'Love in the Big City' Captivates Global Viewers...
Praised Overseas for Realistic Queer Romance

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The TVING original series 'Love in the Big City' is receiving enthusiastic responses from overseas viewers.

According to global OTT platform Rakuten Viki, the series achieved a top 5 ranking in viewer numbers during its first week of airing in the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.

The work has recorded a high rating of 9.6 on Rakuten Viki, receiving favorable reviews from local viewers.

Audiences have praised it as "an ode to pure love for friends, lovers, and family," and commented that it "breaks the mold of typical K-dramas."

Park Sang-young, the author of the original novel and the one who directly wrote the drama's script, expressed surprise, saying, "Fans from around the world are sending me messages directly via social media."

He particularly pointed out the work's differentiation by saying, "It realistically portrays queer love at the temperature of reality, not as fantasy."

'Love in the Big City' is a romance drama depicting the journey of young writer Go Young (played by Nam Yoon-su) as he learns about love and life through various relationships.

Based on the best-selling series of novels with the same name, the 8-episode series is directed by Heo Jin-ho, Hong Ji-young, Son Tae-kyum, and Kim Se-in, each helming different episodes.

Author Park Sang-young also mentioned the differences between the drama and the film version released at the same time.

He explained, "If the film is closer to a youth story about the friendship between a queer man and a heterosexual woman, the drama is a full-fledged 'queer work' and a 'romance work.'"

This achievement is being evaluated as a meaningful example showcasing the diversity and expansibility of K-content.

In particular, it is drawing attention for gaining empathy from global viewers despite the genre characteristic of queer romance.

Rakuten Viki is a U.S.-based video streaming service that provides Asian dramas and movies, offering services in over 190 countries worldwide.

Currently, it is offering titles like 'Assemble Family', 'Tipsy Romance', and 'Ironing Family', and plans to introduce works like 'Face Me' and 'Love on a Tightrope' in the future.

The success of 'Love in the Big City' demonstrates new possibilities for Korean dramas.

The fact that a work dealing with realistic queer romance, breaking away from the conventional K-drama formula, has resonated with overseas viewers proves that the diversity of K-content can be competitive in the global market.

Moreover, it's significant that the author of the original novel directly took charge of the drama's script, successfully bringing the essence of the original to the screen.

This could serve as a new model for future adaptations of literary works into dramas.

The global success of 'Love in the Big City' is being regarded as having opened a new horizon for K-content.

By stepping beyond the traditional romance drama framework to deal with realistic queer romance, the work's resonance with overseas viewers is expected to serve as an important example showcasing the diversity and expansibility of K-content.