Actor Chae Jong Hyeop, this is how the ”Hyup-sama” phenomenon happened... He is very popular in the TBS TV series ”Eye Love You”

Choi Jong Hyeop (Yoon Tae-oh) in the drama 'Eye Love You' on the Japanese commercial TV station TBS is a big hit. Usually, when a Korean drama becomes a hit in Japan, a Korean star is born in Japan. Bae Yong-jun, Lee Byung-hun, Jang Geun-suk and other "sama" or "chan" stars have become popular in this way.

Choi Jong Hyeop played the role of Yoon Tae-oh, a Korean student in an original drama series for a Japanese commercial broadcaster, and quickly became a hit with Japanese women. He even became a phenomenon known as 'Hyeop-sama'. The show also ranked number one on Netflix in Japan. In particular, the scene where Choi Jong Hyeop and the heroine Fumi Nikaido put their pinky finger on each other, stamped a thumbprint on each other and even copied each other's faces is newly accepted in Japan.

The logline is common. Fantasy in which Yuri Motomiya (Fumi Nikaido), the president of Dolce & Chocolat., a company that makes chocolate and coffee from discarded cocoa, falls in love with Yoon Tae-oh (Choi Jong Hyeop), a Korean student majoring in endangered animals and the environment, who has joined the company as an intern. The heroine, Yuri, is able to hear the inner voice of those who have seen her eyes after an accident, but this can lead to misunderstandings, understandings and happenings.

Here, Choi Jong Hyeop is optimised for Japanese women to fall in love with, as he comes from a modelling background with a height of 186 cm and long legs, and is equipped with a handsome, cute younger man and even a puppy-like cuteness. If Bae Yong-jun summons the memories of middle-aged Japanese women, Choi Jong Hyeop is particularly favoured by young women in their teens to thirties in Japan.

The drama features the heroine Yuri's long-time colleague from her school days and former lover (?). Hanaoka (Nakagawa Taishi), a long-time colleague and former lover (?) of the heroine Yuri from their school days, appears as a strong rival to Teo, but he appears as a very gentle character and even has a beautiful male face similar to Won Bin's. He gained popularity even if he did not win Yuri's love.

Hanaoka's character in romance stories can use some foul language and could be a jealous man with vicious attributes, but here he is a nice man who plays fair. So the community reaction has come out as 'Theo alone is a heart-threatening situation, but Hanaoka is completely earnest'. As a result, both of the two characters, the main male and the sub male, were utilised.

Eye Love You may not sound like a voracious drama that viewers who have watched a lot of strong Korean OTT series would find uninteresting, but if anything, that made it even better. The content is closer to organic than to tangy and hempy. The "thrill" and "sparkle" of Teo's hand in Yuri's is quickly adapted.

After 33 minutes of episode 5, Yuri gives him his "first kiss" in the park, but this time she stays still. The kiss comes true in the ending scene at Cape Kiritappu in Hokkaido, where the sea otters can be seen, in episode 6.

Choi Jong Hyeop has plenty of elements that Japanese women would enjoy. Choi Jong Hyeop is a man of straight love and harmless manners. The drama continues with episodes, spliced with misunderstandings due to language and cultural differences.

Yuri is seated next to Teo when Nishina, a female employee, asks Teo in Korean, "Do you like sweet things?" while raising Valentine's Day chocolates to Teo. (Tanggokchoahe)", and Yuri falls into trouble when she only hears the word "like (choahe)". Theo then tells her that 'Nishina told me about the diner' while having dinner with Yuri at a restaurant. Of course, it becomes clear that the chocolates Nishina gave her were her duty chocolates, but Yuri is also troubled by the difference between 'choahae' (I love you) and 'saranghae' (I love you). Calling her Nuna (a term used to refer to older women) and asking her "Have you eaten?" and asking "Have you eaten?" also show cultural differences.

Teo is also straightforward with Yuri, but is disappointed to learn that he is the president and has a unique relationship with Yuri and Hanaoka when he founded the company. He also quits 'going straight' while trying to figure out what it means to be 'not special'.

Eye Love You is a Japanese drama, but the Korean male actors' appearance as Koreans is a result of careful planning: a producer from CJ studied at a Japanese postgraduate school, providing the idea and participating as a member of the staff. It was also a shrewd plan to induce curiosity by not including subtitles when Choi Jong Hyeop delivers his lines in Korean at a moment's notice.

Choi Jong Hyeop has put in no small amount of effort to play the role of Theo in this way. This means that he does not compete only on the basis of appearance. Having studied abroad in South Africa, Choi can speak English, but his Japanese is poor. Whenever he had a line, he was given a video of a Japanese actor reading it with emotion, and while trying to memorise the lines, he built it up into Choi Jong Hyeop's emotions. As most Japanese dramas are not produced in advance but are broadcast live, Choi Jong Hyeop says that he pours his heart and soul into his roles while travelling back and forth between the recording studio and his lodgings.