Of Loyalty and Brotherhood || Bloodhounds (2023)

There’s a particular series I’ve been putting off for the longest time. This series has practically sat in my phone for nearly a year and a half. Over the last months, I watch about one episode every three weeks. There are eight episodes, so you may understand how slowly time went. Anyway, you already know that the reason I’m doing this review today is because I got to finish the last episode yesterday and that means I’m finally get to give my two cents on it.

Bloodhounds (2023)

A promising boxer. A generous money lender and his grand daughter. A delinquent. These four personalities come together to pull off the greatest fight to restore justice against an evil loan shark who goes about defrauding the lowest income earners by way of shady contracts that sends them into heavy debt, so he can fulfil his rather selfish aims.

Now, it happens that one of the people he ends up defrauding, destroying her shop, brutalizing and sending into debt is the mother of Kim Geon-woo (Woo Do-hwan). Helpless yet desperate to free his mother from the clutches of this ruthless loan shark’s organization, he accepts help (howbeit reluctantly) from the benevolent money lender Tae-ho, and teams up with a delinquent, Woo-jin, to form an unbreakable bond borne out of a shared grief and misfortune to defeat the loan shark. However, these two will learn soon enough what the true price of freedom is.

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My Review and Rating

Anytime you hear of the series, bloodhounds, what should immediately come to your mind is friendship, loyalty, passion and freedom. This series is huge pointer to bonds that are formed and stand the test of time. The brotherhood between the characters felt so real and their chemistry and bond onset felt palpable enough for me to believe that they are close in real life, or if they weren’t before the start of the film, they certainly were afterwards.

I think I also learnt a great deal about courage. I won’t even lie, I’m not sure I’d take the path they did if I’m faced with such fierce opposition. Imagine your opponent being capable of ruthless death and bloodshed, would you truly be able to take him on? Sometimes our oppositions may not be physical. Sometimes they may not be knife-wielding, cold-hearted people. Sometimes they could just be our fears and elements that we have let gain power over us. Standing up to take the fight to their doorstep is taking back that power from the opposition. Whatever it is.

The pacing of this film, however, dragged at some parts. It dragged for a long while and I’m guessing that’s what made me stop at some point. A good storyline with a cast that delivers is not all that makes an excellent series. The ability of the plot to be sustained and not drag incessantly is what makes all the difference. This series made up for all of that with gripping fight scenes and violence in a way that wasn’t too gory.

I’m not going to lie, it does help that Woo Do-hwan is such an eye candy. That was the reason I began watching in the first place. Man is so fine, my heart beat a little faster with his smile, lol. Given, I appreciate his more bad boy vibe as compared to when he’s all prim and proper, but who doesn’t? Lol. Bloodhounds is an excellent series. I, for one, am certainly glad that I finally got to finish it.

The ending was also superb, and I appreciated the need not to have a tragic ending despite the fact that films in the last few years make it a trend to incorporate tragic endings. This film is a good 7.5/10. Gladly recommended for my K-drama lovers, and even those that don’t like K-drama but love a good action series. You do not want to miss out on this!

Jhymi🖤

P.S: I should have talked about this and I do regret not mentioning it in the post's body, but this is also a tribute to Saeron who lost her life due to suicide. Her role in this series was beautiful, and it's sad that a gem like her is gone. Rest well, Kim Sae-ron!🌺

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_{All images from IMDB.}

Posted using CineTV