Analysis of VHLW North Team Names Part 2: South Korea

[Will3 430]

     Hello, my friends. Today, we will be continuing my series analyzing team names in an imaginary VHL league. Last week, we consider team names for franchises set in Japan. Now we will be crossing the sea to look at possible expansion opportunities in South Korea. With that being said, let us begin.

 

    Seoul is the capital of South Korea and and the fourth largest city in the world. It is a vibrant creative city that inspires tech mega corporations and music bands all the same. Currently, only the Anyang Halla of Aisa League Ice Hockey (ALIH) are the only professional ice hockey club in the area. I believe there is so much potential for a franchise in the area. My own suggestion for the team name was the Seoul Tigers. Tigers are a big part of mythology in Korea and not as the vicious predators they can be. Horang-i as they are known in Korea are mentioned in myth going back to the first empire in Korea.  It is believe that tigers serve under guardian spirits as mounts and as protector for the people. They appear often in painting, on royal tombs, and even as the mascot of the 1988 Summer Olympics. This is simply the perfect team name to represent not only Soul but all of Korea. An obvious orange and black color scheme would be best.

 

   Morcar80 has a different idea that opens a different can of worms. He suggested the franchise be called the Seoul Squids. I initially consider the connection between this name and the very popular recent South Korean Netflix series "Squid Game" accidental. However, given the suggestion of Morcar80's that will be explored later, I can safely say that the connection is deliberate.  But what do squids mean to Korean culture anyway? There is a saying in Korea, Ojingeo dwaetda to be precise. It translates to "became a squid/looks like a squid". That means to become ugly in some way. This connection between squids and ugliness actually explains much of "Squid Game". It not only highlights the ugliness of the six deadly children's games, but also the people running the games, what happens to the protagonist, and ultimately society in general. Also people in South Korea eat live squid and octopus as a delicacy. That has nothing to do with the previous themes, but it did come up in the research. Ultimately,I feel that squids work better as a metaphor than a team name in South Korea. White and black would be fitting colors for a squid team.

 

  Busan is in southeast Korea and is the second most populous city in the country. It has the 6th busiest port in the world and has the largest industrial zone in South Korea. Morcar80 has a interest idea for a franchise in Busan. He would call this hockey club the Busan Zombies. This is an obvious reference to the 2016 action-horror classic "Train to Busan". In the film, a zombie apocalypse suddenly strikes South Korea, causing serious problems for travelers on a high-speed train from Seoul to Busan. It was the highest grossing film of 2016 with a worldwide gross of $98.5 million. New Korean Cinema, which includes films like Train to Busan, 2019's Parasite, and even TV series like Squid Game, rose from nothing in the late 90's and early 2000's to produce some of the best foreign films of this generation. Aibll did call it right when he called the Zombies name insane.  However it would be such a fun team, especially in Discord chat. This is one of the few team name where any color could work.

 

   And that is our stopping point for today. I hope you enjoyed our adventure today. South Korea has the the perfect mix of mythology and creativity to produce some incredible team names. Next week, we will be traveling north to China to process team names there. I will see you then. Now if you excuse me, I've got a train to catch.

Edited October 13, 2021 by Will3

[Collusion 28]

Review: That article it’s insane I like all the detail. Little idea maybe team up with someone to make a graphic logos to the teams it’s pretty interesting to read what the teams is about, but I thing if we saw the logo it will give a little +. 9/10

[CowboyinAmerica 2,741]

Review: 8/10

 

I've been enjoying this series! It's fun to think about alternative places for teams, and I think you did a great job here of both background research into the locations, as well as how a potential team would fit there. I particularly appreciated this one since my brother-in-law lived in Busan for a while - it wouldn't be the top of mind place for hockey, to be sure, but I get the impression that the people there would support it well. My two quick notes here: I'd work on presentation a bit, taking a look at some other articles as inspiration for things like headlines and pictures. Those make the article look a bit more like an actual journalism piece. Also, I'd break up those paragraphs a bit rather than one long paragraph for each suggestion, since that would make it easier to read. But all in all, a great job!

[Will3 430]

I would like to have logos to go with my articles. I don't have the knowledge to produce them myself and I don't know who to ask to produce logos for me.