This particular award is so peculiar in both selection and timing I’m just left scratching my head. It does make me reconsider revisiting it with the possibility that my opinion may change. The 2012 K-drama Faith starring Lee Min Ho and Kim Hee Sun was just named Top Korean Drama in Japan for 2014 by the Gayo Entertainment Awards. Gayo (a subsidiary of Yahoo Japan) is arguably Japan’s largest paid video streaming portal and just released its own awards for offerings available over its stream service.

Faith was the number one most watched K-drama this year on Gayo, and I’m assuming the win was over a competition pool also included the two most popular K-dramas of last year in Heirs and You From Another Star. The reasons given for the popularity of Faith even two years after it aired was due to the Japanese love of epic period dramas, Lee Min Ho’s runaway popularity in Japan along with the stoic character he played in General Choi Young, and the drama’s themes of loyalty and devotion. Continue reading →