Reviews

This is one drama i could watch over and over again. Loved it from the beginning to the end. Each episode has a way of making you crave the next one. The OST ughhh mega love especially the one by nell. Definitely one for the playlist.

Not big on the romance because it seems like it was put in as kind of an after thought, regardless of that fact i enjoyed every moment of it. The main story is about the dad and his daughter. Prepare yourself for some cuteness and some fighting.

Overall this was a good drama Lee Jun Ki did it again in my book. Definitely recommend this. The ending was not perfect but it was satisfying.

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After watching SOTUS, this seems to be a pale imitation. Literally everything pales in comparison, but everything seems SO similar. The characters fall flat - it's literally the most cliche school plot: hot/badass/popular dude finally (somehow) falling in love with that quiet, shy awkward girl that's been pining after him since forever...oh wait, I meant guy. Said shy awkward guy seems to have absolutely nothing better to do with his time other than look disgruntle and angst either. Among some uninteresting hobbies.

There's no.. -oomph- or manliness at all from Yo and frankly, I don't watch BL to see het. 

Okay. Other than how I don't like the character dynamics/story-line - The script is nothing special and there are absolutely no lines that hooked me. I honestly can not remember a single line any one said whereas, I can't forget at least half a dozen lines in SOTUS) I'm going to give the actors some kudos because they're just going off the script and they did well with what they had, but the main characters were nothing special and therefore I can only shrug.

I can only say, don't waste your time watching this.

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Great until the Last 2 hours of the Live

This season was exceptional because of the addition of the international dancers. Each episode made you laugh and cry. However, as expected by many, the very obvious scripting and rigging of the finale sent the weakest (though still talented) member of Team Boom to win. The scores for the battle section were ridiculous in range and they didn't focus at all on the stronger/better dancers. With so many highly talented international dancers with decades of experience; China still couldn't let one of them win. Because of this, though I watched the live the majority of it and woke up at 4:45am for it, I couldn't watch the last 2 hours. It just wasn't fair. And therefore, it doesn't get a solid 10 from me.

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OMG...just skip everything and only watch the romance between the leads and even then you should stop watching at:40:15 of the last episode. This writer just ticked me off with that ending. I lowered the score 1 point for it alone. The rest of the story is just political and the other characters are stupid and annoying (well, except Shin Yool's people). I think the plot of the story is interesting. It is the writers execution of the plot that is the problem. It is like the writer wasn't sure where the story should go and had a hard time incorporating all the story lines so that it was smooth. Also, character development and change are common, but somewhere around episode 20 some of the characters changed to the point that it wasn't believable. Although, I guess love can make you do strange things. Also, the writer totally wasted a character. I was so mad that I almost gave this drama a 1. One thing the writer got right was the last "fight". It was the one thing the writer kept true to the story line and to Wang So's character.

This drama has some over acting from all the actors, but I think that they were directed to act that way. Other wise why would they all be overly dramatic? Then there are some well acted parts like diamonds in the rough.

I am a Jang Hyuk fan and I believe he gave the performance that was expected of him as Prince Wang So. Regardless of the directing he is still handsome, funny, serious, and sincere as needed. A lot of people say that Oh Yeon Seo has had too much plastic surgery. Maybe she has, but it seems that she has no problem expressing her emotions and I enjoyed her character as Shin Yool. That is where it stops. Lee Ha Nui as Yeo Won was just too wooden and even when she cried it seemed insincere. Her back story make since as to why the character would be cold, etc, but there is a difference between that and Pinocchio. Im Joo Hwan failed miserably as Wang Wook. His acting was really bad and he mostly looked like he was in drag. He is no rival to Jang Hyuk that is for sure.

There is some music that I liked.

I will never ever rewatch this.

I do not recommend this to anyone. Not even sageuk lovers.

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Before you rate this review down, horrified by the rating, please let me explain myself. My rating wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) have any meaning without the proper explanation as to why I think it deserves a 3,5.

In short (if you don't want to read the big text below)- > The characters make little sense and there's a bunch of plot twists for the sake of shocking the viewer rather than them having any justifiable sense for most of the time.

Good? ok. Now let's start.

Story

Some of you might say “This person is an elitist!”, “This person is nitpicking!”, however I do not consider myself a fiction elitist nor am I trying to nitpick; I just don’t watch/read any type of fiction for only my entertainment. I say this because I know most of you watch dramas (or any type of fiction) mostly to fill in a “fun” factor or you watch them because you want to get all the “feels”, then the rest is mostly superfluous as long as you can manage to find a justification for it. The difference between some of you and me in the way that we see fiction became very clear as I was watching Empress Ki.
What is my point with this? If I would have managed to shut my brain and watch Empress Ki only to discover who is going to get backstabbed next and who was going to die next or who was going to get framed next, only for me to cheer or be sad depending of the situation, then yes, I would have said Empress Ki did its job and a very good one at that.

However, my brain kept questioning and demanding consistency and logic from its world and characters. Empress Ki is mostly an up and down of plot twists for plot twists; doesn’t matter whether the characters are even able to do what they do, the drama will find a reason for them to pull the plot twist even if it makes little sense. The story progresses mostly in this manner, there’s no time to just breath and let everything settle in because somebody will start plotting something else the moment the last conflict is over. I just can’t enjoy these types of fast-paced executions, mostly because I feel like even with 50 episodes I wasn’t able to even remotely “care” about most of the characters and that’s a big issue for me.

I must also question the random mood switches, being serious, then the next moment switching to comedy, without taking into consideration the bittersweet feelings that I was supposed to get right before that. It’s only normal that I’d be confused in what I was supposed to feel anymore when I have to face such contrast in moods. Is this a k-drama thing? I guess I could notice a pattern, but then it becomes a formal issue directed to the whole genre.

There are also several time skips that I would have wished to have never been there. Mostly during the last time skip where most of the changes occurred. It almost seemed like an easy way of not showing us how everything came to that conclusion, which was quite convenient, not to say lazy.

Empress Ki also doesn’t seem to know if it wants to stick to being a “realistical” (for how much realism it portrays…) pseudo-historical or a fantasy, because there’s this arc where they actually use magic and, in my bafflement, it was actually working and perfectly able to hurt somebody in real life. Just what are you doing, drama? I understand that at the time they believed in magic and whatnot, but from praying to actually making it work? Don’t bulshit me. They could have killed the entire royal family with those methods if it were that easy. *breaths in* *breaths out*

Also, just putting up a fact here, Empress Ki is far from being a historical. If it happens in the past and some of the characters actually existed in the past, it’s not enough to make it a historical when most of the story itself is only LOOSELY based on real facts and most of what happens in-between is purely fictitious. Empress Ki is a pseudo-historical. Common misconception.

Characters

I can pretty much copy-paste what I wrote in the story section. Characters were mostly one-dimensional.

I can put an exception flag on Togon and Nyang over here, but Wang Yu? I’m sorry, and this doesn’t have anything to do with me shipping TogonxNyang, but Wang Yu was entertaining for the first couple of episodes and then he became such a drag to follow that I was happy everytime he was gone. Why am I being so salty? Because he’s the valiant hero that’s too good for his own good. And that’s literally everything that’s up with him. His story resumed in Goryo! -> Nyang -> GORYO!! -> being a hero -> Nyang ! boohoo! -> Throne! -> no throne! -> Nyang! - > Nyang – THRONE-> no throne again etc. I could go on forever and I hope you got the point: it was painfully repetitive.

Is Wang Yu the only one guilty of repetitiveness? Haha, not even remotely. Tanassiri, the Dowager, El Temur (guilty of openly shaping and breaking the laws and rules like butter and nobody calls him out on that too), Bayan, bitchy maids, please all shake hands and join the circle of repetitiveness now.

But going to much happier stuff: Togon! He is the character that managed to come through the most, though sometimes he’s affected by the same incoherences and random “instincts” because “plot demands so!” like the rest of the characters, Nyang included. But he’s still way better written: arrogant, egocentric, selfish, sometimes cute, sometimes hateable, sometimes fully understanding of his role and position and actually pained by the reality of it all and his inability to escape. The feeling of always getting used, no matter in what situation. He is ultimately the character that I “felt” the closest to me through the whole drama and I was quite sad about him.

Nyang………She has her ups and downs. Sometimes I am pleased with her, some other times she tries to make sense but fails horribly. I really preferred her when she used to be into genderbent and stuff were actually simple, but she kept being this ambiguous character which I feel like I could never be able to completely get to know. She's stuck between a romance drama and a political drama. She just never seemed to know what she wants: one day she would be just fine with protecting something, then the next moment she’d want to rule the world. I am really not sure how am I supposed to take that.

For the rest, it’s really pointless for me to talk about, since I’d just repeat myself. With one exception…Tal Tal. Now, Tal Tal has been the character that, while still mostly one-dimensional, was able to bring the story and its characters back on the right path in more ways than one. He was my ray of light and voice of truth. He’s supposed to be a very smart and rational person, who is able to see through mostly every situation, but limited by his own loyalty. He gets some sort of development when he crosses paths with Nyang, but unfortunately, his character wasn’t even remotely explored further which was a shame. And the last episode really treats him unfairly. That’s all that I can say.

Acting & OST & Scenography

Well, I had nothing major to complain... besides Wang Yu and Tangqishi’s actors which I was trying to forget, but I really particularly liked Togon’s actor, maybe part of why I liked his character so much as well.

The soundtrack, unfortunately, while pretty, it gets repetitive very fast and there’s not much good use of it when it was actually needed.

The costumes were just gorgeous! The settings too, though overall repetitive as well, they were beautifully decorated and the make-up (as in wounds), as well, definitely better than what I’ve seen till now. See? I do have some stuff to praise !

Conclusion

Even though this review is quite bad and I really don’t want to take anything back, I am still sorry. Most of you might be outraged, but I really couldn’t enjoy it safe for the entertainment that it provided when it stopped being serious. Maybe if I wouldn’t have watched it with a friend, I wouldn’t have even been able to ever finish it.

Whether I recommend this? Eh, I do actually, but just if you watch dramas for entertainment purposes. If you’re like me and tend to take it from a formal point of view in terms of writing, then just run away. Really.

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Trotted as the most awaited drama of 2023 to be a mediocore story line with Zero chemistry

Even though this is not my preferable genre, the only reason I went ahead with this drama was because of Park Seo Joon. I had low expectations, so honestly this drama didn't disappoint me. The story was subpar and all over the place. The drama didn't give a good backstory nor make us feel connected to the characters and care for their aspirations and dreams or root for them. We are directly introduced to the problem which didn't make me care at all for their troubles or what they are trying to solve here.

As for the chemistry.... there was none! There are tons of drama with worst plot lines out there but have insanely good chemistry between leads that somehow makes it bearable to watch. Here, Park Seo Joon and Han So Hee looked liked they were forced to share the screen. Or more like their character were. Was it love at first sight for PSJ's character? And what did HSH's character see in JTS? There was no spark, no moment, we were just shown PSJ looking at her with concern allllll the time. I don't know, halfway through I just gave up guessing on how or when did the supposed romance even begin with?

PSJ look lost with his character. I have loved him as an actor, but in this drama he looked lost not knowing what to do with his character. I guess that is what happens when the writer doesn't do their job properly. Jang Tae Sang was not a fully fleshed character and it showed on PSJ's acting. Whereas HSH.... gosh she is gorgeous, no doubt about that but I wish she would improve her acting a bit. It was painful to watch her wooden performance with the same tone and expression. Or maybe she should stick to second leads, rather than main so better talents would do justice.

And the creature unleashed and the mistress to be saved plot line was just a repeat till episode 7. I couldn't care less by ep 5 and had to skip the rest...

This drama could've been great with a tightly written script, especially set as a period drama. Period dramas always have a charm no matter what, but even that wasn't captured in this drama. Overall, most mediocore drama of 2023.

Rating: 2/10

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The movie lost some magic

I saw the film in Taiwan, with Chinese subtitles. Disclaimer: I am a non-native speaker of Chinese, so often times I couldn't read the subtitles fast enough. However, I still understood most of the film, and tbh you don't need to understand the dialogue to get the gist.

The story is a bit cliche, with the main conflict dealing with Adachi's work transfer. I felt it was pretty slow at times, and the pacing was a bit weird.

There are definitely enough sweet moments, but not enough of the second couple, imo. Also, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I would have liked to see more of the girl (and Rokkaku). There were also some touching moments which made me almost tear up.

The music and acting were fine, but I didn't really pay close attention to them.

Overall, if you are a fan of the series, you can't really not watch it, but if you haven't seen the series, I think I would pass on it. My friend who I watched it with hadn't seen the series, and said he enjoyed it, but mostly because of the attractiveness of the main leads XP

Anyways, I hope you got a general idea of what to expect from the film.

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Masochistic writing filled with trauma dumping and bland romance

If I knew what I was getting into, I would have never, ever watched this drama. My rating has reduced massively because of the final 4 episodes. The drama is about the female lead, a journalist, who goes to a fictional country amidst a war. She is unexpectedly saved by the male lead, a volunteer soldier, who specialises in defusing bombs.

The story starts off as quite fluffy and hopeful. Despite the war zone, we follow how the main leads fall in love and save people from disasters. After the first 10 episodes, the drama turns melodramatic with PTSD and mental health as the focal point, and it does a good job in portraying these themes.

However, the middle of the drama completely lost me. The plot became draggy with unnecessary misunderstandings, break up, and more and more PTSD. For about 10 episodes, virtually nothing happened.

Then, the last 10 episodes finally moved the plot forward, with a mix of action scenes and at-this-point boring romance. The ending felt like a new level of masochistic writing, with very disturbing scenes that literally gave me major anxiety, trauma and heart palpitations.

POSITIVE:
- Che Zhe Yuan’s outstanding and phenomenal acting performance.
- Top-notch “bromance”. Censorship or not, Ben and Sasin totally stole the spotlight. Their Grumpy x Sunshine vibes were highly entertaining but at the same time the writers did a phenomenal job building their emotional connection. The fact that it became the number 2 hot couple on weibo says it all.
- Action scenes. I’m not a fan of war movies but I give props to the production for making such realistic war scenes, some of them even looked like a blockbuster spy movie.
- Great OST.

NEGATIVE:
- Masochistic writing. From episode 10 the drama was constantly trauma dumping and tried to lean too much on realism. The ending episodes with the torture scenes gave me major anxiety and trauma.
- Too slow paced. Everything was snail-paced, especially the dialogue. I mostly watched the second half at 1.5x speed and it still looked normal.
- Bland romance. It started off as cute but the second half ruined it with unnecessary break up, misunderstanding and then just blah blah bland romance.
- Draggy. The middle of the drama was so unnecessary, instead of 10 episodes of seeing the characters suffer and recycle the same PTSD, we could have 2-3 episodes and move on.
- Female lead. At first I quite liked her shy and brave nature. But from the second half she became such a dull and lifeless character that I didn’t really care about. It also felt awkward how amidst the war, she was just casually strolling along and taking pictures.

OVERALL:
I was hesitant to start this drama because I’m not a fan of war and modern realistic stories. But I decided to try it out since I love Che Zhe Yuan so much. The first 10 episodes totally roped me in, I loved the balance between fluff and tragedy. That, despite the hardships, there was always a sense of hopefulness, that ‘better days are coming ahead”. But afterwards, the drama became more and more serious with trauma dumping, PTSD, death, suicide etc.

While I do understand the realistic approach of the writing, I absolutely hated this drama and wish I had never watched it. I watch dramas to escape reality, not to be re-traumatized. Yes, bad things happen in real life and I commend the drama for showing that. In fact it gave me a new perspective about war and soldier’s life, BUT it made me sick to my stomach seeing the male character go through so much torture and pain.

The thing is, I don’t mind sad endings if done right. But this ending was on a different level, it just felt dreadful, disturbing to watch and unnecessary traumatising, rather than sad. And for what? To show the realism we all know all too well? Shouldn’t there always be a light at the end of the tunnel? If not, what are we living for?

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Somewhere along the way, Tempest lost the plot.

If you are a woman with any career ambitions, you have probably heard of the saying, "Work or family. Pick one, because you can't have it all." That is something Seo Munju is all too familiar with. When her husband, Assemblyman Jang Junik, decides to run for president of South Korea, Munju makes the ultimate sacrifice by stepping down from her position as an ambassador to the UN in order to support his political career. She dons a classy white skirt suit, puts on a gold cross necklace, and wears a smile on her face. On the surface, she is a doting wife standing in the shadows behind a perfect politician and God-fearing man. However, the path to the top is paved with danger, corruption, and uncertainty. Munju becomes the witness to a political assassination, and she finds herself in the midst of an international conspiracy that could potentially turn her country, and maybe even the entire world, upside down.

"I had a dream. And in the dream, I was a man." This very first line in episode one immediately hooked me into the world of Tempest. I loved the way it perfectly embodied the overarching theme and set the tone for the entire drama: strong female characters being underestimated and overlooked in favor of the men in their lives — the men that they helped build and uplift. It was the very reason why I was drawn to our protagonist, Seo Munju, who was one of the several formidable female characters in this story. She was complex, relatable, and sympathetic. As always, Jun Ji Hyun did a fantastic job bringing her character to life. Watching Munju step away from the spotlight to assume a traditional gender role for the sake of her husband's political career was painful and infuriating, which made her decision to reclaim her ambitions all the more powerful and inspirational.

One of my concerns about intricate political and conspiracy plots is that, while I love them in theory, I hate how they always consist of unnecessary filler. Tempest only had a total of nine episodes, so I had high hopes that the drama would stray from focusing too much attention on irrelevant subplots. I wanted the drama to prioritize the espionage storyline. For the most part, the drama did just that. It was thrilling to watch Munju piece together the clues she had gathered and try to figure out the reasons behind the political assassination she witnessed. The suspense and intrigue left me mindblown and craving more... that is, until the love arc took front and center.

I am a firm believer that not every story needs a romance, and Tempest is a great example of this. The romance was sudden, with the first intimate scene being so awkward and uncomfortable to watch. While I have a soft spot for a powerful woman and a protective bodyguard dynamic, I found Baek Sanho's obsession with Munju to be unsettling. I liked the tension and chemistry they had in the beginning, and I wish their relationship had just stayed the same as before. The plot started to derail and the pacing started to drag once these two characters got together. After Munju escaped the chaos at her campaign rally, there was a change in the tone, not just in the narrative, but also in Munju's character. For once, she was supposed to put herself and her dreams first, but instead, she ended up getting distracted by a man she barely knew.

When the writers finally shifted the focus from the underwhelming romance back to the main espionage storyline, they ran out of time to properly resolve all of the plotlines that they previously introduced. The final two episodes of Tempest felt like a confusing and rushed departure from the compelling narrative that the drama started with. Plot twists that should've been shocking revelations ended up feeling out of place, failing to make any logical sense to me. It was as if the writers carelessly threw them into the story just for shock value. I wonder what kind of story Tempest could've been if so much time was not spent on forcing the romance down our throats. Would the writers had put more effort into creating a cohesive finale?

What made Tempest so disappointing to me was its wasted potential. Somewhere along the way, Tempest got sidetracked from the very premise that initially captivated viewers like me: What if a woman chose herself for once and put her dreams first? I wanted this idea to be explored more in depth. The way the underdeveloped romance hindered the momentum of the more interesting political storyline was frustrating for me to watch unfold. The writers flawlessly set up a powerful story of female ambition and liberation from the confines of traditional gender roles, only to let these themes fizzle out. In the end, Tempest proved that sometimes, even in fiction, women can't have it all.

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Missed the mark just a bit...

This review contains spoilers. You've been warned. ;)

The female lead of this show is marketed as a capable, feminist attorney seeking justice against men for all the wronged females of the world with her fists of fury and clever one liners. It's supposed to be a more feminist romantic comedy, and while I think it hits some good points and highlights some of the injustices and slights women face daily... it really missed the mark in the end for me.

I would've loved more of seeing Mi-Ran growing to use the law and her intelligence to take down crappy dudes rather than her fists. Also, I really didn't like how she caved to the pressure from toxic fans and broke up with Kang-Ho, and additionally how she handled the reunion with Kang-Ho. I know she was under an immense amount of pressure, but that whole piece didn't feel true to her character. ALSO, I hated that the things that turned the tide of public opinion in the end was her ex-boyfriend's defense of her on that sleezy celebrity gossip show. I mean, was it an incredibly sweet gesture? Yes. It totally made me tear up that her law firm bros defended her like that. However, in the end of this "feminist" drama, a man had to explain the situation to save the day. Also, they end the drama with her chasing those cat-calling drunks down the street? Mi-Ran, with all that is now at stake, please use your words as weapons instead.

Anyway, it may sound like I hated this drama. I really didn't. But all of that did really bother me about this one, and will keep it from being a rewatch.

So things I liked? All four main leads were incredible and well-cast. Kang-Ho's gentleness and loyalty made him an absolute dream. It had some truly hilarious moments (Kang-Ho's face after he kicked his sandal into something breakable off-camera had me gasping). I loved the bromance. I loved the 2nd lead's romance. Kang-Ho's first confession made my heart flutter. Soo-Jin was an absolute QUEEN, and all of her outfits were absolutely incredible.

Anyway, in conclusion. It was a drama that was a lot of fun, but I think some of the drama's messages didn't quite land in the end.

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The Law of Karma:The demon of all demons!

An experienced Judge with a gorgeous appearance, Kang Bit Na's body is taken over by the third in command in hell, Justitia. Justitia came to the world from hell with a mission of killing ten murderers who have not yet been forgiven by their victims and the ones who are unrepentant about their actions. Now, Justitia and Kang Bit Na has become one person. A judge from hell inside a judge's body. In this mission of hers, she crosses path with a police officer, Han Da On. Justitia believes in Tit for Tat, while Han Do On doesn't believe in such laws, he wants everyone to be punished accordingly, he always goes by the law. Two individuals with contrasting personalities and beliefs crosses path!


Do you believe in the Law of Karma? I love this drama precisely because of that. Kang Bit Na made the murderers who has killed countless individuals feel the pain their victims felt when they were being oppressed, tortured, brutalized, tormented, and assaulted. There's one punishment that's most appropriate for murderers. And what's that? Is it going to prison? Getting arrested? A death sentence? Sure, a death sentence and a life sentence are punishments, but making them feel the pain, torment, and agony their victims went through when they were dying is the best punishment ever. And with that, Kang Bit Na/Justitia handed out those punishment accordingly.

This drama promotes crimes, says who? Is it so bad to kill those who have killed countless people? Or is it a sin? How is Kang Bit Na's job/mission different from the military who kills terrorists and invaders to protect their motherland, countrymen, and family? She only did what the law couldn't do. For those who have witnessed how dirty, corrupt, and twisted the law has become will agree with me when I say this; "Thousands, millions, and even billions suffers from the court's injustice, and many people will still suffer from it. What kind of world are we living in? It's a world full of unfairness and injustice. A world were the victims becomes the culprits, the culprits becomes the victim. A world were the guilty gets away with it all as long as they have the influence, the resources, and the authority." The law itself is funny and a joke. A criminal will be given freedom or acquitted just because the crime they committed has passed the statute of limitations, is that justice? No, is it fair? Some evil doers usually forget about karma. They tend to think they can get away with it all. In this drama, there's brutality and violence, but I liked it cuz the perpetrators/murderers got what they deserved. They experienced first hand what it means to be in pain and torment. I loved how they're made to experienced the hell their victims went through and even far worse through Kang Bit Na. It's really nice to see. In this one Kang Bit Na was like the judge sent by the heavens to punish the evil doers and murderers. If you think this drama promotes violence and crime, that it should have been shelved, you're the one who's twisted!

That said. I've got to applaud the outstanding performance of the dramas main focus 👏👏👏 our female lead, our anti heroine, our badass FL, Kang Bit Na/Justitia portrayed by Park Shin Hye. I've never seen this other side of Park Shin Hye's acting since all these years of watching her dramas. It's as if I was watching her onscreen for the first time, she didn't just slayed this one, she cleared the floor. She took the whole audience by surprise, and for that, she just topped my list of favorite actresses. Honestly, when she took on this drama, I wasn't sure what the performance would be, but when the official poster and trailer were released, I was anxiously waiting for the release of this one. And as expected. No, her performance was beyond expectations. That wicked smile, her facial expressions, and the way she portrays the emotional aspects, I almost fainted from the overwhelming acting. "The demon of all demons, is me," that sentence captivated me! Kang Bit Na, the badass, cruel, blunt, yet deep inside, a kindhearted person. I loved Park Shin Hye's acting in this one a whole lot 💞💗💓💖 No actress could have done it better!!

Now let's talk about our ML. He also portrayed his role excellently. Actually, I didn't like his character at first, but as time goes by, I got to understand him, what he's fighting for, and his principles. Kim Jae Young did his role justice. He's the type who values principles and his sworn duty a whole lot. He almost crumbled, but it's nice to see how he picked up the pieces and didn't allow grief to ruin him.

About the romance. Well, there's not that much romance in this one, but the natural and amazing chemistry of Park Shin Hye and Kim Jae Young sure is there. I enjoyed how Kang Bit Na always teases Han Da On. Their quarrels sometimes made me laugh. Also, that kiss scene in the last episode was very lovely. "You are the only blemish in my life, my only weakness. I love you a lot, Han Da On." Han Da On replied with"I love you too." Then, a kiss followed. Oh my, that scene was more than satisfying. Just for that scene I decided to add another 0.5 to the ratings I originally wanted to give this one.

There are a lot of emotional moments in this one. For one, Han Da On's foster mother's murder. Another was when Kang Bit Na almost died. So, if you're just starting, get your tissues ready.

I love the OSTs. My favourite of them all is "Crossroad by Sunmi"!


The fact that Kang Bit Na was strong till the end is impressive. Even in the face of death, she didn't falter. I really loved her. Indeed, this is a lady's show.

Also, I loved how the mystery aspect was portrayed, I almost couldn't figure out who exactly the serial killer J and satan was until the last five episodes. I've also got to add the actions scenes. The action scene were damn satisfying. I was gulping over the amazing CGI. The whole production team really did this one justice.

And without excluding all the casts who performed extraordinary well. From the support roles, down to the guest roles, all performed amazingly well. They made the audience felt emotions with their acting. I for one felt it!

The ending was also beautifully done! All the villains got their retributions and punishments were served accordingly!

But of course, I have a bit of an issue with this one. I'm wondering how an Angel and a demon became so close to the extent that he saved her from being punished. But then again, logic is usually thrown out of the window when watching something fictional.

Also, I didn't like the fact that they used the a flipped cross as the symbol of hell. Anyway, I don't want to go into that too much, so I'll stop here.

In essence, The Judge From Hell is a drama that explores crimes, and not just crimes, it explores the cruelest ones. It further explores the cruelty and delusions of culprits. It's a drama worth the watch. The 15 hours I invested into this one indeed didn't go to a waste. So for all the positives I'm giving this one an overall of 9.0. I loved and enjoyed the journey! This is a drama I'd definitely recommend, but beware, there are some mild Gore!
Thanks for reading!
Enjoy the Journey!

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Promising Premise, Disappointing Delivery with Unrealistic Characters, so Forced Drama

While this drama is decently watchable, it falls short in crucial areas, particularly plot execution and characterization—making it hard to fully invest in.

Park Eun Bin delivers an decent performance, also Sul Kyung Gu is just okay.

Female Lead: Her surgical obsession and impulsiveness could have been compelling, but she often comes across as reckless and overconfident, shouting like a "brainless rookie gangster" rather than a skilled professional. Her character becomes even worse in the last two episodes, where she just screams like a mad hooligan, completely losing any sense of professionalism or rationality.

Male Lead: The plot drags unnecessarily because he withholds key information until late in the story. His sudden "convenient" memories (only when surgery is needed) feel inconsistent and poorly executed. Additionally, his idea of "teaching her a lesson" by dying on the operating table is just plain stupid—what kind of twisted logic is that?

Seo Yeong Ju: His character is overly simplified—just a blindly loyal sidekick with no depth, making him boring and unrealistic.

Few Plot Issues:

Dog Fur Subplot: Illogical. Surgeons maintain strict hygiene, so the idea that she’d leave dog fur with the dead body is absurd. Also, that murder happened quite some time after she left her home.

Burnt Dogs: If the dogs were really burned, forensic evidence (bones, remains) should have been found. Hiding this info serves no purpose except forced drama. (In ep 6)

The last scene of Episode 6 is similar to Hannibal, but a sick person dragging a healthy person is really a mockery. (He could have just stabbed her and left.)

The way her Medical License cancelled was invalid. As far as I know, she didn’t fail or commit any malpractice. She wasn’t supposed to perform that operation, but this is still somewhat acceptable since it was labeled as an emergency. However, manipulating another doctor to avoid coming is wrong. That being said, revoking her medical license seems excessive—a suspension would have been a fairer punishment. And the way the ML says, "I can get her license," as if he controls the whole medical board, is laughable.

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Slow mo Musical..

Was the director of this drama a conductor?? You know the person who leads and directs an orchestra?? Because it felt like an orchestra.. Music everywhere with background scores for every single scene.. In some scenes the music was so loud that you cant hear the dialogues.. And The slow motion was overused.. It felt like it popped up every other minute and every scene was in slo mo.. If they had just toned it down this could have been a 16 ep drama instead of being unnecessarily lengthy.. The camera work?? Let’s call it " Dynamic " to be kind.. Rapid jump cuts and erratic angles made the drama even worse.. While the story was alright up until ep 20 it suddenly took a nosedive.. Just went from average to worse..

I watched this for Fan Zhi Xin.. He deserves better scripts because he is genuinely good.. The drama was visually appealing and the main leads did well.. But overall it didnt offer much else.. If you are expecting a proper romance drama.. Better lower your expectations.. The romance was far too sparse to carry the genre.. Watch it for the cast but dont expect much beyond that..

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