[HanCinema's News] Screenwriter Jin Soo-wan as Difficult to Pin Down as Ever With "Twinkling Watermelon"
By William Schwartz | Published on
Though an established name in the South Korean serial drama industry, Jin Soo-wan is difficult to pin down in terms of genre. Her earliest work is in the pre-modern era School series. But the screenwriter's first clear success was "Capital Scandal" in 2007 with ratings of 10%, the Japanese Occupation era story of love and revolution being a new kind of setting in an old type of style. Jin Soo-wan is back to teenagers with the currently airing "Twinkling Watermelon" yet flips that script around.
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"Twinkling Watermelon" isn't an obvious project for Jin Soo-wan to be attached to. The youth drama deals heavily with deaf culture as well as youth musical culture. But more than the subject matter, "Twinkling Watermelon" is a project that appeals more clearly to younger viewers and foreign viewers with its tone and presentation. With domestic ratings of only 3.58% in its most recent episode, the sixth, "Twinkling Watermelon" does not appeal to strongly to core television demographics.
But the only reason one would expect a Jin Soo-wan project to appeal to a large audience is because Jin Soo-wan wrote "The Moon Embracing the Sun" back in 2012, a legendary court romance drama with ratings exceeding 40%. But the series market in 2012 was quite different than the one today, to the point that such success for a weekend drama is no longer possible. "Kill Me, Heal Me" in 2015 was a more typical success, with the romance drama's ratings hovering n the 10% range.
"Chicago Typewriter" from 2017 was Jin Soo-wan's most recent project, though, and with closing ratings of 2.162% the reincarnation themed drama was her most indisputed failure. Nevertheless, even at its worst, "Twinkling Watermelon" has proven it could find a cult audience. In this way, Jin Soo-wan is adapting to the times while maintaining a more traditional approach to storytelling.
Written by William Schwartz
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"Twinkling Watermelon" is directed by Son Jeong-hyeon, Yoon Bum-sang, written by Jin Soo-wan, and features Ryeoun, Choi Hyun-wook, Seol In-ah, Shin Eun-soo, Ahn Do-gyu, Yoon Jae-chan. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2023/09/25~Now airing, Mon, Tue 20:50 on TVING, tvN.
William Schwartz
Staff writer. Has been writing articles for HanCinema since 2012, having lived in South Korea from 2011 to 2021. He is currently located in the Portland metropolitan area. William Schwartz can be contacted via william@hancinema.net, and is open to requests for content in future articles.