ColourMePurple
Favourite of 2024!
The Judge From Hell not only lived up to my expectations but clearly surpassed it. I absolutely loved Park ShinHye as Kang Bitna. Even when they show her personality transformation, it is actually believable. Contrast that to the human Kang Bitna who died in episode 1 and how differently she was portrayed. You can see a real difference between the two personalities. That was just one of the beauties of this show.
The other aspect I loved is the punishments dealt by Bitna. The concept was simple yet ingenious. The CGI are beautiful. And if you love strong female characters as much as I do, you will especially love this one. It would have been so easy to mess this up because of some of the twists in the series and especially with the ending. But the series maintained it's strength and doubled down on it's portrayal of Kang Bitna as the judge from hell. Strength doesn't always have to mean physical. It can also come from within and that's what we get in those moments.
Han DaOn was also a nice character. A bit too nice and emotional to be a cop yet you want to root for him even when he is opposed to Bitna. He certainly doesn't take the attention away from her. Bitna is the shining star and the show never loses its focus! Credit to the writers and directors on that.
There are quite a few secondary characters that are enjoyable and the true villain was not easy to guess as there were many inaccurate theories by fans. That also made it more enjoyable guessing what the true nature of people was.
The only other supernatural justice plot I can think of is the Thai drama Girl From Nowhere which is more gruesome and serious. In contrast, The Judge From Hell keeps a balance between the seriousness of the cases and the punishments being entertaining due to the way they are recreated. Besides that TJFH has lighter moments and comedy that makes it a fun watch versus GFN is heavy. I loved both shows and there are aspects that are comparable so I would definitely recommend both.
The OST Boomerang, Crossroad and Gehenna are worth listening to.
The other aspect I loved is the punishments dealt by Bitna. The concept was simple yet ingenious. The CGI are beautiful. And if you love strong female characters as much as I do, you will especially love this one. It would have been so easy to mess this up because of some of the twists in the series and especially with the ending. But the series maintained it's strength and doubled down on it's portrayal of Kang Bitna as the judge from hell. Strength doesn't always have to mean physical. It can also come from within and that's what we get in those moments.
Han DaOn was also a nice character. A bit too nice and emotional to be a cop yet you want to root for him even when he is opposed to Bitna. He certainly doesn't take the attention away from her. Bitna is the shining star and the show never loses its focus! Credit to the writers and directors on that.
There are quite a few secondary characters that are enjoyable and the true villain was not easy to guess as there were many inaccurate theories by fans. That also made it more enjoyable guessing what the true nature of people was.
The only other supernatural justice plot I can think of is the Thai drama Girl From Nowhere which is more gruesome and serious. In contrast, The Judge From Hell keeps a balance between the seriousness of the cases and the punishments being entertaining due to the way they are recreated. Besides that TJFH has lighter moments and comedy that makes it a fun watch versus GFN is heavy. I loved both shows and there are aspects that are comparable so I would definitely recommend both.
The OST Boomerang, Crossroad and Gehenna are worth listening to.
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