[HanCinema's News] Screenwriter Jin Soo-wan as Difficult to Pin Down as Ever With "Twinkling Watermelon"

Though an established name in the South Korean serial drama industry, Jin Soo-wan is difficult to pin down in terms of genre. Her earliest work is in the pre-modern era School series. But the screenwriter's first clear success was "Capital Scandal" in 2007 with ratings of 10%, the Japanese Occupation era story of love and revolution being a new kind of setting in an old type of style. Jin Soo-wan is back to teenagers with the currently airing "Twinkling Watermelon" yet flips that script around.

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"Twinkling Watermelon" isn't an obvious project for Jin Soo-wan to be attached to. The youth drama deals heavily with deaf culture as well as youth musical culture. But more than the subject matter, "Twinkling Watermelon" is a project that appeals more clearly to younger viewers and foreign viewers with its tone and presentation. With domestic ratings of only 3.58% in its most recent episode, the sixth, "Twinkling Watermelon" does not appeal to strongly to core television demographics.

But the only reason one would expect a Jin Soo-wan project to appeal to a large audience is because Jin Soo-wan wrote "The Moon Embracing the Sun" back in 2012, a legendary court romance drama with ratings exceeding 40%. But the series market in 2012 was quite different than the one today, to the point that such success for a weekend drama is no longer possible. "Kill Me, Heal Me" in 2015 was a more typical success, with the romance drama's ratings hovering n the 10% range.

"Chicago Typewriter" from 2017 was Jin Soo-wan's most recent project, though, and with closing ratings of 2.162% the reincarnation themed drama was her most indisputed failure. Nevertheless, even at its worst, "Twinkling Watermelon" has proven it could find a cult audience. In this way, Jin Soo-wan is adapting to the times while maintaining a more traditional approach to storytelling.

Written by William Schwartz

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"Twinkling Watermelon" is directed by Son Jeong-hyeon, Yoon Bum-sang, written by Jin Soo-wan, and features Ryeoun, Choi Hyun-wook, Seol In-ah, Shin Eun-soo, Ahn Do-gyu, Yoon Jae-chan. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2023/09/25~Now airing, Mon, Tue 20:50 on TVING, tvN.