Welcome to my Tale of the Nine-Tailed – Unspoiled Review.  A gumiho (nine-tailed fox) has wandered for centuries disguised as a human, waiting for the reincarnation of his first love.  One day he meets a talented television producer who looks just like his lost love.  After losing her parents in a mysterious car accident when she was young, she has spent her life researching the supernatural and hosts a show about urban myths.  Despite the fact that this woman does not bare the fox bead that he gave her long ago, the gumiho is unmistakably drawn to her.  Could she be the one he has been waiting for?

Jo Bo Ah as Nam Ji Ah

Nam Ji Ah is a woman who has suffered her share of loss.  As a child, she and her parent’s are involved in a mysterious car accident, and when she woke up her parents were gone without a trace.  Her life has been devoted to trying to find what happened to them.  Even her career as a television producer for a series on urban myths is just an avenue for her to do more research into the unknown.  Before meeting Yeon, she had no idea that her past was as tragic as her present.  Now that she has met him, she falls immediately in love and joins in the effort to defeat Imoogi and gain a chance to live out their love.  

Ji Ah is independant and persistant.  Her stubbornness makes a formidable enemy, even for someone as sly as Imoogi.  But while I found Lee Dong Wook’s performance to be a little flat emotionally, I found Ji Ah’s character to just be kind of flat all around.  Even her strong, capable woman act got old and eventually turned into the typical kdrama damsel in distress.  I just didn’t care that much about what her character was doing apart from the main story.

Lee Tae Ri as Imoogi

Imoogi is the evil snake-like creature who killed Yeon’s love centruries ago.  Imoogi’s true self has been divided in half, and requires another human being to complete him, which is what he wants Ji Ah for.  I loved Lee Tae Ri’s portray of this villain.  Rather than choosing the angry shouting and red face, he gave us this coldly calm character who showed his true nature by being completely unaffected by the human condition and unmoved by any suffering or pain.  His piercing, direct gaze could give me chills and I believed in the evil intent of his character.  

♥ Kim Soo Oh (Blacky)

Jung Shi Yool who plays the role of Kim Soo Oh is a delightful young actor.  He is precocious and his line delivery and timing are amazing, especially for such a young actor.  The scenes between him and Kim Bum were some of my favorites, although I think he did well with all of his co-stars.  He never failed to make me giggle.  Let’s hope for big things in this little stars future.  I know I will look forward to seeing him again.  

♥Mystical Settings

The settings and cinematography for Tale of the Nine-Tailed were beautiful and I enjoyed the general mood they were able to create.  The use of black and white and light and dark to accentuate some of the more dramatic moments gave a richness to the scenes.  And they didn’t give in to the temptation to overuse CGI.  Overall, this was a nice drama visually.

Ji Ah’s Parents

For me, one of the most frustrating plot holes was Ji Ah’s parents.  Ji Ah spends the whole first half of the drama obsessing over how to bring them back.  But when they finally do come back, she swithces over to obsessing about her and Yeon and treat her paents as nothing more than an afterthought.  They don’t seem to have any purpose to the plot once they are rescued, but that seems weird when so much focus is put on them earlier.  Also, why did they go to that weird island in the beginning?  And how come Imoogi acted like having them was essential to his survival and then after they are rescued, he never gives them a second thought?  Their whole storyline is inconsistent and strange.

Lee Ryang’s Ending

Many fans seem to agree that Lee Ryang deserved a better ending than he got.  From the beginning, I predicted that Ryang would end up dying to save Yeon and Ji Ah, so it didn’t come as a big surprise.  But after watching him finally find peace and happiness for the first time in his life, it just seemed cold and unfair.  And if he did need to die, they could have at least given him a more heroic and memorable death scene.  Instead he didn’t even get to say good bye to his family.  And after everyone doing everything possible to save Yeon after his death, everyone just kind of accepted Ryang’s death without a second thought.  

You could say that Tale of the Nine-Tailed has a happy ending.  Yoo Ri and Shin Joo get married and keep Soo Oh as their own little one.  The Snail Bride finds her reincarnated husband and he is wooing her.  Taluipa and Eui Ong are making attempts to find compromise in their marriage, and healing has finally started.  And then mysteriously, Yeon comes back and marries Ji Ah.  And his wish has been granted.  He is now human.  Lee Ryang is the only shadow in an otherwise happy ending.  And then, in the final seconds, they slam down the ultimate plot twist.  After showing Yeon saying goodbye to the gatekeepers, going to the dentist, and having to wear glasses like an imperfect human, he gets up from bed, grabs his umbrella, and turns into a gumiho.  So he isn’t human after all??  You make the call!