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types of love
This drama is my absolute favorite. I don’t even know where to start talking about what I love about it. I guess I should begin with the cinematography because it's stunning. The color tone of the show changes depending on the weight of the story, making you feel like you're under a never-ending rain. Each scene gives you these amazing photographic moments that really enhance the viewing experience.This drama is pretty heavy and slow, but it’s definitely not boring. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters because I feel completely different from them, but they delivered such great performances that it felt natural, like they were really being themselves. So even though I didn’t agree with their choices, I understood why they did what they did.
I haven’t watched a drama that elevates emotions like this in a long time. In this story, everyone is lost, lonely, and trying to find their way.
Three siblings experience deep trauma after their father leaves them for another woman (though it's true that the brother wasn’t really affected by it since he was very young at the time). After their father's death, they are kicked out of the home where they were raised by their stepmother. Shin Woo, whose life was ruined because of his father, makes a plan for revenge. He gets a job at the company of the son of the woman his father ran away with. His goal is to take revenge on the woman who brought pain to his family by using her son. However, the man turns out to be nothing like he expected, and over time, Shin Woo finds himself developing feelings he can't control.
Yes, I know it sounds cliché! But it’s not; the way the story is presented is so natural and unique that eventually you find yourself just praying for everything to work out.
One thing you can't overlook in this drama is the supporting characters. Ah, they’re all unique and different. They’re connected to the main characters but also have their own distinct arcs…
Oh, yes, that was pretty praise-heavy, but it’s not exaggerated. Watching them understand and accept their love without drowning in each other's loneliness and traumas was truly beautiful. We know it was really hard for both of them.
My only negative critique of this drama is that the ending should have given us more. No, it’s not an ambiguous ending (which we know we don’t like, and we’re justified in that). But after spending 16 episodes feeling their pain and tension, we deserved more time for the final scene.
Anyway, for those who are about to start watching, I can just say: please don’t underestimate the natural flow of life and give it a chance. We need stories like this!
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I'm really sad that this underrated drama has been overlooked, and I can never understand why. It definitely deserves more recognition, but that doesn't change the fact that it's beautiful. Ever since I became a K-drama fan, I've loved discovering these hidden gems, and I find them so valuable. Unlike the familiar storylines where you know exactly where things are going (which I also enjoy), the stories of strong, independent women and the supportive men in their lives make us much happier.
Unlike his other roles, it was really nice to see Park Sung-hoon as a calm, quiet, and gentle character. I started with the villains, lol. And Nana is really sweet and charming. This role suited her perfectly, and it was a pleasure to watch her.
Please give a drama a chance.
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A different and very nice k-drama
This unique story grabs the audience right from the first episode. It really has what it takes to be one of the best of 2024. While this year has been promising for K-dramas, many have disappointed us. But "The Judge from Hell" turned out to be an unexpected surprise.What I love most about this drama is how the male lead's character and development are tied to the female character. From the moment he enters a scene, all the women aren’t just watching him in awe with comments like, "Wow, he's so handsome!" He’s not just there to be eye candy. His role isn’t just a romantic subplot for the female lead to revolve around; it’s actually one of the foundations of the story. His journey is what drives Kang Bitna’s transformation.
This show doesn’t just promise a romantic story; it offers a sweet and satisfying love within a beautifully crafted crime narrative. The female lead isn’t just a judge; she’s like a devil. Her goal is to complete her duties and send criminals to hell, ultimately knowing she might end up there herself. However, Kang Bitna’s story and her love for Han Do-on help her become more human. If she stayed completely unchanged and untransformed, it would make the story pretty boring for us. The show has many positive aspects, starting with its impressive plot, which can be a challenge for fantasy dramas. The storyline is overall satisfying. The direction is quite good, giving us entertaining, thrilling, and emotional moments.
Park Shin Hye plays her role really well, and Kim Jae Young is a new face for me; I haven’t seen him before, but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on him from now on.
The way criminals are punished for their crimes definitely got us all really excited, and it was quite satisfying.
However, I want to mention a couple of negative points about the show. First, I couldn’t really connect with the serial killer’s backstory; the reasons behind the killings weren’t very strong. Yes, we saw some of the victims’ stories, but the overall narrative felt a bit weak, with not many details.
Another issue is the music. Specifically, the “Gehenna” sound effect that plays after Kang Bitna kills the criminals really disrupted the atmosphere. I don’t think it was necessary at all.
This will contain a bit of a spoiler.
Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations for the ending. For me, whether it was a happy or sad conclusion didn’t really matter because the overall story already gave us a sense of closure. I wouldn’t have been disappointed if Kang Bitna completed her mission and returned to hell. For those who are about to watch, enjoy!
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a wasted story
A love story between a man who doesn't know what he wants and a woman who thinks she knows exactly what she wants. Even after more than ten years together, they don't truly understand each other and fail to share the truths about themselves, making them a flawed couple from the start.Their imperfections are certainly rooted in nonsensical details within the scenario. In this drama, everyone except the main couple behaves as they should. The other characters are well-developed and consistent in their actions and behaviors. However, the two most important characters in the series are written in a completely incomplete, absurd, and inconsistent manner. It seems the writer intended to showcase their emotional ups and downs in a peculiar way.
The female lead is a strong divorce lawyer, initially presented to us as an intelligent woman, but she ultimately lives completely by her emotions, appearing quirky and even a bit foolish. I found her actions, especially in the second half, to be truly absurd. Her pursuit of her ex-husband, who treats her poorly and shows no signs of affection, cannot be explained merely by love. At the very least, it doesn’t align with what an intelligent woman would do.
The male lead is the most absurd character in this drama. He seems to have no emotional ties left with his ex-wife. He has no qualms about starting a job at her workplace, and on top of that, he arranges a date between his best friend and his ex-wife, helping them become a couple. What? Even if there's no love between them, this would still be quite strange. Despite exhibiting numerous red flag behaviors, the woman shows no reaction to any of this.
The male character orchestrates a fake game of infidelity to get a divorce from his wife. Really? Is it that difficult to explain to someone you've known for over ten years why you want to get divorced? Moreover, the reason for the divorce presented to us felt quite forced. Yes, I admit that even after years, one might not fully know someone, but come on, have you only gone on ten dates in ten years? Is it possible that a couple together for such a long time never discussed whether or not to have children? When they get back together in the series, the woman suddenly finds out that the man doesn’t want kids. It’s revealed that he has hidden his childhood trauma and relationship with his mother from the woman he married for all these years. Seriously, what did you talk about during that time?
I also want to touch on the mothers. While it's a common theme in Korean dramas, I still find it odd how intrusive and authoritarian mothers are in their children's lives. Both of their mothers were quite disturbing. They constantly interfered in their lives, relationships, and characters like children who cry when they don’t get their way, and in the end, they faced no consequences and were simply forgiven. I didn’t like them.
Although I was initially intrigued by the legal stories in this drama, as the episodes progressed, the topics began to reflect their lives more and more. This led to a repetitive cycle, and aside from a few, most of the storylines felt very dull. This isn’t a romantic comedy, but it also didn’t succeed as a drama. At times, it was quite tedious and overwhelming. Especially in the first half, since they hardly came together physically or emotionally, it didn’t feel exciting at all when they decided to reunite. I didn’t think they loved each other enough for that. With so many dramas waiting in the queue, it would have been better if I had postponed watching this one.
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don't press the play button
If nobody liked this show, then why did it get this rating? :) I understand that some users are trying to convince us that it’s good, but it’s going to be really hard to persuade those who have actually watched it. The show centers around a love story with a revenge plot, and considering how often these themes are explored in K-dramas, it definitely lacks originality. Every scene is quite predictable and simple. Up until the 10th episode, almost nothing happened; the pacing was really slow, which made me lose interest while watching.There were way too many unnecessary characters, and I couldn't see how they contributed to the story at all. For those looking for depth in emotions, you're going to find a pretty shallow love story waiting for you. Does anyone understand why and when Kwon Shi fell in love with Eun Tae?
abandoned and humiliated her in front of others; despite this, she was too foolish to blame herself and couldn’t grasp the situation. Moreover, even though this was one of the key scenes of the series, it failed to evoke any excitement.
I also don’t understand the praises for their friendship. They are just three people manipulating each other. They claim to be the most important people in each other’s lives, yet they hide so much from one another and are not honest with each other. Moreover, they are not good people. No, I can’t justify their behavior by blaming it on their families or traumas. They have no valid reasons for what they do; they hurt each other and others as well. That’s enough for me not to like them.
Oh, I have no words for Eun Tae’s close friend. I hope no one has a friend like that. She was definitely the worst-written character in the series.
They are deceiving themselves because they are not honest about their feelings. Lee Se Joo, in my opinion, was the most caricatured character. Especially during the moments when he was being spoiled, I found his acting to be insincere. Yes, it was a mask he wore, but he still couldn’t make a leap in his performance. Despite everything, he was the only one who genuinely seemed to be interested in Soo Ji.
The family relationships among all the characters didn’t seem to capture anyone’s interest in the story. The love triangle between the parents and the coincidences that occurred were almost comically simplistic.
In the plot section, they jumped into the story suddenly, almost like it wasn't even the first episode of a new show. They introduced the topic in a way that was quite complicated, which was really confusing. Like everyone else, I wanted to give up watching after a few episodes, but let’s admit it, it was pretty hard to do that with Woo Do-Hwan in it. But even his presence wasn't enough to save the show. His character was also pretty shallow and underdeveloped.
Of course, I can’t skip over the directing skills and the poor screenplay. It was a complete lack of skill. The transitions between scenes, the superficial way emotions were portrayed, the dialogues—all of it felt very basic, almost like a cheap movie done carelessly.
I’ve always loved themes of love born from hatred. K-dramas have always been quite generous with this topic! :) But this show didn’t give us any warmth other than the warm feeling that Woo Do-Hwan’s sweet smile brings to our hearts. I haven’t seen our female character in any other drama; she might be a pretty girl on her own, but I couldn’t find anything about her that would make anyone fall in love with her. If I had to describe her, I wouldn’t even know what to say. Is she innocent? Beautiful? Does she have a good personality? No, I couldn’t find anything. She didn’t have any qualities to make a man who has loved someone else since childhood fall in love with her. Moreover, it wasn’t even love at first sight. That’s why even the romantic scenes weren’t impactful because none of us understood why he loved her.
Honestly, there’s no need for a long review of this show. Despite all this, I finished it because I felt uncomfortable leaving something I started unfinished. If your time is valuable and you have a million other things to do—or even if you have nothing else to do—please don’t waste your time watching this show.
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It’s a confusing storyline but ultimately harmless.
I actually felt that the writer's mind was quite confused after the plot section of the series, especially in the next two episodes. I even thought about stopping watching it, but I couldn't help my curiosity about where the story would go.I don't think it's a bad drama, as many people say, but it's not good enough either. It's a drama that stands between the two and doesn't really know which direction to take. While it was bold to try a different approach to the arranged marriage concept we've seen in classic series, it ultimately didn't have the desired impactThe main reason for this is the lack of motivation behind the female character's acceptance of the marriage. It’s hard to believe that a woman who has her own values, fights for her life, and never gives up despite facing constant challenges would appear so desperate as to pursue a fake marriage that she sees as the "role of her life."Another issue is the younger brother's irrational hatred towards the woman who will be his brother's wife, all while being unaware of the marriage's falsehood. His promise to try to win her over feels really strange. Trying to make her fall in love with him to prevent her from marrying his brother? That just seems utterly nonsensical from any angle.o what part of this series did I find appealing? It's definitely the chemistry between the couple amidst the nonsensical plot around them. If we could overlook all that, we could have fully enjoyed the fire between them in a different storyline.
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Silence can sometimes be loud.
Of course, we haven't reached the end yet, but it's clear that this drama is completely an adaptation of a book. I haven't read the book, but I'm almost certain that the story closely follows its original flow. This series isn't suitable for those with traditional expectations of drama. That said, it wouldn’t be accurate to say it's entirely free of clichés. For now, it's exciting to see how this quickly igniting romance will end. However, based on the way the story is presented, I can say that they don't have to give us a happy ending. We can somewhat understand where their passionate and enthusiastic love is headed. Especially their discussions about what "eternal love" means and their eagerness for it show us the inevitable from the very beginning.As for the characters, we have a more introverted male character who keeps his thoughts to himself, contrasted with a female character who is much more energetic and has a stronger expectation of love. However, I'm finding it quite difficult to empathize with the female character; I still haven't figured out what her problem is.She moved to a foreign country with her friend, defying her family, and we thought she was quite brave—at least that's what was shown to us. She quickly settled in a culture that was unfamiliar to her, found a job, and fell in love. She moved in with her boyfriend, got along well with her coworkers, and everything seemed fine in her education. So, what’s the problem? Why does she feel so foreign and alone? I couldn't understand that. For these reasons, she left her boyfriend and is still very angry with him even after five years. But why??? Yes, the male character might be a bit reserved about sharing his thoughts, but he was always open about his love for her. She could have built a social circle in the country she moved to, but she chose to cling to Jungo and be alone with her, effectively shutting herself off from the outside.
Now, she's about to marry someone else with whom she shares friendly feelings, yet she’s still in love with the man from five years ago. I’m curious to see how the lack of communication from their separation will play out in the final chapterAside from that, the cinematography and music are amazing. Despite all these dead ends, it has become a drama worth watching for me.
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