Can actor Park Jin-young save Noh Jeong-eui, who is mistaken for a ‘witch’?

Channel A‘s new weekend drama ‘Witch’ (directed by Kim Tae-gyun / written by Jo Yoo-jin) is a drama based on the popular webtoon of the same name by Kang Full. It depicts a mysterious romance between ‘Dong-jin’ (played by Park Jin-young), a man who wants to break the laws of bad luck surrounding women called witches, and ‘Mi-jeong’ (played by Noh Jeong-eui), a woman who has become the seed of tragedy and has isolated herself from the world, and who end up saving each other in their never-ending journey.

The biggest point to watch in this drama is “Will Dong-jin, who only believes facts derived from big data algorithms, be able to prove that Mi-jeong is not a ‘witch’?” Here’s a sneak peek at the keywords of ‘The Witch’, which continues the unique worldview of writer Kang Full, who draws salvation and love in mysterious materials such as the supernatural powers of ‘Moving’ and the supernatural of ‘The Lighting Store’.

● The ‘Law of Bad Luck’ of Noh Jeong-ui, Who Is Followed by Death

There are people who, if they just watch a game, the team they root for loses, if they look at the clock, ‘444’ always appears, and if they stand in line at a restaurant, all the ingredients run out in front of them. This is also called ‘Murphy‘s Law’. However, in ‘The Witch’, there is a character who goes beyond this bad luck and follows her to death. That character is Mi-jung, who is called the ‘Witch’. If someone likes her, they get hurt or die. So rumors start to spread that the accident or death is because of her, and regardless of whether it’s true or not, those rumors brand Mi-jung as a ‘Witch’. And that stigma makes her a person who can no longer communicate with the world. Mi-jung herself wants to be forgotten by people in her lonely and lonely loneliness with no exit. Nevertheless, in a corner of her heart, she wants someone to remember her, knock on the door of her heart, and let her go out into the world.

● Park Jin-young, who only believes in facts extracted from ‘big data and algorithms’

The only person who does not agree with that rumor is Dong-jin. He is a person who excludes emotions and only believes in facts derived from big data and algorithms. So, in his head, he cannot understand witches at all. Dong-jin, who liked Mi-jung in high school but could not express his feelings, entered the statistics department and passionately delved into this field, and is currently a data miner who receives the best treatment in the industry. His job is to change and analyze big data from various clients into the desired form and mine the necessary information. Dong-jin meets Mi-jung by chance and tries to make her come back to the world. Beginning a journey to collect big data and find the laws of misfortune within the name of ‘Witch’ that cannot be explained rationally. This is how Dong-jin loves Mi-jeong.

● Salvation of Love Despite This

Writer Kang Full tells the story through unique materials such as the supernatural world of the border between life and death (‘Lighting Store’) and people with superpowers (‘Moving’). And in the end, he delivers a message of great salvation created by the compassion and love of good people.

You can also catch a glimpse of this Kang Full universe in ‘Witch’. The thing that created the witch is the extreme emotion of hatred for others. And the way to save the witch, ironically, is the law of truth that can only be understood rationally. They say that if you love Mi-jeong, death will follow, so Dong-jin jumps into a dangerous journey that risks his life.

Will he be able to show the light of the world to Mi-jeong, who broke the law of misfortune in her own way and went into hiding? The birth of a well-made drama, ‘The Witch’, with the interesting setting and touching narrative, and the sensuous interpretation of director Kim Tae-gyun, who demonstrated his dense directing skills through the movie ‘Dark Figure of Crime’, is raising expectations.

Channel A‘s new weekend drama ‘The Witch’, which is taking over the baton from the box office hit ‘Check-In Hanyang’, will first air on Saturday, February 15th at 9:10 PM, and will meet viewers through a global investment distribution to be released simultaneously worldwide on February 15th.

Jeon Hyo-jin, Donga.com reporter jhj@donga.com