Korean company Red Q’s recently launched web series ‘More than or equal to 75 Celsius’ on Youtube has become a big hit with fans worldwide. The web series broadcasts two-to-three minute long episodes and handles a gentle relationship between two women working at a tea bar. The ongoing web series has already garnered over 21,000 subscribers since its launch in November 2019.
The plot consists of a growing relationship of a tea master who works for the tea bar ‘Altdif’ and her company’s Chief Manager, who lands at the tea bar to taste her teas. Each episode features the growing friendship and attraction between the tea master and the Chief Manager. A third character, a worker at the tea bar, provides the necessary fun element who keeps prodding the two to kiss.
The episodes are short but directed beautifully with the topic of lesbian love handled gently and elegantly. The episodes are interesting, and each ends with a cliffhanger, making the viewer wait eagerly for the next episode. Going by the comments on each episode, the fans can hardly wait for the next episode!
Real-Time ‘Tea’ for fans
Red Q has collaborated with Seoul-based Tea and Lifestyle company Altdif and fans can go and taste the tea menus at the tea bar. One can sit at that same counter where the episodes are shot and sip one of the teas, featured in the series. They can even have an English tea course, featured in the series.
Korean dramas, or K-dramas, are popular worldwide, partially due to the spread of Korean popular culture and their widespread availability via streaming services, which often offer subtitles in multiple languages.
The US accounts for five- to six percent of the international viewership. According to KOCCA (Korea Creative Content Agency)—a government agency that monitors Korean entertainment — about 18 million viewers in the United States stream Korean dramas.
However, the US market for K-dramas is small compared to other Asian countries such as Japan and China, with each accounting for about 30 percent of Korea’s international market.
