The next drama I watched, the fourth, is called Gumiho: Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox 구미호 외전. This drama is also the second drama I watched with Kim Tae Hee playing the main female lead. I enjoyed her acting ability in Love Story in Harvard and selected Gumiho to be the next drama I would watch. I found Gumiho to be one of my most favorite dramas of all time and for good reason. The drama also features an impressive main cast with actor Uhm Tae Woong, actress Han Ye Seul and also Jun Jin from the popular boy group Shinhwa.
The story follows Detective Kang Minwoo (Jo Hyun Jae), a pretty average, nice guy with a good sense of justice. Minwoo pursues a human organ trafficking case and finds himself slowly uncovering the affairs of the Nine-Tailed Fox clan. The Nine-Tailed Fox clan is a rare fox race that look like everyday humans. They survive by eating dead human livers. If they eat a live human liver, they lose themselves and become greedy for more. In order to preserve the balance between the human race and fox race, there are five warriors assigned to kill those who break the rules set out by the High Council. While going undercover to find a organ smuggling ring, Minwoo comes into contact with those of the Nine-Tailed Fox clan. Even seeing the warriors kill their own race, which can only be done by stabbing the liver and watching the person disintegrate into dust. The Nine-Tailed Fox warriors are also responsible for keeping the Nine-Tailed Fox race a secret from the rest of society. They adhere to the strict rule of eliminating anyone who finds out about their race in order to continue living in secrecy. However, the warriors fail to kill Minwoo. Minwoo is recruited into a secret organization whose main focus is fighting the Nine-Tailed Fox members. Every member in the group has had their life affected by them and has their personal reasons for joining. Later, Minwoo meets and becomes interested in Yoon Siyeon (Kim Tae Hee), a museum curator. Little does he know that Siyeon is actually one of the five Nine-Tailed Fox clan warriors and that they may even have a deeper past.
Unlike most Korean dramas, Gumiho featured a large portion of action alongside the romantic story. The drama splits itself into a 'good versus evil' type of story. It made me even ponder the idea of a hidden race within our own human society. I tend to really enjoy these fantasy based stories. The part of Gumiho that I loved most was the weapons used by the five warriors. Sticking to a traditional theme, the warriors do not fight using guns and any other modern equipment. Mooyoung (Jun Jin) uses a long sword, Siyeon uses twin short swords, Chaeyi (Han Ye Seul) uses regular sword, Sajoon (Uhm Tae Woong) uses a cane sword and Rang (Park Joon Suk) uses an interesting yo-yo with concealed blades. These create action scenes that are absolutely amazing to watch. Sure, there were some wires involved, but I'm still a sucker for these martial arts scenes. Besides, it's undeniable how sexy and attractive both Kim Tae Hee and Han Ye Seul look dressed in black leather like a ninja. It's eye candy for girls when taking into account of Jun Jin and Uhm Tae Woong.
The soundtrack for Gumiho is great too. The first notable track is "Dalm Eun Sarang 닮은 사랑". Both the techno/trance version and the ballad version are amazing and honestly one of the best opening/ending themes I've heard. The other song is "Always", a ballad that's played on the more emotional scenes.
Although I normally cannot stand spoilers, particularly endings to dramas, a little of Gumiho's ending needs to mentioned. Gumiho's ending is perhaps one of the my most favorite endings of all time. Unlike any drama I've ever watched, I could not predict the ending for this drama. Gumiho's ending was very emotionally overwhelming with a bittersweet but conclusive ending. Gumiho is without a question one of the most unique stories I've ever encountered. Thus, with the amount of action and martial arts scenes, I would highly recommend this drama for guys who are just starting to get into watching dramas. The love story is still amazing enough to enjoy regardless of whether you are a boy or girl.
