I love me an unapologetically badass girlboss, especially as they're very rarely seen in k-dramas in a good light. They're usually out of control villains or bullies. Here, Justitia imparts justice the gory way and relishes in it.
The story is pretty simple, basic even I'd say, and the appeal rests on the characters and the actors' talent in giving us something to enjoy while watching them. Kang Bitna is ruthless, rude, bad-tempered, bet you wish you could act like that around people, right? It helps that she is always dressed to kill and a bit narcissistic. We forgive that in our bad girls going good.
As for Han Daon, he is a secondary character for half the show, at least in terms of screentime, but Kim Jae-young is the reason I wanted to try this drama. This is his revenge after his character's failure in Love in Contract. That's how I'd like to see it, ok?
Anyway, like I said, the story is basic, but it works because of how the characters are played and there is some classic Korean gore, in fact, quite a lot of it. The show is pretty graphic. It also becomes a bit stale for that very reason. The demonic trials are fun in the beginning, but they become repetitive and slow. She insists on replaying the murders step by step, and we see the same thing twice, in ample detail. By the second and third time I was a bit bored. So there are some pacing issues for sure. The Satan twist livens things up a bit, but then the last two episodes were a drag, whereas in the beginning the episodes would just fly by. So 14 episodes is an improvement on the classic format, but maybe 12 would've been even better.
I appreciated the reveal for the J murders, it was captivating enough, but with these supernatural k-dramas, they get their lore a bit convoluted, repetitive and/or illogical. My Demon was a mess. Angel's Last Mission also had some very questionable religious rules in place. There's always the forbidden love twist that becomes a source of tragedy, but it doesn't necessarily make sense all that much, neither does the resolution, so again, pretty unimaginative writing. Tbh, they could have made Justitia in charge of her destiny and found plenty of obstacles in their path. They are assumed to be in love with each other at some point, after some pretty acrimonious exchanges. Work on that instead of some divine, or satanic opposition. So yeah, I wish Han Daon and Kang Bitna had a better romantic progression, if any of it was needed. They could have stuck to some solid sexual tension, there was plenty of opportunity for that too.
I'll give it a four because most of it is pretty good and I think it's the first time I am watching this genre with a female lead and I kind of enjoyed the power trip. I wanted more of it.
