@no168_92 @Kayriel
Korean nationalism is similar to other proxy nations in that they are overcompensating for their powerlessness; the korean war is basically a proxy fight between the US and China. When your fate is outside of your control, you try to gain a semblance of control in whatever way you can. That's why in addition to the nationalism, there is a strong sense of escapism as well, with all the VRMMO stories.
Japanese manga's background theme is nuclear fallout. Just being able to preserve their culture intact is considered a win, especially in the face of the western threat, which is usually why you see a US guy as a the final antagonist in many manga. Also why japanese slice of life is the best and why the VR stories are survival games.
Chinese stories are the most interesting right now, as they are transitioning to a being an actual global power (they have an aircraft carrier now!). When they were rebelling and biding their time against the west, there was a strong focus on stories with a strong basis on history and tradition that spanned thousands of years into the future as well. As they transition though accelerated stages of prosperity, the stories have kept pace, with the "rich people being assholes" to "scrappy underdogs". Now that they are the prime players, there is a bit more BIG stories (wandering earth) as well as added self reflection & complexity, with more and more subversion.
Also, with the sheer amount of people, the flavor of individualism is different from the cowboy-ness of hollywood.