SBS Romance Drama Now, We are Breaking Up with Song Hye Kyo and Jang Ki Yong Wraps with 6.7% Ratings in Final Episode 16

There are hot mess dramas and the just concluded SBS Fri-Sat romance drama Now, We are Breaking Up is definitely not that. It’s big problem was that it was pretentiously boring, it thought it was more than it was trying to be, and less than it actually delivered. It’s the even more heightened gap between expectation and reality. This weekend the drama finished it’s run and the final episode 16 brought in 6.7% nationwide AGB ratings, so low but probably the mid-range for the drama’s run. The highest rating was 8.0% and the lowest at 4.2% but the drama attrition-ed something more important than just eyeballs on viewers, it lost buzz and no one talked about it other than to lament how dull it was. The story took one central conflict (she dated his now dead older half-brother for two months ten years ago) and made it something so dramatic as to keep two adult modern day good looking successful people apart. I would rather it was cancer or they grew up as siblings before realizing they weren’t blood related or she’s part gumiho or his dad killed her mom or whatever it is that K-dramas throw at OTP because anything was more interesting then this conceit. I don’t think Song Hye Kyo or Jang Ki Yong tanked this drama with their acting, the script was the biggest problem, but they certainly didn’t help. She was at best placidly pretty and at worst laconically flat and he was just……there…..being good looking and clearly a man any woman would be attracted to but nothing much that resonated as a real human being. I’m sad this drama wasn’t better and glad it’s over so everyone can move on to better projects and just chalk this up to better work next time.


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SBS Romance Drama Now, We are Breaking Up with Song Hye Kyo and Jang Ki Yong Wraps with 6.7% Ratings in Final Episode 16 — 43 Comments

    • Yup this really cements how much she mediaplays. There were some articles early on that mentioned the criticisms but those went away quickly. But anyone looking at the numbers and reception this drama received knows the truth.

    • They can spin the shit out of this hot mess of a drama, but they can’t lie to their own eyes when they watch this train wreck. And sometimes that’s worse, knowing that you’ve deceive others into thinking that your show and your performance was good, but you know in your heart it was shitty.

      But in case, after watching her drama, SHK still thinks she did good, someone has to sit her down and tell her the brutal truth. Her Robotic, mechanical acting is not the only way to act. Facial expressions are good. Voice variations are welcome. Looking goofy, wacky, silly, ugly for a drama is ok.

      Or she may not care about her acting, she still rakes in the money, so…

    • I admit the drama is terrible. Didn’t expect its was from the same Misty writer. There are article criticising the drama so stop blamed everything on shk. The same things happened to jjh, ppl blaming and criticised her for poor cgi in jirisan like whattt?
      Shk did received huge criticism on early episode so it’s still not enough to you you want more articles? Did you watch the drama btw. Her acting as the drama progressed is what actually save the drama from getting even worst rating. Despite the drama being terrible there are still audiences who watched and cry with it, so i dont see anything wrong with that naver articles. Naver will write anything that will attract ppl to read, even simple post from shk or even her pet dog can make the article trending on naver, so yall will blamed this on her too. Its not her fault media like to write about her stop hating.

      • Let’s be honest, what saved NWABU from getting worse ratings was TRS ending it’s run. Had TRS not aired 2 episodes on Christmas Day and ep16&17 on the same night, NWABU would have lost even more viewers and ended with about a 3% because it will be competing with TRS to the very end.

      • Ya i admits TRS could kill the rating if they added more ep as the momentum keep getting better. NWBU get 7% n 6% at the start and middle of drama bcoz of shk. With that storyline and others actors in it im expecting they will get 3% at best or maybe lesser.

      • For SBS it is considered a very weak performance when they are used to getting 15% and above. Tell it to the actors and actresses who acted in Taxi Penthouse and One the Woman which do not have an A-lister cast, yet they manage to do well. She is too hyped

      • Did you even read? Lol why compare to Penthouse. No one can deny PH is a better drama in all aspects. Sageuk and Makjang drama always did better than Melo/Slice of Life drama in term of rating. The fact that rating not solely depends on actor shoulder ONLY no matter A lister or not. Some smart audiences on Naver have picked up this and commented that poor storyline and rating should be on writer and pd too. Why yall keep blaming it on shk

      • Surprisingly Uncle which has less buzzy stars can do better than this hyped actress. And it is not a makjang or saeguk.

      • Uncle have better storyline its a good drama so what’s the problem. You seems to not get the point lmao and why do i even bother to reply

  1. Last year a ton of high profile older actresses SHK, JJH, LYA, JDY, GHJ were making a comeback at the same time. I thought it would be an intense competition but their projects all kinda failed instead. Only Shin Minah made a successful project. I’m not really feeling the posters for Son Yejin’s new show too, but will still check it out for her.

    • The break up, then I miss you early but your love sustains me part = just as bad as rewinds of his dead brother and the car crash.

      Thank God, that axed the bf’s gf/

  2. No estoy de acuerdo contigo. Para muchos es un drama maduro y diferente, perfectamente representado de acuerdo a su título e intención. No se deben mirar las cosas tan superficialmente. El rating hace mucho tiempo no es el único indicador. Sí bien fue bastante triste, me gustó

  3. Its karma for Shk fans. They left no stone to tarnish sjk reputation. They keep mocking him for AC debacle while they were boasting about Shk unfading popularity. But looks how Karma work sjk is back in his game with both hit movie,drama and cf. And Shk just got hit back with the worst performance and drama of her career. I hope this serves lesson to her fans that being humble and grounded serves you a long way.

    • Dude leave their marriage in 2019 and move on. Her stans are delusional so as his. Let these actors live their life and do their job. He has failed production and so as hers.

  4. Is anyone really surprised that NWABU turned out to be as boring and bad as first predicted. The script was paper thin even in the synopsis stage then the still and teasers came out and everything about it screamed boring. No clue why anyone picked this drama but glad its finally over. All the top actresses failed to bring in ratings last year with or without star writers and popular male leads. Only HCCC managed to pull in ratings almost entirely because of KSH but him and SMA were also adorable together. The new SYJ and PMY dramas feel as boring as NWABU in execution and JTBC hasn’t been bringing in ratings for almost 2 years now. Older actresses are picking dramas that focus more on them but the writing and directing still sucks all the energy out of these dramas and they ultimately fall flat. None them is challenging the sageuk genre for some odd reason. Hoping the new GHJ and LMH drama turns out to be as cute and fun as it sounds even if it is a generic romcom set in space. Even Netflix is reaching a saturation point with all its dark and broody dramas which are experimental but not always in a good way. Hellbound and SS fell waaaaay below expectations in every way. MN was predictable and uninspiring but at least it helped HSH erase her Navillera image.

    • I didn’t expected the script would be this boring. I really like Misty despite it has some flaws. The Working environment in Misty also more engaging. Didn’t expecting the writers has some kind of writers block problem.

    • “None of them are challenging the sageuk genre for some odd reason.”

      Same observation. Nowadays, we don’t see most of the A-list actresses star in sageuks anymore and I wonder why. Is it because of the difficulty to pull off the genre itself? Or, seeing how the four former child actresses graced us with their respective historical dramas last year, is it because there aren’t much age-appropriate sageuk scripts available for the older actresses?

      • Korean sageuks which are romance-based almost never cast older female leads because of the age people get married and all in the olden days. So yes. Plus product placement is also a problem so finding sponsors and getting the production investment are difficult.

  5. I’m not really surprised, the first 2 episodes showed that everything was meh : writting, directing and actors. The one night stand was aweful, the PD didn’t film JKY’s face like the viewers won’t guess who he was… and it wasn’t sexy at all…

  6. Oh I remember how SHK fans were dragging Arthdal Chronicles ratings through the mud while it was airing saying how SJK was only a one hit wonder who hitched a ride on SHK fame. So ridiculous to see now lol because AC rating was higher than NWABU and it aired on cable. Meanwhile NWABU broadcasted on SBS, how embarrassing for her fans. May this be a lesson not to be so arrogant and look down on other actors.

    • Agree with the last sentence. All “stans” should keep in mind that it only takes one misstep for their faves to get knocked off their pedestal, be it a scandal or a bad script. I get that many of the hardcore fans live vicariously through these rich celebs’ successes but getting so invested to the point that they become delusional and arrogant and mock other actors is never a good thing. You don’t know what tomorrow may bring.

    • What does SJK has to do with Song Hye Kyo in this poorly written drama? Song Hye Kyo deliver a poor performance in NWABU but it’s not all her fault this drama has low rating. The script itself project so little to enticed it’s audience so there’s no need to keep shading her over it’s failed execution. Her delusional fans are airhead but y’all here are as delusional as her stand too! Leave their marriage and divorce in 2019 and stop carrying it to their future productions. Why do shipper love to tarnish people’s image so much?

      • Look at this stupid Kyo stan trying to act brand new now that the certifiably flop drama of her flop fave has ended. Where was this outrage when your equally stupid co-fans were dragging every K-actor (including SJK) and K-actress under the sun to defend your flop fave? Screw off and let people drag her as much as they want. You’re not the koala police to dictate what people should post. Go kick rocks!

      • @Stupid yaGya Why are you so but hurt about my post on here? To the point where you’re using my ID name to attack me. I don’t agree with the commenter above because they’re all delusional stans from both actors that has nothing to do with the drama. Does that make me a fan too since you’re so smart? Sorry but I’m not no fan of your beautiful actor or SHK but I watch their drama. Does it make you feel better to drag SHK down because of her lousy fans if you’re so heart broken over their ridiculous obsession over her? Does that make you any different? Do you get anything from SJK to talk trash about SHK. Do he know you were his die hard fan? Why don’t you go kick rock instead? I know it’s freedom of speech but why being smart then acting victim later?

    • If I’ve to be honest, I loved SJK much more before he starred in DOTS.
      Despite his pretty boy face he has proven everyone to be a very solid actor who took various roles that don’t focus in his looks. He acted as the younger king part in Tree with Deep Roots and gain tremendous amount of praises.
      He also have thar Werewolf Boy movie which he received awards for , then we have ‘Nice Guy’ drama.
      He and Moon Chae Won are perfect in that drama from their acting to chemistry. Feel like their level of acting skill are in the same level.
      DOTS did give him huge fame but it’s more like the cheesy romantic guy image? At least now I’m hlsd he chose Vincenzo to get back on track as an actor.

      As for SHK. She was charming esp in Full House and decent in That Winter…. but since then I kinda get bored of her repetitive roles . She mainly focus on looking besutiful with that cold speaking tone.

      This NWABU must be the limit for Korean viewers too. In thus drama, she is do stiff and can’t even move her cheeks when talking. Too much botox.
      She looks so much older and unnatural now.

      No wonder Knetz only talk about Jeon Ji Hyeon, Kim Tae Hee, snd Kim Hee Sun as the top 3 beauty recently..
      They say all SHK pics are always edited by her agency, even puctures frimdrama Presscon too.

      Hope she can redeem her acting in ‘ The Glory’. Show some efforts and breakthrough role for once pleaseeeee!!!!!

      • Typical childish stans. You can support your favourite actor all you want and be matured. No need to drag others. Both of them have moveon in their life so you should too.
        All actor have up and down welcome to the real world. I’m happy they seems happy in their life now and sjk have found his track back. He maybe will suffer in low rating drama too in future who knows, you don’t have yo keep dragging each other. It’s 2022 now grow up please

  7. Nwbu is definitely a strong candidate for worst drama of the year. Everything was bad. The script, directing, and the acting. It was supposed to be set in the fashion industry but the clothes were ugly and dated. The other dramas had bad ratings too but at least got some redeeming factor. Nwbu had absolutely none.

    And the hardcore and blind fans are rationalizing the script to make some sense out of it.

  8. Honestly speaking i found the ending funny ? drama name was now we are breaking up and at last she narrated that they are still breaking up.. ????what the hell. I don’t get what they mean???
    And one more thing, i haven’t watched the whole show but from articles and social media i got the depiction/ moral of this show which is somehow I personally don’t find correct. They were showing because of there work and family pressure there can’t be together! I mean like seriously?? They were not teen or even below 30, so parents have to worry, or work- got with wrong person and would lost jobs & how they r going to run there house. In drama both were from good family, financially well, i would say expensive life style,they both were well settled. So what was the problem??? There r so many people who settle down without parents will. No parent will want there kids to stay alone forever and don’t settle down even at age of 40. If still problem arises, stay together and present them a good example & prove urself correct. And talk about work- it’s so wrong to show that ur work dont allow u to stay i relationship. So this means none of Soldier should have ever married because they don’t stay with there families everytime, scientists, doctors, and many professions don’t allow u to stay together always but still people stay together. It’s wrong to show this. If they want to show, show they have personality problem/ vibes many aspects r there, and they were just dating… End point is if u r willing to stay u will stay even if world ends. It’s rubbish to show parents and work as villian.

    • The actors were probably attracted to the script because it was the misty writer. The director’s got some good credits too.

      And Misty ended up having better fashion than a drama that takes place in the fashion world…

      • This should be a lesson for actors to actually read the script and assess it themselves rather than rely on big name writers and directors for a hit drama. Lee Min Ho with Eternal Monarch, Jun Ji Hyun with Jirisan, and the Snow Drop actors with that controversial drama.

    • You are so out of context. Their work didn’t allow them in r/s? Where did you get that? You should watch the drama to answer why their parents against the r/s and why the ML mom threatened the FL and why the FL give up on their r/s. For Asian ppl parent’s approval is the most important. You probably didn’t know how conservative Korean ppl and old generation are. But i do admit the storyline is very bad there are many loopholes and the writers don’t even bother to solve it.

  9. I liked Misty even if in the end the husband paid the price . But Kim Nam joo’s acting is above SHK’s level and she had Ji Jin Hee as co lead ! I dropped the drama after ep 1 as i saw that it’s wasn’t going to be my cup of tea . And, SHK ‘s face was like a wax doll . Why a beautiful woman as her needs botox ? I know that wrinkles are an obsession but it’s what made your face alive . Doing dermatological treatments is fine but at some point one should stop . Sophie Marceau is over 50 years she has wrinkles but she stills considered as one of the most beautiful french actresses . Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster, Julia Roberts, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard,

  10. It’s funny that when shk’s drama flops, her blind and delusional fans are quick to say that it is not shk’s fault but if its a hit, shk takes all the credit. Saying its her star power that made it a hit, etc. Etc.

    Well, her star power did nothing for nwbu did it? And it’s sad that after 25 years, she is still labeled as a mediocre actress by the general public. Only her fans think she is any good.

    • Penny or M or what ever your name is, you sounded as delusional and as pathetic as her immature fans who are always so irrelevant about your favorite actress and actor too. Don’t get me started on who your stan is because you are all the same. Stop shitting on SHK and go focus on your favorite up coming drama. You are getting boring just like all them other bitter SHK lover. Shipper real are annoying and boring.

  11. Disappointing drama. What a waste of time!! Everything fails from directing, script, ugly fashion, annoying supporting cast, bland FL, and a mannequin model ML. The ending is a joke.

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