When it comes to quality K-dramas, there are plenty to choose from on Netflix, but few are as impressive as Crash Landing on You. The series broke records when it was first released in South Korea between 2019 and 2020, and subsequently became a huge hit on the world’s most popular streaming platform.

Crash Landing on You also has a 100% score on the critical aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. The limited series has received considerable international acclaim since being picked up by Netflix, and some would say it is the best romantic K-drama ever made. Across the show’s 16 episodes, it’s easy to see why critics are so impressed.

Starring Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin as its protagonists, Crash Landing on You is a story of love conquering all, in which a relationship manages to transcend the heavily guarded dividing line between North and South Korea. Blending romance with social commentary and coming-of-age drama, the series is truly one of a kind, more than earning the success it’s had.

Crash Landing On You Was A Ratings Juggernaut At The Time Of Airing

The Series Broke Viewing Records For Korean TV

Upon its arrival first on the Korean TV channel tvN and then on Netflix, Crash Landing on You became a K-drama megahit. The show broke tvN’s record for a K-drama’s highest viewing figures, and held onto it for almost five years. Its finale took a staggering 21.7% share of the TV audience in South Korea (via Korea Times).

The series began airing on tvN in December 2019, securing an audience of over 1.5 million viewers. This number steadily increased episode by episode, with over 3 million people tuning in to watch the show’s eighth episode. By its last three episodes, Crash Landing on You was garnering an audience of around 5 million.

Episode 16, the show’s final, was watched by a whopping 6.4 million Koreans when it first aired. When tvN’s K-drama Queen of Tears finally broke the records set by Crash Landing on You in 2024, the show had held them for over four years. Internationally, meanwhile, it blazed a trail for K-drama romances to come.

Crash Landing On You Was Also Massive On Netflix

It’s Been Viewed Billions Of Times Since Its Arrival In 2020

After appearing on Netflix internationally during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Crash Landing on You soon became a major hit in Japan, the Philippines, and India. Its popularity then spread across the entire globe, with the series racking up billions of viewing hours and tens of millions of viewers on the platform worldwide.

The show was still in Netflix’s top 10 most-viewed K-dramas in 2024, with its 131.2 million viewing hours in the first half of the year alone representing over 5 million unique viewers. Crash Landing on You may well have accrued a Netflix audience of over 10 million across all 12 months of last year.

While the show’s 2024 figures are dwarfed by those of the new release Queen of Tears, they’re remarkable for something that had been on the platform for more than three years. Far from waning in popularity, Crash Landing on You continues to reach new layers of Netflix subscribers with its story.

Crash Landing on You is very different from Queen of Tears, but they share the feat of turning a very Korean romance story into a truly global phenomenon. These two shows are easily the most successful romantic K-dramas in the history of Netflix, and their stature on the platform goes from strength to strength.

What Made Crash Landing On You So Popular

Its Star Quality & The Timing Of Its Release Helped Pull Audiences In

Part of what initially drew Korean audiences to Crash Landing on You was the star power of its two lead actors. Son Ye Jin is among the biggest and best K-drama stars around, and so is Hyun Bin, who has been a household name for two decades now.

What’s more, the two actors have proven chemistry since appearing together in the 2018 crime thriller movie The Negotiation. Casting them as star-crossed lovers overcoming Korea’s North-South divide pretty much guaranteed a certain amount of success. But the quality of Crash Landing on You was a major factor in its popularity, too.

Related

Crash Landing On You Is Great, But This Underrated Forbidden Love K-Drama May Be Even Better

Crash Landing On You is one of the most popular K-dramas of all time, but this 2021 series added another layer to the forbidden love story trope.

The series features slick, high-quality production and visual details, such as the costumes of North Korean military officers, that lend it an authenticity other K-dramas can’t match. Its story also feels realistic, even if there are certain idealistic elements to its premise, and Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin’s characters are highly relatable as well as likable.

Crashing Landing on You benefited from the circumstances of its international release, in addition to the pulling power of its two leads. The show debuted internationally near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant people at home had more time on their hands to watch 70-minute episodes of a romantic TV show.

Crash Landing On You Deserves All The Hype It Gets

The Show Is An Emotional Tour De Force

Even if certain circumstances were in the show’s favor when it was released, it’s difficult to argue with Crash Landing on You’s reputation as one of the best K-dramas of all time. The show features compelling performances, sensitively crafted, well-thought-out storylines, and character backstories that most people will be able to relate to.

The most powerful aspect of the series, however, is its handling of the national question in Korea. In contrast to most other K-dramas, which either avoid addressing the division between North and South Korea or treat them as entirely separate entities, Crash Landing on You proactively raises the idea of bridging the divide between the North and the South.

Its premise implies the essential connection between the people north and south of the dividing line. The result is a hopeful, if simplistic, story about love conquering division and social prejudice.

Crash Landing on You doesn’t compromise its realistic portrayal of the situation facing its protagonists for the sake of a happy ending, either. The show is committed to delivering a story that’s as plausible as it is attractive, which is the real secret of its emotional power. Simply put, K-dramas have never been the same since this landmark series.

Sources: Rotten Tomatoes; Korea Times; Pop Base

Crash Landing On You

Release Date

2019 – 2020-00-00

Network

tvN

Directors

Kim Hee-won

Writers

Park Ji-eun

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