City Hunter 시티 헌터 is the twenty-sixth drama I've watched. As of this time, it is also my all-time favorite drama. The Korean drama is based on the the Japanese manga series 'City Hunter' written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. City Hunter stars Lee Min Ho who rose to fame with his role in Boys Over Flowers. The main female lead, Park Min Young, is stunningly beautiful and very talented. Park Min Young alone was half the reason I continued to watch episodes straight through until sunrise. This drama also stars Lee Kwang Soo, a main cast member on the variety show Running Man. Amusingly enough, Lee Kwang Soo plays the same silly, dorky character as he does in Running Man. Another surprise was seeing Goo Ha Ra, member of popular girl group KARA, make her acting debut with City Hunter.
After a bomb planted by North Korean agents goes off in Burma, killing several South Korean officials, a covert operation is planned to strike back. Among the twenty-one men chosen for the mission are Lee Jinpyo and Park Mooyul, two Presidential Security Service bodyguards. After commencing "Operation Clean Sweep", the five South Korean officials who initiated the mission decide to abort the plan in fear of a potential international crisis if exposed. As a result, when the soldiers return to the submarine at the extraction point, they are met with open fire from South Korean snipers. Mooyul, who was already hurt during the mission, sacrifices himself to save Jinpyo. Jinpyo swims back to shore, realizing he is the only survivor. After returning to South Korea, he discovers all records of the twenty-one soldiers have been erased. Jinpyo vows to avenge his fallen comrades and kill the ones responsible for the betrayal. Jinpyo takes Mooyul's infant son and flees to Thailand. Lee Yoonsung (Lee Min Ho) is trained for combat for Jinpyo's plan for revenge. Several years later, Yoonsung returns to South Korea after obtaining a doctorate at MIT. He begins to work at the Blue House as an Information Technology expert with the National Communication Network Team. By working at the Blue House, Yoonsung has access to information to begin identifying the members of the Council of Five. Yoonsung begins the plan while under the alias "City Hunter". Jinpyo leaves Yoonsung with the message, "Trust no one, love no one.". However, while working at the Blue House, Yoonsung falls in love with Kim Nana (Park Min Young), who is a Presidential Security Service bodyguard. Nana slowly learns of the connection between Yoonsung and the mysterious "City Hunter", realizing she is falling in love with him.
The way Yoonsung slowly exposes the corruption of the government is perhaps the biggest reason I got hooked onto this drama. I already have this great love for movies and television series where you have a hero who secretly protects society from corrupt, powerful individuals. Credit should go to the writers who have shown five different examples of corruption in society. Yoonsung takes down each member of the Council of Five: One who steals money that should go to feeding the hungry, another who purchases defective military equipment so that the excess money saved goes into his own pocket, a third who takes money that intended for university scholarships, a fourth who refuses to compensate health benefits to employees who are sick from working at a chemical plant and the last using illegally obtained funds for campaign. Stories such as City Hunter that make me forget I'm watching a drama because the main focus is on the revenge plot rather than the love story between the main leads. I really liked Park Min Young's character Kim Nana. Nana has a bright and bubbly personality, but as a bodyguard she is very charismatic and fierce. Depending on the scene and her attire, I've seen her change between cute, stylish and professional. Lee Kwang Soo's character, Go Kijoon is really funny to watch. I'm really glad they gave his character a love line with Shin Eunah (Yang Jin Sung). It's nice and a bit of a comic relief from the overall seriousness of City Hunter. Although I'm a big fan of KARA, I'm not sure how Goo Ha Ra was casted as the President's daughter for City Hunter. I think she did a really good job, but I'm still a little surprised at when she decided to debut in acting.
City Hunter has a fantastic soundtrack. "Suddenly" by Kim Bo Kyung is one of my personal favorite songs from this drama. "So Goodbye" is sung by Shinee's Jonghyun and "Love 사랑" is sung by Im Jaebum. These three songs are all ballads. "It's Alright" by Yang Hwajin is a rock song that always sends chills down my spine whenever it's played during a fight scene. Just like in IRIS, City Hunter's instrumental tracks are also great. In fact, a special soundtrack was released with just the instrumental tracks. Among these, my favorites are "The Fire of Love", "Hot Spade", "Endless Crying", "City Hunter" and "Sad Run". It's quite debatable whether or not the instrumental soundtrack is better than the actual official soundtrack.
Lee Min Ho is simply a great actor. His role in City Hunter is completely different from his role in Boys Over Flowers. After watching City Hunter, I can honestly say I'm now a fan. Although Lee Min Ho doesn't quite compare to Lee Byung Hun in IRIS or Rain in Fugitive: Plan B, Lee Min Ho is also suited for these tough guy roles. Honestly, I am convinced he was the perfect choice for City Hunter. Yoonsung's character is rather gentle in nature, despite having a hard past, so the director was probably looking for an actor with a young boyish look. I highly recommend watching City Hunter. The combination of both Lee Min Ho and Park Min Young is absolutely amazing. In fact, it was revealed later that they were in a relationship. City Hunter's storyline completely captures one's attention and refuses to let go until you've finished the series. At the same time, the story is well paced so that nothing feels rushed at the last minute. Even the ending was a surprise and concluded well so that there was no questions left about anything. City Hunter has become one of my all-time favorite dramas. It is a series that can be enjoyed by anyone and should be watched by everyone.
