Nice Witch (2018)

Nice Witch has been a guilty pleasure of mine and I think once you've finished watching this, you'll understand why.
Right off the bat, I can already tell that this drama won't exactly deliver any groundbreaking twists or Oscar-worthy performances, but regardless, I still started this expecting that they'll give a refreshing version of twins switching places and fascinating execution of clichés—and fair enough, I could say I'M NOT DISAPPOINTED.

STORY:
This is a 40 episodes drama, but don't let this intimidate you because every episode is actually shorter (only 35 minutes each so almost similar to your 20 episodes drama) and unlike most dramas, I didn't find this dragging or boring at all and in fact surprisingly hilarious and fun (I even find myself looking forward for the next episodes, so it's a plus!). I do agree that its plot development may be unrealistic at times (especially its ending), but IT IS a drama and personally, I think it's what makes this very enjoyable. It's definitely obvious who the "good" and "bad" guys are, but I really commend how the writers managed to give a balanced screentime for both the main and supporting characters. As a viewer, this made me perceive their actions/motivations more believable and somehow empathized more with them, However, what significantly made me rate this higher was attributed to the seemingly natural and satisfying timing and unpredictability of their twists and the ability of the writers to craft a makjang packed with charm and good in its own right without the usual painful angst.

ACTING/CAST:
Most of the leads here are very experienced (some of them may even be familiar), so it's no surprise that they kind of know how to bring out certain emotions from their audience. Nonetheless, what stood out for me was Lee Da Hee. I haven't heard of her before this, but I came to like her because of this drama. Her portrayal of the twins with opposite personalities was so spot on that I could immediately tell which is which even before they speak. The other one was Ryu Soo Young, which oddly may it sounds, took me by surprise. Her portrayal of Song Woo Jin absolutely made the drama extra appealing and interesting. I don't know how, but he sure does look good here (compare to his other roles—looking at you, My Father Is Strange—and despite looking a bit mature now). Also, don't even get me started with the chemistry between them! They look so adorable together that I instantly want her to divorce his husband right after the first few episodes (oops!). Another worth mentioning here was Yoon Se Ah as Oh Tae Ri. It's true that the overall acting in this drama is a bit over the top and not really the type to be taken seriously but as for her, it's slightly different. You'll know from watching that she got skills and is an amazing actress despite following a different approach.
*Nevertheless, my favorite characters here are Oh Tae Yang and Bong Ch-rong. They are the cutest!!!

MUSIC:
Music-wise, this doesn't have any ten-years-from-now-I'll-still-remember-them kind of songs, but I consider them quite good! There aren't a lot of them compare to other dramas, but they did a good job especially in terms of highlighting the atmosphere and mood for a particular scene and evoking emotional response from their viewers.

REWATCH VALUE:
I don't really rewatch any drama fully, no matter how good they are, but for some reason, I could actually see myself rewatching this again. It might be because I find this more on the light-hearted makjang spectrum or that it didn't really felt tedious or long for me. It could get a bit dramatic and ridiculous, but it has enough sugar and spice to keep you from watching. Moreover, it has a bit of everything, clichés speaking of not. Plus, it has one of my favorite drama tropes, which is identity swap or having the main lead pretend to be someone else!

OVERALL:
I normally avoid makjangs and/or family dramas since more often than not I just end up dropping them halfway [out of boredom or for other reasons], but for this one, I unexpectedly didn't, so if you find this interesting, at least try to give this a chance and see what you think. I honestly began watching this because I'm interested with—besides twins and secret identities—anything related to flight attendants or pilots and I'm glad I did because not only did I learned something about them, I also got more of what I've asked for.

Like I said, Nice Witch is far from those dramas who aim to be a breakthrough or anything. In fact, if I could describe its vibe, it's more of a reminiscent of older dramas (think like the 2010s ones or earlier), but given all of these, I still came to like this drama SOOOOOO who knows, you might end up, if not liking, even loving it!!!

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A hot mess of cliques! Despite this being a drama I waited for each week, the story really didn't have much originality, switched identities isn't that rare in the the drama world so you'll stumble across a few each year, you could almost tell the fate's of each of the characters, there were a few moments within the drama where I thought ' wow I didn't see that coming' but the again that was quite rare.
The characters were dynamic many who were easy to like straight away and quite a few that left me with a bitter aftertaste. The acting wasn't outstanding, but it was above average, there were quite a few well known actors and actresses that spiced up the story which made me enjoy it more.
the music wasn't really quite my cup of tea, but I don't tend to think that for many dramas especially low budget dramas.
How I managed to sit through all of this is beyond me but It did leave interesting cliff hangers which I craved to see how it unravelled, and somehow slipped into watching the whole episode in one go.

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