Is Kim Se-jeong facing the side effects of her fast return? “Today’s Webtoon” got some heavy burden ahead
Kim Se-jeong returns to the small screen with “Today’s Webtoon” after only 3 months. With the first episode ratings being 4.1%, will she exceed the expectation?
Actress Kim Se-jeong, who rapidly returned in three months, faced the burden of making her 3rd consecutive hits with “Today’s Webtoon.” Despite working with SBS again following “Business Proposal,” she lost the No. 1 spot in the same time slot to MBC as her drama only recorded half the ratings of her previous work. On top of that, the appearance of On Ma-eum, which resembles her previous character Shin Ha-ri, evokes familiarity.
Kim Se-jeong earned the nickname “Rating Fairy” as both OCN’s “Uncanny Counters” and SBS’ “Business Proposal” exceeded 10% of ratings. Through “Uncanny Counters,” she properly proved herself to the public as an actor, not an idol, with her colorful actions and delicate emotional performances, while in “Business Proposal,” she gave off her unique bright energy and perfectly fit into the romance chemistry with Ahn Hyo-seop.
As a result, expectations for Kim Se-jeong, who returned three months after the end of “Business Proposal” in April, are high. Kim Se-jeong also said in a press conference, “It’s my honor to work with SBS again. I don’t want to put on myself the burden of making consecutive hits, and I worked hard as I always did, so I hope my hard work will show as much,” she said, expressing the pressure and her humility about the consecutive hit dramas.
In “Today’s Webtoon,” which aired its 1st episode on July 29th, Kim Se-jeong plays the female lead On Ma-eum. “Today’s Webtoon” is a work that depicts the office life of people working in the webtoon industry, and the growth of a new webtoon editor who was a judo athlete.
On Ma-eum appeared in the first episode as the bodyguard for an event of Neon Webtoon and made a strong impression when she overpowered the uninvited guest with a shoulder throw. Attracting the attention of Seok Ji-hyung (Choi Daniel), the deputy editor of Neon Webtoon Editorial Department, On Ma-eum joined the company as a one-year contract employer after overcoming the pain of failing the open recruitment.
In particular, the image of On Ma-eum in “Today’s Webtoon” as a bright character, who has a positive attitude and shows great passion even in difficult situations, resembles Shin Ha-ri from “Business Proposal”. The cartoon-like settings of the two works also show some similarities. The fact that Kim Se-jeong took on a new drama only three months after “Business Proposal” ended and played On Ma-eum with a similar image to Shin Ha-ri, made her fresh charms become less appealing.
Also, the viewer rating of “Today’s Webtoon” is not performing as well as the previous drama. Even though the last episode of “Why Her” recorded only 10.7%, the first episode of “Today’s Webtoon” that followed only achieved 4.1%. MBC’s “Big Mouth”, which aired the first episode on the same day, topped the list of TV series of the same broadcasting time with a viewer rating of 6.2%.
However, there is still hope. It is because “Business Proposal” also started at 4% in the first episode but reached its own highest viewer rating record of 11.6% in the last broadcast. Although the drama genre is nothing new to the viewers, they are still raising expectations for Kim Se-jeong’s lovely charm and “Today’s Webtoon”, which tells a pleasant story that allows everyone to watch comfortably, to become more viral through word-of-mouth. Many people are paying attention to see whether Kim Se-jeong will be able to protect her title of “viewer rating fairy”.
Source: daum
