The Devil Judge (2021)

Finally dystopian dramas!!!

The drama deserves a high rating, although at some point the story one became too far-fetched, but I think the ending made up for it. I feel that the drama is kind of a satire that says a lot in low tones. Where there is tyranny and oppression, it will give rise to a monster seems to be the central theme for this drama, I liked how the drama gave us a visual of how it would have been in a world of live court shows where people could actively participate. I learnt a lot, like yo han used to say, 'no one is really innocent', most people who hold themselves out to be so righteous turn out to be the worst hypocrites, we shouldn't be too quick to pass judgment on people's character. Most importantly, I liked how the drama ended on a realistic note that in the end, the fight against corruption is a destination and is not something that can be achieved quickly.

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Sun-ah...

tw: mentions of rape sa Bruh... i feel like sun-ah got so downplayed at the end. it felt like they implied they all raped her when they talked to director seo before he died and then they never brought it up again...? i honestly thought after she saw the orphan she would've been the one to stop all of them and then yohan would've stopped her idk..? like i was expecting a little more.. and the fact they left GAON IN KOREA????? he has nobody left in his life ???? if yohan killing the PRESIDENT couldnt save korea from dystopia wtf was gaon gonna do... like i wish they would've all went and had the family they always wanted ??

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I'm gonna miss this series

Can't believe that it's over! Two months gone- just like that! And the ride that this series carried me on! What a journey!

Story-9/10
This was an amazing story that just left me shock week after week and made me eager to see what would happen the following week. Sometimes when you think it's going to go one way- a curveball is thrown just to blow you away. And it was also so good to see that all of the bad guys got their just desserts in the end. I couldn't give it a full 10 due to these two major things- the characters of Kim Ga On and the portrayal of Yoon Soo Hyun.

Kim Ga On's character was easily persuaded by any individual once they say 'Yeah, this is what happened.' And that what annoyed me a bit. I thought that maybe, just MAYBE he wasn't that gullible (or some might say trustworthy) to believe basically what anyone says. He was a lawyer. His character needed to be more analytical as he needed to think with his brain and not with his emotions. Basic knowledge is that there are three sides to a story- the two people who are telling the story and the truth. That's just plain common sense (this also goes for his teacher, Min Jung Ho).

What also got to me (even though I cried when she died) was that they basically used the fridging trope on Yoon Soo Hyun. Fridging is the practice of killing off or hurting a minor character (yes, I know she is a main character in this series, but it still works) in order to motivate or torture a main character. And it can clearly be seen here. We don't really get any in-depth background story from her character except for she went to school with Kim Ga On and loves him and that she's a cop. We don't have any background story of her life. And because they used this trope and didn't develop her properly, I am clearly annoyed.

Acting/Cast-10/10
Everyone's acting was amazing. There were characters who I hated with a passion from the beginning to the end. Some characters I felt were even able to redeem themselves (there were two female characters who annoyed me, but in the end they changed my perspectives on them). this series makes me want to see more series that stars Ji Sung, cause his acting was phenomenal. I also felt that Park Jinyoung's acting is improving as he is taking up more series and different characters every time.

Music-10/10
The music is beautiful and top notched!

Rewatch Valu-9/10
Okay. Here what- I'm going to give this a 9. Cause there were a few things that annoy me, but this series was still excellent. So, I do want to rewatch it, but still have to gear myself to watch it again.

Overall-9.5/10
Overall, it was an excellent series that I did enjoy. And I would most definitely recommend this to other viewers.

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At the start, it drops you right in the vacation trying to show who can be trusted and who can't giving us free lessons on life through Yo ha who I believe is a complex character from his unfortunate childhood.
Go ra is my favourite whose innocence gets warped and twisted with his personality changing from meek and quiet to the one who is planning the elaborate schemes. Everyone uses him for their own purposes even the close friends who have so much memory
The detective is the one friend we all need in life who is independent and wants justice but cares about their close friendship
The middle part from ep 6 was boring with nothing happening and only stayed with it for the actor's sake. I cried with the amount of people who died either by covering up or couldn't continue with life.

This has illustrated don't trust anyone as you will be used like a toy

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A must see. It amazing to watch

WOW" Dont be fooled by its name. Its like a spider web of how all the fraudulent activity within the government and conglomerate. This shows how powerful people think they are above the law and as long as they have money and stick together they can commit or cover up any crime. That is til they decide to do a virtual Court Room that the public can be the jury and vote on. The higher up wanted to make money and heighten there careers off of this, but when things take a wrong turn hell break loose and this is an example of what happens: The first case is the Minister of Justice Cha Kyung hee son was arrested for assault, battery, intoxication and more she goes nuts because charges weren't pressed, but his records showed more than 10 settlement. The people find him quilty and he flogged 30+times then put in jail. As each episode goes on to take down hugh companies that cause injustice to the people and those backing them. As Yo han is slowly tearing down those that hurt his family and Ga on families and so many others. I feel he helps Ga on more since he looks identical to his dead brother and tries to protect him. As the show goes on the big guys are getting nervous and making some mistakes. Ga on didn't like the way the Yo han handled things until he find out that the man who swindled people out of over $1 billion won and caused his parents & so many others suicides was switched out with someone else and only 130,000 was confiscated. Also Cha kyung hee husband's business was going bankrupt at the same time and was saved.. I wonder how?

Ji Sung plays Judge Kang Yo Han who was born and tossed away by his father who showed nolove and only beat him. Thankful he had his stepbrother that tryed to protect him from his dad. His father excuse was he's like me and locked him in the basement only to come out when told. I feel bad as he didnt know what he did was wrong. His emotion turn on/off especially the scene with his niece when he tries to smile and talk to her ep7/8 10+++.

Park Jin Young plays Kim Ga On the young attorney who is trying to stop the scams that killed his parents and Kang Isaac (Elijah dad and Yo han step brother & protector)

Kim Min Jung plays Jung Sa Ah who says she loves Yo han since she worked for his family, but she would steal anything shiny and blame him and he would be beaten by his dad. Until One day he tells her to jump if she likes him and she did.. She is definitely in need of psychological help and a crazy B**ch and thats being nice.

Park Gyu Young plays Yoon Soo Hyun a police office and best friend to Ga On since childhood. She proposed 5x and he reject and tells her to ask again later they as they rely on each other and he doesn't want to loose her over a misunderstanding.

Ahn nae sang played Min jung Ho who was on the Supreme court and advisor/friend of Ga on and Soo hyun. He keeps telling him that Yo han is bad and to work for him and get info to take yo han down. I think jung ho is bad.

Park Gyu Young plays Yoon Soo Hyun a police office and best friend to Ga On since childhood. She proposed 5x and he reject and tells her to ask again later they as they rely on each other and he doesn't want to loose her over a misunderstanding.

Ahn nae sang played Min jung Ho who was on the Supreme court and advisor/friend of Ga on and Soo hyun. He keeps telling him that Yo han is bad and to work for him and get info to take him down and also stirs things up between soo hyun and ga on. I dont like him i think hes bad.

**The other 4 characters: Cha Kyung Hee [Minister of Justice], Heo Jung Se [President], Min Yong Shik [Chairman], Du Man [Saram Media Group Chairman] and there wives are just as bad as them money hungry ??

Yo han has a personal grudge against the blue house and conglomerate(animals) for using the church and convincing his brother & wife to donate everything (10+billion won) to build the Dream home, village etc projects for the poor and homeless. "NOT" its going into there own greedy pockets and going to develop there own project and sell it overseas. As he was walking away he heard screaming and ran back to the church to get his family out, but these animals just pushed, climbed and shoved each other. When he finally got in he grabs his niece from under his brother & wife and as he walked away the ceiling clasps on them and he protects her. He walks out later with his niece
back scared. Even as a child when he killed the bird in class, he saw the fear on the girls face and thought he was helping, but again was called monster to many times you become one. IF ONLY someone would have taught him right from wrong and loved him from the beginning i think ? he did what he did to protect his niece its just his mind works different,
The show continues with Yo han, Ga on and Oh jin joo taking down criminals that the higher up were protecting(for money of course) thru other reason that put them in jail. There are some unnecessarily grouse killing that make you want to cringe especially when they all sit around a table and just drink, joke and laugh so sad. The president convinces the public there is a virus and they are taking care of until yohan, ga on, oh jin exposures them on live Tv to show the public how they are beating everyone old/young and even kill a grandfather. Soo hyun show up and gets shot and now Ga on is going crazy and Min jung ho convinces him that it was manipulated by Yo han. Ga on makes a mistake and Yo han is arrested and put in jail and now he tries to fix his mistake and finds out everyone close to them is taken so he goes sneak into the farm. Then a flashback we see the wives talking about going to the farm to see if there crops are growing in Dream village medical. Now Ga on is inside and video what he sees and hears and finds hwang yi yon so now he tries to sneak her out and is caught by a nurse who helps but ask him to expose the farm. Omg when all the truths come out and ( i got it right from the beginning YoHan secret.) i found the ending quite satisfying with no questions unanswered. A must watch A+ PS: have tissue available

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Ji Sung in a suit should be bottled as elixir

The Devil Judge is an intense character driven story that was let down by the plot and the melodramatic performance of Kim Min-Jung who played, Chairman Jeong, the main villain. Min-Jung's acting was just so bad I actually had secondhand embarrassment for her although one might also lay the blame at the feet of the writers.

I must say that the idea of a dystopian SK where the people vote on the guilt or innocence of the defendants was novel and the method with which the tension escalated was well-paced, however, there were too many instances where the story itself was redundant and lacking the emotional connection needed to make us sympathize with the other protagonists, namely Ga-On, Elijah, and Soo-Hyun, the stupid female cop who jumped to all sorts of conclusions without even attempting to investigate.

Overall, a great drama with a captivating male lead who owned the screen from the very first scene hence the ten stars.

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Explosive, cathartic, and thought provoking

Is the life of a murderer’s worth more than a victim’s?

If you find yourself brooding over this question, you will love this drama. Because this is just a taster of what the Devil Judge offers to the mind.

A rating of 10/10 isn’t enough to show how much I recommend it.

I initially clicked because of Ji Sung (as we do), but this gave me so much more that I anticipated. The drama ticked the boxes for a great plot, twists and acting. Even the soundtrack is wonderful to accent certain moments (Something Stronger is fire), and not to mention we got to witness a brilliantly written anti hero and female villain (which is rare). Every drama has its flaws, and the lack of development in some of the characters, particularly Kim Ga On and Yoon Soo Hyun, had become the sacrifice for top tier setting and subject.

Personally, I found that the thought provoking element ultimately makes The Devil Judge one of, if not, THE best drama I’ve seen in my years of drama indulging, and I haven’t felt like this in a long time. In an era where dramas and film are churned out like a machine, most of it doesn’t actually involve thinking anymore.

There are certain scenes that would be enough to snag DOTY alone (particularly Ep4), if not for the depth which this drama possesses. You’ll find yourself noticing the sublime details (such as the total number of trials), that shows a lot of care has gone into this.

Given the heavy parts, I have to commend the humour sprinkled in between. There are a lot of good quotes and heartbreaking, beautiful, hilarious, intense scenes that linger in your mind long after the ep is over, more than I can say here. Just to give some perspective, I’m not someone who gets emotional easily, but there were parts where my heart was physically in pain, and the sudden realizations are the ones hurt the most.

I hope this drama doesn’t get buried, because much of the philosophical questions raised couldn’t be more important today. After the final scene has ended, I still contemplated if there’s a line to be drawn when it comes to achieving justice. And…what is justice?

Paired with dark themes, undertones of hatred and compassion, room for interpretation, and silent expressions that spoke more than dialogue, it attempts to answer this question through an anti hero, all the while never providing a straight answer.

And in the end, even the title hits very differently from when you first started; for you, as the viewer, have already judged Kang Yo Han before the episode had even begun. It was bait that I was guilty of taking up until Ep2. Everything about TDJ is really quite remarkable, and shows how much kdramas have evolved.

If you’re hesitating, don’t miss out on this craft. This drama has one of THE best opening episodes I’ve ever witnessed, and it’s coming from someone who’s only seen 1 other work of Ji Sung’s in 2020 (Doctor John) so far. I like to think I’m unbiased, but the man is an acting master if I ever saw one, and this work only further emphasizes it. The entire cast was sensational in their performances, for I just about covered every possible aspect of the human emotion watching this.

From the very start, unbeknownst to the viewer, the Devil Judge asks us to put our full trust in KYH and his choices, eventually siding with him when no one else did (when that is, depends on you). Where I’ve once faltered in Ep 1, I now find it hard to let go of his character.

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THE DEVIL IS NOT WHO YOU THINK...

When the show was good it was really good but when it was bad it was really bad. The first 8 episodes are undoubtedly the strongest from the show. The first episode itself had enough political intrigue and theatrics to convince the viewer that watching this to the end was worth it.

PLOT - The plot was definitely enough to peak my interests and convince me to enter this dystopian world. Ironically enough most of the corruption that was displayed by the political figures and business men are happening in our world today. That made sinking into this setting all the more realistic.

CHARACTERS - I'll start with Ga On. He's my favorite character. Those side eyes bed give KHY TOOK ME OUT. Of course I still have my issues with him but I like the do-gooder passionate side that craves true justice. There were times however when he was too naive to the point of being obnoxious. It's like he's in this fantasy world where everyone has good intentions and no sinister motives and that was annoying to watch. He got so caught up in KYH's business that he failed to notice himself being used as a pawn in Sun Ah's plan. Jin Joo was so unbelievably oblivious it got stupid. Almost every scene with her was confusion. It was unclear to me if she actually wanted to be a judge or a pathway to being a celebrity. Towards the end she decided to work in the juvenile court but tbh I thought she cared more about the glitz and glamor of the court show. Jung Sun Ah was no doubt a dangerous individual and was alluring at first but I soon grew tired of her temptress tricks and that silly saccharine smirk she has plastered in her face every scene. What didn't make sense to me was when she broke down after finding out about the human subjects for the president's secret project. You literally killed people and showed no remorse but children is what makes you show emotion? Get out of here. I also get down with the fact that she based her entire life on the delusionaI notion of being with KYH one day. Given everything that she did up to ep 16 it didn't compute with me. I was so mad when she killed herself. It was such a cop out and I wanted the satisfaction of her living to see herself in ruins. The president's character was a bit overdone but we got the message. Elijah was cute and added the lighthearted humor the show needed at times. Watching her relationship with Ga On and KYH develop was sweet. Soohyun was good but imo her and Ga On were better as friends. Their relationship was rushed and they really made them kiss only to kill her off. I thoroughly enjoyed Minister Cha. I was sad she ended her life cause she was too good of a character. Minister Jungho was a plot twist I did not see coming and that really hurt me lol. The betrayal I tell u! And Finally Kang Yohan. I must say that his character was written so well. I think it was obvious at a certain point that he wasn't the devil everyone was making him out to be, but the unfolding process was well worth it. When the truth was revealed I was mind blown. The buildup was so artfully done and it all made sense. I don't watch Jisung much but his performance in this was great.

I will say the finale felt messy and rushed but they tied up most of the important subplots and left me satisfied with the finished product. Judt watch for the rollercoaster ride.

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Dynamic characters, satisfying plotlines

A fantastic mix of Taxi driver, self righteous court dramas, think titles like Witch at Court, Suspicious partner and Beyond Evil this was an amazing ride.

The female characters are some of the most well written in all of the kdramas I've watched so far. Jung sun ah is unparalleled in her range, and her story line, plot arc, and general wonderfulness made her the most ferocious female villain I've seen so far. Some may say that she played a character, but I personally think that her performance was the highlight of the show.

We all know that Ji sung did a great job as Judge Kang. I thoroughly enjoyed his story and arc as well, and his relationship with his niece Elijah.

This is a must watch. Highly recommended.
The plot was wrapped up satisfyingly, though I do feel like the last episode was very very jam packed.

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Intense drama

Without giving away too much of the plot;

Ji Sung is THE Superstar Devil Judge, the lone revenger, who recruits a protege, to help him take out the elite, narcissistic villains who control the dystopian society of Korea. There was filler material and a ton of unnecessary flashbacks to clutter the viewers’ concentration. Editing Department went out of control.

Acting:
Ji Sung and Kim Min Jung showed their seniority and acting caliber. The other actors gave either basic or over the top performances. President Park must have escaped from the asylum for lunatics. Give that man a straight jacket.

Fashions:
Men’s fashions were on point, Women’s fashions were average (…Cha Kyung Hee) or outlandish (…Jung Sun Ah).

Story:
The plot was hindered by the flashbacks, flashbacking and choppy editing. Storyboard was all over the place. The church fire reveal was underwhelming. The writer should have pinned it on Jung Sun Ah instead.

Editing:
Too many repetitive flashbacks and choppy editing! Viewers cannot focus when they see past and present juggled in front of them.

Music:
Average

Conclusion:
Rushed, but gratifying

What I read into the final scene, is that Judge Kang has gone off the radar, to complete his revenging mission. Cue to Season 2.

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