Photo courtesy of Channel A
Photo courtesy of Channel A
Park Jin-young and Noh Jung-eui, the ‘living theater trendsetters, have done it. Channel A‘s weekend drama ‘The Witch’ took first place on Netflix Korea’s ‘Top 10 Series’ in just 4 episodes. This is thanks to the fresh ‘chemistry’ completed by Park Jin-young and Noh Jung-eui and the mystery thriller story that they piece together like a puzzle, catching the curiosity of viewers and quickly building a fandom.
As of the morning of the 26th, ‘The Witch’ took first place on Netflix‘s drama popularity chart, ‘Today’s Top 10 Series in Korea’. After its first broadcast on the 15th, it stayed in second place on the chart until it rose to the top for the first time on the 25th and maintained its ranking for two days.
Photo source | Netflix screen capture
This score is even more eye-catching because it beat out popular dramas produced directly by Netflix, such as ‘Trauma Center’ ‘Melo Movie’. OTT TVing, which releases the drama together with Netflix, is also maintaining 6th place, competing with original content such as ‘Study Group’ ‘Kim Sung-geun‘s Winter Vacation’.
Viewers are responding that the fun has doubled as Park Jin-young, who plays the main character Lee Dong-jin, has recently jumped into saving Noh Jeong-ui, played by Park Mi-jung, from the ‘curse’.
Photo courtesy of Channel A
In the drama, Noh Jeong-ui is branded a ‘witch’ and lives alone after the men she loves die one after another. Park Jin-young, who had a crush on her in high school, wants to become a data expert and use big data to dispel the prejudice surrounding Noh Jeong-ui. In episodes 3 and 4 that aired on the 22nd and 23rd, he quits his job at a data analysis company he was working at to get closer to Noh Jeong-ui and moves in front of her house.
Park Jin-young comically adds a spoonful of romance by trying to get closer to Noh Jeong-ui. In addition, the drama densely builds up the desperate feelings of love by intersecting Noh Jeong-ui’s desperate loneliness, where she talks to a scarecrow on the rooftop, and Park Jin-young‘s regret for not being able to even comfort her.
Park Jin-young and Noh Jeong-ui (from left) as presenters of the ‘1st The Awards’. Reporter Joo Hyun-hee teth1147@donga.com
Nevertheless, the fact that the male and female leads never appear in the same scene together in four episodes is emerging as another ‘viewing point’ of the drama. On Channel A and Netflix’s official SNS, there are many playful comments such as “It seems like the catharsis will explode just by seeing these two later” and “When will the scene where they talk come out?”, making people laugh.
Their ‘two shots’, which we haven‘t seen in dramas, came true in an unexpected place. At the ‘1st The Awards’, held on the 22nd, Park Jin-young and Noh Jung-eui became a hot topic among fans when they went up on stage together as presenters of the ‘The Awards Black Label Record of the Year’.
Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com
This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.
