I’ve got a new crack drama and thy name is Hotel Del Luna. With tempered expectations I clicked watch on the first episode and finished over an hour later wondering where the time went having been riveted from the first scene to the last. I like IU and am just ok with Yeo Jin Gu so it wasn’t the leads that hooked me but the story (so creative and fun!) and directing (I can see everything and it’s so gorgeously presented!). Audiences in South Korea agree as the first episode notched an impressive 7.327% which was higher than the premiere of Goblin at 6.322% and Arthdal Chronicles with 6.729%. In fact Hotel bested last week’s season 2 final episode ratings of Arthdal which got 6.771%. Kim Eun Sook‘s Mr. Sunshine was the ratings winner on tvN with its premiere episode getting 8.852%. What’s most important is that Hotel Del Luna is an awesome drama right off the bat, I liked it even more than the first episode of the Hong Sisters last fantasy yarn Hwayugi (A Chinese Odyssey). It feels more fully formed in story and less a vehicle for top stars like Hwayugi. I can’t wait for more!!
This drama is so fun to watch.
It was awesome. Episode 2 is really good too. Time flies watching Hotel Del Luna. So far, a really good drama. Happy that they got good ratings.
The fact that this drama’s premiere was pushed forward by a month to accommodate Arthdal Chronicles delay in filming/production males me happy that they achieved such high ratings early on. The over-worked cast and crew deserve it.
Fantastic drama very enjoyable to watch. Arthdal Chronicles I could not even finish first episode, very disappointing drama. Go Hotel Del Luna love it.
This drama have more budget than goblin tho. Its even more expensive than encounter. I’m still not sure with the actors but the story is really interisting. The cg is amazing, the budget totally going to the right place. Waiting for the next episode.
Yes, but it wasn’t hyped to be the drama of the year in the way those that you mentioned were (due to the top cast of shk, pbg, gong yoo). In fact, some knetz were calling Hotel del Luna a “filler drama” for Arthdal Chronicles, but it ended up having the better premiere weekend ratings lol.
Yes its because the casting. It will become another hyped drama if jjh accept the role. Arthdal totally a failure tho.
@Tiana Too much hype/mediaplay over the casting of “top actors” and budget spent mostly on them can be the downfall of a drama commercially.
Definitely it’s hyped up and it’s long running marketing and promotion… yah it must costs a lot.
What’s good is it’s finally on and I can start to watch it. I hope it’s better or at least as good as Master Sun. I really loved that drama.
Premiere ratings has always been about the cast. Arthdal having lower premiere ratings means Song Joongki doesn’t have the audience draw anymore.
@Loona SJK’s appeal was probably dented by his marriage. Interesting to see what ratings SHK’s next drama would draw.
I really enjoyed the first epi especially the cgi and the plot but not the acting.
It’s like Maleficent, Grand Budapest Hotel and Train to Busan mixed all together. Loved it!
I love this drama, usually I used ffwd button alot when watching kdramas,But this one I just blink and it’s over. I love it so much. Never been in love with IU’s acting before but this one, she rocks it. How I wish it’s saturday already.
I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. YJG pulls off the naivete of his character well and IU is so badass and charming. The CGI was one of the best I’ve seen in K-drama. I hope Hong Sisters can remain consistent until the end.
The story slays, IU is great but YJG remains mediocre for now. This drama is basically to remind people that the Hong Sisters still got it and IU has the best stylist ever!
Ohoo.. iu is great but yeo jin go is mediocre? Wow. Idol fans sure love to downgrade others.
Child actor fans sure like to pretend the so called child acting skills justified their poor acting in adult roles. He has always been a poor actor in this genre so stop blaming idol fans for his inability to act with adult actresses. He never improves.
@solina – never say never. Don’t forget YJG is younger than IU. He has a lot more years than IU in this drama career. He has a clean image. Just saying. I cannot stand IU fans bashing YJG while I like both leads. It’s the plot which draws ratings for the first 2 episodes. I hope Hong sisters can stay good until the end.
His lot more years of experience are not showing in either this drama or his previous years. Jang ki young is a better actor than him despite not having many years of experience. YJG is lucky he debuted as a child actor because he is extremely underwhelming.
@Ivoa- YJG is definitely not underwhelming in sageuk. I have yet to see JKY casted in a sageuk. Don’t compare these 2 because they excel in different genres. You are ignorant to bring JKY into this thread. I like both actors.
Who knew that plot would be the show stealer! The acting isn’t amazing and there is no chemistry but the plot is a winner!
I like it! Everything is better than Arthles Chronicles! The story, the way the story is told, the CGI, the humor, the characters, etc. It’s really beautiful. I liked their converstions, they’re funny.
sorry if I say this drama reminds me of xxxholic and jigoku shoujo (anime),but yeah I prefer xxxholic and jigoku shoujo
Probably writers were inspired with xxxholic and i prefer xxxholic too
IU is basically the reason for the premier ratings but the Hong sisters getting their mojo back is what will make everyone stay. The clothes in this drama are guilty pleasure. How much fun is IU having in those costumes!
Disagree. It is first the plot, second the costume – both are independent of IU. IU is good but she cannot take all the credits. Imagining IU in this drama without the costume, you will not say the same. You are very biased.
Who the hell watches dramas for costumes? IU was always the reason for this drama getting noticed and all the comments were about her as well. Stop bashing her fans when it is clear that she is the reason for the success of this drama because none trust hong siters anymore. If this was a KES drama then you would be right but this drama the lure was only IU and even now she is the one who shines the most. This drama was written only for her and everyone else is just supporting casts.
Oh come on. It’s IU fans bashing others first! It’s true that no one watches a drama for its costumes but you cannot discredit all other staff who put in the effort to make this drama good. Your comment is the worst. IU is not the only reason for the success of this drama. No one trusts Hong sisters but they still have a long track record and a reputation in k-drama way higher than IU. Ignorant delulu fans who think one person can single handedly put together a drama. Let’s ditch the CGI, costume and plot, then see what you will get from IU alone. Geez idiots. I don’t believe this drama is written for IU, she was casted the same way as everyone else?
How is it written for her when its offered to Jun Jihyun first? Its obvious the sassy confident role was written for JJH.
Also, Yeo Jingoo’s popularity rose this year because of Crowned Clown, which hit 10%. I believe some of the viewers also watched it for him. The writers are also a draw.
@Keiko – Agree exactly! IU was not the first choice. Some IU fans are totally delulu here ? showing how ignorant they are ?
The director said the role was written for IU during the press conference. Go check it out. and the staff working on her costumes are her staff that have been with her for over 10 years.
Oh please, IU and YJG cant bring rating. YJG last drama is total flop and we know my ahjussi deserved more rating. They can created buzz but not rating. You better give the credit to Hong sister, even hwayugi get high rating in their fisrt ep (That time) and the PD.
Can’t say about IU but YJG has absolutely no star power and crowned clown pulled in ratings simply because it was a sageuk airing on cable so there is no way it would have flopped. Korea loves sageuk dramas and even the ones that air on tv chosun get high ratings. I don’t know why YJG fans keep insisting about his popularity if anything IU is more popular and is a known household name. He was only known for his younger roles but never transitioned to older roles till now and nobody seems to be ready accept him as adult.
Poor Song Joong Ki, announced his marriage to promote his movie, now uses his divorce to promote his drama. Unfortunately, both flopped hard. Just do honest good work and the audience will come, media play can only get you so far, that’s why his post DOTS hype was so short-lived.
His hype was short lived because of his Marriage. He should have never married her. Both of their would have been peaceful if they didn’t rush into marriage.
With the help of the ex-president, he was heavily promoted for a while but people quickly moved on to PBG and Gong Yoo. They already lost interest in him way before his marriage. He should learn from his ex and talk less.
Lol i know you are her die hard fans ex shipper but don’t go around making idiotic comments about his popularity that Make her fans look like a fool. His popularity skyrocketed because of his character as yoo si jin. Does ex president was involved in making dots a craze in Asia? What has ex president has to do with it? Pbg and gy hype has slow down. Pbg was in meh drama where he was panned for his performance and gy is in no mood to return back to dramas.
What are you expecting from her fans?they are notorious for belittling everyone. Because they think they Stan a QUEEN?.
Lol gy and pbg still popular. They still in any poll, and still top their cfs. Didnt know which actors that more popular than them. And true sjk love to do media play using SHK’s name before. Not shk fan btw
@taini ofcourse they are still popular. In terms of popularity they all are still popular sjk was in forbes top 8 last year and bm and gy still top cf chart. By hype I meant they peak popularity,they all had crazy popularity back in 2016-2017 but their hypes was replaced by other it star Park seo joon and haein. And sjk never used her for attention post their wedding he only mention her twice once back in August last year when they were still together and recently at AC press conference. Where he had no choice to answer,Obviously he answered the question for formality. Its media who often ask him about hk because their were IT couple.
@Blazingflame, who’s the ShK fan and ex-shipper??? I am no fan of a tax evader and cannot even get pass one episode of DOTS because their cringey acting and media play galore. Just know that I have warned you about SJK and the ex president. Don’t be too shocked if you find out Ms.Park is more than just his fangirl, wink, wink. Here’s some reading for you:
http://www.hellokpop.com/news/song-joong-ki-former-president-pain
That doesn’t even prove anything. At most it seems like she was huge fan of sjk like any other due to dots craze and knetz knows about this and that is why they often troll her. When they met, sjk was already all over the South Korea with dots success, he met her through event after he was announce as korean tourism ambassador.
Riiiiight, the female president spent over 170 billion won on fangirling and it doesn’t prove anything. What if it was the other way around. A male president spends that much money on a female celebrity and gives orders to give her special treatment? You’d think it’s all because he’s simply a fan? There are lots of dirty things that goes behind the scenes and politics and showbiz. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
I know lot about of shady stuff in koreabiz but this is just a case of fangirl spending huge amount of money in him. Nothing more like you are making it.
@anotherabc eww wondering how many celebrities have this kind of sponsor behind them. No wonder he kept getting high budget drama offer, eventho many of his recent projects was flop, he even cant top buzzworthy list. I cant see him as same person anymore.
Whatever floats your boat, you must be flattered the shady ex president dumped that much money on him.
I am enjoying Hotel Del Luna and happy for the team. Don’t get why ppl. have to bring up Arthdal Chronicles at all? They are totally different type of dramas. I have watched all of Arthdal Chronicles and it’s a good drama – might not be everyone’s type of drama but it doesn’t mean it’s ‘bad’ etc.
Good
lee ji eun if you see this just wanted to tell to wait for me
lee ji eun if you see this just wanted to tell to wait for me a little bit more