This review may contain spoilers
Are we romanticizing stalkers now?
So I'll skip the introduction because I don't really have much to introduce and i'll get right to the pros and cons.
PROS:
1. Great OSTs
2. Acting was really good by the MCs
3. Was able to put forward a very melancholic and sad vibe
4. Very intriguing supernatural premise
5. Amazing visuals
6. The whole drama felt super artistic and more like a movie
CONS:
1. ML is obviously a stalker: Like I mentioned in the title I literally felt like the ML was a stalker throughout majority of the drama, He literally follows the FL silently, tracks her steps, literally invades her privacy on multiple instances and spies on her blatantly. His intentions literally don't matter because at the end of the day they were not friends and they barely knew each other so his obsession with her is a bit iffy to say the least.
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edit:-
I'm not a psychologist or a lawyer, but where I'm from stalking is when someone is being tracked without their consent ... and i went down the google rabbit hole and found some closely related definitions to dong-jin's actions which i have pasted below.
(relationship between perpetrator and victim) Strangers: These victims are typically unaware of how their stalkers began stalking because typically these stalkers form a sense of admiration for their victims from a distance (sounds familiar? thought so.)
(the type of stalker i think he is in some capacity) Intimacy seekers: they seek to establish an intimate, loving relationship with their victim. Such stalkers form a spectrum from those with erotomania, to those who do not believe their love is reciprocated but who insist with "delusional intensity" of their eventual success, and to other rigid, obsessive individuals.
*********
2. ML's Love for FL: Ok a simple crush is understandable, I'm sure everyone falls for someone in high school and she has that mysterious pretty girl aura so obviously he fell for her but what he does next is the concerning part. He takes up statistics and he himself states that it is to solve her issue, if they were friends or at the very least acquaintances this decision would make a whole lot more sense but considering they only exchanged a few glances it seems WAY too WEIRD. He even befriends people like her and his whole life is in a way catered to her which is weird and creepy af.
3. The FL's acceptance of his confession: The FL lets be real here, is desperate for love, I wonder if what she feels for ML is "love" or just delusion because I think any normal woman would have felt extremely creeped out if her highschool classmate rented a house that could see directly into her house and literally wrote blogs about her every movement, and i think its because she is so starved of love that she accepts him in the end.
4. This show could easily have been a movie: Honestly At first i felt this drama should have had 16 eps or atleast 12 (after ep1) but after finally finishing it i felt like they could have put the same content into a movie and it would have been way better because 1) it would have been short 2) the unnecessary scenes they added would have been cut out
5. why was there another witch?: ok i get that they want to show mi-jung is not the only one etc. but its weird that the ML has an obsession with cursed people...like why is his closest friend and the girl he has a "small" crush on of the same type? It clearly shows how unsettlingly obsessed he is with her
6. Purpose of the curse: was hoping to see this but got nothing, i wish they told us why mi-jung and the guy friend were chosen...was there something they did as children? but i doubt anyone should be punished so cruelly for something they did as kids...why is it her(like she herself asks i believe)? I wonder why they didn't analyze the past cases of "witches" and formulate a hypothesis on why one is chosen ...(Also during research don't you try to figure out the possible causes rather than making blanket statements like "anyone who loves her and confesses will die?" and then jumping out to do the same?
7. The 2nd couple: This was very silly, No idea why they fell for each other, his acting was lackluster and them as a whole felt unnecessary and repetitive for the plot...And as a stats major why is he assuming that mi-jung and his friend are the same type of witch? just because one rule works for mijung doesn't mean it will work for him right? and she is literally risking her life for a confession after knowing him for what? 2 weeks? which seems waaay too unrealistic even for a drama on witches
8. Pacing: Like many people mentioned while the drama was airing the pacing was horrible, it was extremely slow and it was slow for no reason, and istg they'd literally give extras more screentime than the lead couple in some of the eps with no apparent reason I may mention
9. The couples were repetitive: we have a witch and a guy who likes her (who has a male witch friend)
and a girl who likes the male witch and has a female witch friend......I can get past the ML's obsession coming to fruition because she also kind off liked him as kids but why does the second couple make any sense? it felt like they just put them together because its normal for there to be 2 pairs of couples by the end minimum and honestly the parallels aren't that good because its literally just a gender swap
10. ML is manipulative: Now lastly the biggest issue i have was the ending, he makes her get to know about the rules via his friend and in a way literally forces her to accept his confession (she will obviously be touched if she knows he will die if he confesses and that she can save him by falling in love with him and accepting him forever)
11. Is he really helping her live a normal life? : The ML states in the beginning that he wants to help her be normal so shouldn't he be finding out how to stop her from being a witch rather than making rules to approach her (because lets be real here she won't fall in love with someone she saw for the first time, and it would be difficult for them to be with her without falling for her and in turn getting hurt)
I also wish they showed us life post confession because I really want to know if she still causes the death of men that like her.
All in all the cons outweigh the pros for me but if you are looking for an angsty romance (don't expect any skinship though lmao) with a hint of thriller and you don't mind draggy scenes, this one might be for you. I think the plot was unique and if executed better had the potential to be one of the best short dramas of this year.
PROS:
1. Great OSTs
2. Acting was really good by the MCs
3. Was able to put forward a very melancholic and sad vibe
4. Very intriguing supernatural premise
5. Amazing visuals
6. The whole drama felt super artistic and more like a movie
CONS:
1. ML is obviously a stalker: Like I mentioned in the title I literally felt like the ML was a stalker throughout majority of the drama, He literally follows the FL silently, tracks her steps, literally invades her privacy on multiple instances and spies on her blatantly. His intentions literally don't matter because at the end of the day they were not friends and they barely knew each other so his obsession with her is a bit iffy to say the least.
********
edit:-
I'm not a psychologist or a lawyer, but where I'm from stalking is when someone is being tracked without their consent ... and i went down the google rabbit hole and found some closely related definitions to dong-jin's actions which i have pasted below.
(relationship between perpetrator and victim) Strangers: These victims are typically unaware of how their stalkers began stalking because typically these stalkers form a sense of admiration for their victims from a distance (sounds familiar? thought so.)
(the type of stalker i think he is in some capacity) Intimacy seekers: they seek to establish an intimate, loving relationship with their victim. Such stalkers form a spectrum from those with erotomania, to those who do not believe their love is reciprocated but who insist with "delusional intensity" of their eventual success, and to other rigid, obsessive individuals.
*********
2. ML's Love for FL: Ok a simple crush is understandable, I'm sure everyone falls for someone in high school and she has that mysterious pretty girl aura so obviously he fell for her but what he does next is the concerning part. He takes up statistics and he himself states that it is to solve her issue, if they were friends or at the very least acquaintances this decision would make a whole lot more sense but considering they only exchanged a few glances it seems WAY too WEIRD. He even befriends people like her and his whole life is in a way catered to her which is weird and creepy af.
3. The FL's acceptance of his confession: The FL lets be real here, is desperate for love, I wonder if what she feels for ML is "love" or just delusion because I think any normal woman would have felt extremely creeped out if her highschool classmate rented a house that could see directly into her house and literally wrote blogs about her every movement, and i think its because she is so starved of love that she accepts him in the end.
4. This show could easily have been a movie: Honestly At first i felt this drama should have had 16 eps or atleast 12 (after ep1) but after finally finishing it i felt like they could have put the same content into a movie and it would have been way better because 1) it would have been short 2) the unnecessary scenes they added would have been cut out
5. why was there another witch?: ok i get that they want to show mi-jung is not the only one etc. but its weird that the ML has an obsession with cursed people...like why is his closest friend and the girl he has a "small" crush on of the same type? It clearly shows how unsettlingly obsessed he is with her
6. Purpose of the curse: was hoping to see this but got nothing, i wish they told us why mi-jung and the guy friend were chosen...was there something they did as children? but i doubt anyone should be punished so cruelly for something they did as kids...why is it her(like she herself asks i believe)? I wonder why they didn't analyze the past cases of "witches" and formulate a hypothesis on why one is chosen ...(Also during research don't you try to figure out the possible causes rather than making blanket statements like "anyone who loves her and confesses will die?" and then jumping out to do the same?
7. The 2nd couple: This was very silly, No idea why they fell for each other, his acting was lackluster and them as a whole felt unnecessary and repetitive for the plot...And as a stats major why is he assuming that mi-jung and his friend are the same type of witch? just because one rule works for mijung doesn't mean it will work for him right? and she is literally risking her life for a confession after knowing him for what? 2 weeks? which seems waaay too unrealistic even for a drama on witches
8. Pacing: Like many people mentioned while the drama was airing the pacing was horrible, it was extremely slow and it was slow for no reason, and istg they'd literally give extras more screentime than the lead couple in some of the eps with no apparent reason I may mention
9. The couples were repetitive: we have a witch and a guy who likes her (who has a male witch friend)
and a girl who likes the male witch and has a female witch friend......I can get past the ML's obsession coming to fruition because she also kind off liked him as kids but why does the second couple make any sense? it felt like they just put them together because its normal for there to be 2 pairs of couples by the end minimum and honestly the parallels aren't that good because its literally just a gender swap
10. ML is manipulative: Now lastly the biggest issue i have was the ending, he makes her get to know about the rules via his friend and in a way literally forces her to accept his confession (she will obviously be touched if she knows he will die if he confesses and that she can save him by falling in love with him and accepting him forever)
11. Is he really helping her live a normal life? : The ML states in the beginning that he wants to help her be normal so shouldn't he be finding out how to stop her from being a witch rather than making rules to approach her (because lets be real here she won't fall in love with someone she saw for the first time, and it would be difficult for them to be with her without falling for her and in turn getting hurt)
I also wish they showed us life post confession because I really want to know if she still causes the death of men that like her.
All in all the cons outweigh the pros for me but if you are looking for an angsty romance (don't expect any skinship though lmao) with a hint of thriller and you don't mind draggy scenes, this one might be for you. I think the plot was unique and if executed better had the potential to be one of the best short dramas of this year.
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