Despite being released more than a year ago, Squid Game continues to fascinate viewers and remains the top K-Drama on Netflix, a recent study shows.
Squid Game remains Netflix’s most sought out K-Drama on the platform.
As reported by Variety, the cybersecurity firm VPNOverview conducted a research study that found Squid Game was still pulling approximately 15 million web searches every month, despite its being released in September 2021 with the plethora of new K-Dramas having been released since then. A spokesperson from the firm credits the drama’s popularity to its recent accolades: “This year’s seven Emmy nominations and the two wins for ‘Outstanding Lead Actor’ and ‘Outstanding Directing’ both in a drama series awarded last month have brought the drama to everyone’s attention once again, reminding the public just how much of an impact it made worldwide and continuing the ‘Korean wave’ that has been raging in the last few years.”
Following in second place is the high school zombie apocalyptic drama All of Us Are Dead, released in January 2022, at close to three million searches per month. The two dramas’ massive popularity is evident as both of them are in the process of filming their second seasons. At 1.5 million monthly searches comes the romcom Business Proposal, which premiered in February 2022, in third place. Both of these K-Dramas are webcomic adaptations. Other notable names include 2019’s romcom Crash Landing on You, webtoon-based romance Love Alarm and 2020’s Itaewon Class.
Netflix’s Surprise Hit, Squid Game
Squid Game‘s list of nominations and wins is extensive, with a number of historical achievements. At this year’s Emmy Awards, the drama made history as the first non-English television series to receive nominations and made history once more when Lee Jung-jae, Hwang Dong-Hyuk and Lee You-mi won awards for Outstanding Lead Actor, Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Guest Actress, respectively. O Yeong-su, who played Oh Il-nam otherwise known as Player 1, won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, making him the first Korean-born actor to win the award. At the 2021 SAG Awards, the series made history once more when Lee Jung-jae, who plays the main character Seong Gi-hun/Player 456, and Jung Ho-yeon, who portrays Player 67/Kang Sae-byeok, both won awards for their performances. The series was also nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
Created by Hwang, Squid Game revolves around a dangerous high-stakes game where a select group of people from varying backgrounds, all of whom share the same desperation to escape their financial hardships, play deadly children’s games for a chance to win an enormous cash prize. During its release, Squid Game drew in over 142 million household views in its first month. The series received critical acclaim for its critique on capitalism and wealth inequality.
Season 1 of Squid Game is available to stream on Netflix. There is no release date for Season 2, although Hwang expects it could be released either by the end of 2023 or 2024.
Source: Variety
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