Came across this article from FRIDAY Digital which offers some theories as to why TBS has been adding Korean actors to their dramas of late and if this really helps to boost the international appeal and ratings of their productions.
* In "Black Pean Season 2" which recently ended its run, not only did they have Choi Ji-woo appear as a guest in the first episode, Kim Mu-jun also appeared as a regular cast member in the drama. Choi was the female lead in the Korean drama "Winter Sonata" which was a major hit in Japan 20 years ago so she is well-known in Japan. Kim made his debut in the 2020 Web drama "New Learn" and is an upcoming actor who had won the newcomer award in MBC Drama Awards 2023.
"Black Pean Season 2" had the highest average rating in the Summer 2024 season with all episodes but the 4th on 28 July 2024 having double-digit ratings.
* Likewise in the Winter 2024 season, TBS drama "Eye Love You" starred Nikaidou Fumi as the lead with Korean actor Chae Jong Hyeop being her love interest. It was reported that his popularity in Japan soared thanks to this drama that his fan event held in Tokyo during the drama's run attracted 32,885 applicants for 850 slots.
* On the other hand, TBS' mega hit "VIVANT" from Summer 2023 may have done brilliantly in Japan but failed to do well after its international release on Netflix since December 2023. This was said to be the catalyst for TBS rethinking its strategy to make its dramas more "appealing" to the international audience i.e. by resorting to incorporating Korean actors into their dramas' cast lineup.
* As it is right now, popular content on Netflix tends to be dominated by Korean titles even in the Japanese market. While "Black Pean 2" may have been a constant on Netflix's Japan Top 10, it hasn't achieved the same kind of attention in South Korea yet. If more familiar Korean names will appear in Japan's dramas, it is hoped that there will be a Japanese drama which will attract a lot of attention in other markets including South Korea.
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Actually, the trend of getting Korean actors to appear in Japanese dramas is hardly anything new. My guess is that this article is highlighting TBS as an example because they had more examples within a year so it gave the impression as if they were doing this a lot more than their competitors.
Back in 2006, TBS produced the drama "Rondo" which starred Choi in her first appearance in a J-drama alongside with Takenouchi Yutaka. Given this prior collaboration and that Choi had a new movie to be shown in Japan from August 2024, it probably made a lot of business sense for her to do a guest appearance in "Black Pean 2". As for Kim Mu-jun who played her son in the drama and became a regular fixture in the cast, I can't say for sure how big his role was since I only watched one episode of the drama but it certainly didn't look like a major supporting role. And I honestly doubt that the success of "Black Pean Season 2" would be attributed more to Kim than in "Eye Love You" where Chae was the male lead.
As for the point made about "VIVANT" being a flop in the international market, I must say in its defence that the title didn't seem to be "pushed" that aggressively at least from the promotional emails I got from Netflix when it was first released internationally on the platform. If people didn't even know about the presence of this title through such promotional emails or the recommendations on Netflix itself, people aren't going to watch it. If you are talking about algorithms on such OTT platforms which determines what content they are pushing to their subscribers, then it makes little sense for them not to push "VIVANT" to me because I watch more J-content than K-content on Netflix as a whole. Besides, I also think that "VIVANT" is a pretty unconventional J-drama in many ways so it may not be so palatable to the international audience or those who are used to the usual J-drama style and genres.
In the past, there were quite a number of Korean actors and idols who had appeared in J-dramas made by other TV stations and movies. Especially when the Korean Wave was really big in Japan, there were some really top-level actors who were featured in the lineups to the extent that there were complaints over this influx. As you can see, FujiTV actually stands out a bit more than the others in this list of past productions featuring Korean stars:
- EXO's Kai in WOWOW 2018 drama "Haru ga kita"
- SHINee's Taemin in Amazon Prime Video 2017 drama "Final Life - Ashita, kimi ga kietemo -"
- N.Flying's Kim Jae-hyun in NTV 2021 drama "Kimi to sekai ga owaru hi ni"
- Shin Eun-kyung in 2019 movie "Shinbun Kisha", 2020 TV Asahi drama "Shichinin no hisho" and TBS 2023 drama "100 mankai ieba yokatta" etc.
- Kara's Jiyoung in 2018 movie "Reon", 2019 movie "Tokyo Ghoul S", 2015 TV Asahi drama "Tamiou" etc.
- Lee Byung-hun in 2007 FujiTV drama "HERO" and 2011 FujiTV drama "Gaikoukan Kuroda Kousaku"
- Song Seung-heon in 2010 movie "Ghost Mouichido dakishimetai"
- So Ji-sub in 2008 movie "Gegege no Kitaro Sennen noroiuta"
- Lee Junki in 2007 movie "Hatsuyuki no koi Virgin Snow"
- Jae-joong in 2010 FujiTV drama "Sunao ni narenakute"
- Lee Hong-gi in 2011 MBS drama "Muscle Girl!"
- Kim Tae-hee in 2011 FujiTV drama "Boku to star no 99 nichi"
- 2PM's Taec-yeon in 2011 FujiTV drama "Boku to star no 99 nichi"
At present, it does look like there are more cross-border collaborations between both countries especially in the post-COVID era. These are just some examples which are in the making or about to be shown between Japan and South Korea as cited in this article. Interestingly, these are all made by OTT networks - first title by COUPANG PLAY while the other two are from Netflix. As such, it does seem like OTT platforms may be a key driving force for such collaborations in time to come vs. local TV stations in both countries:
* Ai no ato ni kuru mono / What Comes After Love - Sakaguchi Kentaro & Lee Se-young
* Kono koi, tsuuyaku dekimasuka? - Fukushi Souta & Go Youn-jung
* Romantic Anonymous - Oguri Shun & Han Hyo-joo
Personally, if my favourite actor/actress appears in an international or non-domestic production, it may spur me to check it out for a quick glance especially if it's just a cameo - little time investment is required on my part. If he/she takes on the lead role or a significant supporting role, it may tempt me to stay on for longer. However, if the story just doesn't interest me or my liking for that actor/actress is not strong enough, chances are, I won't bother taking a look. As such, using favourite actors/actresses as a bait may not be as effective as what people think unless there's some compelling reason for viewers to bite the bait and all elements in the production can attract people to stay on.
To me, the cast is like the first impression or façade of a production. It will definitely catch my attention and make me want to find out more about the title if the lineup is appealing. However, if the synopsis doesn't have something which hooks me or the work just doesn't click with me even after watching a bit of the movie or the first episode of a series, I doubt that I will stick around to the end.
As for these cross-border collaborations, if there is a good reason for doing that e.g. the story calls for an international romance or the story is set in such a way that you need people from different countries coming together, I'm all for it. However, if the arrangement is so forced or awkward such as having a foreigner play a local who can't even speak the local language like a native, then it's probably best not to head down that path and end up not achieving the desired effect.
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