TV
Tracker of a sexless couple's affair... LTNS, praised for its novelty
<LTNS> (written and directed by Lim Dae-hyung and Jeon Go-un (Pretty Big Brother), produced by Barunson Studio and LTNS Culture Industry Specialty Limited, provided by TVING), which was released in full on the 1st (Thursday), is a drama that follows an adulterous couple. The story depicts the journey of Woojin (played by Lee Som) and Samuel (played by Jaehong Ahn) until they reunite after discovering each other's secrets and facing catastrophe. Although they were a couple, the two people, who were not honest, were able to see each other fully after letting out all the emotions they had built up, and at the same time, the tension was rekindled. As the title of the work suggests, Woojin and Samuel were ‘Long Time No Sex’ themselves.
In this way, <LTNS> brought the story of sex and a sexless couple to the forefront for the first time in a Korean drama. The love and relationship between the couple was portrayed honestly and boldly, and it went viral after its first release, truly demonstrating its identity as a 'highly stimulating affair tracking drama'.
Although it was a bold subject matter, the reason viewers were able to naturally fall in love with it was because directors Lim Dae-hyeong and Jeon Go-woon combined their sophisticated script and cinematic grammar to create a directing style that can only be seen in <LTNS>. For example, in episode 6, the two people criticized each other like crazy over Samuel's extramarital affair and Woojin's past one-night stand with her ex-boyfriend. The production of rain falling as if the deep emotional rift and the karma of each person for not being honest was pouring down, seemed to hint at the cloudy relationship between the two people and created an unforgettable scene.
In addition, <LTNS> was able to become a fresh and sensuous work because TVING has made various attempts to take advantage of the advantages of OTT, which has a high degree of freedom in terms of genre, material, and time.
<Drinking City Women>, which wittily captured the topic of 'alcohol' along with daily life, not only elicited deep sympathy from the 2030 generation, but also received great love for its short running time of about 30 minutes and quick plot. <Ransom> also maximizes immersion through the bold subject matter of people gathered for their own reasons experiencing a great earthquake while negotiating the 'ransom price', one-take filming technique, and a short length of 35 minutes per episode and a total of 6 episodes, making it the first Korean drama to be held at Cannes. It was honored with the International Series Festival Screenplay Award.
Entertainment programs were no exception. <Transit Love> differentiates itself by offering 'reality of relationships between separated lovers', which was previously difficult to find. Entertainment proudly broke the convention that short-form is the trend and presented an optimized composition and length that viewers could immerse themselves in, and as a result, it boasted high topicality every time a new season began.
In this way, synergy exploded both inside and outside the work, and <LTNS> clearly left its mark as an unprecedented K-drama that has never been seen anywhere before. The melting pot-like story of <LTNS> and Woojin and Samuel has come to an end, but just as directors Lim Dae-hyeong and Jeon Go-woon hope, everyone who has seen <LTNS> will remember this work, recalling the hot times.
You can watch the entire TVING original series <LTNS> right now on TVING.
Ryu Ye-ji, Ten Asia Reporter ryuperstar@tenasia.co.kr
