Anyone who has watched the first season of the Korean drama Bloodhounds, and eagerly awaited season two (like me!), knows that what makes the series stand out as a whole is not just the incredible, amazing fight scenes, but the poignant emotional bonds that develop between the main characters. Season two returns with the promise of being bigger, fiercer, and even more fun than series one, which in terms of fight scenes, especially, delivers even more brilliant workmanship than in its first season!

In addition, making the main villain in season two the always mesmerizing actor / dancer / singer Rain (A Love To Kill, Full House, Red Swan, Ghost Doctor, Sang-doo Let's Go To School, and the fantastic film I'm A Cyborg But That's Okay) brings an even more impressive dimension to the story-line. Rain must have enjoyed immersing himself in this rare villain role, too, because I read an article quoting his actress-wife Kim Tae Hee (Stairway To Heaven, My Princess, Love Story In Harvard, IRIS) in which she stated she had to warn him to shake off his character better at home because it was disturbing her. LOL!

The Transformation Of Rain From A 2003 Drama To A 2026!

Main characters Kim Gun Woo (Woo Do Hwan) and Hong Woo Jin (Lee Sang Yi) return after the dramatic events of the first season to showcase a wonderful bond that is even stronger than two biological brothers facing adversity together. This time, a new, bigger enemy appears in Rain's evil character, and the duo faces heavier pressure than ever to survive the violent machinations of a criminal boxing gang they inadvertently become entangled with.

This changes the main scenes away from the first season's tamer actions and adds greater scale to the series, to enter into an even wider and bigger cinematic scope of Good vs. Evil. When it comes to what Bloodhounds has done best since the first season, well, it's more than just "punching communications": season 2 doesn't go backwards in this sense at all. The hand-to-hand martial arts combat scenes are carefully designed, both impressively fierce and daring, giving them a sense of pain and personality that is often lacking in more traditional cops-with-guns story-lines.

I never thought I would cry watching a traditional boxing-theme series, but I certainly teared up frequently watching this series! Our two main male friends also had to protect their caring mother figure, played to perfection by veteran actress Yun Yoo Sun (Spring Waltz), who was threatened multiple times by Rain's character's illegal boxing gang. So often in Korean dramas mother characters are displayed as manipulative and secretive, but here she was written as sweet and docile and moral. I loved it.

I also loved seeing some beloved popular Korean actors appear in guest appearance roles in the second season, such as Choi Siwon (She Was Pretty), Jo Hyun Jae (49 Days), Lee Si Un (Shark), Ryu Soo Young (Rebirth: Next) and Park Seo Jun (Itaewon Class). Plus the comedic scenes and lighthearted atmosphere inserted in the midst of all the intensity helps keep series two from being too heavy, and retains a lot of the style that made the first season win viewers' hearts.

The Story:

Kim Gun Woo (Woo Do Hwan) and Hong Woo Jin (Lee Sang Yi) return as deeply close friends working hard to promote their legal boxing circuit business. They had previously battled and won against a tribe of loan sharks and that had caused them to become as committed to one another as two loving biological brothers would have been. They live together in a nice apartment with their Mother figure Yoon So Yeon (Yun Yoo Sun) who cooks and cleans for them, and they try to live as normal lives as possible, including staying close to their disabled female friend in a wheelchair named Kang Tae Yeong (Park Ye Ni) who is a computer expert experienced in AI and searching / accessing the dark web.

Gun Woo is the most popular prize fighter in their circuit and will take on even foreign boxers as well, such as one from the nation of Uzbekistan named Adik Belov (Azizbek Norov, good performance), to help give them a chance to make a bigger name for themselves internationally in the boxing world. There is never a dull moment ... or a dull fight in their lives. Our two male friends frequently discuss fighting strategies together and train their bodies individually and together before confronting their boxing opponents in the ring. Woo Jin is always excellent support for Gun Woo (and vice-versa), and they also wisely hire a clever, strong manager for their business named Hong Min Beom (Choi Siwon -- I always break into a wide grin whenever he shows up in a drama!).

Then one day after an extra-special impressive boxing match, in which Gun Woo came from behind to win, there was a secretive man wearing a hoodie in the audience, and he seems far more than just an ordinary boxing fan. He is ultimately revealed to be Im Baek Jung (Rain) a shady boxer with his own nefarious illegal boxing business, and he decides he wants to personally take on Gun Woo in the ring, either using his own fighters or even going against him in the ring personally, to prove that he is the better boxing champion.

 

When he and his henchmen confront Gun Woo and Woo Jin "requesting" that they join forces, and put on fights together, something about his pushy attitude raises suspicions in our two friends' minds. They confirm Baek Jung's dark fighting circuit background by using their wheelchair-bound female friend Tae Yeong to do a deep computer search on him. Then they are convinced they should have nothing to do with this strange boxer character Baek Jung at all and they turn him down.

This decision not to join forces with him infuriates Baek Jung, and his henchmen break into their apartment and try to kidnap their mother; a huge battle between Gun Woo / Woo Jin and Baek Jung's gangster forces takes place, and even the police become involved after their apartment is ripped apart by the thugs. They ultimately get much beneficial help from the chief of a secret police unit named Myeong Hwan (Jo Hyun Jae -- though he'll always be "Kang" from 49 Days to me!). :)

Female friend Tae Yeong allows the family to move in with her so they can have a new, safe place to live. However, they do not want to give their underground opponent Baek Jung another chance to destroy their lives, or attack their Mom figure or Tae Yeong, so they decide to do anything they can to wipe him and his thugs out permanently. Even if that results in an ultimate battle in the ring -- or off! -- between both of them and the evil Baek Jung.

What will the end result be? We see the formidable fighting skills of Baek Jung through flashbacks and present day circumstances repeatedly, and we wonder if it is even possible for either Gun Woo or Woo Jin to take him on in the ring and succeed. The journey of their ultimate battles, in the ring and off, is hypnotic and intriguing to watch on screen. I think the cinematographers of season two of Bloodhounds should win special awards for their brilliant work. Many times I gasped out loud at how amazing their camera work was in this series. I often felt like I was right in the boxing ring with them!

You can watch both Bloodhounds seasons on Netflix. Bloodhounds 2 does not have a separate search engine result on Netflix when you use it; you have to scroll down on the original season of Bloodhounds from 2023 in order to see and click on the text link to take you to the Bloodhounds 2 episodes. Just be aware of that going in so you know how to find it.

I hope you enjoy season two as much as I did. The acting and the fighting in this series is totally amazing and worth the watch. Have fun!

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