‘Moonlight Drawn By Clouds’ (Love in the Moonlight) Brings Unexpected Success
The South Korean drama "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds" (Love in the Moonlight) brought an unexpected success to its production staff, actors, and producers.
In a production of a drama, people cannot predict whether the drama will succeed or fail. A story or plot might get the attention of the viewers or it might not as well.
Many people didn't expect the success of the historical drama "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds" because the theme of the drama is quite different from the recently successful drama series "Descendants of the Sun" and "Reply 1988".
Compared to "Descendants of the Sun", "Love in the Moonlight" is not filmed in advance. Hence, it used a method that will win the loyalty of the viewers at home and overseas through simultaneous broadcasts in China and South Korea. Also, unlike the drama "Reply 1988", it didn't strike the chord with men and women that have wide age spectrum that involved nostalgia after few years.
The KBS fusion and fiction drama have lightweight actors playing the lead roles. Park bo-gum, who gained popularity through his role in "Reply 1988," is currently playing the role of Crown Prince Lee Yeong, who falls in love with a girl disguised as a eunuch inside the Royal court. The girl is named Hong Sam Nong which is played by the 17-year old actress Kim You-jung who gained praises for her good acting skills and received positive judgements from the comments of the viewers online.
Meanwhile, the 23-year old Park Bo-gum is gaining huge attention due to his heart-touching and romantic lines plus his handsome and innocent image in the drama that won the hearts of many women including young and old regardless of their ages.
"I've fallen for Bo-gum magic. I'm struggling to come out of it because it's a black hole," one netizen wrote in a comment.
In the episode of the drama aired a day before the Chuseok holidays, Lee Yeong confessed his feelings for Hong Ra-on (Kim) while placing "yakgwa", which is a traditional Korean cookie in her mouth. His line "You're my yakgwa" resulted to an explosive response from the viewers because the cookie is often eaten during Chuseok.
"I want to become Bo-gum's yakgwa," a netizen wrote online.
Because of the said episode, many netizens expressed their desire to buy yakgwa at the market.The cookie is made from sesame oil, cinnamon flour, honey, rice wine and ginger juice.
"We didn't know the drama would create a syndrome. There's a high degree of correlation between the actor and the character, and I think it was possible because Park Bo-gum has expressed his new character very well, rather than reproducing his earlier image," said Jung Sung-hyo, the head of KBS TV's drama department.
In terms of viewership rating, "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds" has garnered 20 percent in its recent episodes. It's still a bit far from the 40 percent level reached by the drama "Descendants of the Sun." However, according to industry sources, an impressive increase from the 2 percent low hit its rival "Beautiful Mind".
Furthermore, the fame of "Love in the Moonlight" is good news for the entire broadcast industry. In the end of the TV series, its advertising revenue is expected to attain nearly 7.3 billion won (US$6.58 million).