Jirisan’s Mixed Reviews and Less than Stellar Ratings Leads to Production Company Stock Drop and Endorsement Brand Blowback
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It’s week three of tvN Sat-Sun drama Jirisan and the viewers have spoken, this drama likely isn’t going to be the mega hit the industry expected coming from the collaboration of screenwriter Kim Eun Hee, PD Lee Eun Bok, and big name leads Jeon Ji Hyun and Joo Ji Hoon. The mixed reviews continue and it’s now settling into the script and story, it’s just not as gripping and well-written as would be expected from Kim Eun Hee. And Lee Eun Bok’s directing just made it worse, without anything compelling to fill the gap. The stock prices for joint production companies A Story and Studio Dragon have dropped on the Monday after the weekend airing the last two weeks as the market reflects the expectation that this drama was supposed to be the television aired version of the next Squid Game and isn’t delivering on that. Outdoor sportswear company Nepa, which Jeon Ji Hyun is their spokesmodel, also paid to fully be the mountaineering gear of choice for the entire drama. It’s website has a section devoted to Jirisan and shows pictures of every outfit worn through all 16 episodes, and then only makes available to buy the ones that are seen on episodes that have aired. This is also making viewers upset as this is the season to start buying winter coats but the brand is not releasing all the products and making customers wait through November and December for some items. In general, the audience feels like the drama is turning into a PPL fest which is more palatable if the story is good but here it’s just got good enough to warrant putting up with this.
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I wonder what it means for Jun Ji-hyun’s career?
No impact, there has been no criticism of her for any of the Jirisan problems to date. She’s hard carrying the drama as is.
Actually there’s been lots of criticism on her acting. But I agree it won’t have any big impact on her career since LOTBS didn’t live up to expectation either, and Chinese investors still rushed to heavily invest in this drama based on her casting.
I think there’s a little impact at least, many translations of netizen comments have critiqued her acting + this is Lee Min Ho tanking with TKEM levels of disappointment. Based on his trajectory, it did hurt him a bit but his fans are rabidly loyal and he bounced back with that Disney+ gig. She’s more senior than him and better known locally so I think this is a small – but remarkable dip – in her career. Personally, I always knew they could never make a series about mountain rangers interesting even with kdrama hijinks LOL but even I’m shocked at how they managed to nab such an amazing cast and screenwriter and still bomb. Welp.
Probably none. All big stars have had their share of underperformers, many of which performed even worse than Jirisan – Sisyphus, Arthdal, Encounter, ROY, Memories of Alhambra, etc.
At the very least, it’s another proof that big name stars don’t guarantee success anymore.
MOA was a decent enough success, ROY and Encounter were only disappointments because PBG and SHK were the S-tier leads involved. Sisyphus had a massive budget, two A-tier leads and was a 10-year anniversary special so it was much worse. Arthdal, TKEM and Vagabond had HUGE budgets and multiple S- and A-tier stars along with ghastly ratings so they’re the worst three for the past couple of years I’d say. As long as Jirisan doesn’t dip too low and recovers most of its production value through CFs and streaming, they should be at ROY and Encounter level of “disappointing but not too tragic” success.
Encounter had higher rating than MOA so no it was not a decent success both flopped hard. HB and PSH are jus as much S-tier as SHK and PBG. AC, TKEM and Sisyphus are massive flops and way below expectations but Jirisan was supposed to be the next SG by the admission of the production house and investors themselves so in no way is Jirisan at the disappointing but not too tragic level. It is outright tragically flopped and the negative reviews from not just viewers but from the industry itself is overwhelming. Nepa is already blaming the drama for the loss of their investment and falling sales. The money invested in this drama and the expectations were huge.
I think MOA performance was not a disappointment. Sci-fi is a genre which attracts only a specific demographic of viewers. Ahjummas certainly aren’t interested in that.
Imo, the fate of a drama is determined by its trajectory. Unlike the rest u mentioned MOA had an upward trend and peaked almost at the end of the series. Meanwhile, trainwreck like sysiphus couldn’t recover their first/sec epi ratings and it kept going down. I think jirisan may follow the same route. It’s Sunday episode ratings are going down.
@mobier MOA had a somewhat steady upward climb in ratings, was popular internationally and constantly featured on Netflix, so it was definitely not a “hard flop.” I don’t consider PSH S-tier and while the drama was lacklustre in terms of the fact that it was HB’s (a definitive S-tier actor) return to dramas after a significant break, it didn’t have producers popping pills or anything. Encounter had two very notable S-tier actors, a lot of media frenzy surrounding it because of the whole “PBG is romancing his bff’s wife” thing and amazing ratings from debut. However, it never surpassed its debut peak, was boring as hell and never gained traction internationally, hence the “disappointing but not tragic” tag. Basically, ratings aren’t the only determinant of a drama’s success, especially with Netflix and the huge international reach of kdramas at this point.
Searching on several major international korean kpop and drama website, I can’t find article like this. Koala must be really hate Jirisan for being the first to deliver this.
I only find this:
Over on tvN, “Jirisan” earned an average nationwide rating of 8.9 percent and a peak of 10.1 percent for its sixth episode, marking a significant increase in viewership from its previous episode the night prior. The drama also successfully remained first place in its time slot across all cable channels among all viewers—and first place in its time slot across all channels, including public broadcast networks, among the key demographic of viewers ages 20 to 49 (with whom it scored a nationwide average of 4.6 percent and a peak of 5.2 percent).
Regarding stock prices it’s last week news.
Locally, I just read that some people can’t find Jirisan that entertaining. And some find this really entertaining. No one care about stock prices and ppl. Maybe bad cgi, but that’s it.
Here’s the source article in Hankyung News:
https://www.hankyung.com/economy/article/2021110608627
@koala just a suggestion. Can u post the links of ur sources next time onwards? I follow some accts on Twitter and they always make sure to link the og article.
That’s why I said international website. Not everybody can read Korean.
I mean international tabloids also get the news from naver. And we can already read abt ratings and stuffs from soompi. But what’s wrong in posting something that’s not published by English outlets. It’s her blog and her choice to post what news she likes
It’s an article from a business focused domestic news outlet. It’s not exactly something international websites like Soompi or AllKPop would report on. It just happened to get attention in fan cafes and theqoo because of Nepa’s involvement with Jun Ji Hyun and Jirisan. Studio Dragon however is a recognizable name to international fans because of its successful shows plus the fact that Studio Dragon seemed untouchable until news that its stocks performed badly after Jirisan got negative reviews.
You must be incredibly dull, since everything mentioned in this article is local and impacts the production of a drama the most – domestic business is integral in a drama and actor’s long-lasting success. If stocks of production companies and CF deals drop, that’s a huge blow to the success meter and audience reception. Plus there’s little to no international buzz either besides the show being notable for its repertoire of actors. Even Kdrama Twitter is dead asleep.
From what I read sofar, koreans are disappointed with Jirisan and that counts most to reflect on the earnings of the makers and stars. Opinions of international fans lije us, do not carry much weight, this, although we enjoy and follow JJY, who by the way carry the show on her beautiful shoulders. Like her acting in “Ashin”, JJY to my mind is good in Jirisan.
Update on Kim Seon Ho scandal? ⏳
Last update on his scandal is last monday when dispatch release second revelation katalk. Most public opinion turned around to support him. His CFs reinstated. Even CF with his face appear on SBS, MBC, TvN. Also he’s going to shoot Sad Tropical movie on December.
I finally caught up on all the episodes. I don’t think the show is terrible as some of the comments here make it out to be, but it’s definitely not delivering up to potential.
For me, the directing is the culprit. They chose the wrong director to execute Kim Eunhee’s vision. The storyline and acting are fine…I think…it is hard to tell through the directing.
The first few episodes felt like a montage of National Geographic documentary scenes interspersed with the actual story. Multiple storylines are going on at once, which wouldn’t be an issue if the director could handle it deftly, but here he doesn’t and what you get is a patchwork quilt drama. One minute it’s a nature documentary, then it’s a supernatural thriller, and episode 6 threw in shades of romantic melodrama.
Kim Eunhee writes shows that are dark, moody, and atmospheric. Signal and Kingdom’s directors executed her vision well. This director isn’t on the same wavelength as the writer. He needs to stick to directing Kim Eunsook romances. I felt like I was watching a basic romance kdrama in the last episode.
PPL can’t be avoided in your average kdramas due to funding, but they are disruptive to the viewing experience. One reasons to get excited about Netflix kdramas is the lack of PPL.
At this rate, it’ll be hard for Jirisan to beat even Vincenzo’s ratings and popularity let alone trying to eclipse CLOY’s success. The tribe has spoken. Dim the fire. Lol. Jin’s ost is breaking more records than the drama itself.
I don’t think it can even beat the average ratings of Hometown Cha Cha Cha with this downward trajectory. Still the best-performing cable drama, but it wasted the momentum of that timeslot.
Best-performing currently-airing cable drama, I mean.
Jin’s ost is also underperforming. Don’t bring out worldwide itune numbers because I am talking abt south korea.
There was a point when 3 CLOY osts were inside melon top 10 at the same time.
This year in general is bad for osts although we had many dramas performing well ratings wise.
a gent and a young lady ost rules though,
Remake and sings by the most popular Trot singer at the moment
That’s the only ost that survive beside the hospital playlist season 2 by Lee mujin and the actor
Didnt Joy from Red Velvet have really successful ost? Or was that last year i cant remember lol.
The charts have reformed since CLOY OSTs were out.
Jin’s OST is flopping hard in Korea. It’s doing records worldwide because of the fandom and BTS name, but both the song and his vocals especially are below average. This makes me think that the members don’t have solo potential aside from Jungkook.
Well, V’s song got an award. Thanks to their fandoms. But honestly, i like Jin’s ost more lol.
Why isn’t Jungkook doing OSTs btw? He’s the best singer in BTS lol
@Yui Sweet night tanked on k platforms. That best ost award was a fan voted one in Apan last year. Ofcourse a bts member won’t lose a popularity award
I personally liked SN more. Jin is too nasal and strains a lot
Both Jin and V tanked in Korea. The only award Jin can get for this is a fan-voted one like V did for his Itaewon Class OST lol.
Unless the singer is someone like IU, I don’t see how an OST from a drama that’s doing a bit underwhelmingly, is supposed to be successful on its own.
If drama produced by Netflix (no PPL), directed by different person, the result could be better.
lots of chinese money funding still ppl issue. if average kdrama ppl issue ok but this one not average drama wor. supposed to be high class. haiya find better pd next time.
this drama could have been better with all its potential but it’s not the worst drama of 2021 for sure. still bummed how it’s not on netflix but hopefully next time!
and jun ji hyun is doing great regardless. i’m glad she took another genre for a tv series (& ashin of the north) since many have yet to watch her movies that showed her versatility.
Up to episode 6 I still find it great. Maybe that’s because I focused to the story and not really minding the ppl because I’m used to see ppl in dramas. Like, from ages ago, the heroine is poor, but she wears different winter coat everyday lol. A little annoyed by cgi at episode 5, other than that, no complains. Can’t wait fpr next eps, it’s still 10 more episodes I hope it will be steadily good.
This show feels like a bunch of interesting ideas mixed together in a disjointed way. It could have been unique but the directing is making it seem like a sloppy mess. Meanwhile episode 6 feels a bit like a filler episode but it’s in Lee Eungbok’s comfort zone, so the execution was good and it was actually very good in presenting the depth of the characters. Unfortunately once a suspenseful or action scene comes he relies on the music to create the atmosphere which is very old school directing.
I don’t know about Kim Eunhee’s script on this one. It isn’t bad so far but I think the constant churning out of scripts is taking a toll on their quality. It took her several years to make Kingdom which is why it felt more well developed. The good thing is that the cast are showing much more chemistry in the recent episodes. It feels entertaining enough for me to continue.
I agree that even though episode 6 seemed almost like a filler episode and didn’t add much to the plot it was also the episode which seemed most cohesive so far. It felt like a very enjoyable slice of life drama about mountain rangers.
Ep 6 was so boring and Jun Ji Hyun playing a 20 year old is not very convincing. Why didn’t they just use the younger actress who played her teen version.
JJH playing the 20 year old version of herself made me laugh. That was beyond suspension of disbelief. Why are older actresses insisting of playing character 10-20 years younger? SHK playing the college student version of herself in NWABU looks bad even in still cuts. PSH playing a 22 year old at 31, HHJ playing her high school version at 34 is so unnecessary. There are plenty of younger actresses who could use those roles to breakout.
@avenue: Same for the male actors too. Park Seo Joon and Park Hyun Sik were unconvincing as school students. I think the directors and producers are telling actors they will easily de-age with the camera technology but it simply isn’t very convincing when we already know how old these actors really are. I know they wanted to give JJH and Son Suk-Ku more screnetime together but they should have just kept using Kim Do Yeon and Choi Hyun Wook (who were both well-cast) and expanded the adults screentime in the more recent scenes.
Same male and female leads choosing to play characters 10-20 years younger than themselves is completely pointless and breaks the quality of the drama too.
I’m fine with leads briefly playing younger versions of themselves in a drama if the actors are in their 20s and can still sorta pass for younger
This is not one of those cases though.
Ju ji hoon acting is dull here
It should have aired in Netflix for wider audience. Squid Game would not have this worldwide success if was not released in Netflix.
Everything is meh… the story, the directing and the acting. The actors look like models in the middle of the forest…
Jun Jihyun isn’t the best actress and she’s mostly just acting in her usual style here but she’s still the one hard carrying tbh. The ratings will probably be way lower without her star power. Everyone doesn’t have much to do acting wise and they come off as bland. Forget the directing, we’re six episodes in but the show is still lacking of its own flavour or an actual focus. The plot really needs to pick up. As someone above said, is this the result of Kim Eun hee overworking herself?
The funny thing is that the ratings are really not bad at all. They are actually good! This is TVN’s highest rated drama this year behind only Mr Queen, Vincenzo, Hometown but given the large budget and high quality of the cast and director and writer I guess the expectations were just too high 🙁
That’s exactly it. It was expected to be better than it is and that’s the disappointing part.
Have checked the whole comment and you got hooked right here. The expectation is too high. To me, it’s not that bad,maybe cause i focused on the story line.. We should just let this run its course.. The cast and crew all put in so much efforts..
If this was aired a little bit earlier this probably would have landed in that JoyNews worst drama for the year list also lol seems like Arthdal level of disappointment for tvN
arthdal did fine once it found its stride part 2 onward, and even garnered support for season 2 by the end. obviously it underperformed, but i feel like people exaggerate the degree to which. if it was a resounding failure like a lot of people like to say it is, tvn would have never renewed it for a second season.
@mimimi Arthdal is a failure because of the huge budget, expectations, and heavy promos involved. It’s not exaggerated when the show couldn’t even hit 8% nationwide and instead stayed at 5-7%. The drama they used as a filler in between Parts 1 and 2, Hotel del Luna, ended up more much successful than Arthdal itself lol. Like someone said above, I also consider Arthdal, Sysiphus, TKEM, and Vagabond as the biggest failures in recent years. I wouldn’t take having a second season something as something to brag about when even Tale of Nine-Tailed is having one.
Arthdal was a failure because it’s not even a full drama, tvn and Netflix effectively lied to viewers giving them the impression that they’d get a complete story arc in “Part 2”, even leaving months between episodes…only to leave the story incomplete with a claim that “if it did well you’ll get season 2”. That incompleteness and the weird pacing that resulted from it are what killed the drama – it’s not that the story wasn’t interesting and well acted but even the best actors can’t make up for a half done story. I hope that’s the end of Netflix trying to force kdramas into seasons format, even in Kingdom each season was a complete arc in itself but other than that it just doesn’t work.
Jirisan isn’t terrible but it’s definitely not Kim Eun Hee standard. I agree the directing has a lot to do with it but I didn’t expect it to feel like yet another kdrama with a lot of ppl and love lines (she knows how to write dramas without those as seen in her previous work).
@Mars that’s a fair point about ratings, but the show had to have been a success in some measure for tvn to renew it for a second season. tvn is a profit-driven business. they wouldn’t be amenable to investing another $50 mil in a project just for creative continuity and preservation if it wasn’t going to bag them revenue in some way. i suspect there is a netflix deal on the table, which tipped the scales in the show’s favor. it’s done quite well on netflix, and has seen a resurgence this year following vincenzo’s success.
i haven’t watched tale of the nine-tailed but from what i understand it wasn’t a very expensive show at all. comparing it to arthdal makes little sense.
@Royal We there is a lot of confusion surrounding the breakdown of seasons and parts when we talk about arthdal. the show was always intended to have multiple seasons (i.e. multiple sets of 18 episodes or more), and they publicized this a lot when preproduction was ongoing. the script for the 18 episodes was written, filmed, and produced with the intention of continuing the story in the later years. when they got closer to broadcasting, they split the first season into different parts primarily bc of cgi work not being completed. the “parts” got conflated to mean “seasons” in popular media, so many believed this was what had they’d meant when there was initial talks of the seasonal format. so there was an expectation that the 18 episodes was the whole story in its entirety. this was a massive marketing failure. promotions in general for arthdal was a complete trainwreck, and the biggest driver in why it wasn’t able to deliver the ratings. if the show had been successful ratings-wise, the story and production would have continued without a hitch. but they most likely just broke even, which is why there was serious consideration before the second season was announced. i just hope the production and marketing teams have learned from their mistakes and are better equipped to handle effective promotions for the upcoming seasons.