storm the offices of a gacha developer with a list of demands like they're Martin Luther -- like its the Bastille, over the release of  wetsuit skin instead of a more prurient swimsuit, or for the perceived notion that a developer is acting in accordance with the demands of women on twitter over oneself.

I think about the political situation on the ground: the very real socioeconomic context which empowers the wider gender war, of which these gacha games constitute but a small battlefield.

And I feel, myself, a bit disheartened. All of it is so painfully unnecessary. I hope that this video can shed some light the Korean gender war, in a respectful, and nuanced way -- in a way that can bridge the gap, instead of fan the flames.

I've only really just started the drafting process for this script -- it's about a quarter way written, and its already eight single-spaced pages long. The final cut script for the JRPG video, my longest video so far, was about 35 pages long.

There's a lot to discuss, and to unpack. I'm beginning to wonder whether a single video will be enough, or for that matter, a single month.

I'll think about it all: maybe I can move this one to January, and release an easier law review episode in the meantime.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, as always! If you're up late, please get some rest. I think I will get some rest soon, myself.

- Moony