Chuno (2010)

The legendary "Chuno" is finally on my completed list! I have delayed this drama for 5 years!! I heard so many praises about it and the fact that it actually got high TV ratings (nearly 40% that's almost half of the population) which is considered a HUGE audience base says a lot. First of all Chuno is as good as the legend says I'm not saying it's perfect made drama because it isn't!! which is why I think it's a legend!! because even though it had flaws yet I still loved it and enjoyed it!! IKR weird isn't? Few things did irritate me and yet I still loved it! Doesn't that show how much this drama is special? a drama you would love regardless of its flaws how amazing is that?

Story
Definitely unique and original! it really is different in every aspect!! It has romance but not the kind that we are used to see in dramas. Though the main point of the story is the romance it's not the kind that comes into your mind when you 1st read the word romance. The story does not cover the process of them falling in love but the consequnces of that love. Therefore it does not have romantic scenes but memories and flashbacks of what they had and this is one of it's uniqueness. A love like no other a devoted man that is torn between resentment and hate and love and yearning. The story also does not address "revenge" in the way it is usually addressed in K dramas. Finally, it is the only drama that addressed the "slaves" side of the story in those times (Maids is also another drama that talked about slaves but it is in no way can be compared to this one).

Acting
WONDERFULL, AMAZING, OUTSTANDING, INCREDIBLE!! Loved loved loved JH!! This is his best ultimates performance It does not get any better than that!! and the rest of the cast they all were amazing!! My only disappointment is LDH. I used to love her in (My Girl) which was 10 years ago I think and I remember very well that she used to be very a good actress but here she simply sucks. She's actually one of the things that irritated me in this drama (she was supposed to be a slave yet she's the only one who had clean face and full make up on!!) she cared so much about her appearance than making the character believable!! and to add to that her acting was really horrible I wish I can find even stronger word than just horrible. But on the bright side she wasn't given that much screen time or dialogue so THANK GOD. I can't believe this is the actress I used to adore. Nonetheless she did not matter the one who really matters here is JH and I'll say this again JH DID AN AMAZING JOB as
Lee Dae Gil (one of those characters that you will forever remember).

Music
One of the best OSTs I've heard in dramas, all of it no exceptions!! The kind of OSTs that is hard to forget.

Rewatch
Possible but not for me.

Overall:
If you are looking for originality, looking for something different, worthy of your time, and specially If you are sick of the recent ones and miss the old good stuff which made you fall for dramas in the 1at place (which is my case) then I suggest you give this a try. However if you are looking for romantic love story with romantic lovey dovey scenes, love triangles, dark revenge etc... then this is not the drama for you and one more thing I'll let you on Two small but essential tips:
1)One of the best endings ever made in dramas.
2)Hot guys everywhere with chocolate abs (6pack) exposure (all over the screen!! you will find it hard to focus at first) XD

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The sageuk of all sageuks. Grand, sweeping, unforgettable.

Chuno (The Slave Hunters) will stand amongst the best of the best for years to come. It has a stellar cast, acting, story and pacing. It has well-choreographed action scenes as well as an OST that is both haunting and heart-pounding. The production is gorgeous and cinematic. All characters are provided with layers and depth—with shades of goodness and darkness—to an extent I haven’t seen in other dramas before.

Chuno already has all the elements of a guaranteed epic: politics, drama, multiple interweaving storylines, character growth and heroism. But the combination of unique subject matter (sageuk from the perspective of the commoners, NOT the people in power), directorial execution, and Jang Hyuk elevates it to something else entirely. If this is your first introduction to Jang Hyuk, it might possibly ruin you for his other excellent portrayals because his Lee Dae Gil casts such a big, lasting shadow. He imprints himself in viewers’ hearts the way he keeps Un Nyun in his.

Absolutely recommended for jaded k-drama watchers and for those who are looking for a story with substance and heart.

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I always heard this was a good drama but I never got around to watching it until now in 2020. It didn't age much except for the bad storyline of the main character. I am a huge fan of Jang Hyuk and he acted superbly in this drama. However, I have a lot of issues with the storyline of this drama that is why I cannot rate it any higher. I didn't really care for the subplots and really disliked LDH's role in this drama. Why can't JH's character finally get something good in life? Instead of everything always going horribly wrong episode after episode...its very frustrating to watch. It makes me feel like I wasted my time. The whole show is a tease and I do not like to be teased. I mean the main characters in the love story don't meet until like ep 15?! C'mon! Watch with caution.

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What could have been a perfect 10/10 drama or at least 9.5/10 is dragged down to a 7.5/10 due to a single plot being dragged to a point beyond annoying. How saddening. If the drama as a whole didnt rely on this single plot line so heavily to be its driving point it wouln't have made such a negative difference to the drama as a whole. The unfortunate news is that it does rely heavily on this dragged out plot line and it ends up feeling very much like a cheap attempt to get viewers hooked in order to have more viewers during its broadcast (this is a very important factor to everyone in a production especially in Korea). Smh. Music, acting, action scenes, directing, production are all top notch but dragging out a major plot to an exaggerating point I never have known before, ruins a lot this drama has to offer. That being said, I think I can still recommend this drama seeing the intelligent effort that was put into it and that it at least gets a 7.5/10 from me.

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STUNNING cinematography, grandiose scale and sweeping music.

This drama has the BEST camera work and camera quality I have ever seen, especially in the outdoor shots. I'm pretty sure there are some photography courses out there which feature the camera work in this drama, the visuals are breathtaking.

Chuno is a drama that addresses the moral questions prevalent in the Joseon time period, chief among which is the issue of social hierarchy particularly with respect to the concept of slavery. The social justification for slavery is based on Confucianism and Buddhism; one seeks primarily to effect an ordered society by emphasising societal rituals and traditions, and the other is mainly concerned with purifying the individual; neither of the two directly address the moral ramifications of slavery.

It's against this backdrop that the story of Dae Gil the slavehunter is played out. Jang Hyuk is the shining star of this drama, his acting in this role is powerful and convincing, simply riveting. Dae Gil's quest for his lost love Un Nyun played by Lee Da Hae, is long and arduous, and it's this quest that kept me riveted for the first 9 episodes, the constant question of "will they meet or won't they" was addictive from the beginning, however at some point I began to feel as a viewer that the drama was yanking my chain and I lost some patience with the storyline.

There are several side plots going on around Dae Gil's quest and eventually the plots coalesce into one main plot, there are the political issues of the royal succession, the machinations of government officials with differing agendas and motivations, the competition for business between different slavehunters.

Overall the casting in this drama is strong; Dae Gil's brothers in arms Wang Son and General Choi are wonderfully portrayed by Kim Ji Suk and Han Jung Soo, I enjoyed the camaraderie and genuine bond shared by these three characters.
The character of Seol Hwa was a breath of fresh air infused into the above mentioned trio.
The female lead Un Nyun, played by Lee Da Hae, I found insipid for the most part, I don't know if this had to do with societal norms of women being dependent and soft, even if this is the case the way her character is depicted is incongruous within the setting of the drama. Un Nyun is always perfectly coiffed, with not a smear of dirt on her or her clothes and in the beginning she wore an all white outfit, she's even wearing makeup and lip gloss! This character for me is the biggest fail in the drama, her lack of expression and docility didn't work for me, there are moments when she expresses emotion, but unfortunately these were executed late into the drama and by that time I didn't care.

The second male lead, Song Tae Ha played by Oh Ji Ho presented a similar dilemma for me in that I found it really hard to understand why he did anything at all, there is a definite lack of character development, this may be due to the fact that his character wasn't given much meaningful dialogue.

The villain, Hwang Cheol Woong played by Lee Jong Hyuk, became irrationally villainous from one day to the next, his motivations were unclear even if his circumstances were well documented.

This show developed a pattern ( around the 14 episode mark onwards) of the main characters failing to communicate with each other, I suppose this is a kdrama staple to extend dramatic tension and to create antagonistic situations based on ignorance of facts and misunderstandings; however in this instance the device was used too often and affected my enjoyment of the main love storyline.

Personally, my expectations were disappointed by this drama, not because things always have to work out neatly but because the route the show took to get to it's ending was ultimately frustrating and annoying.

I've given this show an 8 out of 10 because I appreciate the large scale of the production as a whole, including the sweeping music, and also because Jang Hyuk is phenomenal in his role.

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This drama is great tbh. It has everything that a good show should have; good directing, good script and plot, excellent acting, attractive actors, great cinematography and not to mention a really awesome and amazing figting scenes.

However, when the writer decided to go full head to make the main character as sad and tragic not to mention pathetic as it can be, the drama went downhill in my opinion -- it is no longer fun as the first 10 episodes. Not to mention when it start focusing on other sub-characters which we the viewers didnt really give a damn especially the political people slow conversations, I find that the drama lost its spark and I started fast forwording scenes that I never done in my 15++ years of watching kdramas. Come on, when you make the main character as engaging and full of depth as Dae Gil, would you like to watch how the drama spent half of its air time on other side characters that you don’t really care about?

By the time it reached the end, I actually wish Dae Gil to die since his fate is just too cruel or should I said ridiculous. It never happen to me before but this is a first time for me to wish the character that I like to just die and end everything.

I just don’t understand the writer insistence to make a tragic character more tragic than it already is. And for me to wish that kind of end for him, it says a lot about what I feel about the whole thing.

I just don’t cry anymore while watching the ending scenes. I'm just so pissed that I got no more tears to spill. I just hate Un Nyun and yeah I hate her and I feel like she is so selfish and unlikable. The fact that she actually leave him alone to fight while bringing her injured ‘husband’ or the fact she never address Dae Gil's devotion for her -- not even once and still expecting him to come and send her off says a lot about her personality. The writer really screw up big time in writing an admirable female characters. He was just too busy writing in depth the male characters in the drama that the only memorable female character in the whole series is the slave lady. >.>

Why would I root for Tae Ha when Dae Gil is the one who wanders around for 10 years searching for her? Why would I root for Tae Ha’s when it is Dae Gil who had a breakdown in the middle of the market after learning about the marriage? And why would I root for Tae Ha when he has problem with Un Nyun originally being a slave while Dae Gil never care about those status thing even from the very beginning? I just don’t understand the reasoning behind of wanting to make Tae Ha & Un Nyun happens. I JUST DON’T.

The drama is great but the insistence to make the main character to suffer THIS MUCH just leave a big distaste in my mouth. I just don’t understand the concept that Koreans have with their insistence of making their main characters suffers while never give them the justice that they deserve right until the end.

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Ok, the story is good, and the show is good, up until they put their shirts on, weather it is because there is less flesh to distract from the horrible story or the story truly goes down hill, who knows. What I do know is that the show proves a few things for me: Bros before hoes, romance makes you weak, bromance not only makes you strong, it makes you freaking psycic. On the whole? Worth the watch, but I was watching ep 23 and vomited, no, really. My car now has the badge. Take it as you will. My comment will have my spoilery dissertation that goes along with the bromance.

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Try again!

Practically, this drama is just a shirtless men expedition. It featured one of the most deplorable writing efforts and attempts to be edgy and hip with the times (2010). The drama had absolutely nothing to offer other than Jang Hyuk presence. They made Jang Hyuk as an edgy cringey whiny kid full of stupid one-liners and little to no real characterization put into him. This is a prime example for how to NOT write a broken and traumatized character. The drama had no real fights, just a handful of flashy dances in slow-mo with little to no weight to their strikes coupled with unfitting soundtrack for the fight or the moment. To reach the 24 episodes mark they had to stretch it thin, literally, with a lot of repeated scenes, extremely elongated stares and gazes, irrelevant dialogue and random slow-mo shots which all resulted in a poor utilization of the cinematography.

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I started out watching this drama because, of course, Jang Hyuk. As usual Jang Hyuk doesn’t disappoint. However, this was the first drama of his that I’d love his character Dae Gil one minute and hate him the next. That’s how good JH was and I usually always root for whatever character JH portrays. Surprisingly this time, though, I didn’t want him to get the girl.

However, I found myself more intrigued with Oh Ji-ho’s character Song Tae-ha and Lee Jong-hyuk’s character Hwang Chul-wong. They were friends who ended up on opposite sides.

I also enjoyed some of the side stories and supporting cast. The royal grandson was just adorable. Slaves fighting for their freedom. Dae Gil’s friends and loyal partners General Choi, Sang Won and Slanted Ear.

I’ll watch it again because of the main characters.

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