Historical love story
Personally, I do not follow the historical drama much, unless the story is worth following, but this drama really attracted me in an unusual way, as from the first episode you will feel that the drama is beautiful and it is so beautiful that this drama was not placed in the center of events, but rather it gave unexpected solutions with special events. .The Tale of Nokdu was a wonderful historical. It sets up a great story early on that blossoms into an intense drama. The pacing was great throughout with humor to make me laugh, and then it upped the stakes with some serious plot developments surrounding Nok Du as well as his relationship with Dong Joo.
I enjoyed the story, the romance, the action, and the intrigue. All of these elements blended together nicely to make for an entertaining watch all the way through. My heart was left feeling so full!♡
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This review may contain spoilers
Intensely progressive and hilarious
Honestly, the gender bending gave me life. Nok Du was stunning as Widow Kim & Dong Joo was stunning as an assassin dude. There were an insane amount of cunning, intelligent, physically powerful women in this show, and they didnt treat the bigger women as incapable, slobby, and unloveable (which is SO typical in all media). Dont even get me started on the Master and his kid - Aeng Doo made me laugh my ass off with her little quips and big appetite. Loved Nok Du's brother & father - offering such important perspectives at crucial pivot points in Nok Du's development. And the villains, of course... Dong Joo coming in at the end to tell the nephew that she simply will never love him because putting in effort wouldnt be good enough? The King telling the nephew he will be lonely forever (when the nephew literally lost everyone and everything he cared about JUST to have that throne)??? I mean. WOW. & One of the first hetero OTPs I actually was invested in. I could go on and on about this I adored it so much! ?Was this review helpful to you?
Frankly, I thought the political drama aspect was sloppy, convenient when it needed to be, and difficult to engage with. It was a rollercoaster of uninteresting, then suddenly a little intriguing, but then ridiculous again. Instead, I enjoyed this drama solely as a comedy, and that was what kept me loving it through and through. The comedic elements were well done and shown through even some of its serious scenes. If anyone is losing interest, I would suggest trying to just accept it as the comedy that it is and hopefully you'll be able to enjoy it a whole lot more.
Needless to say, the acting is amazing. The actors suit their characters so well. I'm not crazy about the chemistry—or, dare I say it, lack thereof—but I think the actors embody their characters so well that I loved seeing them brought to life. I absolutely adore the main characters' relationship together, and you can actually see how they fall in love with each other instead of a sudden unexplained spark that you, as the viewer, just have to accept as true love.
All in all, a really lovely comedy. It was the drama I was most looking forward to watch every week from the few I was viewing at the same time. I HAD TO WATCH IT EVEN WHILE I WAS STUDYING, OKAY? I was pretty hooked. It might not seem like something you'd be interested in at first, but if you give a few episodes a chance and enjoy it for the comedy, I think you will find yourself falling in love with it too. It is an underrated and unexpected gem!
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A melting pot of fun, romance, friendship, drama, crazy bad guys and the cutest male lead ever.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Tale of Nokdu. It was an excellent drama which takes you on a journey showing Nokdu's quest for the truth about the dangers his family faces. It has comedy, romance, melodrama, political scheming, action, family and friendship all mixed together.Nokdu, played by Jang Dong Yoon, is a charming protagonist throughout the series. JDY's marvellous performance deserves all the praise. When cross-dressing as Lady Kim, he was funny without being disrespectful. Lady Kim was resourceful and strong, not based on a display of weakness. Nokdu himself remains ever manly and powerful and possesses all the masculine qualities from a leading man like his willingness and ability to protect people he loves, effortless leadership qualities and distinctive traits that let him rise through the ranks. Eventually, all of his decisions and actions seem to be the most sensible ones. The hero is smart and decisive as we would like him to be, picking what's good for himself and those around him. I think he is one of my favourite protagonists in a kdrama ever. A+ for Nokdu and JDY.
Crossdressing is used as a tool for Nokdu to live in a village full of women. There are no attempts at making fun of using feminine stereotypes as comic relief. It only comes into use halfway before the story moves to another setting and Nokdu is outed as a man. No matter how pretty he was, I didn't find Nokdu believable as a woman because he is effin ripped and such a manly man, there is just no hiding it. But I happily put my brain away to enjoy the hilarity.
What I absolutely loved was the people around Nokdu, how their relationships played out and what a fun time they had. The women in this show are diverse and powerful- the widows, the kisaengs and those working for an organisation of assassins working towards a better future.
The romance is well-paced and forms an important part of the show but is not the prime focus. The build-up was cute and well-paced, considering that both of them were on a difficult path of their own. I liked how the leads handled their relationship, no noble idiocy here. They have a clear understanding that both of them want to spend their lives together, and either of them alone is not a good idea. I feel like the FL wasn't given a significant role in the drama, which is fine, its called The Tale of Nokdu after all. Kim So Hyun is ever talented and I was happy to root for her as Dong Joo.
I need to talk about the two wonderful villains in this show. A Mad King (played by Jung Joon Ho) and the ruthless Prince (played by Kang Tae Ho). These two were so good! I loved the characters themselves as villains and the two actors were just phenomenal. I hope to see them again in other dramas cause they were just so amazing. Also, why are the bad guys so hot omg.
(Spoiler)
Ending: Its a happy and satisfying ending, thank you writer-nim!
(End spoiler)
Overall, I highly recommend this show if you want to watch something with a little bit of everything well mashed together.
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Incredible!
The Tale of Nokdu was amazing, it has everything: hilarious scenarios, complex baddies, good side characters, no draggy filler episodes, lots of fluff as well as intense emotional scenes. There’s great chemistry and tension between the couple; ML is one of my favorite leads ever, sweet and earnest but also sexy and strong with generous eye candy moments, and FL is serious and tough but likable. If you don’t enjoy gritty sageuks, give this a try; and if you do enjoy those like I do, there are still plenty of risks, mysteries, and twists.Was this review helpful to you?
A Good Introduction to Historical Dramas!
As you can see from the title, this was my first historical drama ever and I loved it. Therefore, I think it's a very good introduction to historical dramas and totally worth the watch :)Story: This drama started off as light and funny and I think it continued that way till the second half of it. I enjoyed the cross-dressing plot a lot and it was just super entertaining to watch. I have to say that the whole vibe of the drama has suddenly changed in the second half of it. It became more intense, dark and there wasn't as much comedy. However, it was still super nice to watch, and eventually, I couldn't stop watching it.
Cast/Characters: The cast was excellent and so was the acting! The actors and actresses did their job perfectly :) The FL Dong-Ju and the ML Nok-du were absolutely perfect together and had great chemistry. I've known the actress Kim So Hyun from Love Alarm so I guess that was also a reason why I was curious to see The Tale of Nokdu.
Music: I loved the OST in this drama! They were beautiful and for each scene, you had a perfectly fitting soundtrack! The producers did an amazing job!
All in all, I can totally recommend this drama! It's super enjoyable to watch and you also get amazing, beautiful scenery, lots of fight scenes, lots of action and a sweet romance. The drama will make you laugh, cry and feel all types of emotions basically XD It's totally worth your time, and as I said, it's a really nice introduction to historicals. :)
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One of my favorites
This drama has quickly become one of my favorites. I never wrote a review before for any drama that I watched, but I felt compelled to give The Tale of Nokdu a review for how outstanding I thought it was.First, and most importantly, the show was well cast. I had seen dramas with the leads So Hyun and Dong Yoon before and I loved them in those dramas, but this one really shows how great their acting is. The great plot really highlighted their potential and gave them room to broadcast their range. The tone shifted from comedic to tragic to romantic on a dime and it was so well done and felt so natural. And SHK and DYJ have great chemistry (and the bts footage is adorable as well) and I hope to see them together in another drama soon. The supporting characters were also superb and they didn't feel like scene fillers that were just there to drag out the time. They had purpose and engaging stories. Some people might disagree with me, but I thought little Aeng Do was a scene stealer. I was also very invested in Dan Oh and Yool Mu and I hope to see the actors thrive because they did a wonderful job.
I loved how the story didn't lag, there was always something to build up the plot and every scene had a purpose, even if it was just a little romantic moment to show the chemistry and why the main leads should end up together, or a political scene that showed what the underlying tension between characters suggested. A lot of dramas struggle to keep the momentum of the plot going but The Tale of Nokdu didn't. It was engaging from start to finish.
This show has gone to my list of shows that I could watch many times without getting bored of it. I highly recommend it.
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Atmospheric Excellence
This drama pretty much knocked everything out the park. The OST and BGMs were fantastic setting the atmosphere right everytime, the acting was great - the suttle attempts at humor were actually funny. And in comparison to most dramas in this genre there was no use of fictional/fantasy based creatures/ powers (gumiho,demons etc).The story structure was wonderful you'll grow to love the characters and hurt, when they hurt. The emotion displayed in acting was fantastic. Would highly recommend if you are into this genre.
However, just stay unbiased i would like to add this drama is historically inaccurate - and one of the characters (dong joo) had a fringe in the joseon era which is a bit strange but fitted into the plot etc
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This review may contain spoilers
I know it's too early to write a review since I've only seen the lastest 8 episodes but judging from these episodes, this drama is a must watch!!! You won't regret it.Beautiful actors ✓
Beautiful Historical costumes ✓
Great comedy ✓
Ehemmmn muscles + abs ✓
Drama ✓
If your a Kim Fan✓
This is the type of drama you will enjoy watching with the family. Plus I can't stop gushing over how gorgeous Nokdu is! She looks so good! As a woman, she's so pretty I feel jealous of her ????????
The long haired Jang Dong Yoon will be forever embedded in my memory. So add this to your list guys! And enjoy laughing and fantasizing over it
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Must watch
The story is well written and executed, the hero who wants to live and protect his dear ones, the female lead who want to kill the king, the SML who wants to be king and marry FL by all means, king who wants to be king and protect his seat. This all begins when a shamen predicts that on a particular day the king will be overthrown by a boy who is born on a particular day. Unfortunately, the queen gives birth to prince on the same day that the shamen told.. to protect his throne he orders to kill his own child!! Then the cycle of hunting the boy begins.**SPOILER**
The SML is also born in the same day as the ML and he overthrows the king.
Lastly its a happy ending, SML lets go of FL so that she can be with ML and overall its happy ending.
Not to mention there are hilarious moments which are to watch, the first half is comedy and it gradually moves to serious plot where king gets to know that his son is alive and so on .
If you start watching this show u will watch till the end.
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Don't miss it !
Who said sagueks can’t be fun to watch? If you leave out the royals and their various conspiracies to sit on the throne, there must be still somewhere a story worthwhile to tell, set away from the palaces and closer to the common folk. Tale of Nokdu does have its fair share of royals, albeit far far fewer from the other shows, (where we are presented to the king’s numerous wives and offsprings), but all that surprisingly takes a backseat to a jovial screwball comedy for its first half. Nokdu, our titular character (an endearing Jang Dong Yoon) finds himself at a widow’s village after he follows the assassin that attacked his family back at his island hometown.To find out anything further, he has no option but to dress up as a widow and enter the village. In an era where gender duties and definitions were clear cut and specific, it thereby becomes instantly hilarious to watch Nokdu wiggle in and out of embarrassing situations. The show takes its leisure time (here) to let us and Nokdu bask in the absurdity of the situation, as he tries to escape from bathing together with the other widows, or trying to hide his ripped muscles and the very clear absence of breasts, or just trying to carry out a proper conversation with the other women.
He quickly realises that just putting on a dress, and changing one’s voice doesn’t make one a woman, and while he might be stronger to help out with chores that require physical labour, Nokdu is subsequently also exposed to the hardships faced by these widows after their husbands passed away, all of which led to the creation of the widows village in the first place.
Parallelly with all this, runs the story of King Gwanghae (Jung Joon Ho), whom we are exposed to through some bits and pieces in the first half, but as the show approaches the midpoint, and Nokdu finds himself embroiled in something larger than he anticipated to be, the show smoothly transforms into a political drama. With a tight screenplay, well adapted to the shorter, half an hour runtime, and some effective plot twists, the drama remains just as engaging.
To be truthful, Tale of Nokdu isn’t even much of a political drama as it is a family one. The whole plot is the result of the decisions that King Gwanghae makes as a newly crowned king and father. A family living in exile, a son in search of his biological father, and henceforth, his identity, a daughter living every day in anguish, planning to exact revenge on the man who killed her entire family — all characters suffer because of one man’s fear of a future predicted by a shaman.
Just like in the Grand Prince, the show explores the moral dilemmas of the Royals in respect to usurping the throne, except here that decision has already been taken, and the consequences suffered. Nevertheless, we are constantly (in the second half) exposed to the King’s various emotions, as we watch him turn into an enraged fool, clinging onto every thread of power left and a lonely man, whom everyone has turned their back on. In the end, it is sadly the fool that wins.
The king’s excessive stubbornness is exemplified by Nokdu’s big-heartedness, especially in how he, even after finding out his origins, never once abandons (or thinks of abandoning) his adoptive family. There are moments where he hopes to be accepted by his newfound family, and is even ready, to forgive them for their actions, but once it is made clear that there is no place for him, he immediately closes the lid on that tiny glimmer of hope.
Kim So Hyun is marvelous as Dong Joo. Her character was quite interesting, one that is at constant crossroads of what she is expecting from herself. I particularly liked how she is allowed to operate and execute her plans all by herself, her narrative never once intertwining with Nokdu’s narrative. It was something that she had to do on her own, and though it is an easy guess on what her plans are and the reason behind them, I still teared up when she finally reveals them to Nokdu.
Special shoutout to child actress Park Da Yeon. She was absolutely hilarious as Aeng Du!
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This drama is very well written and tight. There's appropriate amount of cuteness and enough background on the supporting characters to not be annoying and draggy. The usage of flashbacks are well executed and the ending was wrapped up nicely.
Acting/Cast
When the chemistry of the actors come through to the audience, it shows how great an actors' capabilities are for the audience to be able to see and feel what they are projecting and how they tell a story. I believed the characters' feelings for each other, the pain they experience, joy, annoyance etc. I only watched this because of Kim So Hyun but noticed Jang Dong Yoon instead. Another actor I've added into my "to watch out for" list.
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