New 2024 K-Drama with CLOY Stars Just Blew Up Netflix's Top 10

Summary

• For three weeks now, one of the most popular series on Netflix has been the new K-drama from Studio Dragon and Culture Depot.
• It's a rom-com that many have praised for its unconventional style and fresh humor.
• The series boasts many big names who previously worked on Crash Landing on You.

For three weeks now, the list of the most watched TV series on Netflix (among non-English TV series in general, and among all TV series in general) has been occupied by a new Korean romantic comedy about a couple whose family life is facing a seemingly insurmountable crisis. Sounds pretty formulaic and even clichéd, doesn't it? But it was not: audiences are loving the originality of the new series, its witty humor, seductive cinematography and, of course, the undeniable chemistry between the leads.

Well, without further ado, let's find out what the new K-drama is all about and why it has taken off on Netflix (spoiler: some pretty big names in Korean television were involved in the series).

What Is the New K-Drama About?

We're talking about the new K-drama Queen of Tears, which premiered on March 9 on tvN and in selected regions on Netflix. New episodes (16 in total) are being released every week and it seems that the ratings are getting stronger with each one!

The plot of the new rom-com follows Baek Hyun-Woo and Hong Hae-In, a couple facing a crisis in their marriage. But while most families would be able to overcome such difficulties without too much trouble, these two seem to have too different backgrounds, which could become a major stumbling block: Hyun-Woo is a talented lawyer who grew up in a small village, while his wife Hae-In is the heiress of a large chaebol conglomerate. Will they be able to prove their love for each other?

A Sudden Surge in Popularity

According to Netflix data for the week of March 18-24, Queen of Tears topped the global Top 10 of most popular non-English shows for the third week with 30 million hours of viewing.

The impressive ratings continued into the following week, March 25-31 (although Netflix has not yet provided results). According to What's on Netflix, the series ranked a respectable fifth among the Top 25 most-watched shows worldwide for the week. As of this writing, April 1, the series remains one of the most popular in India, Brazil and Mexico, for example. However, the queen of tears in terms of popularity is the new Crash Landing on You, an absolute hit on both tvN and Netflix.

But the series has a lot more in common with CLOY than you might think, and it's not just the high ratings!

Some of the Big Stars Involved in the Project

When trying to explain the incredible rise in popularity of Queen of Tears, one of the main arguments will of course be the production quality mentioned in the introduction. And that's no surprise, as the series was produced by Studio Dragon and Culture Depot - yes, the same studios responsible for Crash Landing on You.

The co-director was Jang Young-woo, who also directed CLOY, and the script was written by Park Ji-eun, who — yes, you guessed it — also wrote the script for CLOY. In addition to the aforementioned 2019-2020 series, he also wrote the scripts for My Love from the Star and The Producers, both starring South Korean TV's biggest heartthrob, Kim Soo-hyun, who also played the role of Baek Hyun-Woo in Queen of Tears. Notably, he also appeared in a small cameo role in Crash Landing on You, playing Bang Dong-gu (aka Lt. Won Ryu-hwan), a character from the 2013 comedy-drama Secretly, Greatly).

In turn, Hong Hae-In is played by Kim Ji-won, who is known for her roles in K-dramas such as Descendants of the Sun, Fight for My Way, Arthdal Chronicles, and My Liberation Notes.

New episodes are being released on Saturdays and Sundays, so keep an eye out for episodes 9 and 10 on April 6 and 7, respectively.