Being with an abusive person can completely break someone. Narcissists can literally corrode the very core of someone's being and it's extremely difficult to "shake off" this type of influence.
Sei has been conditioned to rely on Fujisawa after his parents died. He has been isolated from any friends. He's been subtly undermined and criticised by Fujisawa on daily basis (how about that moment when Fujisawa suggests Sei's work is of no importance? or how about he dismisses Sei's conversations with his email pal as silly?) and restricted as to what he should and shouldn't do, to the point that he doesn't watch TV, sprays himself before going back home not to displease Fujisawa with how he smells or washes hands like crazy after masturbating...
It's been suggested and shown a bit here and there that Sei's natural personality is more defiant, very direct, a bit cheeky and mischievous. We saw glimpses of that in his emails with Hagiwara or their conversation at the beginning of episode 4, I think (just right after they found out each other's identities). It's also clearly shown that he was someone liked by his university friends, who'd want to keep in touch with him. It's Fujisawa who kept dimming his light all the time, weaving his web of control and abuse around Sei.
Sei pushing Hagiwara away has probably (in my opinion) a lot to do with him feeling indebted to Fujisawa, who "took care" of him after his parents' death. And ofc plenty to do with the fact how much he's been mentally (and now, also physically) victimized and conditioned by Fujisawa. It's difficult to break the cycle of abuse, and I honestly feel super sorry for him and sympathize with his position.
Can someone who watched ep 6 tell me wth just happened?
I need someone who's smarter than me or maybe knows Japanese to explain to me what happened between Kotoha and Megumi at Kotoha's place. I was certain she did not go through with her assault after that moment when both of them stared at the plushie (and the plushie seemed to stare back, as if judging Kotoha and possibly triggerning some traumatic memory from the past as well).
However, I got confused by their conversation afterwards when they were walking together at the bridge. Kotoha apologized to Megumi and it kinda sounded like she went through it? Was it a translation mistake or it actually happened?
I hope it's a misunderstanding, because... I honestly don't like this development.
I was not one among people appauled by the first episode. I thought the whole thing at Megumi's place was handled pretty well. Megumi defended herself, she drew the boundary, called what Kotoha was doing for what it was (a crime). I also understood the importance of that event storywise, as it was establishing Kotoha's character and gave us a glimpse of what might've happened to her (e.g. "you think the police will treat it seriously if it's two women" sentence she says - I'm quoting from memory so it's definitely not accurate).
However they completely lost me at episode 6 and that bridge scene. What was that "yay, hurray, let's be together forever" atmosphere? I know that Megumi has this saviour personality to the extent it's not healthy, but wasn't it a bit too much? Especially if the rape actually happened...
Which is why I think it didn't and Kotoha was apologizing for forcing herself on Megumi *before* she stopped. But I wish someone who watched the episode shared their impressions with me.
While the chances for season 2 went up with the recent post from Mou Mou official account, the second season is *not* officially confirmed yet. What is officially confirmed though is a second fan meeting. Anyone from Thailand (or with money to go to Thailand 😋) and with a will to go, get ready, I guess ;)
I don’t think ppl should care so much of ratings. The drama is done really well but I knew their carefully crafted…
I usually don't. Plenty of my favourite stuff has rather low ratings on MDL and plenty of stuff I consider subpar soars above 8,5 😋
It's just that... the drama is still ongoing, I wish it didn't have a rating that immediately scares the possible audiences away. Another thing is the genre - costume cdramas seem to usually be around 8.5 so 7.9 for such a smart script is just rubbing me the wrong way. I know it's not the most productive emotion to have ;)
I thought her role was a psychologist not a heart doctor ( cardiologist ) ?
She is something of a psychiatrist. I guess the confusion in the article might come from the fact that in Chinese culture the concepts of heart and mind were kinda interchangeable. But that's just my guess.
I watched two episodes, but I'm unsure if I should continue.
That really depends on your expectations. This drama is more on the serious side and requires a bit of attention from the viewer. As others already stated, it's not very romance-heavy.
That really depends on your idea of "good". It's definitely very different. I'd say it's more artistic, there's visual symbolism, the cinematography is great, despite it not looking to be high budget. There's strong focus on psychology of characters. The kissing scenes will most likely look lacklustre to someone used to Thai GLs...
Personally, to me, this drama is better, but I'm sure there are ppl who'd disagree.
The episodes are short. How about just give it a try and see for yourself? :)
New watchers, dont bother with 7.9 rating. If you are into smart and scheming plot, go with this 😎
I second that!!! The writing in this drama is really good. I usually need to suspend my disbelief or look the other way in order to enjoy a lot of dramas, but here I haven't spotted any logical flaws or inconsistencies so far. If they're there, they're hidden very well 😉 The characters are smart (and not just by the setting that tells us they're smart and by everyone around them being surprisingly stupid; they're really smart, it's a joy to watch them plot, think and deduce).
The acting is also good. It's the first time I'm seeing Shawn Dou in anything, but he's doing such a good job!
Overall, the rating (when compared to other drama ratings on MDL) is a misunderstanding to me. It's a really good work. Do give it a try, everybody who wonders if they should!
Where are you all watching this?If Viki .. which region are you from of VPN plugged in?Says 12 eps dropped??
It's not available on Viki yet. They'd drop first three eps in three days, I think.
It's available on Youku's official YouTube channel, but they drop it one ep per each day and currently are at 5 episodes available. You can watch it for free there at such pace.
Then finally, you can also get the Youku app - where you can watch all of the officially released episodes already :)
Does it contain any unnecessary romance? I only want to watch if there's not..
Well, there is some romance but most definitely it is not the focus of the story.
If you're asking because you want a riveting, morally grey story set in a distopian reality with charismatic characters, that sometimes do questionable things, then this drama is for you ;)
But if you're asking because you've seen The Devil Judge promoted as this super hot bromance that should be a BL, then... I honestly don't think it delivers in this regard. Male leads have great chemistry, but the eponymous judge has great chemistry with pretty much everybody 😋 You can cherry pick certain scenes to make them look like there is something there, but being half-way through the series I can tell you that any sort of BL angle is more in the heads of some viewers who want to see them than on screen ;)
Still, it's a great show though. I'd definitely recommend it!
Sei's behavior and his mannerisms are exactly like a victim of control and abuse. He seems so zoned out. Not even…
He's not stuck in victim mentality, though? Sei never even once referred to himself as a victim or to Fujisawa as his abuser or blamed Fujisawa for example for the lack of social life (which he obviously had before his parents' death and Fujisawa taking control of him). Quite the contrary, in fact... BTW Do you guys remember how vehemently he was washing hid hands after pleasuring himself, as if he committed some sort of ultimate transgression against Fujisawa? (To whom he feels indebted for taking care of him after his parents' death.)
Unless we understand victim mentality completely differently... Cause for me it's when somebody *makes* a victim out of themselves, expects special treatment from others and constantly uses his status of being wronged/oppressed to get things, while blaming it for not getting them at the same time.
Sei is not stuck in victim mentality, if anything he is traumatised and conditioned to certain behaviours through his abuser (Fujisawa).
"Suddenly became a villain"?? What?? That man has been gaslighting, controlling, acting stand-offish, isolating,…
Let me just add that ofc someone can be forced or pressured verbally into doing something, but there is a difference between saying:
"Will you do this with me? If you don't wanna, how abt we do it differently then?"
and saying: "If you don't do this, I will move out" or "If you don't do this, I don't wanna be friends with you anymore" (ultimatum) or even guilt tripping someone to do sth, e.g. "I never ask you for anything, I always adjust to all your rigid lifestyle choices. Can't you give me this ONE thing I want from you? Is it that too much of me to ask for?".
Sei never confronted Fujisawa in any of these way, he simply stated rather matter-of-factly what he'd want to happen between them.
Once again, considering how close these two are, I really don't think there was anything forceful or pressuring about it.
"Suddenly became a villain"?? What?? That man has been gaslighting, controlling, acting stand-offish, isolating,…
Aside from pressing the finger (which honestly escaped my attention when I watched it, I only later saw ppl bring it up), Fujisawa:
- Acts judgmental each time Sei mentions sth he did outside of their situantionship or his work "uhh, I thought you didn't like doing this like that", "huh? what did you talk about? that's so silly" etc. I'm aware that they don't sound particularly mean, but considering the guy barely talks, half of what he says is passive aggressive when he actually opens his mouth
- He has isolated Sei from his friends, which was alluded to when Sei met his university friend, the guy clearly tried to contact Sei through Fujisawa (who at that time was already managing Sei's life, being his "spokesman") and Fujisawa never passed the message judging from Sei's reaction
- everything at the place they live is according to Fujisawa's liking, from the lack of TV, to the colour of towels; now, that one is not necessarily so red-flaggy, as Sei doesn't really protest, but certainly points to the type of personality Fuji has (controlling, needs to have everything according to his liking, tons of rules set etc.)
Also, I don't think asking someone to have sex is forcing, c'mon... This entire comment section keeps pointing out how characters don't communicate, but the moment one of them says what they want it's considered forcing? He proposed Fujisawa, got rejected, tried to work out a compromise (maybe I could watch or you could watch kinda thing), it didn't work out. Got bashed by Fujisawa and that was it. They live together and have a close relationship (albeit a weird one), it's not like Sei went out and started harassing people in the street or his coworkers with the same request.
1 
Sei has been conditioned to rely on Fujisawa after his parents died. He has been isolated from any friends. He's been subtly undermined and criticised by Fujisawa on daily basis (how about that moment when Fujisawa suggests Sei's work is of no importance? or how about he dismisses Sei's conversations with his email pal as silly?) and restricted as to what he should and shouldn't do, to the point that he doesn't watch TV, sprays himself before going back home not to displease Fujisawa with how he smells or washes hands like crazy after masturbating...
It's been suggested and shown a bit here and there that Sei's natural personality is more defiant, very direct, a bit cheeky and mischievous. We saw glimpses of that in his emails with Hagiwara or their conversation at the beginning of episode 4, I think (just right after they found out each other's identities). It's also clearly shown that he was someone liked by his university friends, who'd want to keep in touch with him. It's Fujisawa who kept dimming his light all the time, weaving his web of control and abuse around Sei.
Sei pushing Hagiwara away has probably (in my opinion) a lot to do with him feeling indebted to Fujisawa, who "took care" of him after his parents' death. And ofc plenty to do with the fact how much he's been mentally (and now, also physically) victimized and conditioned by Fujisawa. It's difficult to break the cycle of abuse, and I honestly feel super sorry for him and sympathize with his position.
However, I got confused by their conversation afterwards when they were walking together at the bridge. Kotoha apologized to Megumi and it kinda sounded like she went through it? Was it a translation mistake or it actually happened?
I hope it's a misunderstanding, because... I honestly don't like this development.
I was not one among people appauled by the first episode. I thought the whole thing at Megumi's place was handled pretty well. Megumi defended herself, she drew the boundary, called what Kotoha was doing for what it was (a crime). I also understood the importance of that event storywise, as it was establishing Kotoha's character and gave us a glimpse of what might've happened to her (e.g. "you think the police will treat it seriously if it's two women" sentence she says - I'm quoting from memory so it's definitely not accurate).
However they completely lost me at episode 6 and that bridge scene. What was that "yay, hurray, let's be together forever" atmosphere? I know that Megumi has this saviour personality to the extent it's not healthy, but wasn't it a bit too much? Especially if the rape actually happened...
Which is why I think it didn't and Kotoha was apologizing for forcing herself on Megumi *before* she stopped. But I wish someone who watched the episode shared their impressions with me.
What is officially confirmed though is a second fan meeting. Anyone from Thailand (or with money to go to Thailand 😋) and with a will to go, get ready, I guess ;)
It's just that... the drama is still ongoing, I wish it didn't have a rating that immediately scares the possible audiences away.
Another thing is the genre - costume cdramas seem to usually be around 8.5 so 7.9 for such a smart script is just rubbing me the wrong way. I know it's not the most productive emotion to have ;)
I guess the confusion in the article might come from the fact that in Chinese culture the concepts of heart and mind were kinda interchangeable. But that's just my guess.
This drama is more on the serious side and requires a bit of attention from the viewer.
As others already stated, it's not very romance-heavy.
It's definitely very different. I'd say it's more artistic, there's visual symbolism, the cinematography is great, despite it not looking to be high budget. There's strong focus on psychology of characters.
The kissing scenes will most likely look lacklustre to someone used to Thai GLs...
Personally, to me, this drama is better, but I'm sure there are ppl who'd disagree.
The episodes are short. How about just give it a try and see for yourself? :)
The writing in this drama is really good. I usually need to suspend my disbelief or look the other way in order to enjoy a lot of dramas, but here I haven't spotted any logical flaws or inconsistencies so far. If they're there, they're hidden very well 😉
The characters are smart (and not just by the setting that tells us they're smart and by everyone around them being surprisingly stupid; they're really smart, it's a joy to watch them plot, think and deduce).
The acting is also good. It's the first time I'm seeing Shawn Dou in anything, but he's doing such a good job!
Overall, the rating (when compared to other drama ratings on MDL) is a misunderstanding to me.
It's a really good work. Do give it a try, everybody who wonders if they should!
It's available on Youku's official YouTube channel, but they drop it one ep per each day and currently are at 5 episodes available. You can watch it for free there at such pace.
Then finally, you can also get the Youku app - where you can watch all of the officially released episodes already :)
Thanks a lot for the info! :)
But I wasn't able to find it neither on Spotify nor on YouTube. I guess not released yet (?)
If you're asking because you want a riveting, morally grey story set in a distopian reality with charismatic characters, that sometimes do questionable things, then this drama is for you ;)
But if you're asking because you've seen The Devil Judge promoted as this super hot bromance that should be a BL, then... I honestly don't think it delivers in this regard. Male leads have great chemistry, but the eponymous judge has great chemistry with pretty much everybody 😋 You can cherry pick certain scenes to make them look like there is something there, but being half-way through the series I can tell you that any sort of BL angle is more in the heads of some viewers who want to see them than on screen ;)
Still, it's a great show though. I'd definitely recommend it!
BTW Do you guys remember how vehemently he was washing hid hands after pleasuring himself, as if he committed some sort of ultimate transgression against Fujisawa? (To whom he feels indebted for taking care of him after his parents' death.)
Unless we understand victim mentality completely differently... Cause for me it's when somebody *makes* a victim out of themselves, expects special treatment from others and constantly uses his status of being wronged/oppressed to get things, while blaming it for not getting them at the same time.
Sei is not stuck in victim mentality, if anything he is traumatised and conditioned to certain behaviours through his abuser (Fujisawa).
"Will you do this with me? If you don't wanna, how abt we do it differently then?"
and saying:
"If you don't do this, I will move out" or "If you don't do this, I don't wanna be friends with you anymore" (ultimatum) or even guilt tripping someone to do sth, e.g. "I never ask you for anything, I always adjust to all your rigid lifestyle choices. Can't you give me this ONE thing I want from you? Is it that too much of me to ask for?".
Sei never confronted Fujisawa in any of these way, he simply stated rather matter-of-factly what he'd want to happen between them.
Once again, considering how close these two are, I really don't think there was anything forceful or pressuring about it.
- Acts judgmental each time Sei mentions sth he did outside of their situantionship or his work "uhh, I thought you didn't like doing this like that", "huh? what did you talk about? that's so silly" etc. I'm aware that they don't sound particularly mean, but considering the guy barely talks, half of what he says is passive aggressive when he actually opens his mouth
- He has isolated Sei from his friends, which was alluded to when Sei met his university friend, the guy clearly tried to contact Sei through Fujisawa (who at that time was already managing Sei's life, being his "spokesman") and Fujisawa never passed the message judging from Sei's reaction
- everything at the place they live is according to Fujisawa's liking, from the lack of TV, to the colour of towels; now, that one is not necessarily so red-flaggy, as Sei doesn't really protest, but certainly points to the type of personality Fuji has (controlling, needs to have everything according to his liking, tons of rules set etc.)
Also, I don't think asking someone to have sex is forcing, c'mon... This entire comment section keeps pointing out how characters don't communicate, but the moment one of them says what they want it's considered forcing? He proposed Fujisawa, got rejected, tried to work out a compromise (maybe I could watch or you could watch kinda thing), it didn't work out. Got bashed by Fujisawa and that was it. They live together and have a close relationship (albeit a weird one), it's not like Sei went out and started harassing people in the street or his coworkers with the same request.