Korean dramas stir new waves in Japan
Fuji TV's program "Hallyu Alpha" (Mon-Fri 2:07~3:00), which started airing on January 11 in hopes of creating 'a new Hallyu generation,' has been receiving positive feedback. Back in 2004, Fuji TV had arranged a program called "Saturday Hallyu Wide Hour," airing dramas such as "Stairway To Heaven" and "Sad Love Song" but had cancelled it due to low ratings. This time, "Hallyu Alpha" tried to differentiate itself from other programs by playing uncensored versions of dramas, providing bilingual broadcast (in Japanese and Korean) and adding special features such as exclusive interviews with the cast and behind-the-scenes footage. MBC TV series "My Name Is Kim Sam-soon" kicked off the program, followed by KBS' "Woman In The Sun" in February.
Japanese students fall in love with Lee Seung-gi and Han Hyo-joo
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Many fervent viewers poured out their comments about the show on the viewers' board for "The Shining Inheritance." And it is worth noting that a majority of these viewers were high-school students and young people in their twenties and thirties. This is quite unexpected because in the past, Hallyu fans were mostly composed of women in their forties. This could be because "The Shining Inheritance" was broadcast in March, overlapping with spring break for students. As the Japanese school year starts in April with the spring break in March, it was possible to lure middle school, high school and college students on their school breaks to the front of television sets. For "Hallyu Alpha", it is encouraging that they turned the younger generation -- who had previously thought that "Hallyu is just something that older ladies like" -- into Hallyu drama fans.
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Reporter : Im Da-ham (Tokyo correspondent)
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@, Jang Kyung-Jin three@
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