“Queen of Tears” Becomes The Most Buzzworthy Korean Drama of 2024 “Beyond Popularity and Success, a Syndrome Emerges”
According to the annual drama buzz report analyzed by Good Data Corporation on December 16th, the drama “Queen of Tears”, which depicts the crisis and love of a married couple of three years, scored a total of 96,154 points for episodes 15 and 16, claiming the top spot among dramas aired this year. In particular, the scene where Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun) sacrifices his entire being for Hong Hae-in (Kim Ji-won) was highlighted as one of the most talked-about scenes this year.
Following “Queen of Tears”, tvN’s drama “Lovely Runner“, which tells the story of fan Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon) and idol singer Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon Woo-seok), came in second with episodes 9 and 10 scoring 95,789 points. In third place was tvN’s drama “Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born”. Notably, episodes 7 and 8 (aired in the fifth week of October) featured a scene where female gukgeuk actress Yoon Jeong-nyeon (Kim Tae-ri) collapses and coughs up blood due to excessive practice, earning 42,457 points. Her desperate struggle for success deeply resonated with viewers and moved them to tears. In fourth place was tvN’s drama “Love Next Door”, where Bae Seok-ryu (Jung So-min) reveals her past battle with stomach cancer and anticancer treatment to her friend Choi Seung-hyo (Jung Hae-in). This touching revelation in episodes 9 and 10, where the two develop romantic feelings for each other, earned 33,645 points. Finally, SBS’s drama “Good Partner”, starring Jang Na-ra, Nam Ji-hyun, Kim Jun-han, P.O, Ji Seung-hyun and Han Jae-yi, secured fifth place with 30,165 points.
The analysis targeted TV dramas aired from January 1st to December 8th this year. The buzz scores were calculated by aggregating the information value of online posts from news, blogs, YouTube, Twitter and other social network services (SNS), as well as reactions like comments, views and retweets. The calculation did not simply count the number of posts but applied weights based on the length, frequency and depth of information discussing the dramas. However, works from OTT platforms and variety shows were excluded.
