Chuno (2010)

A bit early to make a review, but I am loving this show so much. I will change anything I need to after watching the rest, but I just want to write a intro review.

So far it is.......... FCKING AMAZING !!!

The two categories I hate are usually action and historical because I am usually into cute romance comedy dramas and I thought this would be a sad serous drama with lots of fighting. There is lots of fighting in this, but they are so BAD ASS its so exciting to watch. The thing they do in this though is they balance out the romance, action, and comedy really well. Half the time im luaghing my ass off and the other half im like "holy sht" how are they not killing each other filming this.

The characters are all lovable and very interesting. I usually skip scenes when it is not on the main characters, but all things each character is doing is very entertaining. There are boring parts when the old farts are talking politics, but unlike in some dramas where they talk forever they are pretty short in this one.

As for the acting, I thought it was very believable and done very well. Also the girls are hot. As for the guys I don't think they look that attractive, but im a dude. While watching on viki the girls seem to be drooling over them though especially when they are shirtless base on the comments. I had to turn of the timed comments at times due to it just being "so hot" every time.

The sound track in this is amazing. It is so varied, unlike in some dramas where you find yourself listening to the same dam thing. In this drama you will find things from a sweet calming music to rap to rock, etc. It is just so varied and when they play each piece they actually fit the scene. Like in fighting or chasing parts they may play a fast paced rap scene. This was a first for me hearing rap play in a k drama so it was really fresh and I really liked it.

As for the ending of each episode they are so fcking annoying, I mean they make me stay watching for so long. Like wtf I need to exercise today. I do end up just watching and to balance out the no exercise for the day I just tell myself " don't eat now I can say fck them calories I got none to burn ". If it was school time right now I would definitely skip. I already can barely study, and with this sht in my mind I couldn't even think of studying.

As for right now I would definitely recommend this drama ( based on the start ), but I will finish it first and edit if needed, hopefully it isn't gonna disappoint me.

Ep 22- still loving it, lots of sad parts though, but still maintains the comedy to balance out your rage. Which is fantastic for me because I can't handle being pissed off again and again like some dramas make me.

Lire davantage

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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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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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.

Lire davantage

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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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.

Lire davantage

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 really liked Chuno, but began to tire of it around episodes 16-18. I think the plot started to repeat itself, as it was essentially one long chase sequence and fight scenes between the same characters. I ended up skipping a couple of episodes and didn't feel like I really missed anything important, so that's not really a good sign that the writing is super strong.
Chuno's action scenes are extremely good. They look very real, and I think the actors must've spent a long time learning the choreography, because it looked like they were actually in the fight scenes. The scenes were varied as well, and never lasted too long. Those scenes alone make it hard to rate this show any lower than an 8/10, because they were just so darn good.
The characters were fun and dynamic... with a couple of exceptions. The main slave hunter trio had great chemistry and were compelling. I found it a little hard to root for them, due to their profession, but they were fun to have on screen. Dae Gil is obviously the star of the show, and he was the most interesting character in the show. He's got such an off-kilter vibe, and really excelled in the fight scenes. In comparison, Tae Ha was pretty flat and boring, but I still liked him. Un Nyeon/Hye Won was a very flat character and I really wish she got more of a personality; that's not an acting problem, but rather a writing one. The other main female character also wasn't great, which once again was a writing problem and not an acting one.
My favorite plotline ended up being the slave rebellion. I loved Eop Bok and Cho Bok, and the head of the slave rebellion did a great job as well. The ending of it was perfect. This was around the time I was just really waiting for the show to be over, but the ending of the slave rebellion plotline left me with a much more favorable impression of the show.
Overall I think the characters and action scenes really made this show great. The writing wasn't super strong, and I began to tire of the show, but I can't deny that it still kept me hooked up until the end.

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