Summary

• Mask Girl and Celebrity were top K-Dramas on Netflix in 2023, each with over 18 million views.
• Both series delve into the dark side of social media and fame, showcasing cautionary tales.
• While Celebrity is more serious, Mask Girl adds comedy elements, but both revolve around murder.

Two of the most-watched K-Dramas on Netflix share surprisingly similar premises. According to Netflix’s “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report”, which revealed the streaming data of the most popular films and television series on the platform from July to December 2023, the K-Drama series Mask Girl and Celebrity were both two of the most viewed series during the latter half of last year. Atop the list in television were ONE PIECE season 1, which accrued nearly 542 million hours viewed and 71.6 million views, and Dear Child which generated roughly 253 million hours viewed and 52.5 million views.

Netflix’s engagement report also included its streaming data during the aforementioned time period for films as well. Leave the World Behind generated a total of 121 million views and 286.3 million hours watched in only three weeks following its December 8, 2023 release date. Also topping the list was the Gal Gadot-led spy action thriller Heart of Stone, which pulled in 109.6 million views and 228.4 million hours viewed after its August 11, 2023 release date. Leo (96 million views, 171.2 million hours viewed), Nowhere (86.2 million views, 156.6 million hours viewed), and The Out-Laws (83.8 million views, 135.5 million hours viewed) rounded out the top 5 most viewed movies.

Mask Girl & Celebrity Were 2 Of Netflix’s Biggest K-Dramas In 2023

Both K-Dramas had more than 18 million views each

Mask Girl and Celebrity came in back-to-back on Netflix’s “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report” for July to December 2023, ranking 54th and 55th place, respectively. Both Mask Girl and Celebrity were Netflix original limited series that were released over the summer of 2023, with Mask Girl totaling seven episodes and Celebrity featuring twelve episodes in full. Both series were rated TV-MA and contained elements of dramas and thrillers, although Mask Girl was also considered a dark comedy, while Celebrity fell more into the category of a suspenseful mystery.

Mask Girl and Celebrity were the highest-ranking K-Dramas on Netflix’s “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report” for July to December 2023 and interestingly wound up with a nearly identical viewership. Based on Netflix’s streaming data, Mask Girl, which was released on August 18, 2023, accrued 18.5 million views and 127.3 million hours watched. Meanwhile, Celebrity, released on June 30, 2023, accrued slightly fewer views than Mask Girl with a total of 18.3 million as well as 164 million hours viewed. Since Mask Girl’s runtime was 6 hours and 53 minutes, while Celebrity was just under 9 hours, Celebrity naturally generated more hours viewed.

Both protagonists encounter the downside of online fame

What’s even more interesting about the nearly identical total views of Mask Girl and Celebrity is how both of them revolve around similar narratives and themes. Mask Girl follows an insecure office worker who transforms herself into a mask-wearing internet personality, which ends up having intense consequences. Similarly, Celebrity centers on a young woman’s pursuit to become one of the most famous influencers in Seoul, South Korea and involves themes of power, greed, scandal, and, of course, celebrity. Both Celebrity and Mask Girl also show the negative effects of social media and fame, drawing some resemblance to another popular Netflix series, Black Mirror.

Mask Girl received a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, while Celebrity received a critic score of 80%. There are only a handful of reviews written for both Celebrity and Mask Girl, so take these scores with a grain of salt. Still, audience ratings for both Celebrity and Mask Girl remain high and are arguably more accurate. Celebrity received an 89% audience score and an IMDb rating of 7.4, while Mask Girl earned an audience score of 81% and an IMDb rating of 7.3. Based on the combined implications of these impressive figures along with the high viewership of Netflix’s engagement report, K-Dramas appear to be in good standing on the giant streaming platform.

How Mask Girl & Celebrity Are Different

Celebrity is tonally dark while Mask Girl has comedic elements

Celebrity doesn’t dabble in the realm of comedy as much as Mask Girl does, which creates slightly different tones between each other series. Because of the more dramatic and suspenseful feel of Celebrity, it makes sense that it’s more than two hours longer than Mask Girl, as comedies tend to be shorter than dramatic content. Both K-Drama series revolve around murder, so each contains individual amounts of graphic images and disturbing scenes, although Mask Girl’s levels of violence and gore are considered more severe than those of Celebrity.