Has Moon Geun Young's Star Power Diminished?

The involvement of Moon Geun Young in "The Village - Achiara's Secret" has not convinced viewers to tune in. Despite the presence of the actress often referred to as "the nation's little sister," the drama's second episode had lower ratings than its first. The mystery thriller only rated 5.9 percent for the October 9 episode. That's 1.0 percent lower than the previous episode.

The ratings seem especially low when compared to the percentage earned by the previous drama in that time slot. "Yong Pal" netted 20.4 percent of the viewers for its final episode.

In "The Village - Achiara's Secret" Moon's character is an English teacher who moves to a peaceful village and discovers a body. Apparently the village is not all that peaceful. BtoB member Yook Sung Jae plays the policeman who tries to solve the case. 

Although Moon's drama "Mary Stayed Out All Night" only averaged 6.3 percent, her last drama "Goddess of Fire: Jeonji" started strong with 10 percent of the Nielsen ratings and averaged 9.3 percent for its run. Moon has been a much-loved actress since she debuted as a child. In 2005, the Korean film industry  ranked her first in a star power list of actresses. The ranking was determined by which actress could mobilize the greatest number of fans and sell tickets solely on her name alone. But the low ratings might not really reflect her popularity. She did recently appear in the film "The Throne," which was a box office success. The film, which co-stars Yoo Ah In and Song Kang Ho, earned $32 million in its first four days.

Perhaps drama lovers are just not in the mood for a mystery thriller. That could be the case as a comedy is in the lead among Wednesday-Thursday dramas.

"She Was Pretty," starring Park Seo Joon, Hwang Jung Eum and Choi Si Won, is definitely the ratings winner at the moment. The drama gained percentage points between its seventh and eighth episode, ending this week with a surprising makeover reveal. It was inevitable that the frumpy version of Hwang Jung Eum's character would be replaced with a more fashionable one, but the reveal took place in the last minute of the drama without any lead-up. Viewers will likely tune next week to discover the back story.

"The Merchant of Gaek Ju: 2015," which stars popular actor Jang Hyuk, stayed in the middle of the ratings with 9.5 percent.