Is K-Drama ‘The Time We Were Not In Love’ Shaping Up To Be The Biggest Failure Of 2015?

Prior to its release, The Time We Were Not In Love, also known as The Time I Loved You, 7,000 Days, was highly-anticipated. However, the tide of favoritism changed to disdain as one bad situation happened after another starting with the K-drama’s trailer being accused of plagiarism. Since then, the producers have done everything to breathe life into it such as changing the production crew not once, but twice. Also, they’ve got Suzy of K-pop group Miss A to perform the theme of Oh Ha Na, the female lead character in the K-drama.

However, a new report recently came out about The Time We Were Not In Love‘s ratings. According to KdramaStars, it is not doing well in ratings. As a matter of fact, the highest rating it has reached thus far is 7.1 percent. That is not good for a K-drama that is 16 episodes long with 10 aired thus far. The question that must be asked is this: is The Time We Were Not In Love shaping up to be the biggest failure of 2015?

From what was mentioned earlier, it is understandable why The Time We Were Not In Love would be considered the biggest failure out of all K-dramas this year. Plagiarism allegations, two production crew changes within five episodes, and low ratings are enough. However, that is not why it is receiving this harsh moniker. So what is the real reasons?

There are actually two. The first is the fact the leads of the show are Ha Ji Won and Lee Jin Wook. In Korean entertainment, they some of the biggest names, and anything they star in is assumed to become a major hit. Ji Won has over 20 years of experience starring in hit K-dramas like Empress Ki, Secret Garden, and Life is Beautiful. As for Lee Jin Wook, he has at least 10 years of experience starring in hit K-dramas like Air City, City of Glass, and I Need Romance 2. He is also going to play one of the versions of Woo Jin in the upcoming K-movie The Beauty Inside. How is it that such popular Korean actors are unable to draw in a huge following for the show?

And if the leads aren’t the only reason for the show’s lack of success, one must look to the supporting cast. They are the second major reason why The Time We Were Not In Love is being considered the biggest failure of 2015. On a side note, this also includes the other main cast members, Yoon Gyun Sang and Choo Soo Hyun. But getting back to the supporting cast, Shin Jung Keun, Lee Joo Seung, and Jin Kyung are playing roles that assist Ha Ji Won and Lee Jin Wook. All five of them together should have assisted in the K-drama’s popularity by supporting the leads, but for some reason it isn’t working. That alone is ironic because the supporting cast is the same phenomenal group of people who helped make Pinocchio such a success. To be frank though, they are being immensely underutilized.

Together, the leads and the supporting cast have worked together to make The Time We Were Not In Love is a very entertaining K-drama. But that’s what makes it so ironic it isn’t doing so well. They along with the promotion, direction, and production (which is high caliber too) not being able to deliver the numbers to make it viable in the K-drama market today is why The Time We Were Not In Love just might be the biggest failure of 2015.

However, it still has a chance with six more episodes to go. In that amount of time, anything can change. To help this K-drama out, one can watch The Time We Were Not In Love on Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) on Saturdays and Sundays at 10 p.m. until its finale on August 15, 2015. For those who don’t have SBS, it can be watched for free (with ads) on DramaFever.

[Image via Seoul Broadcasting System]