(Culturedepot, Studio Dragon)

SBS’ “The Legend of the Blue Sea” has surpassed 20 percent in viewership share, breaking its own record, market research firm Nielsen Korea reported Friday.

It marked 20.8 percent in viewership for its 17th episode aired Thursday, 1.9 percentage points higher than the 18.9 percent for its 16th episode.

Starring a star-studded cast of Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Min-ho, the drama series has enjoyed a high viewership share of 15-18 percent for its past episodes, but this is the first time it has broken the 20 percent mark.

Other dramas that air at the same time saw less than 5 percent of viewership.

The series’ viewership rating started to rise as the plot took a new turn with Heo Jun-jae (Lee) finding out that Shim Cheong (Jun) is a mermaid, and Heo and Shim’s past life starting to be disclosed.

There are three more episodes before the drama ends.

By Kim So-yeon (syk19372@heraldcorp.com)