Hounds (2023)

perfect till ep 6. a shame they had to rewrite eps 7 and 8. I wonder how original would have been

The removal of kim sae ron's character in eps 7 and 8 just ruined the pace and the tight chemistry among the main characters in this drama. the new female character that joined in eps 7 and 8 was such a clumsy addition to the series it was cringe-worthy. wish they found someone else who was equally sharp in the action sequence. Kim sae ron really complemented Woo Do-Hwan and Lee Sang-Yi. It was a perfect trio.

I just continued to watch eps 7 and 8 and finished the series because I immensely enjoyed episodes 1-6. Shame that they had to rewrite the last 2 episodes. I wonder how it would have been if we saw the original version of the ending.

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Amazing Start, Rushed Ending

With an all star cast, I expected to like this going into it. The premise also got me intrigued with boxers having to become bloodhounds, and I totally enjoyed it! (for the most part) The first 6 episodes to me were perfect, it had the right amount of tension and character moments. The action is AMAZING. The COVID setting is kind of weirdly placed into the story, only coming up once in a while to explain random beats to the story (which could have just been written out in my opinion). What I didn't enjoy so much was the last two episodes. It wasn't bad per-say, but it definitely did not live up to the tension that has built up during the whole series. The pay-off was lackluster, and felt both rushed and dragged out. Rushed because it did not perfectly conclude the series and dragged out because it was sort of slow compared to the beginning of the series. Now, I do know that the main female lead got into controversy and so it may have effected the story (maybe it was towards the end of filming but this is just a guess) which is why the ending felt not complete. Overall, i would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves the action/revenge plot dramas but just prepare yourself for a not-so-fullfilling ending.

On a side note, be wary because this drama has A LOT of blood, There are so many knife fights (especially in episode 6) and it shows the whole stabbing , cutting and blood gushing in full frame.

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once is enough

action mode: on!
romance: zero, which is good
bromance & friendship: 100%

although the acting was amazing and the friendship between Gunwoo and Woojin was wonderful, few things were bothering me.
1. they were using a Mustang car for stakeout. yall know that a Mustang draws too much attention, right? so their stakeout was pointless at this point lol (i think Mustang is a sponsor for this series)
2. Mr. Choi’s house was unguarded even though he was super duper rich. moreover, he emphasized multiple times that he didn’t want his granddaughter to be harmed. it's like he didn't even try to protect her and the team.
3. Mr. Choi's knifers had a useless death. they hadn't shown their full potential and a moment later, they were killed. i was looking forward to seeing more actions from them because they were supposed to be really good at fighting.

it was a pity that Kim Sae Ron had to leave the show due to controversy. her character was really important to this series, hence the weird plot after her departure.

another thing is: Kim Min Jae’s appearance was too short. they made his character mysterious at first, thus peaking my curiosity, naturally. but then, they gave us nothing. it almost felt like his character was not important enough to be getting a screentime? which is not the case. his character was supposed to be important imo. i want to know more about him–why and how he was chosen, how he worked, etc. but yeah…nothing. he didn't do anything significant and was somehow just…there.

this series is good for passing time. i won't watch it again in the future. once is enough.
prost tho for the effort and dedication Woo Do Hwan & Lee Sang Yi have put into building their boxer bodies.

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Quando um cão de caça perde seu dono ele vira um vira-lata.

Um dorama de ação com bastante luta corporal, que é emocionante de ver. Você não consegue imaginar o próximo passo dos personagens ou quem vai ganhar na porrada kkkkk.
Eu adorei os personagens e o enredo da história me fizeram ficar com um apego a cada um em menos de 8 eps.
A atuação nem preciso mencionar, não deixou nada a desejar.
Mas uma coisa que me deixou a desejar foi foi o final, acho que como só teve 8 eps ficou um pouco corrido, com alguns pontos soltos que gostaria que tivessem explicado melhor, mas fora isso gostei bastante. A cada ep que passava mais ansiosa eu ficava para saber o que vai acontecer, recomendo demais assistir.

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Fun, thrilling, short watch

This was a really good drama. The acting was good, the story for the most part made sense and it wasn't unnecessarily long, only 8 episodes all around an hour long(except for the last episode). The action scenes were done so well, a little long but entertaining nonetheless. The characters were easily the best part, the friendship between the 2 main leads was also really well done, as well as the others, and also this was also pretty funny.

I would say there were some logistical fallacies:
- One would be the fact that when they contacted the heir guy, they just sent him a DM and he actually had his notifications on despite having 500k followers. Like I felt like they could've done something more creative.
- Another one was the fact the sushi restaurant fighter got killed off even though he was supposed to be this incredibly skilled and experienced fighter? I just couldn't believe he got taken out by one guy, when a whole fleet couldn't even do it.
- Not as well planned. This is mainly towards the last 2 episodes, a lot of the operations (especially after Mr Oh got captured) weren't planned out and they kind of just improvised what they were going to do, and I would've liked to see them put a bit more brains into their operations.

But overall, I really did like it, and it got me out of a kdrama slump so if your also in one then I would most likely recommend.

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Pleasantly Surprised...

Wow what an epic show, it had me at the edge of my seat each episode.
I liked the overall story and even more I liked the character and how fully fleshed out they felt. I especially have a soft spot for the villain because he is my favorite out of the whole ensemble.
If I had to rate them:
1- Kim Myeong-il aka the villain, that actually felt like a proper human being that's blinded by greed and that would do anything to get what he wants. He also felt like an actual mafia boss, from the way he organized his surroundings to his expansion projects.
He is actually intimidating, and I will not shut up about how powerful Park Sungwoong is as a villain. Fucking hell he ate that and left not even a little droplet of h20.

2- Obviously Gun Woo and Woojin. I can't rate them separately because there is no Gun woo without Woojin and vice-versa, they are so adorable and funny when they're together. I especially loved how they first met, it felt so real and sincere I can only hope to meet such a friend like that in this lifetime. They lift each other up and support one another no matter what, especially during such hard times where its to each their own. They uphold their values, morals and integrity, so I can't tell you how broken I was when Gun woo broke down as h realized that he himself had become a bloodhound but his big bro Woojin was there to remind him of what brought them to this point. I love their dynamic sm, I just smile whenever they come on.
I could write tons of paragraph about how they are the best bromance pair I have seen in all of k-drama history, but imma hold back lol.

3- Mr. Choi. I don' t have much to say other than I liked how they built his character, how the actor managed to actually make us feel that this man had been through sm and was trying to change but also tired of the world he had once ruled. Maybe I don't actually like the characters lmao, I have some mad respect for the acting. Once he left the show, the hole that he left was truly massive.

4- Hyeonju. Oh, dear Hyeonju what a missed opportunity you were. For those who don't know, Park Saeron who portrays her had a DUI scandal during the filming and thus why she was hastily written out. Her presence was really important, and it felt too unnatural that she of all people would run away after the death of Mr. Choi, they tried to replce her with Dami, but it was a failure especially since she was introduced only two episodes away from the end.

5- Im Beom...why? I just really liked seeing that huge mountain like Blackbear get squandered like a bug by Gun woo and Woojin, so I put him here. Appreciate the actor for being so good to the point of making me want to punch him even though I would just break my bones.

I would add the other characters such as Duyeong and Yangjun (the knife masters) who were really cool but I'm still mentally recovering from what happened to them.

So why was I pleasantly surprised? I was pissed off when the story decided to kill off 3 of, if not the most, important characters in the show. The knife maters and Mr. Choi.
But then I cried, complaining that I was watching the show to escape reality and they were just serving me a cold plate of wake-up soup. Yes, I hate how sudden their death was, but it felt so gut wrenchingly realistic, reminding us of how dangerous this was, how high the stakes are and in the words of Mr. Choi: "All this will end with someone dying".

Which pisses me off even more because as we got closer to the ending, I was surprised how easily KMI had gone down. The same fearless man who fought knife to knife with a master but couldn't have a go against two rookie boxers. When he killed the Mr.Choi and his men, KMI had understood that his boys could not stand against the Gun-Woojin duo and so calculatively attacked them from all sides. But you're telling me this man went down after a simply auditing?

I'm not very happy with the ending nor the characters introduced around that time except for the chaebol's cousin. Speaking f I hate the chaebol and would never trust him with the gold, he looked like he would be laundering it all away from the main guys.

Overall, I still like it and I understand that the difficulties that arose externally to the show, shaped the ending. Still highly recommend it. 9/10!

Also I refuse to accept Duyeong, his wife and kids are dead... they died off screen so bring me the proof!!!!

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Tough and nail biting

Oct 2023
The very early episodes that lay the foundations for this very violent, gripping and fast paced drama, go from causing feelings of mild anxiousness to all out threat, fairly quickly.
It is not easy watching ordinary people being strong armed out of their livelihoods, all their savings and conned into crippling debts they'll never be able to repay.
The ferocity with which the strong-arm gangs operate is sickening. That people could do this to others, totally blows my mind (gang wars happen in real life).
We are then moved on to Geon-woo (Woo Do-hwan) and his new found friend from boxing, Woo-jin (Lee Sang-yi), getting drawn ever deeper into conflict with the legitimate business fronted, highly successful and wealthy loan shark, Myung-gil (Park Sung-woong ~ always a brilliant villain).
The story sees them joining forces with someone whose past has a strong connection to Myung-gil. Then, together with characters involved with one another as veterans and members of the Marines (their military service), they decide they have no choice but to take him and his entire organisation, down.
The fight scenes are something else and the efforts both WDH and LSY must have gone to, to get as fit as they look in this, don't bear thinking about!
In terms of how characters are dealt with by the drama/writer, it reminded me of the early days of The Walking Dead... no one is safe and there are shocks aplenty. The sudden departure of one character in particular was very odd but might be to do with the actress.
Excellent writing, as some very witty dialogue and interactions pepper most episodes, which counters the angst and violence.
I love the cast and was really surprised to see Choi Siwan (didn't even realise he was in it), in a very different and [to me] surprising role for him.
Much of it is very OTT in terms of being a long way from what's possible, but, this is an action and justice/revenge drama, not a slice- of-real-life story or a documentary. It's entertainment and I loved it!
The ending held some shocks and I wasn't disappointed, but (why's there always a but?
;-D ), I would have loved to see some characters actually suffer the consequences of their disgusting deeds, and get legally punished by the system, with a nightmare life behind bars!
The most hateful character for me was In-beom, MG's muscle and right-hand man... what a mindless neanderthal. One of my favourites was the quirky and unflappable Oh Da-min, who makes her appearance in later episodes.
If the brutal treatment of others and quite high levels of threat are not for you, then the drama probably won't be either, but otherwise, it's a great and compact watch.

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Divertido e rápido.

A reta final deixou a desejar. Parece que foi escrita por outro autor. A nota é alta pela minha experiência que foi maravilhosa, mas os últimos 2 episodio são muito desconexos e corridos pra caber em 8 episódios. Ate as mortes tem MUITO pouco significado.

E, na reta final, aquele significado absurdo (em tudo) que é sempre notado e lembrado pelos personagens, parece ter muito pouco valor, sabe? Eles tinham uma puta oportunidade de tornar o final algo tão absurdo e foi tão broxa.. sla

Pecaram na cena final também e de simplesmente abandonar a mina em Roma, vão se foder

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Everyone is dumb and the writers think I'm dumb too

one thing I hate in media is when we get introduced to a character who is incredibly smart and then force him to make an incredibly stupid decision to get rid of him. that just pisses me off so bad and it happens not to one but THREE people in this drama (episode six pissed me off). this is weak writing an there is no excuses ! I could go in details but im not that passionate about this drama honestly.

Started this for dohwan but then the most horrific thing ... he is playing a grown adult acting like a child NOOOOOOOOO omg I almost *redacted* myself. I hate when it happens to female characters and its even more painful on a guy. anyway bunch of stupid guys making stupid decisions over and over again until almost everyone is dead. at some point I expected them to be more ruthless but no. AND THEN HE HAD THE AUDACITY TO SAY AT THE END "IVE BECOME LIKE THEM UWU" ARE YOU DUMB ??? (lowering the score as I wrote that bcs what ???) Actually its the opposite you are so unlike them might as well be a p*ssy. the writers are spitting on me and telling me its raining. needed them to be smarter. also they gave the money to a billionaire they barely know like why are they torturing me like this.

Why did I stay ? well, once again hate made me stay. I was introduced to someone on ep 1 that I needed to see suffer. so I watched all of it and once again I was let down bcs I did not get to see him suffer.

It looked good, the acting was good. the action was very good, the punches felt so good and powerful especially after the time-skip. If they fixed the script just a little bit this would be a 10/10 which is all the more upsetting.

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Thrilling scenes, corny writing

One thing I'm sure of is this has got some insane keep-you-on-the-edge action scenes. but pretty much everything else feels mediocre; the acting, the plot, the writing.. all very unnatural to the point where it's noticeable. especially what happened with the fl.. i dont undestand why they felt they had to replace her with another awkwardly placed female character when the initial trio were just done. 4 main characters were just written off 2 episodes before the finale, and the show lost its purpose which is such a shame honestly.
overall fun really, but mostly only because of the fights.

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