Romance and Birth Secrets Moves to Hanyang as The Tale of Nokdu Continues to Be Perfect Drama Watching

It’s like the screenwriter can read my mind and gives me everything I ask for and more with The Tale of Nokdu. I get tired of Nokdu cross-dressing and the widow’s village is wiped out, he returns to being a dude permanently, and the action moves to Hanyang and the central birth secret and palace intrigue plot. The romance also ups the stakes as now we know Dong Joo’s target is Nokdu’s royal daddy so that’s some major Romeo and Juliet angst, but the drama doesn’t keep them separated for long and also reunites them with the same sass and bickering we love. This week’s episodes cement for me that Tale of Nokdu is the best of traditional young romance sageuk storytelling, ten years ago this drama would have way more viewers and buzz during the heyday of Hallyu dramas and we’d probably see Jang Geun Seok and Park Shin Hye as the leads as it’s basically reverse You’re Beautiful and hot damn it’s just marvelous to watch. Jang Dong Yoon just made himself a K-drama male lead career and Kim So Hyun has found her best onscreen male lead if you ask me.


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Romance and Birth Secrets Moves to Hanyang as The Tale of Nokdu Continues to Be Perfect Drama Watching — 35 Comments

  1. Great drama! Such a fun watch. Too bad have to wait for 6 more days… Love both leads. The King has very warm eyes when he looks at Nokdu, wonder how the story will proceed on all these entangled relationships. Still not clear on Dongju back story, she must be from a noble family…

  2. Tale of nokdu is currently the IT drama at the moment. Undoubtedly one of the best drama of 2019. And yes this show would have been crazy hit back then when hallyu fever was on.

    • Back then these two would be flooded with endorsement love calls and fan meeting tours. It’s harder now but I hope they still get to do all those things.

      • Younger actors have to struggle more these days. Just because a drama is successful or popular doesn’t mean they get rewarded for it. This is a great drama with great acting by these two young stars. Good luck to them. They deserve much more recognition.

      • fan meetings do not interest me. With gaining popularity, I hope JDY will receive more drama offers and maybe a movie with great veterans so he can continue to grace us on screen with his talents. He is really good at everything as Nokdu – can fight, can dance (he tried to teach DJ the dance which she could not learn), can fish, can cook… needless to say being beautiful all around, shirtless especially. hee hee… I am so mesmerized!

  3. KSH and JDY are a match made in heaven. You know they love acting with each other and it shows in their on screen chemistry. Too bad hallyu is dead because these two would be the biggest hallyu stars of the year. I think in some way they still are. It’s career making for both of them.

  4. Kim So Hyun has had a great year. With the global success of not 1 but 2 dramas she basically cemented her status as the next generation of stalwarts. Jang Dong Yoon is going to bask in this role for many years to come. His leading man role is set in stone. Congratulations to both of them for giving us this amazing drama.

  5. This is one of the best airing dramas on air. The writing is excellent but kim so hyun and jang dong yoon win me over with their acting and chemistry. The pacing for this drama is perfect and packs a punch everytime.

  6. LOVE this drama! I was surprised at how GREAT the storytelling, direction, lead and supporting cast are. I hope it continues to be great until the end. So happy for these 2 lead actors!!

  7. I like this drama! I would like to know more about DJ because her story is stagnating. But in the same time, she wants to kill the King, father of Nokdu… So will it follow the Romeo and Juliet or Moonlight Drown by Clouds’s story?

    The cast is great. I knew that Jang Dong Yoon was a great choice! He’s killing this role. KSH is really lovely in this role.

  8. Even a few years ago the ratings would have been in late teens or early twenties. This is a quality drama deserving of all the praise.

  9. Definitely my favourite KSH pairing so far, and JDY is such a gem! I’m going to miss having this pair after another 7 episodes T_T

  10. JDY joins the ranks of my fave KSH pairs after Sungjae, Taecyeon, Jisoo and Song Kang. Got to hand it to KSH. She knows how to create chemistry with her co actors.

  11. Jdy & ksh & the entire crew deserve all the love and praise, too bad hard work doesn’t translate attention this time around. This is really a beautiful story and every character plays such a wonderful part.

  12. Few months ago when reading koala post about casting on this drama, I was first curious about how they gonna pull off man disguises as a female. Is it possible? When this drama is out, Im also checking out Vagabond and Melting Me. But I ended up falling in love with this one. Im glad I did check out the drama. When I saw JDY transformed as Mrs Kim, my jaw dropped. How can a guy be beautiful as a woman, then hot as a man on one scene? When I saw the chemistry, I am SOLD. To make it better, all the casts are perfect, eveyone is doing great job. Aeng Du, that little witty girl, own her scenes. This drama makes me remember Jang Dong Yoon. It is truly a must watch drama. Now, I am just hoping the writer didnt turn this drama too gloomy in the 2nd half like Moonlight Drawn by Sword.

  13. I think this is the least performances I see from Kim Soo Hyun. Maybe she know her char doesn’t doing much and centre more about Nokdu. There is less passion, So Jang Dong Yoon really sell their chemistry and the director know how to create tension between them.

    I really sold with Nokdu’s journey and the way JDY potray him with such vulnerability ahhh. and that’s the only think that makes me love Nokdu. As a char, I don’t like the writers makes his char so clingy and had me roll my eyes during jealousy period.

    This drama is mediocre, and epis

    • This story is suppose to revolve around nokdu hence the title “tale of nokdu.” I disagree, she plays a central role in this drama, you should look at ruler, her character there was more of a supporting actress, maybe cameo even lol

      Idk, I saw so much passion esp when she was wrapping a bandage around his waist. I held my breath that entire scene when she move forward and backwards, it looks like she was swooping in for an intense hug hahaha

      His clingy nature is what adds to the laugh of the show but you’re entitled to your opinion ^^

    • Agree with @Casey that his clinginess adds to the laughs. I like him to be clingy. Nokdu grew up on an island (probably very few women live on a deserted island), his mother (adoptive mother) did not like him despite him trying to please her all the time, he only has his father and older brother (who is now distanced). Therefore, with his background, I am totally sold on why he is so clingy. @missjb – Funny that you rate this drama as mediocre. of coz you are entitled to your own opinion. But if this is mediocre, what is better among the dramas currently airing? Just wondering. VB & MMS are sucky. Flower Crew is very mediocre. Catch is also blah… Hmmm… I can’t think of anything else. I am watching Japanese dramas again…

      • I don’t want to involved other drama. But this drama means for entertainment. But in terms of execution, it feels formulaic and at times contrived. Now we already in the live shooting period, the quality of the show might be more affected.

      • I’m not sure why you see it formulaic and contrived.

        It tosses so many tropes out and reverse it.
        1. male cross dressing, even female lead cross dress
        2. Majority of the cast are women
        3. has bi-sexual character
        4. love triangle is like a love octagon
        5. both male and female leads take turns saving each other
        6. separation between leads are less than an episode
        7. huge twist with second male lead
        8. almost every character in this show has an alias and a secret
        9. first kiss between the three leads happened in like the 4 or 5th episode, early on.

        and etc.

        i’m not sure why you would continue watching a mediocre show but it’s your freedom to do whatever you want hahaha

      • @Missjb – all K-dramas are formulaic. Name one which is not. Between copycat and webtoon adaptation, the Koreans has no new ideas. Entertainment-wise, this drama is two thumbs up for me.

      • The golden pyramid of K-dramas – love triangle, birth secret, terminal illness. Scoring 2 out of 3 is expected. Scoring all 3 will be makjang. LOL.

    • Well. You can use tropes, but making effort to add something would make the different to functional into narrative.the romance is around in circle which is yet to actually functional to the plot

      It has birth secret which will become the central of the plot, which has been done before, but the execution is bored af. And I don’t have any attachment to any character other than Nokdu and the assasin. They feel one dimensional. Some character is carried by the actor itself.

      I do have favourite episode where everything feels come together. But it’s back to square one once again.

      I think I just have to watch it for entertainment and How Nokdu’s journey actually will unfold.

  14. guys help me. i’ve watch this drama untill the 20th episode, but i still confused with the birth secret. Who’s nokdu’s father and mother? If the king is nokdu’s father, why does he want to kill nokdu? please help me i just dont get it T_T

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