It’s episode 8 of River Where the Moon Rises and it’s now clear that the whole male lead swap debacle is merely one of the many problems this drama cannot seem to catch a break with. The writing is simplistic and the directing has no crispness or tension, even with the clearly inserted Na In Woo as Ondal scenes close up with Ji Soo’s back from far away. Kim So Hyun and Lee Ji Hoon can only do so much to carry the drama on their backs and if they were the drama OTP perhaps it’s enough but they are not so watching her keep second-guessing him and him constantly caught between a rock and a hard place is getting repetitive. The ratings remain just stagnant, higher than most KBS Mon-Tues dramas of late but for a highly promoted sageuk it’s been just average since it premiered. I may duck out if next week’s episodes don’t pick up, Kim So Hyun can act in anything but it’s not entertaining watching her act without a good story around her. And I can see Lee Ji Hoon’s Go Geun turning one-note obsessed soon and I’ve already watched him do that in Dinner Mate and love him as I may I don’t need a full second serving, heh.
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"for a highly promoted segeuk"? It's been hyped, YES, but highly promoted, NO. I barely even see a post for this drama on KBS IG account. Just the stills when I check updates for dramas. VC did a good job but they have minimal amount of subscribers.
I'm just about to say the same thing. highly promoted? lol.. i rolled my eyes reading that ?
I thought this drama was heavily promoted too. I have seen the trailer everywhere prior to the broadcast, compared to royal secret agent.
Maybe I’m minority but I’m loving this episode to bits. The editing of ondal is jarring but I expect it to be rectified by next week. There’s so many things happening in this episode, not one dull moment. It was a pleasure seeing gajin silencing the men with her oratory skills and using her warrior ways to take down the baddies. The comical fight between the future-in-laws destroyed me haha episode 7 & 8, my SLS grew exponentially ? The writing is simplistic but the heart is still pure gold. I’m having a carnival of a time.
We're in the minority haha. I love this drama, I think because I'm not expecting too much and not something grand. It's a classic for me. Episode 8 exceeds personal best in ratings of my Second-lead Syndrome. The simplicity is actually it's charm like a classic storytelling.
Most definitely, I agree with your descriptions haha I honestly think some people allowed negative opinions and lower ratings to affect their enjoyment of the drama. They think too hard on why the ratings aren’t what it should be and start entertaining the negatives instead of the many positives. I thought the storyline of true beauty and do do sol sol was very simple and annoying at times but I still was entertained by them despite the facepalm writing haha This drama always gave me a disney fairy tale feeling, a sweet and easy meal ?
I am also loving the drama even more than before. For me, I am more inclined towards sl so I was not really that affected with change of ml. I am loving the politics more than romance.Two of the historical drama that sohyun starred in was male centric so she could not shine but I think she is shining in this drama even though writing is not really good.
As for "highly promoted sageuk" I really wish you could say that. If you go to the KBS channel, you can see that they did not even upload the teaser. I can clearly say that KBS did not even half promote this drama as compare to other drama.
Agree 1000% with everything Koala wrote here. Also, the drama was heavily promoted even if KBS didn't do much. It was everywhere from the blogosphere to the interwebs with anticipation by i-fans. And if I'm remembering right, an insider commented sometime back that the folktale itself wasn't that interesting so most K-viewers weren't all that excited to watch the drama.
LOL I-netz is different from K-netz. K-netz are the one who contribute to the ratings. I guess you're confusing between hype and promotion.
I was talking about two different groups of people, cherry pie. Not my problem if you misunderstood. Learn to read, will you? Smh.
Sorry if I sound like I'm arguing, I'm not.
You said that it was heavily promoted on interwebs and blogosphere and highly anticipated by I-netz. Meaning it was promoted more outside korea and I can see that international fans like the drama because they tuned in (It is number 1 in Viu Philippines) but sadly they can't contribute to the ratings. If this isn't what you mean, then I'm sorry I misunderstood ?
P.S. I like that CherryPie ?
Genuinely curious. Does hype mean something different in dramaland? 'Cause according to the Oxford dictionary:
Hype: (noun) extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion. (verb) promote or publicize intensively or extravagantly.
Promotion: (noun) the publicizing of a product or venture so as to increase sales or public awareness; a publicity campaign.
Unless hype has a different definition in dramaland, both mean the same thing except hype punches where promotion slaps.
So I don't get the “it was hyped but it wasn't heavily promoted” part or telling someone they're confusing hype and promotion???
Hey, I got curious too. But based on my observation on this drama, Hype is from fans and promotion is from the network. As per your definition of hype, extravagant and extensive, fans sometimes exaggerate to boost the drama's popularity. But promotion from the network is to made the audience aware that a drama will be aired so please watch.
Hey, I could be wrong. Thank you for this question. Now, can someone offer an explanation too.
I thought of a scenario too.
John doesn't know of RWTMR because there's minimal amount of ad on tv and he always missed it (promotion). Then his friend Tom (Hype) told him that a folktale will be turned into a drama so he got curious and searched for the drama.
Hehe. This is just based on my understanding.
Eventhough they change the male lead, it did not really help with the ratings because I guess the overall execution of the story since the beginning is not that good. Just my personal opinion.
Yeah, I agree that they have a stagnant ratings.
Eventhough KBS did not do much in terms of promoting it on their IG accounts, I think it was still promoted well in Korea. I just wish it has a good writing
because the actors are great for me.
Exactly. It was well-promoted in Korea. I even saw some of the i-fans bragging about how it was trending on Naver, Nate, etc. But the K-audience are just not hooked by the story hence the stagnant average ratings. The actors are doing a swell job, especially in light of recent events but the writing and directing is letting them down.
But I thought you’re just going to marathon when this ends? Lol
Episode 7-8 are giving me so much SLS, can they just ff the story, kill Ondal and GG be the endgame? *wishful thinking*?
too bad, this drama is going face to face with Joseon exorcist and lee min ki drama. Both dramas look super awesome as compared to this one. I have not seen river after episode 1 and 2 as I planned to bingewatch but boy what a turned out!!, I'd probably drop this drama giving those circumstances.
Lee Min-ki's drama is airing (and is destined to flop because of the timeslot) on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It will go up against Hello, It's Me, Sisyphus, the first 10 minutes of Mouse, and more dauntingly, Ms. Trot.
Now, I'm curious whether Joseon Exorcist/Jang Dong-yoon will prevail over River/Kim So-hyun. It's also up against Song Kang's Navillera. So she's going up against two of her leading men.
No, it's not well promoted here in Korea. And I don't watch this drama because I don't yet understand Korean language that much (My husband and I moved here last November 2020). Monday and Tuesday are also a very busy day and to most people here. If only it's aired a little early, maybe I won't have to stay up late and give this drama a chance.
Hope you're not trying to speak for the K-viewers just because you moved to their country last year. Whether or not Mon & Tues are busy, other dramas have aired on those days in unfavourable timeslots and still managed high viewership. Even the drama that preceded this one in the same timeslot, Secret Royal Agent, managed to hit double digits several times and pulled in 14% for its finale. If a drama has a gripping storyline, people will tune in to watch it. And it WAS promoted well.
Storytelling still sells, no matter how much one promotes the drama. It is obvious that Koreans are not liking this drama very much, given the average rating.
I remembered when Lai Pei Yee was fake concerned for KBS that she really wants RWTMR to get cancelled. Seriously? What can you get if the drama gets cancelled? Will you be truly happy? HAHA. You always talk about ratings and story and blah blah and calling some who enjoy the drama crazy fanatic LOL. No matter how much you talk sh*t, there will be people who will continue watching this.
Monday-Tuesday dramas have had stagnant ratings for some time now. They recovered thanks to Penthouse S1 and SRI was able to benefit from it but I'm not surprised it disappeared again. There's a reason why MBC permanently cancelled it's timeslot. This is actually doing a lot better than TTON which was much more properly promoted in SK.