MBC’s new Friday-Saturday drama The judge returns has been making waves since the beginning, quickly emerging as one of the most talked about Korean dramas of the moment. According to FUNdex, the official platform managed by the content analysis company K Good Data Corporation, The judge returns ranked fifth overall in the TV-OTT dramas chart for the first week of January and third among TV dramas alone as of January 6. Lead actor Ji Sung also attracted great attention, ranking fifth overall in the individual buzz category and third among TV-OTT drama performers.
The drama’s popularity is not limited to online discussions. From January 4th The judge returns topped the daily charts on integrated OTT search platform KinoLights, while simultaneously claiming the top spot on trending charts from TVING and Wavve. By achieving this feat after just two episodes, the series has clearly demonstrated strong upward momentum.
Viewer numbers are also increasing. The drama recorded peak ratings of 6.9% in the Seoul metropolitan area (Nielsen Korea), positioning it as a dark horse in the competitive Friday-Saturday drama schedule. The ending of the first episode, which showed Judge Lee Han Young (played by Ji Sung) falling from his position into a prisoner and screaming desperately, “I’m not the guilty one” it left a strong impression and increased the curiosity of viewers.
The judge returns tells the story of a corrupt judge who once lived as the pawn of a powerful law firm before being sent back ten years into the past. Given a second chance at life, Lee Han Young makes different choices to confront and punish absolute evil. Episodes one and two told a fast-paced story, depicting his unjust death, time reversal, and determination not to repeat his past mistakes. Attention is now focused on how he will challenge Kang Shin Jin (Park Hee Soon), the formidable figure within the justice system who orchestrated his downfall.
Ji Sung had already achieved a remarkable top score of 32% with MBC New heartand this marks his return to the network after almost 11 years Kill me, heal me. With early reactions already explosive, viewers eagerly watch to see what happens The judge returns can once again prove Ji Sung’s power at the box office and become another big hit. The drama airs every Friday and Saturday at 9.50pm on MBC.
Sources: Daum
