The Tale of Nokdu: Spoiler-Free Mini Review
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
Title: | The Tale of Nokdu |
Platform: | Viki, Kocowa+ |
MDL Rating: | |
Genre: | Period (Joseon), Romance, Action, Comedy |
Episode Count: | 32 (Each episode is 30 minutes) |
Parental Guidance Rating: | PG-13: Violence (nothing graphic) For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10808968/parentalguide/ |
Staring: | Jang Dong Yoon (Daily Dose of Sunshine) Kim So Hyun (Love Alarm) Kang Tae Oh (Extraordinary Attorney Woo) Jung Joon Ho (True Beauty) |
RBTS Rating: | 4.25/5  |
Synopsis:
Jeon Nok Du lives on an island with his father and older brother. He is smart and a good swordsman. Since he was little, his father did not let him study or go to the mainland. One day, his father and older brother are attacked by a group of female assassins. Jeon Nok Du chases after one of the assassins to the capital. During that time, Jeon Nok Du meets Dong Dong Ju. She wants to shoot the King with her arrow, but Jeon Nok Du saves her from trouble. Meanwhile, the assassin that Jeon Nok Du chases goes into a widowed village. To find out who and why his family was attacked, Jeon Nok Du disguises himself as a woman and enters the widow's village. There, he meets Dong Dong Ju again. She is an apprentice to become a Gisaeng.
Stay Tuned: Full Review Still to Come!
Spoiler-Free Mini Review:
The Tale of Nokdu is an action packed, hilarious treat! Don't be intimidated by the episode count as each episode is only 30 minutes, which means the show is essentially your run of the mill 16 episode, 1 hour drama. So the fact that I binged this in two days is totally okay and normal.
K-drama math is my new girl math!
The first half is hysterical when the characters are in the widows village. Nokdu makes one heck of a widow and maintaining his disguise causes so much hilarity to ensue. The second half of the drama is darker and more violent, as the drama leans more into kingdom politics (similar to Alchemy of Souls). Jang Dong Yoon (and his very swanlike neck) was the highlight of the drama, and he really sold the romance for me. Kim So Hyun (FL) wasn't on the same acting level, but because Nokdu was so convincing in his love for her character, it made me buy into their relationship. Her ever changing bob was a serious ancient slay though.
The story kept it's pace throughout, although the ending felt very unresolved, but c'est la vie. If you enjoy Alchemy of Souls or a hearty chuckle, look no further!
Also, shout out to Widow Kim.
Random side note: There is a Chinese adaptation of this called Pretty Boy and it is literally atrocious!
Story=4 (first half was better)
Acting=4 (The ML was great, the FL was meh but everyone was funny)
Production Quality=3 (those outfits were from Party City for sure and the drama had the garish lighting of Anthropology)
Ending= 3.5 (liked the leads ending, but somewhat dissatisfying overall)
Enjoyability= 5 (so funny)
Would I rewatch= Yes!
Trailer:
Comments