Rugal (TV series)

Rugal (Korean: 루갈; RR: Rugal) is a 2020 South Korean television series starring Choi Jin-hyuk, Park Sung-woong, Jo Dong-hyuk, Jung Hye-in, Kim Min-sang, Han Ji-wan and Park Sun-ho. Based on the webtoon of the same name by Rel.mae, it aired on OCN in South Korea and on Netflix worldwide from March 28 to May 17, 2020.^[1][2]

Rugal
Promotional poster
Hangul	루갈
Revised Romanization	Rugal
Literally	Dry Tears
Genre	Action Science fiction
Based on	Rugal by Rel.mae
Developed by	OCN Studio Dragon
Written by	Do Hyun
Directed by	Kang Cheol-woo Lee Jung-soo
Starring	Choi Jin-hyuk Park Sung-woong Jo Dong-hyuk Jung Hye-in Kim Min-sang Han Ji-wan Park Sun-ho
Music by	Park Se-joon
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producer	Song Jin-sun
Producer	Noh Ji-yeon
Running time	60–76 minutes
Production company	LIAN Entertainment
Distributor	OCN Netflix (International)
Release
Original network	OCN
Original release	March 28 (2020-03-28) – May 17, 2020 (2020-05-17)

Synopsis

Rugal tells the story of Kang Gi-beom (Choi Jin-hyuk), an elite police officer attempting to bring down one of South Korea's largest criminal organizations, Argos. In retaliation for his efforts, Kang's wife is killed by hitmen sent by Argos, and Kang is blinded and framed for the murder. Kang is later recruited by the NIS to join a special task force known as "Rugal", whose members are equipped with biotechnology, giving them superhuman abilities. After receiving two artificial eyeballs to regain and enhance his sight, Kang sets off to clear his name and bring those responsible for his wife's death to justice.

Cast

Main

• Choi Jin-hyuk as Kang Gi-beom^[3]
• Park Sung-woong as Hwang Deuk-gu^[4]
• Jo Dong-hyuk as Han Tae-kwoong^[5]
• Jung Hye-in as Song Mi-na
• Kim Min-sang as Choi Geun-cheol^[6]
• Park Sun-ho as Lee Gwang-cheol
• Lee Sang-bo as Yang Moon-bok
• Han Ji-wan as Choi Ye-won

Supporting

• Jang In-sub as Bradley
• Jang Seo-kyung as Susan
• Park Choong-sun as Dr. Oh
• Yoo Sang-hoon as Min Dal-ho
• Park Jung-hak as Go Yong-duk
• Kim In-woo as Choi-yong
• Yoo Ji-yun as Jang Mi-joo
• Ji Dae-han as Bong Man-chul
• Kim Da-hyun as Seol Min-joon^[7]
• Han Gi-yoon as Kim Dae-shik^[8]
• Lee Seo-el as Kim Yeo-jin^[9]
• Dong Hyun-bae as Lee Jae-han^[10]

Production

The first script reading took place in October 2019 at Donga Digital Media Center in Sangam-dong, Seoul, South Korea.^{[citation needed]}

Ratings

Rugal : South Korea viewers per episode (thousands)

Season		Episode number																Average
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	1	760	943	791	810	500	679	679	676	442	601	N/A	682	N/A	522	N/A	516	N/A

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[11]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		Nielsen Korea^[12]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	March 28, 2020	2.612%	2.781%
2	March 29, 2020	3.884%	4.075%
3	April 4, 2020	2.874%	3.206%
4	April 5, 2020	3.119%	3.879%
5	April 11, 2020	2.002%	—
6	April 12, 2020	2.804%	3.437%
7	April 18, 2020	1.464%	—
8	April 19, 2020	2.574%	2.921%
9	April 25, 2020	1.579%	—
10	April 26, 2020	2.066%	2.318%
11	May 2, 2020	1.429%	—
12	May 3, 2020	2.676%	3.407%
13	May 9, 2020	1.255%	—
14	May 10, 2020	1.892%	2.072%
15	May 16, 2020	1.113%	—
16	May 17, 2020	2.305%	2.472%
Average		2.228%	—^[a]
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes that the rating is not known. This drama aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).

Notes

1. Due to some ratings not recorded, the exact average rating is unknown.

References

1. Choi, Ji-won (March 23, 2020). "OCN's 'Rugal' dabbles in biotech action". The Korea Herald. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
2. Opie, David (April 15, 2020). "Netflix's Rugal is South Korea's answer to Daredevil". Digital Spy. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
3. Lee, Gun-hee (October 10, 2019). "Choi Jin-hyuk Confirms Role in OCN's "Rugal"". HanCinema. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
4. Hyun, Hye-sun (October 17, 2019). "Park Sung-woong Becomes a Villain for OCN's "Rugal"". HanCinema. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
5. Jung, Hee-yeon (October 21, 2019). "Jo Dong-hyuk Confirms Appearance in OCN's "Rugal"". HanCinema. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
6. Noh, Gyu-min (October 22, 2019). "Scene Stealer Kim Min-sang Joins OCN's "Rugal"". HanCinema. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
7. Kim, Joo-won (October 31, 2019). "Kim Da-hyun Signs On for OCN's "Rugal"". HanCinema. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
8. Ahn, Ha-na (November 12, 2019). "Han Gi-yoon-I to Star in "Rugal"". HanCinema. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
9. Lee, Ji-hyun (March 11, 2020). "Lee Seo-el to Join "Born Again"". HanCinema. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
10. Park, Yoon-jin (April 1, 2020). "Dong Hyun-bae Joins Choi Jin-hyuk and Jo Dong-hyuk in "Rugal"". HanCinema. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
11. "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Retrieved September 6, 2020.
12. "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Retrieved March 28, 2020.

External links

• Official website (in Korean)
• Rugal at HanCinema
• Rugal at IMDb
• Rugal (Korean) at Naver