‘Kitty in Korea’ felt like ‘Emily in Paris’. Like the least you can do when writing a show is to study the social norms and culture of the country you are basing the drama on.
finally someone saying it. for me, it's somewhat entertaining to watch actors from both series acting cringe and doing unreasonable things, but i would never consider watching them again
I felt robbed because Kitty talked 90% about finding out more about her Mom and Korea yet everything was about the love quadrangle and high school misunderstandings/drama. Veery dissatisfied with how it turned out.
That’s basically the main reason why she wanted to go the the school. Even when she presented the slide show to convince her dad to let her move to Korea the main reason was because of love. Wanting to find out more about her mom was secondary.
The Show always presented it as 'but also, my boyfriend is there" as the main excitement point for going overseas for school. Also, this is a 'to all the boys....' spinoff, which IS a goofy romantic comedy that isn't realistic to start with. This exists in the same world as those movies. So using goofy romantic tropes like the show uses is in tone of its parent films. It's literally not meant to be the serious story of a girl connecting to her mother that she never met. Like I am sure she wonders about her and for the character it's justified. But like a teenager, the issue right in front of her is her boyfriend issues. She's not fully matured or fully making the right choices for the right reasons. That's kinda the POINT and a point from which hopefully the character can see some growth.
as someone who attended an international school in Korea this show was honestly nothing like I'd imagined. even in international schools kids still tend to study 98% of the time. this review was also so accurate i realized how funny it was. also it was just badLOL
i agree but tbh watching a series about them studying 24/7 would just be boring, in most of tv series/movies studying isn't shown nor does it represented a realistic school life
I thought it was funny how she was an honor student when in the US, but needed tutoring when she got to Korea. That was a huge difference. She was quite surprised and stressed about this.
As a Korean who was born and raised in Korea, I can confirm this review is accurate. I didn't really enjoy the show because of how they portrayed the culture. The show could've been way better😂 Also, we DON'T party in high school, but it's not like we don't have the time to party at all. It's just not a korean thing. We’re expected to study hard, but we do have time to do what we like once in a while.
@@citamora yeah i think its more reflective of 2nd gen immigrant life in america or smth but i think i heard the say in an interview its supposed to be a 'blend' of korean and american teen dramas
Well talking about portraying culture, neither do some kdrams have done it realistically. I have seen so many kdrams portraying foreign culture like black people or Indian people and man the stereotype??? It was insane and very much disturbing. As an indian, one of the scenes really made me feel weird. I think this is not the problem of only one country. In every film/drama industry, all around the world, most of them portray the stereotypes only of what THEY know and they don't even try to research before showing foreign cultures. The film industry here has did it too and it annoys me. Why can't the directors at least research a bit. I hope this situation improves for every industry and country out there.
You cannot convince me that this show isn't a tactic to reel in Koreaboos. Kitty is the epitome of a Koreaboos self insert. She is a teenage girl who looks mostly white, doesn't know any Korean, but somehow has 2 hot Korean guys in love with her, and isnt bullied at school, despite not fitting the beauty standards WHATSOEVER. Shes basically what every Koreaboo imagines theyd be like if they moved to Korea. And the Kpop songs playing at the most random times that dont even match the context 💀 100% Koreaboo bait
Kitty is half Korean though and wanted to be closer to her mom's roots. Westerners have made up useless words to ostracize people and koreaboo is one of those. Nothing wrong with wanting to learn about another culture.
Idk I found that amusing 🤣 No, but seriously at least they toned it down after a few episodes, because in the 1-2 they kinda played kpop songs constantly and it was too much. Like Minho's entrance to Hot was iconic and very well fitted but most of the other songs were just there. I appreciated them ofc and was jamming to them but whaaat?
If anything I'm suprised people didn't bully or mock Kitty for how she acted. It was just unrealistic, and while i don't know much about Korean culture even I can see how it didn't show the pitfalls and the differences. It really was a mixed opportunity and ironically even i could probably write something better even with my limited knowledge.
I am half Korean half american who wasn't raised in Korea but still fully agree with this review. I obviously wasn't able to learn the culture in Korea by physically being there but I did learn a lot from my Korean dad and just studying about it. the whole I was watching the show, I felt uncomfortable because it 100% showed a koreaboo wattpad story. it was way too Americanized despite the fact that kitty is literally half Korean. a thing that kind of bothered me was that Yuri's family 85% of the time spoke English with each other although they are a Korean family living in Korea. I wish Netflix actually studied more on the culture and showing the culture in the show.
What's crazy is that (at least for Australia) they have heeeeaps of kdramas on Netflix for viewers to watch yet seemingly didn't even bother to cross reference them... Hell, some of the kdramas actually did put characters into different countries/cultural settings and contrasted things correctly so there's literally no excuse 😭
tbh it was never meant to even be 'koreanized" it also was never meant to be a "kdrama' its an a american show...so obivious. but i do agree it was a bit cringy at times but makes sense because it is an AMERICAN show.
as a southeast asian myself im so happy and relieved someone finally spoke out abt this. i had an existential crisis while the show progressed and wondered why no one spoke or had said any constructive critism abt the show.
yesss!! I'm Malaysian Chinese so watching this really made cringe sometimes LOL. It really highlighted huge differences between Asian and Western culture
why are you having an existensial crisis when youre not even east asian?? im korean myself but im not being dramatic about it while y'all are having "existensial crisis" like bffr💀youre not even participating in any east asian culture enough to be crying about it literally stay in your lane
Hi, I'm Malaysian too and haven't watched the show (I don't have Netflix but my mom does). From the clips I see online, I think it's more or less an American teen drama series set in Korea instead 😂
There’s a term in Korean (눈치=noon-chee) that means something like “reading the room” and it mainly involves knowing how to act minding other people and being more thoughtful, respectful, and yes, thinking what the others would think. This 눈치 is something that Koreans have and judge someone that doesn’t have. Kitty didn’t have an ounce of 눈치 and it was almost unbearable. It is more common in the US, but still… I don’t know
Damn, in Brazil we have a similar expression for this, ''Ter o senso''. The sentence can be translated into English ''Having a sense''. And there are tons of meanings, (critic sense, common sense, moral sense, humour sense, good sense). One of them is simply: 'Having a clear judgment, prudence, discernment. Knowing, being aware of your acts in society.' So if anyone doesn't 'have a sense', they'll be just like Kitty.
@vluessky @@vig4259 heyy I'm French Canadian and we also have an expression like this! if you say "y'a pas d'allure" about someone it would translate to "they have no sense", "they don't know how to carry themselves", "they have no style", etc. This expression can be used in disapproval of what the person did or said, and can be used many contexts. it's mostly used as judgement towards one's actions, manners or way they present themselves. Kitty al'a pas d'allure tbh 😭
@@allanamaya6103this is incredible how conditioned people are to expect boring perfect ideal visuals. I found it cute and refreshing. Not everyone needs veneers. I actually hate the look of them, usually they look so artificial.
XO Kitty had so much potential, but it got so many clichés that even I can't bear to watch the whole thing. The younger people probably like this more than I do.
yep i watched it and for me it was like the korean version of emily in paris. A female american character goes to a foreign country with little to no knowledge of cultural sensitivity and does crazy stuff and as usual everyone’s ok with it because they depict the cultural differences so badly. I cringed so hard when she kept bumping into ppl every time she walked on the streets. I think they wanted her to look quirky and clumsy but she just came off as obnoxious and annoying.
I think I'm part of the younger that you're refuring to and honestly I only watched it cause I was bored and I liked Kitty's character originally. Honestly she was nothing like the fierce girl I remembered and the show made me loose braincells
Please, i'm younger and i did not like it. I could bear the cringe because i found the plot interesting in the first half, but by the end of the season no characters remained likable to me.
I think some of these issues would have made more sense had Kitty been a collage student that came to Korea as an exchange student. It would give her room to interact with the other cast, learn the different expectations when it comes to adulthood, and also have more of an incentive that make sense to come to the country. Also I would have liked to see her interact with Margo and Lara Jean too. They are her sisters and it would have been nice to see her be supported by her sisters and ask them for advice as she navigated her newfound boyfriend/girlfriend. I think with Yuri I would have preferred her just being Kitty’s new roommate after the filming incident. I agree that they made her too much of a mean girl and made Kitty falling for her made no sense. It would have been really nice to see her guiding Kitty through her experience with Korea and Kitty help her come to terms with her being in the closet. With Minho I would have liked to see his relationship with his mother. Being in the stardom is not easy in Korea. And I would have liked to see Minho having the pressure of keeping up with his mother and public perception of him being her son. I would have also liked to see Kitty having a bit of a chaotic reel about her “not being Korean enough” due to her lack of understanding about the culture itself. It would be interesting to see her realize all she heard from families and from the US is not all she imagined. And she feels overwhelmed that she did not know enough of Korean culture.
I will never understand why it always have to be a high school. I am still bitter how Fast and Furious Tokyio Drift has to be a story about high school kids, when it is clearly collage standard... So many movies make no sense for that exact reason. Young adults are different than teenagers
@@soleil7259 EXACTLY!! High school students aren’t free from consequences just cus they’re minors. The media shouldn’t even be perpetuating this idea that it’s the perfect place for carelessness and lack of accountability cus that’s when things escalate
As an Indian and a Kpop & Kdrama fan for more than a decade, i truly agree with this . And another unrealistic part was Dae's family. His father is the driver of a Chaebol, they can't be that poor, there's no way they can't afford a new shoe for Dae's sister and tuition fees for Dae. Even their house was literally middle class istg !! 🤣 the series was overall cringey. Minho's sass saved the entire XO, Kitty.
Yesss exactly. The not buying shoe part was so unrealistic, like they tried showing him dirt poor like in Parasite, when he was so far away from that he was definitely middle class.
As a person that has watched sooo many different Korean Dramas, I can completely agree with the things you are saying, even though I'm from the USA. I was very disappointed in XO Kitty it felt that it was too Americanized for it being based in Korea. I felt like they were trying too hard to bring in the American culture upon the Korean culture which isn't very fair considering where the show was based in. I've watched a ton of K-Dramas to see the differences in the way we act VS. Koreans. I was very excited for the show to come out seeing how I love K-Dramas and was expecting so much more from the show than this. Instead, it felt like any other kind of American TV show. If they renewed for another season, I don't think I will be watching it.
@@ellulove7543IT IS omggg why do people keep talking bout the show like it’s advertised as a k-drama lol it’s not. It’s literally an American romantic Comedy. Treating it like a k-drama or expecting it to be was setting yourself up. Like it’s based in Korea but she is going to an international where most kids there aren’t Korean.
@@oyinolubayo7079 I’m not saying I thought the show was gonna be just like a kdrama. I was saying the show could have been a little different agreeing with this video because of the different cultures and them trying to squeeze in every American aspect on Korean culture just wasn’t really fair. I’m just saying they could have done better in that department allowing us viewers, maybe that have never seen how they act their or never seen any Kdramas to actually get a feel for what it could be like there instead of just giving us the American culture. I understand the show is literally from America but if your gonna incorporate a different culture, at least make it right 🤦♀️
As a Hispanic I relate to a lot of the things you were mentioning since many Hispanic parents can be extremely strict and controlling. My friends and I would NEVER get away with going to parties, drinking, sex, even holding hands, in high school and LGBTQ is extremely looked down upon as well. I would be extremely livid if this is how they portrayed my culture. It’s extremely disappointing how little research they put into this show when it could have actually portrayed Korean culture realistically.
That’s such a lie. Hispanics are known to have the biggest and extravagant parties with a lot of nudity like carnaval etc. Hispanics are the complete opposite of Asians. Hispanic behave more like westerners like being wild, dressing sexual, drinking alcohol, partying, gang culture etc. There’s a reason for the wild Latina stereotype.
Most of what Kitty did would be embarrassing in the States too 😂. Also not every American teenager is drinking, doing drugs, having sex and partying. A lot of my friends did that in high school so I’m not gonna lie that it does happen but I did have friends who were more gamers, tvshow bingers, played sports and hung mainly with their families and enjoyed REAL teenage stuff. The show was poorly written period….like alot of Netflix’s teen series. They all are unrealistic no matter the culture or language. Very rarely is there a good teen flick on there.
Sounds like 8ts taking the 90s and 2000s movie Boomer route with high school life, where high school is portrayed as wild, when in reality that is not the case.
I’m a teenager and I have never done drugs, smoke, have sex, or drink. But I still go to parties, you don’t need to be doing all those thing to have fun. Also some of my friends are also like this except they vape. Some ppl will think I’m boring for not doing those things, but at least I’m not a addicted to any drugs, I’m not pregnant, I’m not an alcoholic, and at least I’m talking care myself instead of wasting money on those things.
@@Armand0627 Good on you kid, do what you want and don't bend to negative peer pressure for anyone, not even your "friends". Older you will be thankful that you have a good head on your shoulders rn.
The thing that annoyed me the most is how Kitty didn’t even bother to try learning Korean. The show is REALLY unrealistic bc if a girl who looked like kitty went to a Korean school she would’ve been bullied bc of the way she looks, since she’s Ugly according to their beauty standards But this was basically « kitty in Korea »
Thats exactly what I thought. It felt like a Koreaboo thinking all the hot Korean guys would think she was "exotic" when shes just ugly in their standards.
Not only her looks but also her personality. Like I don't think she respects Korean culture at all. She doesn't look like she tried enough to learn Korean and as their teacher said not everyone's on her timetable but she expects Q to root of her 24/7 and I think that was very selfish and self-centered of her.
no she wouldn’t… theres korean students who fit the beauty standards way less than her and dont get bullied. you think you have to be a supermodel to not be bullied in south korea??
@@CDavis937 None of that explains this. The clips like in the cafetaria still show most of them are Korean, and it plays out in Korea. To then have the students be obsessed with sex, kissing, partying etc. is beyond unrealistic. Them being upper middle class or rich makes no difference to this, being rich doesn't erase Korean culture from your family? Many upper middle class and wealthy people are even MORE pressured to do well in the already insanely competitive academics of Korea, because their family doesn't want them to be a '''failure'' as they will most likely inherit some sort of wealth. Even Kitty herself needed tutoring when she went to Korea even though she was the top of her class in America, this in and of itself shows how hard her school was, yet somehow all the students are busy with parties all the time? And even if you tried to excuse the entire BS about the school, them showing the mom so easily accept that her daughter is gay was insanely lazy writing. They went from fearing for their coming out the whole time, to suddenly being accepted because Netflix needed a happy ending even if it is beyond rare. It is undeniable that this movie was written for a western audience, specifically an american one, and is COMPLETELY inaccurate to Korean culture. Just because there are foreign students in the school doesnt excuse bad writing. A few foreign students dont get rid of koreas homophobia, or how strict the exams and schools are there, or how students arent focusing on partying and sex all the time. If they wanted this movie to make a little more sense, they shouldve just made it about a korean student coming to america, why even bother with representation when you just wanna turn it into america like always?
@@CDavis937uhh... No thats far from the reality... When ur in a noble or wealthy family ur expected to do well in ur academic, sure they party and what not.. But not like the one in the show
As a black girl with Japanese decent (My mum is Blasian and my dad is black) I visited Japan to see my culture for a month and let's just say Japanese schools is WAY different than American schools, especially high school. If I compare XO Kitty to be more American or Japanese then chances are its going to be more American than Japanese, Korean, ect. Even in America I only study. Though my classmates go to party. My mum is very strict on education and WON'T allow me to date at all. So yeah when I watch this show to see students making out, party, drinking, stuff like that I called in bs lol. I relate alot with this review than the show itself. Kinda sad though. Will watch more Korean shows than America trying to write Korean shows lol. Love the review.
As a south asian, I can understand many things like strict parents, pressure of studies (Though not like South Korea which is extreme),specially no close interaction with opposite gender friends even with bf/gf publicly, going out without telling at home, partying late night, drinking etc in school even as an adult it is frowned upon,LGBTQ things are banned etc. I can relate to these very much. (P.S: Woah! Never got so many likes! Thank uuu guys💓)
@@pikachuthunderbolt3919 im indian and i have close guy friends too, you cant generalise the whole country, it depends on the parents etc. like in more urban places talking to guys and being friends is normal but in rural areas talking to boys is frowned upon
@@pikachuthunderbolt3919 bruh having opposite gender friend is common but its not the same as portrayed in the show like hugging in public and stuff is something frowned upon and you are judged to be dating that person and its like that in almost every asian country i know, also you be going on generalising a whole country based on one comment you saw. in the op's comment he/she mentioned how the pressure of studies is not as extreme as south korea which might not be true for many, like for me personally its as extreme as any other south korean or chinese or asian. also he/she never mentioned his/her country just stated south asian then how can you even assume his/her nationality? bruh grow up
Omg yes haha this review is 100% spitting facts. Got super frustrated about Kitty’s questionable (and illogical?) decisions, Dae’s wishy-washy attitude, and Yuri’s bad personality that it was a surprise I made it to the end of the series. Btw, that random Kang Daniel at 5:02 got me 😂
As an Asian, it ticked me off every time my non-Asian friend called this show a "Kdrama". They spoke Korean for probably a total of less than 20 minutes 😭😭 Also, literally all the characters annoyed tf out of me except Q: Madision - The Asian fetishizing ain't cute! Kitty - How many dramatic slow motion clips of you walking into a room in a new dress do we need??? Minho - Oh god. He's so over the top Dae - Just. Explain. Your. Situation. To. Kitty.
Actually not just South Korean viewers... I was also very disappointed with this show. Especially with Kitty's character and her "development" (or lack of it). I really liked her in the beginning and then stuff happened and yes, she made some horrible decisions and more stuff happened out of nowhere. To me it was also unbelievable that Minho would have something with someone like Madison (especially considering her stalker behavior in the beginning and yes, I'm fully aware of the irony because of my nickname here on youtube) but then he was okay with her being pushy and annoying? And while I do agree that Minho was probably the best part of this show even his feelings at the end came a little out of the blue (but I get it, Kitty is the MC so automatically everyone will fall in love with her bEcAuSe ShE's NoT LiKe OTHeR GiRlS >.
Took words right of my mouth. I'm not a South Korean but as an Asian myself I was so so suprised by how Westernized the school was cause even tho it's an international school it's still based on South Korea so like wtf? There are so many plot holes and I think Kitty possibly being Bi and Minho liking her seems kinda push and out of no where. And Kitty's lucky it was an international school cause if it was a normal Korean HS she would be bullied so much not even because she's a foreigner but more so because of her characteristics. The story looks like it came from delusional cringy K-pop fanfic in Wattpad.
OMG THIS IS EXACTLY MY THOUGHTS! I am not Korean either but same I felt the same. And I was very disappointed with Kitty's character too! Same here with the scene where she got on the table like gurl! No one would do that and get away with it like what were you thinking! Also, I am Indian, and as Madison (I think) told to Kitty, putting your legs up at the place you eat is a big no no here too.
Who tf said it's just like a kdrama😭😭😭😭😭....have they watched kdramas. Romance kdramas are slow and cute and cringe yh but the cute and sweet type of cringe that makes you smile and blush.......but XO Kitty was the type of cringe that would make you gag and throw your phone against the wall.
The car ‘accident’ scene was kinda unrealistic because in Korea you have to wait for the signal for crossing the road to be green and even if you don’t do that be careful while crossing the road because a lot of times Korean truck drivers drives the truck in full speed so it can get you in serious accident. And instead they would yell at you for coming in front of them. The driver of yuri was rather right about it. ( mind you I’m not Korean but rather I got this information from actual Koreans)
i love how you were very through with the plot holes of the show and criticism. like you did not intentionally drag any of the characters or the cringe things the show did for humor. you pointed out great facts which i agree on. and yes although i liked them putting kpop songs in it to show Korean music i wish they put k ballads, r&b or any k song which isn't a popular kpop song which is not related to the situation. it was annoying.
Fr even if they wanted to put kpop they could’ve done some research and find some underrated groups and artists and put their songs in the show according to the situation.
I’m 100% non Korean, never visited the country, and all the things u mentioned definitely stood out to me when watching. I think it’s particularly how casually everyone hooked up in libraries like u said, especially Q and Florian. I think it’s good to give that representation because it’s not like there are 0 gay youth in South Korea…it’s just treated like it’s normal when it’s really not in the culture. ALSO during Minho’s party they made a huge deal about how underage drinking is such a no-no in Korea, but then when Kitty busts everyone for drinking their punishment is one day of detention???😭 I hope I’m not overstepping a boundary but i think it just really shows that even people who aren’t as familiar with the culture can spot all the BS with the little details Yknow
Having gone to middle school in an international school in another country (albeit Spain), I will say that international schools don’t have the the same culture as the schools in the United States. Most of the kids were wealthy with parents who were diplomats or company owners. They lived in an entirely different world than I did. I’m not from Korea and I’ve not been to Korea, so I will leave the comments regarding Korean culture to people who know more about it. One of the things that I couldn’t wrap my head around is how Kitty could attend school in Korea and not even attempt to learn the language. It’s an American show based on an American novel. I’m sure there will be at least one and probably two more “seasons”. So I will be interested in how the story line will progress. Excellent review by the way.
As someone who is obsessed with kdramas and who studies a lot about South Korean culture, watching XO Kitty had me like wtf. First of all the plot didn't make sense. I get that Americans are open minded and all but which parent will willingly and immediately agree to send their child to a whole new different country. Yu Ri was the most selfish character on tha show...I'll just leave that there. Dae needed to learn how to communicate. I also found it really ironic how Kitty the 'matchmaker' could so easily fall for someone who has been nothing but mean to her and who she has only known for a few weeks and leave her boyfriend who she has been in love with for years. Like how fickle was their love. Also, the fact that KISS was a private school is even more reason why it should have been strict. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure Korean private schools don't give you that much free time to be able to kiss in the library. I felt like they tried so hard to make it into something like a kdrama but it just turned into and American series with a bunch of English speaking Koreans in it. Anywaysssssss, I stopped at episode 8 cuz I couldn't stop visibly gagging at everyone in the show cuz of how cringe everything just was. Ps.....I love Min Ho
It was an international school in Seoul...thr curriculum is US-based not Korean-based. I went to an international school in Seoul and some parts are true but the show definitely lacked more info on what students in those schools do.
@Coco L regardingless....the international school in S.Korea is Not like that. If they are going to base it of of that...then they need to dicpict it closer to that.
Not a Korean, but as Asian, I agree we have to study at least 10-12 hours a day. And about the hugging part, it was absolutely true (for our society). I felt that this show was representing the 'Delulu fans or Koreaboos' who think living in Korea is like any other K-Drama for them rather than representing the actual Korean culture. This was totally my opinion...so you're free hate :)
You just basically summed up my feelings about the show lol. Especially the Kitty and Yuri thing, it made no sense, like things became all messed up because Yuri gave Kitty water? LIKE WHAT?! things could've went so differently if Dae was honest.
I feel like the storyline was rushed and the fake dating scenario was so exhausting to watch but I did enjoy parts of the show that focused on Kitty trying to find out about her mother and her friendship with Q. I think they chose to set the story at an international school so that they could still get away with showing a more Westernized dating culture but I can understand why it would be jarring for Korean viewers (or even anyone who's seen a Korean high-teen drama).
Most of the things that occurred in the show were just laughable, even as a person that learnt the majority of my knowledge of korean culture online through variety shows, youtube, kdramas etc. I was expecting to see a lot more of Seoul, expolring and experiencing South Korea to establish more of a connection with her mom, but that was barely even touched upon. I wanted to see a few flashbacks to the experience her Mom had at the school and Kitty learning about it. And as a fan of a lot of 90s kpop I was expecting it to appear more often ESPECIALLY as it was on that cassett tape playlist shown in the trailer.
Could you do more videos about differences between Western countries and South Korea? That would be so cool and interesting actually. I've only been to Korea once so far and my experience has been overwhelmingly positive, but of course I understand my view is not only biased but also very limited, and I always love to learn more. I would also love to hear your take on the changing attitudes in Korea. I feel like a lot of standards are slowly changing, adapting or breaking up, like for example, they didn't even cover Jay Park's tattoos on the last episode of his TV show. I'm not sure if they just forgot, but they aired it regardless without censoring it and I feel like KBS wouldn't have done that just a few years ago. So it seems like there are changes happening in Korean society?
As a 100% Korean who hasn't had the experience of going and living abroad and struggles to fully understand this review video due to the fast-paced English, I still grasp the main idea. I completely agree that this drama fails to properly represent the cultural differences between Korea and America. It comes across as just another American high school romance drama. However, for me, the most painful aspect of this drama is not the accuracy of portraying Korean culture and high school, but rather the characters and their relationships. Well, I already knew that this wasn't a Korean thing when I finished episode 1, and I didn't have high expectations in that regard. So instead of being critical, I decided to enjoy it as a high school romance. so in that point of veiw, I was patient enough when Dae kept repeating "I can explain..." to Kitty without actually explaining anything about their misunderstanding and fake relationship. I was patient again when Yuri stole the necklace. BUT,,,,, Kitty suddenly developing a crush on Yuri.. it was something I couldn't accept. and moreover how could the four-year love (or perhaps just a pen-pal relationship? TT) between Kitty and Dae end up like that? I feel so sorry for Dae. I expected their true love to overcome all the challenges and hoped for a Season 2 of those stories but then well... finally it turns out that it was Minho who was chosen instead (which is not that bad, though...)
Honestly xo kitty feels like a show that embodies the honeymoon phase most kpop/kdrama fans seem to go through in which korea and korea is extremely romanticized and idealized.
It becomes a problem when that culture is being misrepresented and being looked at through rose-tinted glasses. You're on the high but once that wears off, reality hits as subtle as a ton of bricks. Nothing is necessarily wrong with romanticizing something but if that causes you to ignore reality as whole then it becomes a problem.
Bro I’m a full @ss Asian and the only time my mother ever said ‘I’m proud of you‘ was in my nightmare where she tried to k¡ll me 💀 They will *never* say that the closest u can get is a ‘you’re acceptable (but only rn)‘ and a non homophobic Asian mother is like a rare Pokémon card bro 😭✋
The non-homophobic parent part is so true💀 The country that i live in, India, had a HUGE problem with LGBTQ+ members. Even though our government is trying, it's all in vain.
Now I’m not Korean, but I’m pretty sure that in any setting no teacher would walk all the way home, leaving the students without a supervisor in detention, just to get a book for a student because he just so happened to also like a book the teacher likes
Also I was confused with how easily she developed a relationship with the aussie teacher (alex?). Like i get it they are somewhat same age but seeing a teacher start hanging out with a student just seemed weird
I'm SO sorry if it sounds mean, but while watching the show, I thought to myself, "The most accurate thing about this show is that Kitty was failing all of her classes despite A- being her lowest grade when she was still studying in the US." 🤭
I like that they wanted to explore Kitty's Bisexuality but didn't like how forgiving she was with Yuri and ignoring Julianna/Dae. I hate cheating 😅 It was also annoying when Kitty was freaking out about her grades when she knew she could fail early on. She should have switched tutors when she found out she paired with Dae and just focused a little. Can't learn about Korea when you get kicked out for bad grades. That one French kid had bad grades but instead of showing the study culture they decided to have him cheat and GET AWAY WITH IT
"Korean high schoolers do not party." "Korean students study." "Korean high schoolers do not make out in public." "Koreans do not hug the opposite sex unless they are interested romantically." "Korean parents are not supportive their high school children being in a relationship." "Korean parents do not say 'I'm proud of you'." Aren't these basically Asian things 😭
The story is set in Korea and he can only speak for Korean because he is Korean so you guess. But as asian - Filipino, we're more loose compared to Koreans when it comes to studying and partying so can't really say these traits speak for all Asians. Some are unique to Koreans
Its keep saying" Korean don't do this, Korean don't do that m" but none of these Kids were actually Korean and those who were lived abroad(exept for Dae) now i'm starting to think I'm the only one who noticed it.
This show would be so cool if it were just Kitty unravelling a mystery about her mother in between trying not to flunk out of school by studying, and making some friends along the way. Something like a slice of life with romance and mystery subplots.
I totally agree with the cringe factor. There were too many scenes where Kitty was talking about her mom when nobody asked like why tf I'm not Korean or any type of Asian, but as a East European I definitely understand the judgemental society and was cringing a lot on the scene where Kitty gave a whole speech about her mother when nobody has asked for it
Yeah but her friend told her standing on tables and making speeches is disrespectful here so don't do that. It's not like nobody called her out when she was doing this stuff.
In defense of the series, they don't consider the school as korean since they at some moment even said 80% are international students, minho might be korean but lives most of the time in LA with his mom or with his father (in france?). And therefore Yuris mom might be more open and less strict since she simply has to or western parents wouldn't send her children to her school + she gets exposed to western parenting all the time
American shows and movies always have been portraying other cultures based on their own to make them relatable for the American audience, sacrificing accuracy. It's quite disturbing for the people from those countries and give the wrong image to the audience... While you could say that it's nice that they try to show the culture of another country, sometimes half knowledge is more damaging than the absolute lack of it, as the audience has the impression that now they know about that country, yet having a false image in their head.
I think he's not even trying to investigate, I'm Mexican and believe that my country always appears in the middle of a desert with a sepia filter.The women and men with mostly unrealistic clothing, if they don't even investigate a country that is so close, even less would they investigate a country that is on the other side of the sea
Just like how French hate Emily in Paris, not to mention all the cringy streotype regarding french culture and somehow all the hottest man simp over the great american lady.
tbh America fails to represent cultures inside itself as well. As a black American, I cringe watching shows or movies meant for us but written by non blk americans 😭 it’s always some stereotypical plot with a few elements of black culture anyone could implement without actually studying.. not to mention how it’s portrayed outside of US 😅
One thing that felt off about this show for me was the family dynamics between each Korean family I don’t know how to phrase it with evidence but it felt like how Western people THINK Korean families are like. It just felt so artificial. Also, the whole show was just an American show filmed in Korea imo. Your favorite scene was coincidentally my favorite scene though I also liked the scenes of Korea’s complex public transport system that can be hard for foreigners to navigate through It feels really odd to me that the writer is a Korean American because it did feel like a fetishistic view of Korean culture (which has its merits and demerits). Also, one thing that irks me is when people say this felt like a crossover between an American tv show and a kdrama - because it did not at all. It just felt like an American show set in Korea so they included things about how they believe Korea is like without doing too much research into things like general ideologies surrounding relationships, study habits etc
Does Korea have a particularly complex public transport system?? I found it so much easier than our one in Britain...maybe Britain's is just impossible 😅
XO, Kitty is not a K drama. It's an American high school drama set in an international school in Korea. International schools are a world unto themselves, separate from the culture of the country that they're in. Much like how expat communities and ethnic enclaves reflect their own cultures, not the culture of the larger society they're in. I am Taiwanese American. I've lived most of my life in the US and went to high school in Taiwan. I attended the international section of a Taiwanese school and I can tell you, the international section was very different from the rest of the school and the larger Taiwanese community. We certainly did not study as much as the Taiwanese students, didn't go to afterschool tutoring, and some of us did make out at school. What your video highlights to me is the cultural difference between people in the ethnic country of origin and people in the diaspora. You are looking at XO, Kitty as if it is a Korean show, set in Korea, about Korean people, written and produced by Korean As a person in the diaspora of a similar culture, I see XO, Kitty as an American show, set in an international school, which has a separate culture that has nothing to do with the culture of the country it is in. Okay, some of the plot points in XO, Kitty were a bit ridiculous, but so are many in K dramas. Examples: the lack of patient confidentiality in K dramas, or the use of the white truck of doom, or people getting sick from rain. Doesn't stop me from watching K dramas, though!
What you just said about dating , making out in public , the pressure of studies, LQBTQ+ stuff it actually apply to most of the asians countries. If the parents got to know that instead of studing we are having realtionship, having late night parties and drinking alcohol they will kill us without any second thought . And showing private interactions in public that's a big no even if you are adult.
Wow! Excellent critique. I was surprised about the content, until I read the details of it. This is an American show written by an American author. It's pseudo Korean. From the interviews I've read, Jenny Han apparently writes typical Young Adult stories that just happen to have characters of Asian descent.
what i found really annoying was that she said she was going to korea to learn more about her mom and the culture but then she never went out to explore korea? like she found a tree her mom took a picture in front of and decided that was good enough??
I'm not Korean but just from hearing about what Korean culture is like from friends who are actually living there, I can tell this show was completely tailored to fit western standards, everything was incredibly unrealistic and it was basically a romantized version of what a Koreaboo thinks of South Korea. Not once did this show shed light on how toxic the culture can be as well, with the xenophobia, the harsh academic pressure put on students, the school violence, the beauty standards, how the overall dating culture operates- there was no mention or proper representation of any of that. It was just really weird and superfical. Something else that seemed weird about this show in particular was the progressivity of LGBT perception/acceptance. It's heavily frowned upon so it's kind of weird how this show portrayed the gay couples being open when South Korea is a conservative country where it isn't even legal for same-sex couples to get married. Also, I doubt a lot of Korean kids would even have the time to have gigantic parties and have sex in the school libraries, THAT in itself shows how unrealistic this show is.
@@onceafetus426 they just saw your black profile picture and had to talk about it …i wonder if they did this with white profile pictures that had similar opinions. Doubt it. The world is obsessed with us , it’s okay .
As a person who lived in Korea for over 13 years and still counts as a foreigner, wtf. The show literally changes the idea of Korean schools, with all of the parties and crap. WE DO NOT HAVE THESE. Also, the judging is real. It’s just a whitewashed/westernized kdrama😭
OMG I LAUGHED SO HARD WATCHING THIS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I’m also korean living overseas, and I saw some comment that international school in Korea can be somewhat like what we saw in this show. I don’t know if this true and I don’t care tbh. I considered this show as just another American show in Netflix, didn’t have any expectation on how Korea will be portrayed, so yeah… What I empathize the most is about dae and yuri and I can’t get over how this guys perfectly described the same feeling I went through. The characters in this show never listen, always repeat “I can explain” without actually explaining. Not just dae, even kitty do the same to yuri when she find out about her half brother. These two girls arguing on the stage while doing fan dance was the most ridiculous part. Kitty having feeling for someone who just ran away as soon as she was on fire by the accident caused by both of them. Just funny at this point. I purely finished this show, thanks to Minho. I’ll still watch season 2 if it release, hope I don’t go through this pain again and enjoy watching my Minho TT
So glad someone said it! I was really excited for this show, because I watch so many kdramas I thought “wow, it’d be nice to have a show that combines an American show with a kdrama in a way” like both worlds meeting, but I felt like the story lines and dialogue were just so underwhelming and unrealistic. There could have been so much depth, but they must have just rushed through everything. 🤷🏻♀️
An acquaintance of mine who attended an international school told me that it's a pretty accurate representation of reality of international school,especially the school dance scene. Korean international schools have high tuition fees and are mostly attended by children from wealthy families. Almost all the teachers are not Korean. It doesn't matter if the main character doesn't speak Korean.
I think people are forgetting this is an international school not a korean school. I used to teach at a korean high school and my students dated each other openly and held hands. Yes, they focused on studying but they also dated haha
I attended an international school in America where a huge demographic were from Korea (probably a quarter of the school were from Korea and had attended international schools there as well). Studying was still the priority for most. Parties like the ones shown here were definitely not a thing, though drinking at a kickback with your select friends was. And this was in America. Asian parents are very strict; that doesn't change just bc you're going to a westernish school. The culture is very strong and follows you everywhere.
Korean parents are Korean parents, Korean people are Korean people EVEN IN AMERICA! The Eastern and Asian people with their conservative cultures, strict parenting system, mindset, morality, and what they can tolerate and what not, are HARDLY to change even in america! And it gets even MORE HARDER when it comes to MIDDLE & UPPER MIDDLE CLASS PEOPLE like mostly in the show. So sorry but it really hard for me to believe that this miracle of Americanization is already happened in the east on the land of Korea for A WHOLE EASTERN SCHOOL, when it didn't yet here in the west itself! LMFAO 🤣
I started talking to my Film teacher about XO, Kitty. She said that she was very happy to see her daughter watch a show that showcases other cultures and countries and languages. What she didn’t know was, as someone who has lived in South Korea, I was horrified at the way that Korea was portrayed. Like what was mentioned briefly, so many topics that are real issues in Korea like racism and Xenophobia and realistic wealth issues just aren’t talked about. It even affects the characters and how they’re portrayed. As cringie as she was, I would take Madison, a girl who is learning the language of the country she is living in and who worries about cultural sensitivity, versus Kitty, who can’t even say hello correctly after living there for weeks or months. I’m so disappointed, because I thought that this could be the show that really tackles culture and shows what other cultures are like to American audiences, but it was just a disappointment after a disappointment after disappointment
Yeah, after all the stuff Yuri did, I didn’t even want to watch after Kitty started liking her. I can see romance between a main character and a reformed antagonist but that literally happened while Yuri was in the middle of having stolen the necklace and leading up to it she didn’t just fake her relationship with Dae she went out of her way for no reason to make Kitty see and feel as bad about it as possible.
I am an avid kdrama watcher and seeing a somewhat kdrama setting with western actors was an intriguing idea, however I should’ve known that I was going to find this cringe and unsettling. Not just at the representation, but the story itself. She went to SK to find more about her mum, but ended up finding stuff about everyone else except her mum. As well as her relationship with Yuri made zero sense for all the reasons you pointed out. I was super disappointed and it reminded me why I watch kdramas in the first place. It’s not because it’s set in Korea, but because their filming techniques and storyline’s are just so much better.
Oooh my gosh thank you so much for acknowledging all the things that were bugging me in this show! I’m Canadian and French, I don’t know much about Korean culture but I watch Kdramas and did a lot of research on my own about school pressure, suicide issues, homophobia, etc in Korea and when I watched this show I was like… WHAT IS GOING ON? It was so freakin unrealistic!! And just like you said it was ridiculous that Kitty suddenly started liking Yuri even though she was acting HORRIBLY the whole time behind her back. Minho definitely helped me finish the show, and I’m so disappointed because this could’ve been incredible but they decided to ‘Americanize’ Korean culture. I love learning about foreign cultures and this is why, even though im not Korean, im so frustrated because it could’ve been a great way to learn more about the real differences between two countries… Let’s just remember the best romance in this show: Minho and skincare (bye bye toxic masculinity~~)
I agree. Another thing is that we didn't really get to see at lot of Minho and Kitty scenes where you could actually tell something was coming. Like all of a sudden she gets kicked out of KISS, breaks up with Dae, ALMOST confessing to Yuri, hops on the plane and somehow Minho likes her then she has a smile on her face indicating that she now forgot about Yuri and Dae and now likes Minho in the span of 1 minute.? And it's very obvious that she thinks she's still in America. When she came she was literally speaking in English. I don't know about you but I would have gotten a transator or something. And she didn't even bother to learn any Korean what so ever before going to a full on Korean country. Yeah I was kinda disappointed too.
Writing a Teen netflix romcom starter packs: Make the protagonist the most unlikable character you can possibly imagine but not bad enough that they become an Antagonist ✅️ The Main character must have at least 3 boyfriends throughout the show OR at the same time ✅️ It's fine if the main character does a mistake but if any other character does the same It's the end of the world ✅️ A dash of 💅 and cultural appreciation because who even cares about the plot as long as they are kissing every minorities 🍑 ✅️
😄 "i am proud of you" hahah you're so funny. I totally agree. i mean ... i am from denmark - not asian at all. i am so happy to hear a korean speak about this show. i liked the show for the superficial fluff that it was. undercooked and highly highly Americanized. it is like america - but in korea. and yes MINHO was like the main pull for most people honestly. he was great. the rest of the story was bad. it felt like setting it in seoul, was done because korea is really popular now. to get more views, but not actually representing korea very well. they tried i guess.
I enjoyed your criticism about de show but also how you gave it some points on certain accepts as someone who hasnt seen it I personally enjoyed your reviews
I honestly enjoyed this show and would recommend it to others, despite the fact on how un-realistic it is. Although all the events (that would never happen in real life) made the show seem more interesting, it probably would have turned out better if it would have more events that would actually happen so people can get an understanding of the difference between Korean and American schools.
As a european that watches kdramas, this felt like a western drama filmed in korean where all the koreans are all Americanised. But honestly the worst part for me was that she wanted to go to korea, study in korea but made NO EFFORT TO LEARN KOREAN?? it was just a bad show
exactly how i felt!!! i feel like the reality of koreans was soo off!! it was a smash of western culture in korea... while even my culture and family will never relate to this as an asian! and omg the whole show had irrational moments (i can explain) it killed me too!! oh and dont forget the large amount of popular kpop songs... this is why i prefer kdramas because it makes much sense than western shows, though i do love stranger things :) its the only show that i can watch without killing my brain... however i did love the show since they did try to show the korean modern culture and past and it was overall an okay show, i mean it wasnt THAT bad, it was just unique and cringy hehe and gosh even here if opposite sex people hug- then people will judge you too... but in my school they hug because i am in an international school so... in conclusion the western culture can greatly influence some people ;)
I'm a little conflicted. I'm not Korean (I'm Vietnamese American), so I can't judge how accurate the portrayal of South Korea is. This review seems genuine and I trust it. I heard great things from a friend of mine (she isn't Korean so she also wouldn't be aware of how accurate the culture portrayal is), but I've found reviews online that aren't as positive. I thought about watching it, but now I'm not sure. I tend to really have a hard time watching overly cringy shows that also have characters that I can't support
I won’t lie, maybe attempt to watch it?? I didn’t like the extra messy love quadrilateral thing and some other unrealistic aspects but otherwise it was okay. These people in the comment section didn’t watch it and are clearly koreaboos. Make your own opinion PLEASE!
The entire series was set in an International school. They don't even let most Koreans apply to these schools. This is barely about Korea. It's litterally a boarding school teen drama that happen to be in SK.
I agree because they kiss everywhere it was like your normal American drama show but just in South Korea and also the loop song every second in the series . The drama in all was cringe worthy
Definitely the best review and take on the series. Korean Film&Television is currently the new Hollywood.. and most kdramas have managed to maintain both the entertainment element while still being respectful of traditional / cultural norms of South Korea. XO Kitty unfortunately missed a lot of this and the plot was rather overwhelmingly westernised. I wish they could have taken reference from shows True Beauty, Love Alarm, and even Boys Over Flowers or Itaewon Class (based on its international appeal & the direction of tackling 🇰🇷 societal issues such discrimination) . Looking forward to your next review🔥
What you thought about the way the show portrayed underage drinking in Korea? My Korean friend def drank alcohol underage and the show making it into such a big deal that Korean Teens Just Don't Drink felt bizarre; totally get that focus on studying would mean less partying, but partying without drinking felt like a weird way to go around it and doesn't reflect my understanding of how it is for teens.
it was one of the most boring shows ever honestly. While i do appreciate the point you're making, it'd just have been a little better had you acknowledged that korea itself does not always portray other countries realistically, or even favorably.
I mean, no, they often don't but it was the point of this show or should have been. And I can laugh it off if another country misrepresents the country I'm from but if it should (in a light-hearted way) explain the differences of cultures and would miss the point I'd be upset too and that's the difference. If I'm interested in another culture I try to at least make an effort to get things right. Personally I'm also interested in Korean culture and I've already learned a lot. But there are also a lot of things I don't know yet and still need to learn. So I'm grateful to educate myself. If others get interested in Korean culture and this is the first thing they watch it can even be misleading.
What you said is so accurate! I'm Canadian, and when I was in high school, I made friends with some South Korean students online. We barely even found time to talk, because every time I would text them, they were almost always in school, or studying. Even on holidays! 🤣We could usually only talk at night for about an hour at most every once in a while. In terms of partying, one of my friends genuinely thought that Western students go to parties every week, (some do, but not all) and when I seemed confused, he explained that in Korea, big house parties are pretty much not a thing for normal people.
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
‘Kitty in Korea’ felt like ‘Emily in Paris’. Like the least you can do when writing a show is to study the social norms and culture of the country you are basing the drama on.
finally someone saying it. for me, it's somewhat entertaining to watch actors from both series acting cringe and doing unreasonable things, but i would never consider watching them again
Madison Americanizing the other students in the Breakfast Club scene made me cringe. It may be an American drama, but S. Korea has its own culture.
atleast emily in pais is entertaining and lily collins is a amazing actor but xo kitty...
Yet I somewhat liked Emily in Paris more!
They where both directed by the same person and XO Kitty was never supposed to be like a Kdrame, it was just an American show based in Korea.
I felt robbed because Kitty talked 90% about finding out more about her Mom and Korea yet everything was about the love quadrangle and high school misunderstandings/drama. Veery dissatisfied with how it turned out.
That’s basically the main reason why she wanted to go the the school. Even when she presented the slide show to convince her dad to let her move to Korea the main reason was because of love. Wanting to find out more about her mom was secondary.
The Show always presented it as 'but also, my boyfriend is there" as the main excitement point for going overseas for school. Also, this is a 'to all the boys....' spinoff, which IS a goofy romantic comedy that isn't realistic to start with. This exists in the same world as those movies. So using goofy romantic tropes like the show uses is in tone of its parent films.
It's literally not meant to be the serious story of a girl connecting to her mother that she never met. Like I am sure she wonders about her and for the character it's justified. But like a teenager, the issue right in front of her is her boyfriend issues. She's not fully matured or fully making the right choices for the right reasons. That's kinda the POINT and a point from which hopefully the character can see some growth.
4 ppl? i thought itd be just minho and uh her now ex boyfriend or smth 😭😭like who else is there then
@@calesnr1fanandworshipper I don't want to spoil it for you if you haven't finished yet. Lol
@@cataguti0 she said she was afraid of losing Dae as a friend. Basically jealousy.
as someone who attended an international school in Korea this show was honestly nothing like I'd imagined. even in international schools kids still tend to study 98% of the time. this review was also so accurate i realized how funny it was. also it was just badLOL
LOL maybe it depends on the international school cus the international school in korea i went to had a LOT of students who would slack and party
@@hanabinix I think it depends what board you're doing because if an International School had IB then the students would be a lot more stressed out
lmao same i attended yonsei for a while and it was deada** mostly studying. but even those who had fun did it lowkey. it wasnt crazy.
i agree but tbh watching a series about them studying 24/7 would just be boring, in most of tv series/movies studying isn't shown nor does it represented a realistic school life
@@BlueBirdsFIyYonsei is not an international high school, but a Korean university.
The amount of opportunities Dae had to tell Kitty the relationship was fake but didn’t actually made me so angry I thought I was going to EXPLODE 😂
For real! My mom and I watched it together and she and I would always rage whenever they would talk and he wouldn’t tell her
REAL
RIGHHT!! And why did it end like that… it was seriously so odd after watching so many kdramas
I hate bs like that. atp It's just bad writing.
Poor writing.
I thought it was funny how she was an honor student when in the US, but needed tutoring when she got to Korea. That was a huge difference. She was quite surprised and stressed about this.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 a big misrepresentation especially from schools well funded
It feeds into the racist stereotype that all Asians are smart
Exactly some of it was very accurate!
This has happened to me when I went from Queensland to NSW and realized the grading expectations were different.
Happened in reverse. Came from a school from the Carrebean and end up skipping a grade back in the US.
“Making out in school, we don’t do that”
sounds like euphoria but for kids 😭
I hate western tv pushing +18 stuff to kids. Euphoria is just porn with story. I have seen less mature content in yaoi and smut manga/manhwas.
As a Korean who was born and raised in Korea, I can confirm this review is accurate. I didn't really enjoy the show because of how they portrayed the culture. The show could've been way better😂 Also, we DON'T party in high school, but it's not like we don't have the time to party at all. It's just not a korean thing. We’re expected to study hard, but we do have time to do what we like once in a while.
That's helpful. Thanks
The portray more of an American culture in Korea.
@@citamora yeah i think its more reflective of 2nd gen immigrant life in america or smth but i think i heard the say in an interview its supposed to be a 'blend' of korean and american teen dramas
Im not korean and i noticed that this show dont represent Korea at all , and the high schools there. in my opinion
Well talking about portraying culture, neither do some kdrams have done it realistically. I have seen so many kdrams portraying foreign culture like black people or Indian people and man the stereotype??? It was insane and very much disturbing. As an indian, one of the scenes really made me feel weird. I think this is not the problem of only one country. In every film/drama industry, all around the world, most of them portray the stereotypes only of what THEY know and they don't even try to research before showing foreign cultures. The film industry here has did it too and it annoys me. Why can't the directors at least research a bit. I hope this situation improves for every industry and country out there.
You cannot convince me that this show isn't a tactic to reel in Koreaboos. Kitty is the epitome of a Koreaboos self insert. She is a teenage girl who looks mostly white, doesn't know any Korean, but somehow has 2 hot Korean guys in love with her, and isnt bullied at school, despite not fitting the beauty standards WHATSOEVER. Shes basically what every Koreaboo imagines theyd be like if they moved to Korea. And the Kpop songs playing at the most random times that dont even match the context 💀 100% Koreaboo bait
This💀 it screams koreaboo energy
Lol😂
A little harsh but true
Kitty is half Korean though and wanted to be closer to her mom's roots. Westerners have made up useless words to ostracize people and koreaboo is one of those. Nothing wrong with wanting to learn about another culture.
wow that makes better sense....
''The only likeable character in this show is Minho, for obvious reasons. DAMN'' Spoke my brain 💀
Something I found funny about the show is when they played kpop songs on the most random times😭
netflix need a reminder about its not about america.
LMAOO
Idk I found that amusing 🤣 No, but seriously at least they toned it down after a few episodes, because in the 1-2 they kinda played kpop songs constantly and it was too much. Like Minho's entrance to Hot was iconic and very well fitted but most of the other songs were just there. I appreciated them ofc and was jamming to them but whaaat?
For real though i could just be watching the most random scene in that show and all of a suddently *kpop starts playing*
@@bogik.3047 and when I can’t stop me suddenly played 💀
If anything I'm suprised people didn't bully or mock Kitty for how she acted. It was just unrealistic, and while i don't know much about Korean culture even I can see how it didn't show the pitfalls and the differences. It really was a mixed opportunity and ironically even i could probably write something better even with my limited knowledge.
same man..i am wondering how it's trending on Netflix rn...
The school was international tho? 😂
She went to a private boarding school filled with foreign exchange students
I swear, what happened to baking a whole cake on the protagonist because she's weird?
Her name is Anna Cathcart not Kitty 😭 (it's okay tho)
I am half Korean half american who wasn't raised in Korea but still fully agree with this review. I obviously wasn't able to learn the culture in Korea by physically being there but I did learn a lot from my Korean dad and just studying about it. the whole I was watching the show, I felt uncomfortable because it 100% showed a koreaboo wattpad story. it was way too Americanized despite the fact that kitty is literally half Korean. a thing that kind of bothered me was that Yuri's family 85% of the time spoke English with each other although they are a Korean family living in Korea. I wish Netflix actually studied more on the culture and showing the culture in the show.
Yeah. You can tell that they are using these whitewashed k-dramas as a money grab rather than actual important representation of other cultures.
for real
exactly, i found it so strange for a korean family living in korea and barely even speaking their own language?? 😭 my asian parents would disown me
What's crazy is that (at least for Australia) they have heeeeaps of kdramas on Netflix for viewers to watch yet seemingly didn't even bother to cross reference them... Hell, some of the kdramas actually did put characters into different countries/cultural settings and contrasted things correctly so there's literally no excuse 😭
tbh it was never meant to even be 'koreanized" it also was never meant to be a "kdrama' its an a american show...so obivious. but i do agree it was a bit cringy at times but makes sense because it is an AMERICAN show.
as a southeast asian myself im so happy and relieved someone finally spoke out abt this. i had an existential crisis while the show progressed and wondered why no one spoke or had said any constructive critism abt the show.
yesss!! I'm Malaysian Chinese so watching this really made cringe sometimes LOL. It really highlighted huge differences between Asian and Western culture
@@JcaHalim hi im also malaysian 🤣
why are you having an existensial crisis when youre not even east asian?? im korean myself but im not being dramatic about it while y'all are having "existensial crisis" like bffr💀youre not even participating in any east asian culture enough to be crying about it literally stay in your lane
Hi guyss i'm Indonesian... We're neighbor😂
Hi, I'm Malaysian too and haven't watched the show (I don't have Netflix but my mom does). From the clips I see online, I think it's more or less an American teen drama series set in Korea instead 😂
You just crushed the hearts of every western girl who's obsessed with K-Pop and believe living in Korea is just like this show.
I am a western girl but I know that korea is OBVIOUSLY not like it is seen in shows, movies etc. It's a very xenophobic country, unfortunately.
Ikr🥺
those koreaboos are literally just self inserting themselves through the white ginger girl 😭😭
As he should 😂🎉
Luckily I made it out of this fantasy before it was too late.
There’s a term in Korean (눈치=noon-chee) that means something like “reading the room” and it mainly involves knowing how to act minding other people and being more thoughtful, respectful, and yes, thinking what the others would think. This 눈치 is something that Koreans have and judge someone that doesn’t have. Kitty didn’t have an ounce of 눈치 and it was almost unbearable. It is more common in the US, but still… I don’t know
Damn, in Brazil we have a similar expression for this, ''Ter o senso''. The sentence can be translated into English ''Having a sense''. And there are tons of meanings, (critic sense, common sense, moral sense, humour sense, good sense). One of them is simply: 'Having a clear judgment, prudence, discernment. Knowing, being aware of your acts in society.' So if anyone doesn't 'have a sense', they'll be just like Kitty.
ME BEING AN IDIAN HERE THINKING ARE KOREANS LIKE THIS???? AIN'T THEY PART OF ASIA OR WHAT????
@vluessky @@vig4259 heyy I'm French Canadian and we also have an expression like this! if you say "y'a pas d'allure" about someone it would translate to "they have no sense", "they don't know how to carry themselves", "they have no style", etc. This expression can be used in disapproval of what the person did or said, and can be used many contexts. it's mostly used as judgement towards one's actions, manners or way they present themselves. Kitty al'a pas d'allure tbh 😭
@@ibleedchardonnay Wow, amazing! Pretty similar, hehe! 🤠
I'm Canadian and I think we need something like that because too many people here feel too bold about doing stupid things.
Bro as an Asian I was so dissatisfied with this
Edit: Damn my mom might be proud of me now
Maybe because I'm not an *EAST* asian i don't understand why. Could you explain your view?
I hated who played the main character her teeth triggered me each and everytime sorry not sorry
@@Lilac_TaylorsVer it's like 'lets try to make a dorama but make it american"
with what?
@@allanamaya6103this is incredible how conditioned people are to expect boring perfect ideal visuals.
I found it cute and refreshing. Not everyone needs veneers. I actually hate the look of them, usually they look so artificial.
XO Kitty had so much potential, but it got so many clichés that even I can't bear to watch the whole thing. The younger people probably like this more than I do.
even I didn't like it/
I'm a 'younger people' didn't like it one bit, before the reviews to me it just felt so fake, like i didn't understand it
yep i watched it and for me it was like the korean version of emily in paris. A female american character goes to a foreign country with little to no knowledge of cultural sensitivity and does crazy stuff and as usual everyone’s ok with it because they depict the cultural differences so badly. I cringed so hard when she kept bumping into ppl every time she walked on the streets. I think they wanted her to look quirky and clumsy but she just came off as obnoxious and annoying.
I think I'm part of the younger that you're refuring to and honestly I only watched it cause I was bored and I liked Kitty's character originally. Honestly she was nothing like the fierce girl I remembered and the show made me loose braincells
Please, i'm younger and i did not like it. I could bear the cringe because i found the plot interesting in the first half, but by the end of the season no characters remained likable to me.
This is some 14 yr koreaboo wattpad written stuff💀
Lol
bruh exacly that💀
😂😂😂😂😂
100%
LITERALLY
I think some of these issues would have made more sense had Kitty been a collage student that came to Korea as an exchange student. It would give her room to interact with the other cast, learn the different expectations when it comes to adulthood, and also have more of an incentive that make sense to come to the country.
Also I would have liked to see her interact with Margo and Lara Jean too. They are her sisters and it would have been nice to see her be supported by her sisters and ask them for advice as she navigated her newfound boyfriend/girlfriend.
I think with Yuri I would have preferred her just being Kitty’s new roommate after the filming incident. I agree that they made her too much of a mean girl and made Kitty falling for her made no sense. It would have been really nice to see her guiding Kitty through her experience with Korea and Kitty help her come to terms with her being in the closet.
With Minho I would have liked to see his relationship with his mother. Being in the stardom is not easy in Korea. And I would have liked to see Minho having the pressure of keeping up with his mother and public perception of him being her son.
I would have also liked to see Kitty having a bit of a chaotic reel about her “not being Korean enough” due to her lack of understanding about the culture itself. It would be interesting to see her realize all she heard from families and from the US is not all she imagined. And she feels overwhelmed that she did not know enough of Korean culture.
Yes exactly!
Real.
I will never understand why it always have to be a high school. I am still bitter how Fast and Furious Tokyio Drift has to be a story about high school kids, when it is clearly collage standard... So many movies make no sense for that exact reason. Young adults are different than teenagers
@@soleil7259 EXACTLY!! High school students aren’t free from consequences just cus they’re minors. The media shouldn’t even be perpetuating this idea that it’s the perfect place for carelessness and lack of accountability cus that’s when things escalate
this hits every single nail on the head, i love the chaos of the show but it could've done so much better
As an Indian and a Kpop & Kdrama fan for more than a decade, i truly agree with this . And another unrealistic part was Dae's family. His father is the driver of a Chaebol, they can't be that poor, there's no way they can't afford a new shoe for Dae's sister and tuition fees for Dae. Even their house was literally middle class istg !! 🤣 the series was overall cringey. Minho's sass saved the entire XO, Kitty.
omg same-
Yesss exactly. The not buying shoe part was so unrealistic, like they tried showing him dirt poor like in Parasite, when he was so far away from that he was definitely middle class.
As an Indian I'm kind of happy they got to feel what I feel with the way Indian culture is shown in some kdramas.
They do? Omg recommendations??
Omg same... I tried so hard to look for the positive side but the way they kept Americanizing the whole Korean culture was getting on my nerves.
Xo kitty is like when Disney channel tries to make a kdrama
As a person that has watched sooo many different Korean Dramas, I can completely agree with the things you are saying, even though I'm from the USA. I was very disappointed in XO Kitty it felt that it was too Americanized for it being based in Korea. I felt like they were trying too hard to bring in the American culture upon the Korean culture which isn't very fair considering where the show was based in. I've watched a ton of K-Dramas to see the differences in the way we act VS. Koreans. I was very excited for the show to come out seeing how I love K-Dramas and was expecting so much more from the show than this. Instead, it felt like any other kind of American TV show. If they renewed for another season, I don't think I will be watching it.
I didn't even think it was a kdrama at first based on the clips i saw. I thought it was an American show also based on how popular it is lmao
@@ellulove7543 to all the boys I loved before was very popular that’s true. I guess my expectations were too high for this show 😅
@@ellulove7543IT IS omggg why do people keep talking bout the show like it’s advertised as a k-drama lol it’s not. It’s literally an American romantic Comedy. Treating it like a k-drama or expecting it to be was setting yourself up. Like it’s based in Korea but she is going to an international where most kids there aren’t Korean.
@Oyin Olubayo okay yeah it makes more sense, thanks.
I was like, where y'all see the kdrama?
@@oyinolubayo7079 I’m not saying I thought the show was gonna be just like a kdrama. I was saying the show could have been a little different agreeing with this video because of the different cultures and them trying to squeeze in every American aspect on Korean culture just wasn’t really fair. I’m just saying they could have done better in that department allowing us viewers, maybe that have never seen how they act their or never seen any Kdramas to actually get a feel for what it could be like there instead of just giving us the American culture. I understand the show is literally from America but if your gonna incorporate a different culture, at least make it right 🤦♀️
As a Hispanic I relate to a lot of the things you were mentioning since many Hispanic parents can be extremely strict and controlling. My friends and I would NEVER get away with going to parties, drinking, sex, even holding hands, in high school and LGBTQ is extremely looked down upon as well. I would be extremely livid if this is how they portrayed my culture. It’s extremely disappointing how little research they put into this show when it could have actually portrayed Korean culture realistically.
That’s such a lie. Hispanics are known to have the biggest and extravagant parties with a lot of nudity like carnaval etc. Hispanics are the complete opposite of Asians. Hispanic behave more like westerners like being wild, dressing sexual, drinking alcohol, partying, gang culture etc. There’s a reason for the wild Latina stereotype.
It seems the makers of the show didn't even watch any kdramas to get the idea of cultural norms 😂
Same with Soulaan parents too! I agree with everything you said!
What part are you from? Where i live this is all common
@@LylyNynx yaköu ainüntüt lülieee😭! soulaan parents are the same exact way
Most of what Kitty did would be embarrassing in the States too 😂. Also not every American teenager is drinking, doing drugs, having sex and partying. A lot of my friends did that in high school so I’m not gonna lie that it does happen but I did have friends who were more gamers, tvshow bingers, played sports and hung mainly with their families and enjoyed REAL teenage stuff. The show was poorly written period….like alot of Netflix’s teen series. They all are unrealistic no matter the culture or language. Very rarely is there a good teen flick on there.
Right.
True that
Sounds like 8ts taking the 90s and 2000s movie Boomer route with high school life, where high school is portrayed as wild, when in reality that is not the case.
I’m a teenager and I have never done drugs, smoke, have sex, or drink. But I still go to parties, you don’t need to be doing all those thing to have fun. Also some of my friends are also like this except they vape. Some ppl will think I’m boring for not doing those things, but at least I’m not a addicted to any drugs, I’m not pregnant, I’m not an alcoholic, and at least I’m talking care myself instead of wasting money on those things.
@@Armand0627 Good on you kid, do what you want and don't bend to negative peer pressure for anyone, not even your "friends". Older you will be thankful that you have a good head on your shoulders rn.
The thing that annoyed me the most is how Kitty didn’t even bother to try learning Korean.
The show is REALLY unrealistic bc if a girl who looked like kitty went to a Korean school she would’ve been bullied bc of the way she looks, since she’s Ugly according to their beauty standards
But this was basically « kitty in Korea »
Thats exactly what I thought. It felt like a Koreaboo thinking all the hot Korean guys would think she was "exotic" when shes just ugly in their standards.
Not only her looks but also her personality. Like I don't think she respects Korean culture at all. She doesn't look like she tried enough to learn Korean and as their teacher said not everyone's on her timetable but she expects Q to root of her 24/7 and I think that was very selfish and self-centered of her.
Reallllllllll........in reality they would most likely have bullied her back to the States
I dont think you know Korean beauty standards if you think she would be considered ugly
no she wouldn’t… theres korean students who fit the beauty standards way less than her and dont get bullied.
you think you have to be a supermodel to not be bullied in south korea??
Real, I feel like they didn’t get the idea of how the standard in Korea is way different then the US.
I don't think you understand this is an international school filled with UPPER MIDDLE CLASS AND WEALTHY PEOPLE
Also, a school, which Yuri said, "KISS is filled with foreign students you'll fit right in
@@CDavis937 None of that explains this. The clips like in the cafetaria still show most of them are Korean, and it plays out in Korea. To then have the students be obsessed with sex, kissing, partying etc. is beyond unrealistic. Them being upper middle class or rich makes no difference to this, being rich doesn't erase Korean culture from your family? Many upper middle class and wealthy people are even MORE pressured to do well in the already insanely competitive academics of Korea, because their family doesn't want them to be a '''failure'' as they will most likely inherit some sort of wealth. Even Kitty herself needed tutoring when she went to Korea even though she was the top of her class in America, this in and of itself shows how hard her school was, yet somehow all the students are busy with parties all the time?
And even if you tried to excuse the entire BS about the school, them showing the mom so easily accept that her daughter is gay was insanely lazy writing. They went from fearing for their coming out the whole time, to suddenly being accepted because Netflix needed a happy ending even if it is beyond rare. It is undeniable that this movie was written for a western audience, specifically an american one, and is COMPLETELY inaccurate to Korean culture. Just because there are foreign students in the school doesnt excuse bad writing. A few foreign students dont get rid of koreas homophobia, or how strict the exams and schools are there, or how students arent focusing on partying and sex all the time. If they wanted this movie to make a little more sense, they shouldve just made it about a korean student coming to america, why even bother with representation when you just wanna turn it into america like always?
@@CDavis937uhh... No thats far from the reality... When ur in a noble or wealthy family ur expected to do well in ur academic, sure they party and what not.. But not like the one in the show
Fr
As a black girl with Japanese decent (My mum is Blasian and my dad is black) I visited Japan to see my culture for a month and let's just say Japanese schools is WAY different than American schools, especially high school. If I compare XO Kitty to be more American or Japanese then chances are its going to be more American than Japanese, Korean, ect. Even in America I only study. Though my classmates go to party. My mum is very strict on education and WON'T allow me to date at all. So yeah when I watch this show to see students making out, party, drinking, stuff like that I called in bs lol. I relate alot with this review than the show itself. Kinda sad though. Will watch more Korean shows than America trying to write Korean shows lol. Love the review.
dae : i think yuri took the necklace
kitty: i know yuri makes you breathless
this scene literally chocked me 🤯🤯🤯
Indeed !!! ..😂😂
AHAHAAHAHAHA YOU MADE MY DAY
As a south asian, I can understand many things like strict parents, pressure of studies (Though not like South Korea which is extreme),specially no close interaction with opposite gender friends even with bf/gf publicly, going out without telling at home, partying late night, drinking etc in school even as an adult it is frowned upon,LGBTQ things are banned etc. I can relate to these very much.
(P.S: Woah! Never got so many likes! Thank uuu guys💓)
Bro, we Asian are literally the same
@@howyoudoin8319 yah dude. Where are you from?
not every country is like your India
People have good close friends among opposite gender and it's not taboo lol
@@pikachuthunderbolt3919 im indian and i have close guy friends too, you cant generalise the whole country, it depends on the parents etc. like in more urban places talking to guys and being friends is normal but in rural areas talking to boys is frowned upon
@@pikachuthunderbolt3919 bruh having opposite gender friend is common but its not the same as portrayed in the show like hugging in public and stuff is something frowned upon and you are judged to be dating that person and its like that in almost every asian country i know, also you be going on generalising a whole country based on one comment you saw. in the op's comment he/she mentioned how the pressure of studies is not as extreme as south korea which might not be true for many, like for me personally its as extreme as any other south korean or chinese or asian. also he/she never mentioned his/her country just stated south asian then how can you even assume his/her nationality? bruh grow up
Omg yes haha this review is 100% spitting facts. Got super frustrated about Kitty’s questionable (and illogical?) decisions, Dae’s wishy-washy attitude, and Yuri’s bad personality that it was a surprise I made it to the end of the series.
Btw, that random Kang Daniel at 5:02 got me 😂
As an Asian, it ticked me off every time my non-Asian friend called this show a "Kdrama". They spoke Korean for probably a total of less than 20 minutes 😭😭
Also, literally all the characters annoyed tf out of me except Q:
Madision - The Asian fetishizing ain't cute!
Kitty - How many dramatic slow motion clips of you walking into a room in a new dress do we need???
Minho - Oh god. He's so over the top
Dae - Just. Explain. Your. Situation. To. Kitty.
😂😂😂my exact same thoughts on everything precisely
for real i disliked Minho
how is maddison asian fetishizing
@@pluto3603 exactly like people are throwing around labels these days
as a kdrama fan, this show is crap.
Actually not just South Korean viewers... I was also very disappointed with this show. Especially with Kitty's character and her "development" (or lack of it). I really liked her in the beginning and then stuff happened and yes, she made some horrible decisions and more stuff happened out of nowhere.
To me it was also unbelievable that Minho would have something with someone like Madison (especially considering her stalker behavior in the beginning and yes, I'm fully aware of the irony because of my nickname here on youtube) but then he was okay with her being pushy and annoying? And while I do agree that Minho was probably the best part of this show even his feelings at the end came a little out of the blue (but I get it, Kitty is the MC so automatically everyone will fall in love with her bEcAuSe ShE's NoT LiKe OTHeR GiRlS >.
Took words right of my mouth. I'm not a South Korean but as an Asian myself I was so so suprised by how Westernized the school was cause even tho it's an international school it's still based on South Korea so like wtf? There are so many plot holes and I think Kitty possibly being Bi and Minho liking her seems kinda push and out of no where. And Kitty's lucky it was an international school cause if it was a normal Korean HS she would be bullied so much not even because she's a foreigner but more so because of her characteristics. The story looks like it came from delusional cringy K-pop fanfic in Wattpad.
OMG THIS IS EXACTLY MY THOUGHTS! I am not Korean either but same I felt the same. And I was very disappointed with Kitty's character too!
Same here with the scene where she got on the table like gurl! No one would do that and get away with it like what were you thinking! Also, I am Indian, and as Madison (I think) told to Kitty, putting your legs up at the place you eat is a big no no here too.
Who tf said it's just like a kdrama😭😭😭😭😭....have they watched kdramas. Romance kdramas are slow and cute and cringe yh but the cute and sweet type of cringe that makes you smile and blush.......but XO Kitty was the type of cringe that would make you gag and throw your phone against the wall.
The car ‘accident’ scene was kinda unrealistic because in Korea you have to wait for the signal for crossing the road to be green and even if you don’t do that be careful while crossing the road because a lot of times Korean truck drivers drives the truck in full speed so it can get you in serious accident. And instead they would yell at you for coming in front of them. The driver of yuri was rather right about it.
( mind you I’m not Korean but rather I got this information from actual Koreans)
ur name, that pfp, and this comment scream koreaboo jesus christ
THE ACCENT SWITCHES 😭😭
i love how you were very through with the plot holes of the show and criticism. like you did not intentionally drag any of the characters or the cringe things the show did for humor. you pointed out great facts which i agree on.
and yes although i liked them putting kpop songs in it to show Korean music i wish they put k ballads, r&b or any k song which isn't a popular kpop song which is not related to the situation. it was annoying.
Fr even if they wanted to put kpop they could’ve done some research and find some underrated groups and artists and put their songs in the show according to the situation.
@@bangtanmoosahu yeah like it's so funny how they started playing maniac and can't stop me which didn't even fit the plot lol
@@tangerinu_u like i love those songs but i bursted out laughing when i heard one song (i don't remember which one tho)
@@villain__9 for me it was can't stop me and maniac lol
@@tangerinu_u ikr 😭 i know i didn't laugh at maniac but that was one of the worst ones, i cringed
I’m 100% non Korean, never visited the country, and all the things u mentioned definitely stood out to me when watching. I think it’s particularly how casually everyone hooked up in libraries like u said, especially Q and Florian. I think it’s good to give that representation because it’s not like there are 0 gay youth in South Korea…it’s just treated like it’s normal when it’s really not in the culture. ALSO during Minho’s party they made a huge deal about how underage drinking is such a no-no in Korea, but then when Kitty busts everyone for drinking their punishment is one day of detention???😭 I hope I’m not overstepping a boundary but i think it just really shows that even people who aren’t as familiar with the culture can spot all the BS with the little details Yknow
Having gone to middle school in an international school in another country (albeit Spain), I will say that international schools don’t have the the same culture as the schools in the United States. Most of the kids were wealthy with parents who were diplomats or company owners. They lived in an entirely different world than I did. I’m not from Korea and I’ve not been to Korea, so I will leave the comments regarding Korean culture to people who know more about it. One of the things that I couldn’t wrap my head around is how Kitty could attend school in Korea and not even attempt to learn the language. It’s an American show based on an American novel. I’m sure there will be at least one and probably two more “seasons”. So I will be interested in how the story line will progress. Excellent review by the way.
As someone who is obsessed with kdramas and who studies a lot about South Korean culture, watching XO Kitty had me like wtf. First of all the plot didn't make sense. I get that Americans are open minded and all but which parent will willingly and immediately agree to send their child to a whole new different country. Yu Ri was the most selfish character on tha show...I'll just leave that there. Dae needed to learn how to communicate. I also found it really ironic how Kitty the 'matchmaker' could so easily fall for someone who has been nothing but mean to her and who she has only known for a few weeks and leave her boyfriend who she has been in love with for years. Like how fickle was their love. Also, the fact that KISS was a private school is even more reason why it should have been strict. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure Korean private schools don't give you that much free time to be able to kiss in the library. I felt like they tried so hard to make it into something like a kdrama but it just turned into and American series with a bunch of English speaking Koreans in it. Anywaysssssss, I stopped at episode 8 cuz I couldn't stop visibly gagging at everyone in the show cuz of how cringe everything just was. Ps.....I love Min Ho
It was an international school in Seoul...thr curriculum is US-based not Korean-based. I went to an international school in Seoul and some parts are true but the show definitely lacked more info on what students in those schools do.
@@cocol3097 ohhhhh.....thanks for the info.
Yeah and also not to mention the writer and director Jenny Han is a Korean American who never lived in Korea before.
@Coco L regardingless....the international school in S.Korea is Not like that. If they are going to base it of of that...then they need to dicpict it closer to that.
I was also surprised about her dad just agreeing because even in the US, sending a high schooler on their own like that isn’t too common
2:26 God damn it was SO annoying when Dae kept saying “I can explain” instead of literally just explaining 💀
Not a Korean, but as Asian, I agree we have to study at least 10-12 hours a day. And about the hugging part, it was absolutely true (for our society). I felt that this show was representing the 'Delulu fans or Koreaboos' who think living in Korea is like any other K-Drama for them rather than representing the actual Korean culture.
This was totally my opinion...so you're free hate :)
I agree with you. I am a asian too.
You just basically summed up my feelings about the show lol. Especially the Kitty and Yuri thing, it made no sense, like things became all messed up because Yuri gave Kitty water? LIKE WHAT?! things could've went so differently if Dae was honest.
I feel like the storyline was rushed and the fake dating scenario was so exhausting to watch but I did enjoy parts of the show that focused on Kitty trying to find out about her mother and her friendship with Q. I think they chose to set the story at an international school so that they could still get away with showing a more Westernized dating culture but I can understand why it would be jarring for Korean viewers (or even anyone who's seen a Korean high-teen drama).
Most of the things that occurred in the show were just laughable, even as a person that learnt the majority of my knowledge of korean culture online through variety shows, youtube, kdramas etc. I was expecting to see a lot more of Seoul, expolring and experiencing South Korea to establish more of a connection with her mom, but that was barely even touched upon. I wanted to see a few flashbacks to the experience her Mom had at the school and Kitty learning about it. And as a fan of a lot of 90s kpop I was expecting it to appear more often ESPECIALLY as it was on that cassett tape playlist shown in the trailer.
Could you do more videos about differences between Western countries and South Korea? That would be so cool and interesting actually. I've only been to Korea once so far and my experience has been overwhelmingly positive, but of course I understand my view is not only biased but also very limited, and I always love to learn more. I would also love to hear your take on the changing attitudes in Korea. I feel like a lot of standards are slowly changing, adapting or breaking up, like for example, they didn't even cover Jay Park's tattoos on the last episode of his TV show. I'm not sure if they just forgot, but they aired it regardless without censoring it and I feel like KBS wouldn't have done that just a few years ago. So it seems like there are changes happening in Korean society?
He does skits like that but a bit more exaggerated for humor
Netflix didn’t do basic Korean culture research, really disappointing ~~
As a 100% Korean who hasn't had the experience of going and living abroad and struggles to fully understand this review video due to the fast-paced English, I still grasp the main idea.
I completely agree that this drama fails to properly represent the cultural differences between Korea and America. It comes across as just another American high school romance drama. However, for me, the most painful aspect of this drama is not the accuracy of portraying Korean culture and high school, but rather the characters and their relationships.
Well, I already knew that this wasn't a Korean thing when I finished episode 1, and I didn't have high expectations in that regard. So instead of being critical, I decided to enjoy it as a high school romance. so in that point of veiw, I was patient enough when Dae kept repeating "I can explain..." to Kitty without actually explaining anything about their misunderstanding and fake relationship. I was patient again when Yuri stole the necklace. BUT,,,,, Kitty suddenly developing a crush on Yuri.. it was something I couldn't accept. and moreover how could the four-year love (or perhaps just a pen-pal relationship? TT) between Kitty and Dae end up like that? I feel so sorry for Dae. I expected their true love to overcome all the challenges and hoped for a Season 2 of those stories but then well... finally it turns out that it was Minho who was chosen instead (which is not that bad, though...)
Good to hear a review from someone actually raised in the culture. And from the comments- you're appreciated for speaking out...keep up the good work!
Honestly xo kitty feels like a show that embodies the honeymoon phase most kpop/kdrama fans seem to go through in which korea and korea is extremely romanticized and idealized.
But what is really wrong with that?
It becomes a problem when that culture is being misrepresented and being looked at through rose-tinted glasses. You're on the high but once that wears off, reality hits as subtle as a ton of bricks. Nothing is necessarily wrong with romanticizing something but if that causes you to ignore reality as whole then it becomes a problem.
i’m glad i never had that
That girl who played kitty is the same person played dizzy in Descendants 2 and 3 😭
They thought adding kpop music in every 2 sec would make the series more korean 🙂🤲
It just made me laugh everytime
It was so weird 💀
Right it didn’t even go with the scene most of the time
@@Munchaee fr it was just random songs that didnt even fit with the scenes
especially when they put blackpink and then somi randomly 😭
Bro I’m a full @ss Asian and the only time my mother ever said ‘I’m proud of you‘ was in my nightmare where she tried to k¡ll me 💀
They will *never* say that the closest u can get is a ‘you’re acceptable (but only rn)‘ and a non homophobic Asian mother is like a rare Pokémon card bro 😭✋
THIS IS TOO ACCURATE 😭 if theyre not criticizing you 24/7 are they even an asian mom
The non-homophobic parent part is so true💀
The country that i live in, India, had a HUGE problem with LGBTQ+ members. Even though our government is trying, it's all in vain.
@@sunjiwoo5061 Thx bro (I guess) 😭😭😭
@@FaerieTidbits FRFR
@@Lilac_TaylorsVer Brooo fr
2:42 duh, that's Kdrama. Poor communication.
Bro 😂😂
Now I’m not Korean, but I’m pretty sure that in any setting no teacher would walk all the way home, leaving the students without a supervisor in detention, just to get a book for a student because he just so happened to also like a book the teacher likes
It happened in a couple of schools I went to and my friends went too
Also I was confused with how easily she developed a relationship with the aussie teacher (alex?). Like i get it they are somewhat same age but seeing a teacher start hanging out with a student just seemed weird
Well hs house was basically on campus so it's not as weird as it seems imo
I'm SO sorry if it sounds mean, but while watching the show, I thought to myself, "The most accurate thing about this show is that Kitty was failing all of her classes despite A- being her lowest grade when she was still studying in the US." 🤭
Ong so true.
I like that they wanted to explore Kitty's Bisexuality but didn't like how forgiving she was with Yuri and ignoring Julianna/Dae. I hate cheating 😅
It was also annoying when Kitty was freaking out about her grades when she knew she could fail early on. She should have switched tutors when she found out she paired with Dae and just focused a little. Can't learn about Korea when you get kicked out for bad grades. That one French kid had bad grades but instead of showing the study culture they decided to have him cheat and GET AWAY WITH IT
"Korean high schoolers do not party."
"Korean students study."
"Korean high schoolers do not make out in public."
"Koreans do not hug the opposite sex unless they are interested romantically."
"Korean parents are not supportive their high school children being in a relationship."
"Korean parents do not say 'I'm proud of you'."
Aren't these basically Asian things 😭
The story is set in Korea and he can only speak for Korean because he is Korean so you guess. But as asian - Filipino, we're more loose compared to Koreans when it comes to studying and partying so can't really say these traits speak for all Asians. Some are unique to Koreans
applies on Indonesia too, lol. and it's 101% correct. here, a rule every parents know is, "no sex before marriage."
@@nanakorobiyaoki9191basically most country of asean is like korean parents.
well yes korea is in asia
Its keep saying" Korean don't do this, Korean don't do that m" but none of these Kids were actually Korean and those who were lived abroad(exept for Dae) now i'm starting to think I'm the only one who noticed it.
6:36 tbh I think that scene in real life would be hella embarrasing to see in every culture, even western😂 she would be yelled "No one cares"
Exactly😂
This show would be so cool if it were just Kitty unravelling a mystery about her mother in between trying not to flunk out of school by studying, and making some friends along the way. Something like a slice of life with romance and mystery subplots.
"western love story bbut with korean actors" is so real LMFAO
I totally agree with the cringe factor. There were too many scenes where Kitty was talking about her mom when nobody asked like why tf
I'm not Korean or any type of Asian, but as a East European I definitely understand the judgemental society and was cringing a lot on the scene where Kitty gave a whole speech about her mother when nobody has asked for it
the katara effect
Yeah but her friend told her standing on tables and making speeches is disrespectful here so don't do that. It's not like nobody called her out when she was doing this stuff.
@@chikannnn Fr 😂😂
In defense of the series, they don't consider the school as korean since they at some moment even said 80% are international students, minho might be korean but lives most of the time in LA with his mom or with his father (in france?). And therefore Yuris mom might be more open and less strict since she simply has to or western parents wouldn't send her children to her school + she gets exposed to western parenting all the time
American shows and movies always have been portraying other cultures based on their own to make them relatable for the American audience, sacrificing accuracy. It's quite disturbing for the people from those countries and give the wrong image to the audience... While you could say that it's nice that they try to show the culture of another country, sometimes half knowledge is more damaging than the absolute lack of it, as the audience has the impression that now they know about that country, yet having a false image in their head.
pls note the director is a Korean American who never lived in Korea
I think he's not even trying to investigate, I'm Mexican and believe that my country always appears in the middle of a desert with a sepia filter.The women and men with mostly unrealistic clothing, if they don't even investigate a country that is so close, even less would they investigate a country that is on the other side of the sea
Just like how French hate Emily in Paris, not to mention all the cringy streotype regarding french culture and somehow all the hottest man simp over the great american lady.
tbh America fails to represent cultures inside itself as well. As a black American, I cringe watching shows or movies meant for us but written by non blk americans 😭 it’s always some stereotypical plot with a few elements of black culture anyone could implement without actually studying.. not to mention how it’s portrayed outside of US 😅
Japan portrays Americans based on their own, India has done it, Korean has done it before too even with religion. Even Turkish dramas as well.
One thing that felt off about this show for me was the family dynamics between each Korean family
I don’t know how to phrase it with evidence but it felt like how Western people THINK Korean families are like. It just felt so artificial.
Also, the whole show was just an American show filmed in Korea imo. Your favorite scene was coincidentally my favorite scene though I also liked the scenes of Korea’s complex public transport system that can be hard for foreigners to navigate through
It feels really odd to me that the writer is a Korean American because it did feel like a fetishistic view of Korean culture (which has its merits and demerits).
Also, one thing that irks me is when people say this felt like a crossover between an American tv show and a kdrama - because it did not at all. It just felt like an American show set in Korea so they included things about how they believe Korea is like without doing too much research into things like general ideologies surrounding relationships, study habits etc
Does Korea have a particularly complex public transport system?? I found it so much easier than our one in Britain...maybe Britain's is just impossible 😅
XO, Kitty is not a K drama. It's an American high school drama set in an international school in Korea. International schools are a world unto themselves, separate from the culture of the country that they're in. Much like how expat communities and ethnic enclaves reflect their own cultures, not the culture of the larger society they're in.
I am Taiwanese American. I've lived most of my life in the US and went to high school in Taiwan. I attended the international section of a Taiwanese school and I can tell you, the international section was very different from the rest of the school and the larger Taiwanese community. We certainly did not study as much as the Taiwanese students, didn't go to afterschool tutoring, and some of us did make out at school.
What your video highlights to me is the cultural difference between people in the ethnic country of origin and people in the diaspora.
You are looking at XO, Kitty as if it is a Korean show, set in Korea, about Korean people, written and produced by Korean As a person in the diaspora of a similar culture, I see XO, Kitty as an American show, set in an international school, which has a separate culture that has nothing to do with the culture of the country it is in.
Okay, some of the plot points in XO, Kitty were a bit ridiculous, but so are many in K dramas. Examples: the lack of patient confidentiality in K dramas, or the use of the white truck of doom, or people getting sick from rain. Doesn't stop me from watching K dramas, though!
Tbf they did acknowledge that but still said that even international schools aren't that lax. Tho ig in Taiwan it's different.
Taiwan doesnt have anything to do with xo kitty and its plot.
What you just said about dating , making out in public , the pressure of studies, LQBTQ+ stuff it actually apply to most of the asians countries. If the parents got to know that instead of studing we are having realtionship, having late night parties and drinking alcohol they will kill us without any second thought . And showing private interactions in public that's a big no even if you are adult.
Wow! Excellent critique. I was surprised about the content, until I read the details of it. This is an American show written by an American author. It's pseudo Korean. From the interviews I've read, Jenny Han apparently writes typical Young Adult stories that just happen to have characters of Asian descent.
what i found really annoying was that she said she was going to korea to learn more about her mom and the culture but then she never went out to explore korea? like she found a tree her mom took a picture in front of and decided that was good enough??
"there was a scene where yuri's mom says like 'i'm proud of you' yeah WE DON'T DO THAT"
laughing my ass off because as an asian, this is SO TRUE ✋😭
There are still some asians that do that. Her mom was one of them.
My dad said that to me a few times but you will NEVER EVER hear it from my mum 😭
ps: dad is malay and mum is chinese
As an Asian myself I started laughing at that line cause an Asian parent would NEVER say that 😂
@@Tooba-K123 well, it's sad then...
I'm not Korean but just from hearing about what Korean culture is like from friends who are actually living there, I can tell this show was completely tailored to fit western standards, everything was incredibly unrealistic and it was basically a romantized version of what a Koreaboo thinks of South Korea.
Not once did this show shed light on how toxic the culture can be as well, with the xenophobia, the harsh academic pressure put on students, the school violence, the beauty standards, how the overall dating culture operates- there was no mention or proper representation of any of that. It was just really weird and superfical. Something else that seemed weird about this show in particular was the progressivity of LGBT perception/acceptance. It's heavily frowned upon so it's kind of weird how this show portrayed the gay couples being open when South Korea is a conservative country where it isn't even legal for same-sex couples to get married. Also, I doubt a lot of Korean kids would even have the time to have gigantic parties and have sex in the school libraries, THAT in itself shows how unrealistic this show is.
Not like Black American culture..which is so wholesome and accepting
You sure about black American culture being wholesome…because there’s a whole lot of colorism, racism, and poverty.
@@hiim4212 sarcasm
@@slee2695 What does that have to do with my comment? I'm not even American so I'm not even sure what your trying to say here.
@@onceafetus426 they just saw your black profile picture and had to talk about it …i wonder if they did this with white profile pictures that had similar opinions. Doubt it. The world is obsessed with us , it’s okay .
As a person who lived in Korea for over 13 years and still counts as a foreigner, wtf. The show literally changes the idea of Korean schools, with all of the parties and crap. WE DO NOT HAVE THESE. Also, the judging is real. It’s just a whitewashed/westernized kdrama😭
1:02- That flawless accent switch was fcukin hilarious man!❤🔥🤣
OMG I LAUGHED SO HARD WATCHING THIS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I’m also korean living overseas, and I saw some comment that international school in Korea can be somewhat like what we saw in this show. I don’t know if this true and I don’t care tbh. I considered this show as just another American show in Netflix, didn’t have any expectation on how Korea will be portrayed, so yeah… What I empathize the most is about dae and yuri and I can’t get over how this guys perfectly described the same feeling I went through. The characters in this show never listen, always repeat “I can explain” without actually explaining. Not just dae, even kitty do the same to yuri when she find out about her half brother. These two girls arguing on the stage while doing fan dance was the most ridiculous part. Kitty having feeling for someone who just ran away as soon as she was on fire by the accident caused by both of them. Just funny at this point. I purely finished this show, thanks to Minho. I’ll still watch season 2 if it release, hope I don’t go through this pain again and enjoy watching my Minho TT
So glad someone said it! I was really excited for this show, because I watch so many kdramas I thought “wow, it’d be nice to have a show that combines an American show with a kdrama in a way” like both worlds meeting, but I felt like the story lines and dialogue were just so underwhelming and unrealistic. There could have been so much depth, but they must have just rushed through everything. 🤷🏻♀️
An acquaintance of mine who attended an international school told me that it's a pretty accurate representation of reality of international school,especially the school dance scene. Korean international schools have high tuition fees and are mostly attended by children from wealthy families. Almost all the teachers are not Korean.
It doesn't matter if the main character doesn't speak Korean.
I think people are forgetting this is an international school not a korean school. I used to teach at a korean high school and my students dated each other openly and held hands. Yes, they focused on studying but they also dated haha
I attended an international school in America where a huge demographic were from Korea (probably a quarter of the school were from Korea and had attended international schools there as well). Studying was still the priority for most. Parties like the ones shown here were definitely not a thing, though drinking at a kickback with your select friends was. And this was in America. Asian parents are very strict; that doesn't change just bc you're going to a westernish school. The culture is very strong and follows you everywhere.
We only saw like 2 teachers and one of the wasn't korean
Yes this!! 100%!! I went to a Korean international school and I thought it was pretty accurate myself
Korean parents are Korean parents, Korean people are Korean people EVEN IN AMERICA! The Eastern and Asian people with their conservative cultures, strict parenting system, mindset, morality, and what they can tolerate and what not, are HARDLY to change even in america! And it gets even MORE HARDER when it comes to MIDDLE & UPPER MIDDLE CLASS PEOPLE like mostly in the show. So sorry but it really hard for me to believe that this miracle of Americanization is already happened in the east on the land of Korea for A WHOLE EASTERN SCHOOL, when it didn't yet here in the west itself!
LMFAO 🤣
I started talking to my Film teacher about XO, Kitty. She said that she was very happy to see her daughter watch a show that showcases other cultures and countries and languages. What she didn’t know was, as someone who has lived in South Korea, I was horrified at the way that Korea was portrayed. Like what was mentioned briefly, so many topics that are real issues in Korea like racism and Xenophobia and realistic wealth issues just aren’t talked about. It even affects the characters and how they’re portrayed. As cringie as she was, I would take Madison, a girl who is learning the language of the country she is living in and who worries about cultural sensitivity, versus Kitty, who can’t even say hello correctly after living there for weeks or months. I’m so disappointed, because I thought that this could be the show that really tackles culture and shows what other cultures are like to American audiences, but it was just a disappointment after a disappointment after disappointment
We don't make out...
WE STUDDDYYYYY
Yeah, after all the stuff Yuri did, I didn’t even want to watch after Kitty started liking her. I can see romance between a main character and a reformed antagonist but that literally happened while Yuri was in the middle of having stolen the necklace and leading up to it she didn’t just fake her relationship with Dae she went out of her way for no reason to make Kitty see and feel as bad about it as possible.
I really enjoyed this show and am thankful to hear perspective from someone knowledgeable about Korean culture
Like for me it was not a k drama just an american show with few korean people in it
I am an avid kdrama watcher and seeing a somewhat kdrama setting with western actors was an intriguing idea, however I should’ve known that I was going to find this cringe and unsettling. Not just at the representation, but the story itself. She went to SK to find more about her mum, but ended up finding stuff about everyone else except her mum. As well as her relationship with Yuri made zero sense for all the reasons you pointed out. I was super disappointed and it reminded me why I watch kdramas in the first place. It’s not because it’s set in Korea, but because their filming techniques and storyline’s are just so much better.
Oooh my gosh thank you so much for acknowledging all the things that were bugging me in this show! I’m Canadian and French, I don’t know much about Korean culture but I watch Kdramas and did a lot of research on my own about school pressure, suicide issues, homophobia, etc in Korea and when I watched this show I was like… WHAT IS GOING ON? It was so freakin unrealistic!! And just like you said it was ridiculous that Kitty suddenly started liking Yuri even though she was acting HORRIBLY the whole time behind her back. Minho definitely helped me finish the show, and I’m so disappointed because this could’ve been incredible but they decided to ‘Americanize’ Korean culture. I love learning about foreign cultures and this is why, even though im not Korean, im so frustrated because it could’ve been a great way to learn more about the real differences between two countries… Let’s just remember the best romance in this show: Minho and skincare (bye bye toxic masculinity~~)
I agree. Another thing is that we didn't really get to see at lot of Minho and Kitty scenes where you could actually tell something was coming. Like all of a sudden she gets kicked out of KISS, breaks up with Dae, ALMOST confessing to Yuri, hops on the plane and somehow Minho likes her then she has a smile on her face indicating that she now forgot about Yuri and Dae and now likes Minho in the span of 1 minute.? And it's very obvious that she thinks she's still in America. When she came she was literally speaking in English. I don't know about you but I would have gotten a transator or something. And she didn't even bother to learn any Korean what so ever before going to a full on Korean country. Yeah I was kinda disappointed too.
Writing a Teen netflix romcom starter packs:
Make the protagonist the most unlikable character you can possibly imagine but not bad enough that they become an Antagonist ✅️
The Main character must have at least 3 boyfriends throughout the show OR at the same time ✅️
It's fine if the main character does a mistake but if any other character does the same It's the end of the world ✅️
A dash of 💅 and cultural appreciation because who even cares about the plot as long as they are kissing every minorities 🍑 ✅️
kitty falling in love with Yuri is the "he bullies me but he was kind once so im in love" kdrama trope
Watching this show just made me feel like I'm seeing that one meme "how do you do fellow teens" but Korean 😂
I hate misunderstandings that get dragged on for too long
😄 "i am proud of you" hahah you're so funny. I totally agree. i mean ... i am from denmark - not asian at all. i am so happy to hear a korean speak about this show. i liked the show for the superficial fluff that it was. undercooked and highly highly Americanized. it is like america - but in korea. and yes MINHO was like the main pull for most people honestly. he was great. the rest of the story was bad. it felt like setting it in seoul, was done because korea is really popular now. to get more views, but not actually representing korea very well. they tried i guess.
I enjoyed your criticism about de show but also how you gave it some points on certain accepts as someone who hasnt seen it I personally enjoyed your reviews
I honestly enjoyed this show and would recommend it to others, despite the fact on how un-realistic it is. Although all the events (that would never happen in real life) made the show seem more interesting, it probably would have turned out better if it would have more events that would actually happen so people can get an understanding of the difference between Korean and American schools.
As a european that watches kdramas, this felt like a western drama filmed in korean where all the koreans are all Americanised. But honestly the worst part for me was that she wanted to go to korea, study in korea but made NO EFFORT TO LEARN KOREAN?? it was just a bad show
Yuri got that Stockholm syndrom rizz
4:10 she kept this weird neon blue nail polish for the entire show uugh
exactly how i felt!!! i feel like the reality of koreans was soo off!! it was a smash of western culture in korea... while even my culture and family will never relate to this as an asian! and omg the whole show had irrational moments (i can explain) it killed me too!! oh and dont forget the large amount of popular kpop songs... this is why i prefer kdramas because it makes much sense than western shows, though i do love stranger things :) its the only show that i can watch without killing my brain... however i did love the show since they did try to show the korean modern culture and past and it was overall an okay show, i mean it wasnt THAT bad, it was just unique and cringy hehe
and gosh even here if opposite sex people hug- then people will judge you too... but in my school they hug because i am in an international school so... in conclusion the western culture can greatly influence some people ;)
The songs are just random popular songs mashed together to sound edgy and relatable 😢
@@itsaclisstony i knowwww its like they made kpop sound worthless and indifferent like wth?! T-T
I'm a little conflicted. I'm not Korean (I'm Vietnamese American), so I can't judge how accurate the portrayal of South Korea is. This review seems genuine and I trust it. I heard great things from a friend of mine (she isn't Korean so she also wouldn't be aware of how accurate the culture portrayal is), but I've found reviews online that aren't as positive. I thought about watching it, but now I'm not sure. I tend to really have a hard time watching overly cringy shows that also have characters that I can't support
I won’t lie, maybe attempt to watch it?? I didn’t like the extra messy love quadrilateral thing and some other unrealistic aspects but otherwise it was okay. These people in the comment section didn’t watch it and are clearly koreaboos. Make your own opinion PLEASE!
@@jaybsbby I'll probably give it a shot soon. Thank you!
The entire series was set in an International school. They don't even let most Koreans apply to these schools. This is barely about Korea. It's litterally a boarding school teen drama that happen to be in SK.
I agree because they kiss everywhere it was like your normal American drama show but just in South Korea and also the loop song every second in the series . The drama in all was cringe worthy
Definitely the best review and take on the series. Korean Film&Television is currently the new Hollywood.. and most kdramas have managed to maintain both the entertainment element while still being respectful of traditional / cultural norms of South Korea.
XO Kitty unfortunately missed a lot of this and the plot was rather overwhelmingly westernised. I wish they could have taken reference from shows True Beauty, Love Alarm, and even Boys Over Flowers or Itaewon Class (based on its international appeal & the direction of tackling 🇰🇷 societal issues such discrimination) .
Looking forward to your next review🔥
What you thought about the way the show portrayed underage drinking in Korea? My Korean friend def drank alcohol underage and the show making it into such a big deal that Korean Teens Just Don't Drink felt bizarre; totally get that focus on studying would mean less partying, but partying without drinking felt like a weird way to go around it and doesn't reflect my understanding of how it is for teens.
it was one of the most boring shows ever honestly. While i do appreciate the point you're making, it'd just have been a little better had you acknowledged that korea itself does not always portray other countries realistically, or even favorably.
I mean, no, they often don't but it was the point of this show or should have been. And I can laugh it off if another country misrepresents the country I'm from but if it should (in a light-hearted way) explain the differences of cultures and would miss the point I'd be upset too and that's the difference. If I'm interested in another culture I try to at least make an effort to get things right. Personally I'm also interested in Korean culture and I've already learned a lot. But there are also a lot of things I don't know yet and still need to learn. So I'm grateful to educate myself. If others get interested in Korean culture and this is the first thing they watch it can even be misleading.
Well , it doesn't justify this mess though
@@feelstora3 pls note the writer director is a Korean American who never lived in Korea
This Review is honestly so true! As an American viewer, trust me even I was confused about the parties and all the drama.....
i was thinking the same 1:44
What you said is so accurate! I'm Canadian, and when I was in high school, I made friends with some South Korean students online. We barely even found time to talk, because every time I would text them, they were almost always in school, or studying. Even on holidays! 🤣We could usually only talk at night for about an hour at most every once in a while. In terms of partying, one of my friends genuinely thought that Western students go to parties every week, (some do, but not all) and when I seemed confused, he explained that in Korea, big house parties are pretty much not a thing for normal people.