Park Ji Hoon is proving his strong presence as “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier” quickly rises in both ratings and buzz after its release.
According to Good Data Corporation’s FUNdex ranking for the second week of May, from May 11 to May 17, Park Ji Hoon ranked No. 1 in the TV OTT integrated drama cast buzz ranking.
Park Ji Hoon is currently starring as Kang Sung Jae in the TVING original drama “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier”.
The actor gained attention from the first week of the drama’s release and beat several major names, including IU, Byeon Woo Seok, Lim Ji Yeon, and Heo Nam Jun, to take the top spot.
“The Legend of Kitchen Soldier” also ranked No. 2 in the TV OTT integrated drama buzz ranking, following MBC’s “Perfect Crown”.
The drama placed ahead of SBS’s “My Royal Nemesis” and Netflix’s “The WONDERfools”, showing its strong early popularity.
The drama is based on a popular webtoon of the same name. It follows Kang Sung Jae, a private soldier who uses a kitchen knife instead of a gun and wears an apron instead of an ammunition belt, as he grows into a “legendary cook soldier.”
The show was released on TVING and tvN on May 11 and immediately received a good response from viewers. It also continued to break its own ratings record in tvN’s Monday Tuesday drama slot.
Episode 1 recorded 5.8%, episode 2 rose to 6.2%, and episode 3 reached 7.2%, based on Nielsen Korea’s nationwide paid platform household ratings.
With this, “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier” became the highest rated tvN Monday Tuesday drama of the year so far, making a successful start in its first week.
In the drama cast buzz ranking, IU and Byeon Woo Seok of “Perfect Crown” followed Park Ji Hoon at No. 2 and No. 3. Lim Ji Yeon and Heo Nam Jun of “My Royal Nemesis” ranked No. 4 and No. 5, while Park Eun Bin of “The WONDERfools” took No. 6.
Shin Hye Sun and Gong Myung of “Filing for Love” ranked No. 7 and No. 8, Cha Eun Woo of “The WONDERfools” ranked No. 9, and Koo Kyo Hwan of “We Are All Trying Here” completed the top 10.
