{ "id": "epana81jxe", "slug": "anna", "title": "Anna (안나)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials", "label": "International serial drama and telenovelas", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials" }, { "id": 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"Anna (안나) is a 2022 Coupang Play Korean psychological thriller series by director Lee Joo-young, starring Bae Suzy, based on Chung Han-ah's novel Intimate Stranger; released in 6- and 8-episode versions amid an editing dispute and lawsuits.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.korean_contemporary_drama.thriller-crime-and-mystery-series.action-spy-and-legal-thrillers.crime-and-mystery-thrillers", "markdown": "# Anna (안나)\n\n**Anna** (안나) is a 2022 South Korean psychological thriller streaming series produced as a Coupang Play original, written and directed by Lee Joo-young and starring [Bae Suzy](https://www.edgepedia.org/bae-suzy) as a woman whose small lie about her identity grows into a completely different life. It is based on the novel *Intimate Stranger* (친밀한 이방인) by Chung Han-ah.[1](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20220804/anna-creator-coupang-play-in-dispute-over-re-editing-without-consent) • [2](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Anna) The series became known both as Coupang Play's breakout hit and for an unusually public dispute between its director and the platform over re-editing, which ended in litigation.[3](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/entertainment/court-sides-with-coupang-play-in-legal-battle-over-web-series-anna/12064545)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original run | Six episodes, June 24 to July 8, 2022, on Coupang Play, Fridays at 20:00[2](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Anna) |\n| Director's cut | Eight-episode version released August 12, 2022, two months after the six-episode version[3](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/entertainment/court-sides-with-coupang-play-in-legal-battle-over-web-series-anna/12064545) |\n| Source material | Chung Han-ah's novel *Intimate Stranger* (친밀한 이방인)[3](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/entertainment/court-sides-with-coupang-play-in-legal-battle-over-web-series-anna/12064545) |\n| Main cast | Bae Suzy as Lee Yoo-mi / Lee Anna; Jung Eun-chae as Lee Hyun-joo; Kim Joon-han as Choi Ji-hoon; Park Ye-young as Han Ji-won[2](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Anna) |\n| Production | Originally planned as a film; made as an eight-episode drama with a budget of about 12 billion won[4](https://www.starnewskorea.com/movie/2022/09/02/2022090207542185808) |\n| Awards | Suzy won Best Actress at the 21st Directors Cut Awards and the 2nd Blue Dragon Series Awards; the series was nominated for work and actress at the 18th Seoul International Drama Awards in 2023[5](https://v.daum.net/v/20260827100527568) • [6](https://news.coupang.com/archives/29069/?print=pdf) |\n| Litigation | Seoul Central District Court ruled for Coupang Play in February 2024; the Seoul High Court upheld the win on appeal[3](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/entertainment/court-sides-with-coupang-play-in-legal-battle-over-web-series-anna/12064545) • [7](https://v.daum.net/v/UJhrErsdFX) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and cast\n\nThe story follows [Lee Yoo-mi](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-yoo-mi), a woman who begins with a small lie rooted in a sense of relative deprivation and ends up living under a stolen identity as \"Anna.\" Coupang Play's own synopsis describes a woman whose name, education, and past all change after one trivial lie, until the moment the \"real Anna\" and the \"fake Anna\" stand in the same place and the identity laundering enters its most dangerous phase.[8](https://news.coupang.com/archives/59398/?print=pdf) [Jung Eun-chae](https://www.edgepedia.org/jung-eun-chae) plays Hyun-joo, a wealthy woman who casually touches others' envy and desire, and [Kim Joon](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-joon)-han and Park Ye-young play Choi Ji-hoon and Han Ji-won.[2](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Anna) • [8](https://news.coupang.com/archives/59398/?print=pdf)\n\nAn academic commentary notes that the drama uses the motif of inherited advantage, the \"gold spoon\" versus \"dirt spoon\" divide, to reflect the frustration of Koreans in their twenties and thirties who feel that parental status matters more than effort.[9](https://ani.honam.ac.kr/PDS/download/48/361104)\n\n## Production\n\nAnna began as a film project. When film production stalled, a proposal to convert it into a drama revived the work; it then moved to Coupang Play as an eight-episode series with a budget of about 12 billion won. The production company Munhwachanggo later dropped out and the newly founded Content Map (컨텐츠맵) took over production. Filming ran from October 15, 2021 to March 31, 2022, running two to three weeks over schedule because of COVID-19 conditions, which compressed the post-production window before release.[4](https://www.starnewskorea.com/movie/2022/09/02/2022090207542185808)\n\n## The editing dispute\n\nBefore the June 24, 2022 release, Coupang Play told Lee Joo-young that it would have another producer re-edit the drama and shortened it from eight episodes to six. Lee issued a statement through the law firm Siwoo on August 2, 2022, calling the re-edit \"unprecedented damage to the work\" and a violation of her moral right as an author. She demanded an apology, removal of her name from the six-episode version, release of the eight-episode version, and a pledge that the platform would never repeat such unilateral action.[1](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20220804/anna-creator-coupang-play-in-dispute-over-re-editing-without-consent) Editor Kim Jeong-hoon, who had cut the series with Lee, publicly stated that the version broadcast on June 24 was not the one he and the director had worked on overnight, saying their eight-part work had been stitched into six.[4](https://www.starnewskorea.com/movie/2022/09/02/2022090207542185808)\n\nCoupang Play responded that it had sent the director specific revision requests over several months, which she had refused, and that a preview screening had produced dominant feedback that the drama's tempo was slow; the re-edit aimed to speed the story and prevent viewer drop-out.[4](https://www.starnewskorea.com/movie/2022/09/02/2022090207542185808) The platform also claimed that before May 30, 2022 it had agreed with the production company that re-editing could follow the final delivery and preview results, and that the production company was to convey this to the director; Lee's side said this claim was untrue and that she heard it for the first time after the dispute began.[4](https://www.starnewskorea.com/movie/2022/09/02/2022090207542185808)\n\nThe Korean Film Directors' Guild (DGK) mediated. In a private meeting on August 19, 2022, Lee's lawyers said she received a sincere and polite apology from Coupang Play's chief executive along with a promise of non-repetition and removal of her name and those of six sympathetic staff from the six-episode version sold abroad. Coupang Play denied having apologized for unilateral editing, saying it had only expressed regret over mutual misunderstanding.[4](https://www.starnewskorea.com/movie/2022/09/02/2022090207542185808) • [10](https://web.donga.com/pdf/pdf_viewer.php?vcid=2022082210W1101) The eight-episode director's cut was released on August 12, 2022.[4](https://www.starnewskorea.com/movie/2022/09/02/2022090207542185808)\n\n## Litigation and outcome\n\nLee sued Coupang and the production company for infringement of her copyright and moral rights (creator's non-economic rights, e.g., attribution and integrity). In February 2024 the Seoul Central District Court ruled for Coupang Play, finding that Coupang Play and Lee had equal rights to the final editing process. The court observed that the platform's version unfolds faster and deletes certain scenes but maintains the director's cut's overall story and main content as it is.[3](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/entertainment/court-sides-with-coupang-play-in-legal-battle-over-web-series-anna/12064545) An appellate court, the Seoul High Court's civil division, also ruled in Coupang's favor in the second instance.[7](https://v.daum.net/v/UJhrErsdFX)\n\n## Reception\n\nThe six-episode version drew strong praise on release and was credited as the main driver of Coupang Play's growth: together with its broadcast of [Son Heung-min](https://www.edgepedia.org/son-heung-min)'s Premier League matches, it helped the platform add 600,000 users month over month to 3.73 million in June 2022, rising to fourth place among domestic OTT services.[4](https://www.starnewskorea.com/movie/2022/09/02/2022090207542185808) On IMDb the series holds a weighted rating of 7.1/10 from about 2,300 users.[11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21146902/ratings/)\n\nSuzy won Best Actress at the 21st Directors Cut Awards and at the 2nd Blue Dragon Series Awards for the role, and the series was nominated in the miniseries work and actress categories at the 18th Seoul International Drama Awards in 2023.[5](https://v.daum.net/v/20260827100527568) • [6](https://news.coupang.com/archives/29069/?print=pdf) The drama also fed back into its source: within a week of broadcast, *Intimate Stranger* climbed 40 places to tenth on Kyobo Bookstore's综合 ranking, with first-week sales up 708.3 percent.[9](https://ani.honam.ac.kr/PDS/download/48/361104) A later television broadcast renewed interest, with rewatch viewers making up 48.8 percent of Coupang Play viewing of the title immediately after airing.[5](https://v.daum.net/v/20260827100527568)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Kim Rahn, \"'Anna' creator, Coupang Play in dispute over 're-editing without consent'\", The Korea Times, August 4, 2022](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20220804/anna-creator-coupang-play-in-dispute-over-re-editing-without-consent)\n2. [Anna, DramaWiki](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Anna)\n3. [\"Court sides with Coupang Play in legal battle over web series 'Anna'\", Korea JoongAng Daily, February 20, 2024](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/entertainment/court-sides-with-coupang-play-in-legal-battle-over-web-series-anna/12064545)\n4. [Jeong Hyung-hwa, \"Coupang Play vs director on 'Anna' re-editing: timeline\", Star News, September 2, 2022](https://www.starnewskorea.com/movie/2022/09/02/2022090207542185808)\n5. [\"'Anna' and 'Bonjour Bakery' ride TV broadcast back up Coupang Play\", Daum news, August 27, 2026](https://v.daum.net/v/20260827100527568)\n6. [Coupang press release: 'Anna' nominated in two categories at Seoul Drama Awards 2023, June 29, 2023](https://news.coupang.com/archives/29069/?print=pdf)\n7. [\"Coupang wins second trial in drama 'Anna' editing dispute\", Daum news](https://v.daum.net/v/UJhrErsdFX)\n8. [Coupang Play weekly recommendation: Anna synopsis](https://news.coupang.com/archives/59398/?print=pdf)\n9. [Academic commentary on Anna and its source novel Intimate Stranger](https://ani.honam.ac.kr/PDS/download/48/361104)\n10. [Donga Ilbo, August 22, 2022: Coupang Play apologizes to director Lee Joo-young](https://web.donga.com/pdf/pdf_viewer.php?vcid=2022082210W1101)\n11. [Anna (TV Series 2022) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21146902/ratings/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Korean contemporary drama › Thriller, crime, and mystery series › Crime and mystery thrillers*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/anna", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/anna.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Anna (안나)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/anna. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Anna (안나)](https://www.edgepedia.org/anna)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/anna](https://www.edgepedia.org/anna). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Anna (안나)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/anna. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Anna is a 2022 Coupang Play Korean psychological thriller series by director Lee Joo-young, starring Bae Suzy, based on Chung Han-ah's novel Intimate Stranger; released in 6- and 8-episode versions amid an editing dispute and lawsuits." }