"Scarlet Heart Ryeo" hits one billion views in China, albeit its rating continues to drop in Korea. Meanwhile EXO's Baekhyun was criticized for his acting.
"Scarlet Heart Ryeo" hits one billion viewers in China in Youku, the largest Asian streaming site, on Wednesday, Sept. 21. The number is an accumulation of the entire viewers who have watched the drama through Youku. Following its achievement, Lee Jung Gi took to social media to thank the fans.
In his Instagram account, the actor who plays fourth prince Wang So posted a still photo of himself taken from the drama, side by side with the poster of the drama in Youku.
"Thank you 1 billion angel's !! Love You all," read his caption in English. According to Korea Boo, he is suitable to play the prince.
Lee has now become an internationally acclaimed actor. As he is also one of the cast member in Hollywood movie "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter," which is scheduled for release in January 2017. In the movie, he plays Commander Lee, one of the leaders of Umbrella Corporation who plan to wipe out the entire survivor of the apocalypse.
His charismatic and intense acting is able to bring back the mysterious and fearsome prince Wang So in the SBS drama "Scarlet Heart Ryeo."
In contrast to his achievements, other co-stars were criticized for their bad acting in "Scarlet Heart Ryeo." After IU or Lee Ji-eun was criticized earlier, this Korean netizens took their aim at Baekhyun for his acting. They stated their objections without hesitation as Korean site Nate reported
The criticisms on Baekhyun's acting in one female forum has amassed 4,000 comments. Some even posted harsh comments.
Aside from his acting career, Baekhyun, whose real name is Byun Baek-Hyun, is a member of the very popular Korean male idol group EXO.The drama is his first acting job and it does not seem to work well for him.
In Korea, the drama "Scarlet Heart Ryeo" has also faced a declining viewership rating in either TnMS and Nielsen Korea, albeit its international success. Last week's episodes only averaged 6.8 percent, a major decline than its first week's episode that gained 12.6 percent average viewership rating.
We will see how this week's episodes perform as they will air this Monday and Tuesday on SBS.
