Witch's Court (2017)

Disappointing

I have to say that I’d be lying if I told you that this kept me glued. I was disappointed (as it seems were many) with the way this drama unfolded. I too expected the whole thing to go to the heights only to watch it come crashing and then almost draw to a.complete stop for me. I was excited to see the cast members and expected (apparently) too much from the drama. HOping that it was going to end well I kept going and in the end it did do a little better but not before almost failing completely for me. I have to say that I feel like either the writer or the director let this one down. The cast seemed to do well.
The Acting was done well and the cast were stellar. I’m just sad about the storyline or the way it unfolded, this had nothing to do with the actual actors though.
Rewatch value - maybe I’ll watch it again but I feel like I’d probably drop it around episode 6 on the 2nd time around.

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Edit: I finished the series

As of right now, from watching what I have watched, I feel that the main lead is too headstrong. I have not finished the drama yet (I intend to) but it is getting kind of hard since the main protagonist is REALLY frustrating to watch. She wants to do things her way even though it might be wrong. She does not care about her clients and she lacks empathy. For example. in the first and second episode, she did not one consider the victim's mindset or how the trial would affect his life. She plays dirty to get what she wants, even if that's not what the client wants. On top of that, she LOVES to place blame on the other lead for small petty reasons such as in episode four when she said something like, "isn't this your fault too?" when talking about the perpetrator in her house. She is annoying and I do not see growth in her as of right now. who knows, maybe she'll change, but it is not looking too good for that from other reviews I have read.

Simply put, the storyline is getting kind of frustrating to follow as I do not enjoy this type of trope.

Music is not bad, but they're currently not a track that I tried to look up because it enticed me.

Edit: I have now finished the series. To be honest, I have not seen plotholes as other viewers have commented on. Perhaps I am just not observant enough. However, I honestly feel like there were too many things that happened at the right place at the right time, or that the characters were able to connect the dots too soon and whatnot. For example, how was Ma Yi Deum so quick to figure out that there was a video deleting app on the tablet she was given? Or that Nurse Choi on the island with Yi Deum's mom knew that the package delivery driver is out to get them simply because there was a "package" for the both of them? I felt like the explanation was not while guns were jumped. As for the right place and right time, how were the nurse and the mom able to escape the killers in time? I feel like those were all too convenient.

As for the main female lead, I would say that she is not as annoying or frustrating to watch, but I do see a lack of character development. However, I am actually okay with that as she is finally able to use some questionable tactics to finally get the main antagonist.

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Started great, but didn't finish great, IMO

This started out pretty great. I realized that there aren't a lot of k dramas I've watched where the female lead isn't supposed to be the more welcoming, sweet character and the male lead the surly, serious one. In this story, Ma Yi Deum is unlike any other female protagonist I've seen in a drama, so far. She's rude, gruff, impolite and willing to do anything to get the verdict she wants. At first.

I watched a clip of the second episode's ending court scene on YouTube and there was a comment saying that she was fierce and they wish she stayed that way throughout the drama. I don't quite agree, as I think it was important for her to learn to see the victims as people. However, I will say that it felt like the show let her character sort of become aimless about halfway through. As did the show, to be honest.

I enjoy procedural court dramas. I know not every one of them can be Miss Hammurabi, but it sucks that this is the second one I've seen that does a case every ep for like 5 episodes before stopping and becoming more about the season long plot. Also, like Miss Hammurabi, there was a romance between two coworkers where I felt zero chemistry. I don't think it was necessary and it added nothing to the story.

Towards the end, everything just felt all over the place. Disappointingly, they turned a strong female protagonist into a damsel.

Despite the dark subject matter, I did enjoy seeing the victims get justice. I spent most of the show just waiting for them to finally put Cho and Baek behind bars. I didn't love that the prosecutor that took over for Min defaulted to doubting victims, though. I also thought, while they got the outcome they wanted, Ma Yi Deum tactics in the second episode were cruel to the victim.

So, I enjoyed the first 6 episodes or so, but what made the show unique to me in terms of character work slowly disappeared.

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Under-rated, hidden gem, solid legal romance drama

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2017 South Korean Legal Romance Drama with 16, 60 minute episodes. It is alternatively known as Witch in Court.

Ma Yi-deum (Jung Ryeo-won) is an aggressive and egotistical prosecutor who has worked in multiple prosecutors' offices and is known for using whatever it takes to win. It is a challenging time for females in a man's world and she reluctantly supports a female reporter who was sexually assaulted by her boss. When Yi-deum finds out the boss lied about promoting her she feels she has nothing to lose and and tells all about what she saw him trying to do with the female journalist. This gets her an assignment in the special task force for text crimes, a job no one wants. Well no-one that is except for Yeo Jin-wook (Yoon Hyun-min) who feels passionate about defending victims of sex crimes. Although a new prosecutor he not only graduated top of his class but also has a background in psychology. The two opposites team up to use their complimentary skills to solve some tough cases. As they work together they begin to understand each other and admire each other more. Will the hate that turned to like now turn to love?
I loved this drama. It had everything, exciting cases, interesting and deep character growth and interactions. Yi-deum was edgy and had a mischievous quality about her but was very bright and cared deeply about justice. Jin-wook is the quintessential straight arrow who wants nothing more than to do the right thing the right way. Which is why the conflict he encounters around the situation with his mother is such a dilemma for his character. Spoiler alert** it was during the very last portion of the last episode when Yi-deum and Jin-wook got together in a romantic sense. I was so enjoying their interplay as a couple I regretted there was not just a bit more time spent with them as a couple. It was a very happy and overall well wrapped ending but the only very minor critique was just not getting enough of the Yi-deum and Jin-wook romance. But it is such a well written and enjoyable drama that is not a huge fail. I would watch this again and would highly recommend it to fans of this genre, of these actors, or just anyone that wants a well written, nicely paced, exciting, legal romantic drama.

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This year was the year of Law related drama. In Witch's Court you follow the story of Ma Yi Deum but also the work of a prosecutor.
The first part was a love at first sight for me. Ma Yi Deum's character is one of the best female I have seen so far in the dramaland. I was very entertained but also touched by her personnality. I also endorsed all of her choice which is very uncommon for me. She was a normal girl who lost the most important person in her life but she never gave up !

The story has flaws and some stupids part such as the lost of some document, who let important documents only in one place and without any copies.
The drama also obey to some usual "cliché" but overall you get hook quickly thank to her and Yeo Procecutor ! I have dropped some scene or accelerate some because it was just useless "bla bla" but I haven't skip one episode and I was waiting for them every weeks !

I highly recommend it to anyone who want to see a  very GOOD FEMALE LEAD !

I have also heard people not understanding her wish to win the case  no matter what is happening to the victims. Althought it might seems unethical, the job of a prosecutor is to restore the public order (by putting to jail those who commited a crime). In this sense, I endorse what she did cause it's what a prosecutor is meant to do. Obviously not in this particular way !

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What to say about this one?? This drama is one of the better ones that I've watched this year and that's simply because of Ma Yi Deum. She was honestly one of the best female leads, I've ever come across throughout my years of watching dramas. She made every part of this drama. Jung Ryeo Won OWNED THIS ROLE. She is the reason this drama is being recorded as one of my favorites.

I can find a lot of flaws within this drama, I wouldn't have to look very hard but I'm willing to overlook these for the sake of how much I enjoyed Ma Yi Deum and the initial premise of the story. I was hooked on the first episode cause it felt like I was watching the Korean version of Law and Order: SVU. I enjoyed the episodes that focused on a different individual each episode because it did well at showcasing that many sexual crimes are about power. For a majority of the earlier episodes, I found myself yelling at the screen saying that 'Men Are Trash'...

I was not a big fan of the overarching storyline only because it just felt moot point whenever they caught him for something in the earlier episodes because we knew it wouldn't have amounted to anything and then it made me feel annoyed because at the end the solutions seems so easy and efficient that it was like "why wasn't this done episodes ago." I will say though, it was kind of satisfying but also not with the way the overarching storyline ended. I'm equal parts satisfied and dissatisfied, probably because I kinda wanted something a little more sinister, but I mean it went with the theme of the show so good for it.

I would not recommend this drama if you're looking for something that is  romance heavy which if we're honest was kind of a waste of Hyun-min and Ryeo-won's chemistry. The romance was hinted at, pushed forward, fell off, creeped back, ignored then put back again. Honestly there was nothing that convinced me of why they even fell for each other but like i said the chemistry was lit so I'm not even mad.

Side characters? Didn't care about them. Matter of fact i didn't care about anyone that wasn't Ma Yi Deum and just wanted her to get her happy ending. I was very confused because I felt like the last few minutes of the finale made it seem like these were people we've been invested in and i'm like huh? I literally knew more about Gap Soo's secretary than the other members of the prosecution team.

So the story was okay in some aspect. Acting was superb. OST was beautiful to an extent (really enjoyed Solji's voice and the pump up one). Would I rewatch this? Definitely. I would probably skip a few episodes or at least fast forward scenes that don't feature Ma Yi Deum.

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Suuuper long revenge plot…buckle in dawg

Honestly I didn’t expect to like this show. I’ve grown a habit of starting K-Dramas that were released years ago and decided to go for this one since I liked law/revenge plots.

But also I wasn’t aware of this show being a revenge plot like at all. I mainly started it since the premise of the show mainly revolved around prosecuters who work in a unit for sexual abuse against women and children.

These type of Kdramas are always heavy and difficult to watch considering the theme of the show is heavy in itself, but Korea has the tendency to make great shows revolved around the law (which is quite ironic since their laws are absolute shit lol).

This Kdrama has pleasantly surprised me and I honestly believe it deserves a 10. This might be me viewing this a bit personally at the same time since I started this at a time I really needed a distraction from life and it created exactly that, a good distraction.

So many things happen in this show that it keeps you preoccupied and even guessing who’s guilty and who’s not as well. Their cliffhangers were pretty predictable most of the times and even one of their biggest cliffhangers wasn’t even that big of a shock(the mother being alive), but I still had a good time watching it and seeing so many crimes uncover and how most of the crimes shown end up being connected somehow and creating one big case that leads up to the climax of the villain finally getting caught.

I loved the characters, but my first complaint starts with how overpowered they made the villain. I get thats the entire point of him, but half of the time it felt like he got his way in impossible ways? And sometimes they wouldn’t even elaborate how he came to get it. The biggest thing that made me laugh was how he didn’t recognise the woman he literally kept abducted for 7 years and then only like a 3 days later getting the idea to go investigate on it. Another thing that was hilarious to me was how people kept trusting him despite knowing his manipulative nature (and the fact that he literally abandons/kills people who are no longer of use to him). With that being said, the two most annoying characters in the show (in my opinion) were Ma Ideum and the villain. Which is quite funny since I find both the hero and the villain annoying. Ma Ideum’s character was pretty much designed to be annoying so I can’t be too mad at that, but damn, sometimes she really pushed my buttons.

Another small complaint I have is about the main couple. Which are supposed to be Ma Ideum and her coworker (forgot his name). Their chemistry was so good, I was honestly expecting a lot from them.

I get this show wasn’t romance centered like at all, but…just a little bit of romance..? a little?…ahhhhh what a waste. Both actors were amazing and showed great chemistry without having many romantic scenes. As much as I wished they had gotten together or into a little messy hookup or something, i’ll take the ending too, since it made me laugh. They were both adorable. And I know they would’ve been the most adorable couple on screen if they had only focused on the two!

Alas, the show’s main plot was uncovering the truth about Ma Ideums mother and catching the villain once and for all. And despite the fact that this show has a low rating (surprisingly to me), it was actually pretty entertaining to me. If you start this show for romance…don’t bother. BUT if you love detective, uncovering truths, courtroom, prosecutors, lawyers plots and tropes. You will love this! Overall. I incredibly enjoyed this show. Its currently 3am as I write this since i finished the last 3 episodes in one sitting (i was too on edge to stop), so I guess that’ll show you how invested I was lol.

Give it a try! ;)

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Ma Yi Deum is a goddess

The plot was pretty likeable. The antagonists were too cliche. There were just corrupt mayors and officials with rapists all over the place. I understand that the leads worked in the sex crimes unit. But i wish they showed a slightly different motivations. The cliche and overused memory loss plot is found here too. Such cliches are what threw me off. But Ma Yi Deum saved the show for me. She was a beautifully written and executed character. She had her flaws. But the only made her more perfect. I loved the male lead except for one cliche. Male leads just happen to develop fighting skills out of nowhere and it absolutely baffles me. In most situations the female lead is covering behind something but in this drama she was a physically and emotionally strong character who didn't do that. Ths drama is worth watching only because of Ma Yi deum and I'm glad I completed the drama. It was pretty much worth watching. I would recommend it to most people if they can ignore the cliches and plot holes.

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Story?I've been in to crime/police drama's a lot lately and read some good reviews on the first few episodes so I decided to watch Witch's court. The first few episodes were great and I loved our main characters Ma Yi Deum and Yeo Jin Wook. I really liked the small stories inbetween and the funny interactions between some characters. I was also very curious about the main storyline and what had exactly happened in the past etc. However the more the drama progressed,  how weaker the story became. The plotholes increased and the romance between Ma Yi Deum and Yeo Jin Wook that I loved so much kinda disappeared. Everything became quite serious but it sometimes felt like I could watch these hour long episodes without important anything happening. Therefore I kinda lost interest in the main story of Ma Yi Deum and her team trying to get Cho Gap Soo convicted. I started to even sympathize with him at some point which made the ending very unsatisfying. Acting/Cast?I don't have much to say ???about the acting and cast other than that it was great. I especially liked how well Jung Ryeo Won did at portraying Ma Yi Deum as a strong woman who however did have some flaws. Furthermore I think Yoon Hyun Min really suited the character of Jin Wook. Before this drama I watched Tunnel and his character was kinda similar to this one. The same goes for Heo Sung Tae. ^^Music?I don't have anything special to remark about the music in this drama. There were only two songs that I can really remember and that were played kinda often. One was a song that ???played when Ma Yi Deum succeed (by outsmarting others) and the other, more dramatic song played during moments of dispair for Cho Gap Soo (my favourite scenes to be honest)Rewatch Value????The rewatch value isn't high on this one but I feel like I would want to 'relive' some scenes again and therefore watch some (parts of) episodes again.OverallI just finished this drama yesterday and overall I'm quite content. I might've sounded quite negative when talking about the story but the drama isn't that bad at all. Plot just isn't its strongest point so I would only recommend watching this drama whenever you want to relax and not have a very deep or complicating story that you have to think about a lot.

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DON'T JUDGE A SHOW BY IT'S FIRST TWO EPISODES!

I absolutely loved the show and here's why:

The title 'Witch's Court' fits perfectly because the main lead Ma Yi Deum is like a witch. In the first two episodes, more than getting justice for the victims as a prosecutor, she only values her own wins in court trials and looks out for opportunities to climb the career ladder. People kept hating on her character saying that she was brutal - but the thing is her character itself is written as brutal. She is what she is. She is selfish, ambitious and has zero empathy for others. Just because the main character is show evil, people dropped the shows in the first two episodes. Now, I am not justifying her actions of episode 2, I am livid at her as much as other people, but I understand her actions. And after the first two episodes, she shows remorse and doesn't do things for her personal gain. Her redemption arc is gradual but clear. Jung Ryeo Won did absolute justice to her role. It is my first time watching her show. I loved Ma Yi Deum - sassy, witty, cunning yet with a twinge of guilt and compassion. Her character is written so well. I always loved how she changed things around and comes with the iconic line 'I am Ma Yi Deum'.

I am watching Hyun Min for the first time too. I am very impressed by his acting and his so handsome, ngl. He is the perfect male lead who loves justice. This show doesn't have much romance except for two drunken kisses and a bit of flirting, but I am not complaining. I dig shows with no or minimal romance because they tend to execute the story line better without messing it with unnecessary romance. So, I really liked the fact there isn't much romance. But Hyun Min's should stop biting his lips because that IS SO SEXY!!!

Out of all the side characters, Yeo Jin impressed me the most. I have seen her in a couple of shows before she was slaying here. And when I learned she is a social activist, my respect for her became tenfold.

The show is exceptionally well-written. Usually, dramas with law/legal as the backdrop often have loopholes of some sort or the story gets choppy because of the various side stories as cases. But, the flow of the story was smooth, always making users wonder what gonna happen next. The camera work is amazing. And the transitions are done perfectly. The drama has got an amazing soundtrack. I must say it must be the only law drama with background music that absolutely aligns well with each accompanying scene.

I would have liked more scenes of little Yi Deum and mom. Because they shared good parent-child relationship and were a delight to watch. In the end, few of the characters were forgotten - like what happened to Jin Wook's mom, Baek Min Ho and Yi Deum's long time friend? They showed the more irrelevant characters serving their time in jail but ignored what happened to some key characters.

Overall: 9/10. I AM GONNA REWATCH IT IN FUTURE!

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