It’s okay... I guess?

If you are wanting to watch something shorter, with fantasy elements and pretty high production value, this is certainly a good show. But it’s also not much more than that.

First things first: this in comparison to Hotel del Luna and Mystic Pop-up bar. I’ve seen both hotel del luna and mystic pop-up bar, but this definitely has some things that set it apart. HDL and MPUB have more of an “unconditionally help good people with their wishes” vibe, but the witch’s diner is really a “this-for-that, every wish comes at a price, sometimes people make a mistake and end up regretting their wish because the price just wasn’t worth it” kind of thing, which was cool. But at the same time, it doesn’t really have that feel-good vibe going on, which I especially noticed while watching MPUB. Which is of course okay as well, if that’s not what you’re looking for at least.

As for the plot, it had a lot of potential that it just didn’t reach. I think it was a good idea not to make it 16 episodes, but it just got a bit too much at times for how short the show actually was. I honestly didn’t care about the characters. I forgot the witch existed half of the time, and shes literally a main character (not to mention, the whole reason the show exists). The relationships between the characters also just weren’t that great. Maybe it's because the characters felt boring to me, to begin with, but all the different relationships were pretty boring as well, with the exception of the mother-daughter bond between Jin and her mom (which was amazing). The wishes themselves also left no impact on me at all, because so little time was spend on them.

But it has nice set design, the clothes and make-up are pretty alright, the acting was okay and at least I didn’t spend 16 hours on it, you know? It’s a short watch, which made it enjoyable enough to not drop and give it a chance. I definitely don’t regret watching, but the lacklustre characters are the main reason the rewatch value is so low for me.

Sometimes the eating scenes really grossed me out as well due to all the sounds to the point where I had to skip them, but I guess if you’re into ASMR or the like, that won’t really cause a problem.

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Average in many ways, but still worth a try

The show starts off strong, and it just goes a bit downhill from there. In all fairness, I did truly enjoy all the scenes I watched. Problem is, every week there were more and more scenes I started skipping. Though the final few episodes were more intriguing again. I don’t know whether it is because I’m just burned out on palace politics or what, but I couldn’t have cared less about whatever was going on with the king.

I just wished the writers had stuck more with the plot of the first couple of episodes - the family dynamics between Bawu, Cha Dol and Hwa In, and Dae Yeop and his inner struggles with his family. The first few episodes almost felt slice-of-life-y, something we don’t see often in sageuks. But then, of course, the characters can’t just be regular people. No, they have to be either in some way related to the king or of value for the king. I know Hwa In being the princess was part of the plot from the very beginning, it’s even in the summary, but Bawu and Dae Yeop ended up being way too involved imo.

The whole “ML becomes the king’s ‘sword’ for literally no reason”? I’m tired of it. Even more so when the ML doesn’t seem all that trained to begin with.

As for the romance aspect, personally, I didn’t mind the main couple not even sharing a kiss, but if you’re looking for something primarily romance this might not be for you. Though I will say, I do feel like FL and ML genuinely loved each other.

Also, it almost felt like Bawu forgot about Cha Dol about halfway through. Hell, it felt like the writers forgot about Cha Dol altogether, besides a handful of scenes.

But there are plenty of good things as well. I tend to drop shows pretty easily, and I didn’t feel like dropping this at all, despite all the scenes I started skipping.

Firstly, the main characters.

Bawu had many flaws, and he annoyed me a lot in the first few episodes, but I feel like he did go through quite a bit of growth. I liked his loyalty, and the way he genuinely cares for people (even if he is terrible at showing it sometimes).

I wouldn’t call Hwa In a strong female lead by any means, but I still liked how calm she was. She had the patience of a saint though, and I wish she would’ve stood up for herself more, because she truly didn’t deserve most of the things that happened to her. Nevertheless, I enjoyed her calmness and how caring she was.

Dae Yeop was probably my favourite. To me, he often had the most difficult decisions to make. And he didn’t always make the right one, but he seemed like a good guy. All the dude wanted was to be friends with Bawu in episode 1, give him a break ffs.

I also liked the relationships between the characters, and the bond that formed between them (both romantic and platonic ones).

The first half or so was very good as well, and even if the plot got less interesting during the second half, I was still excited to see how the characters handled everything that happened with them.

Besides how the FL and ML got to know each other, I wouldn’t say this show isn’t revolutionary in its plot. A lot of what happened was very predictable, especially if you’ve seen a couple of sageuks before, but that didn’t really bother me that much.

And besides the plot: the soundtrack slaps and is one of the best I’ve heard. The acting is also great, and the whole set and costumes are very aesthetically pleasing as well.

I’m giving it “only” a 7.5 because I have the same feeling now as what I had when I finished The Crowned Clown: the scenes I watched were overall pretty great, and the soundtrack, acting and clothes are great, but there are way too many skippable scenes that just drag the show out, with palace politics where you end up thinking “well, once you’ve seen it in one saguek, you’ve seen them all”. Still, I can see myself rewatching (parts of) this. 7.5 is not a bad score to me, and this show is worth a try if you like any of the main actors, or if you like sageuks in general.

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An okay drama for its length, but not more than that.

First things first, I can’t help but compare this to Alice in Borderland, because that was the first of this genre of show I ever saw. While there are definitely differences, and both shows are good enough to watch them and still make a separate impression, for me AiB takes the cake in the “deadly/survival games”-genre. I think maybe I would’ve enjoyed Squid Game more if I hadn’t watched AiB first, because it set a bar that Squid Game just couldn’t reach.

Now, this review isn’t about AiB, so let’s talk about Squid Game. I think the biggest problem with this show was I had a lot less empathy towards the characters. I didn’t care much about their story, and some of them just felt a bit unfinished and flat to me. I wish we saw more background of some of the main characters. The show was pretty short, but I think it could’ve done with a flashback here and there of the characters pre-game. Some characters were okay, but most of the characters just didn’t seem to understand their actions and decisions have consequences. Consequences they knew about. I will say, the main actors did great though, which was one of the saving graces of the show.

There were also just some disruptive scenes that were just so awkward to watch due to their dialogue. Sometimes I was really immersed in the show, but then there were a couple of scenes that were just so cringy that completely took me out of it. There weren’t too many but I still think the show could’ve done without.

The games themselves were really thought out and I liked that most about the show. But the games themselves, and their result didn’t leave as much of an impression on me due to the characters being so lacklustre.

I think the first few episodes were pretty good, but let’s just say I was glad the final two episodes were only 80 minutes combined in total.

What I did love though were the set design, costume design and background music. Both were so good, quite childlike to fit with the games, but at the same time eerie, to fit with the theme of the show. It really tied everything together.

Overall, I think this is worth trying it out, but only if you’re into this genre. I think it’s mainly worth it because it is so short, so you won’t throw away too much if your time if you end up not enjoying it. That being said, I can’t see myself rewatching this anytime soon.

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Glorious women indeed

Admittedly, I started watching this show for three reasons: strong female leads, Kim Seo Hyung, and a lesbian main character. I was not let down on any of those fronts.

The women in this show are just *chef’s kiss*. Not only Kim Seo Hyung, but Lee Bo Young and Ok Ja Yeon did an excellent job as well. Their characters aren’t perfect, they have flaws, and that’s okay. They felt very real. Besides, women supporting women? We love to see it, truly. A lot of the interactions between them, especially in the later episodes, just made me so happy.

As for the lesbian character, well, I think Kim Seo Hyung portrait her wonderfully. I don’t want to speculate about whether she’s part of the LGBTQIA+ community in the slightest, regardless of whether she is or not, she did a good job. And honestly, at this point, I’ll take all the sapphic representation I can get. Especially when its a main character, and especially with an “older” character. I also liked that it wasn’t the main plot point of the show, and I especially liked that it wasn’t her sole defining character trait. It gives me hope we will see more LGBTQIA+ representation in the future, in a more “casual” way and not only in stories where it is the main plot (though of course I wouldn’t mind seeing more stories where LGBTQIA+ characters and their struggles are the main plot point either, we don’t have enough of those yet either). Honestly, this hit me real hard. I cried multiple times whenever her character was going through it. I cannot speak for the entire community, but personally, I approve of the way this storyline was handled and portait in the show. It was done respectfully, it felt real, it hit home, and it showed that Seo Hyun and Suzy’s love was real and valid.

As for the plot, well, I was prepared for nothing. I was genuinely prepared to sit through 16 hours worth of this kdrama just for Kim Seo Hyung and for the representation. But honestly, the plot wasn’t that bad? The whole subplot with the grand-son and the maid was quite... meh (I have no clue how they even fell in love to begin with, but whatever, their story was only a small part of the show anyway), but in general I didn’t mind the plot. I was actually very invested at times. No, it wasn’t mind blowing, but oh well, I’m just watching this for entertainment anyway, I didn’t really mind. This show definitely wasn’t plot-driven, and I’m not sure if it was going for that or not, but regardless I didn’t feel like i was watching 16 hours of nothingness either. It didn’t even feel all that dragged out, but maybe my mind is just clouded because I loved the characters so much. Or maybe it’s because I don’t watch makjang often, so I don’t have much to compare it with. I will say though, the final four or so episodes were edited in a very confusing way. I guess it was to make the whole mystery last longer and to keep people watching, but still.

Anyway, if you are a fan of any of the three female leads, I definitely recommend this. They did an outstanding job. The other actors did as well. If you just want to see some strong female leads, and with women supporting women, this show is worth a shot as well. And if you are like me and are looking for representation, or you want to support a show with a canon lesbian main character, please give this show a try. But do keep in mind, this kdrama is not only about that, its rather a subplot. Some episodes it isn’t mentioned at all, and sometimes it’s used against her. Still, it’s definitely there, and it doesn’t stop her. There is plenty of acceptance, both from others and herself. It’s not just queerbaiting, and it was, in my opinion, done respectfully. I can only applaud that. This review was a bit difficult to write for me, it was difficult to put into words exactly how I felt about Jung Seo Hyun as a character. This show impacted me a lot more than I was expecting. I think while writing this I realized just how glad I was to see this in a kdrama. I didn’t expect to be this overwhelmed to be honest. Idk, it’s late and I’m tired. I guess all I can say is thank you to the entire team for how they handled the storyline especially in regards to Jung Seo Hyun as a character, And thank you to Kim Seo Hyung for portraiting it so well too.

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