'Itaewon Class' to be adapted into Japanese series

The poster for JTBC drama series ″Itaewon Class″ [JTBC]

The popular JTBC television series “Itaewon Class” (2020) will be remade into a Japanese series.

JTBC Studio confirmed Thursday that the decision was finalized with a Japanese broadcaster and Kakao Entertainment.

Adapted from a Kakao Webtoon with the same title, the series revolves around two protagonists Park Saeroyi (played by Park Seo-jun) and Jo Yi-seo (played by Kim Da-mi) and their attempts to successfully launch a restaurant in Itaewon, central Seoul.

The original webtoon has accumulated over 400 million views, while the television series ranked No. 3 among the viewership ratings of all JTBC dramas. The series was also the highest rated television series based on a webtoon with the highest viewership rate recording over 16 percent. The series also proved to be a hit in other Asian countries such as Japan, ranking No. 1 in Netflix Japan’s Top 10 chart.

The Japanese series, tentatively titled “Roppongi Class,” will comprise of 13 episodes and is scheduled to air in Japan this summer.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]