Friday, November 15, 2013

Friday the First: City Hunter

What a coincidence - right after starting my re-watching of City Hunter, it's its turn!

(For this post series, I've been going in order of when I started watching the drama...)


For those of whom this was not their first drama, I can assume that the reasoning for watching this (besides the premise of revenge or maybe Park Min Young or one of the other actors) was the same as mine: Lee Min Ho. I think it beat the other three main Lee Min Ho dramas that were out after Boys Over Flowers and before Heirs because of the positive reviews and the premise:

When Yoon Sung was a baby, his father was killed by the South Korean
government after successfully carrying out a covert mission against North Korea.
Raised overseas by the only surviving member of that mission, Yoon Sung is trained from
childhood to become an elite fighter and highly educated in information technology.
He returns to South Korea to work in the Blue House and exact his revenge on his father's killers.
But will falling in love with a female security officer complicate his plans?
"City Hunter" is a 2011 South Korean drama series directed by Jin Hyuk. It is based on a famous novel
(It's a manga, technically speaking...) by Japanese writer Tsukasa Hojo (Hojo Tsukasa, also technically speaking...)
(summary from Viki)

I think that, if you're hoping to get a friend to watch a Korean drama, this may be one of the dramas I would consider to be more...*shrug* There's not really a good adjective to use here...

...Addiction-starting?
...Foreigner-friendly?
...Convincing? (as a first drama)

Before I embarrass myself any further with my inability to think of adjectives, I'm just going to go ahead with the reasons why City Hunter can work as the vital first Kdrama for a non-Kdrama-watching friend...

1) Action. There are plenty of smooth stunts and fights that can keep a viewer excited...

There's even some coming from our female lead!
Lee Jin Pyo, or, as he's been referred to by myself, Badass Ajussi.

I'm not sure if I invented this word as a result of this drama, or if I just started using it more: badassery. (UPDATE: Nope, I just read a review of the K-movie A Company Man, and it's used in the title, so I'm not sure how the word came up.) It's a necessary element of any action movie or TV show, and City Hunter certainly can delight the people who enjoy some of this.

2) It has a fairly compelling story line. Non-Kdrama viewers who enjoy conspiracy / government-related plots might be a little easier to convince than others.

Aish, the feels I get from this man at the end...

Whether you choose to spoil it for yourself or not, this story is still an exciting one... The revenge; the fight between good and evil; the fight between the subsets of good and evil and revenge; the hidden identities and motives; and others.

(I just realized that some of the things I just listed remind me of the Kingdom Hearts video games, at least of Riku... and a few other characters... But that's for another time.)

3) The female lead is not only pretty, but able to fight (literally) for herself. For the most part.

Despite her getting hurt,
she kicks butt in this scene.
Even though he's faking the sissy act.

She's not an idiot, nor is she constantly letting everyone get their way with her. Kim Na Na doesn't annoy people with an incessant passiveness. If a person is coming into Kdramas with or without the knowledge of the other doormat female leads, Kim Na Na gives that person hope that some leads are just plain awesome.

4) The. Soundtrack. Is. Awesome.


I personally love this drama's soundtrack so very much. Some of the songs just hit me right in the feels. I doubt that just saying "because the music's awesome" will convince someone, but even if you just have them listen to the songs, maybe there will be a desire to see the Kdrama the music was composed for!

5) Make them laugh at Running Man and tell them that Kwang Soo's in it. (This could also work for Nice Guy although his inclusion could also be used to mislead that person's perception of the show if they know nothing else, I guess.)


6) If Lee Min Ho doesn't put the cherry on top of the cake of reasons to make this someone's first Kdrama...it certainly will be by the time they've finished the first episode.

Note: he also works as a warning that the days of
normal-ish, "manly" kind of classy will be less frequent.

I was going to choose one more picture of him fully clothed, but that would have been redundant. Plus, I think this may be a good picture to leave off on, in terms of symbolism or fangirling; take your pick.

Honestly, I think that he looks his best in this drama. (Granted, I haven't seen Faith yet, but I still think City Hunter was his best in terms of how handsome he is.)

But even if Lee Min Ho doesn't instantly get anyone riled up for a viewing, the action might just change his or her mind.

Disclaimer: Pamela is not responsible for any arguments, addictions, loss of social lives, increased understanding, or ridicule that may result from this post.

-Pamela

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