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.