‘Paper Moon’, Kim Seo-hyung’s confidence prevailed

《Taeyuna’s Listening Bodbo》
Reporter Tae Yu-na and Ten Asia will properly cover all aspects of the drama based on what she heard and saw on the spot. We will be the eyes and ears of readers in an era where dramas are flooding in on numerous channels.

---

Actor Kim Seo-hyung's confidence, who waited six years, paid off. Genie TV's original drama 'Paper Moon' is gaining significant popularity and viewership rankings through word of mouth. Even the handicap of being rated unavailable to teenagers and aired on ENA did not dampen the momentum of ‘Paper Moon’.

'Paper Moon' is a suspenseful story about Yui-hwa (played by Kim Seo-hyung), who lived a suffocating life, embezzles money from bank VIP customers and makes an irreversible choice. It is based on the Japanese novel of the same name. In Japan, a five-part drama and movie based on the novel were produced and received great love.

In particular, Kim Seo-hyung showed his extraordinary affection for ‘Paper Moon’ even before the broadcast. At the production press conference, Kim Seo-hyung said, "Six years ago, I saw a work called 'Paper Moon'. At the time, there was a lack of works depicting female narratives. So, I looked into this work and looked into whether it was being remade or had the copyright in Korea. “The company has it now. I sent a love call to the production company first,” he confessed.

Since then, starting with 'SKY Castle' (2018), he has shown unrivaled acting skills through 'Nobody Knows' (2020) and 'Mine' (2021), and after 6 years, he has come across 'Paper Moon'. .

Kim Seo-hyung did not hold back on his affection for the character, saying, "It is a positive and bright character, but it is a role that strangely goes beyond the boundaries of being nice when it comes to money. I wanted to tell an independent story. I was deeply drawn to it internally, and I was fascinated by the mix of money issues."

Kim Seo-hyung’s insight was accurate. Even before its release, 'Paper Moon' was invited to the non-competitive Rendezvous section of the 6th Cannes Drama Festival and received a warm response after the screening. It also brought warmth to ENA, which had not been able to achieve remarkable results since 'Weird Lawyer Woo Young-woo'.

According to Good Data Corporation, a TV topic analysis agency, 'Paper Moon', which ranked 3rd in TV topicality from the first week of broadcast, increased its topicality by 46.5% in the 3rd week of April, ranking second after 'Doctor Cha Jeong-sook'. . The main character, Lee Si-woo, ranked first in the cast of 'Drama Search Issue Keywords' in the second week of April. Kim Seo-hyung has been listed in the top 10 most talked about drama actors for three weeks in a row.

In addition, it ranked 2nd in the comprehensive ranking announced on April 26 by Kino Rights, an OTT integrated search and content recommendation platform, and ranked 1st in the Kino Rights rankings of OTT TVING and Netflix rankings, where uncut versions are provided.

Although the viewership rating for ENA's main broadcast is somewhat low at around 1%, it is showing strong performance on OTT. This was largely due to Kim Seo-hyung's dense acting skills. Kim Seo-hyung persuasively captured the tone and facial expressions that change as the character changes, and delicately portrayed her love for a younger man and her love for money. In addition, the solid script and directing that brought out the emotions of all the characters being shaken and endangered by money also increased the level of immersion in the play.

While interest in the ending of 'Paper Moon', which has only two episodes left, is increasing, we applaud the choice and insight of Kim Seo-hyung, who has created another masterpiece of his life.

Taeyuna, Ten Asia Reporter youyou@tenasia.co.kr