Dave Cunningham
Normally, it’s more of a risk to premiere series from outside the United States. Why stray from what works, right? Well, it looks like Netflix did its homework. Two dramas from the East––Japan’s sci-fi thriller in Alice in Borderland and Korea’s fantasy horror in Sweet Home have both made strong cases for the Eastern side of the world––garnering millions of watchers since their premiere.
Alice in Borderland, on one hand, has been watched by more than 15 million households. Deservingly, it also received news of its renewal for the second season. On the other hand, Sweet Home has amassed 22 million households in its first four weeks in the streaming giant.
Alice in Borderland is an eight-episode sci-fi story about a couple of friends who’ve found their way into a mysterious paralleled Tokyo. In that world, they’re forced to play and compete in a series of games in order to survive. The story is lifted from Haro Aso’s manga of the same name.
Sweet Home first debuted as a Korean webtoon by Kim Kan-bi and Hwang Younger-chan. The people loved the webtoon so much so that ‘loved’ might be an understatement––garnering 1.2 billion views on Naver. The story of the series revolves around loner Cha Hyun-soo. After the death of his family in an accident, his supposed quiet life in his apartment turns 180 degrees as people turn into wreckless monsters.
Both series have boasted their places in Netflix’s Top 10 list in multiple countries, not including Asia, which proves to be quite the feat for the world.
