In Japan, where the Korean Wave is strong, a Korean actor was selected as the lead in a prime-time terrestrial TV drama for the first time in history. Starting with ‘Winter Sonata’, numerous Korean dramas have been exported to Japan, and Korean actors have appeared in late-night dramas, but the fact that a drama starring a Korean actor was scheduled in prime time, when competition for viewership ratings is the fiercest, shows the strong Korean wave fever in Japan. Analysis comes out.
Japanese private broadcaster TBS aired the first episode of the new drama ‘Eye Love You’, which airs every Tuesday at 10 PM, on the 23rd. Model-turned-actor Chae Jong-hyeop and popular Japanese actress Fumi Nikaido played the male and female leads. As of the first episode, it started well with a viewership rating of 5.5%.
Tae-oh Yoon, a Korean student studying abroad, played by Jong-hyeop Chae, studies endangered animals at a Japanese university and works part-time delivering Korean food. Nikaido appears as Yuri, the owner of a chocolate shop living next door. While having Korean food delivered using his smartphone, he accidentally meets Yoon Tae-oh and falls in love.
Although it is a Japanese drama produced by a Japanese broadcasting company, it contains so many Korean-related subjects that it would not be strange to call it a Korean drama. The heroine, Yuri, who is obsessed with Korean food such as bibimbap, pancakes, and rabokki, eats her meals at a Korean restaurant filled with Korean signs. The male protagonist, Yoon Tae-oh, also mutters “I like you” in Korean and often carries items with Korean letters written on them.
Internet media ‘News Post Seven’ diagnosed, “Korean actors’ popularity is not yet as wide as K-pop, but if it succeeds this time, it could become a new Japanese drama trend.”
Recently, in Japan, the Korean Wave fever is at its peak to the extent that it is difficult to explain the popular culture trend without mentioning the Korean Wave. Five K-pop idol groups, including Le Seraphim, New Jeans, and Seventeen, appeared on public broadcaster NHK’s representative year-end program ‘Red and White Song Battle’, which aired at the end of last year. It is the largest ever.
Among the foreign tourists who visited Korea from January to November last year (9.995 million), Japan ranked first (2.12 million), far ahead of China (1.76 million) and the United States (1 million). In Japan’s webtoon application, the kingdom of comics, Naver’s Line Manga and Kakao’s Piccoma are competing fiercely for the lead.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.