[In-Depth Review] Drama Battle, Native OTT's Winning Move

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

One of the biggest issues in the drama market this second half of the year is the entry of global over-the-top (OTT) streaming service providers into the Korean market. Currently led by Netflix in this field, the global content giant The Walt Disney Company’s OTT service Disney+ announced its domestic launch in November, signaling a new shift in the landscape. Disney+, which boasts powerful content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and more, is preparing original series such as the grand drama "Moving," based on Kang Full’s original work, "You and I’s Police Class" starring Kang Daniel, and "Zero" by writer Lee Soo-yeon ahead of its service launch.

Other global companies like Apple with Apple TV+, Warner Bros. with HBO Max, and Amazon with Amazon Prime Video are also set to reach domestic viewers one after another. Among them, Apple TV+ plans to showcase original blockbuster series such as "Pachinko," starring Youn Yuh-jung and Lee Min-ho, and "Dr. Brain," starring Lee Sun-kyun, right from the start of its service. "Pachinko" is attracting industry attention as a major production with a budget comparable to Netflix’s historical drama "The Crown," which costs 145 billion KRW per season.

An interesting aspect of the increasingly fierce OTT competition is the strong performance of native Korean OTT providers. After the success of Netflix’s "Kingdom" series, while global OTT companies are betting on blockbusters, native OTTs are attracting the MZ generation by emphasizing distinctive genre dramas. A representative example is Wavve, the leading native OTT, which received acclaim last year for launching Korea’s first sci-fi anthology "SF8." This series, produced in collaboration with the Korean Film Directors’ Guild, was noted for its fresh themes and high-quality storytelling that combined social issues, positioning itself as a Korean version of Netflix’s civilization-critical sci-fi "Black Mirror." CJ ENM’s TVING also draws attention with its impressive genre lineup. Last month, the brutal fantasy "Come to the Witch Hunt" ended with favorable reviews, and this second half of the year, works such as director Yeon Sang-ho’s original "King of Pigs" and the popular webtoon adaptation "Yumi’s Cells" are eagerly awaited.

A place to watch recently is KT’s OTT service "Season." As a latecomer among native OTT providers, Season emphasizes the importance of original content production to overcome its disadvantages. Earlier this year, KT Studio Rule was launched to strengthen content production, and it has been releasing impressive works one by one. Especially, "Gwoegimansion: The Original," released this summer, is a masterpiece that established Season’s presence. This horror series, depicted in an omnibus format about bizarre incidents occurring in an old, abandoned apartment complex, is a drama version re-edited from a theatrical release that premiered earlier on Season.

The freshness lies in drawing horror from everyday problems likely to occur in old residences such as noise between floors, real estate brokerage fraud, clogged drains, and mold. Looking beneath the horror reveals anxieties about an era of disconnection and isolation. This nature of horror was also evident in another horror series "School Ghost Stories" that Season released last year. Season’s strategy of consistently presenting well-crafted series that blend genre entertainment with social awareness is an impressive model for native OTT providers who must compete with global OTTs in terms of volume and scale.

Kim Sun-young, Popular Culture Critic