Two years ago, Song Joong-ki‘s “Reborn Rich” took over Korea, and now Park Min-young‘s “Marry My Husband” is gaining popularity as it is about to surpass double-digit ratings, proving the rise of “resurrection” dramas.
The popularity of “resurrection” dramas
JTBC’s “Reborn Rich” was broadcast at the end of 2022, and is a fantasy drama in which a secretary who of a chaebol family is killed and wakes up in the body of the youngest son of this family. Song Joong-ki and Lee Sung-min played the two male leads. The drama beat “Sky Castle” with 26.9% of ratings, ranking second among JTBC’s dramas, and sweeping all the attention.
Park Min-young’s return film “Marry My Husband” recently built the pride of the withering tvN drama. Like “Reborn Rich,” it is based on a popular webtoon of the same name, and it is a full-fledged fateful drama in which the murdered protagonist returns to 10 years ago and returns a gutter-like fate to them on the day when he witnesses the affair between his best friend and her husband.
At the center of the story is Kang Ji-won (played by Park Min-young), a miserable woman who was diagnosed with cancer for a limited time and even witnessed her husband’s affair. In addition, collaboration between her villain husband Park Min-hwan (played by Lee Kyung-hwan), who was nicknamed “bad guy” from the beginning of the show, and her mistress Jung Soo-min (played by Song Ha-yoon) is unfolding an unprecedented event. It is comparable to a morning drama called “The End of the Crazy.” Perhaps due to stimulating taste, the drama has the highest viewership rating of 9.4 percent (Nilson Korea) in the seventh episode, and is about to hit 10 percent.
In addition, Seo In-guk and Park So-dam’s “Death’s Game,” which was released on OTT TVing, is a life-transfer drama in which Lee Jae-jae experiences 12 deaths and lives just before falling into hell. Sung Hoon’s MBN drama “Perfect Marriage Revenge” attracted viewers’ attention by adding a romantic revenge drama to the genre of return.
Watch out for the unexpected ending
Amid a flood of regression genres in the small screen and OTT recently, apart from the ratings, if Yong-du-mi ends up, it has to face harsh criticism and criticism from viewers. Yong-du-mi literally means “the head of a dragon and the tail of a snake,” which means that the end is sluggish unlike the beginning.
Most of the return works are based on popular webtoons and web novels of the same name, but if the meaning of the original work is not properly utilized or if it has a disappointing ending, criticism is inevitable.
“Reborn Rich” was also a huge success, with an audience rating of nearly 30%, but the evaluation of its performance was extremely mixed. This is because of the last episode with the ending. At that time, Yoon Hyun-woo, who was shot after being betrayed by Soonyang Group in the first episode, survived a life of death. Since then, it was Yoon Hyun-woo who killed Jindo Joon, whom viewers cheered for and gave great affection throughout the drama, and the ending that Yoon Hyun-woo, who woke up from his dream, came to reality and took revenge on the Soonyang Group, angered viewers. Complaints erupted, causing confusion, saying, “Was this all Yoon Hyun-woo’s dream?”
On the other hand, “Death’s Game” was well received for conveying the emotion of the original, and “Perfect Marriage Revenge” proved popular with a viewer rating of close to 3%, even though it was a full-length channel.
In the second half of the recent “Marry My Husband,” singer BoA’s appearance was heralded as the fiancee of Yoo Ji-hyuk (Nine Woo), grandson of the character U&K Group chairman, who was not in the original. Attention is focusing on how BoA’s appearance, known as a villain character, will affect “Marry My Husband” and whether viewers will show a satisfactory ending.
Source: OSEN