J-drama “Eye Love You” ignites a new wave of learning Korean in Japan

A mind-reading female lead falls in love with a Korean man whose thoughts she cannot read

Japanese drama “Eye Love You” stars Japanese actress Fumi Nikaido and South Korean actor Chae Jong-hyeop. /TBS

A new Japanese drama series, “Eye Love You”, has captivated audiences with its experimental format of not providing Japanese subtitles for its Korean dialogue. The growing popularity of this drama has boosted the number of Japanese people trying to learn Korean, according to Japanese media outlets. Japanese viewers are turning to various YouTube videos that translate and analyze the scenes with Korean dialogue.

“Eye Love You”, produced by Japanese broadcaster TBS, has been airing every Tuesday since Jan. 23. Four episodes have been aired so far, and the series is also available on Netflix.

The drama’s main character, Yuri Motomiya, possesses the unique ability to hear the thoughts of anyone she locks eyes with - she’s a mind reader. But her superpower proves to be a source of pain as she realizes that what people say is different from what they are actually thinking. Her life takes a turn when she meets Yoon Teo, a Korean student who works part-time as a delivery man, whose thoughts she hears exclusively in Korean. The story is about the heroine, who does not understand Korean, falling in love with a man whose mind she can’t read for the first time.

Interestingly, the drama does not provide Japanese subtitles for Teo’s inner monologues, a deliberate choice by the creators to give the viewers the heroine’s experience of not being able to understand Teo’s true feelings. Apart from Teo’s “thoughts”, the rest of the dialogue is delivered in broken Japanese so that Japanese viewers can follow the story despite the language barrier.

“Eye Love You” stars Japanese actress Fumi Nikaido, 30, as the female lead, Yuri. South Korean actor Chae Jong-hyeop, 31, plays the male lead Teo. The drama stands out for starring a Korean actor in a prime-time slot on Japanese TV - a rarity that may be contributing to its popularity. “Eye Love You” was the most-viewed TV show on Netflix Japan last month.

Japanese media outlet Maidona News recently reported that “more people are learning Korean because they want to understand what the male lead is thinking.” YouTube videos offering translations and interpretations of the drama’s Korean dialogues have become popular, with some videos reaching over 150,000 views.

The last time Japanese people took an interest in learning Korean was 20 years ago, when the Korean drama “Winter Sonata,” starring Bae Yong-Joon and Choi Ji-woo, became extremely popular among middle-aged Japanese women. In the past few years, young K-pop fans in their teens and 20s have been the most active in learning Korean.