Source: tvN

Although Jirisan, a collaboration between writer Kim Eun-hee (known for Signal, Kingdom) and Jeon Ji-hyun, premiered to high ratings, it drew attention for a lot of harsh criticism from viewers.

The first episode aired on tvN on the 23rd and immediately after the broadcast, the awkward CGI, soundtrack, and Jeon Ji-hyun's acting were under fire on various online community boards.

Source: tvN

In the episode, Se Yi-gang (Jeon Ji-hyun) and Kang Hyun-jo (Ju Ji-hoon) go around Jirisan Mountain to rescue survivors. However, obvious and awkward CGI of the view of the mountain drew many negative reactions such as, "I'm speechless." In addition, viewers reacted poorly to the background music saying, "I thought I was watching a 90s teen drama," and, "It's tacky." 

On the entertainment community site The Qoo, one viewer said, "Were my expectations too high? I changed the channel to One the Woman." Others criticized Jeon Ji-hyun's acting, said it looked like an outdoor brand advertisement, and questioned if they used all of the budget on the actors' salary. 

Of course, there were positive responses such as, "It was boring in the beginning, but it was worth watching in the second half," and, "It's fun just seeing Jeon Ji-hyun's face."

Source: tvN

Despite all this, the drama drew a ton of attention for being Jeon Ji-hyun's return to the small screen. According to Nielsen Korea, the first episode received viewership ratings of 9.1%

Jirisan is a mystery drama about Seo Yi-gang (Jeon Ji-hyun), the best ranger at Jirisan National Park, and Kang Hyun-jo (Ju Ji-hoon), a new ranger with unspeakable secrets, digging into mysterious accidents occurring on the mountain.

This article was paraphrased from: isplus