I notice that although there's definitely a similar age hierarchy in Japanese fiction, it still seems quite culturally different. A Japanese senpai is, like, respected, but it's this two-way street . . . sure, there's an expectation of a little bit of respect, but also there's this obligation to help your kouhai out. It's paternalism, but in a fairly positive way. And it's not a real obligation--if a senpai acts like a dick there isn't this strong expectation of not talking back. In Korean fiction OTOH it's like this license to bully, where it's not about respect but about obedience and knuckling under, and the sunbae who honours the obligation to help out in return is a rare treasure.