Many fantasy K-dramas stick to the serious side, but Destined with You feels more lighthearted as it starts off with a light jab at the handsome grim reaper trope with SF9’s Rowoon. The show honors many of modern-day fated love tropes, and sometimes makes fun of it, but the series does it in a way that’s grounded in its characters and setting. The show first introduces the main duo as individual people, specifically, characters working with and for the public at large. Because of their jobs, Destined with You acknowledges the modern-day systems we use to deal with day-to-day injustices, but also provides the fantasy of having a second recourse in witchcraft. With the show’s pairing, there’s a hope that one way or another, the two could meet halfway.

On the outside, Destined with You is a modern-day fantasy romance, but with its premise, it naturally also has some courtroom drama, awful workplace dynamics, and, of course, wacky hijinks because of witchcraft. Because of this, the show shifts between tones rapidly. A serious scene of lawyers dealing with client harassment is followed by a lighthearted sequence of two civil servants handling a complaint. A funny sequence re-meeting a boss that you alienated gets followed by a horror-esque scene where a bloody spirit hand caresses a cursed man. While at times it can feel like a bit of a whiplash, the tonal shifts can feel distracting, but ultimately it doesn’t detract from the show’s overall mystery and excitement towards upcoming episodes.