Twelve

The Biggest Disappointment of this Year!!

I’m still trying to figure out if I liked this show or not!

When I read that the show has only 8 episodes, I was kind of disappointed; given the fact that it has an ensemble casting consisting of some of my favorite actors. I was like “I would only get to watch them together for 8 episodes, that’s bad”. When the show started, I had no idea about the storyline, so when they suddenly plunged us into a universe where powerless angels exist, I couldn’t make the head or tail of it. Above all, the fact that Park Hyung Sik was playing an antagonistic role was even more shocking. I have nothing against experimentation, but I just couldn’t look at his face and think “This guy is evil (I mean that’s a pretty handsome face after all)”. The story goes awry right from the pilot episodes since we are never given the proper introduction to the characters or their backgrounds. Instead of twelve zodiac angels, there are only eight ones existing. We don’t know what happened to the other four, except the fact that they are dead (makes you wonder, aren’t angels supposed to be immortal, can they be killed???). The show leaves you hanging with umpteen questions until the finale episode and even then, the ending is so rushed that it leaves you unsatisfied.

Read the complete article here-

https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2025/09/16/twelve-series-review/#more-2048

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Twelve....Controversial but....

This is my first time writing a review so I apologise if it is slightly confusing :)

The kdrama twelve that recently came out can be seen as really bad from the recent reviews written but I believe that it wasn't too bad. The idea and story the producers had in mind were really creative and outside of the box and I think there really was a plot they had going on. However I sort of understand where people were coming about with the execution as being poor, but it is what it is. Since it was only 8 episodes long I wished that they had more episodes so they could have really let their amazing idea shine and grabbed in more of the viewers attention, this deffinitely would've helped since they also got some amazing actors such as Ma Dong Seok, Park Hyung Sik and Lee Joo Bin.

I also really understand and believe that it was such a sweet thing that Ogwi turned into a devil for the love he had for Mirr and he just wanted to be with her...yet she didn't realise...and still he sacrificed himself for her at the end which I personally found both sweet and heartbreaking. I also would have liked to see more of their backstory as just some feedback as this might've also made it more interesting.

Overall, I personally believe it was a great Kdrama with a clear idea and plot (sadly with slight poor execution) that actually did put me on the edge of my seat and deffinitely pulled a few heartstrings surely at the end and would recommend it to anyone who did get interested by it. Basically, I pleasantly enjoyed it :)

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Should have been a movie

The premise of a group of super powered immortal beings living through the ages amongst human beings inevitably brings to mind Ma Dong Seok's much underrated film The Eternals, which was an ambitious story that would have been better served as a series to delve deeper into the characters, whereas Twelve's plot and characterizations is so paper thin even amongst the 49 minute run time which is much shorter than the usual 70 minute or more episodes of Korea dramas and with 8 episodes that's shorter than the usual 12 or 15 episodes, it should have just been a movie.

The angel family doesn't get to do much bonding or fleshing out of who they are to each other or to endear them to the audience. They don't even all assemble into until the third episode. The show instead only has Tae San spend much of his time with Geumsoon. I don't mind that storyline, but it needed to be in conjunction with the family. They instead just feel like the comic relief lackies the entire time. The casting of the angels is also an issue along with the writing for them, there is no feeling from them as a group developed to endear them to the audience whatsoever.

Seo In Guk is criminally underused. He's usually the lead in acting projects and his acting is proven, so it's really weird to see him in a secondary support role that's usually reserved for newer up and comers to get experience. I keep waiting to see there be a reason to cast someone of his caliber, but it never comes. I wonder if this role is a favor for someone or something. There is a mute character and it feels weird that they just cast a Taiwanese actor who may not speak Korean instead of maybe an Korean actor who has mutism. There is a lot of fight scenes, but they lack any tension since there is no connection to the characters and it just drags the story along which is already slow.

The core storyline doesn't get going until the very end of episode 5 where it's revealed that Ogwi and Mir forcefully separated lovers and a fight scene that looked cool and actually had stakes and consequences for Marok and the whole crew. This should have been the first or at least second episode. When it's finally revealed, there is only as much shown of the romance than the random club owner guy and his girlfriend who at least have a funny exchange where he's saying he went to school for 15 years and she asks if that means he was studying for a phd.

The special effects are hit or miss throughout. I do like how the wings are done. The last episode is shamelessly all product placement while adding even more characters while we never really got to know the ones we started with. The number one weakness of this show is it doesn't care to let the audience know the characters nor their interpersonal relations to each other, resulting in zero feeling for anything going on in the story. There is no reason for this to be an 8 episode story. If they do a season 2, there needs to be some major overhauling in the writing quality.

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Twelve

Well my opinion will be totally different - but nothing new cause I like more dramas coming this year which I have watched. First thing which in my opinion is important to point out is that this one was overhyped. People hyped it so much before the release - even before trailer - simply because of "expensive" cast (yeah I hate that, just say good or popular actors, expensive really annoyes me). Because of that hype people were dissapointer, they expected something what never was even promised.
In my opinion - as someone who had a lot of going on, watched it without any expectation (but yeah I watched because of Seo In Guk, Park Hyung Sik and Ma Dong Seok) and needed something to relax - I simply enjoyed it.
Also important to point out is that it had a little different filming style? It was totally as playing a game, this is how fighting scenes lookes and how story moved - and that can also be a reason why some people did not like it. Personally I love it. CGI was not as bad as people say, outfits were good (pretty realistic), plot some people will like some not, you just need to check for yourself - but if you expect dissapointment then there is no way to avoid it. The only thing which I can agree which would work probably better for general public was to make it a movie (although personally I prefer series). It can work well with second season but open ending/cliffhanger is also good.
I have nothing bad to say about acting - it was good, in the end we had really good cast. To not spoil anything I will talk about my favourite actors/characters:
1. SIG - I did not expected his character to be ...hmm guffy? but still really liked him here
2. PHS - well he never was a villain, he lost his way but still did nothing really bad (one more thing which people found dissapointed only because they expected some crazy bad guy - reminder that you also did not really like his villain arc in Burried Hearts....)
3. MDS - he is so cute eventhough that he played a tougth guy
4. Lee Joo Bin - this girls is literally killing this year!! (first Lee Dong Wook as love interest, now PHS. Also SIG as a friend) She's getting all the hot gyus, go girl!!! but I have to admit that I expected a little more action for her character, a little more badass
5. Kang Mi Na - she played perfectly a "dog" angel, she was totally giving a puppy and loving vibe, love her reunion with SIG (but same company and were giving sibling vibe - so I think we can see it a lot)
6. Sung Yoo Bin - and the one I did not know but caught my attention, I just like white haired characters (what can I do), he also gave a little of Suga vibe (so again, my bias, what can I do).
To sum up - do not only read reviews or tiktok opinions, always check for yourself and go with clear mind, to judge it without any prejudgments.

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At least it was short!

I don't want to write a whole book about this drama, because there's not much to say, to be honest.

The first thing I want to say, it's not as bad as some people make it out to be, but it's not good either. It had its moments, but overall, this is like the "Fast and Furious" saga. Dumb, not the best written, the visuals are bang average, but it's still a brainless fun.

Who wants to watch a brainless fun? You should decide that for yourself.

In my opinion, this was a wasted potential, the cast is great, the chemistry is great, but it feels like someone put everything in it without making it consistent.

One of my biggest problem with the show is Mireu was completely useless! I was waiting to see some badass things from her, yet she's basically the Damsel in Distress, and I hate nothing more than this ridiculous trope! It's outdated and makes no sense, especially when you have multiple badass female characters on the show. Also, she can see the future, but never said anything about it.

I don't think they will get the greenlight for the 2nd season, but even if they will, I'm not interested. I would've like the ending without the typical "credit scene", and the fact that they brought back the other Angels. That was such a nonsense!

My advice: Don't waste your time, unless you don't mind 8 hours of brainless fun!

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What a waste of story and actors - but the final comments are WICKEDLY FUNNY

The drama is a total disaster, even worse than WTSG and TIH.
BUT the comments after the last episode are hilarious. Read them and you will have a wonderful experience of the best comedy ever, I was laughing so hard, tears went down my face and my abdominal muscles feel really worked out LMAO

Just saw a wickedly funny, desperate, desolate plea for mercy, a comment saying:
ep 8 cliffhanger is a THREAT OF SEASON 2
LMAO LMAO LMAO this is wickedly hilarious :) :) :)

What kind of drama is this to make people fear season 2...?? LMAO

The comments here are a LOT better than any stand up comedy LOL

I keep laughing so hard reading the comments, tears are rolling down my face and my abdominals got a great workout LMAO

Ogwi got weak when he bumped into the cave and lost his hair extensions,
the cast is 7 punching bags, 4 dead zombies, and 1 hero MDS
mistake failing to put ep 8 as ep 1
I kept watching this to find out if it could get any worse - and it DID
someone asked if they should watch and the comments back and forth were so funny... advices like pretend that this drama does not exist
and so on....
The comments are AMAZING

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR A WONDERFULLY ENTERTAINING EXPERIENCE YOU ARE THE BEST

=== AND now to the review - ahem ======

This does not feel like a kdrama because there is NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND NO MEANINGFUL COMMUNICATION

It is a bunch of flashy scenes, but all jumbled up and choppy

so overall this feels like being in a video game or cartoon

The only "close up" is learning that Mirr fell for the hot bad boy Ogwi. And yeah TaeSan was friend with the old lady and has issues helping humans, and some other angels do not - but why, why yes, why not... ?.
Other than that, we know NOTHING about the characters

ZERO NILCH NARA NOTHING

this is like watching a cartoon or a video game, so simplistic and so ... boring.

As for special effects - I am totally fine, to me they are super fancy. I am not complaining about that.

I am complaining that special effects took away from the story but THERE IS NO STORY there is just a bunch of events that are completely unexplained and thus WEAK

I will watch it to the end to find out more WHY this is such a flop
It is a study in failure

and yeah TaeSan actor is quite terrible in acting

====== I WANT TO FIGURE OUT WHY THIS DRAMA IS SUCH A FLOP ====
I got some answers to my questions today. At the start of ep 6, Ogwi searches visually for Mirr. *** THAT ACTOR IS SO GOOD, JUST A FEW SECONDS OF HIS ACTING IN UNDIVIDED ATTENTION AND CERTAIN ANXIETY ABOUT MIRR MADE THE DRAMA ALIVE
**** THAT IS *** THE ONLY *** ACTING ***** I SAW IN 6 EPISODES.*****
The drama is DEAD bc nobody is acting. They are pretending something ah so pretentious but there is no acting. Everything is fake.
A FEW SECONDS OF OGWI WAS REAL. Who is that actor? He is very handsome but more importantly, he is a fabulous actor.

After I saw the next scenes with the Grumpy Fat Cat face on the screen and him wobbling as an old fat man - suddenly I realized why the drama is a flop - there is no acting in it. 50% of the scenes are to glorify Taesan character, and Taesan character is super boring, and Taesan actor is super extra incompetent as an actor.

Then there was scenes of the Fat Cat changed his mind and went hammering and the music was .. some rap or something - THAT was awesome too - it was an unexpected twist and it was FUN.
*** this drama flopped bc there is NOT ONE ELEMENT OF JOY OR FUN, EVERYONE IS SO DEAD SERIOUS LIKE THEY SWALLOWED THE FROG THE SECOND AGO... IT IS ***** BORING BORING BORING BORING ***** too theatrical uppity pretentious... like kids playing .... just ...

I have been studying this to figure out WHY it is such a flop. I am totally fine with the props and special effects and fights - I dont care about that, so what is there is all fancy enough for me..... . WHAT I WANT IS TO SEE ACTING AND STORY and of course nice camera work

First, this drama has soooo many scenes of Taesan just going places like an old fat man with that grumpy face, and the whole drama is about trying to glorify him but he is sooooo boring. THe actor is a terrible actor. He has maybe 2 facial exrpessions? and one of those facial expressions - the grumpy worried poker face - takes about 99% of his time on the screen. HE IS SUPER BORING TO WATCH

This camera is choppy, scenes are disconnected. I am not educated enough to know WHY but this ... cameraman? producer??? who is it??? NEEDS TO STUDY

The story really feels totally completely all chopped up in pieces and thrown in the air. Whoever was making the script the story and the camerwork, HAS NO CLUE and seems to lack attention span, focus, and ability to THINK CREATIVELY

and just needs to go back and take some classes ... more classes.... and watch more of masterpieces to figure it out...

To be honest, the drama looks like it was made by someone who plays video games and wanted to make a "live" video game. The lack of quality of the story, of the camera, of the acting, of character development, etc is ALL EXACTLY LIKE IN A VIDEO GAME.
Video games are ... cheap. NOthing personal but they are cheap trashy stuff :) You cannot make a drama like a video game.
So get your face out of video games and start watching some dramas and movies with amazing camerawork and story. ...

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Fascinating story but debacle project

Twelve could have been an exciting series that grabbed viewers’ attention this year, but it mostly ended up being a disaster.

As someone who usually watches series because know how they end, I decided to watch this one. Despite having an exciting storyline, I realized in the end that I literally wasted my time. That said, even though it was a waste, it did have some positive aspects.
The only actors who truly make this series worth watching are Seo In-guk, Kang Mi-na, and Sung Dong il. I’m surprised at how the rest of the well-known cast—even some of my personal favorites—performed so artificially. Park Hyung-sik, whom I genuinely like, gave an oddly forced performance in this series. In my opinion, aside from these three, very few actors elevate the show.

I won’t even mention the visual effects, which, compared to other series in similar genres, were truly weak and a complete disaster.

The biggest flaw of this series was its terrible handling of the story. It felt as if you had to read a book beforehand just to understand what was happening. Honestly, if the series had a few more episodes and had properly focused on the main events, it wouldn’t have turned out such a disaster. The lack of attention to important flashbacks made the story feel like a rushed, childish performance. Perhaps if they hadn’t skimmed through everything so quickly and hadn’t been afraid to explain events better, the series could have been much stronger.

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why so much hate:((

i really do not understand hate that this drama is getting from people. maybe plot isn't the best and isn't showing anything new. war between good and evil and saving people from monsters/demons/ending of the world is something very popular in fantasy k-dramas.
actors did really good job, I actually started this show because od Park Hyungsik and Ma Dongseok and I do not regret it truly. I had so much fun while this binge watch.
also big plus for setting romance more at the background of the plot, this causes that action and battles between zodiacs and demons were more enjoyable, not thinking that its just because of love 🙄🙄
last two episode were a bit chaotic because of number of threads to develop and finishing them all tho and this little "apocalypse" after opening Hellmouth was something unnecessary in my opinion, they just lost their time
i wouldn't tell that my needs are that low that I enjoyed this particular show, maybe the thing is that I've been watching kdramas for over 10 years and I see development in the context of creation and the final product over the years...
in conclusion its definitely not "10/10 would recommend" show, but for sure "7/10 check it out" 8 eps are enough for this plot

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Eleven signs were harmed in the making of Tiger’s screentime

Watching Twelve honestly feels like Ryan Reynolds in his Green Lantern era. Big ambitions built on a cool concept, but get buried under weak world-building and dull lore. Green Lantern flopped because it threw CGI and lore at the screen without earning emotional investment, and Twelve makes the same mistake, just with prettier actors and zodiac powers (or not). Sadly, there’s no Deadpool on the horizon to save it.

It reminds me of the DC's early, failed attempt to replicate the MCU, rushing to assemble heroes without laying the necessary groundwork for their individual stories. Twelve falls into that exact trap, just on a smaller, K-drama scale. There's potential, yes. The cast? Solid. The core concept? Intriguing. But the execution? Disappointingly shallow, flat.

It wants to be Marvel level, but ends up feeling like Wish.com MCU. The emotional weight doesn’t land, the pacing feels random and weird, and it often confuses flash with depth. And look, I wasn't even expecting deep, layered storytelling. Most superhero shows get by just fine on simple plots built around cool characters. Heck, I wasn’t asking for logic either, I mean, we are watching a flying human crow as the main villain after all.

But what I at least expected was the bare minimum, a story that is easy to follow, entertaining to watch and characters with clear reasons to support their quest, just like what every other good superhero content is all about. Also, for the plot to respect the theme/title of the show, which was ultimately the reason why we hit the play button. What’s most shocking is the lack of polish, especially considering it’s produced under Disney, home of Marvel and a studio that’s supposed to be an expert at this genre.

The biggest ick I have from the start is how hard it is to tell which angel represents which zodiac sign. The zodiac concept had so much potential. You have 12 characters rooted in one of the most iconic themes in East Asian folklore, but the show does almost nothing with it. Outside of maybe 2–3 obvious signs (like Tiger and Pig), there’s little thought put into making each angel’s fighting style, personality, speech pattern, or presence reflect their sign. It becomes a shallow gimmick rather than a meaningful identity, and that’s such wasted potential. It feels like the most basic world-building detail they should’ve nailed with such a theme. (I only found out later that their names are literally the names of the animals in Korean, and they thought that was good enough lol)

I came into Twelve genuinely excited. I love supernatural/superpower dramas, and the premise had so much promise. I kept hoping it would improve, that it would eventually tap into the emotional or thematic depth the story hints at. But….

Honestly? This is so much worse than Uncanny Counter Season 2, and I hated that one. Easily the lowest rating I’ve ever given a K-drama. They really said “Twelve” but gave us Tiger and the Cameos. I felt cheated into watching this and I think I’ll be avoiding superhero K-dramas for a long while after this.

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Watchable although the starting is quite dull.

The story is like "The Eternals" of Marvel comics/movies.
The 12 are angels; animals, but in human form, living alongside humans. They were sent to earth to defeat satan, but lost most of their powers and are now living on earth. They rise/unite only when humans need them to defend themselves from evil entities.

They start the show with only 9 angels, don't know where the other 3 are. And 2 powerful devils. One is like a snake and the other is like a crow or bat (dunno). Quite similar to Lucifer.
It's watchable but it is quite dull. They are all suffering from boredom, and some are very depressed.
If we think of them as supernatural beings like Monkey King, Gumiho, Tiger spirit, Rabbit and Goat spirit, it will be easier to explain. Much like the K-drama A Korean Odyssey (2017).
I think they couldn't deliver the concept to us properly, and a lot of details are missing.

This drama has the potential. It just has to be delivered properly. This is my review after watching 2 eps. Still rooting for it to get better.

**Update** -> Nah, it's bad. Nothing makes sense. 80% of the story is missing, and it seems like they handed us a story with no backstory or beginning. I was hoping they would show us everything over time, but they didn't. The ending hints that they will carry on their angelic works, and Mir is kidnapped again. Which is the dumbest kdrama character EVER! TBH, idk why people are saying their acting is bad. Their acting was splendid, but the story was cut out everywhere. I mean, if Samin is human, how did he survive hundreds of years? No explanation for that. If the 4 angels were dead, and Samin revived them, shouldn't they be gone with Samin when he died? Why was Mir's power not sealed by god?? They said Ogwi is human, so why does he have powers and wings like a crow? Was he a discarded angel? And how the heck do rooster and rabbit powers seem unbeatable in front of dog, horse, snake and monkey powers combined??? So many more questions, but no explanation.

If you are really, really, really bored and drunk, you will enjoy this.

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