Korean, Japanese dramas target each other's home screens

“My name is Minamida Minami. Whether you read it forward or backward, it’s Minamida Minami. Kitsusuki (woodpecker), tomato, Swiss, koneko (kitten), Minamida Minami.”

The line comes from “Extraordinary Attorney Minami,” the Japanese adaptation of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo.” In the original series, protagonist Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin) introduces herself using words that read the same forward and backward, such as “gireogi (wild goose), tomato, Swiss and Indo-in (Indian).” The Japanese remake recreates the wordplay in Japanese.

Around the same time, a genius surgeon who swept Japan is moving the setting to a Korean hospital. Two representative legal and medical dramas from Korea and Japan are switching home turfs as they seek viewers across the sea.

Kansai TV and Fuji TV will premiere “Extraordinary Attorney Minami” on Oct. 19. Like the original “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” which aired on ENA in 2022, the series follows the growth of a rookie lawyer on the autism spectrum. “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” made history by remaining in Netflix’s global Top 10 for 21 weeks during its run, and the Japanese remake will also be released worldwide through Netflix.

Mana Ashida, who stars in the remake, said on the show’s official website that she was surprised when she received the offer because she had originally been a fan of the series. “I want to cherish the texture of the original, which delicately portrays not only the fun of a courtroom drama but also relationships and emotions,” she said.

In Korea, a string of remakes of Japanese hit dramas will be released through next year. First up is SBS’ new Friday-Saturday drama “Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia,” billed as a “refreshing medical noir.”

Based on TV Asahi’s “Doctor X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon,” which ran for seven seasons starting in 2012, the drama follows Gye Su-jeong (Kim Ji-won), a freelance surgeon who knows only one thing — surgery — as she takes on the corrupt medical establishment at a university hospital.

Gye refuses to do anything that does not involve saving patients, including making rounds, attending staff dinners, helping professors with their papers and working unwanted overtime — tasks that can be done without a medical license. The character’s catchphrase, “I never fail,” also serves as a link to the original.

TvN’s “Unnatural” (working title), currently in production with a target premiere next year, will continue the fictional universe of the Japanese drama of the same name, which aired on TBS in 2018. The mystery medical drama follows a forensic pathologist at a fictional autopsy center affiliated with the National Forensic Service as she investigates cases hidden behind unnatural deaths.

Lim Yoona, who has won over audiences primarily through romantic comedies, will take on the lead role of a forensic pathologist, marking a new acting challenge for her.

Korean-Japanese drama remakes in the 2000s were centered largely on melodramas and romance, including “I’m Sorry, I Love You” and “Boys Over Flowers.” But after the Japanese versions of “Signal” and “Good Doctor” scored successive successes in 2018, the focus shifted toward well-made genre dramas.

In particular, stories about justice and life set in universal spaces such as courtrooms and hospitals are considered accessible genres that can easily build a global audience. Their distinctive episodic structure, in which new cases emerge depending on the client or patient, also reduces the burden on viewers of having to watch an entire series in one sitting.

Some analysts say the active exchange of remakes between Korea and Japan could provide an opportunity for each country to borrow from the other’s strengths.

Yun Suk-jin, a drama critic and professor at Chungnam National University, said, “The delicacy of Japanese dramas, which does not overlook even the smallest details of everyday life, can complement Korean dramas, while the dynamic storytelling and diverse structures of Korean dramas can work in the opposite direction in Japan.”

The key, he said, is “cultural translation.” “Problems in the medical and legal professions are universal, but the perspectives of the two countries on those problems are different,” Yun said. “The essence of a remake drama is to translate those differences well and give the story social meaning that fits the realities of each country.”

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.