[Courtesy of TVN]
"Goblin", a new weekend cable TV series, has created a new trend, posting a high viewership and boosting sales of related songs and books together.
In an unusual case in South Korea's drama industry, the Friday-Saturday night tvN series drama starring Gong Yoo and Kim Go-eun has branched into the book and album markets.
With six episodes aired, The drama's average viewership surged from 6.9 percent to 12.9 percent last Saturday, attracting the most viewers among its competitors aired at the same time, according to Nielsen Korea, a viewership researcher.
Critics say the drama's popularity has been predestinated, citing its writer, Kim Eun-sook, and director, Lee Eung-bok, who produced South Korea's megahit TV series "Descendants of the Sun" that re-ignited a Hallyu (Korean culture wave) boom across Asia.
The duo was praised for creating an exciting fantasy brimming with advanced computer graphics and cinematography. Many fans praise the drama's superb visuals as well as excellent performances by the cast.
The drama depicts a story about a 900-year-old demi-god, under a curse looking for his true love. Gong Yoo and Kim Go-eun add to the series' appeal with their charming portrayals of the immortal goblin and a high school girl destined to be his bride.
Kim Kyo-suk, a pop-culture critic, told Aju News that fans love the drama because the cast showed their delicate dialogue and classy visual. "First of all, its writer and director are well known for their hit drama 'Descendants of the Sun'."
The two are very skilled storytellers and know how to move the heart of fans, he said, adding Gong uses a simple but delicate language to form a sympathetic bond with viewers. "It's a simple and easy element for a drama to become successful, but many fail to fulfill it."
The drama's OST is also popular. Its tracks -- "Beautiful", "Stay With Me" and "Hush" -- were ranked in the top five of South Korea's major online music services' real-time charts. The book containing "Physics of Love", a poem by Kim In-yeuk and frequently cited by Gong, has become the top bestseller in major bookstores.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
