Millions set to watch end of captivating SK series
Print Edition
MILLIONS of TV viewers across Asia will sit down this week for the finale of a South Korean drama series that has triggered relationship health warnings in China, a thumbs-up review from Thailand’s prime minister and a trans-regional passion for its two young stars.
“Descendants of the Sun” tells the story of an army captain sent on a peacekeeping mission to a fictional war-torn country, Uruk, where he meets and falls in love with a surgeon working with a medical NGO.
The 16-episode show has garnered impressive domestic ratings for broadcaster KBS, but its real success has been overseas and the series has been hailed for reviving the so-called “Hallyu” (Korean Wave) of K-pop and K-drama that started spreading across Asia in the early 2000s.
It has proved particularly popular in China, where it has been simulcast on the video-streaming site iQiyi.com and has notched up more than 2 billion accumulated views, while becoming one of the top-ranked search and discussion topics on Weibo.
“Will I be able to find an acceptable husband if I keep watching K-dramas?” said one Weibo user, describing herself as “totally in love” with lead actor Song Joong-ki’s character.
In Hong Kong, where it’s shown on Viu TV — a free-to-air channel that also has an online portal — the series is popular with commuters who like to view it on their smartphones.
“After watching the first episode, I could not help but chase it,” said Susan Yuen, a 30-year-old clerk, adding that waiting for the latest episode upload had become a weekly routine for her and many colleagues in her office.
Such obsessive yearnings triggered a tongue-in-cheek warning from China’s Public Security Ministry about thousands of women who were suffering from “Song Joong-ki sickness.”
“When chasing male or female stars, do not become too infatuated with them, because sometimes your casual words could end up hurting those who really care for you,” the ministry advised on its Weibo account.
‘Every girl’s dream’
And it is not just China.
In Singapore, advertising executive Jamayne Lam, who described Song as “every girl’s dream,” confessed to getting hooked on the drama after just 10 minutes and binge-watching all 11 available episodes in two days.
Korean dramas normally begin airing before later episodes are filmed, allowing for ratings-boosting script adjustments.
But “Descendants of the Sun” was pre-recorded in its entirety — a major risk, according to its South Korean producer Next Entertainment World.
“None of the pre-recorded dramas have been successful in the past,” a spokeswoman for NEW said.
Pre-recording paid off by allowing a strong pre-broadcast marketing strategy that included airing movie-like teasers in South Korea and China three months in advance.
The drama has now been sold to 32 countries, including non-Asian broadcasters in the United States, the UK, France and Russia.
Its success is built on the same staples that have made K-dramas a lucrative cultural export: attractive lead actors, melodrama and romance.
What sets it apart, experts say, is its modern-day setting of military peacekeeping, upbeat patriotism and, perhaps most crucially, the fact that it’s a K-drama that isn’t “too Korean.”
“At a time when Asia has seen scores of natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes, the series projects a sense of universal humanity,” said Yun Suk-jin, professor of Korean Literature at Chungnam National University. “And because it is set overseas rather than in Korea, it appeals more to international viewers.”
It has spawned a mini industry, with Chinese fans snapping up cosmetics, clothes and fashion accessories favored by the show’s stars.
The South Korean city of Taebaek — location for the military barracks in the drama — is opening the film set to the public after President Park Geun-hye told officials the drama could fuel a boost in tourism.
Park was just one of a number of political leaders to applaud the drama for helping to “instill a sense of patriotism among young people.”
In Thailand, former army chief-turned-Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha praised the series for its sense of sacrifice, obedience and duty.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
