Merlin240z

Hi @JiaYou, please refer to my reply below to @Belinda Tan. Long story to fill in the details for those unfamiliar with SIG's military exemption.

The Good Data most buzzed ranking of popular actors unfortunately doesn't equate to higher ratings. It means ppl talk about the actors in blogs, drama sites, social media etc but not actually watching the drama on tvN. Regarding SIG's unpopularity, here is more background info. K-netz view SIG as a manipulator for not treating his foot condition before he entered military service. Their view is that he could have taken pre-emptive action to get it treated before enlistment but he didn't. He also postponed his enlistment twice to make more dramas before finally enlisting in Mar 2017. It's for this reason they forgave Yoo Ah In who was exempted same year as SIG but they accepted YAI's exemption coz he didn't delay his enlistment and he was perceived as not manipulating/prolonging his injury before enlistment. Unfortunately some female K-fans are upset their husbands & BFS were not exempted even though they suffered the same foot condition as SIG did. No matter how international fans stand up for SIG and defend him, their actions only inflame the majority of K-netz. That's why tvN low-key promotes SIG even though he plays the titular role. Instead tvN goes all out to promote PBY in subway ads & marketing campaigns as her comeback drama. I love SIG very much as an actor but I also accept the fact he may never gain full acceptance. Let's pray his movie Pipeline does well and eventually make a name for himself in K-movies instead. Less judgement in movieland I think.

I think tvN threw in the 3 SLs as an insurance. SIG is not popular amongst Korean viewers hence the drama may get very low ratings if he and PBY were to carry it alone. Throwing in Lee Soo Hyuk, Kang Tae Oh, Shin Do Hyun may be a ruse to draw in more younger domestic viewers. The show may have trouble attracting domestic advertisers if SIG & PBY alone carry the show. Hence PBY always gets first billing in ads, opening sequence & marketing promotions. The fact that tvN won't air it on Netflix simultaneously even though drama is produced by Netflix's distributing & streaming partner Studio Dragon proves producers/marketing execs probably know it won't do well in ratings domestically & overseas. The 3rd ep ratings suddenly dropped to 3.1 from 4 in ep 1 & 2 proves K-netz still haven't forgiven SIG or not interested enough with fantasy genre. Personally I hope drama does well & I will watch it many times once it airs all episodes.

Still cuts of Ep. 3 has come out! Photos at http://m.slist.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=251496. Gorgeous MM & DK in high school uniforms. Perhaps MM was a human in the past. Can't wait to watch Ep 3!