Chuno /The Slave Hunters

Chuno, also known as The Slave Hunters, is a historical drama series and was released in 2010. If you like dramas with a lot of action. This is the right drama for you. Plus there are quite a lot of brolic guys and a lot of fighting scenes and a love triangle. It was a bit frustrating at the beginning because the main lead, Dae Gil, was so close to finding the girl but couldn't. But this was actually a pretty good, action packed drama. It messed with my feelings so much towards the end because the guy that I was rooting for didn't end up with the girl. So, that basically messed with my feelings toward the end.

Episodes: 24

Synopsis:

This takes place during the Joseon dynasty. Before we start off with the story, it focuses on our main character Lee Dae Gil. Lee Dae Gil was a nobleman and he fell in love with a slave girl that worked for his family. He didn't care too much about her status and they had a lot of cute scenes together. The slave is called Un Nyun and is very beautiful. But they could not be together due to the differences in status and always had to keep their relationship hidden from Dae Gil's father. However, when Dae Gil's father found out about their relationship, he immediately put Un Nyun in restraints. In a desperate attempt to save Un Nyun, her brother burned down the house and ran off with Un Nyun. It was that night that Dae Gil's life changed. He had lost his parents, his home, his status, the woman he loved, and even received a scar on his face. 

       Un Nyun lived her life believing that Dae Gil had  passed away while Dae Gil spent ten years trying to look for Un Nyun. Dae Gil also changed from the kind, young master to a slave hunter. He wanted to take revenge for his parents and was known for his skill and ruthlessness as a slave hunter. He works with his two companions General Choi and Wang Son as they hunt for runaway slaves. General Choi is the serious type while Wang Son is the flirtatious and crazy kind. Dae Gil seems fierce as he captures all the runaway slaves but immediately says that he will let them go if they had seen the woman on the drawing. That woman on the drawing was clearly Un Nyun and it shows that throughout these years, his main goal was trying to find his love, Un Nyun. However, none of them knew the girl on the drawing and so the slave hunters brought them to the capital to turn over to an official for reward money. 

         Dae Gil appears to be ruthless and barbaric. However, it is soon revealed that he's still that kind master inside. He finds out that the mother and daughter that he had brought over to the capital were going to suffer a huge injustice. The poor girl was going to have to be made her master's bedmate. With that, Dae Gil breaks into the man's home and rescues the girl and her mother. He tells them to go to a certain mountain and you soon find out, as the story progresses, that he had been sending over a lot of slaves to a refuge on that mountain. Though he saved the mother and daughter, he did not save all the slaves that he had captured as he still needs to maintain his image as a slave hunter.         

            The next assignment for our boys is to capture a runaway slave named Song Tae Ha. Song Tae Ha ends up playing a huge role in this drama. Song Tae Ha is a skilled fighter and was a general in the military before. But then he was framed for theft and then made a slave. Tae Ha continued live thinking that he was a noble despite that he is already recognized as a slave. He hides the tattoo on his forehead, labeling him as a slave, with a bandana. Song Tae Ha is actually very different compared to Dae Gil in terms of the way they view things and what they think of society. 

As for Un Nyun, she had changed her name to Kim Hye Won. Her brother had managed to buy their way out of slavery and she was supposed to marry a noble but ran away from her marriage because she couldn't forget Dae Gil. On her own, she runs into problems and is saved by Song Tae Ha. Song Tae Ha offers her protection for as long as they are travelling the same direction. However, Song Tae Ha falls in love with her throughout the journey. Dae Gil, on the run after Song Tae Ha with his companions, believed that the woman with Song Tae Ha was his lost love. But his companions said he was probably imagining things like he always does.
        Though Un Nyun still thought and loved Dae Gil, she had believed that he had died. She gets married to Song Tae Ha and Dae Gil sees their marriage ceremony. This bring complications. First of all, the woman he loved so dearly was getting married to someone else. Second, that someone else was Song Tae Ha...and his mission was to capture and enslave Song Tae Ha. And if Dae Gil decides to let Song Tae Ha go for the sake of Un Nyun, he can expect his own death in failing to capture Song Tae Ha. He tells his companions that he's done with slave hunting and wants to enjoy life in the countryside. By doing this, it means he's in danger of getting killed by the minister who paid him to capture Song Tae Ha. Un Nyun sees him later on and is thankful that he is still alive even though they are now meeting as enemies instead of lovers being reunited. However, though Dae Gil spent ten years looking for her and staying faithful to their relationship, he could not bring himself to reveal the truth as Un Nyun was already married. He said everything that was opposite to how he felt. He spoke to her as a master would to their slave.
      Now as I mentioned earlier, though Song Tae Ha is now a slave, he still has the mindset of being a noble. He still thinks he is of a higher ranking and he feels that the class system is supposed to be the way it is. He did not know that his wife was once a slave. She has a burn mark on her chest from getting rid of the tattoo. He believed that she was a noble all her life and that that her name was Hye Won. But now he knows that there is more to her story than that. The story continues as they are currently protecting the young prince from danger. Hwang Chulwong continues to follow their tale, torture them, and also attempted to kill Dae Gil's comrades. Chulwong does not understand why Dae Gil will try to protect Song Tae Ha but Dae Gil continues to hold his place. However after listening to Dae Gil, he realized what a horrible person he was and regretted the way he treated his wife and the way he acted. Towards the end, as they fight, Dae Gil allows Song Tae Ha and Un Nyun to escape first. He keeps his place and continued to fight numerous soldiers and resulting in his own downfall. Towards the end, he wishes Un Nyun a happy life with Song Tae Ha and calls her his beloved.

This drama doesn't just revolve around their love triangle and the troubles they faced. It also revolved around a group of slaves that are plotting rebellion. They begin assassinating selected nobles chosen by their mysterious. They gained more weapons which helped. It showed what it is like for slaves who are treated so cruelly. This subplot was also extremely fascinating to watch alongside with our main story with Un Nyun, Dae Gil, and Tae Ha.