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Tale of the Nine-Tailed korean drama review
Completed
Tale of the Nine-Tailed
2 people found this review helpful
by Lia
Dec 20, 2020
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

An average fantasy story with a questionable ending.

So apparently the grim reaper got tired and is now a nine-tailed fox. Jokes aside, I actually kinda enjoyed this drama, it's not the best out there, even in the genre, but it's pretty fun to watch, even if the ending was... questionable to say the least. Some people loved it and some people hated it, and I think that was the biggest dividing point when it comes to this drama. I honestly didn't hate the ending but i would've done differently for sure, and I'm not gonna say anything else so I don't spoil it for you.

We follow the story of Lee Yeon, a nine-tailed fox that is waiting for he's first love who died tragically many centuries ago. Lee Yeon is a cool guy almost touching the antihero side, but not really doing it. He meets Ji-Ah e very clever girl who's the incarnation of his long lost love. Then of course we have the villain, an Imoogi who wants to be a God. And that's basically it for the main plot, we also have some side stories that I personally found way more interesting than the main plot line, principally the strain relationship between Lee Yeon and he's brother Lee Rang. The second lead couple was also very entertaining to watch. Overhaul the main plot was a love story that was told many times before and didn't really added anything new to the table.

I think the weakest part about this drama was the main story line, the main couple's chemistry was average, it was there but I always felt like something was missing, and the actor choice for the Imoogi was odd, nothing against the actor, but I just felt like he looked way too young and had to little of onscreen presence to back up all the cheesy dialogue. I think if they went for a older actor and less cheesy lines they could have saved the Imoogi. Also Ji-Ah for me was a waste of a character, I really liked her in the first couple of episodes, she was independent, clever and strong willed, but the moment she met Lee Yeon and realized who she was, the writer seemed to forget about all those qualities, and Ji-Ah went from strong female character to damsel in distress just like that, I don't know how can someone need to get rescued so many times. Why do drama writers always do this to strong female leads?

Lee Rang's relationship with his brother, in the other hand, was the best part about this drama, their strained relationship that slowly was being fixed, and the overhaul character growth was really well done. Honestly they could have skip the romance stuff and focus on this relationship and the drama would have been much better. It was a bless to see Lee Yeon and Lee Rang's interactions. Yoo-Ri and Shin-Joo were a very cute and slow-burn couple, that episode after episode grew on me, and the more you saw them together the better they looked. This drama's strong point and what makes it actually more interesting to watch, were all this well done subplots and characters, if it wasn't for them I would have stop watching the drama a long time ago.

Another strong point of this drama it's its pacing, some people might complain that it's too fast, but for me it was fast enough that I wouldn't get bored halfway and slow enough that i understood what was going on. Honestly I don't remember being bored watching this drama, although in the later episodes they slowed down the pace to fill it with some filler cute couple moments, but I didn't really mind it that much.

I will not talk about the ending, although I have a lot to say, I want this review to be as spoilers free as it can be.

Acting/Cast: The acting on this drama was kinda of average, I mean we all know that Lee Dong-Wook can act and I really liked his character, although he went through so much pain he was still fun, and I really liked when he acted all badass and stuff. In the other hand, Jo Bo-Ah wasn't bad, I think the script is the one we should really blame as the actress could do much with it, because by the middle of the drama, Ji-Ah would be crying almost all the time, I was always: "c'mon girl get your s*** together." Lee Tae-Ri was cast as the Imoogi, I don't think he was bad, it's just, between the cheesy script and his gorgeous young face, he didn't really convinced me that the Imoogi was that big of a threat, I kinda get why they chose him, but it still left something to be desired. Kim Yong-Ji was great, I really liked her character as well as Hwang Hee character, I think they did a great job supporting our main characters, but there own little story arc was also fun to watch, they were almost like a comic-relief in a way. And of course I leave for last, the best of this drama, Kim Bum, he stole the show for the moment he appeared on screen, and has much as I hated him in the beginning he started growing on me as the story progressed, Lee Rang is the definition of anti-hero, and I just love to watch him, Kim Bum just brought the character to life.

Now let's talk about cinematography. This drama, was average looking to be honest, it didn't do anything outstanding, and the visual effects left a lot to be desired. In my personal opinion, in so moments the effects were overdone and didn't look that great, I think if they went on a more "Hotel del Luna" vibe, with more subtle effects it would look so much better. Also, for such an high budget production they could have get Lee Dong-Wook some better hair extensions.

One of the things I really liked about this drama was the OST, I really liked the songs, and some of them became part of my playlist, I think they really fitted the vibe of the drama and worked well with the story and cinematography.

Will I watch this drama again? Probably not, although I enjoyed this drama even with all its flaws, I don't see myself revisiting it anytime soon. Do I recommend it? Yes, if you're look for something easy to watch and that you don't need to put much thought into, it's flawed and could have been done differently but I think that overhaul this drama it's still fun to watch.
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