K-Drama “Mr. Queen” proves itself to be a hit in Japan a year after its final broadcast in Korea

“Mr. Queen”, starring Shin Hye Sun and Kim Jung Hyun, is gaining popularity in Japan.

After releasing its last episode in the replay service through Japan’s WOWOW channel last week, tvN’s drama “Mr. Queen” achieved first place in viewership ratings across all contents on the site.

Thanks to such popularity, the DVD for “Mr. Queen“, which has been available for pre-order since April 16th, topped the sales rankings of Korean videos on Amazon Japan within one day of pre-order. “Mr. Queen” also took 6th place in daily sales of worldwide videos on Rakuten, a Japanese shopping site, proving the high interest of Japanese viewers in the drama. 

Korean netizens are surprised to see “Mr. Queen”, which aired its last episode in Korea over a year ago, suddenly earned such great popularity in Japan.

“Mr. Queen,” starring a talented and charming cast including Shin Hye Sun, Kim Jung Hyun, and Bae Jong Ok, is a remake of the Chinese series “Go Princess Go,” and was broadcast on tvN from December 2020 to February 2021. “Mr. Queen” ended successfully with its highest rating of 17.4 percent, according to Nielsen Korea. 

However, when it first came out, “Mr. Queen” came under controversy over historical distortion due to the inappropriate portrayal of real historic figures, such as Queen Shinjeong. As a result, the drama received many complaints and eventually resumed 9 months later after having its domestic preview and replay services suspended.