Hi friends, I hope you’re doing well!
Today I wanted to talk about a drama that I was recently recommended by my coworkers, only to realize it’d been on my plan-to-watch list for ages! That drama is Tale of the Nine Tailed, starring heartthrob Lee Dongwook in the main role. I was initially drawn to this drama for its supernatural elements as well as the boasting of a romance between a supernatural being and a human which historically, I’ve loved.
However, I felt a severe disconnect between its first and second seasons, and I wanted to talk about that a little here with two mini reviews of each season, and then how I would rearrange the story a bit more for it to make sense! Sound good? Cool! Of course, obligatory spoiler warning if you haven’t seen the first season, or haven’t seen the second yet. Let’s go!
Season 1
Season one of the show focuses on establishing Yeon’s character and the budding romance between him and Jiah, who just so happens to be a reincarnation of his first love, Aheum. In addition to this, our main villain is the serpent, a centuries-old deity that gets revived and was the catalyst to Aheum dying way in the past.
I think one of my main problems with this show is that the show is so dramatic in the way that it portrays its characters to make you emotionally attached to them, but the reality is you aren’t as attached to them as the drama makes you want to be. For example, with the main romance, I just don’t care. I don’t think they have any chemistry and quite frankly the female lead is a little annoying. She just has weird ass reactions to stuff like in the scene where she finds out that she’s a reincarnation of Aheum. Of course, I expect her to react emotionally but she pushes Yeon away because he killed Aheum and that’s her past life. Girl, that is not you!! I don’t know what you’re in a tizzy about!!
The only character I had an affinity for their bond was the sibling dynamic between Yeon and Rang. In the end, I liked Rang because we saw his transformation from an antagonist to a snarky supporting character with deep familial love for his brother which I appreciated. Not a lot of those familial connections are being rebuilt in media and it’s usually just strained relationships. Sometimes they get resolved, but sometimes it doesn’t so it was a nice change of pace. Rang’s character development was so great to see and even though he infuriated me in the beginning, he quickly became my favorite character.
As for the other supporting characters like Shinjoo and Yoori, I didn’t mind them or their relationship. There was a lot of push and pull with the frequent alignment switches in Yoori’s case that broke them up a couple of times, but I didn’t mind it. I felt like a lot of the plot twists overall were stupid. The only cool one to me was when Yeon transformed into Rang to fool the serpent. Since he said transforming is undignified I was sure that it wouldn’t happen in the series, so I didn’t see it coming. The rest I saw coming. I felt like the main plot is super predictable, which is not really what you want in a mystery fantasy series that this is trying to portray.
I feel like it dragged on for way too long. There were a lot of points where when I was watching loose ends could’ve been tied up at that point and the series ended. One example is when Yeon and Rang fooled the serpent into their little plan with his transformation. Another point is when Yeon gets cast into the sand hell and it should have ended right there with a tiny time skip and not just a drawn-out sob story with all of his friends but mostly Jiah crying.
Even though there are a lot of flaws with this show I do think that some of the fantastical elements were good. I just think it tried to be over-ambitious with its plot and world-building. The world-building itself is pretty shaky because it introduces a lot of supernatural characters in the beginning and then kind of shifts its focus to a main antagonist that was foreshadowed at the beginning of the series, but you don’t buy it because you don’t know what’s going on. After all, they don’t establish the world enough. I feel like it could’ve been so much better and because of that, I’ll give it a 4/10.
Season 2
The second season focuses on Yeon having to go back in time to retrieve a present-day artifact that could spell disaster and end the world. He gets transported back to 1938 in Showa-era Japan and Korea, where conflicts between the two to establish Korea’s independence run high, he meets some old friends and reunites with others he’s known for a very long time.
I thought the start of this season was very intriguing because it didn’t really fit at all into the atmosphere of the first season, and leaned into the fact that the plot was absolutely ridiculous, which I enjoyed! At many points during the series I feel like it didn’t take itself seriously, cracked more jokes, and played more with the brighter aspects of the characters which made them feel more life-like and relatable to me.
Along with that, we get to learn more about the other deities around Yeon that he was a mountain god with, including the elusive Mooyoung and flirtatious Hongjoo, which was a great addition to the drama because it balanced him out very well with both of their personality types. I also found it interesting how estranged they were at the beginning of the series, but then gradually came back together as they were forced to work together rather than apart. Even though there were a lot of shenanigans behind the scenes.
And let’s talk about that, actually! Hongjoo, though she has a huge crush on Yeon, frequently betrays him to help Mooyoung collect the items he needs and is super shady. She went behind Yeon’s back a lot, and throughout the drama, you weren’t entirely sure where her loyalties lie. Besides that, I felt like her personality was a mirror to Yeon’s behaviors in the first season, where he was super cocky but also lovestruck, which made them both equally sensitive. I found her character interesting, and I think about what happened to her that she didn’t end up in the present day. Something unexplored that we need to see!
Mooyoung was trying to resurrect his dead brother with the items Yeon was seeking and the entire time, was the antagonist that Yeon was chasing. I found his character to be meek and reserved, and he needed validation from his older brother, which we know to be a common theme in this story, especially since we just went through the bonding and reveal of Yeon and Rang’s relationship. However, not much of that was explored this season due to the thing Mooyoung was actually resurrecting was just posing as his brother. That’s really the only thing in the drama that’s left unexplored, and will likely lead into another season.
As for Rang’s character in this season, he’s understandably standoffish towards Yeon when he is approached and is working as a bandit to make ends meet. Honestly, checks out for his character, which is funny. I found his character to be nearly congruent with his first-season character, though it took a couple of extra steps to get there, ie. Yeon gains his trust again. Though I will say it was refreshing to see him in a romance angle with Hyunjin and the fact that they are both half-bloods sent a nice angle of camaraderie and shared experience that he doesn’t really share with another character. I found their dynamic to be cute, and likely the only relationship of this entire drama that I felt the chemistry of.
Other than that, I thought the political discussions and actual setting of the drama were unique. I’d never seen the setting of the Showa era before so I’m not sure if they nailed it with the costuming and set design, but I thought it looked great. All of the fantastical elements were nicely balanced and the introduction of supernatural characters felt more natural. My only disdain for the story was with all of the zombie stuff going on. That was a little too much. Overall, I think I would give this drama 6/10!
Story Alignment
And now for my hot take regarding this series: season 2 should’ve been the prequel to season 1. I can already hear the people point out the plot holes with this. And I’ll address them one by one, so hear me out!
Due to season 2’s gradual introduction of historical lore and establishment of the character’s backgrounds, they have the freedom to act like normal people, something that was devoid in the first season. You have Rang and Yeon joking around with each other and off-the-wall shenanigans happening like with the fortune god being a baby and the boys having to take care of it, which creates a sense of normality to the characters and makes them more relatable. Since season 1 was devoid of this, it just feels hollow and disjointed as a story because you don’t give a fuck about the characters.
And due to establishing these characters, you may give more of a fuck about their plights during season 1. Especially since Rang died during season 1. I did give a fuck about his and Yeon’s relationship, which made me care about his death, but with two-season establishments of his character, you would’ve cared more. And that begs the question: how would season 2 be set up to go back in time if we didn’t know Rang died? It could’ve been more ambiguous, or the timelines could’ve converged into one whole season of double the episodes. Just some suggestions.
Besides the actual backstory and establishment of the characters that season 2 does right, it does a better job than season 1 of balancing its supernatural elements with its main plotline. I felt like in the first season, the first 4 or 5 episodes were focused on establishing Yeon, then throwing in episodic plot points to say, “Hey guys, there’s actually more than just nine-tailed foxes in this universe, check it out!!” and then just dropped the ball in the middle of the series when dealing with the main antagonist. I understand focusing on the main story, but you can do so while also fleshing out that your story is multidimensional and supernatural.
Then you get to the other stuff about season 2 and 1’s convergence. What about Jiah and Yeon’s marriage? Negligible, at best. He only ever mentions her when he misses home, which is very easily avoidable. Hyunjoo and Yoori’s relationship could easily be avoided as well. Her involvement in Hyunjoo’s narrative wasn’t really that striking in season 2, to begin with. He just recognized her and was wondering if she was a reincarnation and that’s where it stopped. That’s all I can think of right now. Let me know if you notice any other plot holes with the structure I want and I’ll address it!
Concluding Thoughts
So in conclusion, overall the entire series gets a 5/10, but I would’ve liked to see season 2 be a prequel and establish the characters more.
Let me know what you think of this series and any other points you want me to discuss!
I hope your day/night/morning/evening/afternoon is great wherever you are in the world. Thanks so much for checking out my blog! Much love!
mosaicboy's Interest Nook 