The Tale of Nokdu


The Tale of Nokdu is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Jang Dong-yoon, Kim So-hyun, Kang Tae-oh, and Jung Joon-ho. It is based on the webtoon by Hye Jin-yang which was published in 2014 on Naver Webtoon. It aired on KBS2 from September 30 to November 25, 2019. It is also available for streaming on Viki, Kocowa, Viu, and Netflix in selected regions.
WWW program.kbs.co.kr/2tv/dra...

Synopsis

Set in the Joseon period, the series is about a man who disguises as a woman to enter a mysterious women-only village in search of the truth about his birth; and a young woman who does not want to become a kisaeng in pursuit of revenge for her family.

Cast

Main

Supporting

People around Jeon Nok-du

  • Lee Seung-joon as Jung Yoon-jeo, Nok-du and Hwang-tae's father.
  • Song Geon-hee as Jeon Hwang-tae / Jung Yi-hyun, Nok-du's older brother.
  • Lee Moon-sik as Hwang Jang-gun, a martial art master and soon to be father-in-law of Nokdu.
  • Go Geon-han as Yeon Geun, a rich man who manages the widow village and is entangled with Nok-du.
  • Park Da-yeon as Hwang Aeng-du, 7 years old daughter of Hwang Jang-gun. She is convinced that her father promised to marry her with Nokdu, so she called Nokdu "honey".

People around Cha Yool-moo

  • Hwang In-youp as Park Dan-ho, Cha Yool-moo's escort warrior with an excellent sword skill. He is ambitious in sword-fighting and very loyal to Yool-moo, willing to even lay down his life if needed to protect him.
  • Kim Yi-kyung as Ok-ran, a kisaeng who is jealous of Yool-moo's one-sided devotion towards Dong-joo.

People around King Gwanghae

Kisaengs

  • Yoon Yoo-sun as Cheon Hae-soo, the head and guardian of the village to protect the kisaeng and the widow village.
  • Lee Joo-bin as Mae Hwa-soo, a friend of Dong-joo and the most popular kisaeng with her talent and natural dancing ability.

Member of the Virtuous Women Corps (''Yeollyeodan'')

  • Yoon Sa-bong as Kang Soon-nyeo
  • Hwang Mi-young as Park Bok-nyeo
  • Yoon Geum Sun Ah as Lee Mal-nyeon

Member of the Muwol Corps (''Muwoldan'')

  • Cho Soo-hyang as Kim Ssook, a calm and cautious widow who has impressive sword skills.
  • Song Chae-yoon as Min Deul-re, a mysterious person who is following Nokdu and the dandelion.
  • Han Ga-rim as No Yeon-boon
  • Yang So-min as Ahn Jeong-sook

Others

Special appearances

  • Park Chul-min as the father-in-law of the escaper and the holder of elephant treasure statue of Ming Dynasty.
  • Lee Ho-jae as the father who threw the stone at the king
  • Jung Yi-rang as the inn owner

Production

Original soundtrack

Part 8

Reception

The series had a strong opening week for KBS2's Monday-Tuesday 22:00 time slot with ratings ranging from 6-8% that was last achieved by Sweet Stranger and Me back in 2016. It was announced on October 2 that due to "The Tale of Nokdu effect", Wavve has increased 4.5 times in paid subscribers daily and peak-time traffic rose more than 30% due to service reorganization, wave marketing and monopoly contents after launching a month before the drama aired. In addition, the drama reached 8.8% of the total viewing time of domestic dramas provided by Wavve considering it provides both latest and old series.
Jang Dong-yoon saddled to a difficult task in transforming himself into a woman by growing out his hair and going on a severe diet to be able to pass as a woman in hanbok received praises from the viewers. He and Kim So-hyun were donned the nickname "Manhwa tearing" chemistry by the viewers for capturing everything from laughter to excitement and adding their own colors to the original characters.
According to the Content Power Index, The Tale of Nokdu was ranked second in both drama and non-drama and first in the drama category. In addition, according to the Good Data Corporation survey, the series was ranked third place in online video consumption of currently airing and upcoming dramas, and Jang Dong-yoon and Kim So-hyun were ranked third and fifth respectively in the list of top 10 most talked about actors and actresses in South Korea. As of 4th Week of November, the drama ended topped on the list of top 10 most talked about dramas.
SeoulBeats gave the drama a positive review, saying: "...cannot be defined by a single genre. The ability of the drama to experiment with various genres at once is due in large part to the complex character motives, desires, and relationships that drive the plot." Although mild, The Tale of Nokdu indirectly demonstrates the great abilities of women from special bodyguards, female assassins to a community of widows. Moon Soo-yeon of The Fact praised Jang dong-yoon, Kim So-hyun and Kang Tae-oh's acting performance to the ever-changing atmosphere in a work where the elements of comic, melo, action, and traditional historical drama were properly harmonized. Sarah Kim, SVP of content and partnerships at Rakuten Viki stated that "It was good to have a cross-dressing drama, which has not been produced since Coffee Prince."
The Tale of Nokdu ranked 15th on 2019 Wavve Chart. According to a survey conducted by SBS, the series ranked 5th among the Korean dramas in 2019.