'Spirit Fingers' showed the power of K-youth healing romance and captured the hearts of global viewers.
'Spirit Fingers' (directed by Lee Cheol-ha / written by Jung Yoon-jung·Kwon Yi-ji / based on the Naver Webtoon 'Spirit Fingers' by writer Han Gyeong-chal / produced by Number Three Pictures Co., Ltd.·MI·Kenaz) is based on the equally popular webtoon of the same name that received worldwide love, and it has continued its global blockbuster run by receiving a hot response overseas at the same time as its domestic broadcast.
According to global OTT Rakuten Viki, 'Spirit Fingers' entered the weekly Top 10 by viewer count in Europe·the Middle East·Oceania·and India within its first week on air, and it especially ranked No. 1 in Southeast Asia, hinting at unusual popularity. The upward trend continued into the second week of broadcast. It firmly held the top spot in Southeast Asia and rose into the weekly top 10 across all regions including the Americas, Europe·Oceania·the Middle East and India, putting it on a full-fledged global hit trajectory.
This overseas popularity of 'Spirit Fingers' is analyzed as the result of the original webtoon's solid global fandom carrying over to the drama, combined with fans' voluntary recommendation relays and word of mouth through SNS. The warm sensibility unique to a well-made healing romance and the fresh performances by actors that faithfully captured the charm of the original led both existing webtoon fans and new viewers to respond together.
The drama's main theme is the coming-of-age story of an extraordinarily ordinary high school student, Song Woo-yeon (Park Ji-hu), who meets the quirky art club 'Spirit Fingers' (hereafter Sping) members and finds her own color. The protagonist regains self-esteem, and the warm relationships among the Sping members, who have a positive influence on each other, blend with fresh romance to offer deep empathy and healing to viewers around the world. In particular, the last episode drew even more attention by depicting the thrilling mutual confession in which Woo-yeon and Gi-jeong (Jo Jun-young) resolved their misunderstandings and finally confirmed their feelings for each other.
On SNS, praise poured in about the work's completeness and positive story, with comments such as "a healing drama that healed my heart," "perfectly warm and fun even without a love triangle or a villain," and "it faithfully conveyed the charm of the original webtoon," creating voluntary word of mouth.
The production team said, "We thank fans around the world who empathized with the warm comfort and positive energy of 'Spirit Fingers' that crosses borders, and the fresh performances by the actors that faithfully captured the charm of the original," and added, "The word-of-mouth march that the global fandom is creating directly is very meaningful."
'Spirit Fingers' is released exclusively on Tving with two episodes every Wednesday at 4 p.m. It is also available in Japan through Remino, in the Americas·Southeast Asia·Europe·Oceania·the Middle East·and India through Rakuten Viki, and in Kazakhstan·Russia·Ukraine·and Belarus through ivi, among others, being serviced in about 190 countries simultaneously with Korea.
[Photo] Number Three Pictures Co., Ltd.·MI·Kenaz
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