Witch's Romance (2014)

Noona lovin' perfection. Yes, indeed.

I made jokes about this one in the comments when I first read the synopsis. I was expecting to be force-fed some BS attraction between a young guy and a woman 14yrs older than him. After the first episode, I felt like I was dead on with my expectations, but kept watching since it was entertaining enough. It didn't take long for me to see that I was actually dead wrong.

This show was so well-executed that even the cliche parts came off as normal occurrence. You feel like this story is somehow familiar, like you know some people who have experienced the same regardless of how far-fetched that would be. What I love most is each hurdle is a real growing experience. Not just an "Oh, I messed up and apologized, now forgive immediately." There's depth in each situation.

The chemistry between all the characters is spectacular. Yes, I said all. Each person fits into their role snugly and works so well with anyone else that's on-screen with them. Enemies, friends, lovers, family... you'd think you were made privy to the lives of actual people, it all feels so natural.

Best part: Uhm Jung Hwa's acting. None of that typical stuff actresses do to mimic falling in love. She brings those real reactions that women usually can't prevent from doing and endearing qualities of an enamored woman to her character. All of this while still maintaining a strong no-nonsense personality. She portrayed a woman that can be an axe-grinder, and cutely fall in love without compromising her strength. She also is able to grow to learn from her lessons and change only what needs changing.

For me, this is the second best drama I've ever watched and I'm a harsh critic. I'd highly recommend it.

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First review, here I go!

Witch's Romance was the light and fluffy romcom I hoped for!

At first, I read the synopsis of this drama and was unsure about it. It seemed like a plain story line, but the show was a clear example of why some shows do not need to have a over-the-top plot to be outstanding! The first episode automatically drew me in.

In regards to characters: To be honest, I did not mind the age difference between the characters because I have seen some noona dramas/movies in the past, but I wondered if the characters would have good chemistry. Thankfully, the leads had fantastic chemistry which had me coming back for a new episode each time! Not only did the leads get me hooked on the series, but the other characters got me hooked as well. There were so many likable characters in this show and many of them were well developed; it was definitely hard to hate them! The acting was also great, I am surprised many of these actors have not done many major roles yet! The humor was another great component of this show as well. Literally, I would laugh out loud every episode (sorry to my family for this reason! haha!)!

The music in this show was pretty great. The main male lead (Yoon Dong Ha or Park Seo Joon in real life) actually sang a song for the Ost and I was honestly amazed when I realized it. Great actor and singer? Jackpot. As well, the other songs were also catchy and suited the show. The music is something I would actually listen outside of the show. As for rewatch value: I would for sure rewatch it, although I dont usually rewatch shows. I will definitely be recommending this to anyone who asks for drama suggestions.

10/10, Give it a try!

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since its a remake the story gets 8. but over all this drama would get 11/10 if that was possible. we talk about chemistry but these two main leads ha over heating chemistry. not only with them selves but there ex-lovers as well. yeah their acting was that good. Most k dramas have chemistry but few have passion. this one hit it, the viki commentators kept on asking "is this a k drama??". the acting of sad scenes reminded me of kim soo hyun and his younger version in the moon embraces the sun because you could see and feel the agony and pain they were feeling. and not forget the comedy, sound effects, the music...sigh. apart from a few editing mistakes this drama was SUPERB!!! I WILL RE-WATCH IT WHEN EVER I NEED TO BE REMINDED OF TALENT OR WHEN I NEED A GOOD LAUGH.

Next: the character Do young ha portrayed by park seo joon. is bullet proof as in no flaws what so ever. okay if he was to have a flaw it would be that he is too nice hence hence gals get the wrong idea, yeah thats all i can come up with, even when he yelled u could see over flawing kindness, he was straight forward, mature yet very immature at times who ever wrote him is a good writer.
YOU ALL NEED TO WATCH THIS.

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Thinking back, there was absolutely nothing in this drama. A bunch of useless plot twists and pointless obstacles didn't do it for me. The age difference wasn't a factor for me disliking this drama at all. On the contrary, it made the drama unique. The second-lead syndrome just got on my nerves and the misunderstandings were annoying. Unusually, screen-time was given to sub-plots I didn't enjoy at all. The drama was a whole load of nothingness and was pretty much an empty hole. The meeting of the leads was coincidence after coincidence which wasn't realistic at all causing me to dislike this drama even more. The way the female lead struggled to choose between the men was annoying, overdramatic and unnecessary. The leads had significantly similar interests. Considering that the female lead was older, I expected her to be more mature. But the 25 year old main lead was the calm and collected one while the older female lead behaved like an immature five year old child. The female lead was first portrayed to be a strong independent reporter. But she became a voiceless, immature, whiny character that revolved around the male lead and depended on him for everything.

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The beginning was a bit tacky but nevertheless entertaining enough. Until around episode 6 or 7 the show was funny and I was eagerly waiting for the next episode. But then something happened, along with the love rival's appearance the whole show went down the drain. I don't know what happened but suddenly all the fun and cuteness were totally gone. The latter part of the show consisted of crying, depression, meaningless misunderstandings and sulking. JY who was supposed to be an independent career woman became childish little teenage girl.

Acting was good but most of the side characters were annoying and one dimensional. Even though the relationship between the mother and JY was heartwarming the mother always appeared during wrong moments ruining everything and it wasn't even funny! The only side character I truly liked was DH's friend but he didn't even get that much screen time. EC was bleak and boring with her long face and the same freaking expression on every scene.

After a promising beginning this drama was a fail in the end and after episode 6 I skipped trough the episodes too bored to fully watch them. Suddenly all the quirkiness, sexiness and charisma were all gone replaced by boredom.

Anyway, if you are interested to watch a drama about a single career woman and a younger guy I recommend Dal Ja's Spring. It's much better than this failure of a drama.

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I'll be honest, I watched this because of Park Seo Joon (after he finally swayed me in Fight My Way). The thought of a noona romance doesn't usually draw me in, but I had had this one on my watch list for a while. I thought the story was going along pretty well up until episode 6 (when the ex showed back up) through about episode 12. Then it turned from romantic comedy into a a mopey sad show where the leads are pining and crying all the time. I kept watching, waiting for it to pick the pace and the story back up (because the romance started with a bang), but by the time it did I had lost a considerable amount of interest and it never seemed to get back to where it started. The personalities of the leads had shifted somehow also, and it felt more forced and awkward.

Park Seo Joon was great in this role. I don't feel like I'm being biased, because I didn't really care for him at all until recently. He had a good character to play in this show and was charming in the role. I wasn't quite sold on Uhm Jung Hwa for her role, though. I felt that she was a bit miscast as I kept feeling that the age difference was too big between them. If it had been a different actress, it may not have felt quite so vast even if the gap was the same. I also don't feel like I am biased against her, as I actually enjoyed her in the last show I watched her in (even though the show itself was disappointing). I enjoyed the actors that played Soo Chul, Na Rae, Min Gu, the mom, and the boss. However, I disliked Shi Hoon (can't pin down a specific reason, but there are a few) and Eun Chae (just not expressive enough). Park Seo Joon was really the shining, charismatic element to this show, followed by the actor playing Soo Chul.

The music was average, nothing stand out. I watched this on Drama Fever, so I don't know if it was particular to this platform, but there was an annoying little mid-show pause where it showed UJH's character with the name of the show and a little bell sound. Like when a show pauses for a commercial and comes back. It really took me out of the story every time it happened.

It was an okay watch, but nothing really stand out or special in any way to me. I also felt let down by the ending as it felt a little bit open. I think the main characters deserved a better wrap up. I won't rewatch this.

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Sexy start then it fizzled

I had this on my plant to watch for a while and having recently watched one of Park Seo Joon's dramas, I was in the mood for more so I decided to watch this one.

I'm not a particular fan of Noona romance dramas despite having watched a few of them. Usually, if the leads have good chemistry I will enjoy it for the story and not place too much weight on age. The beginning was exceptionally sexy, but giving its comedic style, it introduced the characters in an entertaining way.

The story seemed to be going well up until they introduced the second love interest. From then on the tone of the plot completely changed from funny and lighthearted to dramatic and depressive. That exciting sexy vibe was no longer there and the characters' personalities kind of flipped to match the new direction of the story.

I kept waiting for the drama to pick back up to where it was before but that didn't really happen and it left me feeling unsatisfied until the end. Nothing stood out in any particular way and while it's still an OK watch unless you are a huge fan of Park Seo Joon you can skip this.

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Minh 'ere~! ^^

So I finished this drama yesterday night and it blew past my expectations.
Story wise, it's something I've seen before. Nothing really new about it; however I loved the cheesyness of the story-line. It kept me surf through the episodes without being bored.

As for the cast, I was a bit skeptical about Uhm Jung Hwa being female lead. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike her or anything. She definitely improved from her previous roles. She fits the rom-com theme and plays it by the book as expected. The male lead (Park Seo Joon) does pretty well, he's pretty versatile (he can sing too ^^) and expressed his role well. His best friend (Yoon Hyun Min) gave me great laughs, I think he was my favorite by far because of his wit and humor. Expect some bromance where hilarity ensues. xD

Music was somewhat okay, it didn't really catch my attention; which for me is kind of disappointing cause I usually snag OST's of dramas I finish.

7 is what I consider a pretty high rewatch value. I don't usually rewatch unless there is something I don't understand.

Overall, I suggest you give it a shot ^^
It's light, funny and there's no headache because the story-line doesn't distort (no fillers). I can't guarantee that everybody will like it, but if you're an aficionado for rom-com like me; then you'll enjoy it ^^

Minh out~!

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If you`re the right audience - You`ll love this

I honestly don`t know why I like this drama so much, I couldn`t give you a definite answer. It is chock-full of tropes, easily solvable misunderstandings, cringy situations...AND YET. I like it a lot. Did I cringe at times, hoping that a scene will end fast?Sure. Did I huff at the "lover from the past appearing again to mess everything up" trope?YUP. As I`ve rated, the story is the weakest link here. It`s nonsensical at times, characters` motivations don`t line up with what they`re supposed to be and it is amateurish at times. Cuts can be abrupt, some scenes are left out, so we don't get the context of what happened, since it was left behind the scene. Be it my damn fascination with older women, younger men trope or something else, this is a good drama. And out of the three that I have watched starring Park Seo-joon(This one, "What`s Wrong with Secretary Kim?" and "Fight My Way")this one is my favorite. He`s great as the dependable, charitable and sweet Yoon Dong Ha and has the best chemistry with Uhm Jung-Hwa, who`s great in this role, when she`s consistent. I do see some cracks in her acting which at times, made it hard for me to buy it as convincing, but these moments were scarce and far apart. The acting of others was serviceable. I was also surprised by the number of certified musical classics used, especially in fishcake bar scenes, which doesn`t happen often, I think.

My one main flaw with this drama is the writing, but not even for how cliché it is, but for how the scenes were written. Sometimes, they don`t flow subsequently, as they should. In fact, Ji-Yeon`s ex boyfriend is the biggest victim of this mistake and his character suffers in a way that could`ve been avoided and I even thought of how. Instead of having a tearjerking reason for why he couldn`t make it to the wedding, it would be more interesting and thematically satisfying to either:have him make up that story and be discovered, or not even make it up and have Ji-Yeon create a revenge plan in which she would leave him at the altar this time and even ruin his reputation with her article. And the second option is that thematically satisfying one. Why?Well, in the second episode of the drama, Yi-Jeon says, multiple times:"You shouldn`t have your blood pressure go up because of idiots?But if you get the chance, you should get a revenge on them."And also, both her and her ex-boyfriend always talked about him taking pictures and her writing the articles, so having her ruin him with her article would be a nice ending and a closing chapter for her. It`s still cliché but it works in the context of her character. In the meantime, she falls in love with Dong Ha, who would also feel betrayed after giving the man an okay. I wish the writers sat on it more, instead of opting for such a farfetched explanation.

Now, like I`ve mentioned before, the chemistry between the leads in this drama is great.It is the best for Seo-yoon especially. It is not as overacted as in "Fight My Way" and nor is it as stereotypical as in "What`s Wrong with Secretary Kim?". There`s a certain overlap between the actors that seems subtle and weirdly appropriate, despite their age difference. And though not spectacular, I do have to give points to the writers on one thing they did for Ji-Yeon:making her a fun, ambitious and confident older woman. In almost all dramas that use this trope, the woman is either shy, self-conscious or elegant and mature, but never openly sexy. And they chose the right actress for that, I`m so glad to see a curvaceous female lead(by Asian standards- don`t get it twisted, everyone is beautiful, but it`s just nice to see) who`s lively and though they screw with her character at times, I never felt that she became weak or defenseless, just in a shitty situation. That is not to say that the whole ex-boyfriend thing doesn`t bother me and the way she reacted is so wrong for what she stands for, but I still like her because of the charisma the actress brings. It is also nice how Dong Ha has a reason for being so giving, not only has he lost his first love at such a young age, but is also connected to an orphanage, which is why he knew how to mellow down Ji-Yeon. Episodes with these two(especially episode 15)are great, and they really have a positive effect on me, I totally see them as a couple. So, even though this drama had all the ingredients to make me drop it immediately, it actually managed to entice me enough to give it this score.

It must be witchcraft.

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As I read all the reviews for this drama and saw the comments from many people with different tastes, I decided to watch although I watch these kind of dramas very rarely and unwillingly. The main reason for that is because the most of Korean rom coms are so much unrealistic with some stupid female characters or stupid and annoying side characters or with the lack of chemistry between the leads with no psychical contact and when they do something like kiss or, God forbid, something more, it's so awkward and weird that you question yourself and think why I watch these kind of unrealistic and stupid dramas. Anyway something was telling me that this is going to be different and I just love Park Seo Joon (he is so beautiful, tall, great at singing) so he was the reason number one. Number two was Uhm Jung Hwa, she is the actress I really respect and watch since long time ago and I was curious how she would look and act in this kind of drama. The story itself isn't nothing special, or should I say it's pretty ordinary and not so interesting but then why I was so satisfied and happy while watching it? The answer is simple. Main couple was so adorable and had an amazing chemistry I have seen really rarely lately, Interactions between them, hugs, kisses on the lips, head, hand, cheek, their silliness and funny talks, oh my, just every detail was so natural and real and sweet, it was like I was living in their world and like I was there beside them like one of the friends. And the age difference between the actors is 19 years which is very big difference and yet you just don't notice that at all, not one single moment.
The music was pretty good, I like the main song very much. Yoon Hyun Min's character was my favourite, since Cruel city I started to stalk this actor, he is good but has no many roles. In this drama he is great and so funny and I liked very much the bromance between him and Dong Ha, they really love one each other, true friends. Also Ji Yeon's mum was so good, and Ji Yeon's friend Na Rae very funny. I was truly enjoying in this drama and I didn't expect that at all. Laughing, sweetness, happiness, all the most beautiful emotions I have experienced while watching this drama.\
This is a recommendation for everyone to watch because you will enjoyed in Witch's romance and you'll fall in love with Dong Ha's character. He is what you call, A PERFECT MAN IN EVERY ASPECT. And he is good from the start, he's not some kind of rich jerk who behave badly and then suddenly become good. In his case-what you see is what you get, he is honest, sweet, a true gentleman, has a sense of humor, have a good heart, considerate towards other people and when he falls for you, he won't betray you no matter what. OH MY. I fell in love with him from the first moment I saw him. ;-)

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This drama is a definite Must-Watch - especially if you like 'Noona Romances' - this drama had me hooked from the very first episode, it was very sweet, corny, cheesy and cute! It had me laughing several times with the scenes of Soo Cheol & Dong Ha and giggling when it came to Ji Yeon and Dong Ha. The romance was very natural and sweet with lots of cheesy moments and the bromance on this drama was probably the best I have ever seen on a drama; and it had some of the cutest kisses I've ever seen on a drama ;)
Cast: Everyone did a splendid job in their roles. I loved Dong Ha, Ji Yeon, & Soo Cheol (more commonly known as 'spinach').
Music: was great, I loved all of the songs and all the special effects music.
Re-watch Value: 10/10 - it's definitely a drama I will want to re-watch again!

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