Based on the Chinese novel "Bu Bu Jing Xin," the SBS drama "Scarlet Heart: Ryeo" reached a whooping two million views on China's largest streaming site, Youku. The drama began airing in South Korea on Aug. 29.
On Sept. 21, the Monday-Tuesday drama reached one million views, just less than a month after its premiere on August. After airing eighteen episodes, the drama reached a total of two billion views in Youku, with each episode viewed over 100 million times, Soompi reported.
On Oct. 26, Prince Wang So played by the actor Lee Joon Gi took to Instagram a video thanking his fans. The video also has caption about his astonishment at the record-breaking number of views.
A video posted by 배우 이준기 a.k.a Actor JG !李準基 (@actor_jg) on Oct 26, 2016 at 1:21am PDT
"Scarlet Heart: Ryeo" will air its finale next week, Tuesday. We can recall that it was reported earlier that the 34-year old actor will be watching the finale together with his fans in a mini fan meeting event this coming Nov. 1.
Amidst of his popularity in China, Lee will conduct an Asian fan meeting tour to kick off in Seoul, South Korea on Dec. 3. "We are in talks with planners of multiple countries about the fan meetings, in addition to the confirmed arrangements in Japan and Taiwan," Yonhap News Agency quoted a NAMOO Actors official.
Despite of the dramas international success, the drama received criticism for its acting and directing in its home country in South Korea. Regardless of its great cast, extensive publicity and a $13 million production budget, the drama only gained a single-audience ratings in South Korea making it a critical and commercial flop in its home country.
It is worth noting that the drama garnered a 7.9 percent during its first episode. However, dropped to a 5.1 percent rating during its sixth episode. Consequently, after airing eighteen episodes, the drama's highest rating so far is 10.7 percent, far from its previous competitor "Moonlight Drawn By Clouds" which surpasses a 20 percent rating per episode.
Meanwhile, catch Lee as Prince Wang So in "Scarlet Heart: Ryeo" below:
