kdrama: Chuno eps 1-7

[meganbmoore]

Ten years ago, Dae Gil was the sweet, clean shaven son of a nobleman and in love with a slave named Un Nyun. Then his home was attacked and the next day his father, presumably realizing his son was a wee bit too fond of a slave when he ignored everything else to save her, hung her by her arms in a storage shed and had her whipped. Un Nyun’s brother responded by freeing her, burning down the house, and killing everyone but Dae Gil, who mostly just got a lucky break. (As such things go.) Dae Gil then spent ten years obsessively hunting for them and becoming a slave hunter with scruff and scraggly hair, and and has become a cocky angstmuffin. He has also taken to wearing a shirt that looks like he found a giant rag and cut armholes in it. I have realized that the shirt is why I don’t care for the overall look. I want to burn it.

Un Nyun, meanwhile, is no longer a slave and she and her brother have apparently been adopted into a noble family, but she runs away on her wedding day, cutting off ties with her brother. There is extremely unconvincing crossdressing involved. In response, her husband sends a hot female Ming assassin after her, and her brother sends his righthand man. Baek Ho, after her in hopes he’ll find her before assassins. (For someone who seems to have lived an extremely sheltered life, one nasty instance aside, she actually does a pretty decent job with the whole “dangerous road trip” thing, for the most part.) Thankfully, she meets up with Tae Ha, a former general who was made a slave (complete with betrayal, torture, and his faily being killed), but ran away to join what seems to be a brewing rebellion. Tae Ha does grunge much better than Dae Gil (Un Nyun has yet to look anything but pristine, even when wounded, delirious, and half-nekkid on the floor of a cave) and is an overly noble angstmuffin with a White Knight complex, but thankfully not one that says he can’t let people take care of themselves when they’re able to.

Naturally, Dae Gil is chasing Tae Ha for the huge bounty on his head.

More spoilery:

Most of my friends who are watching this seem to be agonizing over rather they want Un Nyun to end up with Tae Ha or Dae Gil. Thankfully, what moderate preferences I have in that regard are neatly split with no character overlap. While Un Nyun and Dae Gil were close to the most adorable teenagers to ever be in class-forbidden love, I’m actually rather concerned by the prospect of a romance between them as adults.

I think the show is pushing “Zomg! Instant and deep connection!” with Tae Ha and Un Nyun a bit much for me, but whatever they’re doing there is working so far for me. Also, I like the devotion and that she’s the standoffish, closed one and that’s where the Not Touching/Forbidden Touching is.

In terms of character dynamics, Dae Gil and Sul Hwa, the young ex-prostitute he lets join his band because she’s running from her ex-masters, is my favorite, whether it turns romantic or ends up more brother/sister. When he’s around her, he goes from cocky angstmuffin (which is not something I’m overly fond of) to gruff and snarky angstmuffin, which I far prefer. And I like the conniving edge to her enthusiasm and hijinks, and that he knows she’s shamelessly takes advantage of his protective instincts, and doesn’t seem to mind, even when it annoys him.

I’m kind of lukewarm to most of the various political plotting so far, but looking forward to the inevitable rebellion. I’m trying to get invested in the slaves, but not caring about most of them (I like the marksman who was a runaway slave in the beginning, and the woman he likes who serves as their lookout, but the others blend together for me) gets in my way.

My favorite characters, BTW, are Sul Hwa, the Ming assassin (Show! Please give her a name!), Tae Ha and Baek Ho. I’m also extremely fond of General Choi, but I suspect I’m influenced by how I keep picturing Abe Hiroshi in the role. I also like Dae Gil, Un Nyun, and the women who run the inn Dae Gil and his men stay at. Basically, most of the major protagonists except for Dae Gil’s younger companion, who annoys me. (I guess he’s the comedy relief character, but most of his comedy comes from “funny” scenes with the married woman in love with him who he doesn’t seem to respect at all, and badgered Sul Hwa for sex, no matter how many times she rejects him.)