Many viewers believe that “Now, We Are Breaking Up” would not attract the same amount of attention as it does now if not for Song Hye Kyo.
Among the small screen comebacks of Korean A-list actresses around the end of this year, Song Hye Kyo draws the most attention, despite the fact that she has received mixed reactions since the first broadcast of Now, We Are Breaking Up. After only 2 weeks, there are already plenty of topics and discussions that center on the drama.
Since she is the biggest star of the cast, it can’t be helped that there have been the most discussions about Song Hye Kyo among viewers of the drama. Although many netizens claim that her monotonous acting is what ruins the drama, others beg to differ, because they believe that without Song Hye Kyo, Now, We Are Breaking Up. Now would fail to garner the same amount of attention as it does now.
Now, We Are Breaking Up is a melodrama – a genre that is always loved by the Korean public at the end of the year. In particular, the drama’s script was written by screenwriter Je In – who made the success of 2018’s drama Misty. Therefore, viewers put a lot of expectations on Now, We Are Breaking Up. However, after the first 4 episodes, it seems that the plot turns out to be the weakest part of the drama.
A romance between an older female lead and a younger male lead is no longer new on the Korean screen. So if the writer fails to refresh this common trope, it is easy to make the audience feel bored. This is exactly the biggest problem with Now, We Are Breaking Up, when many viewers realize that the main couple’s story feels too similar to Encounter and Search: WWW – the two dramas that Song Hye Kyo and Jang Ki Yong previously starred in.
The pace of the drama throughout the first 4 episodes is sometimes fast yet sometimes slow in an unnecessary way. The intimate love scenes or the truth about the main characters’ past are revealed quite hastily. They may surprise the viewers at first, but looking back, it is actually a shortcoming of the writer for unveiling these details too early without a proper build-up. Moreover, the viewers are also uncomfortable with how the scenes where the female lead and the male lead make eye contact are shot in unnecessary slow motion.
In general, the script of Now, We Are Breaking Up has faced criticism for being too outdated, not suitable for 2021. The storyline is also considered uninteresting and predictable.
With such a lackluster plot, if the drama is not led by Song Hye Kyo, will the rating of the first 4 episodes be as high? Although the highest rating of 8% in episode 2 is not an excellent number, even worse than some other SBS dramas aired earlier in the weekend time frame, thanks to the reputation and influence of Song Hye Kyo, the drama has gained a decent amount of attention.
Anyway, Song Hye Kyo is still a Korean TV queen and what she does still receives great attention from audiences both domestically and internationally. A large number of fans will of course watch the drama to support her. Meanwhile, those who don’t like Song Hye Kyo will surely be curious to see how she performs in this comeback.
So even though she is the one who gets the most criticism, Song Hye Kyo is bringing great fame to Now, We Are Breaking Up thanks to her reputation as an A-lister.
Song Hye Kyo‘s fame and status are also reasons why producers, directors, and screenwriters always want her to be a part of their projects, even if her acting skills aren’t up to par with her reputation or experience. Because they know that Song Hye Kyo‘s fame will undoubtedly draw attention to their productions, even if they have many flaws and aren’t appealing enough to the audience like Now, We Are Breaking Up.
