I segugi (2023)

Action packed hit

Watched this primarily for Woo Do Hwan since its announcement but the delay of release now made sense because of Kim Saeron's scandal in 2022. Before getting into the short review, honestly have to say I hope she can make a comeback because her role in this showed immense growth since seeing her in High School Love On. Controversial opinion, but there you have it.

The drama is far more violent, explicit, bloody and gruesome than anticipated going in, that I felt it should've been rated R. Viewer discretion is advised. Regardless I enjoyed it immensely. Great action sequences, insanely epic fight scenes that got me on edge and fearful at the same time. I loved the minute details regarding the fight from Ep1 in comparison to the one in Ep8, where the dynamics have changed between villain and protagonist.

Woo do Hwan delivered in his excellent performance yet again as Gun Woo and immediately earns sympathy from the viewer. His chemistry with Lee Sang Yi leaps off the screen. I haven't seen a bromance in a while and honestly, it gets better with every episode. Park Sung Woong who played Myunggil was really, really superb and have your blood boil from his actions.

From the scandal, the director had to make the call to rewrite scenes whilst they were in midst of filming, and it's very evident what's been done to accommodate KSR's reduction of screen time. It makes me wonder what the drama was supposed to have been if this scandal never happened because her character was significant very early on in the episodes, and her relation to the main characters was one of the highlights of this drama before it literally fell apart.

I have a strong sense that the archer was never supposed to be there, and it was always meant to be the three of them - Gun Woo, Woojin, and Hyunjoo - since their bond was sealed in the first half of the drama. Despite the great teamwork with the archer, it felt forced that this new character essentially replaced Hyunjoo. After the tragedy in Ep6, it was used a leverage to cut down KSR's scenes by making her "leave" to Rome. There was absolutely no logic to this and she should've been hell bent for revenge (far more, in fact) than Gun Woo and Woojin (whose emotions were reasonable and consistent) and stayed with them for Ep7-8 for the epic and cathartic finale.

Honestly because of the unspoken changes, the effect of last few episodes somewhat dampened the drama as a result and felt very abrupt. They did their best, but Bloodhounds definitely could have been much better especially from episode 6-8. It's not terrible exactly, but you have a sense of what might have been planned beforehand. I don't see the possibility f a S2, nor there is a need of it. Worth watching if you like action dramas, but it had great potential.

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An exciting and moving experience to watch

I really liked this show! It was so very emotional and sometimes difficult to watch becuase of all that happens... but it was really well done and full of heart.

The two main characters are pure, hard-working, strong-willed, and human in every way. The casting was just perfect. The bad guys are really scary and intimidating while the good guys are heroic, have surpassed loss and challenges, and can stand up for people who aren't able to do it themselves.

Although this is not the kind of genre I normally watch, I was enthralled by the casting and wanted to check it out...it was definitely worth it and I fininshed it very quickly. Shows that are deep, human, emotional, and end in triumph are some of my favorites.

I really appreciate the production quality, the cool soundtrack, and the chemistry each cast member had with each other. The reason that I may not re-watch it, at least any time soon, is because it was just really emotionally taxing, so be prepared to cry. Don't worry, it has a good ending.

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STOP OVER ANALYZING AND JUST WATCH!

I am not a fun of action-related anything but I have watched a few that really changed my mindset. This one falls under that category, I saw alot of negative comments but before I even came in for the comments I went and watched it myself.

what I liked:
- The bond/ bromance between the two MLs, I have seen alot of bromance kdramas and this one did a good job at giving a normal feel of a natural friendship.
- The connections between all the characters, k-dramas or just all dramas have always had a way of connecting characters to make the story make sense. This did a good job, they connected each character well and gave a brief background of who they where.
- The fight scenes! Omg, the fight scenes were beautiful. It takes time and alot of effort to get that done, each movement was precise and I just saw perfection in the fights.
- The fact they didn't bring back characters from the dead...this happens alot in action movies..where you think a character has died and they are surprisingly not dead. I am glad they completely killed off characters and just used them as the MLs motivation to get rid of the villian.
-The concept of COVID was also nice, it made the situation of people taking out loans from loan sharks more logical.

what I didn't like:
- Honestly, some things didn't make sense. And instead of me completely bashing them for those errors..I will just say.. 'when tailing a car'...this was the most frustrating thing to watch
-Then after episode 6, it's like they were trying to rush everything so that it could end. They did there best to make sense of how the story should end but the ending was a bit rushed and even though the final battle I was looking forward to was quite bland.. I will just I am okay with the ending...somehow.

So to conclude on this, I will just say the show is worth giving a try but you need to not try and over analyze everything. if you stick with the show for the bromance and fights, then you will enjoy it. So just watch it! And don't over analyze.

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Personal opinion

If you love bloody fight scenes, bad language and a plethora of bad guys, you'll probably enjoy this.

What I liked:
-The dynamic between the two male leads. I liked watching their friendship/camaraderie build. The scene in the barbeque restaurant when they were just getting acquainted as good, and I laughed at Do Hwan's character switching to honorifics when he realized he was the younger of the two.
-The workout exercising scenes. Superficial, I know.
-Woo Do Hwan. I felt that he did a good job with this part. He was being forced into something to stay alive, to a certain degree. I liked how he never lost that side of gentleness that he had. The last episode when he sees his mom, very touching. And don't get me started on his deep voice!
-Si Won. I enjoy him as an actor, and in this role he wasn't his quirky/odd self.

What I didn't care for:
-I felt that a lot of the fights were very over the top and unrealistic. I mean, you practically get beat to a bloody pulp, but then a couple of scenes later you're fine. And the main bad guy, when he was fighting the ML at the end? The guy was in his 50's to begin with. He's fighting against a trained fighter, but almost gets the better of the ML?
-The disappearing girlfriend. What happened?
-Bloody, bloody, bloody. I know, they're fighting, but wow!
-The cursing. Personal pet peeve of mine.

My bottom line would be that if you are totally into action shows, give this a try.

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Fight scenes lacks precision on martial arts techniques

A fairly simple storyline that doesn't have too much complexity going on, pacing is quite slow at the beginning and it has largely inconsistent tones, jumping back and forth between dead serious and then light drama out of sudden, which is a weird choice of direction.

Now when it comes to action sequences and fight scenes, it was acceptable but nothing extraordinary, it lacks precision on martial arts techniques, and even the use of surrounding props is very minimal. For very big amount of fight scenes they're just throwing punches repeatedly and it's really tiresome to watch.

For instance, I was just comparing it to some of the best Korean martial arts film, like Jang Hyuk's "The Swordsman" and "The Killer", Ma Dongseok's "The Roundup" franchise, and even Netflix own originals "My Name" had much better fight scenes than this. To be honest, they could've reduced some of the fight scenes and mainly focus on a few big ones to improve quality not quantity.

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it's really worth watching

it's a bit hard to find action movies that are worth it....it's really worth watching it, it's worth wasting your time to watch it as an action, it's superb at the beginning it was a bit boring but it's getting more and more interesting
I really liked that there is also talk about true friendship with the two sacrificing their lives for each other, gorgeous, a little sad, but I really love it

Honestly, I've watched a lot of action series movies, but this is really something to tell us how much action is in this kdrama, I honestly would really like to forget that I watched it and watch it again because it's something great

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A simple plot wih some good action sequences, ending lost the hold

Netflix delivers a knockout punch with its barnstorming early summer K-drama series Bloodhounds, the tale of two fresh-faced pugilists who go up against the vilest loan shark that Korean screen entertainment has offered us in years.

The drama takes place at the height of the pandemic. Characters wear masks in most locales, and check in to buildings with QR codes; sporting events take place before empty stadiums.

The storyline doesn’t delve into much social critique profoundly. The initial backdrop is set up as the launching pad (the pandemic scenes adding relatability) for the action that follows. Therefore, the series is more serious about how the action fleshes out till the end, and it’s not bad either because the show is equally aware of what it’s doing.

The last two episodes take a jarring turn. There’s no denying the fact that the cast adorably wins you over within the first few episodes, but the final ones go a little south. I would’ve definitely given it a higher rating depending on how much I initially enjoyed the series. However, the last two episodes turned out to be a let down in some spaces, especially with a main character suddenly out of the last 2 episodes and letting the antagonist live, even with an aggressive fight that we witnessed at the end.

My Rating : 8/10

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Hooked from the first episode

I'm not one for particularly violent stories. (Honestly, I had to watch some of the recaps ahead of time so I wouldn't be too scared). But this one had me hooked. Woo DoHwan and Lee Sang-Yi are fantastic together. They have the best bromance and they look the part of professional boxers. Serious eye candy, serious laughter, mixed in with a lot of serious parts. There was a little bit of everything except for the usual romance I look for. But that's OK. The action more than makes up for it; everything was choreographed amazingly. You really got sucked in from the first episode to the last.

And yes, I have to admit; I watched the beginning of the finale episode many times.

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Brut et intense avec une franche camaraderie

Deux boxeurs qui deviennent amis et vont lutter contre un usurier sans pitié. À la fois émouvant et entraînant sur fond de pandémie.

L'intrigue est en pleine pandémie. Rues désertes, port du masque obligatoire (ce qui ne gêne en rien la performance des acteurs) et bien sûr la détresse humaine et la chute financière d'une grande majorité des commerces - dont cafés et restaurants.

Le drama débute en plein combat de boxe au public absent. C'est de cette façon que Gun Woo (Woo Do Hwan) et Woo Jin (Lee Sang Yi) se rencontrent. Rapidement, ils se découvrent des points communs autre que la boxe et deviennent amis ponctué de pas mal d'humour. Et c'est un point fort, l'humour. Derrière la cruauté de l'usurier détestable mais parfait en la peau de Park Sung Woong, le duo offre de belles scènes gentilles et amusantes. D'ailleurs, les physiques de Woo Do Hwan et Lee Sang Yi sont spectaculaires (ce n'est qu'un détail, mais je voulais le préciser ahah).

J'ai lu plusieurs critiques qui disaient que Bloodhounds aurait pu être un drama exceptionnel. J'ignore ce qu'elles voulaient dire parce qu'il est excellent sur ce qu'il promet : deux amis qui décident de se venger d'un usurier qui vise exclusivement les plus pauvres et dans le besoin. Il apporte aussi de sacrés scènes de combats qui sont un pur plaisir visuel, car en plus d'être lisibles, elles sont joliment chorégraphiées.

À savoir qu'on fait disparaître en cours de route l'actrice Kim Sae Ron. En pleine controverse (ivresse au volant), Kim Joo Hwan a décidé de la retirer le plus respectueusement possible pour les personnes ayant travaillé sur le projet. Ce qui explique l'entrée de Oh Da Min en tant que petite fille de Oh In Muk.
Malgré ce détail, le drama en souffre que très légèrement (à moins de faire une fixation dessus).

En bref, Bloodhounds donne ce qu'il promettait avec un duo brillant aux scènes de combat parfaites et dynamiques ainsi qu'une image propre et une musique discrète, mais efficace.

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its very good

The show is not as simple as you've seen it from the trailer. It has a little bit more complicated stories and characters, but not too far off. It has brotherhood, bloody fight, mukbang, and above all, it's a fast pace show. The choreography of the fights in this show is also well done. It's just as good as another korean show from Netflix, My name. The martial arts or fight actions scenes in modern korean movies and tv shows are arguably better than any other action movies whether it's from hollywood, or outside of hollywood. They has more realistic fights. It's fast and furious literally. They don't have those showy exaggerated moves that look like choreographed dance. Unfortunately, this show also has those typical cliche moments like My Name especially those tear-jerky ones. That's my biggest pet peeve in korean tv shows and movies. Although there's a sudden change of pace (It was quite a ride until episode 6), and the ending is a bit rushed and shortened, overall, the show is quiet entertaining. The fight scenes are worth visit more than once. I give solid 7.5/10.

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Satisfying Action

9/10. Just finished ?????? good good very good! By the way, I really like this kind of action, it's satisfying ?? I really like the bromance, it makes me want to have a brother who is like that HAHAAHAH. The acting is really cool, Woo Dohwan is really cute, his acting is really different from the character he used to do. I think Dohwan will be a naughty + arrogant child. I'm getting cold sweats every time I watch this because I'm afraid of the next ep & the ending will be bad + it won't live up to expectations, but I know it's okay. The bad thing about this drama is that the ending is packed too tightly, so the ending just seems like a lot has been skipped T＿T even though overall it's really good. Not to mention that Hyeonju Ancrit suddenly disappeared because the actress was caught in a scandal irl, duh ??‍♀️??‍♀️??‍♀️??‍♀️ Well, the point is, it's actually good at the beginning, the only thing lacking in the ending is in the ep s 7- 8 was starting to get a little less exciting for me but I kept going until the end. Gunwoo's mother is also really lovely, this drama taught me to keep doing good things, really. I'm touched by Gunwoo's family, Woojin + Choi Taeho's character is also melting ?

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Top Notch Action and Bromance!

Bloodhounds follows two boxers named Geon-Woo and Woo-Jin as they work together to take down a ruthless evil loan shark and his goons. I have to say that I absolutely loved this show. Woo Do-Hwan and Lee Sang-Yi had fantastic chemistry and truly brought to life and did justice to the bromance and characters. As you can probably sense I'm a sucker for a good bromance. The fight scenes were phenomenally choreographed, and I was on the edge of my seat for every single fight. I also loved the badass female characters in this show they were terrific. The story was pretty good and kept me invested for the most part until the end. There are a lot of side characters I loved to see, and I felt they added a lot to the story. Park Sung-Woong, who played the villain, did a great job of being hateful and frustrating to watch. I don't want to spoil the show too much, and instead will recommend you check it out for yourself!

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