I found it entirely unremarkable - save for these remarks.
The Filipino Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center that created the Michael Jackson “Thriller” video has just released their version of Gangnam Style.
YES!!!
You know, I can remember when predominatly internet-based memes took years or at least several months to enter the mainstream - “all your base”, Mahir, that kind of thing. But as I speak these words “Gangnam Style”, which I first saw linked a few weeks ago on Imgur, is number one on the UK pop charts!
No, really, the same chart that had giants such as The Beatles, T-Rex, Duran Duran, and White Town:
If you’d asked me in June 2012 whether there would be a Korean-language single that spoofs Korean pop culture at the top of the UK pop charts (without the aid of an ironic Facebook campaign), I would have looked down and whispered “no”. Now the whole world stands on the brink, staring down into bloody hell.
I think we can conclude that (a) Korea is the new Japan (b) Koreans “get” the internet. Three hundred and forty million hits on Youtube. More likes that most artists have views! I bet Psy’s thinking “hang on, if I got just fifty cents for each of those views, I would now have enough money to buy a long-range Gulfstream V business jet”.
#2 in the U.S. Will it get to #1?
I did enjoy that when I saw it linked off Fark.
(South) Korea has been the new Japan in Thailand for several years now. (See thesis The Korean Craze among Thai Urban Youth: Thai Culture in Transitionat Northern Illinois University.) For a short while, all things Japanese were a hit with younger Thais, but in recent years anything Korean is tops. Music, movies. Even older folks will watch Korean soap operas (dubbed in Thai). They’re the flavor of the day. Seems to have lasted longer than the Japanese craze.
Er… Huh?
White Town?
Well, like I said, all things Japan was the craze in Thailand for a while, but it’s been K-Pop and Korean culture for a few years now.
Korean dramas are becoming a big thing in the US too among college kids. But aside from that and Gangnam style, I really don’t get any sense that a Korean craze is supplanting the Japanese craze in any meaningful way (in US culture, I mean).
I mean, you see Japanese cartoons on TV all the time, you never or almost never see Korean drama. And I don’t see signs of Funimation or Viz slowing down any time soon. Video games still have a large Japanese contingent.
There is a little bit with Korean animation studios doing stuff, but that’s more American (and sometimes Japanese) products having animation outsourced to Korean studios than it is a case of Korean culture taking over. Even in Hot Topic and other “trendy” places, they have a lot of Miku merch, but aside from maybe Gangname Style stuff (which I haven’t been to confirm recently), is almost devoid of Korean stuff.
Korean stuff is on the rise in the US, but I don’t think I agree with any assertion that the one music video and a few moderately popular K dramas with college kids makes it “the new Japan” here.
[For Orchestra]
Oh yeah, don’t get me wrong. Japanese stuff is still popular over here. Lots of Thais still do cosplay out by Siam Paragon on the weekends, one of our nieces included even though she’s mid-20s now, and there are still lots of manga books available. But Korea’s definitely become the flavor of the day in recent years. There’s even a Thai singer in one of the K-Pop boy bands, a band called 2pm or something like that. And K-Pop bands seem to be the first choice among local advertisers for endorsements.
Oh. Right. I get it, sorry.
As a mother of small children I would disagree a bit. There are quite a few originally Koren TV shows which my kids love and we wouldn’t have known they were Koren unless I had googled them (I am an obsessive googler 
)
Just a few examples
:
Pucca
Yobi, the Five Tailed Fox
Pororo
But I assume you are right when you say Japanese shows and trends are still much more prevalent in the US.
However I see the next generation or so really picking up on the Korean Craze, see this video of a little American 2 year old singing a Korean cartoon theme song
Oh to have been at this concert…
In the official video, is the person in the yellow suit a man or woman? I can’t tell.
And of all the random things in the video, the dude in the elevator is the most WTF?! for me.
Hes a man, and the dude in the elevator is kind of cute. I love his smile - so mischievous.
What gets me is the fact that this video was unheard of when Mika first posted it here. Since then it’s gone from maybe 50 million hits to over 400 million hits.
Care to offer up any lottery numbers, Mika?
How did you know this was going to take off?