This Damn Love surges to No. 1 on Netflix just two days after release

The Netflix original series 'This Damn Love' has climbed to the top of the domestic charts, showing a steep upward trend immediately after its release. After starting at 6th place on the first day, the series jumped five spots in just one day, overtaking top-tier titles such as 'The East Palace' and 'Agent Kim Reactivated'.

As 'This Damn Love', starring Jung Hae-in and Oh Ha-young, draws viewers faster than expected, attention is focused on whether this success will lead to global popularity beyond Korea.

- Jumping 5 spots in one day... Pushing aside 'The East Palace' and 'Agent Kim Reactivated'

As of 10:00 AM on the 9th, 'This Damn Love' took 1st place in Netflix's 'TOP 10 Series in Korea Today'.

After being released worldwide on the 7th, it first entered the domestic rankings at 6th place on the 8th, but surged to the top in just one day. This means it climbed as many as five spots in a short period.

In particular, it is drawing attention for consecutively overtaking the occult historical drama 'The East Palace', which has recently garnered interest from Korean viewers, and the So Ji-sub starrer 'Agent Kim Reactivated'.

Reactions are also appearing overseas. According to FlixPatrol, a site that tracks OTT content rankings, 'This Damn Love' rose to 5th place globally in the Netflix TV show category on the day of its release.

At that time, it recorded the highest ranking among non-English language content and was named in the TOP 10 in 50 countries, including Korea, India, Brazil, Mexico, and Singapore.

This signifies that interest from both domestic and international viewers is spreading simultaneously since the release.

- The strange cohabitation of an amnesiac prosecutor and a 'fake boyfriend'

'This Damn Love' is a 12-episode romantic comedy.

The story unfolds around the strange cohabitation of Go Eun-sae (Oh Ha-young), a prosecutor who has lost her memory, and Jang Tae-ha (Jung Hae-in), a boxing coach who claims to be her boyfriend.

Tae-ha, who was preparing for a new life after leaving an organization, reunites with his first love, Eun-sae, while performing his final mission. However, Eun-sae has lost all her past memories due to an accident while tracking a violent organization.

Before losing her memory, her name was Go Ji-won. After waking up in a strange hospital, Go Ji-won meets Tae-ha, who introduces himself as her boyfriend.

Tae-ha begins to lie to protect the endangered Eun-sae. By claiming to be her lover, he helps Eun-sae escape the pursuit of the organization.

The problem is that this lie gradually turns into real emotion.

The distinguishing feature of the work is the combination of familiar romantic comedy tropes—first love, amnesia, fake dating, and cohabitation—with organizational pursuit, action, and noir.

Instead of driving the story solely with sweet romance, it secures genre-based tension by placing chases and secrets that could explode at any moment.

Viewer reactions such as "The familiar taste is the scariest," "I watched all previous episodes overnight," and "This is the rom-com I've been waiting for" are interpreted as a result of varying familiar subject matter with fast pacing and genre blending.

- Jung Hae-in, Oh Ha-young, and Heo Sung-tae balance the genre

At the center of the success is the combination of Jung Hae-in and Oh Ha-young.

Jung plays the role of Jang Tae-ha, who lives as a boxing coach after leaving an organization. He is a character who appears rough and blunt on the outside but hides his identity to protect his first love.

It is reported that Director Kim Jang-han prioritized Jung for the role of Tae-ha during the casting process. He judged that Jung could add a rough, manly charm to his existing upright and soft image, while also expressing the clumsy and lovely sides required for a romantic comedy.

Oh challenged herself as a romantic comedy lead for the first time in this work.

Having made a name for herself through consecutive appearances in Netflix works such as 'Severe Trauma Center', 'Duna!', and 'The Fabulous', as well as 'True Education', 'Bloodhounds' Season 2, and 'Monthly Boyfriend', Oh has further expanded her genre range through this work.

However, after Oh mentioned stories related to her family's past on a recent broadcast, online speculation and controversy regarding whether a figure known to be her great-grandfather had pro-Japanese activities spread.

Regarding this, her agency acknowledged that the individual is the same person mentioned online, but remained cautious about specific historical facts. Since the success of the work and the controversy surrounding the individual actor are separate matters, further fact-checking will be required in the future.

Heo Sung-tae takes responsibility for the tension in the series as the organization boss, Baek Sang-gil, who pursues the two.

He teased a powerful villainous role, describing his character by saying, "He is a worse villain than Jang Deok-su from 'Squid Game'."

Additionally, Kim Young-ok, Jeon Bae Soo, Seo Jeong-yeon, Jang Hye-jin, Cha Cheong-hwa, Kim Mi-hwa, Lee Jae Won, Jung Sun-won, and Choi Yu-ju join as the 'Yeot-maeul Family,' breathing lively energy into a story that could otherwise become heavy with pursuit and noir.

- There is a reason for the title 'This Damn Love'

The title also encapsulates the unique atmosphere of the work.

Director Kim Jang-han explained, "I was strongly drawn to the expression 'damn' (yeot-gat-da) itself."

The situation where the amnesiac Eun-sae must accept a stranger as her lover is, quite literally, a 'damn' (difficult/bitter) reality. However, at the same time, the sweet and sticky image of 'yeot' (traditional Korean taffy) symbolizes the love between the two.

In this way, 'This Damn Love' holds the core contradiction of the story within its title. Love is sweet, but the process of reaching that love is by no means sweet. As the amnesiac and the liar approach each other, romance and thriller constantly collide.

The deep emotions and action of Jung, the new romantic comedy charm of Oh, and the intense charisma of Heo form the three pillars of the work.

In Korea, the series jumped from 6th to 1st place in just one day, and it also entered the global TOP 10 TV shows on its release day. Now, the question remains whether this upward trend will lead to long-term success beyond the initial buzz.

Attention is focused on whether 'This Damn Love,' which climbed to the top by pushing aside 'The East Palace' and 'Agent Kim Reactivated,' can reach the global top through word-of-mouth.