Han Hyo-joo, Lee Se-young’s Melodramas, Ok Taec-yeon’s BL Drama And More: The Rise Of Korea-Japan Romance Projects
Amid the continued craze for "K-drama" in Japan, the two countries' co-production dramas are becoming a trend.
After actor Chae Jong-hyup’s drama “Eye Love You” on Japanese TV network TBS became a hit, Han Hyo-joo and Lee Se-young jumped into “Korea-Japan Romance” trend one after another, drawing attention.
Lee Se-young finished filming Coupang Play’s “What Comes After Love,” starring Japanese star Kentaro Sakaguchi last month. The drama is about Hong (Lee Se-young) reuniting with her Japanese ex-boyfriend in Korea five years after breaking up with him in Japan, where she went to university. Based on the 2005 novel with the same title written by Korean novelist Gong Ji-young and Japanese writer Tsuji Hitonari, the novel depicts changes of protagonists who stand up after a breakup. As the original novel is considered a bestseller and it is also Kentaro Sakaguchi’s debut work in Korea, Japanese fans have high expectations for the drama.
On the other hand, Han Hyo-joo is in the midst of filming for “Romantic Anonymous,” a Japanese Netflix drama. Han will work with top Japanese star Oguri Shun in the drama. In this drama, as a genius chocolatier with eye phobia, Han meets Okuri Shun, the owner of a chocolate shop, and gradually opens her heart. The overall production is handled by the Korean team, but the Japanese director Sho Tsukikawa, who also directed the hit movie “I Want to Eat Your Pancakes,” is expected to emphasize Japan’s unique emotional atmosphere in this production.
In addition, in the recently released movie “The Daechi Scandal,” Japanese actor Takuya Terada appeared as a university friend who had a long-standing crush on the main character, played by Ahn So-hee, and in the Netflix drama “Can Love Be Translated?” Fukush Sota plays the lead role with Kim Seon-ho and Go Yoon-jung. Actor Ok Taek-yeon, a member of the group 2PM, presents a romance story with Hayato Isomura in the Japanese Netflix BL drama “Soulmate.”
Producer Keisuke Nakajima, who was in charge of producing “Eye Love You” starring Chae Jong-hyup, said through the Japanese pop culture media outlet Model Press, “There have been several cases of one-time dramas with actors of different nationalities in the past, but continuous attempts to produce these dramas like these days are unusual.” “In recent years, the number of Korean drama fans has increased rapidly in Japan, and the number of opportunities to experience Korean content in Japan has increased,” he explained the reason.
Source: daum
