‘Bride Of The Water God’ Updates: Nam Joo Hyuk's Drama Debuts With Strong Ratings
tvN recently released "Bride of the Water God" which marked the said South Korean cable channel network's latest foray into the fantasy series genre. The premiere episode of Nam Joo Hyuk's drama even posted strong nationwide viewership shares that surpassed some of the network's earlier series such as "The K2" and "Circle."
"Bride of the Water God" gave viewers a glimpse at the tvN drama's intriguing storyline that tells the story of powerful gods, their quest for power and their interaction with humans. With Nam Joo Hyuk playing the titular role of the water god Ha Baek, the said fantasy series' first episode debuted with TV ratings of 3.66 percent across the South Korean nation, according to Nielsen Korea. In the Seoul metropolitan area, episode 1 registered viewership shares of 4.05 percent.
The said TV ratings also marked an impressive achievement for the tvN drama given its cable channel release. Some of tvN's previous dramas premiered with viewership shares at a lower percentage than "Bride of the Water God." The suspense series "Circle" that preceded the Nam Joo Hyuk starrer posted first episode nationwide ratings of 2.88 percent, while Ji Chang Wook's "The K2" debuted with viewership shares of 3.22 percent.
However, it is unclear if "Bride of the Water God" will be able to reach the same TV rating success that tvN's hit fantasy series "Goblin" enjoyed during its broadcast run. The Gong Yoo starrer posted first episode ratings of 6.32 percent across the South Korean nation and ended with viewership shares of 18.68 percent.
Meanwhile, some viewers and critics have compared "Bride of the Water God" to the global hit "Goblin" given the similarities of its plot that involves a powerful being falling in love with a human girl. In a recent press event, the director of Nam Joo Hyuk's drama admitted that they made changes to the script after the Gong Yoo starrer aired on tvN, Korean news outlet iNews24 quoted the filmmaker as saying. Despite the changes, the director explained that they were unable to alter some of the drama's narrative since the two productions shared similar story structures.
"Bride of the Water God" premiered on July 3 on tvN. New episodes will be released every Monday and Tuesday. Watch a clip from the premiere episode below:
