The Judge from Hell

Fantasy justice and criticism for real world laws

Justitia is an extremely educated demon, having not only learned demon laws, but apparently all of the law and procedures of the South Korean court system in addition to memorizing the Christian bible and who knows what else. I do wonder if it was also a form of torture for her to endure in addition to being the heir to Bael, but whatever the lore about that, her skills makes her uniquely suited to play the system to her own ends. Manipulating humans while dealing with new feelings that her human body sends her is another issue. She did not understand how crushes causes dangerous impulses like fluctuating with wanting and not wanting the attention of a guy by taunting the police with dead bodies that would lead back to her being a glaring suspect. It's so ridiculous that she knows how the investigations work, but she still leaves the bodies with an extremely unique stamp on the forehead of the bodies around. Her cases draw attention to how the system both in the show and in real life can give slap on the wrists for the most horrific crimes and even in the case of serial killers, they can become "innocent" by just waiting out the clock on the statute of limitations, as well as corruption from the rich and powerful in the justice system.

Although Justitia falling for Da On is a big turning point, it's merely one part of her softening towards humanity. Her heart also pains for other people and she sheds tears for them as well. The Satan hunting Demon charity volunteer group leader and demon crime scene cleaning crew shows that this is a danger and possibility for all demons to become sympathetic to humans, so it's not only Da On causing this in Justitia. I really like that when she asks for 3 years in the human world, it's not to play house with Da On, but to live as an actual human judge full time. She's not at this point centering her life around this man at all, so I'm fine with the romance. The awkward immobile closed mouth kiss scenes never look good, directors need to wake up and accept the fact. The actors show in a much later kiss scene that they can do a normal kiss scene just fine. Also the interrupted kiss gag is also never funny, especially when it's multiple times. The ending has Justitia suddenly given another deal about killing 10 killers to remain human forever and also there is the fate of the original human Judge Kang Bit Na uncertain. It seems to suggest a second season rather than closing out cleanly with room for more, which would have been better as there is never any guarantee for a second season, especially for asian dramas.

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You could say that I’ve been waiting for this drama to come along and sweep me of my feet for some time. A gloomy fantasy with a hint of horror and humor that doesn’t take itself too seriously is something I really enjoy. And then it was kind of a bonus to get a story that gave Park Shin Hye a role that made her shine as brightly as I know she can.

The plot, or the setting around it, was a bit rough around the edges at times. It can certainly be argued that her role as a judge was not particularly necessary for the story itself – she could just as well have worked in a morgue. And as a result, the plot allows itself to play as loosely as it wants with that setting. This is not a serious legal drama, this is a fantasy about demons, and as long as it has its own internal logic that it follows to a point, and it works decently. The court was a decent plot device that moves the story along, but it did feel a tad repetitive and almost too much of a crutch to the story at times.

That internal logic doesn’t drag the story down unless you really focus on how the legal system or anything like that works and perhaps some of the logic of how the underworld functions to be a but flawed, but I don’t find myself wondering too much about it as I watch the show. The fantasy-elements don’t feel too hesitant to play around but it’s not as if things are happening for no reason. It gets a little confusing as we get further into the story, and the cop-part of the story may be a little basic, but the fantasy adds something new and fresh to that tried-and-true story.

The drama focuses a bit on the morality of humans, along with the laws they have made to uphold the justice and the people who break them. There is a certain thrill in watching our main character take revenge on the criminals with the same amount of blood and violence that they inflicted on others. But that part got a bit repetitive until the serial killer storyline really got going. And while I thought the drama did a good job of showing human corruption and how weak the justice system is at times, and getting to see Park Shin Hye in all those action scenes was fun, I wanted a little more out of that theme than we got.

The series was exciting with a lot of action and some violence - without being too gory or too cruel. They managed to balance those things with a decent amount of humor and a gentle character moment. Towards the middle, when everything truly was set in motion, there was not a dull moment to be found, and the drama managed to keep the momentum going until the very end.

One of my favorite things about The Judge from Hell manages to deliver one trope, or the role reversal, which I really enjoy; I adore evil female characters or a cold-hearted immortal female character who bring softer human male characters along with them and little by little she allows herself to open a little. Or the male character allows her feel things for the first time in a long time without her becoming too soft. Seeing female and male characters swapping traditional gender roles is always fun, especially if it’s done well.

The romance was slow, which suits the story well, but it was still full of suspense, tenderness and passion. But the story worked for every smile and every tear the characters produced as the narrative slowly moves from enemies to companions and then to lovers.

The drama seemed to have wholeheartedly embraced its wacky setting and just gone full steam ahead. The thrilling action, the exciting build-up, the internal logic as well as the character moments were something that the drama managed so well, and the acting was good across the board, which made the entertainment value of the drama truly addictive. Although for sure, the drama had its weaker moments when history repeated itself slightly and the special effects were perhaps a little lame at times but that can also be part of the charm.

But what I think makes this drama as good as it was were the characters; the spark between them and the humor. The combination of the motives of the main characters and the way they change places, one becomes warmer and the colder was well deserved within the narrative and even the secondary character was well executed, getting their moments shine and develop within the story.

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Bell curve

Why are drama writers not in favour of writing strong female charcters without any romantic attachments??
Kang Bitna becomes the Nth Strong FL who is bogged down by forced romance and fumbled character development.

Park Shin hye was clearly having the time of her life with Kang Bitna (Please write such witty sassy characters for her, dont pidgenhole her into moppy romantic FLs.). While Kim Jae Young literally plays the damsel in distress. Why did the writers think its a good idea to ruin the ML's character with poor writing. The shift from a confident no nonsense cop to one to the damsel in distress was awful to watch(grave injustice to KJY). They wasted the drama's potential by not exploring a platonic relationship between them. Moreover the runaway devil subplot was way more interesting than the serial killer one. And I am not even touching the choices made for Bitna's character by the writers.
the uneveness made me feel like I was watching 2 different dramas. The first 8 episodes were a solid 9/10 while the 2nd half felt like 6/10.

But even with all its flaws I loved that PSH took up such a role and hope to see her in similar roles like this.
This not a bad drama, but if your willing to overlook its short comings, do give it a try.

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Disappointed....story all over the place.

I didn't enjoy the drama as much as I had hoped. The beginning was promising, and the main female lead carried the show with her excellent portrayal of her character. However, the second half became increasingly ridiculous, with the plot taking a nosedive. It's a shame because the storyline had potential. Additionally, the romance between the characters felt forced and lacked chemistry. The behavior of the main lead was inconsistent and his character seemed poorly developed. As a result, I started to lose interest and found it difficult to stay focused on the show. Also the open ending was unnecessary.

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Park Shin Hye needs to play more feisty roles!

Honestly this exceeded my expecting. I didn’t go in expecting much but I ended up loving every second of it.

I admit the supernatural element had a lot of plot holes but the actors were so good that it didn’t make the experience unbearable. I’m actually genuinely surprised at how much I really liked this.

Also, might I add that this might be Park Shin Hye’s best work yet. She needs to play more feisty roles.

We saw a little bit of that in the first episode of ‘The Doctors’…..But this was fantastic! The feistiness was there from start to finish, it didn’t fizzle out. I love seeing kdrama female leads kick ass.

Loved every minute!

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Fantasy ,, Good story ,, Great acting (from Shin Hye)

Story plot:
The story is good and kinda new. the fantasy was exciting but they should have elaborated on the demonic powers and limitations. Some parts could have been written better as they don't add up like they should.
Some scenes would have been more exciting and events should have been thought through to make more sense.
I didn't feel bored most of the show but it could be cut down to 12 or smth. The best part was Shin Hye's acting.

Acting:
Park Shine Hye's acting is 10/10 but that male lead is not as strong and not meticulously crafted I'll give him 6/10 since he did his part. If the lead actors had had more chemistry it would have been much better. I liked all the other characters they were written just right.

Takeaways:
- They weren't much chemistry between the lead actors, the romance could have been elevated a lot, it was a bit disappointing.
- It was nice overall and I would say it's worth watching.

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Unlike any other drama~

It was a new type of drama that sometime give off Vincenzo feeling; you know how he said at the end that "𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲. 𝐆𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐞."

That's what we also see on this drama where a devil herself judges the evils,, this drama was so good at beginning but got ruined in the middle. Guess they just make it child's fantasy where the leads just lives happily ever after. But you know some story don't just get happy ending all the time, there are some couple who just don't end up together.

I would have loved it more if this fantasy drama was a bit more realistic.

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*𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒓*
there were also some unanswered question like what in the world happened to real Kang Bitna (as she really didn't did anything sinfull to end up in a fake hell) also why Justita was given more time to spend on earth?

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Other than this two the drama is supub! It so intriguing & the chemistry between the leads are just find as wine~
A must watch for those who loves romance with thriller"

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JUST A SCI- FI THRILLER KINDA DRAMA !

At first, I started watching this for just some time. I guess it was worth my time. This drama had a different storyline from other cliche dramas. It started off with a good storyline. As a sci-fi drama, I can say it was good, but it could be much better. I didn't like the ending. There wasn't that much romance, but they added it still a bit. I liked the ML there. I saw him for the first time here in this drama; his acting was good. Park Shin Hye acted good too. loved to see her in a quircky character other than an obedient, crying poor girl. I enjoyed every story though; those cases were amusing to watch. If you love thrillers and sci-fi, you guys can give it a go.

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About Their Acting And storyline of the drama

this Show Is getting better and better.
characters are so good. storyline is perfect.
Park Shin Hye is really a versatile actress, she has been with all types of genre and I like her the most if it is action like in Sisyphus (Kdrama) and Alive (Film), she can really pull off being so badass. She has been such an amazing actress that is hard to beat. She is one of my favorite female leads and I am so happy that even she is now married and a mom, she still looks so young and healthy!
characterization of some characters was not good, and we could not sympathize with the victims of the serial killers that Qazi killed because The characterization and design of the angels and demons was weak and had few story details

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