I think that some people struggled watching this show because there were some links to Devil Punisher being a lot like Goblin.

But let me just tell you that it’s not really the case. The show had a lot of layers to it that all lead to one major tipping point by the end.

And while romance/love is a strong, consistent piece of the story as a whole, The Devil Punisher is a combination mystery, karma/fate, revenge and supernatural/ ghosts.

In fact the whole things kicks off due to a 1,000 vendetta against the Ghost King but the signs of another character at play were even clear in the first episode and that mystery element is what hooked me right away.

But like I said there’s a lot of mention of karma and a trial meant for the main lead character, Chong Kui, that only he can indoor by the end. To me this was probably the most annoying thing to find out because he was surrounded by gods and he couldn’t really do anything at times.

At the same time, this brought humility to the show and his character because as an ordinary person when face obstacles in our lives we can’t just make them go away with powers. (And obviously, I could relate to seeing him mopping around.)

And this linked/faded battle between the villain, Lu Chi, in the center of the story brought to light even more barriers within the story’s construction of the “three realms” that give pause to some (American) viewers which I understand.

There’s a lot of instances where we were like “why can’t they do this?; why can’t this happen?” but just based on the rules that show up in the world of the show that the “gods” can’t really interfere with the whole ordeal as a while actually starts to make sense as you continue to watch.

Is it annoying? ABSOLUTELY!!!!! Did I find Chong Kui’s determination to face all of it on his own without considering Meng Po’s perspective ridiculous?

Absolutely!!!! But that was just something his character seemed to even more aggressively by the end because he knew Meng Po wouldn’t sit back and do nothing when she felt so responsible for Lu Chi’s actions.

But, as an American viewer, there where themes and details I had to wrap my head around while watching this as it seemed to reveal a lot of cultural and mythology elements that I wasn’t familiar with.

By the end of the show, I realized why we got so much time in the “mortal world” between the two leads and why there was so much buildup and (at times) what felt like “filler” leading up to that last few episodes.

Moreover, because of the way the ending is and really how things started in their past lives those scenes were basically there to show us and to give the main characters time together because it becomes clear that it wasn’t something they had before.

The ending made me cry but I am so glad I watched it till the end because there is a resolution to everything.