Pouring Joint Projects, Borderless Dramas Becoming the 'New Normal' Another interesting Korea-Japan collaboration drama has been released. Looking at the recent trends in the drama market, it is not an exaggeration to say that works created by South Korea and Japan joining hands are pouring out at a rate of almost one per month. In the past, the title "Korea-Japan Collaboration" was considered a huge event or a one-time project, but now it seems to have established itself as a massive trend and a "New Normal." Love at First Bite is also a work born within this flow, serving as evidence of how active cultural exchange has become beyond simply mixing capital from both countries. In an era where cross-border content production has become a daily routine, the new synergy this drama will show is anticipated.
Crossover of Actors and Crew, A Landscape That Changed Rapidly in Two Years These forms of collaboration are appearing in various ways. Korean actors star in dramas made by Japanese production crews, or conversely, Japanese actors participate in works made by Korean crews. This phenomenon, which started to increase noticeably just two years ago, has now become a quite familiar landscape to viewers. Since Korea and Japan are not only geographically close but also share many emotional aspects and have high cultural similarities, such collaborations tend to occur more naturally. The results created by absorbing each other's strengths and complementing weaknesses are providing fresh stimulation to viewers in both countries.
Gateway for Rising Stars, and Han Hyo-joo's Challenge As of yet, it is not very common for top-tier Korean stars to appear in Japanese dramas. In most cases, promising actors who have started to gain attention in Korea or actors from idol backgrounds appear to expand into the Japanese market. Of course, there are exceptional cases that became hot topics, such as Han Hyo-joo, who is already at the top in Korea, boldly taking on a challenge in Romantics Anonymous. However, in general, coupled with the demand for Hallyu (Korean Wave) in Japan and the needs of Korean actors to advance overseas, there is a strong tendency for next-generation stars to use collaboration dramas as a bridgehead to build a global fandom. In fact, these dramas are recording quite big hits in Japan, contributing to raising the actors' profiles.
Language Barriers and Limits of Setting, Homework in the Korean Market Contrary to the enthusiastic response in Japan, it is relatively rare for collaboration dramas to hit the jackpot within Korea. The biggest entry barrier is undoubtedly "language." Although it is a Korea-Japan collaboration, most are filmed in Japan, and more than 90% of the dialogue often consists of Japanese. For Korean viewers, the sense of disparity in watching a Korean actor speak while having to read subtitles acts as an element that hinders immersion. Also, it is true that since the background or subject matter often contains deeply Japanese sentiments, there is somewhat of a distance felt in gaining universal empathy from the Korean public.
Rising Production Costs and Market Expansion, Why Collaborations Continue Nevertheless, why are Korea-Japan collaboration dramas being made repeatedly? The industry links this to the steep rise in Korean drama production costs. In a situation where it is difficult to handle skyrocketing appearance fees and production costs, collaboration with Japan, which has a relatively stable production system and a solid domestic market, becomes an attractive alternative. Japan possesses a huge market with high loyalty to the romance genre, and the fact that cross-border content distribution has become smoother due to the development of OTT platforms like Netflix is also fueling this phenomenon. In other words, the dominant analysis is that it is a strategic choice targeting profitability and expandability in the Japanese market rather than in Korea.
The Story of a Korean Student, 'Love at First Bite' Adds Realism The recently released Love at First Bite is a drama led by a Japanese broadcaster. However, thanks to the setting that a Korean international student appears as the protagonist, the appearance of a Korean actor approaches as very natural and inevitable. In particular, the presence of writer Lee Na-won, who was in charge of the script for this drama, stands out. Writer Lee Na-won has a unique background of graduating from university in Korea, moving to Japan to study abroad, and debuting as a drama writer there. Since the writer's own experiences are embedded, the detailed emotions and episodes of a Korean student living in a foreign country are expected to be drawn with more realism.
Writer Lee Na-won Crossing Boundaries, The Romance She Draws Writer Lee Na-won has previously written purely Japanese movies and dramas where Korean elements were excluded. However, in Love at First Bite, she has come to deal with a story featuring Koreans in earnest, utilizing her identity. A script written in Japanese by a Korean writer, and the meeting of a Korean actor and a Japanese actor acting within it—this becomes a foundation that can show much more delicate and deep cultural communion than existing collaboration dramas. How harmoniously the writer's writing prowess encompasses the sentiments of both countries will be an important key determining the completeness of this drama.
Rediscovery of IZ*ONE's Kang Hye-won, Blossoming as an Actress Above all, the most noteworthy point in this drama is the dazzling growth of Kang Hye-won, who plays the female lead 'Park Rin'. Having debuted with the girl group IZ*ONE and received great love, she has since turned into an actress. Although she has appeared in several web dramas and works, it is true that she was mostly limited to roles of beautiful women emphasizing her glamorous appearance or haughty characters. However, in this work, she delicately expresses diverse emotions such as the loneliness, excitement, and passion of a student chasing dreams in a foreign land, eliciting admiration like "Did Kang Hye-won act this well?" She has certainly proven her potential as a leading actor driving the play, not just a member in charge of visuals.
Healing Romance Connected by Dreams, Love, and Food 'Park Rin', played by Kang Hye-won, is a student full of dreams who came to study in Tokyo to learn animation. There, she fatefully encounters 'Hase Taiga', played by popular Japanese actor Akaso Eiji. Taiga, a former track and field athlete, is currently working at a restaurant and seeking a new life. While worrying about developing a new menu for the restaurant, he decides on a "Korean food" theme with Park Rin's help. The process of Park Rin, who is still poor at Japanese, and Taiga, who is learning Korean culture, communicating through food and filling each other's empty spaces will present warm healing to viewers. The chemistry between the two, who are different yet similar like Kimbap and Onigiri, is anticipated.
Adding Korean Melodies to Japanese Sensibility, Expected Synergy It is also worth noting that while most of the production crew is Japanese, the music responsible for the drama's sentiment was handled by Korean musician Jeon Jin-hee. It makes us perk up our ears to see what kind of synergy will be created by adding Korean sensibility-rich music to the unique calm and lyrical visual beauty of Japan. Even in the original web novel, Kimbap and Onigiri appear as soul foods representing Korea and Japan, respectively, and are used as important materials connecting the two protagonists. As the production team is putting effort into the Korean market to the extent of holding a separate production presentation in Korea, we will watch with anticipation whether Love at First Bite can captivate the tastes of Korean viewers who like the unique, fluffy romance sensibility of Japan.
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