Choi Jin Hyuk: My Thoughts On "Justice" VS. "Rugal"

Choi Jin Hyuk has been starring in two shows. One from KBS' Justice and there's OCN's Rugal. Both series have Jin Hyuk in them as the leading cast. Each one of them are played differently and I think the strength of one reveals the weakness of the other. After doing some readings from Dramabeans - it does reveal that the finale of Rugal itself may leave a lot to be desired. I just think that writer using the pen name missvictrix has a different opinion than mine. Maybe, it's because Rugal does seem to remind me of Toshiki Inoue and Yasuko Kobayashi in their writing styles. Then I thought of Jin Hyuk's first series that I've watched from start to end namely Justice. IMHO, Justice actually did better than Rugal. Though Rugal is a sci-fi series with some potential but was hampered.

So why am I saying Justice is better implemented than Rugal? Justice did have some weird stuff going on but the stories are somehow more focused. Not too many plot twists and if there's one - it's handled rather well. I was thinking of how the main character Tae Kyung and the relationship he has with his ex-girlfriend Yeon Ah isn't too well-explored but there's some good plots. There's the focus of disappearances and I think 32 episodes (16 actually) was just enough to at least give the protagonists their character development. Justice is a show that's focused and centered around Tae Kyung so not having extra episodes isn't a deal. Yeoh Ah was a sidekick character yet she got some decent development since she's the only other important protagonist.

Rugal was dealing with a team of misfit superheroes. The story shouldn't have just focused on Ki Bum. There are backstories that the characters had that should be explored. For instance, how their injuries happened or their dead loved ones were first. Another is that it would've probably given more suspense if Ki Bum's wife was revealed to be still alive early on rather than reveal her to be alive all along later on. I think development about the other characters should've been given more backstories. Maybe, give a bigger budget to increase the episode counts from 16 to perhaps 25 (which would be equivalent to 50 half-hour episodes) since they're a team. Sadly, a lot of focus goes too much on Ki Bum and the rest feel they aren't fleshed out. Also, Chief Choi's dirty secret needed a little more padding and his suicide felt anti-climactic. I also felt that Duk Gu's dirty past needed a little more episodes to flesh out a truly despicable villain. That's why I felt extra episodes were needed.

Pretty much, I enjoyed both. Rugal was more enjoyable for its fight scenes similar to The Matrix. However, it's Justice that gives you a big brewing plotline that unfolds itself. I think Justice has been a better rewatch. Hopefully, OCN will try to review their mistakes on Rugal so they could take its potential in an entirely different show. Then again, I'd still settle for Rugal Season 2 if ever it's in the works. Though, Rugal still has itself better than Vagabond which sadly had a WTF ending.