Sherayith
California
This review may contain spoilers
Not bad, but not that great either
I started Tale of the Nine-Tailed thinking I'd like it a lot because from what I'd seen, it looked like a mashup of Goblin and Legend of the Blue Sea, which are two of my favorite dramas. Sadly, TotNT is just a kinda average drama with some frustrating plot holes, and suffers from the "tell, not show" syndrome. The drama told us too much and didn't show us enough.
The Good:
1) Kim Bum as Lee Rang. I loved this bad boy. He was honestly the best character. He had his priorities straight. Too bad he died to save his love-struck and love-blinded brother. He deserved better.
2) Yu Ri and Shin Ju. They were the cutest couple. Way better than the main couple.
3) Lee Rang and Lee Yeon. The relationship between the brothers was more dynamic and interesting than the main couple's relationship.
The Average:
1) The music is ok. I don't plan on buying any of the OSTs, but there wasn't anything I particularly disliked about it.
The Bad:
1) The "tragic fate" between the two lovers Yeon and Ji Ah was cliche and not executed very well. The modern romance happened too fast, and their past lives backstory was told through too much exposition. Did we see why Ah Eum was taken out of the palace or why she wanted to kill her father? Nope, they only told us. How much of Yeon's and Ah Eum's romance did we really see? Maybe five minutes? Not enough to really care about it.
2) The missing parents story was wrapped up too quickly, and they adjusted to being missing for 20 years far too easily. They were pretty much caricatures, given so little actual development that I hardly believed that they were her real parents and not more fakes.
3) So many innocent people died while Yeon tried to figure out a way to save Ji Ah, that I was disgusted that they seemed only to care about saving her. In the words of Gatekeeper Granny, "How many lives do you think that thing will take away in three days? Who says their lives are less important than the one you're trying to save?" Near the end, I wished Ji Ah would just do the right thing and sacrifice herself, because then I might actually have some sympathy for the main couple.
4) Imugi would've been a much more interesting villain if we'd been shown more about his origins. Show that disfigured child in the pit of death, show his emergence as the white snake. Show his fury at being denied the position of mountain god when Yeon first took over. But instead, we were just told about it.
5) I hated that Lee Yeon's love for his brother was not as strong as Rang's love for him. Yeon only seemed to swoop in to save Rang when it would result in benefitting Ji Ah, or when he absolutely had to: such as when Rang was about to die because of his fox contract. But when Rang was once again on the brink of death after getting stabbed, Yeon didn't even try to save him. Why? He was too busy having a seaside date with Ji Ah and pretending to be a "normal" couple. It seemed like Yeon's love for Rang was inconsistent. On the other hand, Rang loved his brother without any ulterior motive. He just wanted his brother to live.
6) The ending was trite and didn't make sense within the story logic that had been established during the drama. Lee Yeon reincarnates as a grown adult? Lee Rang's reincarnation is a 10-year-old child who had to have been alive before Rang died? They seriously forced that happy ending.
The Good:
1) Kim Bum as Lee Rang. I loved this bad boy. He was honestly the best character. He had his priorities straight. Too bad he died to save his love-struck and love-blinded brother. He deserved better.
2) Yu Ri and Shin Ju. They were the cutest couple. Way better than the main couple.
3) Lee Rang and Lee Yeon. The relationship between the brothers was more dynamic and interesting than the main couple's relationship.
The Average:
1) The music is ok. I don't plan on buying any of the OSTs, but there wasn't anything I particularly disliked about it.
The Bad:
1) The "tragic fate" between the two lovers Yeon and Ji Ah was cliche and not executed very well. The modern romance happened too fast, and their past lives backstory was told through too much exposition. Did we see why Ah Eum was taken out of the palace or why she wanted to kill her father? Nope, they only told us. How much of Yeon's and Ah Eum's romance did we really see? Maybe five minutes? Not enough to really care about it.
2) The missing parents story was wrapped up too quickly, and they adjusted to being missing for 20 years far too easily. They were pretty much caricatures, given so little actual development that I hardly believed that they were her real parents and not more fakes.
3) So many innocent people died while Yeon tried to figure out a way to save Ji Ah, that I was disgusted that they seemed only to care about saving her. In the words of Gatekeeper Granny, "How many lives do you think that thing will take away in three days? Who says their lives are less important than the one you're trying to save?" Near the end, I wished Ji Ah would just do the right thing and sacrifice herself, because then I might actually have some sympathy for the main couple.
4) Imugi would've been a much more interesting villain if we'd been shown more about his origins. Show that disfigured child in the pit of death, show his emergence as the white snake. Show his fury at being denied the position of mountain god when Yeon first took over. But instead, we were just told about it.
5) I hated that Lee Yeon's love for his brother was not as strong as Rang's love for him. Yeon only seemed to swoop in to save Rang when it would result in benefitting Ji Ah, or when he absolutely had to: such as when Rang was about to die because of his fox contract. But when Rang was once again on the brink of death after getting stabbed, Yeon didn't even try to save him. Why? He was too busy having a seaside date with Ji Ah and pretending to be a "normal" couple. It seemed like Yeon's love for Rang was inconsistent. On the other hand, Rang loved his brother without any ulterior motive. He just wanted his brother to live.
6) The ending was trite and didn't make sense within the story logic that had been established during the drama. Lee Yeon reincarnates as a grown adult? Lee Rang's reincarnation is a 10-year-old child who had to have been alive before Rang died? They seriously forced that happy ending.
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