The usual "be careful what you wish for" but with a few twists.
This show has its ups and downs. Not going to lie, there were more than a few times I wanted to drop this show because I thought it would never "pick up" again. I'm glad I stuck it out though. It turned out better than I thought it would and the last two episodes alone made the whole thing worth watching.Everyone's acting was great but I feel like there were a few to many gaps in some places that could have been easily explained, unless there were and I just missed them. If that is the case, my bad; that's on me. Lol I feel like I will rewatch this again some day so we will have to see if I feel the same way. Lol
There is really so much I want to talk about but I don't want to ruin it for everyone Lol but I will say.... Jin's character is new for me. I'm so used to MFL being kinda push overs and stuff but when it came to her dealing with that asshole, she really shocked me. Now, when she let him off the hook, I thought I thought wrong.... I'm glad I didn't. How she got her revenge was classy as hell IMO. lol I mean let's face it. Not many would do like she did. They would want revenge with blood and gore in anger but she took the higher road.... She took the higher road on a lot, honestly and she is without a doubt my favorite character for that. For me, her character is rare and I appreciate this show a lot more for it.
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Serving Revenges / Wishes as Its Menu
First of all, of course I’m watching this drama because of our unnie Song Jihyo. And this drama, especially her acting didn’t disappoint me. Fyi, this drama titled The Witch’s Diner is about those who have desperates wishes / revenges that hope to come to alive. Once you eat the food made by the witch, you can wish whatever you want. But beware of your wishes, once it’s granted, there’s no way to turn it back. Plus, there’s price that you need to pay for every wishes you uttered.For me, this drama is not just focusing about the witch herself. It’s more than what you can Imagined. I think it can be best depicted as slice of life kind of drama. It shows you the harshness of life one can go through, from heartbreak, greediness, love, friendships, family, happiness, revenge and the closure one might needed. I think, this drama managed to conveyed them all.
For the acting, I don’t have any problem with it. Song Jihyo’s acting is a well-known one. And, of course she didn’t disappoint me. However, I think the production team didn’t give justice to her role, because I can count how many times she appeared on the screen. I want more of her since she was a witch herself and her role is significant in this drama. How I wish the production could give more screen time for her. The acting’s for other main casts is notable and oustanding. I didn’t have any problem with it either. I love the cinematography, the color fit the dark vibrant of witch’s life that we usually imagined, I also love Song Jihyo’s appearance with those black & red dresses, she’s stunning and serving looks as always. The OST, I barely managed to hear one or two of them, but it didn’t stay in my mind for long.
Overall, this drama have a potential to be a great one. Well, probably because it’s written to fit only 8 episodes therefore it can be understandable that everything seems like rush, simple and short. Still, I would like to give credit to the writer for making this drama likeable, and comforting at many point. It’s a heartwarming and so many lessons could be learned. Not every revenge is sweet, some will leave you with burden, agony and pain. Therefore, I rated this drama 8.5/10. Some scenes worth to be watching for the second times, and I would definitely do so.
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Must Watch
Its a short drama which takes you to another world. I loved chae jong hyeop. His acting skills are amazing. I loved the way he supported Nam ji hyun throughout the drama. This drama has a unique plot. It is not boring neither too complicated. I saw different types of food here and learnt about witches. I really liked character of lee gi yong. I was inspired by the fact that he wanted to prove himself that he can do better rather than anyone else. Overall its quite good! Absolutely loved it. Song jihyo is really an amazing actressWas this review helpful to you?
Great Drama!
Song Ji Hyo's performance is outstanding! Her best ever role in my opinion. I think its much better than Mystic Pop-up bar. Scarier more mysterious scenes. The cast is great, the story moves along quickly and the plot twist in the end threw me off. I love the scenes and Ji Hyo's oufits. The lighting and colors in this dramas definitely pulls everything together. I like how the stories are depicted. There isn't much romance in this drama but there's a lot of mystery. I thought I knew what was going to happen but it took a different turn. Very unexpected in a good way.Was this review helpful to you?
Be careful what you wish for...
I truly enjoyed this drama!STORY/WRITING: The story was very cleverly written. Since this was only an eight episode drama, there wasn't filler, which I appreciated. Each story was given its own time to develop and didn't feel rushed at all. There was just enough humor to kind of dial back the "scariness" factor. I'm a big old sissy when it comes to horror and scary things, which was a concern. I needn't have worried. This show brought out things about wishes that we don't often consider. If you wish for something, there will be consequences, sometimes good and sometimes bad. I'm glad they dealt with both sides of the coin on that issue. It also brought to light that we are an intrinsically selfish people, wishing for things that will make us feel better, even at the expense of others (except for the male lead - I loved him and his wish so much). And the consequences that were written for each wish weren't terribly outlandish, so there wasn't a huge need to suspend disbelief.
ACTING: I love Nam Ji Hyun and she didn't disappoint here. I appreciated all the actors and the acting was such that you could believe the fantasy that was unfolding.
CINEMATOGRAPHY/SETS: Beautifully done. The food scenes were beautifully filmed, a lot in slow motion. Good CGI. The inside of the restaurant was wonderful, with many quirky things to see as you watched the drama. I appreciated the darkness at the beginning of the show contrasting with the lightness at the end, showing the personality of each witch.
MUSIC: I don't remember the music specifically, other than the good use of drumming and sound effects during the creepy parts.
REWATCH VALUE: I might watch this again if I want to spend some time just looking at beautiful cinematography and don't want to invest too much time before moving on to a longer drama.
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Missed the mark
I actually really like short interesting dramas and was looking forward to watch this. This drama did have a unique concept(food,wishes). The first few episodes were actually good.The vibe was creepy and every episode focusing on different people life was gripping as well. But, at the same time character development was lacking, most of characters existence is meaningless.
Song Ji-hyo did potrayed a witch character pretty good other that that other actors didn't stand out at all.
It would have been a memorable short unique drama if there were more content showing other people stories more and their wishes. Every thing happen so quickly at the end episodes which was quite disapointing . The ending was so abrupt that made this drama exposed it's plot holes. Overall, definitely a one time watch for it's unique storyline.
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Not bad not great!
I liked the main actors, all 3 of them did a great job. The production quality had been quite excellent as well. 8 episodes to tell a proper story forgoing cliche twists could have been great. Naturally the biggest weak point is the writing. It's really strange, I must once again question the qualifications needed to become a kdrama writer. The writer is certainly not lacking in creativity. There are some outstanding ideas in the drama, the bare bones frame of the story is pretty good. It's nice that the magic is not over explained, I think this is the reason why the original Star Wars films were so good and what followed later so much worse.. The reason why the writing is ultimately weak is that the pacing is just plain bad and the first 2 episodes were pretty boring as well, focusing on things that are not fun to watch and very Korean in a bad way.. So yes, the pacing. The drama only has 8 episodes, but the first 6 were extremely slow. In episodes 3-6 the drama followed a one wish a week format, but unfortunately the individual backstories of the applicants were not all that interesting, or well acted out really. With that in mind, why just why are the last 2 episodes so rushed and so lacking in impact and emotion. I did not feel much of anything upon finishing the last episode. *shrugs*Mystic Pop Up bar is a fairly similar drama, but it's hugely better. The writing is much superior, it's much easier to empathize with the characters. That show caters to the Kdrama genre's strengths much more.
Then again Witch's Diner is worth watching just for Song Ji Hyo. Her clothes and her significantly different looks were quite a sight.. (her acting skill too, I guess :P)
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The OST was good, especially the ending song with the eerie vibes. Out of the characters I liked the female lead Jin the most and the witch of course (I'm a sucker for milfs, don't blame me ?). That reminds me of the outfits, they were great and sooo fashionable as well, they reminded me of Hotel del Luna a lot.
Btw the male lead here is played by the same
actor, who played Do Hyun in Nevertheless so if liked him there, you can check this drama out! There are also two other actors from Nevertheless as well.
I give the rating 8.5/10 to this drama. Enjoyable but some things could have been executed better.
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Different than many fantasy kdramas!!
(Excuse my English it's not my first language)Ok so this plot was kinda new to me as I never watched such drama before. It's an urban-fantsay drama. Llearnt something from it. But I was kinda expecting romance in it but there was no romance between the leads. Story was straight forward and interesting. This mainly focused on real struggles and the plot this drama was based on, other than those unnecessary love triangles, romance or other such stuff. Our words and thoughts are powerful enough to make any wish come true. Be careful what u wish for it might come true. This drama taught that revenge is not all we need and also everything comes up with a price. If your intention is bad , you'll face bad consequences and if your intention is good, you'll be happy but you would have to go through painful experiences too. You need to have patience, just one bad thing can't decide that you will be unhappy forever. We need to go through pain to achieve happiness. Over all one of the best dramas I ever watched. Recommended!!
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It's a really great k-drama
Although I didn't like the way the writers changed some parts of the story from the original manhwa (like the way Na Il Deung quit school instead of going to the university, and the way he didn't decide to meet up with Ah Yi in the last scene, which kind of changed his whole ending), it was a really enjoyable experience. It was truly magical.The acting is immaculate, and the OSTs are so good. To be honest, I didn't expect Ji Chan Wook to sing that well.
Also, the message of the drama/manhwa is so important and cool. I would really recommend it.
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absolute one time watch---- a gripping story!
Gives you a moral in each episode, be careful of what u wish!Honestly, the story is a little slow paced but its really good. You will enjoy it if you liked bed time stories in childhood.
The concept is straightforward - customers make a wish at the eponymous restaurant, and the resident witch-cum-masterchef will magically prepare a unique dish accordingly. Eating the dish will grant the wish but not without a price in return.
This drama certainly reflects the production values strived for by the streaming service. The overall quality and technical aspects, including the visual effects, are unquestionably well executed. The art direction and the production design are quite impressive.
At a relatively short 8 episodes, the storytelling is compact without the intrusion of unnecessary fillers. It is engagingly paced where the drama takes its time to explore the backstories of the various characters. It’s worth pointing out certain themes that may trigger such as abuse and bullying. The sense of tension and anxiety are sufficiently imbued into the story as it unfolds, and continues to build right to the climactic end. Special mentions go to a number of supporting and guest stars who make their appearances in this production.
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underrated gem
"Dont casually judge other peoples wishes and happiness"The drama is short and the story is packed.
Better and deeper than the excerpt.
A business is failing, family secrets are being revealed, and so much more than the excerpt.
all the main character's story arcs are finished well. no one is forgotten or discarded. The climax of the drama (in a way) is anti-climatic yet wholesome. giving it a fresh feeling.
the final episode is mostly fan service.
kudos!
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