Tale of the Nine-Tailed (2020)

A good drama, but only if it's your cup of tea

A lot of people seem to hate this drama, but I'm here to give a very neutral opinion of it. I neither LOVED it, nor HATED it.
I feel like this drama will really appeal to some, and others might not like it at all. It's basically all about your preferences.
What I liked about this drama? The characters from Korean folk tales. As a person interested and fascinated by the Korean culture and folklore, this was a treat for sure! Various mythical characters were lifted right off the folk tales and these stories were spun around to suit the story in a modern setting and incorporated beautifully in the plot. I also loved the cinematography, the food shots, the friendship between the different characters. Loved the relationship dynamics between the side characters, and the relationship shared by them with the main character. And Lee Rang, Sin Ju. That sweet baby. Aah, basically all the characters.
What I wasn't a fan of all that much? I personally felt like the main leads could have made better choices, that could have prevented a lot of trouble from happening, but hey. There will be no drama without that I guess. Also, certain sub-plots were under explained, like what happened to Ji Ah's parents in the end? The mystery of the island was not really fully, properly explained. How did the Imoogi get all those people to come there at the same time?
All in all, an enjoyable watch. I kinda felt like it was a bit draggy in the middle, but episode 15 and 16 were a total rollercoaster. They did end with a bang!
Would recommend watching this drama if you're interested in fantasy and folklore. If you're looking for too much logic and less sap, this is not for you.

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a disappointing ending

I would call the ending trash but that's me being biased because I kinda stop paying attention to the episode after what happened to my favorite character, but to be honest it was overall pretty disappointing. I was hoping for a big final battle with the antagonist and it was meh. They had 16 episodes to build it and it ended in like 5 minutes I think? or at least that's what it felt.
Back to how they wronged my favorite character: why would they give him a family, a will to live, only to snatch it out in a snap??? And maybe I'm just dumb and I should've known with all the years I've been watching kdramas of what to expect about his ending but i did not see that coming AT ALL. I guess it was necessary for the main characters to have their happy ending but still...
I loved the plot, the casting, and the acting but idk I'm still hurt about the ending. It's worth watching it but I don't think I'll rewatch it anytime soon.

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Frustrating because it could have been so much better!

MAJOR SPOILERS THROUGHOUT

I wanted to like this so the fact it fails on so many levels is disappointing. Even Lee Dong Wook - and I count myself as a kind of fangirl a isn’t enough to save this unfortunately.

The main thing I liked was the brother bromance and basically Lee Rang as a character, and acted well and a character with depth and layered. I think the story was compelling enough to want to know what happened next, even if there were plenty of plot holes and unanswered questions, especially those last 30 seconds (like, WTF?!) and there was plenty of action to keep it going up.

My main problem with the whole drama is that’s it’s kind of boring. The hero is played with dash and flair by LDW but why do I care about him? He’s all mysterious and all knowing and powerful but suffers from lots of “telling” but little showing. So we keep being told the heroine is his big love. Why? No idea. They float around in period costumes (stylistically they even manage to make LDW look bad by dressing him in red voluminous robes and bad ombré hair) gazing at each other. But what is so special about her that a mountain god falls for a mortal? We see more of the reasons why but not till much later episodes but all the ones before mean I don’t care. Their romance feels rushed and the emotion forced.

He keeps not telling his people he’s meant to care about things - mainly for plot points not because there seems to be a reason to it - so that he didn’t actually try to kill his brother and he actually does love him. And doesn’t tell heroine about their real backstory until we’ve had some mopey noble idiocy (which he gets over pretty quickly and we don’t know why).
The central couple for me lack chemistry so again I don’t really care if their supposed epic love story ends happily or not. Like, I admit I think we are spoiled by LDW and Yoo In Na levels of chemistry in previous dramas but even setting that aside I’m not feeling this. Not even in the bedroom sexy scenes. Sigh.

The side characters are ok - the second leads are cute and their story is nice but I don’t love them.

The boy and villain isn’t very scary, he just feels stroppy. I found the elders a bit annoying until the end. Kudos for cute puppy boy who is seriously cute.

The whole pacing and tone is kind of weird, it takes a lot to juggle fantasy, drama, emotion, romance, humour and a little bit of horror and I’m afraid the times it transitions between these all are clunky.

The main thing I did like though was that it was quite unpredictable, sometimes (though not - ah it’s just started to rain and there is Lee Yeon with his umbrella after wandering in the wilderness of his unconcious ready for a kiss or oh here’s heroine crossing a road so she’s about to nearly get hit by a truck) - but there are some genuine plot twists, though the later one with the wooden sword was one too many - and it’s mainly this curiously over how it ends and how the my resolve the whole evil serpent thing that keeps me going.

The last 2 episodes did wring it out for me a bit and did make me feel, and I did enjoy them but I could have easily not finished it before to get to that point.

But sorry way too many problems for me and I wouldn’t recommend to others - I know lots of you loved it!!

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Worthwhile but flawed

It seems most reviews for Tale of the Nine Tailed are either praising it as a masterpiece, or saying it was "ruined" by the ending.
The truth is somewhere in between.

What we do get is an overall decent series, with too much dull filler and too many plot holes.

I think the creators were aiming for something along the lines of A Korean Odyssey (blending the Drama, Supernatural, Comedy and Romance) but whereas AKO kept me consistently engaged, I was snoring through far too much of TOTNT.
To me it seems like the concept was greenlit and rush-produced before there was time to flesh out the background fully, and the show unfortunately didn't live up to its potential because of it.

I think, overall, casting was good..
Dong Wook Lee (playing ML Yeon, a Gumiho in humanoid form) is always solid, but the real standout of TOTNT is Bum Kim (Rang, Yeon's half-human brother), who steals every scene he's in.
Some people here didn't really like the casting of Bo Ah Jo (as FL Ji Ah, producer of a Television program on Urban Legends), but I thought she turned in a solid performance - I think the problem here may be that the character of Ji Ah isn't written as particularly likeable, and - as another reviewer pointed out - is a bit of a Mary-Sue.
Jung Nan Kim was great in her commitment to a role that I think was written as too cartoonish.
Special mention to Hee Hwang and Yong Ji Kim, whose characters could have ended up creepy and hateable respectively, if played by somebody else.
The rest of the cast were fine, but not standouts.


The Bad:
-FAR too many boring scenes of Yeon and Ji Ah strolling down the street together, looking into each others eyes etc. It's like they decided a couple of episodes in to turn this Supernatural mystery into a sappy romance?
-FAR too many boring past-life flashback scenes. Most of these were essentially the same as above (sappy romance) and added nothing to the show
-SO. MANY. PLOTHOLES. I won't list spoilers here, but there are so many thanks that, on reflection, don't make any sense.
-There are other parts of the story that don't necessarily not make sense, but should have had some further explanation. (like finding out that Ji Ah's parents traveled to a mysterious island years ago - but no explanation as to why???)
-The creepy, almost Horror-like vibe we open with in the first couple of episodes just disappears - it would have been good if this had continued through the series
-Under-utilisation of the Supernatural/Fantasy elements - we could have seen Yeon and Ji Ah encounter and deal with different different mythological beings through the series, but instead are almost immediately introduced to the big arch-nemesis, and the rest of the series is focused just on him
-Almost all of the Gatekeeper stuff felt cartoonish and ridiculous, and was only saved by Jung Nan Kim's performance

The Good:
-Bum Kim as Rang was just fantastic, I have to say it again
-Shin Joo and Yoo Ri's romance was cute and quirky and good to watch (AS OPPOSED TO THE BORING YEON-JI AH ROMANCE)
-The mysteries the show presents are pretty interesting, even if some of your questions are left unanswered after the series ends
-The action scenes are pretty good, though they wane after the first couple of episodes

Overall:
I think it was worth watching, despite its flaws, if you're into Fantasy/Supernatural-tinged K-Dramas.

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A good story with bad ending

I started watching this drama with no expectations but after a few episodes i really had a good feeling about it, this drama was really something.

The story was interesting and it was exciting to watch. It always happened something in each episode that made you want to watch more of it, until the last few eps where it all went down. The ending really disappointed me, maybe it was because i really liked the two brothers and i wanted to see their relationship develop more.
Some things were too excessive, like Yeons love for Ji Ah. I understand his actions but some of the things he did was too much. He did everything for Ji Ah and I didn't feel like she "returned" his love. The couple lacked chemistry and therefore I was rooting for Yeon's relationship with his brother instead.

The acting in general was good, I love Lee Dong Wook and he was the reason I watched this drama. The only thing I disliked about the cast was Ji Ah because her character was annoying and too much for me.

I dont think it's worth rewatching but if you want to watch a fantasy romance drama with a good story and acting this is definitely worth your time. Even though the ending is bad, the other things make up for it.

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meh

Nice start, caught my attention in the first couple episodes, after a while it got boring though, And as per usual in my case, it was a pain to sit through. The last 2 episodes were good however I felt that a certain section including Lee Rang that came after a major event in the show was a little rushed. And then the very, very ending. It was a nice detail but like explaination please? ( I guess its a little open and up to own interpertation unless i missed sum) Honestly I liked sin jus couple more than the main. Lee rang's development was nice and their brother relationship was nice to watch.

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A good binge-worthy drama

The Tail of the Nine-tailed was a good drama! Nothing special or complex in terms of plot, but good non-the less. The writers seemed to have a well though out plot and they stuck with it (for the most part). Sometimes writers get carried away with the reception of a show or a character and seem to deviate from their original plan, thus ruining the show. This show was going great up to episode 12-13. After that the writers seamed a bit lost and didn’t quite knew how to stick the landing. Especially the last episode felt a bit rushed. I felt like they wanted to surprise the audience who were speculating who was going to die and kind of tried to do it all. I also feel that the writers also did a great job balancing all the genres of the drama (horror, romance, comedy, thriller, action) without one overtaking the other.

In Terms of characters the writers did a good job in developing them.
When it comes to the ML there is nothing really to say. He is not an overly complex or ground-breaking character but Lee Don Wook played him to perfection bringing his charisma and ability to this role making you fall for him! The FL as a character was great. She was smart, mature and acted her age and not as a spoiled irritating child. At first, I wasn’t sure if I liked the actress. She seamed to be missing a spark and seemed kind of lifeless, but then it hit me! She was not under acting she was just acting normal. No over-exaggerated, too cute or animated reactions. Just a normal person acting her age and that made me love her even more. Sometimes characters in Kdramas feel like they came out of an anime, and I like that don’t get me wrong, but it was refreshing to see someone acting normal for a change. The two of leads together had good chemistry and one of the best developed and mature relationships I have seen in a drama.

But when it comes to characters Kim Bum’s Lee Rang stole the show. What a great actor. This is the first time I saw him in a drama and he simply blew me away. He is introduced as the villain and you were supposed to hate him, but something kind of made you like him and root for him and later on you get to see all the layers behind his character. Is he the good guy? No, not by a long shot but you can help but fall for him! Kim Bum really played him to perfection from second 1!

The supporting cast was also brilliant and each one of them had a purpose and a role to help move the story forward!

Oh, and the real villain goes under the category: Bure Evil but Hot as hell :P

All in all, I really have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this drama and it did not disappoint me!

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Good one

You always have to pay close attention to the person who is going wrong. It could be his younger brother. A story with a beautiful ending. No matter how much power you have, in the end you have to win wisely.
You always have to pay close attention to the person who is going wrong. It could be his younger brother. A story with a beautiful ending. No matter how much power you have, in the end you have to win wisely
.You always have to pay close attention to the person who is going wrong. It could be his younger brother. A story with a beautiful ending. No matter how much power you have, in the end you have to win wisely.

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MUST WATCH FOR FANTASY LOVERS | ONE OF A KIND

With high expectations before I started, this did not disappoint. As what Ms. Bo Ah said in an interview there was no dead scene as they unite fantasy, action, and melodrama. And that was true, I was not bored for a second - I even rewind some scenes because it was too much to handle lol.

As for their acting, there was no problem at all. All of them were skillfull!! CG + Acting = it was flawless and superb.

The plot was written and executed well. The pace was good, it was not too rapid nor slow; nor crammed (unlike that fantasy drama).

The flashbacks were not irritating. However, I felt that there were some gaps, they just showed the essential events.

As per the characters they were portrayed sufficiently. I comprehend the point of view of each character understanding why they were able to do such decisions.

The music? Mate, they were not joking. There was this BGM and it will keep playing in your mind! The OSTs will also give you the feels after watching the drama I can assure you!

Personally, this is an incredible, terrific, extraordinary, and remarkable drama for me. This pierced my heart! It is now renting my heart for free.

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I´m in love with a fox

Despite the slow start this drama was an emotional rollercoaster. I cried like five times towards the end and I rarely cry, almost never! Kim Bum is everything you want in a bratty younger sibling/antagonist and Lee Dong Wook and his facial expressions are seriously making me loose my sh*t. How does he do that? That thing with his eyebrows that somehow says more than the script? Nevermind. Great chemistry in most of the relationships, great supporting cast, villain was kinda sleazy but otherwise meh. Well, nobody was rooting for him anyway.
This story made me want to know more about korean folklore and legends, and also to rewatch Goblin, caues LDW is just that good. Also more my age than majority of the main leads in popular dramas nowadays, so theres that :D

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its a good fantasy drama

i was attracted to this drama from the first teaser and i thought this will be like goblin or hotel del luna but it was much darker than my expectation but i didnt mind it...

what i liked
1. lee dong wook- he looked like he was on his way back from a fashion show in every single scene... from his hair to his wardrobe everything was perfect... his character's sassiness and cool quotient were also on point... also he is one of the smartest male leads out there... even if he gets tricked he comes back quickly...
2. kim bum - he was amazing as the spoiled little brother who dont know how to deal with his emotions and instead throws tantrums to get the attention of his brother... in his case throwing tantrums is doing evil things and killing people... he naturally has this mischievous smile that goes well with the character as well...
3. jo bo ah - she was good as both the strong-willed independent jiah as well as the imoogi... i think it would have been better if she got completely possed by imoogi and became the big baddy of the show... she is too good at being evil...
4. all the other characters except imoogi and his assistant...
5. the action scenes and creepy scenes... the drama was good at showing really creepy scenes... i loved the entire island episode as well as the episode rang, yeon and jiah gets trapped inside the dream... the drama should have had more action and creepy scenes... it kind of gave an edge to the drama
6. i liked how they wrapped it up... i knew one of the main characters will die so i wasnt disappointed when he died even though i ugly cried for him...

what i disliked
1. imoogi... i think they should have went for a more evil looking guy as imoogi... taeri is too sofy and boyish-looking to be taken seriously as the big baddy of the show... he looks like a boy infront of lee dong wook... it didnt look like 2 extremely powerful being were fighting with each other... lee yeon always looked way more powerful than imoogi eventhough that wasnt the case... their fight looked intense when boah was possessed by the imoogi... she looked like a worthy opponent to a powerful looking lee yeon...
2. inconsistency in episodes.... usually a drama will start off on a lighter note and then get intensed but this one started off very intense then in middle had some light-hearted fluffy episodes then went too dark and thrilling with the getting trapped in the dream episode then slowed down again but when back to another intense episode and ending it with a cliffhanger before taking a 2 weeks break... its very hard to tell what to expect from this drama and the synopsis of the drama dont even tell 10% of what it actually is... so a lot of people might come expecting something and will get something else... since some episodes are very action packed and thrilling the not so thrilling episodes might come off as boring...
3. should have had more action, thrilling and creepy scenes...

i guess apart from these three points i didnt dislike anything else in the drama...

the background score and music went well with the drama.... it had more korean mythological creatures than i expected... i like dramas with supernatural beings that belong to a particular culture.... overall it was a good drama and i looked forward to watch this every week...

i usually only rewatch light hearted so i might not be rewatching this one...

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It began okay - the CGI was a bit cheesy and the male lead's hair in the historical era looked ridiculously fake, but it was nothing extreme and easy to overlook those small details.

My main problem was the advancement of the love story. Sure, she's his past love reincarcerated, great, but she has no idea about the past, so how did she even fall for him so quickly? Their romance was just far-fetched at best. Even in their past life romantic scenes, there wasn't much depth to their love. When it comes to this point, I would typically stay for the second-lead's stories, but in this drama, the second leads were nothing but filler characters.

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