Netflix series Genie, Make A Wish has continued to generate buzz amid sharply polarized reactions since its release. Genie, Make A Wish is a fantasy romantic comedy about a career-break lamp spirit, Genie (Kim Woo-bin), who wakes up after more than a thousand years and meets the emotionally deficient human Ga-young (Suzy), leading to three wishes. Set mainly in Dubai, the series weaves a sweet yet poignant story within an exotic cultural backdrop featuring Satan, lamp fairies, angels and an original world view.
Negative reactions seem more pronounced in episodes 1 and 2. Many viewers say it is hard to immerse themselves during the character build-up that occurs before the main story begins. Writer Kim Eun-sook's distinctive phrasing sparkles and Suzy and Kim Woo-bin offer a visual feast, but the psychopathic characters who move according to set rules and the lamp fairy character's sometimes weary adaptation to modern life and living in Korea clearly require an adjustment period.
The writer's skill begins to show around episode 3. Not only the protagonists but also the surrounding characters' backstories start to pique curiosity, and messages about humanity seep through the flavorful wordplay between characters. The romance of the two men and women who dislike each other in a familiar way leads viewers into a grand epic, weaving vast history like warp and weft and spanning immeasurable eons and spaces beyond the universe. Despite negative opinions that the psychopathic character lacks depth or that the series feels like a bizarre work, becoming a topic of conversation proven by numbers means it has strengths that make viewers unable to stop binge-watching or rewatching.
In particular, the buzz around episode 11, which many call the best episode, has had a positive effect. Word of mouth says episode 11 fully reveals the intertwined narratives of Kim Woo-bin and Suzy's characters, triggering an outpouring of tears and containing the writer's condensed message. There are also responses that episode 11 is so intense that subsequent episodes feel relatively less moving.
In any case, the production team, especially the writer, could hardly have failed to anticipate such polarized reactions to Genie, Make A Wish. As Korea's leading star writer who cannot be confined to a single genre, Kim Eun-sook likely carried out this bold attempt and investment despite concerns. Considering Kim Eun-sook's previous work The Glory, without even tracing her full filmography, one wonders how far the scale and spectrum of the writer's imagination extend. Meanwhile, according to Good Data's analysis, Netflix's Genie, Make A Wish ranked first in overall TV-OTT integrated drama buzz in the first week of October. It recorded a high share of 35.1% of overall drama buzz and ranked first in all four components that make up buzz—news, Voice of Netizen (VON), video and social media. In the TV-OTT integrated drama buzz cast category, Genie, Make A Wish stars Suzy and Kim Woo-bin ranked first and second, respectively.
Regarding this, Won Sun-woo, data PD at Good Data Corporation, said, "With viewer tastes sharply divided, high buzz appears to result from mixed reactions between netizens who finished watching all at once and those currently watching."
Also, according to the Netflix Top 10 website on the 8th, Netflix series Genie, Make A Wish recorded 4 million views (view count defined as watch time divided by the program's total running time) in three days after release and ranked fifth in the global top 10 series (non-English) category. Since its release it has been No. 1 on "Korea's top 10 series," and it has appeared on the top 10 lists in 46 countries worldwide, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Singapore, India, Hong Kong, Thailand, Egypt and Morocco.<
[Photo] Netflix
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