City Hunter (TV series)

City Hunter
Also known as 시티헌터
Genre Action
Romance
Thriller
Format Television series
Created by Tsukasa Hojo
Written by Hwang Eun Kyung
Choi Soo Jin
Directed by Jin Hyuk
Starring Lee Min Ho
Park Min Young
Lee Joon Hyuk
Hwang Sun Hee
Goo Hara
Lee Kwang Soo
Country of origin South Korea
Language(s) Korean
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 20
Production
Producer(s) Kim Young Sup
Location(s) Korea, Thailand
Running time Wednesday & Thursday 21:55 (KST)
Broadcast
Original channel SBS
Original run 25 May 2011 (2011-05-25) – 28 July 2011 (2011-07-28)
Chronology
Preceded by 49 Days
Followed by Protect the Boss
External links
Official website

City Hunter (시티헌터) is a South Korean television drama series starring Lee Min Ho, Park Min Young, Lee Joon Hyuk, Hwang Sun Hee, Goo Hara and Lee Kwang Soo. It premiered on May 25, 2011 on SBS and finished broadcasting on July 28, 2011. The show reached number one in its time slot in Korea, reaching 19.9% ratings, as well as achieving popularity throughout Asia.[1] The show's ending and immense popularity have led to calls for a second season, a rarity in Korean television dramas. It is based on Japanese manga series, City Hunter, written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It will be aired on ABS-CBN, a television network in the Philippines.

Contents

Synopsis

The story starts in 1983. The South Korean president and his delegates are visiting Burma (now Myanmar) when a bomb planted by North Korea explodes, killing some high ranking officials. This historical event is called the Rangoon bombing (also known as the Rangoon incident). To strike back, five South Korean officials plan an underground operation to enter North Korea and kill North Korean agents. Unbeknownst to the South Korean president, Lee Jin-Pyo (Kim Sang Joong) and Park Moo-Yul (Park Sang Min) who work as bodyguards for the Chung Hwa Dae, organize a 21-men troop to execute the plan. However, as the operation os taking place, the five high-ranking officials changed their minds, aborting the plan in order to avoid an international crisis if the mission is discovered. Their major concern is that the United States might withdraw its nuclear protection if the mission is made public.

The operation is successful, but as the troops swim to the submarine which is supposed to take them back to South Korea, snipers from the submarine shoot and kill all the troop members, except Lee Jin-Pyo, while they are still in the water. An already injured Park Moo-Yul uses his body to shield Jin-Pyo, thus saving his life. As the only survivor of the ambush, Jin-Pyo swims back to shore and returns to South Korea, where he finds out that there are a total of five officials responsible for aborting the operation.

Vowing to avenge his fallen comrades, including his closest and best friend Park Moo Yul, he kidnaps Moo-Yul's son and flees to Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle, specifically the mountainous Burmese-Thai border. There, he raises the child as his own and trains the boy intensively in combat. Following an attack on the village, Jin-Pyo confesses to the child, Lee Yoon Sung (Lee Min Ho), about his long-term plan for revenge.

Seven years later, after successfully finishing his college years in the United States at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yoon-Sung returns to South Korea to fulfill his step-father's plan for revenge. He enters the Blue House (South Korean presidential palace) as an IT expert under the National Communication Network Team. He is warned by Jin-Pyo not to trust anyone and never to fall in love, as doing so will put the people around him in danger.

In Chung Hwa Dae, he meets bodyguard Kim Na-na (Park Min Young). The story of love and revenge begins. Eventually the bodyguard Kim Na-na, helps him to take revenge, as they discover that they have the same goal in mind. So both of them start working together but problems occur during their revenge plot.

A big shocking twist occurs as the truth unveils.

Cast

He is the "City Hunter". His ultimate goal is to avenge his father's killers as the City Hunter. He used a dead Korean-American John Lee's identity,with this identity he gets his Doctoral degree at MIT, and to enter Korea's presidential palace. But while he was taking revenge, he falls in love with a presidential guard called Kim Nana. He tries to protect Nana from the many enemies hunting him down.

She is a judo master, being forced to fend for herself at an early age after one of her was killed in a drunk driving accident and her father was placed in a coma. She has to take many jobs in order to support herself. Her exceptional skills in martial arts allowed her to be chosen as one of the president's bodyguards. During her time as a bodyguard, she falls in love with Lee Yoon Sung, actually shoting him unknowningly while he was city hunter, and then discovering his identity and trying to aid him in his revenge.

An intelligent prosecutor, Kim Young Joo possesses a strong sense of justice, even against the corrupt politicians of South Korea. He was Jin Sae Hee's ex-husband as well as the son of one of the officials that ordered the slaughter. He is constant rival against the City Hunter, working towards the same goals, but wanting to do so within the context of the law rather than outside it.

He was the only one to survive the slaughter 28 years ago. Full of anger, he wants to kill all of the people who ordered the execution. He pretended to be an investor from America and started his revenge through his dead best friend's son, Lee Yoon Sung.

She was Kim Young Joo's Ex-Wife, a vet.

The president's academically challenged daughter, who begins with a crush on Lee Yoon Sung, but switches over to liking Kim Young Joo's.

The current president of South Korea. He was one of the five men involved in the event of 1983. swore to the men going into North Korea that he would get them back out, but was later out voted and forced to live with the guilt for 28 years. He is the only member of the group aware of the survival of Lee Jin Pyo, yet does nothing to stop him besides knowing that Lee Jin Pyo's ultimate goal is to end Choi Eung Chan's life.

Extended cast

Episode Ratings

South Korea

Date Episode Nationwide Seoul
2011-05-25 1 9.5 (9th) 11.8 (6th)
2011-05-26 2 10.0 (9th) 12.2 (7th)
2011-06-01 3 11.9 (4th) 13.6 (5th)
2011-06-02 4 12.6 (5th) 15.0 (4th)
2011-06-08 5 13.0 (4th) 15.7 (3rd)
2011-06-09 6 13.2 (4th) 15.4 (2nd)
2011-06-15 7 13.6 (3rd) 16.7 (2nd)
2011-06-16 8 12.7 (4th) 14.2 (2nd)
2011-06-22 9 13.8 (4th) 15.2 (3rd)
2011-06-23 10 14.4 (4th) 16.4 (3rd)
2011-06-29 11 17.4 (3rd) 19.5 (1st)
2011-06-30 12 18.3 (2nd) 20.5 (1st)
2011-07-06 13 18.5 (1st) 20.5 (1st)
2011-07-07 14 18.3 (2nd) 20.6 (1st)
2011-07-13 15 17.4 (3rd) 19.6 (1st)
2011-07-14 16 17.5 (3rd) 18.8 (1st)
2011-07-20 17 17.9 (2nd) 19.6 (1st)
2011-07-21 18 18.6 (1st) 20.3 (1st)
2011-07-27 19 17.2 (3rd) 18.7 (3rd)
2011-07-28 20 19.1 (3rd) 20.6 (1st)
Average 15.2% 17.2%

Source: TNS Media Korea

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of "City Hunter" was released in seven parts.

References

  1. ^ http://www.soompi.com/news/lee-min-ho-got-400000-more-chinese-fans-after-end-of-city-hunter

External links