"Love in the Moonlight" is the webtoon based drama that started to air this week. In order to suit the television drama, there will be differences in storyline from its original story. The decision was proven to be successful as the drama debuted well.
Producer Kim Sung-yoon,explained the difference between webtoon novel and drama adaptation at the press event at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, as quoted by The Korea Daily.
"I thought deeply about whether a female character pretending to be a man would still work today. But I still decided to work on this drama because each episode of the webtoon was very interesting. In order to make the drama trendier, however, the personalities of the characters have been slightly adjusted."
One of the adjustment is to make the lead male character, crown prince Lee Young, to be warmer than his depiction in the webtoon. Park Bo-gum was cast to play the prince and he shows a terrific acting. Park is able to play a childish and playful crown prince in the 19th century Joseon.
While Kim Yoo-jung was cast as Prince Lee Young's love interest, an 18-year-old girl who masquerade as a eunuch. Kim is a former child actress in the early 2000's which has grown into a teenage actress.
Audience responded well with the story adjustment, based on the first episode result aired this week. "Love in the Moonlight" recorded 8.3 percent viewership ratings nationwide and 9 percent in Seoul. The data was compiled from viewership rating research company Nielsen Korea, as quoted by Soompi.
The first episode of "Love in the Moonlight" was able to compete with two strong contenders, the last episode of SBS's "Doctors" and MBC's "Monster." Both drama scored 17.8 percent and 8.9 percent rating respectively. Therefore, producer's decision to adjust the storyline to suit drama viewers' preference is a good call.
