K-netizen Sentiment Finally Turns Back Towards jTBC Drama Snowdrop After Multiple Episodes Reveal it’s a North Korean Hostage Drama and Not Distorting the History of the Student Democracy Movement of the late 1980’s
The saga of jTBC drama Snowdrop will be one for the history books in terms of it being a Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride sort of misconception combined with miscommunication. After 7-episodes worth of storytelling showing that the drama is really a North Korean soldiers hostage taking of a female student dorm combination with politics as a backdrop, there can be no assertion that the drama is attempting to distort the history of democracy student activists of the late 1980’s or whitewashing the military government conduct of that period by showing kind and conflicted security bureau agents. Even K-netizens have accepted that and sentiment has turned back towards this drama which continues to rank high in popularity with Disney+ streaming in other Asian countries especially Japan. Even this isn’t bothering K-netz but it’s too late to reverse the domestic ratings between 2%-3% range. With that said, the drama really isn’t very good script-wise and honestly got more coverage IMO than it deserves in quality due to the controversy. In a normal cycle this would probably be a 5%-8% range jTBC cable drama with okay reviews and buzz from i-netizens due to female lead Jisoo‘s fandom and popularity while in the long run fading into the landscape of mediocre drama land.
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Rather than shifting narrative，people just stop watching and pay attention to it. It will always be voted as the worst drama since it already win the awards for that.
Honestly I didn’t even hear the hype of this drama like “at least it’s a great drama” or “at least the story is nice”. There is no buzz aside from the negative feedback and how Jisoo “isn’t that bad”
It’s underperformed, isn’t actually outstanding ,most people don’t care about it and already labelled as distortion of history.
It’s election month, people didn’t care about the drama because the political news has been crazy as well.
What award do u keep harping about lmao
Ikr lmao
they meant figuratively and not literally. maybe work on your reading comprehension…
Rather than the narrative turning (and the fury over the perceptions of historical distortion was real enough to cause tens of thousands of Korean subscribers to cancel their Disney+ and for some advertisers to cut ties), I think it’s just been ignored once they worked out that it couldn’t be cancelled.
I see some claims that the 2-3 percent ratings range is doing well “for jtbc” because it did better than jtbc’s other dramas this year….but that’s just moving the bar to the floor and saying it’s been cleared. 2-3 percent isn’t a hit drama by any standards unless the drama’s budget is super low, not even on a cable channel, and especially not with this big budget and hype and after jtbc aired the highest rated cable dramas of all time with ratings in the 20s.
You got it. For Nevertheless-type dramas, 2-3 percent is okay (but Nevertheless got lower) But for this big production and with these stars–2-3 percent is a big flop. And JTBC also was expecting this to be the next Skycastle, Itaewon Class, and World of the Married. Read the article on the sponsors –they were promised of a big hit like those previous dramas. If Jirisan with an 8 percent rating was considered a flop because of the two stars and superstar writers and directors– SD is a bigger flop.
Jtbc is a pay channel in korea, and the best raiting reach 5 to 6 percent in 2021 with law school even with nevertheless, that is base in a very popular webtoon reach 3 near 4 percent last year in national wide of korea
Like I said…”moving the bar to the floor and saying it’s been cleared”.
This drama was by the writer of Sky Castle, which also aired on jtbc the pay channel and had 20+percent ratings. If it barely scoring one tenth of SC ratings and caused Disney+ subscriber numbers in Korea to plummet…. it’s not doing well lol. Not by ordinary standards and certainly not by “from the writer of Sky Castle” expectations standards.
The story is so poorly written. People just stopped bothering with it. I disagree, even with all the hoopla, if the story was captivating/riveting or funny, it would draw attention to it and ratings would soar. Mr. Queen for example forged ahead even though they got controversy. At this stage, this is a glorified story about Stockholm syndrome with politics thrown in. I repeat, Young Ro and Soo Ho had not spent enough time with each other to make me understand their actions and love. For me, I just want to see how they end it out of curiosity now. Waste of a good cast.
I know. I admit I watched it at first for Jisoo + Yoo In Na but then I really started to like the drama, it’s characters and it’s storyline. It doesn’t get much credit except for the A list studded cast TwT
Yk love at first sight..even though I don’t really believe in soulmates..i mean c’mon it’s just a kdrama. Its titled as entertainment for a reason lmao.,
It sucks for the ones that dedicated their time and effort to it. If the knetz weren’t trigger happy about cancellation and calling the cast right wing propagandists without even watching the drama it could’ve had a normal run instead of the shiteshow we got. The death threats thrown at the actors due to social media ~activists~ that just wanted to feel better about their trash selves by tearing down successful strangers was disgusting. Good for them for doing good on Disney plus tho, even if the Mouse ain’t promoting it anywhere near the amount that netflix would’ve
ACTUALLY, it is not doing great in Disney Plus neither. It was launched in more than 10 territories–Asian and LatAM– but it only ranked in 5 territories. It did not rank even in Korean-loving Malaysia. And the ranking in this country is nothing to crow about –because there is NO COMPETITION, –IT IS COMPETING AGAINST RE-RUNS THAT HAVE AIRED its last episodes MONTHS ago like Loki (July 2021), The Walking Dead (Oct 2021). It should have been number right from the start because weekly it has 2 fresh episodes but stayed on the 2nd spot until Hawkeye aired its last episode for the year–that is how weak it is.
Oh my- If I read the comments before watching the show, I would probably never even look at it. But what a great drama, cast and history! Love the long episode, love all the tension, love all the small details. I am watching Snowdrop every single week and I wait for the episodes with impatience. Just do your own opinion because some people are just not interesting. In my opinion, it’s one of the best show that I ever watched.
I will be watching, I do love a good love story and want to see what all the controversy is all about
Cdrama Reset is the best Asian drama of January. Nobody talks about snowdrop
@Sirey – 开端/Reset is so, so good. I’m pacing myself so I don’t come to an abrupt stop before all episodes finish being released next week. One thing China has Korea beat on is the sci-fi genre.
Right on point. Just five episodes in and I feel I am about to reset my drama preferences.
Right? Reset is already gunning for one of the best dramas of 2022. Absolutely amazing drama, gutted that a lot of people are missing out on that gem.
@Salmos – 开端/Reset is pretty buzzing on Weibo. My group chat lit up with multiple friends raving about it, which rarely happens, so I sprinted towards watch it. I’m calling it as one of the best c-dramas of 2022, even if it’s only January.
I’m not surprised it’s good. It’s produced by Daylight Entertainment, which is the company behind for some of the best c-dramas (Nirvana in Fire, Ode to Joy, etc).
I think I’ll check out Reset – I rely on comment sections for c drama recs and so far it never led me wrong, thanks guys!
Agree!
Oh man. I am LOVING Reset!
5-8%? LOL. Come on now, let’s not be delusional. ?
I watched 4 episodes of Snowdrop and I liked it. Only reason I did not continue watching it was that I was trying to save myself from a tearful ending. Does not seem the type of drama with a happy ending.
You should consider watching it. O will watch until final episode. Save the sad moment till the end.
The chemistry between the leads is the reason I am watching. But there are so many plot holes and the script could have been so much tighter. It is a shame because it could have been a great drama. Still, Jung Haein is just soooo good here (he only needs his eyes to act) and his chemistry with Jisoo is perfect. The love story is pretty flimsy if you think about it, but somehow they are making it work.
Honestly wish this drama had focused on the romance instead because the chemistry is great despite the fact that JHI and Jisoo barely have 5 mins of screen time together every episode since the 5th episode.Even the 1st episode they barely had any scenes together. I’m so tired of the wives club and the political nonsense. The hostage situation is the most boring plot and has zero tension.
What a nonsense, they have 5 minuets screen time and they have the best chemistry!
Like it’s a music video , lol
Lol, i love this drama so much. It’s really great. I pity people who don’t watch it. Rather than romance it’s really hilarious drama. It’s not bad at all. Maybe because I’m not into thise romance shit but I promise you it’s really fun to watch Snowdrop. Best drama I ever watch and will continue to finish it.
Aside from the narrative tonal shift and literary flaws abounding, it doesn’t dismiss the fact that planting a North Korean spy as your main character in historically eventful 1987 is indeed the mother of all controversies that unravelled in this drama. As the drama took a brusquer turn in revealing more spy characters, it only further legitimizes the false allegations made by the former dictator on North Korean agents intermingling clandestinely amongst the tertiary students and meddling with the politics.
This. I don’t agree with Koala that it was a misconception or a miscommunication. At the very least, it was callousness on the part of the team and channel; at worst, it was malice.
5%-8% drama? Are u watching the same drama that we are watching?
I don’t care as long as I love each scene esp on jisoo and Have In. I love the chemistry. The way they look each other oh God so I love with them
I seriously don’t know why snowdrop is said to be controversial but i am litrally loving the drama till now and will continue to watch it till the end . all the characters are really well played and i m in love with the chemistry between the leads..now let’s hope for the best
Actually, the controversy helped it–the best rating it got was the first Saturday and Sunday set where people watched it to see if they need to complain. When the controversy leveled off –it settled with the 205 percent range. A far cry from JTBC’s expectation of a double-digit rating like Skycastle as advertisers revealed 00theur sales pitch.
ACTUALLY, it is not doing great in Disney Plus neither. It was launched in more than 10 territories–Asian and LatAM– but it only ranked in 5 territories. It did not rank even in Korean-loving Malaysia. And the ranking in this country is nothing to crow about –because there is NO COMPETITION, –IT IS COMPETING AGAINST RE-RUNS THAT HAVE AIRED its last episodes MONTHS ago like Loki (July 2021), The Walking Dead (Oct 2021). It should have been number right from the start because weekly it has 2 fresh episodes but stayed on the 2nd spot until Hawkeye aired its last episode for the year–that is how weak it is.
I’ll just say one thing, there is tons of kdramas n kmovie which have great plot,story line and incredible acting but with low rating. To be simple people have their eyes for eye-catching romance and avengers type(idk how to call it)Yes squid game isn’t this type of but not all kdramas got their respective place. Snowdrop is one of best dramas in my opinion. The suspensive episodes,tension between everyone. That’s what make me watch it. Neither I’m only watching this ’cause of jisoo nor jung hae-in. The director n writer knows how to potray everything on spot. Sometimes it’ll really hurt the actors n co-staff tho ’cause they don’t get what they wanted. But I get people really want more interaction between ml n fl ’cause it’s called a romantic drama. The story itself is so dark but I can see the emotion between them tho. It’s literally a two sided love but simply didn’t recognized so well. Idc what others say