Losing to 'King the Land'?... 'Goblin', which was a challenge, captured both viewership ratings in terms of workmanship

《Tae Yuna's Listening Board》
Reporters Taeyoo and TenAsia will properly cover every aspect of the drama based on what they heard and saw on site. We will be the eyes and ears of the readers in the era of flood of dramas pouring from numerous channels.

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It brought popularity to a minor genre. It deals with the supernatural occult, but it contains the exhaustion of youth and various social problems. It is the SBS Friday-Saturday drama 'Ghost', which is well-received as a 'well-made' drama, capturing both viewership ratings.

'Goblin', which was highly anticipated with the meeting of writer Kim Eun-hee of 'Genre Master', and Kim Tae-ri and Oh Jeong-se of 'Trust and See Actors'. However, there were concerns as well as expectations inside before the release. This is because the material dealing with demons does not have a wide audience. Furthermore, the broadcasting company and time zone where 'Ghost' was organized is SBS' Friday-Saturday drama. There was also a burden because it was a time zone that led to popular popularity by exceeding 10% in viewership ratings such as 'Model Taxi' and 'Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim' series.

Faith was certain. Even before the broadcast, the level of perfection of the work was such that even the production team nodded. I was confident that if the rather brutal and frightening material did not give the public enough resistance to turn the remote control, it would succeed. This is also the reason why, when asked about the level of fear at the production presentation, he said, "It's the maximum that a 15-year-old audience can do," but also said, "It's scary, but it's fun, so you'll think it's okay when it's over."

The confidence of the 'devil' worked. It succeeded in gaining popularity by breaking through the viewership rating of 11%. Writer Kim Eun-hee, who announced 'K Zombie' to the world with the Netflix 'Kingdom' series, has written another occult hit with 'Demons'.

The reason why 'Ghost' was able to gain popular popularity is that the aspects of youth and social problems in unrealistic death are realistically melted. The message of 'a society like a demon that eats away at youth' runs through the entire drama, making it impossible to see 'The Devil' as a work that simply exorcises evil spirits.

The fact that the story of a girl who was killed in Jangjin-ri in 1958 by yeommae (an act of witchcraft in which a child is starved to death to create a ghost) is a true story also adds reality to 'Ghost'. Writer Kim Eun-hee said, "The article in 1958 that appeared in the drama was an actual article," and said, "Because it was a true story, I remember it because my heart hurt even while writing it. I wanted to show such a heartbreaking reality."

In 'Ghost', evil spirits and reality are exquisitely combined, and at the same time, rice cakes about the identity of the demon that entered San-yeong's (Kim Tae-ri) body are thrown, giving even mysterious interest. Here, Kim Tae-ri and Oh Jeong-se's acting is truly admirable. The degree of immersion in the play is the best just by watching the two people acting. Kim Tae-ri terrifyingly expresses the contrast between the innocent Gu San-yeong and the evil spirit. Oh Jeong-se also leads the development of the play by revealing various emotional lines within a restrained expression.

Currently, 'King the Land' is at the forefront of ratings and topicality for weekend dramas. It is an obvious and childish Cinderella story, but the main response is that the romance chemistry between actors Im Yoon-ah and Lee Jun-ho is saving the drama. It is evaluated by the industry that the level of completion of the work is embarrassing enough to suffer from the problem of distorting Arab culture recently. If you look at both perfection and box office success, wouldn't it be better for 'Demon' to win than 'King the Land'?

Reporter Tae Yuna, Ten Asia youyou@tenasia.co.kr