Hwayugi Episode 15 Drops Huge in Ratings Down to 3.586% as the Narrative Loses Steam
The hammer has dropped for me with this weekend’s episodes of Hwayugi. I wanted so badly to love this drama but it’s gone down the exact same trajectory as While You Were Sleeping. First episode love slowly seeping away due to a meandering narrative and a lack of growing depth in writing the main characters with the side characters the only ones to actually work for me from General Frost/Summer Fairy to Zombie Girl and her Pig Oppa. Even sadder is the lack of chemistry of the leads, both the characters of Oh Gong and Sun Mi and the leads Lee Seung Gi and Oh Yeon Seo. Saturday’s episode 15 ratings fell nearly 2% from 5.517% to 3.586%. I don’t think this ratings slide will continue dramatically but Hwayugi will go down as a forgettable drama for me unless the Hong Sisters miraculously bring everything together in the final four episodes.
Go watch Stephen Chinese odyssey. It is better
I am somewhat taken aback that Koala did not even mention the Olympics as a factor contributing to the ratings drop and merely attribute to the story line and lack of chemistry between the leads etc. I really wish she had been more objective in her writing.
Misty rating increases, most of drama rating are stable, my golden life is still 40% despite change timeslot. Olympic doesnt affect much.
Olympics was a factor in ratings
Yeah, it seems somewhat obvious that the Olympics are going to be a factor.
I’m only on episode 11 and while I can see some pacing issues, it still seems fun to watch. I maintain 16 episodes would be enough and think going to 20 was a bridge too far.
My Golden Life moved to 10 pm this weekend because of the Olympics. It also halved the ratings of My Ugly Duckling to barely 10%.
This drama is a mess. I love LSG and I honestly thought he could have chemistry with a rock before. I even liked him with Suzy! But OYS and him are just soooo boring. There’s literally no spark, no fire, no passion and absolutely zero chemistry. For a love that’s supposed to be epic, I really don’t care for Sun Mi. What a bland character. It’s definitely HS’s fault because OYS has been very good in the past but here she’s just a wet towel.
I’m not gonna lie Summer Fairy and General frost are the two that keep me watching. There’s something absolutely fascinating about them and their existence. I really like the actor who I’ve never seen before. Then of course I really like CSW’s tragic love story too. I wish this drama’s main narrative was better. I really do. But it went downhill a long time ago for me.
I would say the opposite .. I love LSG and OYS’s chemistry ..
i agree with you LSG AND OYS is far better than LSG AND SUZY just sayin hahaha
I’m still watching while fast-forwarding lol. OTP story just bored me to death. The pig and zombie were more fun to watch. But don’t feel sorry LSG, he has done his character well. this is a good project choice after coming back from the military. The rating may not be due to lack of audience but rather people are more interested in Olympic. I would switching channel too. There always be a repeat broadcast and Netflix. Don’t be too negative koala.
Sun Mi is such a forgettable character… Hong Sisters have totally lost their focus!! I FF the OTP scenes most of the time coz they don’t make any sense as I have said from the very beginning..
As one of Seung Gi’s fan (self admitted) here, I’m glad Seung Gi chose this drama, it shows he is able to portray something outside his comfort zone (though mischievous Jae Ha still own my heart). But I do feel the lack of chemistry of him and OYS…
too be honest, the chemistry is much better when OYS is not playing Seon Mi, but Ah Seo Nyo, I don’t get it, could be caused by OYS much suitable in playing a scheming and rather cunning personality than the bland Seon Mi, or may be because Hong Sister wrote about ASN better than JSM herself
It’s because of the olympics and the drama is very well written
Lee seun gi and Oh Yeon Seo are doing amazing with their acting. It’s crazy how Oh Yeon Seo can change like that
Nope. MY GOLDEN LIFE’s ratings didn’t drop. This drama is just horrible.
lmao you cant even back up with facts…..their scenes have 0 emotional value……your pig and zombie cant even act properly or emote…they have 0 nuance or depth…..their facial expression is so lacking and bland…no wonder they arent cut out to be leads…They dont add to story or main plot and are helpless…Lol they dont even have anything relevant to the main plot and are most of the time useless with some useless side comments lmao….Why should SOG toast them lmao…..If anything SOG is hard carrying them as their acting is pretty over the top bad….They should bow down and thank him that this drama is relevant because of him….
Lol at ur bitterness
How am i bitter when i just state the truth? You can check the korean portal sites and videos on naver, daum and nate etc If you require proof lol. Also you dare to call those side cast good when they cant even execute and emotional scenes properly and have problem shedding a tear? Are you drunk?
Olympics has been on every night… Other dramas’ ratings don’t seem to be affected much. Only stupid idiots will put the blame on the Olympics! Everybody has different likings of this drama, some like the OTP, some don’t… What’s the point of arguing? For those who don’t like my comment, STUFF IT, I don’t need to hear your reply on my thread!!
Right? Misty’s ratings are soaring despite Olympics.
Hwayugi’s fans are annoying smh. They can’t accept different opinions and are resorting to putting down Lee Honggi and Lee Seyoung for shining even with the limited screen times they have.
Misty airing time is late at night not the same time slot as olympic.
I get it.. if you want me to say “Hwayugi flops and lost its steam”
You happy?? You wanted to hear those words so badly right..
MGL , Mother, etc dropped a lot
Looooll MISTY TIMESLOT WAS AFTER THE OLYMPIC COVERAGE HAVE ENDED.. idiot!
@ sonatimoo – NOPE. MY GOLDEN LIFE’s ratings didn’t drop “a lot”. Episode 45 was over 41% on Feb 11th and the Olympics had already started.
Lol golden life dropped from 41percent to 35% same as other shows. Misty was the lucky one because that timeslot, Olympic coverage is about to end.
@Gooor @Boy – you are the idiot who keep changing your names. I despise people who cannot stand up for their own comments… shame on you!!
OYS was bad choice from the very start. they love story should be epic but OYS is so boring. No chemistry between OYS and LSG. So people have no choice but to turn to second leads. Pig&Buja could have interesting storyline but writer isnt helping much here. Even so little screen time, i am curious what will happen to their ends than Samjang & Great Sage.
Gonna wave fist at these haters hihi because damn OYS portrayed this ASN role to a tee. She looks like a real psychopath but very seductive at the same time. She kicked Lee see Young’s portrayal to the curb already
Oh damn Lee Seung Gi and OYS chemistry was hot as hell.
U can praise OYS without bashing LSY but no, u just have to to be this low.
hahaha, yes, this shows what kind of delulu fans OYS has!! “low” is a good word to describe them… lol…
lmao haha you are so full of delusions…my pig and zombie have many comments retard….please open your eyes wide and look at the praises….btw the way you try to ignore a typo to suit your narrative is hilarious as I have never agreed to your comments and you are just trying to delude yourself….Lol my pig and zombie are not carrying the story because they are SAVING it lmao….Viewers are not interested in the main plot stupid romance stuff and they’d rather see the so called act cutesy stuff lol
lmao the one deluded is you. Lol they cant even execute their emotional scenes or shed a tear during their sad scenes and you call that good? Lmao are you drunk. Btw you are still lying lmao. There are like 0 comments about them nor articles lol. Check the trending news or videos are all about the main plot and leads lol. Lol pressed fangirl full of delusion and lies and cant accept the truth. Lol there are nobody saying they are saving it lmao. Its all LSG is the saving grace of this drama etc in the comments as your side cast are off character that they dont even fit in the real tale if it were to be a retelling lol as they dont even capture the essence of their character and have 0 screen presense with bland acting lol . Lol and your netizendrama are all SOG dominant comments lmao. How pressed and deluded are you fangirl. Lol also the viewers are 40s so they actually prefer the main plot and mature romance and act cutesy stuff as the real time ratings suggest lmao. You dont even dare to link as i state the truth lmao. Stay pressed and salty.
Last week “as narrative treads water “, “as narrative lost its steam”. Very creative title ad content ^^
The exact same hate comments copy pasted from last week without substance and with the addition of using the word retard. Great
Poor koala… Getting bombarded by Hwayugi fans everytime she posts an article lolol.
I don’t even watch this drama but it’s funny how people are getting so worked up over it. It doesn’t even feel like a national hit (like Goblin) or a mania hit (like You’re Beautiful) for people to argue so passionately.
In any case, 6% ratings for a drama can be considered a successful comeback drama for Lee Seunggi.
This is a sat/sun drama….Check the other drama its usually round 30-40%. So a good cable drama should be around 15%….This drama started well but lost steam in the mid with all those useless fillers and not enough continuity or focus on the main leads plot
Even the previous drama only hit 5% at best.people will be soaring how succesful a cable drama with 4% rating and suddenly it has to hit 15%to be succseful.
Even public dramas are only 3-5% these days.
Guess it’s hard to talk with logic when hates are all around
Right. LSG getting recognition is what’s important, since its his first project after enlistment.
I think Hwayugi is still better than Warm and Cozy… although it is lacking compared to Hong sisters’ previous classic hits. Hope this means they are getting back on track again.
Hong sisters have lost their way since masters sun last few episodes lol. This plot has no continuity as a result of too much fillers and side cast nd not enough focus and development of the main characters and plot. I doubt they are going to improve that fast. There is a reason i guess why PSH & PGB declined this drama lol as the main plot lost focus with alot of side fillers.
PSH was the original female lead?!
Wow I’m glad she rejected if it was the case because people would roast her harder ten times that they did to OYS, considering how much haters she has.
Park Shin Hye was not offered the female lead but yes the monkey king was offered to Park Bo Gum.
I don’t get these haters.. PSH is a great actress and so is OYS.
It’s a ratings hit like Legend of the Blue Sea. Meaning the popularity of its leads is hard-carrying the drama.
This is where they execute the drama wrong. Writes should rely on the plot and story. There is no continuity on the main plot after the vision of destruction. Full of useless side cast fillers after the vision. If they exceuted the plot properly and build and develop the main leads plot and character it would have been more compelling like the orignal JTTW when it mainly focus on monk and monkey or supernatural (sam & dean). And telling it from human JSM perspective would have worked even better as its the only human in the story and people can actually relate as the others are deites and demons whose actions are usually over the top.
Does Koala really care about people disagreeing with her? Clicks are clicks so it just helps her site as long as she deals with trolls.
I’m not passionate about this drama but I think the cast can be happy with ratings in the 5 to 6 area. Goblin like ratings don’t happen that often though I’m expecting KES’s next drama to fare quite well.
Goblin may have great ratings but I don’t enjoy the drama at all!
I didn’t either. Dropped it but there is no denying it was a huge hit for the production team and airing station. I’m just saying I don’t understand anyone thinking that (Goblin-like ratings) is going to happen every time. Seems the 4 to 6 range is more normal.
Oh Yeonseo is not a bad actress. She just doesn’t suit “innocent” female leads like Seon-mi. She’s great at portraying quirky, sassy, fierce and evil roles.
I mean strong characters usually gain more recognition. There isnt much to work with with the character JSM as the writers did not really develop that chracter nor went the supernatural route with it. On the other hand the acting emoting by her and lsg are pretty good as they both exhibit nuance and depth and have intricacy in expression which is good during their scenes and interaction.
I’m still enjoying the drama and and I like the OTP, but really the storyline could and should have been a lot tighter. The whole push and pull thing between the OTP has been really dragged out and considering the fact that they don’t exactly have that many scenes together per episode, the whole thing just kinda deflates. For example, it was enough that she found out he tried to get her killed so why did we have an episode where she got mad about the sauce he’d made when he was thinking of eating her. It was no newsflash that he did want to eat her back then. While I do buy their romance I still wish there were more poignant moments when they connected on a deeper level. Also, why can’t we get that bracelet off by now? It should have happened already to up the game and the stakes. Hopefully the writers will deliver something for the last stretch.
Yeah, I totally agree. What’s killing the drama isn’t the acting but the writing. The plot is weak. Too many useless side characters which are over the top and hard to relate to. Too much push pull with the otp and so on. LSG is acting his pants off. He’s so compelling. But the JSM character was written as a wet blanket. Smh.
what there to watch about the drama. the lead have no chemistry the drama go around in circle. zombie girl is the only bright spot. without her drama will be snorefest. even 2 alist actor cant save drama from floping.
Kidding? The lead chemistry is off the chart
While the zombie girl story is just a filler. I hope they finish of her story asap
Even Oh Yeon seo stole the thunder from that girl as ASN.
The drama is not flopping. Not great ratings but certainly not a flop.
Even hit variety show like Lee Hyori Bed and Breakfast dropped from 7 % to 4% because of the olympics . But it’s always fun to write negative comments full of nonsenses
Why are Hwayugi/Oh Yeonseo’s fans coming for Lee Seyoung?!
It’s not even her fans that are criticizing Oh Yeonseo in the first place. Y’all claim those haters are salty but y’all are doing the same thing to Lee Seyoung.
Regardless, Lee Seyoung did well with the role given to her. Hopefully this means bigger opportunities for her from now.
I just realized OYS haters in this blog are no joke.
This blog attracts negativity and biasness similar to netizenbuzz but with much less reader.
Good for Koala, she knows this drama is popular esp among inetz so by writing this article a lot of people get baited
I’ve watched tons of Korean and Chinese dramas and a few Japanese dramas. Honestly I just don’t see any chemistry between LSG and OYS. Sorry but just because they appear in lovey dovey scenes together doesn’t mean the chemistry is there.
We all want our favorite actor/actresses’ dramas to succeed and this drama started off good but started going downhill. She gets in trouble, he saves her. She gets in trouble he saves her, repeat. The only thing that kept me going was the zombie girl’s storyline because of her innocence and tragic death. We all want to know her background and see justice being served right? Of course the Hong sisters had to throw a monkey wrench in by having the zombie girl become possessed by that woman shaman/witch. I’m guessing that they didn’t know what else to do with her character and LSY needed more screentime.
About the lower ratings, I have a feeling the Olympics did play a minor role in it. However, if a drama really kept viewers captivated, they wouldn’t miss new episodes no matter what.
Great job you watched lot of dramas. Chemistry or no chemistry is subjective while i see alot of people loving their chemistry except for the commenters here.
They will be praising heaven if their favourite actor/actress score even just 3-4% rating on cable dramas but with this drama which hit 6.9%, suddenly it’s a failure?
I mentioned that because it shows that I have experience when spotting chemistry and when determining if a drama is good or not. But I guess you didn’t figure that out… Yes it hit 6.9 but that was a long time ago. If you’ve looked at the ratings week by week there is a downward trend. But hey it hit 6.9% weeks ago so it MUST be good now!
I don’t like the acting of OYS in this drama. There is no drama with her where I found she had chemisty with the male lead. She doesn’t fit the subtile character of Sun Mi. And I often watch the BTS of this drama and the fact they show us LSG and CSW’s BTS it’s funny for a drama with a big love story. The issue is LSG and CSW have more chemistry even if it’s not about love.
For the story, I think it became more interesting in the last episodes not only about the bracelet.
Stop being a hater…
Her acting is praised a lot esp after ep 15 .
She is known for her chemistry with all her co stars even with Lee Honey
I don’t hate, I don’t like. I’m sorry if your brain doesn’t see the difference. I didn’t insult her, I just gave my opinion. And to act the villain, it’s not a fantastic to do, the zombie did it too. The actor of Summer Fairy/Frost acted two roles during all the show. Even if TV’s awards aren’t known to be always fair, the fact she didn’t won couple award or was nominated for showes that she’s not the best for having chemistry with her costars.
Thanks Ms Koala for cleaning up the comments. Not liking character Sun Mi does not translate to an OYS hater… The writing is bad especially on the OTP development. Those calling people a hater must have lots of insecurities & hate within their hearts, I feel sorry for their poor souls ?
People are butthurt hahahaha glad I didn’t waste my time on this drama. This has got to be the most criticized show along with Radio Romance.
anyone who say the two lead have chemistry are either blind by their love for LSG OYO or they lying to themself. real drama fan know they dont have chemistry.
Please don’t get me wrong. I cannot see/differentiate who got chemistry or who don’t. Can u give me an example of which costars got chem and which don’t??
So Ji Sub and Gong Hyo Jin have explosive chemistry in The Master’ Sun. And also despite BIG failure i still can see the chemistry between Gong Yoo and Lee Min Jung in that drama. But here in Hwayugi i see zero chemistry between the main OTP eventhou i am sucker for supernatural element kind of drama. So i guess we cannot put the total blame on HS because their previous OTPs doing pretty well in the chemistry dept. Actually I am looking forward for this drama because my family and i are biggest fan of JTTW but apparently i survived until ep 8 only. The rest of ep i am very much rely on DB recap. But still looking forward to their final ep.
The writing also affects the chemistry of the cast. Lol if the OTP characters are not develop properly like in this drama people will not be attach or buy it. The writers did not actually develop the relationship of the OTP down the road as there were so many fillers and episodes that dont make sense and this drama is over the top to begin with demons and deities. The only human JSM is not elaborated & we cant see the story from her POV. The main characters and OTP relationship are only develop a few episodes before all those fillers and rehash of the same push and pull leading to 0 development and 0 continuity due to excess fillers. So yeah the HS are actually writing pretty badly when this could have just focus on SOG & JSM like the original monk and monkey or the supernatural route (dean & sam) the others are just excess fillers that cause the main plot to be lost and 0 development of OTP relationship and the main leads character.
Chemistry for an on screen couple is when you actually start to ship them in real life and dedicate fan made videos to them on you tube showing how much you want them to be a couple. That’s when you upgrade to delulu status (sorry Koala and commenters for using the word delulu in this context) Some examples on you tube that I have seen are Seo Ye Ji and Woo Doo Hwan from Save Me; Jang Hyuk and Park Se Young from Money Flower; Kim Nam Gil and Kim Ah Joong from Live up to your name. Hope this gives some clarification.
Park Bo Gum declined? It was more more like he was competing with the other actor who was chosen for the role.
Nah please don’t make it about a competition between two actors. One declined before the other was offered, there was no conflict.
Ok two actors were in contention but the producers end up going ahead with the other actor.
@klover.. park bo gum indeed declined the offer. just google about their hwayugi offering’s article anywhere.. or just click the tag Hwayugi in koala here. You will find who was offered first and almost three weeks later the same offer was given to another one.
Honestly Park Bogum has a good eye for avoiding bad dramas.
Entertainer, Temperature of Love and Hwayugi.
Thank heavens he didn’t take up the offer. I can’t visualize him as SOG since he looks so feminine at times. Ha ha
Now if he could coach SUNG JOON about it, I’d be more than glad…
Did you even watch it to make this comment
its not 2 actors competing, lol they didnt audition for it, they are offered, pbg was indeed offered 1st but he declined, and then the news came out that lsg was offered, and the news that he accepted it came out after he was release fr the army,and started filming, thats why they need to rush everything,coz they have premier date for dec.
No matter what the ratings are I still love Hwayugi to pieces. Love everything about it especially the OTP. Their chemistry is amazing. The only complaint I have for the drama is having to spend too much time focusing on other side characters like Dragon Prince and Buja/PK. Hoping the rest of the episodes will focus more on the OTP. JSM/SOG fighting!!!
I don’t get some fans’ logic…
If people don’t love the drama, they automatically become haters to them.
And yet those fans are still trying so hard to sell the drama to the so-called haters LOL. What a joke.
Haha, yes, literally the ‘nourmal’ comment here. I found that hilarious too… Havent continued watching it. Neither a fan of both leads nor hong sister. The only drama of hong sister i’ve finished was only master sun. But i wont jump into this drama fans fight, lols lovers and haters of hwayugi look like kpop fans of big fandom groups. Lols
Hwayugi and the entire cast fighting!!
Where are all my comments? Lol they disappeared in thin air?
I still enjoy it .. love
It’s such a trip to look at these comments. The Hong sisters have not had a good drama since Master’s Sun, and that drama was fuelled solely by the chemistry between So Ji Sub and Gong Hyo Jin, and the fact that the sisters knew how to show it off. Hwayugi in comparison, it started off interesting but I have to agree that it lost steam.
I have not watch Hwayugi. Objectively speaking the negatives comments are not constructive at all. Did all the DB commenters transfer here?
One of the reasons I no longer visit DB is because that place is toxic. Hmm hope this place won’t become like that.
This comment is incredibly rich.
based on the Hwayugi recap comments, DB commenters are more positive than this site. This site has become more toxic than before. Everyone here claimed they are just voicing their opinion. What puzzle me: The same commenters put negative comments on every post on Hwayugi? If they watch it, why waste time in watching something that you don’t like? And waste more time to write comments and response to other commenters? Not healthy to be negative and bashing the actors/actresses. Making of a drama is a team work, not just about the actors & actresses. It’s also about the writing, directing, camera work, etc…even selection of back ground music. So it may not be the actors/actresses fault when the characters are boring.
This place is ten times more vicious than DB. People can’t express their opinion without getting hate. Some commenters are attacking other actors because their faves are not getting recognized. I don’t watch the drama but apparently people who enjoy watching the supporting cast more than the leads are apparently getting bombarded above by some insane user. From what I see at DB, people are at least having civil discussions without insults thrown at each other.
this is one of the sites that full with haters, I remember one username spreading so much hates towards one actor I just wonder why. they prefer to use their energy to loathe those that they dont like rather than admire those they like.
Haha you talking about jongsukautumn? She’s famous among PSH fans in Twitter for being obsessed with PSH and giving her “critics” in every article.
Anyway, I find DB a little too… fake at times. They seem to have only one opinion and tend to overrate the same few actors/actresses. While the people here are more honest but tend to be abit extreme as if they hold some personal grudge in real life lol. It’s fun to see both sides of opinions. There’s also Soompi but they tend to have more shippers which I honestly can’t stand.
agree with @Anne that DB comments are quite faked. At least this site has more “characters”. I never understand why people are labelled as “haters” when they disagree. I am still watching Hwayugi, I hope to enjoy it more but the main storyline (ie. OTP cough cough…) is getting very boring & draggy, the writing sucks (which has nothing to do with the actor/actress). I enjoy the side stories more which I know are filters, which shows the failure of Hong sisters! DB has toxic commenters too like @Anon @ Anonymous (whom Ms Koala has deleted), now under another name @Helloworld. I enjoy this site more because the blogger is cool 🙂
“only stupid idiots would blame the Olympics”. That’s not constructive and possibly the reason for some of dissatisfaction on this site.
I find DB to very clicky and generally only visit for the “What We’re Watching” segment where I find people can give their pros/cons to what they are viewing without a lot of snark. It’s my favorite of their weekly items.
Yes at times I may get a bit carried away with my expressions, but this is the way I normally speak. That’s the character or humor I like about this site. I have never used foul words though ? Don’t you find it stupid to blame it all on the Olympics btw? C’mon be real people!
Well, I’m one of the people who mentioned that the games might have affected the ratings because it’s a realistic theory of why the ratings went down. Koala is saying it is from the lagging storyline. It could be one the other or both. We’ll find out in time, and I’m honestly not that invested in the ratings because I just care if I’m liking the show.
At this point I’m only through episode 11 so maybe the story is lagging way more than I think because while I see some flaws in pacing, it certainly doesn’t seem horrible. I will be bummed if the story crumbles because I dropped Goblin, was disatisfied with Bride of The Water God, found Black Knight to be anemic, still laughing and crying bitter tears at the ending of Black (laughing because of the hair) and so – to me – a huge fan of supernatural stories, the Hong Sisters don’t seem so bad.
If this drama fails me, I’m just going to go re-watch Arang and the Magistrate.
Oh thanks for reminding me why I no longer care for DB (and haven’t for well over 2 years)… though I don’t mind the negative comments on Hwayugi here.
I wonder why this would drop. For me, this drama is just perfect. The scripts are consistent in a way that characters that are expected to keep promises, keep them (for example). I guess people just love to deal with bitterness and just appreciates a drama for heavy crying, regret, and bitterness.
I love watching this drama, surprisingly I like it better than watching Goblin near the end.
I’ve tried to watch My Golden life too but that’s not my cup of tea.
I am also watching the Olympics as much as I can. Who cares about the ratings? Can’t we all have different taste in dramas? As long as it’s entertaining you watch it, but if not just drop it.
I enjoyed OYS’s weird chemistry with Honey Lee a lot in Please come back mister so I was really excited for her when this drama was announced. The first few episodes were fun and fresh but it’s a shame to say that I’m dropping this. This drama has so much potential and the casts are phenomenal. But there’s something about it that’s really boring and frustrating. I understand they need money from sponsors but the bombardment of product placements is a huge turn-off. Sometimes you’re enjoying a storyline so much and then they throw an ad in your face out of nowhere..and a lot of the lines literally made me cringe. I was expecting a new favorite kdrama but i guess it won’t be this one then.