The focus on Korean dramas by three major TV broadcasters has almost concentrating on Wednesday and Thursday drama series on second quarter of 2012. On the contrary, the Monday and Tuesday drama series has not received much attention. For example, the Love Rain starring Jang Geun Suk and Girls’ Generation member Yoona and directed by famous director of Winter Sonata, and Fashion King starring Yoo Ah In and Shin Se Kyung have much more cheers and applause than audience ratings.
The first 4 episodes of Love Rain uses the 1970s retro style, every landscape, even scene is like a painting, reminiscent of beautiful mountain and crystal-clear water, all dullness, in fact the plot is boring too. In Fashion King, many people feels that Yoo Ah In looks better when starring in historical drama.
As for the Wednesday and Thursday drama, MBC’s The King 2 Hearts starring Ha Ji Won and Lee Seung Gi which succeeded The Moon that Embraces the Sun, SBS’s Rooftop Prince starring JYJ member Micky Yoochun and Han Ji Min, and KBS2′s Man From the Equator starring Uhm Tae Woong, Lee Joon Hyuk and Lee Bo Young debuted at the same time. After the end of 1st episode, audience seems to prefer Rooftop Prince more than The King 2 Hearts, while the plot of Man From the Equator which is giving a sense of heaviness does not attract willingness to continue watching the drama. When viewership rating was announced, The King 2 Hearts ranked top, Ha Ji Won is really ever victorious in miniseries.
Even though The King 2 Hearts recorded the better audience ratings, but audience still think that Rooftop Prince is a better drama. Although it has the theme of time traveling, but it’s relaxing, hilarious and has element of reasoning and thrilling. The crown prince in Joseon Dynasty unexpectedly promotes outstanding talents among the people to official position to investigate the cause of death of the concubine, but the group of four is been hunted down in the forest, and the crown prince and his subjects are then broke into the modern times.
The crown prince who came to the modern world cannot imagine that he has to buy a ticket to go into the palace he is living in, and even has difficulty in drinking water in bottle. Apartment from his three officials who came along with him, nobody equals him as the crown prince from Joseon Dynasty, and most regards him as insane. The PD of the drama ingenuously designs the plot of difficulties in adapting to modern life to be funny. Coupled with funny comic in the drama or at the end of the drama, supplementing with hints foreshadowing future development that are everywhere, the viewers unknowingly try to reason.
The ancient crown prince came to the modern world, replacing his reincarnation. Next, how would PD lead the story? With just a butterfly that gone missing in ancient world, but re-appears in modern world, have made people began to speculate that crown princess who died in previous life may not be the true concubine, but the sister of the concubine, and etc. The reincarnated crown prince has really dead? Will crown prince return to the future to save the younger sister of the concubine from being killed? And more.
In The King 2 Hearts, Ha Ji Won wears a North Korean military uniform to fall in love with South Korean prince Lee Seung Gi. The acting of Ha Ji Won is second to none, and the performance of Lee Seung Gi is also better than his performance in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho. The story also has its relaxed and funny side. But for unknown reason, many viewers are disconnected with the drama. But the viewership ratings of The King 2 Hearts are champion among all 3 Wednesday and Thursday drama. Although Man From the Equator ranks last, the its ratings are slowing climbing.
But The King 2 Hearts’ ratings are showing gradually declining trend, falling by each episode. Rooftop Prince which was in hot pursuit even managed to overtake The King 2 Hearts in episode 6. Exactly which drama will become the ultimate winner? Nobody knows until the end.
Even though the competition among Korean dramas is so intense, but every dramas are currently still following the direction of established script step by step. Temporarily there is no series that plans to change the script to add in absurd plot because of viewership ratings. Even though the dramas may be criticized, but it also has strength, and market.
