Tale of the Nine-Tailed (2020)

Had an amazing first arc but after that? Just full of bad writing....

I really love the Kitsune/Gumiho folklore a lot and especially if it has a human-kitsune kinda romance in media. So I was really excited for this show and it actually had a great beginning. I was so interested, it was really engaging. The island arc was spectacular and Ji-a ending those misogynistic fishermen was amazing to see. The lead actors had great chemistry too but right after Ji-a's parents return it just turns... shit. Thats one of the main reasons too why it becomes bad like, why are her parents back? I mean that whole dream sequence she has where she wishes she could be with her parents just doesn't have any significance in the story now whatsoever since they're... back? The point of that scene was that she had to stop living in the past and get over her parents already because she had a new person and friends left to live for. But her parents coming back makes that powerful scene look so bad. Also right after that, LY and NJA's relationship is bad too. I was rooting for them and shipping them in the beginning and when they finally become a thing, I just... didnt care? I honestly stopped caring for their romance. Then the worst shit ever, Lee Rang's death... why does he die when he finally found happiness after years of depression and pain? His death was soooo random too he's just walking by, meets the fortune teller and then dies like... what. Ji-a's reaction over his death is weird too and she's not as sad as the other characters because duh she gets her man back and she wasn't even close with Rang which the writers should've worked on too.

Ji-a... I felt the most disappointed in how she was written. She turns from a kind, badass, really smart journalist who doesn't take anyone's shit to a crying hopeless mess towards the end. I loved her in the beginning so much but my god she became so annoying towards the end. Yeon is just too ex-machina to me man like he never loses, it doesn't make any sense. Also he's a fox deity, how come we never get to see his true full form with his nine tails and everything? We just saw it once and the special effects in that scene were so ugly. We only really got to see his eyes and nails that too just once. The only things that are good about this show is the beginning, Yu-ri and Shin-Joo's relationship, Lee Rang's whole character arc and the actors. Seriously this is one of those shows were the side characters are so much more interesting and likeable than the main leads.

I wouldn't say I hate this show, I just hate that I started it because I'm so disappointed right now. There are so many things in this show that could've been done better but nah it just bad writing everywhere. So I'm just gonna pretend the rest of the series with the Imugi stuff doesn't exist and only acknowledge the Island Arc to cope. I would definitely not rewatch this mess nor suggest to watch it but if you're still curious you should still watch because the beginning and Lee Rang are seriously the best part of this show.

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Magical

Fab-u-lous! I loved everything. The casting is perfection, with so many good actors (both female and male) and unforgettable characters. I can't even pick favourites. Lee Rang really touched my heart though, especially the scenes of him as a young Gumiho half breed. His feelings of abandonment were palpable. Kim Bum is so good.
The myths included are wonderful, as ghosts and devils are battled.
The child actors are so good too, especially Kim Tae-yul as the young Imoogi, Lee Joo-won as young Lee Rang and Jung Shi-yool as Kim Soo-oh.
The pace of the drama, whilst having exciting scenes, is relatively gently paced, which fit for me; a central romance spanning 600 years can't be rushed!
The ending didn't disappoint either.
I loved the BTS episode 17 on Viki, with the delightful Hwang Hee (Gu Shin-joo) and lovely Kim Yong-ji (Ki Yoo-ri) ~ these 2 seemed to genuinely get on and have fun together.
A must watch and one I know I'll return to more than once. Magical.

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if you like fantasy drama, this is perfect for you!

i love everything about this drama!
this is my most favorite series in 2020 and it really gave inspiration to me during this difficult period.

IMO, the romance is just perfect as well! i am not the type who like cheesy, etc. couple. so yeah, OTP here is quite unique for me, so i cherish them more! besides, i enjoyed the fantasy, action, and even the horror part, so i did not focus solely on the love story.

honestly, i do not have any biases prior watching this drama. So i was also surprised how much i enjoyed it and became a fan!

main leads did great in acting! they really work hard for it so i hope viewers will give more love & appreciation to the whole team!

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First Of All
This is one of my first KDramas and I loved every moment of it.
I Was thinking of writing a review on this drama but I never had the words and now too I don't have any.
But what should I do , I cherished every moment while watching this drama so much that I mustered up the courage to write a review for the first time.
In this drama the characters like 'LEE RANG' who you thought you hated would become the most lovable characters you would remember your whole life.

As per the Story,
As I Said this is my first drama so the story is pretty unique and a perfectly executed fantasy for me.
I don't know much about the actors but they acted their parts the best.

The OST is the heart of this show.

TALE OF NINE TAILED IS A WARM WELCOME FOR MY JOURNEY TO KDRAMAS.

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Really promising start, weird ending.

At the beginning, I really loved this show. I thought it was, overall, a really good plot with interesting characters. Contrary of what most reviews say, I think the main couple chemistry was good enough to keep me going. I won't say much about the cast and music because they were good and I think they did their job.
But what really bothers me is that it seems writers never fully decided if this was going to be a mainly romance show or a fantasy one. I really liked how tension was built when Imugi reincarnated and the general idea of the character. Nonetheless, I simply couldn't stand how he was out there, literally killing people, where the main couple was out there having... dates. Imugi's steps and moves were so predictable, yet the main characters always seemed so behind him. Because, like I said, they were busy walking down to the park or stuff like that.
I love shows filled with romance. They're my favorite. But I think most of their scenes were unnecessary. They kept saying goodbye to each other to then changing their minds over and over again. Besides from that, there are A LOT of questions and things that never got a proper answer. I'll never understand how, in a world that seems like it's full of ghosts and guardian spirits, no one seems to care about Imugi besides the male lead. Imugi threatened the world and yet, nobody appeared to stop him. That didn't make sense at all.
Another weird thing is how they made her parents come back. They were away for decades just to be put back again in their old lives like it was nothing. They deserved a proper development since they were the main motivation for the female lead. They were the reason she lived at first and then appeared to be mere decorations.
Ok. So far seems like I hated this show, but I truly didn't. The beginning was so good and I could never drop a work from Lee Dong Wook. I loved how badass the female lead looked like at first. I loved the side characters and their relationships. I loved all the deity stuff. But the decisions the writers and director did.... I'm sure they still don't make their mind. The ending was all over the place.
Anyway, I think it's a good show if you know beforehand that the middle/ending is not well thought. I still believe is a pretty story, but that it could been told better.

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Don't know how to feel

It was a good plot. at the beginning I was sure it was going to be one of my favorite k-dramas but somewhere along the was i got lost. It was a mess. A hot mess sure but still a mess. You didnt drown but didnt swim either. You had to pay alot of attention to smallest deatil as to not get lost.

Sure the plot and the story are good. The acting is not that bad either. The relationshitp develops at a good pace.
The brothers Lee Yeon and Lee Rang were hands down the most well thought out part and that could be seen. The actors had a lot of chemistry on set and they expressed bbeautifully the depth of emotions of the two characters.

The ending... it was achoice? It was a thought, something left unsaid and uncertain Personally it left me a little bitter. But it wasn't the worst.

Bittersweet.

I didnt hate it. I still somehow consider it a good k-drama. Would i recomend it? I f you like this type of series [ fantasy, roance] yes sure . Just dont have too high of expectations. Face it with a smile and don't think too much so it leaves you with a sweet aftertaste

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The Lee brothers stole my heart?

This show was a bit confusing for me since I’m not well versed with Korean mythology, but it propelled me to do some reading of my own and I found it quite fascinating. Initially some scenes were too creepy for me to watch at night, but they eased out on the creep factor and indulged us with cute. The villain himself was so cute, I was never really scared of him. I feel the story would have benefitted if they found a scarier looking Imoogi. In fact Jo Boah in her double role played a kick ass Imoogi in my opinion.
What really hit home with this show was the relationship and growth between the two brothers Lee Yeon and Lee Rang. They were the heart and soul of the show and I loved every single interaction between them. While I knew the end would not be a happy one for both of them, I understood why they took the route they did and as heartbroken as I was I feel they tied it up decently.
Kim Bum my gosh, you’re Damon Salvatore and I heart you!

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Wasted potential

I won't get into the nitty gritty since this is quite an old drama. I was interested because it is coming with a sequel and I am sucker for fantasy.
Plus for this drama:
1. Lee dong wooks acting /portrayal as lee yeon. The character is not well fleshed out well thought out, no complex characterization, no character development that he goes through via trials and tribulations which is supposed to make a character interesting. The character works because of lee dong wook ONLY. He brings all his veteran actor charm skills and good looks to this.
2. Lee rang. One of the best written kdrama character with the worst ending. I liked that lee yeon came back but his death made no sense. In fact nothing after 7-8 episodes did much.
3. Lee rang and lee yeons brotherly dynamics were easily the best thing of this show and helped me get through it.
Negatives in order of intensity:
1. The romance: Dragged out, poorly developed, nonsense, cringy and towards the end utterly totally annoying. Kdrama romances barely get romance right despite kdrama romances being known worldwide. Insta love with razzle dazzle.
2. The female lead: Turned into a helpless.damsel in distress within 5 episodes of the show. Her storyline with her parent was the stupidest arc I've seen which led to nothing for the plot when much time was wasted in finding her parents in the first place. No explanation as to why she was chosen as the sacrifice for the snake. She is bland Mary sue that you feel utterly nothing about and will be happy that she dropped dead.
3. The villain: imugi is the flattest villain I've seen. I'm sorry but the neighborhood cat with a grudge against my cat is a better convincing villain than him. His motives made sense given he hates lee yeon and hates humans. But there is no feeling to it like it was with Darkness.
4. The plot: *sigh* where to start?.This is about a mythological being but hardly any mythology is discussed. We don't know lee yeons parents, his time as a deity even his tails are shown once and then never again when ironically it's named tale of the nine tailed (huh!). Not even with the fight with imugi, the big boss. The parents were conveniently forgotten after being saved. We don't know what exactly happened to her parents, they had no effects and adjusting to modern world like nobody's business with no neighbors relatives friends asking why the hell these people who are supposed to be dead appeared out of nowhere, except for being hostages they offered nothing pretty much like those colleagues she worked with. An all powerful deity supposed to be as powerful as a gumiho was just struck in the head like some common human and fell unconscious. No explanation as to why even the non human characters except for lee yeon can be mind controlled. Lord of samdocheon was an equally potentially complex character and victim of bad writing. Thousands of humans died, no one except her cared. Lee yeon reincarnated but with the same face and likely as a fox. So all that shabang was for nothing. 🙄🙄 I won't go forward anymore since we will be here all day otherwise.


This could have been the next big thing but yeah it as usual with these dramas is a major clusterfuck because writers can't see beyond their tunnel vision of pursuing a forced genre and trope. I have read fanfiction with better writing.

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There was some curiosity but a romcom.

At the beginning I was curious, and I wanted to watch till the end, but I hate historical parts and as I saw the beginning, I wanted some more thrill and horror. When we think about the acting skills, I can say that there were some highs and lows in each and every character but as a whole I can say that they did a good job, but I will not say that was the best because there were some characters, they were unable to show their feelings according to the scene they were only tough from outside as well as inside. When it's up to the story line I hated the old story which was the base to the present story, but I loved the present story. And also, the villain was really powerful but there was a lot of time that we had to see him through the main characters therefore I think it is a strain for the viewer. Even though he finally appears as a human it really did not give some pleasure because I was already fed up with that character. And there were a lot of coincidence in the historical as well as the present story that the story gets far away from reality and ended up near the fantasy fairy tale. Even though it is a fantasy fairy tale they wanted to connect that with the present. But I really felt that there were a lot of useless scenes that they did not do anything for the end of the story. Ending as usually was a happy ending with some regrets but there were some curious points at the end even. As a whole we can say that was a historical and invincible love story that extended hundreds of years with some up and downs as well as some thrill. I can recommend this as a romantic story with a small flavor of thriller and horror.

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So I'm not really the type to watch Korean dramas. This is the second one I've seen. This show started off really well. Like it was kind of scary, and I get scared really easily. I love the main leads. The plot started going downhill. Like after a few episodes I couldn't keep up with everything. It all happened too fast, and it got really boring. However, the ending was really disappointing yet good at the same time. Lee Yeon reincarnated as a human however in the last episode we see that he brings the red umbrella to the guy with the mask. However, he transforms the umbrella into a sword meaning that he is not human. His eyes also change colors. So did he really get reincarnated as a human. The story ends with a cliffhanger, which I hate when dramas do that. So can someone please answer me was he really reincarnated as a human or a fox?

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Urban fantasy kdrama done right

I didn't expect to enjoy this show so much, even if it's in my fave genre. It does rehash a lot of the Goblin/Vampire Diaries type cliches of fated tragic love between immortal & mortal, past lives, reincarnation, and such. But the show executed it well, and kept the story fascinating with rich folklore.

The show hooked me from the venture into the mysterious island to the interesting Voldemort-esque villain, and these all connect to the main overarching story of the fated OTP. It borrows inspiration from famous horror and fairy tales, but they made it their own. This was what I wanted Joseon Xfiles to be.

The only thing I wished different is the OTP, I like Lee Dong Wook, he committed himself wholeheartedly as the otherworldy fox from the visuals to even acting in some questionable CGI scenes. He and Jo Bo Ah are good in their roles, but the chemistry unfortunately fell short. Yet again another drama where I ship the bromance more than the romance.

I like Kim Yong Ji since 'The King', she tends to go overboard at times, but what if Kim Bum and Kim Yong Ji are the main OTP here? Yes, they're deliciously wicked in their roles, and she has a cute love arc with the vet, but makes you wonder what could have been right? KIM BUM. YUM. The long wait for his drama comeback was so worth it. He made all complicated facets of Rang shine through, and made a crazy villain like him a sympathetic character. We really need to see him in a lead role soon.

Great worldbuilding and supporting cast, from the fascinating otherworldly characters Yeon and Ji Ah meet, to the Underworld immigration system headed by the sister of Hades and her comical husband, to Shin Ju and Rang's adopted 'kids'. It's such a delight. If you love your supernatural kdramas in the vein of Master's Sun, Along with the Gods, Arang, this is worth a try, good full-blown fantasy kdramas do come far in between.

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i love Lee Rang so freaking much and it being played by Kim Bum was a really great choice

I love the overall plot, but for me, the chemistry between the two main leads was kinda off. I cant really feel it, even awkward in certain scene. BUTT dont worry yall they have some side stories that's really interesting to watch especially the story abt the relationship between two brothers. the character development of the two villains was just really great and that made me fell for them more than i should do. Lee Rang was really such a scene stealer and his character development was a really great and heartwarming touch of the drama. He may seem like a jerk but if you see deeper you'll fall for him more than you do to the main leads and that's what happened to me lol.
I cant say it had a happy ending nor sad it really all depends on you but for me it was not a happy ending. I still remember how i cried SO hard throughout the last episode omg even if i rewatched the clip now id still cry TT

p.s. I really wish Kim Bum gets to be the main male lead in another drama. his acting was really amazing it was such a waste of talent that he never be one in any drama so far.

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