'The Sound of Magic' lands at No. 4 on global Netflix chart

Netflix’s new Korean fantasy series, “The Sound of Magic,” made a successful debut on the platform, soaring to No. 4 on the service’s global top 10 chart.

The musical drama ranked seventh on Netflix’s global chart as of Saturday, a day after its release, before climbing up to land at the fourth slot on Sunday, according to data released by streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol.

“The Sound of Magic,” helmed by director Kim Seong-yoon who was behind hit webtoon-based dramas “Love in The Moonlight” (2016) and “Itaewon Class” (2020), became the most popular TV show in 13 countries, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, as of Sunday.

On Monday, the series placed second in South Korea, Japan, Thailand and India.

“Fantasy series with elements of magic are enjoyed by many people across the globe. Besides, musicals are popular in many Arab and Southeast Asian countries as well. These aspects may have created a synergy and started the global popularity in countries like India and Kuwait,” culture critic Kim Heon-sik told The Korea Herald Monday.

It, however, failed to rank in the top 10 in the United States and European countries.

“The Sound of Magic” was the first non-thriller series to make it to the top 10 list.

Many of Netflix’s Korean originals that enjoyed global popularity were thrillers, including “Squid Game,” “My Name,” “The Silent Sea,” “Hellbound,” and “All of Us Are Dead.”

Adapted from a renowned fantasy webtoon of the same title, written by author Ha Il-kwon, the Netflix series presents the story of a teenage girl, Yoon Ah-yi (played by Choi Sung-eun), in a musical drama.

The six-part series explores what it means to be an adult, the real meaning of happiness and how we want our children to be raised from Ah-yi’s perspective, questions that arise after she meets a mysterious magician named Ri-eul.

SBS’ rom-com “Business Proposal” and cable channel tvN’s “Twenty-Five Twenty-One” were ranked at No. 7 and No. 10, respectively, as of Sunday.

By Lee Si-jin (sj_lee@heraldcorp.com)