City Hunter (Korean: 시티헌터) is a 2011 South Korean television series based on the Japanese manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo,[1] starring Lee Min-ho, Park Min-young, Lee Joon-hyuk, Kim Sang-joong, Kim Sang-ho, Hwang Sun-hee, Goo Hara, Chun Ho-jin, and Lee Kwang-soo. It premiered on May 25, 2011, on SBS and finished broadcasting on July 28, 2011. This show was successful in Europe and paved way for Lee Min-ho's popularity in Europe.[2]
City Hunter | |
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Genre | Action Thriller Romance |
Based on | City Hunter 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 Kim Sang-joong Hwang Sun-hee Goo Hara Chun Ho-jin |
Music by | Oh Jun-seong |
Opening theme | "It's Alright" by Yang Hwa-jin |
Ending theme | "Suddenly" by Kim bo-kyung |
Country of origin | South Korea |
Original language | Korean |
No. of episodes | 20 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Kim Eui-joon |
Producers | Kim Young-sup Sebastian Dong-hun Lee |
Production locations | South Korea Thailand |
Running time | 70 minutes |
Production company | SSD |
Original release | |
Network | SBS TV |
Release | May 25 July 28, 2011 | –
Korean name | |
Hangul | 시티헌터 |
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Revised Romanization | Siti Heonteo |
McCune–Reischauer | Sit'i Hŏnt'ŏ |
In 1983, the South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan and his delegates are visiting Burma when a bomb planted by North Korean agents 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 a covert operation, codenamed "Operation Cleansweep", to enter North Korea and kill several top members of the North's high command. Lee Jin-pyo (Kim Sang-joong) and Park Moo-yeol (Park Sang-min), two Presidential Security Service bodyguards and best friends who were present at the bombing, organize a 21-man team for the mission. However, as the team wreaks havoc in Pyongyang, the five officials, by a majority decision of 4 to 1, abort the plan to avoid an international crisis if the mission is discovered. Their major concern is that the United States will withdraw its nuclear protection if the mission is made public. In light of Seoul's official declaration, it will not retaliate.
The operation is successful, but as the troops swim out from Nampo to an ROK Navy submarine assigned for their extraction, snipers aboard the submarine open fire on them. An already injured Park sacrifices his life to save Lee. Lee swims back to shore and returns to South Korea, where he finds out that the assault team's service and personal records have been erased.
Promising to avenge his fallen comrades, Jin-pyo kidnaps Mu-yeol's infant son and names him Lee Yoon-sung (Lee Min-ho). He flees to the Golden Triangle to raise the child as his own and trains the boy intensively in combat. Following an attack on a village they live in, Jin-pyo confesses his long-term plan for revenge to a teenaged Yoon-sung.
Seven years later, after successfully finishing his education and attaining a doctorate in the United States at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yoon-sung returns to South Korea to fulfil his adoptive father's plan for revenge. He enters the Blue House as an IT expert under the National Communication Network Team. Jin-pyo warns him not to trust anyone and never fall in love, as doing so will put the people around him in danger.
While working at the Blue House, Lee meets bodyguard Kim Na-na (Park Min-young). Eventually, Na-na participates in his revenge plan, as they discover that they have the same goal in mind. Problems occur as Jin-pyo's revenge plot unfolds, especially when Lee defies his surrogate father on several occasions as they try to identify and kill the officials, known as the "Council of Five".
Each member of the Council has achieved significant wealth and political influence since 1983 and is engaged in various corruption levels. Jin-pyo and Yoon-sung's conflict stems primarily from Jin-pyo's wish to murder each official and Yoon-sung's wish to teach them a lesson and expose their corruption without killing them. As Yoon-sung exposes the officials' corruption, the citizens of Korea sense an unseen force of justice that they dub "City Hunter".
City Hunter OST | |
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Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
Released | 2011 |
Genre | Soundtrack |
Language | |
Label | Sony Music Glory MK Entertainment |
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Sarang "(사랑)"" (Love) | Yim Jae-beom | 4:34 |
2. | "Sarang" (Inst.) | 4:34 | |
Total length: | 8:38 |
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "So Goodbye" | Kim Jonghyun | 4:12 |
2. | "It's Alright" | Yang Hwa-jin | 3:47 |
Total length: | 7:59 |
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
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1. | "Cupid" | Girl's Day | 3:38 |
2. | "Cupid (Acoustic ver.)" | Girl's Day | 3:20 |
3. | "Cupid" (Inst.) | 3:38 | |
Total length: | 10:56 |
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
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1. | "Suddenly" | Kim Bo-kyung | 3:42 |
2. | "Lonely Day" | J Symphony | 3:40 |
Total length: | 7:42 |
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "I Only Look at You" | Gyuri | 4:12 |
2. | "I Only Look at You" (Inst.) | 4:12 | |
Total length: | 8:24 |
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
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1. | "You and I" | Rainbow | 3:35 |
2. | "You and I" (Inst.) | 3:35 | |
Total length: | 7:30 |
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
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1. | "Can't Stop" | Son Han-byeol | 3:32 |
2. | "I Love You, I Want You, I Need You" | Apple Mango | 3:23 |
3. | "I Love You, I Want You, I Need You (Sweet Acoustic ver.)" | Hara | 3:20 |
4. | "I Love You, I Want You, I Need You" (Inst.) | 4:06 | |
Total length: | 14:35 |
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "A Hot Spade" | Oh Joon-sung | 2:04 |
2. | "Aria of the City" | Oh Joon-sung | 2:22 |
3. | "Attention" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:47 |
4. | "Always Here" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:41 |
5. | "Black Warrior" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:52 |
6. | "City Hunter" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:41 |
7. | "Dead or Live" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:44 |
8. | "Deep Inside" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:41 |
9. | "Eagle Eye" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:50 |
10. | "Endless Cry" | Oh Joon-sung | 2:07 |
11. | "Fire Flower" | Oh Joon-sung | 2:08 |
12. | "Gun Fighter" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:35 |
13. | "Glory of the City" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:57 |
14. | "Kwang Hwa Moon" | Oh Joon-sung | 2:46 |
15. | "Lair" | Oh Joon-sung | 2:01 |
16. | "Mama's Cry" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:29 |
17. | "Memories of Love (Acoustic Piano ver.)" | Kim Ji-soo | 2:22 |
18. | "Memories of Love (Acoustic Guitar ver.)" | Park Joo-won | 3:19 |
19. | "Middle point Symphony" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:46 |
20. | "Morning Garden" | Oh Joon-sung | 2:05 |
21. | "Nice Play" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:44 |
22. | "NaNa's Theme" | Oh Joon-sung | 2:21 |
23. | "Puchai Love" | Oh Joon-sung | 2:47 |
24. | "Puchai Waltz" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:59 |
25. | "Red Water" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:43 |
26. | "Sad Run" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:40 |
27. | "The Fire of Love" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:43 |
28. | "Yellow Party" | Oh Joon-sung | 1:55 |
The series has received positive reviews[3] and was also a commercial success selling out advertising space at a high price of ₩420 million ($420,000) per episode.[4] By the end of its run in July 2011, the series had earned ₩10.45 billion ($10.45 million) from television advertising in South Korea.[5]
Lee's role netted him Best Actor at the 4th Korea Drama Awards, as well as an endorser for the Hyundai Veloster in China.[6] He would later be recognized by the Seoul Prosecutor's Office as an "Honorable Prosecutor" in a ceremony on January 4, 2012.[7]
In between December 2011 and January 2012, the Asian-American Donor Program partnered with the Transplant Informers blog to run a special raffle for a full DVD boxed set of the series, as part of an awareness campaign for bone-marrow transplants. The promotion was held to recognize the show's authentic depiction of a bone-marrow transplant (when Yoon-sung had to donate some for his mother).[8]
In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | |||
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Nielsen Korea[9] | TNmS | ||||
Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | Seoul | ||
1 | May 25, 2011 | 10.5% (6th) | 11.0% (7th) | 9.5% (9th) | 11.8% (6th) |
2 | May 26, 2011 | 11.1% (8th) | 12.2% (7th) | 10.0% (9th) | 12.2% (7th) |
3 | June 1, 2011 | 12.3% (5th) | 13.0% (5th) | 11.9% (4th) | 13.6% (5th) |
4 | June 2, 2011 | 12.8% (5th) | 13.3% (5th) | 12.6% (5th) | 15.0% (4th) |
5 | June 8, 2011 | 13.7% (5th) | 14.9% (4th) | 13.0% (4th) | 15.7% (3rd) |
6 | June 9, 2011 | 14.2% (4th) | 14.8% (4th) | 13.2% (4th) | 15.4% (2nd) |
7 | June 15, 2011 | 13.7% (5th) | 14.0% (5th) | 13.6% (3rd) | 16.7% (2nd) |
8 | June 16, 2011 | 13.8% (4th) | 13.8% (5th) | 12.7% (4th) | 14.2% (2nd) |
9 | June 22, 2011 | 13.4% (5th) | 13.4% (6th) | 13.8% (4th) | 15.2% (3rd) |
10 | June 23, 2011 | 14.6% (4th) | 15.4% (5th) | 14.4% (4th) | 16.4% (3rd) |
11 | June 29, 2011 | 18.4% (1st) | 19.4% (1st) | 17.4% (3rd) | 19.5% (1st) |
12 | June 30, 2011 | 18.8% (1st) | 19.1% (1st) | 18.3% (2nd) | 20.5% (1st) |
13 | July 6, 2011 | 18.7% (1st) | 19.8% (2nd) | 18.5% (1st) | 20.5% (1st) |
14 | July 7, 2011 | 19.6% (1st) | 19.8% (1st) | 18.3% (2nd) | 20.6% (1st) |
15 | July 13, 2011 | 19.9% (1st) | 20.5% (1st) | 17.4% (3rd) | 19.6% (1st) |
16 | July 14, 2011 | 19.2% (1st) | 19.8% (1st) | 17.5% (3rd) | 18.8% (1st) |
17 | July 20, 2011 | 18.8% (1st) | 19.7% (1st) | 17.9% (2nd) | 19.6% (1st) |
18 | July 21, 2011 | 19.3% (1st) | 19.3% (1st) | 18.6% (1st) | 20.3% (1st) |
19 | July 27, 2011 | 18.8% (3rd) | 19.0% (3rd) | 17.2% (3rd) | 18.7% (1st) |
20 | July 28, 2011 | 18.0% (1st) | 20.0% (1st) | 19.1% (3rd) | 20.6% (1st) |
Average | 16.0% | 16.6% | 15.2% | 17.2% |
Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | 4th Korea Drama Awards | Best Director | Jin Hyuk | Nominated |
Best Actor | Lee Min-ho | Won | ||
Best Actress | Park Min-young | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Actor | Kim Sang-ho | Nominated | ||
Hallyu Star Award | Lee Min-ho | Won | ||
Best New Actress | Hwang Sun-hee | Nominated | ||
5th Mnet 20's Choice Awards | Hot Male Drama Star | Lee Min-ho | Nominated | |
SBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Drama Special | Won | ||
Excellence Award, Actor in a Drama Special | Lee Joon-hyuk | Nominated | ||
Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special | Park Min-young | Nominated | ||
Special Acting Award, Actor in a Drama Special | Kim Sang-joong | Nominated | ||
Chun Ho-jin | Nominated | |||
New Star Award | Goo Ha-ra | Won | ||
Top 10 Stars | Lee Min-ho | Won | ||
Popularity Award | Won | |||
Park Min-young | Nominated | |||
Best Couple Award | Lee Min-ho & Park Min-young | Nominated | ||
2012 | 48th Baeksang Arts Awards | Popularity Award, Actor (TV) | Lee Min-ho | Nominated |
Popularity Award, Actress (TV) | Park Min-young | Nominated | ||
Goo Ha-ra | Nominated | |||
7th Seoul International Drama Awards | Outstanding Korean Drama | City Hunter | Nominated | |
Outstanding Korean Actor | Lee Min-ho | Nominated | ||
Popularity Award | Nominated |