The Demon Judge (2021)

One of the Best

I was Looking for A really good Bromance with no or little romance and this was the perfect show for that Thank you to the person who recommend this to me

there needs to be more Like this one All the Actors did such An amazing Job the Two Male leads will make you fall in Love with them and even Ship them the villain's of the show were such that I actually yelled at my Tv A time or two

the one thing this show does do is show you even the best Intention People can lose there way and mess up

I really Liked how the two main leads formed A bond so deep

the Second Male Lead Was so good I forgot he was A KPOP Star

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In the face of corruption, how far is too far for the sake of justice?

What an enthralling drama!

Devil Judge was an entertaining drama that dealt with topics revolving around corruption, justice, fairness, law, revenge, politics, greed, and morally gray characters.

Judge Yo Han is a true to the bone anti-hero you want to root for but also can't help but doubt his intentions and methods. Watching this drama, you are bound to skirt the lines between wanting to achieve justice while preserving your morals and wanting to abandon those morals for the sake of justice/seeing all corrupt people burn. I truly found this drama entertaining because it made me really question what I would do if I were in Yo Han's or Ga On's shoes and that made me relate/understand their motivations and actions, despite them being different. Ga On and Yo Han were on different ends of the spectrum, morally speaking, so you get to see both perspectives in the drama. Yo Han is a morally gray character who does whatever he deems appropriate for the overall sake of justice(more like his personal revenge story imo), while Ga On is a character that has a firm belief in what is wrong vs right and acts in a way that does not stray from the law and his beliefs.

The most entertaining part of this drama was watching the Live Court proceedings and wondering just what innovative method Yo Han will inflict as punishment on the criminals. As the drama goes on, I went into the mindset of thinking the show took place in a dystopian society, as that's the only way I could see any of what was going on as believable. The whole concept behind the Live Courts just felt very Black Mirror, and was really fun to watch, but also towards the ending, started to feel a bit too over the top.

My interest was peaked from episode 1 and I couldn't stop watching. While I had frustrations with character decisions, Ga On mainly, I still enjoyed the show for the most part. The main cast also did a great job. We all know JiSung is amazing so nothing more to note there. I was also very satisfied with Cha Gyung Hee's actress, and Chairwoman Sun Ah's actress (although the latter sometimes did have too much of an airy voice (?) Lmao but I believe that was more of a character trait, than an acting issue). Other actors were okay, but only 1 really took away from the experience for me and it was Juk Chang's actor. My displeasure is probably more due to the way the character was written itself but I also just didn't like the actor's acting. It was a minor role that turned into more of a bigger role towards the end of the drama so I likely feel more annoyed about it than I normally would.

There's a little bit of romance in this between Ga On and his police officer best friend, but it is not the focus. I actually thought their relationship was cute and approved it because their story makes sense as they both have supported eo since they were teens. Before watching this drama, I was familiar with it due to having watched multiple clips on Youtube where it was inferred there was a BL story between Yo Han and Ga On. But honestly, after watching the drama, their relationship felt more like bromance/family than anything else. Sad, I know (there were moments where you can sorta feel Yo Han is into Ga On, but they were too little and short for me to really focus on, so I just enjoyed the drama as is and didn't think about the possible BL undertones after a point).

Overall, it's a really fun series. I had a great time watching and getting to know the characters, especially Yo Han. The overall plot was good too just a bit too exaggerated/over the top for my taste.

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A Thrilling and Unexpected Ride

Set in the dystopian country of South Korea, it is about a judge who's trying to punish bad people that can't be punished by law, using a live-streaming court, open to the public.

The 'punish the unpunishable using any way possible' prompt is not a new story in the kdramaland. In fact, I first watch this drama because the synopsis reminds me of Vincenzo that I've once enjoyed. The similarity I found between these two dramas is the 'problem-solving' format. It started with a less important case, then slowly building the tension and reveals more cases, which is related to big and bigger problems, in this case, related to the government. The Devil Judge doesn't just focused on the judges in the court unlike the usual legal dramas. I think it's more of a political drama, since we got a bigger scheme of political conspiracy happening in the country.

The live court show format is the thing I highlight in this drama, probably the main reason why I get to finish this, even though this drama is emotionally draining. The drama offers so many unexpected things in the court, making it thrilling for every trial they held, from the first one until the very last. Outside the court setting, about Yohan's struggle against the government, there are also a lot of unexpected things and twists happened. Every episode brings more surprise to the viewers, to the point I never get bored when watching this drama. The CGI was also very cool, but become less cooler in the last episode.
The main leads' character, Kang Yohan and Jung Sunah are well-written imo. They went through similar struggles and loneliness when they were younger, unknowingly building their own 'monster' side to their personalities and declaring war with each other. Compared to Yohan's story, I still hope that the writers can elaborate more about Sunah's background of how can she became a villain that is feared by a lot of people while she's very fragile inside.
Kim Gaon, however, kinda get me annoyed from the beginning. It's clearly shown that even though he has an idealist vision of how a judge should be, he is also a naive person easily swayed by other people words, not even checking the facts before believing it (minor spoiler alert: which may cause more chaos later). Thus making the drama is a big game of Trusting Kang Yohan: Is He A Good Person Or Not?
Last but not least, Yoon Soohyun, a police who has a similar vision as Gaon and acts as someone who often interfere Yohan and Gaon's plans. I feel that she's more like a supporting chara rather than main chara, since her portion of the story wasn't that much, more like a #1 Gaon supporter with little character development. All I can say that she deserves better.

Despite my complaints to the characters, the casts were super! They understand their assignments very well. I really love their chemistry with each other, especially when watching their interviews and BTS videos. I haven't watched any dramas from these actors before, except for Kim Minjung (whose also did a very great job portraying a sassy, ambitious lady), and they amazed me with their acting skills! Ji Sung is so charming while portraying the charismatic and mysterious judge Kang Yohan, so charming that I'm becoming his fan now :D
Also kudos to the supporting characters: Judge Oh, Elijah, Professor Min, as well as the other antagonists in the CSR foundation and The President, they did their job so good that I was able to actually get on my nerves many times! The drama only has few OSTs, that fits the drama very well on different circumstances and scenes.

Overall, watching The Devil Judge is like riding a rollercoaster with a lot of tunnels. We are not sure of what would happen next since it's dark inside the tunnel, but it is thrilling and exciting anyways. The drama isn't that remarkable for me, but it is surely enjoyable to watch, if you're into this type of legal and crime drama, of course.

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Perfect drama that will shake you every episode

That was an absolute wild ride. From the beginning till the very end. I’ve never watched drama that could shake me every episode. That each time surprised me with plot twists. That I could not anticipate what will happen because it was so absolutely unpredictable. And at the same time, drama that would be so perfect in every aspect.
When I prepare for writing review, I always make notes. Not much, just the overall thoughts that I have while watching drama. That helps me to organise my writing later on. Usually those notes are not longer than two pages of handwriting. Maybe four if drama is especially complicated or I have a lot of comments about it. How many pages I’ve written watching The Devil Jugde? Freaking 10 and I still think that’s not enough to barely touch the subject.

Let’s talk about Yo Han
Let’s talk about Kang Yo Han, because there’s so much to unpack here that we’ll going to be here for a while. First of all, huge kudos to Ji Sung for carrying this role, I hope his back is ok after that. He shown his acting range in Kill Me Heal Me, his attachment to the role in Defendant, but I honestly think that Yo Han is going to be his crown jewel. Because who is Kang Yo Han? Nobody knows. Nobody. We don’t know what’s actually sitting in his head. He’s so unpredictable that he can be double bluffing and we’ll know if two episodes later. He’s master of manipulation which basically means that once again he cannot be trusted, all he does may be just a way to fulfil his plan. From the beginning we see that there’s something wrong with him. The way he talks about hunting for example in one of first episodes. Right away I had a thought that the prey he would like to hunt is human. And I wasn’t really wrong, because it seems that his whole life was a battle. He had to fight from youngest years and one of his greatest weapons is manipulation. I was watching with my mouth opened the scenes when he was basically steering people in a trap that he prepare for them. How he manipulated them to be in exact position that he wanted them to be. No hesitation, no remorse, everything to achieve his goal.
And it seems that he can weasel himself out of every situation. Every time he was backed to the wall somehow he managed to get out without damage and it was so amazing especially that it was done so effortlessly that I could barely believe what just happened. I have to admit, I’ve said the phrase “Yo Han, you sly fox” more times that I care to admit
Yo Han is incredibly sure of himself when he interacts with people he manipulates and at the same time he’s absolutely awkward towards his family and the ones close to him (which totals to like three people, and I’m being generous here).
It’s clear that Yo Han’s methods are often too much, but seeing some scenes involving members of the Social Responsibility Foundation , the injustice and lies of people on the top, it’s hard not to sympathise with him. From time to time he makes us doubt if normal, according to the law methods are the right ones in this brutal reality. The truth is that Yo Has has his own slightly crooked form of justice, but at least he’s true to it through and through.
Yo Han is an incredibly complicated character, with many layers to him.

Cinematics
From the very first scene, cinematic were the element that I was totally in awe of. Remember it? Black Corvette riding thought the city at night. In the background Drop The Game by Flume & Chet Faker. This song, even tough was used several more times, was linked for me with this scene. Till now I thought that It’s Okay to Not be Okay was the pinnacle of cinematography in dramas, but I have to admit, The Devil Judge topped that. With amazing light (scenes in Yo Han’s office at night!) And scenography it just created amazing background to the main plot.

Music
That must’ve been one of the most searched out for me. It fits so seamlessly into the action of the show that after every episode I could just listen to it on repeat. And not having whole album already to listen to really hurts. But from now on every car trip starts with Tempest and that’s perfect way to go anywhere.
So how they say, choice of music in some scenes is *chef’s kiss*. I believe that’s this is one of there most memorable soundtracks I’ve heard.

Created world
I love dystopias. After time travelling, that’s my favourite motive. I was raised on 1984 by Orwell and Brave New World by Huxley, so I have a bit of soft spot for it. But when those two were till pretty much recently rather far away. With what happened in them, then The Devil Judge seems terrifyingly familiar. A great plague? Checked. Society in disarray after the crisis? Checked. Nationalist movements? Unfortunately, where I’m from, almost checked. So with all that in mind, watching The Devil Judge with this new scary form of Live Court seemed just too probable. And that was why this drama hit so hard. Is Live Court something that could happen? Hopefully not, but in society where all hope is lost, why not? We already have corrupted politicians and greedy corporations so we’re not far from there. Is the idea of people actually deciding about major court ruling absolutely terrifying? Of course. I have to admit, I chuckled couple of times watching those hearings (I mean the video from American prison was a bit over the top) but I also understand that the format of the Live Court was supposed to be a bit flashy. It was supposed to be a tv show. The way that it also become the battlefield between Yo Han and the Foundation was amazing. It looked like a true chess game, where each side had to be very cautious about next move.

The villain
This is a pure gem right here. Who do you fight psychopath with? Another psychopath. Yo Han could actually be a villain by himself with his very particular form of justice. But the writers decided to go a step further and gave us Sun Ah. Sun Ah at first seems like a perfect opposite to Yo Han. Where he want’s justice, she wants power, no matter the cost. But at the same time they share a lot of traits and this is pretty much scary at some point. And what I love about this character is how at the beginning she let everyone to underestimate her giving her the perfect point of attack. I mean, who would suspect a secretary?
Her lecture at school where she speaks to young girls about what to do to be a good child is a perfect introduction and explanation of motives for this character. For her survival can only be achieved through power and power is gained with wealth. Person must do everything to survive. She’s ruthless and her prey are men who are abusing women. They have to be destroyed. She finds their soft spot and hit it till she achieves her target.

Welcome to the world in which the ones talking about power don’t really have it, and the powerful work in the backstage meticulously steering their puppets.

About acting, apart from extraordinary Ji Sung and Kim Min Jung we have a vast array of amazing actors, even the smaller roles leave a mark in a memory. I mean great example is Park Hyung Soo as attorney Ko In Guk who really left amazing impression for me. Park Jin Young’s acting wasn’t convincing for me at the beginning but I was glad to see much needed progress throughout the series. But that might’ve been because the role he had wasn’t easy either. I could write something else here about Ga On himself, but I think that in the end he was exactly the person who he was intended to be and not much more.

This must be first drama that I gave the score of 10 with absolutely no hesitation. I had absolutely no choice to do differently, since this drama for me is simply perfect. Acting, characters, cinematic, music, everything comes up to the show that I will from now on compare others to. This would be a best series that other could only aspire to. I know that these are big words here, but honestly, I’ve never waited for another episode with that much of anticipation. I’ve never beed so hooked on a show in my adult life. This ladies and gentlemen is a perfect drama, thank you very much.

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KANG YO HAN !A One Man Showdown !

I'm not going to say how the drama is as I'm late for the party! But even then I wanted to write this review because I wanted to share my thoughts and views during watching the series.

1.) Kang Yo Han: Firstly about Ji Sung I would just say he's a born to be an actor. And about the role to create the world a million times better place one must take responsibility to turn into a monster who should wipe out trash. And KYH is a character written as such. He too has emotions and l relations but above them he kept his sorrow, tragedy, trauma in his life and chose to become a monster who can eradicate those injustice and tragadies created by those in power from the life those who don't have the power even if it might potray him evil. And he never even made any excuse for his actions or behavior. This makes a person real human.

2.) Jung Sun Ah: I have always imagined a woman figure as a soft, outspoken, patient type. But this particular character really got me off the picture I have always imagined about woman. She is an icon of deal and destruction. After everything she faced from the childhood and got to such a position, she could have helped people like her with the authority and capability she has. But still she chose to keep herself first because in this cruel reality of life no one would care to keep you or care you first. You have to do it yourself even if it means to kill or be killed. Though the way she chose to gain & use her power was wrong, I truly respect her character to have such an audacity to stand strong among the egoistic and self-obsessed, power-thirst, influential men who could do anything and everything in their power and control them at her fingertips which not many could do.

3.) Kim Ga-On & Yoon Soo Hyun: I was really fed up with these two confused characters who doesn't have their own decision making capabilities and always act like immature school kids. Thse two are such fools to criticise every decision that KYH makes especially KGO. They didn't even face 1/4th of the unjust KYH faced and life KYH lived and still they have the nerve to question his decisions and behavior. For a second, it's atleast fine upto the live court proceedings as it's work related. But digging about KYH and blaming him directly for his brother's death with any circumstantial evidence! Like really! Are they really public servents? What right do these two jerks has to dig up someone life? And barging in and blaming someone without even knowing atleast a part of the truth let alone whole truth. Getting manipulated easily by others words without using their brain these two are the one's talking about law, rules, system, order. Wow! What a joke! They really looked like a team of hipocrates. It's because KYH let them off but in reality if I find someone digging up my past life then I would file a case of prying on my privacy and stalking.

As for the main five antagonists the president, Bussinessman, Channel owner, Minister and the Foundation Chairman. Sometimes I really felt the urge to go inside my phone, given a chance, and kill them myself. So you can imagine what kind of emotions I felt! These are the people in power who have a lot to loose but still hold on to the power and the money they have to manipulate the system as they like.

Overall the drama was an eye-opener to the harsh reality that power and money even make or break any kind of person whether he/she may be a president or a low-life begger. They have explained life of an individual in a very extra-ordinary way that "Life of a person is not a case of judgment to judge what is right and what is wrong. It's just a journey of choices to choose what you want to do and what you don't. And every choice you make in that journey comes with a heavy price ".

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Not a "court case of the week" type of show

I planned to watch this drama from when it started airing, but I knew it would be better to binge it once it was over. For that reason, I completely skipped any news or comments about the show. I didn’t even realize that every episode was over 1h.

The initial premise of the show would make you believe that the court cases would be a big part of the show, once it’s actually just a tool for the main plot to develop. I can see how people that expected more court cases could be disappointed, but I was very happy with how the cases we got were part of the main story and had interesting twists. If we got any cases that were not 100% crucial to the big plan, I wish we’d seen a case with a split vote. I guess the closest we got to that was the electric chair one, where the public was not totally agreeing at first.

The team of villain on this show is outstanding. I completely hated all of them with my entire body. Kudos to the fantastic work done by the actors, specially the president. I never liked and trusted the professor, so I was happy to see that my suspicions were correct.

This is a prime kdrama, so we all knew that we’d not get a romance between the two male leads. But the hints and chemistry were there. The two hugs on episode 16 were the crumbs for Ga On/Yo Han shippers. I think there is a big issue that would difficult the plot going on that path: Ga On being the split image of Yo Han deceased brother. The same way that I think Elijah had a “crush” on Ga On just because he cared about her, then he kinda became her second dad, with Yo Han. I also didn’t expect the show to make Ga On and Soo Hyun’s relationship endgame. But I thought they’d do that by making her just move on after being in love with him for so long.

As much as I believe that Ga On liked Soo Hyun for real, when she died he cried and wanted revenge. While with Yo Han, he literally tried to blow himself up twice in one 1h. I guess the thought of a world without Yo Han was pretty scary…

Even though the ending of the show is not a “we’ll never meet again” situation, the fact that Elijah has such a strong connection to Ga On makes me believe she’d not agree to just go to Switzerland in the middle of the night. I doubt she’d go 1 month without contacting him, she’s a computer genius. I understand that Yo Han is technically dead in Korea, so they can’t live like a happy family at the mansion, but they’d still keep in touch.

The show is open ended and the ending we get is “happy”. But, in a weird way, Sun Ah’s plan worked in a way that Yo Han is not all alone, but Ga On is. By the end of episode 16, Ga On has lost his best friend, his “best buddy”, his mentor and his two work colleagues. He’s left alone in life and on the fight against the system.

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Tell me it's a subtle South Korean Hannibal without telling me it is...

I suppose only people who have watched Hannibal will see the parallels, and I saw them all. The context is so different, but the key moments and characters are all there! I won't go into detail about how the shows line up because this review is meant to be about The Devil Judge, which is just fantastic in the same visual, emotional, indulgent and treacherously intriguing way that Hannibal NBC was, while being an entire treat by itself in it's interesting story. I did not mind a single second of all 16 eps.

I don't know if the writer of this has actually watched Hannibal or if the energy of this show was coincidental, but either way, it was a hell of a fix and a damn good watch.

That said, this show checks ALL of my boxes, so it may not be to everyone's taste and my review is totally based on my bias.
For those who like a clear line between good and bad, this is not for you, the 'good guys' are not the focus, but the 'right guys' on the other hand...

All GOOD, no BAD or UGLY. I've already rewatched it and I will do so again.

This show made me a FAN ya'll. And Ji Sung is perfection.

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The Devil Judge

I just finished ep 15 and I was blown and I legit mean blown away. This whole Kdrama was so full of suspense and mystery and anxiety of not knowing what's to come. But that's the charm to it not knowing. I was mesmerised and taken away from the start. I liked how the drama slowly brings u into storyline and then suddenly hits u with like milion facts at once and with such a messy plot. It is a messy but I like it. I like how messy and twisted it can be and how it actually shows reality of some real possible future or like a stimulation of one. Directors and writers did a good one on this one and the actors are amazing at portraying their emotions. I could feel every single emotion they felt and that means a lot when I as an audience member can connect on that level with characters. Through this drama I felt various emotions from the unfairness to injustice and just raw and cruel emotions and real. This drama was really real. And it portrayes many sides at once that's another charm of its own. I really love this drama it might even be my favorite so far. That's how good it is!
It is worth rewatching again but that first time the first thrill and suspense emotions u feel, well nothing can replace the first time. I fully recommend watching this K-Drama it is so worth your time trust me I won't be wrong on this one.
Can't wait to see the final episode and what's in store for us

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Revenge served in a decorated platter

Once again a high class revenge story. Yes .The acting and cast is perfect. The music is on par with movies. But ridiculous and loopholes are everywhere. CCtV doesn't exist in this drama.. i don't get what the police officer deal? How can she be everywhere? and jump to everything ...
some people are saying because of the ML looks it didn't get more ratings than Vinzenco..relax guys.Mr.queen made it to top without ant A class actors.. This story is refreshing but it's still lacking some sense.

How come no body questions Ms.Kim even when she murdered people but people suspect ML ..writers stop portraying ML with contracting to his own self..I am still waiting for the rest of the episodes,But i hope it doesn't disappoint like vinzenco at the end...

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Okay, I really, really tried and wanted to finish this series. Accepted that this was the feel of a daytime soap opera where everything is dramatized and nothing really made sense or flowed well. They threw in as much dramatic effects as possible with car chases in miraculously empty highways, doppelgangers, coincidences that should only occur in a town with less than a hundred population, etc. It really did no justice for two of the mains portrayed by Ji Sung and Kim Min Jung, as they are the only ones to look forward to on screen.

The rest of the mains were incredibly annoying and hypocritical and were a really poor balance to the "Devil Judge". They come off as arrogant and self-righteous fools who only create more problems than solve any. They whine, cry, criticize, and complain but have no abilities to do anything about the situations, and yet they end up relying on the same ones they continuously bash over and over again.

Even ignoring glaring issues like with the Park Jin Young character who is supposed to be a judge idol but yet, he can just casually go on his investigations without being recognized? Or the fact that while he apparently worked so hard to become a judge (even though it was handed to him), he gave attitude to his employer over and over right off the bat? And despite being overly vocal about being lawful and moral, he judges his boss pretty much immediately, plants a listening bug in his office, and then invades his privacy in his own home while he was being taken care of? Then there's his equally arrogant cop girlfriend who illegally provides him with information and equipment.

What finally made me throw my hands in the air in defeat was when that incompetent and useless cop girlfriend decided it was a fantastic idea to approach a mob of troublemakers by herself, leave the handicap niece in the car, and expect things will go smoothly just because she whipped out a gun? Then, when the guys come to their rescue, she turns around to point a gun at the uncle because he's pissed off and has the assailant by the neck? Then says she's going to arrest HIM instead? Furthermore, the niece also acts up like her usual prissy brat self even though she's the one who called him begging for help?

There's just too many annoying aspects to list and I can't stand characters who want to juice the hell out of their life traumas as if they are the only ones in the world who have them. The overall plot had good potential and Ji Sung and Kim Min Jung carried their roles well, but the annoyances from the others have become overwhelming and I'm done trying.

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You need to watch this!!!!

The Devil Judge is a story about Kang Yo Han seeking justice for His Brother who died in a mysterious fire accident with his wife. He become one of the Prominent Judge of South Korea. He handle his court hearing and announce verdict through a live coverage nationwide and allow the citizen of Korea to vote if the Defendant is guilty or not in the crime. The people behind the establishment of this kind of justice system was really the target of Kang Ho Yan. The story for seeking justice is common in kdrama but what is unique in Devil Judge is the process plus the twist and the pacing was really perfect and unpredictable. Ji Sung proves again that this is His genre and his acting is thumbs up.... and Park Jin-Young , I already watch him in He is Psychometric, but in this series, the Acting, the Visuals...he really leveled up......10/10

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