Unexploited potential...

Tale of the Nine Tailed was promising in the first episodes, but what happened ??

The major failure is the character development. None of them evolve, except Lee Rang who's the only one who profoundly questions himself. The Gatekeeper evolves a little bit as well, opening her heart, but she is rather insignificant and despite her status and supposed strength she barely does nothing. Nam Ji Ah has the worst development as she becomes more and more helpless as the plot goes.

I liked the couple chemistry between LY and NJA, but as soon as they unveil their feelings towards one another it gets a bit too cheesy. Actually, the romance takes too much place within the plot. There are a lot of elements that are forgotten of abandoned and it spoils the chain of events in aid of the love story. Who were the foxes at the beginning ? Did LY knew for Imugi's resurrection then , and so why did he not kill the perpetrator ?
What about the parents, what is NJA's goal when there are brought back ? Maybe the plot meant to make her switch from finding her parents to protect her lover, but it doesn't work. She is happy and forgets them after a plain encounter. Had they been dead it would have been better. Had she discovered thay they were actually dead 20y ago, she could have learned to move forward and then turn to devote her life to LY.

As for Imugi, he is too manichean. He has no real motivation. He is just born evil, and that's all. At some point he alludes to a vengeance to the God of the Mountain, but it is a mere allusion and he does not even seem to have pleasure doing that. For a moment he wants NJA as his wife ( wtf she has no strength ), and I thought then that it was because she had a part of Imugi, but he still tried to kill her while killing her meant his own death... simply illogical.

Besides, there could have been further development of the identity crisis of NJA. She just has one line when they first kiss with LY, asking if he likes her or her past life self. And then ?? Nothing. It's ambiguous, and we don't know who LY really does love. He says later that he waited 600 years for her ( ep 16 ) but before he claimed loving Ji Ah and not Ah Eum anymore ... it just does not make sense. NJA seems fine with that and her identity seems mixed with Ah Eum's from the moment she discovered her life through the glasses. Why didn't we have a further identity crisis ? It would have questioned their love, and most importantly their fate as it is a theme that was preponderant throughout the drama ( especially with the Gatekeeper who wanted to keep their destiny as it should be. )

And let's talk about the ending. What was that seriously ? The dramatic ending of LY's death to save his lover was good enough to forget the other incoherences. His farewells are poignant and forecasts the tragedy. He fought his destiny, died saving his lady... why making him come again ?? All the more so as he is not even just resurrected, but is just the same man ? Why making LR die this way when he eventually made peace with himself and found a family ? Besides LR is the one who actually kills LY and Imugi, meaning that his ending was not that happy as he would carry the burden of having sacrificed LY at his demand. Why making HIM resurrecting his brother ?? He was at the end of his lifespan anyway, his disappearance is useless.

The rest of the ending is a mess as well, and suggests a sequel, or a second season, which would just be useless. A new enemy ? for what ? Aren't they a happy couple now ? There is nothing more to add.

Overall the drama is good, because of the rhythm and the action ; and the visuals are a pleasure to the eyes. It is a mostly a love story while it is expected to be an action/ horror/ fantasy series as well. It could have been way better, and that's disappointing.

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Overrated and most of all, a failed ending.

I watched it because it had so much good ratings. What a disappointment.
The story begins with a plot that is classical and plain. There is the overused trope of fate and as soon as Eun Tak meets the Goblin the love story is forebode. But that's okay, it's well done and their firts encounters with both of them searching any interest in a potential relation is interesting ( she wants to use him to escape her life while he wants to use her to die ).

However, it does not get better.
The rythm is too slow, and the side love story between the Gream Reaper and the shop owner is boring and useless.

Even the bromance is not that good. The transition between being ennemies to friends is not smooth.

The whole stuff of reincarnations is so bad as well. Kim shin is shown as a bright man ( he won a lot of battles because of physical strengh but also by strategical means ) yet he does not make the difference between his sister and her new life ??
Furthermore at the end every reincarnated people have the same face as their previous life body, yet it had been specified that people randomly reincarnate into different bodies and having the same is rare.
The backstory of the medieval plot is thin as well and the characters are not fully developped.

The final fight with the main ennemy is failed as it is teased for some episodes ( and visually he is scary and charismatic, his dark tongue gives goosebumps ). But why is he killed with almost no fight ?? Kim Shin awaited more than 1000 years for 30min of dodging ??

And the 3 last episodes, a disaster.
Kim shin finally dying wassad but actually it was a logical ending : he was released from his suffering and allowed to live happily by embracing love at the very end of his existance. Eun Tak would cherish her memories of him and mourn him knowing that he left peacefully.
Making her die at his place is such a nonsense. First she embodied the future as the younger character. Second, it means that Kim Shin will never die, and that it was a punishment of god ( rather than a way to relieve him from his pains ). Not only did he suffer for years because of the betrayal of the King, but now he has to eternally suffer from the lost of his wife. What is the moral of that ? "No matter what you do to repent you will suffer ?" It does not make sense since we know that the sinner is the Grim Reaper and not Kim Shin.

On the whole it is not the worse drama ever, but it lacks in many points. It is still fully watchable, the characters are attaching, and the fate of the Goblin is touching : we want to know how he will find some happiness.

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Could have been wonderful, ends up just fine.

A nice series until episode 15.
The plot is classical, with two characters fated to one-another by their encounter as young kids, but it's entertaining enough to keep watching. The costumes and settings are a pleasure to the eyes, the music is nice and the acting is great.

However, it feels like only the existential crisis of the crown prince is what makes the plot worth it.
The amnesia of the crown prince has him to mull things over what's happening to him, which makes his character development very deep and interesting.

The underlying theme of the clash between the social classes is would have been very relevant but not that much exploited. The crown prince only mentions it slightly when he has regained his memory back and misses his life as a peasant ( once while he sees the amount of food he is served, and once when he says he still is Won Deuk )

Hong shim is probably the worst character. She stands as a strong and independent woman, yet does nothing apart from yelling at poor Won Deuk. The more the story goes, the more useless she becomes.

No need to add that relationship between her and the crown prince is dull, and their falling in love is unfounded. The story tries to make us think that they went beyond fate ( the proposal as children ) and fell in love for who they truly are, but they actually have no other reason than that for loving one another. Won Deuk proves that he actually is not useless, can read, is smart and quick-witted, but she does not show anything worth being loved.

As for the side characters, they are useless and annoying. While their jokes are probably made to lighten the atmosphere, it is never relevant nor appropriate to the situation.

There are also a lot paradoxical elements in the plot itself.

At the beginning, Hong Shim agrees with her father that they should lie to the amnesic crown prince, making him think that he actually is Won Deuk. However the next episode, she acts as if she was duped by her father that he is that Won Deuk ( and a few episodes later yells at him for manipulating the poor young man )

We can also quote the problem with the man who is appointed magistrate in the village, as he has this condition making him unable to recognize faces, yet still recognizes her even if she is dressed as a peasant, but does not recognize the voice or the attitude of the crown prince.

And those are only a few points why the plot seems rushed and focused on the love story, which could have been put aside for more coherence. The plot is full of such incoherence .

That being said, the series was still enjoyable mainly thanks to the character of the crown prince... until the point of no return, which takes place at the episode 15. Every character meets when they couldn't or shouldn't, the brother's death is too quick and not at the right time, everything seems rushed to end the series as soon as possible and untangle the sub plots.
On the whole, when an interesting theme pops up, never is it taken account for the sake of the love stories... that are not that passionate in the end.

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