According to the global OTT platform viewership ranking site “FlixPatrol” on May 20th, Netflix’s new K-series “The 8 Show“, which was released on May 17th, entered the global top 10 in the Netflix TV category, ranking 5th. In the domestic top 10, it secured the number one position, facing no strong competition.
“The 8 Show” tells the story of eight people who are trapped in a secret space divided into eight floors and participate in a sweet but dangerous show where they “earn money as time accumulates”. It is a dark comedy thriller based on the webtoons “Money Game” and “Pie Game” by Bae Jin-soo. The cast includes Ryu Jun-yeol, Chun Woo-hee, Park Jeong-min, Lee Yul-eum, Park Hae-joon, Lee Joo-young, Moon Jeong-hee and Bae Seong-woo. All 8 episodes have been released.
Before its release, the series was dubbed “the second Squid Game” and remained in the spotlight. It also garnered attention due to the comeback of Ryu Jun-yeol, who was involved in a “private life scandal”, and Bae Seong-woo, a “convicted drunk driver”.
After its release, real-time reviews flooded various online platforms like Naver Open Talk, reflecting its hot popularity. The reception has been highly polarized. In the early episodes, praise for the acting of Ryu Jun-yeol and Chun Woo-hee was predominant, but from the middle onwards, the opinions diverged significantly with more criticism directed at the direction. The ending also saw mixed reactions, resulting in a starkly divided overall opinion.
Regarding Bae Seong-woo, there were both high praises like calling him the “Korean Joker” and negative reactions such as “It’s disgusting to see him coming back like this“, “Does everything end with just an apology?” and “I hate these kinds of comebacks.”
“The 8 Show”, which started at number 3 domestically, reached the top spot within two days amidst heated debates. Although it hasn’t reached number one overseas, it garnered the hottest reaction in Hong Kong, ranking second overall. It also ranked third in nine countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
On IMDB, the rating dropped from 7.7 to 7.3.