Hear, hear! Totally agree.

My speculation on the shortening of episode counts is partially economic and partially consumer driven.
Korean actors get paid by the episode so I think there is a production budget issue (even with deep pocket streamers when they analyze view counts).
I also think market pressure is to make content shorter in order to appeal to the TikTok mentality and easier to consume binge watchers who are more likely not to pay long term for subscriptions. Many are now cutting the cord after a month just to binge one program. By creating shorter series could mean more productions to keep subscribers engaged in the platform.

Remember watching the 70 eps sageuk until you know the characters like your own besties 😄

My thoughts exactly. PACHINKO is a full length novel that deserves a full length drama.

While it is true that more streaming services are picking up Korean content- and there is a reason for it- that does not mean that the newcomers understand what they are doing.

"to me, the single best thing about kdramas (other than the unending line of stunners of all genders) is the ability to tell stories with novelistic depth without feeling procedurally episodic" 100 percent this.

Even more so I guess the one episode a week will be a disservice to kdramas. Grid is a good example of how that is not working, I forget it airs every Wednesday. To add to that short episodes signal a second season (which may happen in the case of Pachinko) and that's just what most kdramas are not made for and the reason why I stick with them do.

I'm actually thrilled with the shortening of episode counts as I start to tire of the majority of kdramas around Episode 10 or 12. I don't know how Soundtrack #1 will turn out, but I wish there would be more short dramas like it.

You obviously haven’t read any of the numerous & unanimous reviews by top Hollywood critics on Pachinko. And you’ll be missing out on actually learning an unknown fact of history, the oppression & survival of Koreans under Japanese occupation and living in Japan, comfort women etc, by skipping out on Pachinko, which is so huge in scope, as it’s a story that spans 70 years, that it needs to be told in episodes. The creator intends for it to be told over several seasons if subscriptions/budget allows.

Another cranky old man in response, here--I love kimchi laced burritos, just as long as you don't think of them as burritos. I liked the so-called "California burrito" with potatoes in it as well. even though they are more California than burrito. Both of these are great--as long as you can get a traditional burrito when you want one.
Similarly I am happy to watch 4 episode shows, with the hope that their character and narrative development would be effectively tailored to the shorter format--as long as new traditional format dramas are still being produced.

I am in total agreement with your last sentiment, however!

I'm with you on this. My earliest 16-episode kdramas were like getting into a Dickens novel - plenty of time for side characters to flourish, stories interwoven with differing beats, comedic interludes. Nothing else satisfies so much. Everything else seems to be scraping the surface. I have no complaints about 10 and 12 episode masterpieces, like Move to Heaven or Through the Darkness, but my viewing life would be so much poorer without The Good Detective, Beyond Evil or Business Proposal. All so different, but 16 eps and perfect in their own way. Then imagine my joy because I'm currently watching Dr Romantic and I discovered that it stretches to 21 episodes (?) and 2 seasons, which I am uncontrollably bingeing. 😊 Give me the labyrinthine narrative, give me variety, give me Korean in any form, but I won't fall for something that has been irredeemably hybridised. And I'm wary of that with Pachinko.

I think of Pachinko like Minari -- both American productions in English and Korean (and Japanese) starring Youn Yuh-jung.

I can't speak to Pachinko, because as mentioned above it is an American team behind it. However Soundtrack is more of a special than a proper kdrama. The fact that they are doing it over 4 weeks is stupid, but here we are. I think anything over 10 episodes can be considered a proper kdrama. The rest are specials and shorts. At least that is my take.

The 1st time I was into K drama, there was no streaming sites. Unless you are living in SK and understand Hangeul, you have to wait patiently the drama to end and wait even more patiently that there's someone who wantd to pick it up to sub it (blessed the subber). So marathoning K dramas is only option. I think the joy of marathoning drama is in another level (perhaps like runner's high? ha ha) since it can retain its 'emotional momentum', even for some so-so dramas, the chance I may finish them is higher when I watch all the eps in one go. I wish all the good dramas I have watched real time, I clould have watched them all in one go (better watching experience).
I am okay they try new format. KBS drama special is also having shorter ep before. Some dramas are better with shorter ep. But in the time when everything get faster and faster (read e book, watch streaming on line, commenting on sosmed), I really wants something that a little bit in slower pace, K drama in 16 ep and more, Dramabeans (this is not comment section on viki or streaming sites).
And K drama is K drama, either it is 2,4,8,12,16 eps format. If they are not recapped here (which is okay, it doesn't mean the drama is bad), viewers can talk about it somewhere else (so many group K drama watching, online comment section on streaming sites, your own blog which is no body reading but you 😅).

M-O-N-E-Y-G-R-A-B

i don't see how they are going to chop up the story into seasons... that makes no sense whatsoever. it is all connected, it should be told connected...

Apparently Pachinko's budget was $130M for those 10 episodes so I'm guessing Apple execs needed to prove ROI first in order to get further budget allocation greenlit.

It's going to be hard to get sign off on a >$200M proposal for a 20-episode TV show centered on Asians (not even Asian-Americans) from a company that is just venturing out into the streaming space and hasn't done anything this ambitious yet.

I'm definitely going to do that first.