If You Wish Upon Me

Blame the makers and move on.

I think at this point we’ve watched more than enough slice-of-life dramas to be passing just anything as a good watch. With humanism and hospice affairs, this drama attempted to attract viewers with melting vibes, but unfortunately the shoddy story and deficient characters made it fail very sub-standardly. In overall, this wasn’t even average, rather a bad drama. I was more excited for Sung Dong Il than Ji Chang Wook, but it worked for neither.

Produced by ‘A&E Networks Korea’ & ‘Climax Studios’, “If You Wish Upon Me (당신이 소원을 말하면)” is a feel-good drama, enmarking Ji Chang Wook’s come back to cable drama following his military service. Written by Jo Ryung Soo and directed by Kim Yong Wan, the drama was originally broadcasted on KBS while Viu was assigned for international distribution. The production claims that the story has been inspired by the true accounts of “Make-a-Wish Foundation” in Netherlands, which is somewhat correct.

The story follows a young ex-convict with dark past, Yoon Gyu Re (Ji Chang Wook) who is ordered to join a hospice for community service upon a minor offence. Even with hesitations and doubts, he soon joins ‘Team Genie’- a group that fulfills the last wishes of terminally ill patients at the hospice, created by Kang Tae Shik (Sung Dong Il). Seo Yoon Joo (Choi Soo Young) is a nurse and the only medical personnel in the team while it also consists of Yeom Soon Ja (Yang Hee Kyung), a cook, Yoo Seo Jin (Jeon Chae Eun), a high-schooler, Mr. Koo (Park Jung Pyo) a social worker and Choi Deok Ja (Gil Hye Yeon) & Hwang Cha Young (Yoo Soon Woong) an old couple who work as cleaners at the hospice.

Other familiar faces in the drama are: Shin Joo Hwan, Won Ji An, Nam Tae Hoon, Park Se Jun, Park Jin Joo and Nam Kyung Joo.

Plot development is an absolute disappointment. What started with a little bloom, became weary by the interval and dreadful and illogical in final sequence. The seemingly peak scenes did exhibit no emotion, nor raised hopes for further development.

Given the storyline, the script could have been a very good one even without any peculiar feature, but the debutant writer failed through rough despite their firm motivational muse. I think its natural provided they made a debut with the drama and hopefully this helps them as a writer, but there several things that could have been avoided easily, which seemed like a lack of motive. The introduction was okay but it soon became ineffectual even before it could finish a quarter. The characters were poorly written and had no development throughout, the plot development was inconsistent and tawdry and the elements were underwhelmingly typical.

Directorial input is visibly way under the par; not just they could better the script, also the things that had to have only their contribution was very tacky. The editing and screenplay did irk me as soon as the show started rolling, however, I was expecting it would improve. I honestly lost interest before two episodes because of this choppy execution but decided to continue wishing for warm moments. Albeit, the limitations of the drama are that even the events that are supposed to make you cry, rather invite boredom. There is little significance of cinematography and the screenplay organization is a huge mess.

Composed by Kim Dong Wook, there are 9 OSTs in the drama. Most of them are indeed beautiful, touching and are perfect for the genre of the drama, though underutilized in the editing.
# “Loner” by Kim Sung Kyu (Infinite)
# “Starlight” by Jung So Yeon (Laboum)
# “I Can’t Forget You” by Kim Feel
# “Young Day” by Lee Ye Jun
# “Halo” by Park Jin Joo
# “I’ll Protect You” by Choi Yu Ree
# “Let U Go” by Suran
# ‘’To My Star” by Choi Soo Young
# “You and Me” by Taeyeon

No, this is not the first time, a flawed male lead with dark past and in requirement of therapy has been projected in a Kdrama. In fact, such characters have been brought forward more recently by beautiful female writers of the industry, who have been able to create impressions. Any of you citing Gyeo Re as ‘too weak to be a man’ probably either has toxic masculinity or are into ‘all heroic alpha males’ too much. But what was the problrm? Poor context and subpar presentation and not to forget, zero transition in between. I would have liked to see a slow and steady development in him, from rags to flower, but he changes from an evil to sage in a blink of moment and remains the same throughout. Such a waste of his acting skills plus the potential development.

I think romance was a factor that stood out the most amongst all. Not only the chemistry between Gyeo Rye and Yeon Joo was wonderful, also the development of love and their follow-up till the end was beautifully drawn. It was not typical at the least and the healthy relationship goals reflected through their beautiful presence was cute and heart-touching. Well, most of the credited to Soo Young’s expertise in that area but Chang Wook playing an untypical arc did help it too.

There are a lot of unnecessary sequential flashbacks for several characters which might have been a good idea for a drama where a lot of people are breathing for the last time, but ngl it could have been better executed. So, their random incorporation and editing with OSTs rather felt underwhelming.

Side characters were a part of the journey and definitely contributed some of the warm factors but they hardly had much to offer as individuals and whatever they had, lacked plausibility and any interest. I was particularly anticipating for the team members bcs they have been favourite actors and the initial episodes made me expect a little. However, realizing that the writer doesn’t intend to improve themselves, I gave up very soon.

Another thing that I loved was Won Ji An's character as Joon Kyung, portraying mental health issues and how they take cumulative toll on body along with their way of affecting the surrounding people, be it family, friends and acquaintances. The actress did deliver amazingly, 0.5 for her only.


The thriller subplot to the script was such a havoc, I could not help but hate it too much. Not like the drama had any overall potential to begin with but the way kept ruining it and destroyed the remining essence towards the end using bad guy fight and conspiracies within the hospice. The 14th and 15th were total letdowns because the repetitive and fast-paced fists and knifes were only funny and laughable. The past connection part between the leads did not make sense either. Ending of it was not really terrible but I was in no mood to think about it by that.

Final Remarks… The drama was an act of trumpery (flashy but unproductive). Keeping JCW, SDI and CSY at the centre, it did aim for big but in overall, the makers did have a lack of creativity and motive to do better which led to a wasted and forgettable watch. They did attempt to incorporate touchy stories and blooming moments to make it seem appealing and heart-wrenching but they rather felt forced and out of place. The drama failed through for a lot of reasons and is a technical flop. Not recommending to anyone.

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Too melodramatic, lacking actual depth

Hospice melodrama If You Wish Upon Me has spent a lot of time showing us the end of life’s journey – admittedly through rose-tinted glasses. Beginning and ending by the ocean, If You Wish Upon Me reminds us that it is not merely an end-of-life drama, it is a cycle-of-life one, too.

The  show had more surprises in store – we realised that not only had we witnessed the start of Gyeo-rye’s redemption story, we had joined Tae-sik midway through his own. Tae-sik is the beating heart of Team Genie, always eager to lend a hand or an ear. But behind his crinkly smile was a long story of woe, filled with tragedy and bad decisions.

All of this may be fitting, but the drama is not perfect and had problems. There was no character depth except Geo-Rye and Tae-Sik. The other side characters were merely a helping hand to the show, without exposing their backstory to the audience. The character of Yeon-Jeo felt like that she only mattered in so far as how she affected the male lead. The pacing was very slow and at times the story felt dragged at some moments. The contrived plot and sentimental send-offs made for a series that occasionally lacked the sincerity to convey the story it set out to tell.

My Rating : 6/10

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Great acting but not touching enough - missing something

Rating - 8.25

I thought I would be crying my eyes out watching “If You Wish Upon Me” and surprisingly, I did not. There are some touching moments, but I feel that the drama is missing the ‘oomph’ or ‘it’ that makes me fall in love with it. The whole premise of Team Genie is great, just like the hospice's own Make-a-Wish Foundation.

I have to applaud Ji Chang Wook for branching out to different roles. He was great in this drama and his character is not the usual good-looking, cold Chaebol, a hero or a heart throb. He actually looks and acts the part of Yoon Kyeo Re. Someone who has had a rough childhood and life, and is not a hero to save the world. He is a little dorky and timid, but lovable and gentle. Seo Yeon Joo also plays such an interesting female lead in Seo Yeon Joo. Nurse Seo is a badass but in a sweet way. She is a workout maniac and a gentle angel. She’s also the one who saves our male lead from drowning in his past. It’s lovely to see Choi Soo Young again after her other very memorable role in “Run On”. Oh and she’s so pretty! What more can I say about veteran Sung Dong Il. I don’t think I need to shower praises on him as he’s universally recognized as one of the most amazing actors out there (ok, maybe to me he is). Acting has to be the strength of this drama, including the supporting cast and especially everyone in Team Genie.

However, I feel that plot wise it’s missing that special sauce. The hospice patient stories are somewhat underwhelming. One or two of them are well-written and heart-tugging, but overall not memorable enough. One can say the patient stories are secondary to the main characters' stories. I do enjoy Yoon Kyeo Re’s story and character development - from being an orphan/convict to the trusted Junior Supervisor of Team Genie. The bond that he has with his Son (doggie) is very sweet. I also love the friendship and father/son relationship between Yoon Keyo Re and Kang Tae Shik as well. I think the complicated brother/sister dynamics lasted a little too long and slowed down the pace of the drama in the middle. The plot about the gangster/loan shark is a little over dramatic and doesn’t jive well with the overall tone of the drama.

I would love to know more about other members of Team Genie. I am a little disappointed not to see more of Cook Yeom Soon Ja’s backstory. I love how she can see through Yoon Kyeo Re and Ha Joon Kyung's sad childhoods of never having enough good food to know what their favorite foods are. I really like her love for everyone by providing delicious meals. But I want to see more! I also want more of the lovely older couple. Don’t we all wish to grow old with someone who loves and cares for you just like the older gentleman? The way he looks at his wife is so full of love.

Overall, I do think this is a good drama. But to me, it’s just missing something to really move me and hold my attention throughout the whole 16 episodes. I do have to say it ends on a strong note. The last episode is touching (not heart wrenching) and very sweet.


Completed: 10/28/2022

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Heart Warming and Satisfying

Brilliant Concept and lovely execution . I won't say that its the best of the series , but its very satisfying and the loop holes get covered by the brilliant performances by the cast . The ending was just amazing ! I gave it a 10 on 10 coz I really enjoyed it a lot.

All the 4 main characters were phenomenal !
Song Dong ll - What a lovely portrayal of his character . He is an amazing character and the favourite ahjusshi of K-dramas !

Ji Chang Wook - Haven't seen a K-drama actor better than him ! He is just absolutely amazing , he can act only with his eyes . Every damn expression is so readable.

Choi Soo young - This is my first time watching her and she was a treat . This is called a strong female lead , not the annoying ones K-dramas usually have. She was a very loveable characters.

Won Ji An - She has a great reach as a performer , just like JCW . She acted crazy , emotional , broken and happy and was amazing with all her scenes.

So far the series I have seen , I can say that this series in one of the best in this genre !! Highly recommended .

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A Watchable Slice of Life Drama

Definitely its unlike for a kbs drama. They must followed tvn's style, but somehow they made it, but to ve honest u can't beat the best in this business, so i can't label it as a best but overall it was a good watchable drama in the end.

I liked the story and the way they narrated the screenplay. It was perfect for this genre, even for a small scene can change the whole mood of the drama. So many good episodes. There were some lagging and slowness but actually everything all together looks super interesting after every Episodes. The important thing was i didn't get bore even after 12th episode, u can feel the emotions in every episode and it look so refreshing.

Performance is amazing. Especially this side of Ji Chang Wook i always love to see more. Finale Episode is also heartwarming and beautiful. I Liked the way they ended everything..also romance was good as well. If you like slice of life feel good dramas then you can definitely try this out..

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A BEAUTIFUL STORY WITH A GREAT MESSAGE!

A very beautiful story with so much depth. This drama is very important for me, it has so many messages but i think the most important one is that you cant judge a person if you dont know him and his story. The more i watched the more i loved not only the plot but also the characters, i adored most of them either if they were good from the start or if the became good at the end. What amazed me was the amount of plot twists this drama had, like almost each episode something crazy happened and i was speechless. This drama had so many powerful scenes, i cried a lot watching it but at the end i had a sweet taste even if the last episode was hard to finish, it broke my heart but also fixed it somehow. It had the right amount of comedy and mystery too.

The characters were all so well written and with many layers that was so fun to get to know more of them, Their stories really broke my heart, most of them had a very sad backstory we got to watch, it was so beautiful. Kyeo Re was an exeptional character, even if he was so cold at first, he became such a softy, they did a great job with him, he is very real and likable. His relationship with Yeon Joo was so sweet and i like how they gave them time and didnt rash anything, her character in general was a very good one. Tae Shik character was a very heartbreaking one, i loved him, everyone in Genie team were great people, but he was the most caring and helpful, i am so happy he got all this people and found a new family. The entire genie team was like a big family, all of them were so sweet. Joon Kyung was so annoying at first but she became one of the best characters, by the end i can tell she was probably the most interesting character. Her relationship with Seok Joon confused me so much, i kinda ship them at first but after i realized their backround i just wanted them to be a happy family, this two had the best character development i loved them. Also i love that Joon Kyung kinda became the little sister for everyone, even for Yeon Joo, i imagine all of them eating together as a family.

The end was so beautiful, that is why i say that even if it had a sad feeling, it left me with a sweet taste! I could actually see them making a second season, with more stories, the last scene proved that they could make a season 2 etc.

Overall, its a great drama and i have to say a must watch for me,

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When the mystery (almost) ruins the show.

I’m just frustrated, because the good parts were really good, but the bad parts made it close to impossible for me to enjoy them.

What seemed like a bitter-sweet slice of life, that will move you to tears and make you appreciate the small things in your life, changed into a ridiculous no brain mystery about a character no one truly cared about and mobs. There was truly no reason to give them so much attention, and I highly doubt anyone would complain much, if they were used just as backstory devices and nothing more.

You know when a heartwarming slice of life shows work? When they are relatable. When the stories told in them hit close to home, since you either experience these things yourself, or you know someone who experienced them. It’s meaningful, because it’s a daily life we all have to deal with at some point. So why ruin the best aspect of slice of life, by adding borderline makjang plot lines and then focusing the majority of screen time on them as the drama gets closer to the end?

You can probably feel my frustration, but it’s because I truly adored a lot of the elements of this show, just for my joy to be cut short by things that were not even necessary.

Everything that was related to the Genie team? Amazing. I loved Gyeo Re and how raw the character was. The complexity of the emotions presented - perfection. Ji Chang Wook made a good choice picking this role and it’s nice to see him back on track with some more challenging projects. He managed to show vulnerability, but also emotional strength. The gradual development of the character was impeccable. Not to mention how his story clearly shows men can be victims of abuse too, and psychological abuse is as much of an important issue as physical abuse.

While I was not amazed with the writing of Seo Yeon Joo, Choi Soo Young did a great job with the role. The character was just slightly too perfect for me. The impulsivity at the beginning was gone after maybe 2 episodes, and from that point, it was close to impossible to find any real flaw in her.

Sung Dong Il is Sung Dong Il - he always delivers. Kang Tae Shik won my heart. Must say though, I liked his (sadly limited) interactions with Ha Joon Kyung the most. She was also one of my favorite characters - such a troubled person with so much pain. I wish the writers gave her a little bit more screen time, so we could truly dive deeper into who she was. That said, she might be a character many people fail to sympathize with. Girl had issues and she created a lot of issues for other characters.

The compliments go to the whole Genie cast - all actors did an amazing job, and the characters felt like real people. Most of them got enough screen time to make them an important part of the team and the plot, and flesh them out a bit.

The stories of the patients and their last wishes were tears-inducing and I welcomed the pain, but also the warm feeling they brought. Some I enjoyed more than the others, but all had meaningful messages and presented cohesive stories that many could relate to.

And then we have two side plots that I could truly not stand - the mystery of room 403, and the mob/mafia. When I started the show, I did not exactly sign up for soft makjang plot lines, but that’s what was delivered. Compared to the rest of the stories told in the drama, these two just felt cheap. Technically it wasn’t a massive part of the plot, but I found these scenes unnecessary, and that influenced how the whole episodes affected me emotionally (or rather did not, since I could not shake off the frustration caused by these two plotlines).

Still, the drama offers more good than bad. The production value was top notch - screenshotable for sure. Soundtrack, while not exactly memorable, fitted the scenes and overall atmosphere of the show. The songs I personally enjoyed the most were: I Can't Forget You by Kim Feel; I'll Protect You by Choi Yu Ree.

Overall, If You Wish Upon Me is similar to a protagonist from any well written drama - great spirit, depth, complexity that makes you emotionally invested in them, but also having a major flaw needing a major character development. Sadly, dramas don’t get character developments so the flaws stay as part of it forever.

Bonus: I want a short 2nd season with Lee Yoo Mi. She can deliver anything. Just don’t add mobs please ;)

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A Quiet Look at Life's End

Honestly, if you told Ji Chang-Wook to play a snail, I'm pretty sure he'd nail it. That's how good he is, and it's tough to find fault when you've got two seasoned pros like him and Sung Dong-il on screen. Sung Dong-il, bless his heart, has been gracing our screens for what feels like centuries.

I went into "If You Wish Upon Me" ready for an emotional downpour, tissues at the ready. But to my surprise, it wasn't quite the tearjerker I anticipated. Oddly, with each passing, it felt more like, "Okay, at least they're not suffering anymore." Maybe it's because many of the characters were older, but it truly hit differently. The only moment that actually brought a tear to my eye was for the young character, maybe because they were in their prime years, It was more impactful, but lets be honest, no end is ever celebratory.

I really appreciated the show's calm and quiet moments. When no one was getting an unsolicited baseball bat massage (seriously, what was with the bad guys and their love for bats and golf clubs as weapons?), the peaceful scenes truly shone.

The drama held up well until about midway. That's when certain side stories started to take over, which felt a bit much. I get that they needed to connect to the main character's past, but a side plot really shouldn't hog more than a couple of episodes, especially in a 16-episode series. All that gangster arcs ate up precious time that could have been used to grant more final wishes.

And while I'm not exactly a fan of funerals, I think the show missed a trick by not showing Captain Kang Tae-sik's farewell. Imagine all those characters gathering to say goodbye to a legend, and seeing how utterly heartbroken Yun Gyeo-rye (Ji Chang-Wook) would have been watching his adoptive father and savior leave this world. That would have been truly sad and meaningful.

I also really wanted to see Jang Seok-jun and Ha Joon-kyung meet outside the hospital. Their character growth was definitely a highlight of the show.

Overall, "If You Wish Upon Me" is a surprisingly gentle drama tackling a heavy subject. It certainly makes you ponder a lot about what it means to reach the end of life's journey.

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