[Edaily Starin Reporter Gim Ga Yeong ] New dramas from various broadcasters—including Netflix’s “Donggung,” tvN’s “Creepy Romance,” and ENA’s “A Dream for You”—have premiered amid negative reactions. This stands in contrast to the positive reception and high buzz previously generated by Netflix’s “True Education” and SBS’s “Manager Kim.”

According to the weekly report for the third week of July released on the 22nd by Good Data Corporation, a firm specializing in K-content data analysis, Netflix’s “Donggung,” tvN’s “Creepy Romance,” and ENA’s “A Dream for You” ranked 1st, 3rd, and 7th, respectively, in the Top 20 TV and OTT drama buzz rankings, with market shares of △26.29%, △8.38%, and △4.47%, respectively, ranking 1st, 3rd, and 7th. According to GoodData Corporation’s data analysis, these shows generated high buzz primarily due to negative opinions rather than positive reactions.
While “Donggung” received positive feedback such as “The cinematography is great,” “Jo Seung-woo, Kwak Dong-yeon, and Jang Young-nam give great performances,” and “The character ‘Kkeomeoksali’ is cute,” negative reactions were more prevalent, including “They add to the world-building without any plausibility,” “The story becomes disjointed as it progresses,” “There’s no suspense,” and “It feels like an homage to ‘It feels like an homage to ‘Kingdom’ and ‘Stranger Things’” were more prevalent. Good Data Corporation analyzed, “Actual post-viewing reactions show a high proportion of negative feedback regarding the weak narrative tension,” adding, “As the series progresses, the proportion of negative reactions regarding the tedious story structure is increasing.”
While “Creepy Romance” received praise for Park Eun-bin’s acting and her chemistry with Yang Se-jong, criticisms such as “the directing is disappointing,” “it’s a shame the original story’s settings were changed,” and “there are too many unnecessary scenes” followed in quick succession. The report stated, “While Episode 2 offered more entertaining elements than Episode 1, many pointed out that the unoriginal story and lackluster direction failed to do justice to the horror-mystery genre.”
Amid low public interest in *To You, Dream*, negative coverage dominated. While there were positive reactions such as “It’s familiar and appealing,” harsh criticism emerged, including comments like “The visuals are pretty, but I’m not curious about the story,” “A drama with no audience,” and “Hye-ri’s acting hasn’t broken free from the role of Deok-seon.”
Given the string of negative reviews, the ratings are also disappointing. Although “Donggung” is an original series available exclusively on Netflix, it fell behind “Manager Kim”—which is airing simultaneously on SBS—in global rankings. According to Netflix’s official site, Tudum, from the 13th to the 19th, “Director Kim” ranked No. 1 globally among non-English TV shows with 8.2 million views (viewing time divided by runtime), while “Donggung,” with 4.9 million views, came in second.
“A Dream for You” recorded a viewership rating of 2.7% for its first episode, followed by 2.8% for the second, 2.9% for the third, and 2.7% for the fourth. Its predecessor, “Doctor Somboy,” concluded its run with a peak viewership rating of 5.9%, meaning this series’ ratings are roughly half that level. “Chilling Romance” got off to a disappointing start with a 3% viewership rating for its first episode. However, it rebounded to 5.3% in the second episode, showing signs of a potential turnaround.
Kim Heon-sik, a pop culture critic, noted, “As demonstrated by the success of ‘True Education’ and ‘Manager Kim,’ the current trend favored by the public is the ‘cathartic’ or ‘refreshing’ genre.” He added, “Since ‘Donggung,’ ‘Creepy Romance,’ and ‘Dream for You’ belong to genres that are difficult for the general public to appreciate, they continue to receive negative reactions.”