TVING’s original series “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier” is continuing its strong run by fully embracing its B grade humor and webtoon style.
The drama stands out because it does not try to hide its exaggerated and unrealistic tone. Instead, it turns those parts into its biggest charm.
Scenes such as soldiers dramatically praising Kang Sung Jae’s seaweed soup, a parody of Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam”, and over the top food tasting reactions have become part of the drama’s unique humor.
Yoon Kyung Ho’s character also adds to the comedy with a scene that parodies Jo Sung Mo’s “To Heaven” music video, briefly stopping the story flow to focus fully on laughter.
What makes the drama different is how closely it follows the original webtoon’s cartoon like direction. The “status window” that appears like a game screen in front of Kang Sung Jae is not shown as simple text. Instead, it is added into the live action scenes with a three dimensional animated effect.
Because of this, viewers have praised the drama’s bold style. Some said, “It feels like the original webtoon came to life,” while others commented, “I thought the CG would feel awkward, but it actually feels fresh.”
While many live action webtoon adaptations often reduce exaggerated details to make the story feel more realistic, “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier” does the opposite.
It pushes the exaggerated tone forward and mixes comedy, fantasy, and cooking show elements into one story. This unusual mix has become one of the reasons the drama feels fresh to viewers.
The drama’s popularity is also showing in its ratings. As of episode 7, “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier” recorded an average nationwide rating of 7.2% and a peak of 8.9%.
In the Seoul metropolitan area, it recorded an average of 8.1% and a peak of 9.6%, ranking No. 1 in its time slot among cable and general programming channels.
On TVING, the series also became the TVING original drama with the highest number of paid subscribers in its first week among TVING original dramas released in the past three years.
“The Legend of Kitchen Soldier” airs every Monday and Tuesday at 8:50 PM on TVING and tvN.
