Hyeri’s ‘Friendly Rivalry’ Debuts Strong with Thrilling Plot & Same-Sex Kiss Scene
Feb 12, 2025
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'Goodwill Competition', which was released at midnight on the 10th, topped the number of views among U+Mobile TV and U+ TV original dramas on the same day, starting a full-fledged box office. Major box office indicators such as the total number of viewers and the number of new viewers also proved their high interest by ranking first in all original dramas.
'Goodwill Competition' is a mystery girl thriller about the brutal entrance exam competition at Chaehwa Girls' High School, where the top 1% of Korean students gather, and the death of the father of a student who was a member of the College Scholastic Ability Test. Lee Hye-ri took on the role of Yu-J, a genius high school girl who accounts for 0.1% of Chaehwa Girls' High School in the play, shedding her existing warm image and made an intense acting transformation.
In particular, the pre-release video of Lee Hye-ri and Jung Soo-bin's kiss scene attracted the attention of fans of 'GL'(Girl's Love), and at the same time added a mysterious atmosphere with a promotional strategy emphasizing thriller elements. Posters and main trailers also raised expectations, foreshadowing unique settings and tense developments.
The press preview, which first released episodes 1 to 4, and the fan preview of the concept of 「Chaehwa Girls' High School Admissions Briefing」 were also successfully completed, creating a full-fledged box office atmosphere. Participants in the fan preview continued to rave reviews with reactions such as "New World of Academy Thriller", "Different from existing academy materials", "The suspense and psychological warfare are intense", and "The actors' acting is solid and they don't know where they will go".
After the release, the audience's response was also enthusiastic. "Never seen an academy thriller before"", "I'm excited, but I'm scared and I'm crazy about the tension of the academy.""Dopamine turns around and can't sleep.", There was a lot of positive evaluations about the speedy development and the actors' acting transformation, such as "The cool Lee Hye-ri's acting bonanza for the first time" and "It's so intense that it's addiction".
However, the fact that 'goodwill competition' will be exclusively released on U+Mobile TV is considered a somewhat disturbing factor. As it is not a large OTT platform such as Netflix, Wave, and TVing, there is a possibility that accessibility will decrease. Last year, Genie TV's original 『Your Honor" drew attention by surpassing the limits of the platform, but U+Mobile TV has yet to have any significant box office hits.
Nevertheless, 'Goodwill Competition' marks a successful start from an expected work to a topical work, foreshadowing events surrounding three-dimensional characters, tight emotional lines, and the relationship between key characters, adding to expectations.
Meanwhile, the STUDIO X+U drama 'Goodwill Competition' will be released every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 00:00 a.m. on U+TV and U+Mobile TV.
mj.cho@sportschosun.com
