Witch 39;s Romance Ep 1 Eng Sub

[Eliecer Brathwaite]

A middle-aged woman is disliked by her coworkers due to her rude manners. When she's humiliated by them in public one day, a young man comes to her rescue and helps her save face. The two are thrown together in work and life, and are deeply attracted to each other despite their age difference.

Na-rae helps Ji-yeon clean her apartment and invites her to stay with her and her husband for a while, but Ji-yeon declines. Dong-ha barges in, upset that Ji-yeon has again gone off without telling him, after he instructed her to stay at his place.

Eun-chae dejectedly takes her flowers away, but Dong-ha stops her and asks for the flowers loudly and pointedly while shooting eye-daggers at Ji-yeon. He keeps glaring while making loud comments about how pretty the flowers are, obviously trying to teach Ji-yeon a lesson about being a nice person, but she just ignores him.

Eun-chae enters, dressed exactly like Ji-yeon (to support her) and Dong-ha again points out how very pretty she is, earning a glare from Ji-yeon. Eun-chae passes out snacks, but Ji-yeon leaves and orders Dong-ha to follow her (and he looks pretty happy to obey).

Thank you for the recap. I'm enjoying this, but can't help comparing it to My Queen, with Cheryl Yang and Ethan Ruan. It's probably better for the viewer not to see the original. I think MQ was a lot better (but too long and went a little crazy with the plot) and the age difference is too great in this drama. I decided to give this a good try, tho', since I'm a fan of UJH.

Yea, I agree that though My Queen is better, it dragged out too long at the end. I also feel that the age difference is too great in this drama. She's almost old enough to be his mother! Gasp! Nonetheless, seeing how the original script was pretty well written(for the first 10 episodes anyway), I am not surprised to find this drama enjoyable too.

I agree. Cheryl Yang in MQ looks younger and match well with Ethan Ruan better. The director should cast someone who looks younger. Ji-yeon had too much plastic surgery and it makes her looks older than 39 years old even though she looks pretty but she looks too much older than Yong Ha. This reminds me of Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher age difference. Still I like this story line better because of the fast pace.

I wish I could be in the recappers' shoes since they haven't seen My Queen yet. That fresh perspective would be enough for me to enjoy this but alas. My Queen was amazing despite its flaws and this drama is really nothing compared to it.

Where Lollypip praised Uhm Jung-hwa, I can only criticize her simply because she turned Cheryl Yang's beloved Wu Shuang and made a mellower, softer, gentler, cuter version of it which completely lessens the impact of what the whole series was about. How can a witch be so cute?? She's supposed to be abrasive and justify her coworkers' aggravation towards her cutting attitude; not make them look unreasonable in their attempts to belittle her. She's supposed to be a seemingly impenetrable fortress of her own, not letting a "kid" take care of her finger wounds like the damsels in distress that she denounces. The whole point of My Queen was this woman who grew a tough outer shell after a heartbreak that fends off everyone except those who happened to glimpse the cracks in her armor and saw the soft underbelly. But if we already have a cute, practically harmless Ban Ji Yeon, then where's that storyline and character growth that delighted me so? Wu Shuang was truly THE Queen, exuding authority and power while reigning over puppy hearts. Ban Ji Yeon, unfortunately, does not justify her title of a witch. She's like a princess pretending half-heartedly to be one. Where's the fun in that?

Anyways, this will be my last ranty comparison between the two dramas. It's a little unfair to constantly be spoiling the mood for those who enjoy Witch's Romance so I will also give it a rest. ;) I just had to let this out of my system before I completely adjusted my expectations and feelings so I could join in the fun of squeeing over an OTP.

First and foremost, the TV culture of Taiwan is VERY different from that of Korea. For instance, like "In Time with You," 'My Queen" is a romantic drama that tries to connect romance with everyday reality. The audience of Taiwanese trendy dramas is constituted mostly college students and career women. I might risk generalization, but he gender politics in Taiwan is drastically different from that in Korea. Women are never expected to quit their jobs after marriage and in fact women choose career over marriage because they enjoy economic independence. Therefore, in both "My Queen" and "In Time with You," the main female protagonists have their career goals and there is a lot of portrayals about the women in the workplace. Even in the sequel to "It starts with a kiss, " it touches upon the self-fulfillment of Xiangqin.

In comparison, Witch's Romance is a Korean rom-com by convention. Just look at the depictions of JY's office--it is NOT realistic at all. I think that the premise of Witch's Romance is meant to be zippy and light-hearted. Therefore, I don't think that it is appropriate to compare JY to Wu Shuang. I actually like the fact that everyone is quite harmless in WR. (The second female lead in My Queen looks vicious right from the very beginning, for instance). At the same time, although I really liked My Queen, I also find that the characterization of Wu Shuang reinforces the stereotype of a career woman as bitchy and cold, and only love can be the cure.

Okay, so the issue is that WR is a remake of MQ. I get that they have to adapt it to the Korean culture but that doesn't mean they take out the essence of what the characters were. That sort of thing is universal. I'm neither Korean nor Taiwanese, but I could follow along Wu Shuang's feelings and understand her thoroughly every step of the way. What does general adjectives like being cute or cold have to do with culture?

Also, Wu Shuang never portrayed the stereotype that career women are bitchy and cold. All I saw was that she was naturally standoffish to everyone around her because she formed this outer shell to protect herself. Add to that a nice, healthy ego and some petty jealousy.....and you get a quite jerk-ish Wu Shuang full of bite. So she isn't like that just because she's a career woman. Nor was she cured of her coldness because of love. She still taunts her coworkers, she still remains on the defensive, etc, etc. To the people that matter does Wu Shuang reveal the softness, gentleness, and love that had always been present there.

It's actually not a big deal as I seem to be making it. Like I said, I have to change my expectations around. And this show is pretty good on its own, without the MQ baggage attached to it. In fact, I'm very pleased with Park Seo-joon's Dong-ha. He embodied Ethan Ruan's Lucas very well while also giving him an added dimension which I like.

I agree on the big difference in culture - especially the gender politics - in Taiwan. Even though I am not Asian, it is very obvious both in being there and in the dramas. And it is not only a lot different from Korea, but from China and most other Asian countries (probably nearest is Hong Kong).

That said, I cannot stand most Taiwan TV dramas. In fact "My Queen" is one of the only two that I can recall ever finishing. I totally detested Deja Vu, for example. It seems like nearly all are unrealistically bland and silly.

I've seen MQ too, and to be honest, in the past I haven't seen a sequel that I liked more than the original, but I can really say this is my first, I like WR more than MQ, and this is why.
First, MQ acting got unecessarily exaggerated at times, WR gets the fun while keeping it real.
Second, Lucas was a jerk at times with YG, and Dong Ha really you can't help but love him he really has a nice balance in his personality.
Third, in MQ you could tell YG fell first for Lucas and in WR I like that is Dong Ha the one who is falling first.
In conclusion, of course both versions have to be different and the great thing about it is that the did a great job with the original but even though we are only beginning with this one is not doing bad at all either, I feel a lot more chemistry with this couple than with the originals.

Lucas was a wee bit jerk-ish but I think it fit well with his hot-blooded youth character that was made to depict the sharp contrast of the age gap (since Wu Shuang was the calmer, sensible one--a mark of her maturity).

The grandma's boy whom Ji-yeon was set up by her mom is quite funny. The actor played a tough quiet brother in Golden Rainbow so him playing the crazy Oriental med doctor was polar opposite of the big oppa in Golden Rainbow.

the chemistry between two leads are great and the plot is well written with good pace. I just hope that the love triangles won't get too complicated. In K drama there is always a heart breaking point but I do not want to see Dong-ha suffer from it. He is just too nice!!

That cameo by Lee Jae Yoon was hilarious! :D Finished watching Heartless/Cruel City (def makes it to my list of top 5 dramas of 2013) just a few days ago, so it's funny watching him play the character of a weird manchild here.

Yes, cute and fun! I'm enjoying this too. I was checking out what other shows PHS had done & realized he'd been on an RM "Olympics" episode. I watched the episode again; he was pretty outgoing. He and his noona's personalities fit well into these characters. Even though I pretty much know what'll happen with the other potential romance candidates, the age gap is considerable, and even though I don't mind if there is NOT HEVA endings in kdramas/rom-coms, I really want these two to be solidly together in the end.

I was surprised when soo Jung let her daughter go off with a unfamiliar man last ep but was even more surprised to see her non reactiom to bejng kidnapped. Nonetheless its good to see jeong do dealt with- didn't want this to be another drama with a creepy sitalker/killer lurking in the background. I do wonder why no one went to the police but nvm this is a fun easy to watch drama thus far. Love the chemistry between the leads and like their characters. Laughed at how proudly ji yeon strode in her orange caramel gear and was dissapointed to see eun chae show up the same, and at the fact it seemed dong hae asked her to? Eun chae is too nice its suspicious. I hope the drama stays light and focused on the leads

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