Something is going on in the South Korean entertainment industry; powerful and high quality K-dramas keep coming from the Asian country. Such is the case with Bloodhounds, a Netflix original production that registered more than 27 million hours of viewing in the first days of transmission.
Bloodhounds is a crime drama based on Jung Chan’s cult webtoon Sanyanggaedeul. Since its premiere in June, the 8-episode miniseries has stood out as one of the streaming giant’s most relevant non-English-language releases. In fact, it remained in the Top 10 of trending charts in more than 40 countries.
In the world of Bloodhounds, COVID-19 has reached a tipping point and opened up a new and terrible avenue of exploitation: South Korea’s private lending business.
As the pandemic rages around the world and small business owners face severe economic problems, loan sharks lend money at extremely high and illegal interest rates. In this regard, private lenders use sophisticated scams to take advantage of people at their most vulnerable and desperate moments.
The fraud is massive and the victims are piling up everywhere.
As a thriller, Bloodhounds fits in perfectly with other South Korean dramas such as My Name and The Glory. It is worth noting that the premise of this series is clear from the title, as “Bloodhounds” is the term used to designate the henchmen of loan sharks, whose only job is to chase debtors and guarantee the repayment of the money, using intimidating and violent tactics if necessary.
Bloodhounds has been created, directed, and written by Joo-Hwan Kim (also known as Jason Kim), a former screenwriter of popular series such as Barry, Girls and Love.
What is Bloodhounds about?
The South Korean action thriller series tells the story of two twentysomething boxers caught up in the cruel world of illegal loan sharking. Bloodhounds follows Kim Gun-Woo (Woo Do-Hwan) and Hong Woo-Jin (Sang-yi Lee), talented athletes, both former marines, who become best friends almost immediately after their first fight.
One of the first action scenes in the program features Kim Gun-Woo and Hong Woo-Jin competing in a novice boxing tournament. As is the case in most stories with hand-to-hand confrontations, the fighting styles help to reflect the true personalities of the contestants on screen.
At first glance, you can see that Kim Gun-Woo is disciplined and concrete, he knows how and when to attack. In essence, he is a counterpuncher. He doesn’t strike much, but when he does, he has enough power to finish off his opponent.
Although aware of his strength, Kim Gun-Woo never boasts about it. Almost immediately, we become aware of his noble character and unwavering focus.
Hong Woo-Jin, on the other hand, is a left-handed boxer with a peculiar street touch. He constantly shows off while fighting and likes to be the center of attention.
Hong Woo-Jin is something of a troublemaker, and a wild creature. His thing is to be bold, loud, and devastating. Most of the time he turns out to be a hilarious brawler.
Kim Gun-Woo and Hong Woo-Jin may be rookies in the ring, but each has cultivated an extraordinary and lethal talent. The youngsters hit it off almost immediately and effortlessly mesh with each other. Though neither suspects it too much, life has forged them to be good-hearted fighters and protectors of the helpless.
This quirky and endearing friendship will permeate and drive the entire miniseries forward.
One of the standout elements of this K-drama is undoubtedly its exceptional cast. Both leads effortlessly embody their respective characters; actor Woo Do-Hwan is recognizable from Save Me (2017) and The King: Eternal Monarch (2020) and Sang-yi Lee we have seen in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021) and Youth of May (2021).
Once we get to know the main characters, the plot jumps into high gear. Things take an unexpected turn, when Kim Gun-Woo’s mother becomes involved in a fraudulent operation run by Smile Capital, a company specializing in scamming and blackmailing the weaker strata.
The problem is that the CEO of Smile Capital, Kim Myung-Gil (Park Sung-Woong), is a predatory moneylender with an unlimited capacity for cruelty. Not just any criminal, Kim Myeong-Gil is a diligent and shrewd strategist capable of all sorts of monstrosities and unforgivable offenses.
It so happens that the leader of Smile Capital has built a powerful empire financed not only by swindling innocent citizens, but also by duping other loan sharks. Kim Myeong-Gil is one of those corrosive and formidable villains who sets fire to everything in his path.
Once Kim Myeong-gil’s thugs vandalize Kim Gun-Woo’s mother’s coffee shop and threaten the modest family, the young boxer’s life changes forever.
Kim Gun-Woo decides to do everything he can to settle the outstanding debt, and at the same time begins to contemplate the idea of confronting the corrupt elite of Smile Capital. For his part, Hong Woo-Jin shows his solidarity and unconditional support.
Kim Gun-Woo and Hong Woo-Jin soon join forces with Choi Tae-Ho (Huh Joon-Ho), a kind-hearted benefactor who is familiar with the world of moneylenders and has experienced Kim Myeong-Gil’s wickedness firsthand.
And this is how, Kim Gun-Woo, Hong Woo-Jin, Chairman Choi, his adopted granddaughter Hyeon-Ju (Kim Sae-Ron), and two extraordinary knifemakers, Lee Du-Yeong and Hwang Yang-Jung, join together to fight organized crime and defend the underprivileged. Needless to say, the members of this team feel a burning need for justice.
Joo-Hwan Kim’s series is an adrenaline-fueled journey in which the forces of good fight against the forces of darkness. While Bloodhounds is a tribute to the power of friendship, the program is also an outspoken critique of unbridled ambition, abuse of power and social unprotectedness of the under-privileged classes.
Action scenes and bare-knuckle combat
Although friendship is the core of the story, Bloodhounds stands out unequivocally for the perfectly executed “action”. Fight sequences and chases dominate the entire series. Director Joo-Hwan Kim and choreographer Park Young-Sik deliver unpredictable, memorable, visually stunning scenes.
From the very beginning, the fiction offers brilliant action sequences that highlight the boxing skills of Kim Gun-Woo and Hong Woo-Jin. The audience can see everything from rabid fisticuffs and bloody knife fights to intense chases through the city.
As Kim Gun-Woo and Hong Woo-Jin become more trapped in the loan shark underworld, the boxers both endure and inflict more violence. In this regard, the bare-knuckle bouts are absolutely electrifying on screen. No one throws in the towel. No one comes out unscathed.
Often, the cameras move with alacrity, establishing a fast-paced rhythm. You get the sense that the show emulates the bloody, visceral tone of notable productions like Oldboy (2013) and Netflix’s Daredevil (2015).
The premise of the series may not be incredibly original. However, Bloodhounds is easily one of this year’s best new releases. This exciting thriller has enough grit and hook to keep audiences on their toes.
What is a boxer’s heart made of?
At the beginning of the show, Hong Woo-Jin boxes for money, while Kim Gun- Woo is more concerned about the boxer’s heart and the goodness that should reside in him. The idealistic young man wishes to be like Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao.
However, throughout the story the two young men must give up their dreams in the ring and hunt down the fearsome Kim Myeong-Gil. In this sense, Bloodhounds explores the sometimes thin line that separates street fighters from professional ring fighters.
Once Kim Gun-Woo and Hong Woo-Jin become “Bloodhounds” and take down the illegal empire, they both decide that it is time to reclaim “the boxer’s heart” and resume the path of the athlete. They both reaffirm their conviction that the “boxer’s heart” is righteous and noble, and that it should always be in the service of others.
Will there be a season 2 of Bloodhounds?
It is well known that renewals are rare in the world of Korean dramas. Usually, they are reserved for extraordinary circumstances such as in the case of Squid Game, or Extraordinary Attorney Woo.
At the time of writing this piece, Bloodhounds has not been renewed for a second season. However, many of us are keeping our fingers crossed that it will happen.