The Tale of Nokdu

A Good Introduction to Historical Dramas!

As you can see from the title, this was my first historical drama ever and I loved it. Therefore, I think it's a very good introduction to historical dramas and totally worth the watch :)

Story: This drama started off as light and funny and I think it continued that way till the second half of it. I enjoyed the cross-dressing plot a lot and it was just super entertaining to watch. I have to say that the whole vibe of the drama has suddenly changed in the second half of it. It became more intense, dark and there wasn't as much comedy. However, it was still super nice to watch, and eventually, I couldn't stop watching it.

Cast/Characters: The cast was excellent and so was the acting! The actors and actresses did their job perfectly :) The FL Dong-Ju and the ML Nok-du were absolutely perfect together and had great chemistry. I've known the actress Kim So Hyun from Love Alarm so I guess that was also a reason why I was curious to see The Tale of Nokdu.

Music: I loved the OST in this drama! They were beautiful and for each scene, you had a perfectly fitting soundtrack! The producers did an amazing job!

All in all, I can totally recommend this drama! It's super enjoyable to watch and you also get amazing, beautiful scenery, lots of fight scenes, lots of action and a sweet romance. The drama will make you laugh, cry and feel all types of emotions basically XD It's totally worth your time, and as I said, it's a really nice introduction to historicals. :)

Read More

One of my favorites

This drama has quickly become one of my favorites. I never wrote a review before for any drama that I watched, but I felt compelled to give The Tale of Nokdu a review for how outstanding I thought it was.

First, and most importantly, the show was well cast. I had seen dramas with the leads So Hyun and Dong Yoon before and I loved them in those dramas, but this one really shows how great their acting is. The great plot really highlighted their potential and gave them room to broadcast their range. The tone shifted from comedic to tragic to romantic on a dime and it was so well done and felt so natural. And SHK and DYJ have great chemistry (and the bts footage is adorable as well) and I hope to see them together in another drama soon. The supporting characters were also superb and they didn't feel like scene fillers that were just there to drag out the time. They had purpose and engaging stories. Some people might disagree with me, but I thought little Aeng Do was a scene stealer. I was also very invested in Dan Oh and Yool Mu and I hope to see the actors thrive because they did a wonderful job.

I loved how the story didn't lag, there was always something to build up the plot and every scene had a purpose, even if it was just a little romantic moment to show the chemistry and why the main leads should end up together, or a political scene that showed what the underlying tension between characters suggested. A lot of dramas struggle to keep the momentum of the plot going but The Tale of Nokdu didn't. It was engaging from start to finish.

This show has gone to my list of shows that I could watch many times without getting bored of it. I highly recommend it.

Read More

Atmospheric Excellence

This drama pretty much knocked everything out the park. The OST and BGMs were fantastic setting the atmosphere right everytime, the acting was great - the suttle attempts at humor were actually funny. And in comparison to most dramas in this genre there was no use of fictional/fantasy based creatures/ powers (gumiho,demons etc).

The story structure was wonderful you'll grow to love the characters and hurt, when they hurt. The emotion displayed in acting was fantastic. Would highly recommend if you are into this genre.

However, just stay unbiased i would like to add this drama is historically inaccurate - and one of the characters (dong joo) had a fringe in the joseon era which is a bit strange but fitted into the plot etc

Read More

I know it's too early to write a review since I've only seen the lastest 8 episodes but judging from these episodes, this drama is a must watch!!! You won't regret it.

Beautiful actors ✓
Beautiful Historical costumes ✓
Great comedy ✓
Ehemmmn muscles + abs ✓
Drama ✓
If your a Kim Fan✓

This is the type of drama you will enjoy watching with the family. Plus I can't stop gushing over how gorgeous Nokdu is! She looks so good! As a woman, she's so pretty I feel jealous of her ????????
The long haired Jang Dong Yoon will be forever embedded in my memory. So add this to your list guys! And enjoy laughing and fantasizing over it

Read More

They had us in the first half, but it went downhill from there

This drama started off great. I was invested early on and the jokes were hitting well. However, it felt like a new drama after the ML left the widow villiage. I trusted other reviews which said this was an intriguing drama. I regret it. The pacing of this show went incredibly slow. It was so frustrating at times to watch these characters fumble over every single little thing and have no chemistry or communication. You know how a lot of k-dramas start off with misunderstandings but as the characters bond and begin to trust one another, the leads can then work together. This drama drags out the misunderstandings between the MCs for a whopping 28 episodes. There are only 32 in total. So the viewer is left with only frustrations and no reward for trudging along. They made all these characters as dumb as possible when this story could have went another way and been really good. The stupid antagonist wins and gets what he wants after commiting heinous and atrocious acts. Then he suddenly just gives up his motivation entirely, which was actually paper-thin to begin with. The king held on to those misunderstandings until the final 10 mins of the very last episode. Completely annoying and stupid characters just incredibly frustrating and lacking depth. Also, the wedding being all windy?? Why?? What was the reason to make that choice for the story? It makes no sense. In conclusion, you might want to skip this one. It is not a hidden gem, it's just a turd. While I can admit the first half was kind of decent, the rest was straight up garbage. This writer is a good example of why AI is taking writing jobs.

Read More

Must watch

The story is well written and executed, the hero who wants to live and protect his dear ones, the female lead who want to kill the king, the SML who wants to be king and marry FL by all means, king who wants to be king and protect his seat. This all begins when a shamen predicts that on a particular day the king will be overthrown by a boy who is born on a particular day. Unfortunately, the queen gives birth to prince on the same day that the shamen told.. to protect his throne he orders to kill his own child!! Then the cycle of hunting the boy begins.
**SPOILER**
The SML is also born in the same day as the ML and he overthrows the king.
Lastly its a happy ending, SML lets go of FL so that she can be with ML and overall its happy ending.
Not to mention there are hilarious moments which are to watch, the first half is comedy and it gradually moves to serious plot where king gets to know that his son is alive and so on .
If you start watching this show u will watch till the end.

Read More

Don't miss it !

Who said sagueks can’t be fun to watch? If you leave out the royals and their various conspiracies to sit on the throne, there must be still somewhere a story worthwhile to tell, set away from the palaces and closer to the common folk. Tale of Nokdu does have its fair share of royals, albeit far far fewer from the other shows, (where we are presented to the king’s numerous wives and offsprings), but all that surprisingly takes a backseat to a jovial screwball comedy for its first half. Nokdu, our titular character (an endearing Jang Dong Yoon) finds himself at a widow’s village after he follows the assassin that attacked his family back at his island hometown.

To find out anything further, he has no option but to dress up as a widow and enter the village. In an era where gender duties and definitions were clear cut and specific, it thereby becomes instantly hilarious to watch Nokdu wiggle in and out of embarrassing situations. The show takes its leisure time (here) to let us and Nokdu bask in the absurdity of the situation, as he tries to escape from bathing together with the other widows, or trying to hide his ripped muscles and the very clear absence of breasts, or just trying to carry out a proper conversation with the other women.

He quickly realises that just putting on a dress, and changing one’s voice doesn’t make one a woman, and while he might be stronger to help out with chores that require physical labour, Nokdu is subsequently also exposed to the hardships faced by these widows after their husbands passed away, all of which led to the creation of the widows village in the first place.

Parallelly with all this, runs the story of King Gwanghae (Jung Joon Ho), whom we are exposed to through some bits and pieces in the first half, but as the show approaches the midpoint, and Nokdu finds himself embroiled in something larger than he anticipated to be, the show smoothly transforms into a political drama. With a tight screenplay, well adapted to the shorter, half an hour runtime, and some effective plot twists, the drama remains just as engaging.

To be truthful, Tale of Nokdu isn’t even much of a political drama as it is a family one. The whole plot is the result of the decisions that King Gwanghae makes as a newly crowned king and father. A family living in exile, a son in search of his biological father, and henceforth, his identity, a daughter living every day in anguish, planning to exact revenge on the man who killed her entire family — all characters suffer because of one man’s fear of a future predicted by a shaman.

Just like in the Grand Prince, the show explores the moral dilemmas of the Royals in respect to usurping the throne, except here that decision has already been taken, and the consequences suffered. Nevertheless, we are constantly (in the second half) exposed to the King’s various emotions, as we watch him turn into an enraged fool, clinging onto every thread of power left and a lonely man, whom everyone has turned their back on. In the end, it is sadly the fool that wins.

The king’s excessive stubbornness is exemplified by Nokdu’s big-heartedness, especially in how he, even after finding out his origins, never once abandons (or thinks of abandoning) his adoptive family. There are moments where he hopes to be accepted by his newfound family, and is even ready, to forgive them for their actions, but once it is made clear that there is no place for him, he immediately closes the lid on that tiny glimmer of hope.

Kim So Hyun is marvelous as Dong Joo. Her character was quite interesting, one that is at constant crossroads of what she is expecting from herself. I particularly liked how she is allowed to operate and execute her plans all by herself, her narrative never once intertwining with Nokdu’s narrative. It was something that she had to do on her own, and though it is an easy guess on what her plans are and the reason behind them, I still teared up when she finally reveals them to Nokdu.
Special shoutout to child actress Park Da Yeon. She was absolutely hilarious as Aeng Du!

Read More

Story
This drama is very well written and tight. There's appropriate amount of cuteness and enough background on the supporting characters to not be annoying and draggy. The usage of flashbacks are well executed and the ending was wrapped up nicely.

Acting/Cast
When the chemistry of the actors come through to the audience, it shows how great an actors' capabilities are for the audience to be able to see and feel what they are projecting and how they tell a story. I believed the characters' feelings for each other, the pain they experience, joy, annoyance etc. I only watched this because of Kim So Hyun but noticed Jang Dong Yoon instead. Another actor I've added into my "to watch out for" list.

Read More

Original Review from Twitter: https://twitter.com/thatsingleR/status/1323307258260844547?s=20

#TheTaleofNokdu (조선로코 녹두전) Review:
1) 9/10.
2) I really enjoyed Act I. Act II was more like a heart-pumping one.
2) Loved how the characters performed their roles. I was rooting for them all actually.
3) It's been years since I last watched and let myself be enticed by a Historical KDrama (I'm not really a fan of it but the culture is rich).
4) I like the concept of this one. The Crown Prince Who Will Never Be King.
5) No screenshots. It was hella beautiful. 소휸씨~

Read More

Balmy, intense love

This is one korean drama where the hero really beats the heroine in terms of beauty. This is one kdrama replete with both witty and soulful dialogues, moments, events, scenes. The mood/ tone of the drama dramatically swings to and fro from hilarious to epic.This is one of the very few kdramas in which the hero is presented as a perfectly balanced all-rounder, romantic, mature, decent, daring, adventurous person who is cute and naive as a little boy at the same time! This is one korean drama where the main leads though placed in an ancient era have quite modern minds, attitudes & approach to handling things.

The story puts the audience in a light-hearted mood because it has the right combination of gravity and humour. There are two twists in this fast-paced tale.
The only annoying thing is the way the female lead keeps pushing back the male lead( initially) without telling him the full truth. Yet, her attitude takes an about turn in the latter half of the series. She even ingeniously saves his life and the way she does it makes one moved to tears. The last two episodes are epic. In fact, all episodes equally engage the viewer because something gripping or humerous is presented in each one. The ending is perfectly happy with no unnecessary glitches.
One of the osts, "scar" is really worth listening to, as it captures the essence (main theme) of this drama.
There are no unnecessary tragedies, complications that usually drags the plot development of a drama mid-way. Even side characters are given room for possibilities. Actually, "tale of Nokdu" can be viewed more as a tale of positive possibilities. Humour is one of the top wow factors of this drama.

Read More

Entertaining

*The story was captivating and truly touched my heart. What drew me in the most was the male actor's outstanding performance. He portrayed two sides of his character effortlessly: one, a stubborn, restless, curious, and determined man, and the other, a soft, gentle, and kind lover. The female character complemented him perfectly, and their bond felt natural and deep. At some point, I found myself emotionally connected to the male character, wondering how much one person can endure. I really wished to see their complete family, perhaps even their children.

I also admired the actor who played Cha Yool Mu / Grand Prince Neungyang—his portrayal was flawless.*

Read More