| W | |
|---|---|
_-_poster.jpg) Promotional poster | |
| Also known as |
|
| Hangul | 더블유 |
| Revised Romanization | Deobeuryu |
| McCune–Reischauer | Tŏbŭryu |
| Genre | |
| Written by | Song Jae-jeong |
| Directed by | Jung Dae-yoon |
| Creative directors |
|
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language | Korean |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Son Hyung-suk |
| Producers |
|
| Cinematography |
|
| Editor | Oh Serena |
| Running time | 70 minutes |
| Production company | Chorokbaem Media |
| Original release | |
| Network | MBC TV |
| Release | July 20 (2016-07-20) – September 14, 2016 (2016-09-14) |
W (Korean: 더블유) is a 2016South Korean television series, starringLee Jong-suk andHan Hyo-joo.[1][2] Consisting of 16 episodes, it aired on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST) onMBC from July 20 to September 14, 2016.[3]W centers on the clash between "two worlds": the real world and analternate universe inside awebtoon, from which the title of the television series was taken.[4][5]
The series received praise for its unique premise and ranked first in Content Power Index in its premiere week.[6] It achieved modest ratings of 11.63%, topping viewership ratings in its time slot for its entire run.[7]
A romance takes place between Kang Cheol (Lee Jong-Suk), who is super rich and exists in the webtoon “W,” and Oh Yeon-Joo (Han Hyo-Joo) who is a surgeon in the real world.
| No. | Title | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Oh Seong Moo has Disappeared!" | July 20, 2016 (2016-07-20) | |
Oh Yeon-joo learns from her friend and father's assistant, Park Soo-bong (Lee Si-eon) that her father has disappeared while drawing the last issue ofW, in which the webtoon's protagonist, Kang Cheol, is supposed to die. The last drawing on hisgraphics tablet shows Cheol bloodied and unconscious on a roof. As Yeon-joo investigates, she is pulled through the tablet and into the webtoon world. She manages to save Cheol, before noticing the Korean words for "To Be Continued" appear in the air, sending her back. A new episode ofW is mysteriously uploaded, which depicts all of Yeon-joo's actions, including a full-page spread of her as a character. She theorizes that the webtoon contains an actual alternate universe. Later, Kang Cheol considers Yeon-joo to be the key to his life. | |||
| 2 | "Find Her, the Key to My Life" | July 21, 2016 (2016-07-21) | |
Seong-moo turns up again and insists the new issue was his creation. Later, Soo-bong tells Yeon-joo that her father plans to kill Cheol, who is in the hospital. She calls her father, realizing that he too knows the webtoon is alive. She is sucked back into the webtoon, successfully preventing a nurse from administeringpotassium to Cheol. Two months pass in an instant, and Cheol is now healthy. To get back to the real world, Yeon-joo surprises him with a kiss. Seong-moo, angered that his daughter's adventures had uploaded themselves, dismisses his team to endW in secret. He draws a truck to kill Kang Cheol, but the webtoon rejects this ending, with Cheol surviving. | |||
| 3 | "I Am Someone Who Will Do That" | July 27, 2016 (2016-07-27) | |
Yeon-joo investigates her father's files and discovers thatW started drawing on its own during her father's miserable times. Depressed, he tries to end the webtoon by having Cheol commit suicide, but the drawing changes to Cheol hanging on. Seong-moo is inspired to continue the webtoon until he is famous, but repeated rewrites caused him to think Cheol is a monster. Yeon-joo is dragged back to the webtoon world, where Kang Cheol interrogates her at gunpoint. When she stalls telling the truth, he shoots her, but she doesn't receive a wound, confirming her special nature. | |||
| 4 | "What Is This World Where You Live in?" | July 28, 2016 (2016-07-28) | |
Yoon So-hee (Jung Yoo-jin), Cheol's personal assistant, sets up an elaborate trap to have Yeon-joo arrested. Cheol demotes So-hee for her actions and visits Yeon-joo in prison. There, she finally reveals to Cheol that he is the main character of a cartoon, returning to the real world afterwards. Now knowing the truth, time in the webtoon stops, and Cheol steps through a portal into the real world. | |||
| 5 | "I've Come Here. To Your World." | August 3, 2016 (2016-08-03) | |
In the real world, Kang Cheol reads up onW. He visits Yeon-joo at her hospital and kisses her. He then goes to Seong-moo's house, where he learns about his creator's bitter past, which provided the inspiration for his character. Cheol confronts his creator in the flesh, asking the latter to draw his family's killer so he can have a happy ending. When Seong-moo refuses, claiming the murders were just a plot device to make him stronger, Cheol shoots him. | |||
| 6 | "The End" | August 4, 2016 (2016-08-04) | |
As Seong-moo recovers, Kang Cheol commits suicide, leaving asuicide note with Yeon-joo. His actions get uploaded as the last issue ofW, since Seong-moo decides to retire to New Zealand. Soon after, the "the end" mark on the webtoon replaces itself with "To Be Continued." At Yeon-joo's insistence, Soo-bong continues the story, restarting the webtoon world and sending Yeon-joo back to the prison. | |||
| 7 | "Cheol and Yeon-joo Get Married" | August 10, 2016 (2016-08-10) | |
Kang Cheol meets Yeon-joo and learns his revival was her idea. Distraught over being just a character, he rebukes Yeon-joo for saving him, but changes his mind when she says that she loves him. He kisses Yeon-joo then legally marries her to get her out of prison. Later, his family's murderer calls him and threatens Yeon-joo. | |||
| 8 | "The Killer Is After You" | August 17, 2016 (2016-08-17) | |
While in Cheol's kitchen, Yeon-joo gets into an accident and bleeds, confirming she is now a character as well. She goes back to the real world, where the murderer, who had also stepped through the portal and learned about the webtoon, pursues her and Soo-bong. She is almost shot but is sent back to Cheol's car. While the murderer teleports to Seong-moo, still en route to New Zealand, Cheol notices So-hee fading away, which he realizes is due to her significance as a character fading. In order to set things right, Cheol sends Yeon-joo back to her world, where she redraws all the previous events as a dream Cheol had. | |||
| 9 | "Make It a Happy Ending" | August 18, 2016 (2016-08-18) | |
Seong-moo returns to Korea and decides to write a happy ending forW. He gives the murder his face and names him Han Sang-hoon. After the latter is caught, Prosecutor Han Cheol-ho (Park Won-sang) - who wished to gain political power by presiding over Cheol's case, believing him to be the one who killed his family - was to kill Sang-hoon. However, Sang-hoon causes a shooting at a TV station, so Yeon-joo is sent back to the webtoon world to treat the victims. She meets Kang Cheol, who no longer recognizes her. Back in the real world, Seong-moo's face has been removed. | |||
| 10 | "The World Controlled By The Killer" | August 24, 2016 (2016-08-24) | |
Sang-hoon uses Seong-moo as his robotic alter ego, using the latter to manipulate the webtoon world to his liking. He conspires with Cheol-ho to frame Kang Cheol for the murder of his producer, Son Hyun-suk. (Cha Kwang-soo) He escapes, but he is shot by the police. Yeon-joo takes him to a hotel so he can recover, then kisses him so she can return to her world. | |||
| 11 | "What Happens Next?" | August 25, 2016 (2016-08-25) | |
Yeon-joo discovers her faceless father and uses his tablet to help Kang Cheol treat himself and evade the police. She is suddenly summoned to Cheol-ho's office, arousing his suspicion, then goes to Cheol's penthouse. Everyone thinks Cheol is dead, except for his bodyguard Seo Do-yoon (Lee Tae-hwan), who knows the former's location. Kang Cheol starts imitating his past self, which, as Yeon-joo discovers, is due to him having read a copy ofW that was accidentally brought to his world. He finally makes the connection between the webtoon's character and himself. | |||
| 12 | "Cheol's Second Awakening" | August 31, 2016 (2016-08-31) | |
Cheol and Yeon-joo step back into the real world, where they restart their relationship. Cheol breaks Seong-moo's tablet to prevent Sang-hoon from interfering with the real world, but later repairs it so that Sang-hoon will be captured and Cheol-ho investigated for his crimes, as he originally planned. He also learns he can travel between the webtoon world and the real world at will. | |||
| 13 | "For the Last Episode of W" | September 1, 2016 (2016-09-01) | |
Cheol learns he can summon characters fromW into the real world. He accidentally summons Sang-hoon, who orders Seong-moo to destroy his tablet and brings Yeon-joo to the webtoon world to trap Cheol. He successfully locates Sang-hoon's hideout and kills him, but Yeon-joo has been shot. She and Cheol return to the real world, the former as a lifeless body. | |||
| 14 | "Secret of the Tablet" | September 7, 2016 (2016-09-07) | |
Han Cheol-ho finds a copy of Seong-moo's graphics tablet in Sang-hoon's car. Kang Cheol brings Yeon-joo to the webtoon world to recover but she dies. Seong-moo grieves over the fact that he cannot draw his daughter back to life, so Cheol goes to the webtoon world to retrieve the copy. He is caught by Cheol-ho, who had discovered that the tablet can bring any drawing to life when the Enter key is pressed on a connected computer, and can erase things by pressing Delete (as in the Mac equivalent to Backspace). Despite being tortured, Cheol lures Cheol-ho to Seong-moo's location to deliver the tablet to him. After Yeon-joo is brought back to life, she is brought back to the webtoon world, where the words "Final Chapter" appear in front of her. | |||
| 15 | "Which Kind of Ending Will It Be?" | September 8, 2016 (2016-09-08) | |
In the webtoon's last issue, a year has passed since it left off; Kang Cheol is sentenced to death but he escapes, thanks to Seong-moo who was also dragged inside. Cheol learns that Seong-moo has been a mental patient due to his adopting Sang-hoon's villainous personality and will cease to exist if he does not do evil. With the police about to arrest Seong-moo and Do-yoon kidnapped, Cheol and Yeon-joo realize that Yeon-joo will lose either Cheol or her father. To end the webtoon in the safest way possible, Yeon-joo draws security footage of Cheol-ho's torture. | |||
| 16 | "After W Ends" | September 14, 2016 (2016-09-14) | |
Kang Cheol saves Do-yoon but is shot by Cheol-ho. He manages to reach a bus stop where he calls Yeon-joo to save him, but he collapses. Yeon-joo is sent back to the real world. Seong-moo, now staying at a motel, forces Cheol-ho to commit suicide and exposes him to the authorities. He arrives just in time to see Yeon-joo at a bus stop before disappearing forever. Cheol spends two years in prison before somehow sending himself back to the real world, where he meets Yeon-joo in a hospital. They then continue their romance away from the dangers of the webtoon. | |||
The series is helmed by director Jung Dae-yoon, who directedShe Was Pretty, and writer Song Jae-jung, whose previous works includeNine: Nine Time Travels andQueen and I.[3]
The first script reading of the drama was held in May 2016.[10]
The drama is Han Hyo-joo's small screen comeback after six years.[11]
| W : Original Soundtrack | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
| Released | 2016 (2016) |
| Genre | Pop,K-pop, soundtrack |
| Label | Sebunguri/Star&Tree/LOEN L200001314 |
| Producer | Son Nak-hee, Kim Young-ho(both executive) |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Where Are U" (내가 너에게 가던 네가 나에게 오던) | Seo Dong-sung | Park Sung-il (Copykumo) | Jung Joon-young | 4:19 |
| 2. | "Where Are U" (Inst.) | Park Sung-il (Copykumo) | 4:19 | ||
| Total length: | 8:38 | ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Please Say Something, Even Though It Is a Lie" (거짓말이라도 해줘요) | Red Socks, Choi Jae-woo | Red Socks | Park Bo-ram | 3:33 |
| 2. | "Please Say Something, Even Though It Is a Lie" (Inst.) | Red Socks | 3:33 | ||
| Total length: | 7:06 | ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "In the Illusion" (환상 속의 그대) | Leah Min-young Park (Hwayobi),Lee Cheol-joo (Basick) | Park Sung-il (Copykumo) | Basick &Inkii [ko] | 4:09 |
| 2. | "In the Illusion" (Inst.) | Park Sung-il (Copykumo) | 4:09 | ||
| Total length: | 8:18 | ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Remember" (기억) | 5ily, Choi Kang | 5ily | KCM | 4:13 |
| 2. | "Remember" (Inst.) | 5ily | 4:13 | ||
| Total length: | 8:26 | ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Falling" | Han Joon, Benjamin K | Lee Yoo-jin | Jo Hyun-ah (Urban Zakapa) | 3:21 |
| 2. | "Falling" (Inst.) | Lee Yoo-jin | 3:21 | ||
| Total length: | 6:42 | ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "My Heart" (내 맘) | Cadence, Seo Jae-ha, Kim Young-sung | Cadence, Seo Jae-ha, Kim Young-sung | Jeon Woo-sung (Noel) | 3:52 |
| 2. | "My Heart" (Inst.) | Cadence, Seo Jae-ha, Kim Young-sung | 3:52 | ||
| Total length: | 7:44 | ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You And I" (그대와 나) | Shoulder Bully (어깨깡패) | Shoulder Bully (어깨깡패) | Ahn Hyun-jeong | 3:45 |
| 2. | "You And I" (Inst.) | Shoulder Bully (어깨깡패) | 3:45 | ||
| Total length: | 7:30 | ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Draw a Love" (사랑을 그려요) | Han Joon, Benjamin K | Tom & Jerry | Navi [ko] | 3:59 |
| 2. | "Draw a Love" (Inst.) | Tom & Jerry | 3:59 | ||
| Total length: | 7:58 | ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Without You" (니가 없는 난) | Red Socks | Red Socks | N (VIXX) & Yeoeun (Melody Day) | 4:34 |
| 2. | "Without You" (Inst.) | Red Socks | 4:34 | ||
| Total length: | 9:08 | ||||
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Title of W" (Opening Title) | Various Artists | 0:44 |
| 2. | "A New Variable" | Various Artists | 1:17 |
| 3. | "Black Shadow" | Various Artists | 2:44 |
| 4. | "Collapsed Dimensions" | Various Artists | 4:00 |
| 5. | "Crazy Dog, Professor Park" | Various Artists | 2:03 |
| 6. | "Forgotten Memory" | Various Artists | 2:02 |
| 7. | "Falsified Incident" | Various Artists | 2:04 |
| 8. | "Hidden Content" | Various Artists | 3:27 |
| 9. | "I want to erase sadness" | Various Artists | 3:38 |
| 10. | "I Love you" | Various Artists | 1:59 |
| 11. | "I've changed the heroine" | Various Artists | 2:17 |
| 12. | "It is your setting" | Various Artists | 2:38 |
| 13. | "Instead of being eaten, I will be eating" | Various Artists | 2:27 |
| 14. | "Key to my life" | Various Artists | 3:23 |
| 15. | "Like normal couples" | Various Artists | 3:02 |
| 16. | "Lost Time" | Various Artists | 2:38 |
| 17. | "Moment of Decision" | Various Artists | 3:08 |
| 18. | "Meaning of ring" | Various Artists | 4:19 |
| 19. | "No Dark Entity" | Various Artists | 4:51 |
| 20. | "Non-existent Existence" | Various Artists | 1:56 |
| 21. | "Nice to meet you Kang Chul fan!" | Various Artists | 2:22 |
| 22. | "Ordinary Happiness" | Various Artists | 2:42 |
| 23. | "Reason of Existence" | Lee Yun Ji | 2:10 |
| 24. | "Real Criminal's Face" | Various Artists | 2:33 |
| 25. | "Sour Charm" | Various Artists | 2:38 |
| 26. | "Today's Homework" | Various Artists | 2:14 |
| 27. | "Two worlds, One heart" | Various Artists | 3:13 |
| 28. | "10 years of waiting" | Various Artists | 2:35 |
| 29. | "To be continued" | Various Artists | 3:46 |
| 30. | "Twisted Fact" | Various Artists | 2:07 |
| 31. | "The strongest type of abnormal" | Various Artists | 2:07 |
| 32. | "Win a losing game" | Various Artists | 2:14 |
| 33. | "When I feel I'm into you" | Various Artists | 2:59 |
| 34. | "Wish to happy ending" | Various Artists | 3:22 |
| 35. | "Why did you look at me like this?" | Various Artists | 2:22 |
| 36. | "W (Main Theme)" | Various Artists | 3:57 |
| 37. | "Wealthy young man, Kang Chul" | Various Artists | 2:35 |
| 38. | "World within webtoon" | Various Artists | 2:26 |
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales[12] | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOR Gaon | ||||
| "Where Are U" (Jung Joon-young) | 2016 | 67 |
| Part 1 |
| "Please Say Something Even Though It Is A Lie" (Park Bo-ram) | 30 |
| Part 2 | |
| "Falling" (Jo Hyun-ah (Urban Zakapa)) | 60 |
| Part 5 | |
| "Without You" (N (VIXX) & Yeoeun (Melody Day)) | 98 |
| Part 9 |
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| South Korea (Gaon Album Chart)[13] | 16 |
| Taiwan (FIVE-MUSIC Album Chart)[14] | 17 |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nielsen Korea[15] | TNmS[16] | ||||
| Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | Seoul | ||
| 1 | July 20, 2016 | 8.6%(17th) | 10.4%(10th) | 9.9%(10th) | 11.3%(7th) |
| 2 | July 21, 2016 | 9.5%(12th) | 10.7%(10th) | 10.1%(9th) | 11.5%(5th) |
| 3 | July 27, 2016 | 12.9%(4th) | 15.0%(4th) | 11.6%(7th) | 13.7%(4th) |
| 4 | July 28, 2016 | 12.9%(4th) | 14.3%(4th) | 13.4%(5th) | 14.7%(4th) |
| 5 | August 3, 2016 | 13.5%(3rd) | 14.3%(3rd) | 15.1%(3rd) | 17.8%(1st) |
| 6 | August 4, 2016 | 12.2%(4th) | 12.2%(4th) | 14.2%(5th) | 15.9%(2nd) |
| 7 | August 10, 2016 | 13.8%(4th) | 14.7%(3rd) | 15.2%(4th) | 17.3%(2nd) |
| 8 | August 17, 2016[a] | 12.2%(5th) | 13.3%(4th) | 13.5%(5th) | 15.0%(4th) |
| 9 | August 18, 2016 | 11.3%(7th) | 12.5%(5th) | 12.7%(4th) | 14.7%(3rd) |
| 10 | August 24, 2016 | 12.3%(6th) | 13.7%(4th) | 13.9%(5th) | 15.3%(3rd) |
| 11 | August 25, 2016 | 12.2%(6th) | 12.8%(5th) | 14.6%(6th) | 15.8%(5th) |
| 12 | August 31, 2016 | 11.1%(7th) | 12.0%(5th) | 13.3%(6th) | 15.1%(5th) |
| 13 | September 1, 2016 | 11.9%(5th) | 13.2%(5th) | 12.9%(6th) | 15.0%(3rd) |
| 14 | September 7, 2016 | 10.9%(5th) | 11.8%(4th) | 13.1%(5th) | 15.3%(3rd) |
| 15 | September 8, 2016 | 11.4%(6th) | 12.3%(4th) | 11.8%(6th) | 14.1%(4th) |
| 16 | September 14, 2016 | 9.3%(7th) | 9.8%(6th) | 10.6%(4th) | 10.9%(4th) |
| Average | 11.6% | 12.7% | 12.9% | 14.6% | |
| |||||
A Thai remake of the drama,Switch On was aired onChannel 3 on November 19, 2021.[18] The adaptation changes the setting of the alternate universe from a webtoon to a virtual reality video game.
An American adaptation, titledAngel City was in development atThe CW. The project will be produced byCBS Studios withCraig Plestis as executive producer.[19][20][needs update]
A Malaysian remake of the drama, which also titledW: Two Worlds premiered in November 2023 onViu and aired its final episode in early January 2024.[21]
A Chinese remake of the drama titled "The Next stop W" started streaming in 2023. Available on WeTV, it is a shortened version of the drama set inGuangzhou.
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5thAPAN Star Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Lee Jong-suk | Nominated | |
| Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Han Hyo-joo | Won | [22] | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Kim Eui-sung | Won | |||
| Best Couple Award | Lee Jong-suk andHan Hyo-joo | Nominated | |||
| 1stAsia Artist Awards | Best Artist Award, actor | Lee Jong-suk | Nominated | ||
| Best Artist Award, actress | Han Hyo-joo | Nominated | |||
| 36th MBC Drama Awards | Drama of the Year | W | Won | ||
| Grand Prize /Daesang (Determined through fan votes)[23] | Lee Jong-suk | Won | [24] | ||
| Han Hyo-joo | Nominated | ||||
| Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Lee Jong-suk | Won | [24] | ||
| Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Han Hyo-joo | Won | |||
| Golden Acting Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Kim Eui-sung | Won | |||
| Writer of the Year | Song Jae-jung | Won | |||
| Best New Actor | Lee Si-eon | Nominated | |||
| Lee Tae-hwan | Nominated | ||||
| Best New Actress | Jung Yoo-jin | Nominated | |||
| Best Couple Award | Lee Jong-suk andHan Hyo-joo | Won | [24] | ||
| Kim Eui-sung andLee Si-eon | Nominated | ||||
| Korea Content Awards | Prime Minister Commendation | Song Jae-jung | Won | [25] | |
| 2017 | Korea Communications Commission Broadcasting Awards | Korean Wave Program Excellence Prize | W | Won | [26] |
| 50th WorldFest Houston International Film Festival | Special Jury Award | Won | [27] | ||
| 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Drama | Nominated | [28] | ||
| Best Director | Jung Dae-yoon | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay | Song Jae-jung | Nominated | [29] | ||
| Seoul International Drama Awards | Outstanding Korean Drama | W | Won | [30] |