The Witch K-Drama first impression: It's Okay To Not Be Okay gets an extra-dramatic twist

The Witch Story:

Park Mi-jeong joins high school but everybody who tries to get close to her either gets hurt or dies. Thus, she ends up getting the title of The Witch and the curse follows her throughout her life, till her childhood crush decides to finally do something about the situation.

The Witch Review:

The Witch is a drama that leaves you intrigued with its introduction itself. It is slow but has a mysterious vibe. Unfortunately, that's not the exact vibe of episode 1.

We're transported around a casino where people are judged based on their appearances and habits there. Thus begins the story, one where there's business opportunity.

The series is off to a slow and cliched start with Park Jin-young's Lee Dong-jin. Hyun Bong-sik in the role of a goofy detective does not contribute to much either. Ju Ji-hoon, in a surprising cameo appearance though, is much welcomed.

Lim Jae-hyuk has an unrelated entry but is related to Dong-jin. Major crime detective Kim Jung-hyeok and Dong-jin are friends despite being completely different people.

Roh Jeong-eui's Park Mi-jeong gets an introduction her character deserves. She is simple yet mysterious and she catches Dong-jin's eye in an instant. He met her long ago and fell in love back when they were children but like most childhood love stories, had to let her go. Her story, in particular, will transport you back to Kim Soo-hyun and Seo Yea-ji's It's Okay To Not Be Okay, just that this is slightly more dramatic, to the point that the story does not move forward from her school life for the longest period. When the story does move forward, no matter how much it appears intriguing at the forefront, there's little that the scene really has to offer.

It is the end of the episode that really captures your eye, for there is something you might have missed all along, and it is that Mi-jeong might be cursed but could find a way to break the very curse.

Jang Hee-ryung is yet to make an appearance in the series, but for now, The Witch has a slow yet slightly intriguing vibe. One might even call it a slightly more dramatized version of It's Okay To Not Be Okay, where there's power of healing as like-minded people meet.

The Witch Verdict:

The Witch is a slow yet enticing show. There's something that the makers hint at, a potential which is not tapped into yet. As for the first episode, though, it is an It's Okay To Not Be Okay deja vu but slightly more dramatized. More episodes would reveal where the series is actually heading. For now, the drama suffers from the gearing up syndrome.