This review may contain spoilers
Two Boxer Besties vs. One Loan Shark Empire
📝 So... How Did I Feel About This One?
(⚠️ WARNING: Potential Spoilers — I’m Not Saving You from Emotional Damage)
I loved this.
Like...
I really, really loved this.
I went into Bloodhounds expecting a good action drama.
What I got was a surprisingly emotional story about friendship, loyalty, family, and two absolutely determined idiots who decide they're going to take down a loan shark empire.
And I'm here for it.
The Geon U and U Jin friendship was probably one of my favorite things about this entire show.
You've got Sweet Boy Next Door Boxer meeting Mr. I've-Seen-And-Done-Things Boxer, and somehow they immediately click.
They're completely different personalities, but they work so well together.
And once Geon U's mother's café becomes caught up in Smile Capital's scam, U Jin doesn't hesitate.
He's there.
That's what I loved about their relationship.
It wasn't some complicated friendship where everybody spends eight episodes wondering whether they can trust each other.
They just...
Do.
They trust each other.
They show up for each other.
They fight for each other.
And when things get ugly, neither one of them is walking away.
The story itself was also surprisingly coherent.
The plot made sense.
The motivations made sense.
The villain's operation felt big enough to actually justify the amount of chaos happening around it.
And even though there are definitely moments where you're watching people get punched so hard that their ancestors probably felt it, the overall story still felt grounded enough to work.
That's a difficult balance to pull off.
And Bloodhounds managed it really well.
The action also kept me watching.
There was enough happening that I never found myself thinking, Okay, can we get to the point already?
Nope.
We're moving.
Someone is fighting.
Someone is getting chased.
Someone is planning something.
Someone is about to get punched.
And then someone gets punched.
The pacing worked really well for me.
And then there's Hyeon Ju.
I genuinely expected this show to eventually try to shove her into a romance with one of the guys.
But they didn't.
They let her just be a badass woman with her own motivations and her own story.
And then she basically disappears toward the end.
Which...
Okay.
Girl.
Where did you go?!
💕 Things I Loved
THE FRIENDSHIP.
Seriously.
Geon U and U Jin are fantastic together.
I loved watching their friendship grow from a boxing match into this incredibly loyal partnership.
They don't need some giant emotional speech every five minutes to prove they're friends.
They just show up for each other.
And I love that.
I also loved Geon U himself.
He's such a genuinely good character that watching him get dragged deeper and deeper into this mess actually made me care about what happened to him.
He's not some invincible badass from the beginning.
He's a boxer.
He's talented.
He's strong.
But he's still learning.
And watching him become more capable as everything escalates was really satisfying.
U Jin was also great because he brings a completely different energy to the story.
Where Geon U is quiet and reserved, U Jin is basically running his mouth while everything is on fire.
Perfect.
No notes.
And then we have the action.
THE ACTION.
This show absolutely understood the assignment.
There are some genuinely brutal fights in this.
And because these two are boxers, the physicality of the fights felt especially good.
The punches have weight.
The choreography works.
And there was enough variety that it didn't feel like I was watching the same fight repeated eight times.
I also really enjoyed the older characters, particularly Tae Ho and the people working with him.
The mentor/student dynamic worked really well, and I liked the idea of Geon U and U Jin learning from people who had already spent years navigating this world.
And finally...
NO ROMANCE.
Hyeon Ju gets to be badass.
The boys get to be badass.
Everybody gets to be badass.
Nobody needs to kiss anybody.
Bless.
😭 Things That Hurt My Feelings
The biggest thing that bothered me was Hyeon Ju disappearing.
Because...
WHERE DID SHE GO?!
We spend all this time establishing this badass woman, watching her fight, watching her work toward taking down Myeong Gil, and then she basically disappears.
And I'm sitting there like:
Excuse me?
We are not finished with her.
I wanted more.
I also wouldn't have minded a little more development for some of the supporting characters.
There are a lot of people involved in the story, and some of them obviously get more attention than others.
But honestly, that is a pretty minor complaint.
Because the main story was strong enough that I didn't spend much time thinking about what was missing.
🔥 And Then There Was THIS...
The fact that Geon U and U Jin basically go from:
“Hey, nice fight.”
to
“Let's take down an entire loan shark empire.”
Sir.
How did we get here?
😂
I also loved the way the show slowly expanded the problem.
At first, it's about Geon U's mother and her café.
Then it's about the loan.
Then Smile Capital.
Then Myeong Gil.
Then the people connected to Tae Ho.
And suddenly we're dealing with this much bigger operation.
It never felt like the writers randomly decided:
“You know what this story needs? A bigger villain.”
The escalation actually worked.
And by the time Geon U and U Jin are fully committed to taking Myeong Gil down, you're right there with them.
Because at that point...
Fuck this guy.
Take him down.
🫠 Final Mood
I genuinely loved Bloodhounds.
It came at exactly the right time for me because I was still riding the action-drama high from Weak Hero and High&Low, and this gave me another eight episodes of people solving problems with their fists.
But what surprised me was how much I enjoyed the relationships.
The friendship between Geon U and U Jin was easily one of the strongest parts of the show for me.
It was uncomplicated.
Loyal.
Funny.
And believable.
The story itself was also strong. The plot was coherent, the villain was suitably awful, the action kept things moving, and the characters had enough motivation behind them that the whole thing worked.
The music wasn't quite on the level of some of my other action favorites, but it didn't hurt the show.
And the rewatch value?
Absolutely.
This is one of those shows where now that I know where everything goes, I could easily go back and watch it again.
My only real complaint is that I wanted more Hyeon Ju.
Because she was badass.
And then she disappeared.
Girl.
Started: Finally giving that Bloodhounds show I've been putting off a chance.
Finished: Completely invested in two boxer besties beating the absolute hell out of a loan shark empire and wondering where the hell Hyeon Ju disappeared to.
(⚠️ WARNING: Potential Spoilers — I’m Not Saving You from Emotional Damage)
I loved this.
Like...
I really, really loved this.
I went into Bloodhounds expecting a good action drama.
What I got was a surprisingly emotional story about friendship, loyalty, family, and two absolutely determined idiots who decide they're going to take down a loan shark empire.
And I'm here for it.
The Geon U and U Jin friendship was probably one of my favorite things about this entire show.
You've got Sweet Boy Next Door Boxer meeting Mr. I've-Seen-And-Done-Things Boxer, and somehow they immediately click.
They're completely different personalities, but they work so well together.
And once Geon U's mother's café becomes caught up in Smile Capital's scam, U Jin doesn't hesitate.
He's there.
That's what I loved about their relationship.
It wasn't some complicated friendship where everybody spends eight episodes wondering whether they can trust each other.
They just...
Do.
They trust each other.
They show up for each other.
They fight for each other.
And when things get ugly, neither one of them is walking away.
The story itself was also surprisingly coherent.
The plot made sense.
The motivations made sense.
The villain's operation felt big enough to actually justify the amount of chaos happening around it.
And even though there are definitely moments where you're watching people get punched so hard that their ancestors probably felt it, the overall story still felt grounded enough to work.
That's a difficult balance to pull off.
And Bloodhounds managed it really well.
The action also kept me watching.
There was enough happening that I never found myself thinking, Okay, can we get to the point already?
Nope.
We're moving.
Someone is fighting.
Someone is getting chased.
Someone is planning something.
Someone is about to get punched.
And then someone gets punched.
The pacing worked really well for me.
And then there's Hyeon Ju.
I genuinely expected this show to eventually try to shove her into a romance with one of the guys.
But they didn't.
They let her just be a badass woman with her own motivations and her own story.
And then she basically disappears toward the end.
Which...
Okay.
Girl.
Where did you go?!
💕 Things I Loved
THE FRIENDSHIP.
Seriously.
Geon U and U Jin are fantastic together.
I loved watching their friendship grow from a boxing match into this incredibly loyal partnership.
They don't need some giant emotional speech every five minutes to prove they're friends.
They just show up for each other.
And I love that.
I also loved Geon U himself.
He's such a genuinely good character that watching him get dragged deeper and deeper into this mess actually made me care about what happened to him.
He's not some invincible badass from the beginning.
He's a boxer.
He's talented.
He's strong.
But he's still learning.
And watching him become more capable as everything escalates was really satisfying.
U Jin was also great because he brings a completely different energy to the story.
Where Geon U is quiet and reserved, U Jin is basically running his mouth while everything is on fire.
Perfect.
No notes.
And then we have the action.
THE ACTION.
This show absolutely understood the assignment.
There are some genuinely brutal fights in this.
And because these two are boxers, the physicality of the fights felt especially good.
The punches have weight.
The choreography works.
And there was enough variety that it didn't feel like I was watching the same fight repeated eight times.
I also really enjoyed the older characters, particularly Tae Ho and the people working with him.
The mentor/student dynamic worked really well, and I liked the idea of Geon U and U Jin learning from people who had already spent years navigating this world.
And finally...
NO ROMANCE.
Hyeon Ju gets to be badass.
The boys get to be badass.
Everybody gets to be badass.
Nobody needs to kiss anybody.
Bless.
😭 Things That Hurt My Feelings
The biggest thing that bothered me was Hyeon Ju disappearing.
Because...
WHERE DID SHE GO?!
We spend all this time establishing this badass woman, watching her fight, watching her work toward taking down Myeong Gil, and then she basically disappears.
And I'm sitting there like:
Excuse me?
We are not finished with her.
I wanted more.
I also wouldn't have minded a little more development for some of the supporting characters.
There are a lot of people involved in the story, and some of them obviously get more attention than others.
But honestly, that is a pretty minor complaint.
Because the main story was strong enough that I didn't spend much time thinking about what was missing.
🔥 And Then There Was THIS...
The fact that Geon U and U Jin basically go from:
“Hey, nice fight.”
to
“Let's take down an entire loan shark empire.”
Sir.
How did we get here?
😂
I also loved the way the show slowly expanded the problem.
At first, it's about Geon U's mother and her café.
Then it's about the loan.
Then Smile Capital.
Then Myeong Gil.
Then the people connected to Tae Ho.
And suddenly we're dealing with this much bigger operation.
It never felt like the writers randomly decided:
“You know what this story needs? A bigger villain.”
The escalation actually worked.
And by the time Geon U and U Jin are fully committed to taking Myeong Gil down, you're right there with them.
Because at that point...
Fuck this guy.
Take him down.
🫠 Final Mood
I genuinely loved Bloodhounds.
It came at exactly the right time for me because I was still riding the action-drama high from Weak Hero and High&Low, and this gave me another eight episodes of people solving problems with their fists.
But what surprised me was how much I enjoyed the relationships.
The friendship between Geon U and U Jin was easily one of the strongest parts of the show for me.
It was uncomplicated.
Loyal.
Funny.
And believable.
The story itself was also strong. The plot was coherent, the villain was suitably awful, the action kept things moving, and the characters had enough motivation behind them that the whole thing worked.
The music wasn't quite on the level of some of my other action favorites, but it didn't hurt the show.
And the rewatch value?
Absolutely.
This is one of those shows where now that I know where everything goes, I could easily go back and watch it again.
My only real complaint is that I wanted more Hyeon Ju.
Because she was badass.
And then she disappeared.
Girl.
Started: Finally giving that Bloodhounds show I've been putting off a chance.
Finished: Completely invested in two boxer besties beating the absolute hell out of a loan shark empire and wondering where the hell Hyeon Ju disappeared to.
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