Slow and Steady

A Record-Breaking Hit on Tencent A remarkable record has recently been born on Tencent, a massive giant in the Chinese content market and a platform quite familiar to international viewers. The protagonist of this achievement is the drama Shine on Me (骄阳似我). While China has a massive population and produces a vast number of dramas, making it a highly competitive market where it is hard to even generate average buzz, this work seized the unprecedented title of "breaking the popularity record in the shortest time" among all dramas produced by Tencent. In particular, it recorded overwhelming numbers in the romance drama category—which typically appeals strongly to younger audiences and features idol-turned-actors—drawing the intense spotlight of local media. Astronomical Popularity Metrics The popularity of Shine on Me did not stop at mere perceived hype but was proven by highly specific and staggering figures. During its broadcast period, not only did it take the number one spo...

A Romance Veiled in Mystery: The Premiere of 'In Your Brilliant Season' In Your Brilliant Season, which recently premiered as MBC’s new Friday-Saturday drama, is a romance that depicts the story of a man and a woman stained with scars. However, beyond a simple melodrama, a subtle mystery is deeply laid beneath the surface, stimulating viewers' curiosity. Lee Sung-kyung and Chae Jong-hyeop, who boast both great visuals and acting skills, were cast as the male and female leads, drawing massive attention even before the broadcast. Their meeting, as bright as spring cherry blossoms, is eye-catching in itself, but as the play unfolds, the chilling and heartbreaking backstories hidden behind the bright atmosphere slowly unveil, heightening immersion. For viewers who enjoy narratives with intersecting emotional lines, it is a drama that boasts enough suction power to steal your gaze from the very first episode. Chae Jong-hyeop's Explosive Popularity: The 'Eye Love You'...

A Welcome Title, The Film Adaptation of the Novel 'Pavane for a Dead Princess' As soon as I saw the title of the new Netflix movie Pavane, a certain book naturally crossed my mind. It is author Park Min-gyu's novel Pavane for a Dead Princess, which left a deep lingering impression on many readers in the late 2000s. It's a memory from so long ago that I can't even pinpoint exactly when I read it, but the shock delivered by its unique sensibility and narrative still remains in my mind. The fact that this masterpiece novel has finally been adapted into a film and come to us is more than enough to bring both great joy and a strange excitement to fans who remember the original work. Change in Era: From the Nostalgia of the 80s and 90s to the Modern Day with Smartphones One of the biggest differences between the original novel and the movie is the setting of the era. The original novel faintly depicted the outskirts of Seoul in the transition from the 1980s to the 90s, a ...

A Cruel Variation of the Trolley Problem, Asking the Definition of Justice Do you know the "Trolley Problem," one of the most widely cited dilemmas in ethics and behavioral economics? A train with broken brakes is running, and there are five workers on the track ahead. If you pull a lever, the train changes direction, sacrificing only one worker to save five. Would you pull the lever? From a utilitarian perspective of "the greatest happiness for the greatest number," saving five might seem rational, but the debate over whether it is morally right to calculate human life in numbers is endless. The newly released drama Bloody Flower on Disney+ is a controversial work that grafts this classic philosophical problem onto the crime thriller genre, throwing a cool and heavy question to the viewers. If a murderer developed medical skills to save more lives based on those sacrifices, could we condemn him? The Power of a Solid Original, Bringing Lee Dong-gun's 'Flower...