Maou ep 1-3

Maou is a great dorama where there are no heroes and villains. Or rather the main characters are both the hero and villain of the story. Maou is more than just a story of revenge. Its a story of moral ambiguity. It asks the eternal question of whether the end can justify the means. It ponders what justice actually is and whether the legal system represents justice. Its nothing that we've not seen before in legal shows but I've not seen it put into such a nice package before.

Must check on librarians when I go to Japan...

For me, the lack of defined good and bad guy roles is very refreshing. As I've said before, one of the main characteristics of anime/jdorama is a villain with a sad past and sometimes they are able to redeem themselves. The problem with that is of course, its the villain that makes the hero. Its the villain's job to make the hero seem like he's in danger and to draw the audience's wrath. Plus, most of the time, it just feels tacked on and usually leads to some stupid monologing. Maou turns this around and makes the 'villain' the main character. However, he has a justification for his actions and thus has the audience's sympathy.

OMG, the Liar Game secretary actually has speaking lines!

The 'hero' has a dark past connected to the villain which promotes indifference to the character. Nevertheless tha unspoken fact that he became a cop indirectly because of his past does speak of his desire for redemption. I just love it when shows don't insult the audience's intelligence and lets you pick things up between the lines. Basically the show in not really concerned about defining the good/bad roles save to creat enough empathy for both characters to encourage interest.

If girls who look like this went to church here, I'd be there every Sunday..

This show is about the cat and mouse game between the lawyer and the cop. Its about conflict, competing interests and grudges. Its about creating tension so thick that every second cannot be missed. Its like watching a football game where you're not really rooting for either team. You just want to see a great match and this is what Maou is, a game of wills and revenge between two parties. We just want to see how Maou's plan of revenge will unfold. It doesn't matter who wins as long as the game is exciting!


The fact that Maou is from a Korean drama is surprising. I thought all Korean shows were about half siblings with leukemia/cancer. What is even more surprising is that this is the first Korean adaptation I've seen that is done well. After Hotelier and My Sassy Girl adaptation I was hoping to see the end of this Korean experiment. I guess its all right to do Korean shows as long as love is not the central theme of the story.


With Maou and Gonzo, this is turning into one very excellent season. Definitely highly recommended! Not to be missed! As long as they is not really big plot hole, I think the show will be fine. Small deficiencies in logic are acceptable. After all explaining every single thing is impossible. Every show requires the audience to make certain assumptions. If the show defies one of the assumptions or takes a huge leap in logic, then it is in trouble.