Updates: [Summary] episode 1 & 2 - City Hunter

Hello minasan....Previously i did send a post regarding upcoming drama of Lee Min ho called "City Hunter", and now The bad boy already in town!!!!! ^_^.

Honestly I was anticipating “City Hunter” for a while as a big fan of the original manga/anime and also a fan of Lee Min Ho since my last watched his acting in "Personal taste". 

First of all, a brief background on “City Hunter.” Imagine a perverted Han Solo as a gun for hire set in the 80s of Tokyo and you have “City Hunter’s” main character, Ryo Saeba, a mercenary with a heart of gold and a weak spot for beautiful women. What we knew before the first episode of the “City Hunter” drama is that, kind of like Batman Begins, it would be a story about how the main character becomes “Ryo Saeba.” After watching the first episode I was intrigued by the contrast, this new TV series was much darker and more sinister than the original manga/anime. Now let’s get on with the recap!

Because the names will get long and annoying, I’ll be using abbreviations for the characters.

Lee Yoon Sung (Played by Lee Min Ho): Yoon Sung

Kim Na Na (Played by Park Min Young): Nana

Lee Jin Pyo (Played by Kim Sang Joong): JP

Bae Shik Joong (Played by Kim Sang Ho): Bald dude

Park Mu Yeol (Played by Park Sang Min, The guy who is Lee Min Ho’s biological father): PMH

Episode 1

The first scene is of a pregnant woman giving birth (Probably to Lee Min Ho’s character Yoon Sung).Two agents (PMH and JP) are together and they seem to be waiting for the president. The cars that were arriving looked authentically 80’s and A bomb is in the building!!.The moment the car got close, BOOM! The bomb went off killing many. An explosive start if I should say so myself, you can never go wrong starting off with a bang.

As the two agents were driving back, JP asks PMH “Are you going to do it?” and PMH replies, “We just can’t stand by.” JP told PMH to lay off this mission, as he had a family to think about.The two finally arrive at the hospital and PMH sees his wife and son. JP gave the wife flowers basically saying good job. She said, “Thank you for coming back alive.” She was worried after hearing the news, and JP said, “You didn’t worry about me at all did you?” with PMH answering, “Why would my wife worry about you.” With a little bit of more banter, JP said he would leave while PMH said that he would join him. PMH told his wife that he would have to go somewhere, she was concerned asking if it would be dangerous. PMH said “Don’t worry, I will come back to you and our son.” (-_- A promise he obviously doesn’t keep).

During the mission PMH got stabbed but JP was right there to save him.Their rescue submarine arrived and the mission team began to swim towards it. But surprise surprise the moment the door opened, shots began to fire. They began to get shot one by one, with JP screaming “Why?! Why?! We’re on the same side!!!”.As the members are getting shot by South Koreans (People on their own side), PMH meets eyes with the shooter and shoves JP down into the water to get shot instead. PMH said the moment he was stabbed he knew he would die. PMH asks JP to take care of his wife and son. He says his last words, “I loved you my friend” and dies with a last sigh.

JP went to visit PMH’s wife and son, he was watching them.. Dogs were barking and as she looked, her son had disappeared. JP had abducted him. He left a note with the truth about everything that had happened. “PMH died, I will take the child, you will only be happy without him. Have a new start, please be happy. (Kind of strange that he just abducts the kid, but we knew this would happen through the different previews)

JP takes the child and leaves on a boat. As he looks at a picture of him, PMH and the wife together he thinks to himself. ‘I will call the child Lee Yoon Sung, and I will commit the world’s worst vengeance, because that will be the only reason for living. Up to this point, we witnessed the background of Yoon Sung’s birth. Jump ahead 10 years in a Southeast Asian country in the Golden triangle. JP had become a drug lord. (Probably to finance his vengeance plot) JP is shown to have changed and become merciless. He shoots a guy who sold drugs to Korea, because he broke JP’s rule.

We finally get to see young Yoon Sung, as he is practicing shooting a gun. JP is extremely stern and harsh on the kid.The next scene shows Yoon Sung playing with an elephant and riding on top of it.Finally the boy grows up to be the Lee Min Ho that everyone loves.

I always like seeing Kim Sang Joong act. (The guy who plays JP, the one who kidnapped Yoon Sung at a young age) He always gets that dark charismatic character spot on. This show is very intriguing because it has a vengeance plot. I guess there are going to be new targets and we will see how Yoon Sung approaches the target and takes them out. I was amazed at how the characters were developed in just one episode. Now we know how complex Yoon Sung’s character is going to be, inside he is still a young boy who wants his mommy, but he’s been raised up by a top agent with an axe to grind. Yoon Sung is also now faced with the truth about his past, how the Korean government betrayed his father and JP. That’s a lot to deal with.

I enjoyed the action scenes and liked all of the slow-motion effects, no qualms here, the quality is as good as “Iris” or even better. But, the episode was pretty slow throughout because it was setting up the background. That is understandable I guess, because the characters are pretty complex. Looks like this drama is turning out as a mix between “Bourne Identity” and “Old Boy,” I know everyone loves a good ol’ revenge plot. (Ah hah! Another similarity with "Iris", lol)

Episode 2

The episode started off with training scenes in the mud.Yoon Sung made the bullet that killed his father, into a necklace. (This is the one that killed his biological father and was lodged in JP’s shoulder a pretty good symbol for his determination).Next we got to see drug lord JP’s mansion with Yoon Sung looking on at the balcony. JP appeared with a cane and a fake leg to boot, but he seemed happy. (Wow this guy can actually smile).He said, “You’ve achieved it!” and brought Yoon Sung’s MIT acceptance letter. Yoon Sung would now live as a person from Texas with his name being John Lee. JP looked very proud.JP told Yoon Sung to remember three things: You need to live anew, don’t trust anybody, and don’t love anybody. If your identity is found out everyone around you will be drenched in blood (A repeat of the last lines for the first episode)

Yoon Sung is being introduced to the communications team, he got his PHD from MIT at the ripe age of 28. The girls adore him already and one guy doesn’t seem to like him much. His name is Ki Joon and he tries to pull rank on him and haze Yoon Sung because he had worked two years earlier. But of course, bad boy Yoon Sung won’t take any of that! Also, he’s backed up by the higher-up who loves his MIT status. (I hate saying this but, so Korean)

Nana on the other hand is stuck with Choi Da Yang a daughter of the president but she has a partner.

Yoon Sung is starting to work but he is disrupted by knocking. Nana wants his bank account number. Yoon Sung answers in hBoys Over Flowers fashion, “That money means nothing to me.” (He says it’s like chewing gum to him) Another funny line, “I think you’re trying to get with me through this, but you’re not my type, want me to buy you a mirror as well?”

Clips are shown about Target Number One. Yoon Sung asks why JP is only telling him about one target out of the "Group of Five". JP only knows that Target Number One is a bad dude for sure, because he had seen him. After Target Number One is down the other ones will surface. Then Yoon Sung asked why he was set up at the Blue House (Korean White House), and JP says he will tell him later. (Meh we know already that President CEC is a target, probably the last one at that).Yoon Sung says, “I want to destroy them in a way that nobody can forgive.” JP is intrigued and gives him the green light.

I can start to see the connections between Lee Min Ho’s portrayal of Yoon Sung and Ryo Saeba (From the original). Although Ryo Saeba is cynical, perverted, and girl crazy usually his weak side is shown and also his heart of gold. But, also when it comes down to critical moments he is ruthless. Lee Min Ho showed some of these sides that were toned down a lot. I guess towards the last episode we will see Yoon Sung become more and more like the Ryo Saeba portrayed in the manga/comics.

Also, an intriguing plot device for this drama is the fact that two children of the "Group of Five" appear as characters. One will be in a love triangle with Yoon Sung, and if his father is murdered how will he react? Also, what about Dahae (Goo Hara's character) how would she react after her father dies? Well that's assuming of course that all of them get offed.

During the first episode I think Lee Min Ho was pronouncing his Korean improperly on purpose. This episode his Korean was back to normal. Although I disliked the fact that his character is too similar to Goo Joon Pyo of “Boys Over Flowers,” it definitely gave me a few laughs the way he talks to women and pretty much everyone else.