Tale of Nokdu: Eps 1 & 2 Post Spoilers Here

Thanks, @agdr03 and @nrllee, for watching “Melting Me Softly.” You took one for the team!

@agdr03 and I have the same sense of humor and if she couldn’t find anything funny in the first two episodes, then I know the show wouldn’t tickle my funny bone. Meanwhile, @nrllee and I have the same sense of ridiculous, and if she found this plot ridiculous, then I would, too. I’m writing the romcom off as a boondoogle.

Instead, I’m going to watch the “Tale of Nokdu” for this guy, Jang Dong Yoon.

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He has an interesting start to his film career.  He was a college student who helped the police apprehend a burglar at his local convenience store. He received a commendation from the police for his “quick-thinking” and when it was televised, the knetizens exclaimed how handsome he looked. A CEO of an entertainment company contacted him after that.

source: koreaboo

I googled the meaning of nokdu. It means mung beans. According to this site, the mung bean is yellow inside, with a green skin.

mung beanscredit: maangchi.com

The male lead’s name is Jun NokDoo (sounds like nokdu, doesn’t it?).  He disguises himself as a woman (the green skin) and hides a secret (his yellow bean…lol…I hope the writer isn’t alluding to the size of his male anatomy. That would be awkwarddddd).

Warning: The story was originally a webtoon so I’m low-balling the intellectual content of this show. I want to see how much blarney this romcom will produce.

I hope some of you will join me. I’m still watching “Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency” but “Tale of Nokdu” should be interesting.

 

34 Comments On “Tale of Nokdu: Eps 1 & 2 Post Spoilers Here”

  1. I am curious about this one too.

  2. Tale of Nokdu for the win!! I saw the preview clips for this drama and it looks so cute! I think I have found my fluff watch for this fall. Anyway, I have been waiting for weeks to see this drama. Luckily, this drama is being subbed at several streaming sites: Kocowa, Viki, and VIU. You will need VikiPass to watch at Viki, but I think it will be on Taste24 over at Kocowa. Here are links:

    Kocowa: https://www.kocowa.com/series/the-tale-of-nokdu/2308902?sub=Y
    Viki: https://www.viki.com/tv/36680c-the-tale-of-nokdu
    VIU: https://www.viu.com/

    While we wait for subs, feel free to watch all the english subbed teasers at Kocowa and Viki pages.

    Also, here is the 5 minute preview from KBS YT:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=lcns8pc5Nok

    EDIT: The raw files for episode 1 and 2 have been uploaded on Viki already! Amazing! I did a skim watch and I love it already! My girl Kim So Hyun is great as usual and I am liking Jang Dong Young in this role. (I haven’t seen much of him before) Can’t wait to watch it again with subs!

  3. Uh, oh! I think my other comment got deleted somehow. I’m looking forward to watching this with subs. The raw episodes are already uploaded at Viki. I skim watched and I really like what I saw. KSH and JDY are doing great!

  4. Is it the one with the links? No worries. I retrieved it.

    Thanks!! The first episode looks hilarious.

  5. Too much dramas to watch this week! Nokdu FLower, Extraordinary You (the FL looks so funny) and My Country!

  6. Gives me “Some Like it Hot” feels.

    There’s a little something for everyone:
    All women assassination gang/cult/pick a description…with a
    Mysterious mastermind
    King with lots of dead enemies/ enemies with murder on their minds, but who couldn’t (?)/did bring himself to commit infanticide?
    Heroine in hiding who’s looking for bloody vengeance against the king
    Hero who may be of royal blood Trying to find himself
    Female three musketeers (seems to me any way)
    Traditional second male lead, smart, kind, caring, wealthy, etc. etc. etc. who may (?) know the heroine’s secret, and of course being refused by the heroine
    And last but not least,
    Suitor for our hero in his female form

    What did I miss?
    And I thought episode one held together reasonably well.

  7. Howdy! 🙂 I’m on to this one too! Count me in 🙂 If a guy did that kind of help in their local community then he’s a good guy inside. He’s appearance is icing on the cake. 🙂

    I don’t think I’ve ever watch Kim So Hyun before and Jang Dong Yoon so it will be a fresh pairing for me. 🙂

    I will try to watch Flower Crew as well, I did try to start it the other night but I was really tired and couldn’t continue.

  8. Okkkay! I hope Tale of Nokdu gets subbed soon.

    Flower Crew starts slow but as @barbrey said, Ep 4 is when the main leads, esp the guy, show more interest.

  9. @pm3 Thank you for being able to save my previous post with the links. I watched the subbed eps at other places because I couldn’t wait for Viki to finish. (Maybe my will power will be better tomorrow). And.. OMG! This is too cute! I’m in love! I haven’t seen the male lead in many dramas before watching this, but i am really liking his performance and goodness, he is a pretty lady. (Not as pretty as my Kim So Hyun, but I do find him mostly believable “in disguise.”) It looks like KSH character Dong Ju has already found out Nok Du’s secret at the end of the first hour, but maybe not. I’m hoping that she still doesn’t know so that we can have just a few more cohabit hijinks where she thinks he’s a lady before it switches over to “partners in crime” hijinks and the usual man/woman cohabit hijinks.

    I did find it interesting that the widows’ village was OK with having the Gisaeng House as their neighbor and looked upon the head gisaeng as their leader, since gisaengs are prostitutes, I believe? I would think that the virtuous widows would look down on their neighbors. I’ll look forward to learning more about the Gisaengs of Joseon era Korea through this drama since out female lead is a reluctant trainee.

    Another thing I found interesting is the horror of everyone when Dong Ju cut her hair in ep. 2 Obviously, the long hair must have been considered central to a woman’s female identity in those days, but all the men have long hair too, so I am thinking there must be more to it.

    Finally, I was sure Nok Du was going to be found out as a man right away at the end of ep. 2 when he got stripped and thrown in the river because I though the other ladies would see his lack of boobs right away, but it didn’t happen because no one got actually naked but rather they kept on their underclothes and all of the women looked like they had no chest at all, so Nok Du was safe there I thought. But then his shoulder got exposed and everyone freaked out.

    Anyway, loving the performances by all the cast, the mystery elements of the script,the comedy and the fun vibe. I’m looking forward to the next episode!

  10. Whoa!! All that in one episode? Is it subbed yet?

    Marilyn Monroe!!! Lol. I can’t imagine Kim Sohyun as Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis was a nasty man in real life. I preferred his contemporary Paul Newman. And Rock Hudson in McMillan and Wife. My age is showing so I should pipe down. 😂

  11. Good. Good. Thanks!
    I’m glad we’re finding a drama that most of us can watch.

  12. Wait. Isn’t Nokdu Flower the one with Yoon ShiYoon and the peasant revolt?

  13. Yes, one must Not confuse NokDu Flower and Tales of NokDu. A sad tale of a peasant revolution vs a rom com fantasy.

  14. hahaha.

    One should not confuse a peasant revolution with a fusion sageuk. It’s like confusing “Dr. Zhivago” with “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.”

  15. Ok, I have to ask – did you see “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”? If so, a few word would be appreciated. It’s been on my lisT for a Long time.

  16. @FlyingTool, the book was crap. I’m not even an Austen purist. I loved Clueless, for example, which is based on Emma. But I’m left wondering with this one, why bother if you’re adding nothing interesting or new except some boring zombies. And yes, zombies are the most boring of all undead species, nothing psychologically rich or physically sexy about them, but they are occasionally made interesting en masse because of sadistic filmmakers or writers, and this writer wasn’t sadistic, just looking to make a quick buck off the zombie trend.

    I hated it. Rant over 🙂

  17. Ah yeah not Nokdu Flower… Tales of Nokdu. I’m really not good with names…

  18. “Ah yeah not Nokdu Flower… Tales of Nokdu. I’m really not good with names…”

    I don’t blame you. The NokDu term suddenly appeared like from nowhere?? It’s strange how KDrama seems to have spates where everything has similar genres or themes and I get them all mixed up…there was a time when legal dramas were being churned out…then suddenly NokDu-s…and now I am confusing the Joseon dramas that are playing with similar type themes and casts… I keep confusing the Joseon Marriage one with this one (Tales of Nokdu) for some reason. 😂. Rookie Historian just finished as well so it’s all sort of meshing together. I was intrigued by Won JiAh after watching her in Melting Me Softly. In the few brief moments when she was called upon to emote, she shone. So I decided to find if she was in anything more melo and sure enough Just Between Lovers popped up and I am loving her in that. It’s got depth and the acting it great.

  19. Tale of NokDu ep. 1-2 are now completely subbed at Viki. Viki is still subbing ep. 3-4, but it is finished at Kocowa and “other places”.

    I saw some clips of Melt Me, but I’m still going to wait until a few more episodes are out before watching.
    @nrllee- Just Between Lovers is an awesome drama and Won Ji Nah is great in it.

  20. Glad to know. Am watching on Dramacool right now but will transfer to Viki then.

  21. Assassin Lily: Do you know who’s the hardest to deal with? Lucky sons of bitches.

    Describes our hero to a T. From infancy. Of course, lucky describes live heroes, fictional or real.

    We have a. minister with some confused behavior…
    1. Helps install the new king during the troubles
    2. Lets the infant (royalty?) escape
    3. Runs a secret all female assassination company who were sent to kill the now grown infant
    4. Wants to choke the king to death, but can’t quite bring himself to do it for some reason

    I suppose he wants to take over and regrets letting the infant live?

  22. Oh, and one more mysterious character, the loyal servant of our second male lead…and a Master swordsman. He is SO good that He can cleave a large block of ice into smaller blocks of ice without any chipping or mess, so that his master can make bingsu for the ginsengs.

    There is even an ice block delivery man. I wonder if we’ll see more of the ice delivery man?

  23. Oh my gosh! Nok Du is so pretty as a girl and looks hot as a man especially after catching a fish 😆 He’s doing great acting as a woman. I love it and this pairing looks great together! 😍 The series is definitely more funnier than Flower Crew. I can’t wait when the romance kicks in. ☺️ Bring it on! 🙌🏻

  24. Isn’t the “little wife” scene funny though? That’s the first time I’ve seen an opening like that.

    The NokDu actor was in one of those reality TV shows where they try to survive in an island. He’s supposedly a good swimmer and he has his scuba diving certifications.

  25. Oh the little girl whom he said he’ll marry! I thought that was cute and funny! 😁 I can say she’s got very good taste 😆

    Ah no wonder he has a swimmer shape for a body. He’s perfect for this role. ☺️

  26. Haha. That loyal servant can easily find work aboard a cruise ship or in a hotel. He can be in charge of creating those ice scupltures for the buffet.

  27. Help! Can you or somebody here explain the King’s side story for me? All the Ahjussis, including the king, aides and Nokdu’s dad look alike. 😂

  28. Howdy! ☺️

    Nokdu’s Dad is Mr Park from MOA. 😁 Is NokDu a crown prince? Sorry that’s all I can think for now after waking up 😆

  29. Oh!!! That’s why he looked familiar. But I couldn’t place him.

    Thanks.

    And good morning to you!

  30. Thanks. ☺️ Working from home today as my eldest will go out with his classmates so I’ll stay with my youngest.

    He’s also from He’s Psychometric. Amazing how we know actors now from different dramas 😊

  31. @nrllee I think they like trend in Korea, so during the same year we can have a lot of robot dramas, travel time, etc.

    For the title, it was hard between Life and Live…

  32. Yes. It’s fall here where I am so watching spring time colors and blooms is jarring to me.

  33. oh man…you all are getting me hooked! I’m going to watch the episodes over the weekend!

  34. Yes. This is very fun to watch too.

    The director/writer style is a little different from Flower Crew although they are both Joseon fusion sageuks.

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