SBS’ Buried Hearts (aka Treasure Island) and MBC’s Undercover High School kicked off their brand-new Friday-Saturday episodic K-drama journeys in the same time slot on February 21.
Despite establishing a neck-and-neck race on the TV viewership ratings chart, the former revenge drama starring Park Hyung Sik gained an edge over Seo Kang Joon’s spy action comedy with average nationwide ratings of 6.1%. Meanwhile, the latter commenced its run with a 5.6% score, per Nielsen Korea. Both shows have since consistently improved their weekly ratings, achieving their new bests with every episode.
Buried Hearts, Undercover High School’s ratings hit new record
The latest episodes of Park Hyung Sik and Seo Kang Joon’s respective K-drama dropped on Friday, Feb 28, and earned their highest ratings yet. While Undercover High School Episode 3 pulled off an average nationwide score of 6.6%, Buried Hearts Episode 3 turned up the competition with an 8.8% score.
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Regardless of the dramas’ ongoing race to the top, they’ve already achieved big records that Lee Min Ho’s tvN drama When the Stars Gossip couldn’t crack throughout its 16-episode run despite hefty production costs.
And then there’s the matter of weekly buzz rankings. Park Hyung Sik’s show may have gained the higher ground over Seo Kang Joon’s latest TV comeback, but the latter carved an unmissable victory on the K-Content Online BuzzWorthiness chart.
Seo Kang Joon beat Park Hyung Sik in buzzworthy rankings
According to Good Data Corporation’s Feb 25 update, the MBC spy comedy series led not only the TV-OTT (and TV) chart in the Drama category but also ranked atop all the combined listings of the overall Top 10 Korean shows (Drama + Non-Drama). The SBS revenge drama came in second. Similarly, Seo Kang Joon’s higher BuzzWorthiness percentage landed him on top of the Drama Performers chart, whereas Park Hyung Sik ended at No. 2.
New K-dramas leading the OTT charts
Other new shows that made a mark on the TV-OTT (drama) chart were Netflix’s The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call (Ju Ji Hoon, Choo Young Woo) and Melo Movie (Park Bo Young, Choi Woo Shik), Hyeri’s Friendly Rivalry on U+Mobile TV, tvN’s My Dearest Nemesis (Choi Hyung Wook, Moon Ga Young), TVING’s Study Group (Hwang Minhyun) and Channel A’s The Witch (Park Jinyoung, Roh Jeong Eui).
Netflix’s upcoming slice-of-life drama When Life Gives You Tangerines also ranked at No. 8 on the TV-OTT (drama) side despite its premiere slated for March 7.
At #3, Melo Movie also debuted on this past week’s Netflix Global Top 10 Non-English Shows chart, garnering 3.2 million views. Squid Game Season 2 extended its 9-week spell at #7, listing 2.1 million views, while The Trauma Code returned for the fifth week at #9 with 1.8 million views under its name.
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History of Losers finally premieres after repeated delays
The last week of February also rang in the premiere of another brand-new drama that may have otherwise fallen under the radar. The barely promoted premiere of The History of Losers / History of Scruffiness rolled out on local streaming platforms Wavve and Watcha.
Marking The Uncanny Counter star Jo Byeong Kyu’s drama comeback, the coming-of-age rom-com made it to the Top 10 rankings of real-time viewership charts, according to OTT content search platform Kinolights.
The webtoon-based drama securing the 6th rank on Wavve and 2nd on Watcha also stars Bang Min Ah (My Absolute Boyfriend), Ryeoun (Twinkling Watermelon), Jung Jae Kwang (The Trauma Code), Jung Yong Joo (Motel California). History of Scruffiness’ filming was completed in 2022, but the show faced delays due to Jo and Song Ha Yoon’s bullying controversies.
Top 10 Kdramas that generated the most buzz in Week 3 of February 2025
| TV-OTT | TV |
|---|---|
| 1. Undercover High School (MBC) | 1. Undercover High School (MBC) |
| 2. Buried Hearts (SBS) | 2. Buried Hearts (SBS) |
| 3. The Trauma Code: Hearts on Call (Netflix) | 3. My Dearest Nemesis (tvN) |
| 4. Melo Movie (Netflix) | 4. When the Stars Gossip (tvN) |
| 5. Friendly Rivalry (U+Mobile TV) | 5. The Witch (Channel A) |
| 6. My Dearest Nemesis (tvN) | 6. For Eagle Brothers (KBS2) |
| 7. When the Stars Gossip (tvN) | 7. Cinderalla Game (KBS2) |
| 8. When Life Gives You Tangerines (Netflix) | 8. My Merry Marriage (KBS1) |
| 9. Study Group (TVING) | 9. Kick Kick Kick Kick (KBS2) |
| 10. The Witch (Channel A) | 10. The Potato Lab (tvN) |
Top 10 drama actors who generated the most buzz in Week 3 of February 2025
| Drama Actor | K-drama |
|---|---|
| 1. Seo Kang Joon | Undercover High School |
| 2. Park Hyung Sik | Buried Hearts |
| 3. Moon Ga Young | My Dearest Nemesis |
| 4. Ju Ji Hoon | The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call |
| 5. Hyeri | Friendly Rivalry |
| 6. Choi Hyun Wook | My Dearest Nemesis |
| 7. Hwang Minhyun | Study Group |
| 8. Lee Min Ho | When the Stars Gossip |
| 9. Kong Hyojin | When the Stars Gossip |
| 10. Choi Woo Shik | Melo Movie |