K-Drama Buzz Watch | August 18, 2026 | Top 10 K-Drama Buzz Rankings

A Shop for Killers Season 2 Widens Its Lead as A Trap Called Desire Enters the K-drama Buzz Rankings

A Shop for Killers Season 2 held onto the No. 1 position in Good Data Corporation’s latest TV-OTT drama buzz rankings, updated on August 18, 2026. The Disney+ action series increased its Buzz Share to 22.42%, up from 16.06% the previous week, giving it a 10.30-point lead over second place.

Spooky in Love remained at No. 2 with 12.12% Buzz Share, while Our Sticky Love held No. 3 with 11.60%. A Trap Called Desire was the week’s only new entry, arriving at No. 9, while The Apartment Job made the largest move within the Top 10, climbing three places to No. 7.

Unlike television ratings, the FUNdex rankings measure online conversation across news articles, blogs, social media, online communities, and video platforms, providing a snapshot of which dramas audiences are talking about most.

This Week’s TV-OTT K-drama Buzz Rankings

Top 10 Buzzworthy K-drama Performers

 Note: FUNdex measures online discussion rather than television ratings or streaming views. Dramas and performers may appear in the rankings based on buzz generated by trailers, promotional events, casting news, interviews, and other online activity, including before a drama officially premieres. 🆕 New means new to this week’s Top 10 table, not necessarily a newly released K-drama or a performer making their debut.

What’s New This Week

A Trap Called Desire was the only new drama in this week’s TV-OTT Top 10, entering at No. 9 with 3.46% Buzz Share. Its arrival pushed The Husband out of the rankings after that drama placed No. 7 the previous week.

The Top 10 Buzzworthy K-drama Performers also saw some major shifts. Jung Yunha entered at No. 1 for A Shop for Killers Season 2 with 5.50% Buzz Share, narrowly leading co-star Lee Dong-wook at 5.49%. Hyunri also joined the Top 10 for the same drama at No. 9, while Kim Min dropped out of the rankings completely. Kim Hye-jun continued to appear in two separate dramas, ranking No. 8 for A Shop for Killers Season 2 and No. 10 for My Bias, My Boss.

Three Takeaways From This Week’s Rankings

🚀 A Shop for Killers Season 2 turns a narrow lead into a commanding one

A Shop for Killers Season 2 remained No. 1 and increased its Buzz Share from 16.06% to 22.42%, a gain of 6.36 percentage points. With Spooky in Love at 12.12%, the gap between first and second expanded to 10.30 points after measuring just 3.18 points last week.

In addition, four of the drama’s performers made the Top 10, including the top two positions, showing strong audience engagement around the series and its cast.

🔄 The battle for second remains exceptionally close

Spooky in Love held No. 2 with 12.12%, while Our Sticky Love remained No. 3 with 11.60%. Only 0.52 percentage points separate the two dramas, even though both lost a small amount of share compared with last week.

Each drama also placed both leads in the performer Top 10. Park Eun-bin and Yang Se-jong ranked No. 3 and No. 4 for Spooky in Love, while Ha Young and Jung Hae-in ranked No. 6 and No. 7 for Our Sticky Love.

📈 The top four hold steady while the lower half reshuffles

The top four dramas remained unchanged this week, while positions 5 through 10 saw much more movement. My Bias, My Boss rose to No. 5, Flex x Cop 2 slipped to No. 6, and The Apartment Job climbed three places to No. 7, the largest move of the week. A Trap Called Desire also entered the rankings at No. 9 as this week’s only new drama.

For now, the top four appear relatively stable, but next week will show whether any of the dramas below them can begin to break into that group.

Reading Between the Numbers

This week’s rankings show a clear split between the leader and the rest of the field. A Shop for Killers Season 2 accounted for 22.42% of drama buzz, nearly twice the share of either Spooky in Love or Our Sticky Love. Its share of the week’s conversation rose sharply from 16.06% the previous week, giving it a much more dominant position at the top of the chart.

The performer rankings reinforce that pattern. Jung Yunha and Lee Dong-wook are virtually tied at No. 1 and No. 2, separated by only 0.01 percentage points, while Kim Hye-jun and Hyunri give A Shop for Killers Season 2 four Top 10 performers in total. That breadth shows that several members of the cast are generating enough individual buzz to rank among the week’s Top 10 performers.

Spooky in Love and Our Sticky Love show a different relationship between title and performer buzz. Their drama shares are separated by just 0.52 points, but Spooky in Love places its leads higher in the performer ranking. That may reflect especially concentrated conversation around Park Eun-bin and Yang Se-jong, while Our Sticky Love’s attention remains strong across both the drama and its leads.

Kim Hye-jun’s two placements remain notable for a second consecutive week. She ranks No. 8 for A Shop for Killers Season 2 and No. 10 for My Bias, My Boss, continuing to generate enough buzz around two separate dramas to appear twice in the same performer Top 10.

Global Streaming Snapshot

K-dramas claimed three spots in Netflix’s Global Top 10 Non-English Shows for the week of August 10 to August 16, 2026.

Our Sticky Love rose to No. 1 globally with 7.5 million views, while Spooky in Love remained at No. 3 with 2.7 million views. Agent Kim Reactivated continued its run in the Top 10 at No. 9 with 1.4 million views.

 Our Sticky Love and Spooky in Love continue to perform strongly across two different measures. Our Sticky Love ranks No. 3 in this week’s FUNdex drama buzz rankings while leading Netflix’s global Non-English Shows list, and Spooky in Love holds No. 2 on FUNdex while ranking No. 3 globally on Netflix.

Agent Kim Reactivated no longer appears in the FUNdex Top 10 but remains among Netflix’s most-watched non-English shows worldwide. The contrast reinforces that FUNdex tracks online buzz around Korean television and OTT content., while Netflix’s chart reflects global streaming activity.

Beyond Netflix

See You at Work Tomorrow! remained in Prime Video’s worldwide ranking of non-English original series for the week of August 10 to August 16. The South Korean drama ranked No. 5, down from No. 3 the previous week.

For a second consecutive week, the drama did not appear in Prime Video’s overall Top 10 Original series ranking, which combines English and non-English titles.

 See You at Work Tomorrow! also remains outside the current FUNdex drama Top 10. Its continued presence among Prime Video’s non-English originals suggests that it is still reaching an international audience even though it is no longer among the week’s leading dramas in Korean online buzz.

Looking Ahead

The next update will show whether A Shop for Killers Season 2 can sustain a Buzz Share above 20% and continue placing such a broad group of performers in the Top 10.

The narrow 0.52-point gap between Spooky in Love and Our Sticky Love is also worth watching, particularly because both dramas continue to place two leads in the performer rankings. Lower in the table, The Apartment Job’s three-place rise and A Trap Called Desire’s debut will provide early tests of whether their current momentum can carry into another week.

My Bias, My Boss and Flex x Cop 2 are separated by only 0.48 points at No. 5 and No. 6, while just 0.03 points separate A Trap Called Desire and The Affair Was Just the Beginning at No. 9 and No. 10. Those margins leave the lower half especially open to movement in the next FUNdex update.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is FUNdex?

FUNdex is a weekly entertainment buzz ranking published by Good Data Corporation in South Korea. It tracks online discussion around television and OTT content, including news coverage, blogs, social media, online communities, and video platforms.

What does Buzz Share mean?

Buzz Share represents a drama or performer’s percentage of the total tracked online conversation for that week. A higher percentage means that title or performer accounted for a larger share of the measured buzz.

Are FUNdex rankings the same as television ratings?

No. FUNdex measures online attention and conversation, not television viewership. A drama can generate strong buzz even if its TV ratings or streaming numbers tell a different story.

Why do Netflix and FUNdex rankings sometimes differ?

The two rankings measure different things. FUNdex reflects online buzz around Korean television and OTT content, while Netflix’s Global Top 10 reflects worldwide streaming activity on Netflix.

How often are the rankings updated?

FUNdex rankings are generally updated weekly. Netflix and Prime Video also publish weekly streaming rankings, while Viki rankings are typically reported monthly through promotional ranking articles.

Keep Watching, Keep Feeling

Thanks for reading.  💖 

If you enjoy thoughtful K-drama recommendations, reviews, and hidden details, explore more here on Korean Drama Insider.

🎬 Want more?  Check out our other articles and watch lists for more heartfelt, spoiler-free K-drama reviews, news and recommendations, straight from one K-drama fan to another.

Source: Good Data Corporation FUNdex TV + OTT + STAR Online BuzzWorthiness Index. Netflix Tudum Top 10 Non-English Shows. Amazon News.