# Tale of the Nine Tailed (구미호뎐)
**Tale of the Nine Tailed** (구미호뎐, *Gumihodyeon*) is a South Korean fantasy action romance television series that aired on the cable channel tvN from October 7 to December 3, 2020, in 16 episodes broadcast Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:30 KST[1](https://tvn.cjenm.com/ko/tvnninetailed/). Written by Han Woo-ri and directed by Kang Shin-hyo and Cho Nam-hyung, it stars [Lee Dong-wook](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-dong-wook) as Lee Yeon, a male nine-tailed fox (gumiho) living in a modern city, [Jo Bo-ah](https://www.edgepedia.org/jo-bo-ah) as the television producer Nam Ji-ah, and [Kim Bum](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-bum) as Lee Rang[2](https://cjenm.com/en/featured-contents/tale-of-the-nine-tailed/). Its premise of a male gumiho was presented as a departure from folklore, in which the creature usually appears as a woman[3](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20201008/lee-dong-wook-hopes-to-win-hearts-with-another-mystical-role).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original run | October 7 to December 3, 2020, tvN, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:30 KST, 16 episodes[1](https://tvn.cjenm.com/ko/tvnninetailed/) |
| Genre | Fantasy, romance, action; described as the story of a gumiho settled in the city and the producer who pursues him[2](https://cjenm.com/en/featured-contents/tale-of-the-nine-tailed/) |
| Writer and directors | Han Woo-ri (writer); Kang Shin-hyo and Cho Nam-hyung (directors)[2](https://cjenm.com/en/featured-contents/tale-of-the-nine-tailed/) |
| Main cast | Lee Dong-wook (Lee Yeon), Jo Bo-ah (Nam Ji-ah), Kim Bum (Lee Rang)[2](https://cjenm.com/en/featured-contents/tale-of-the-nine-tailed/) |
| Nielsen Korea ratings | 5.8 percent nationwide for both the premiere and the finale (6.4 percent in the metropolitan area for the finale), hovering around 4 to 5 percent in between[4](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20201204/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-wraps-up-amid-mixed-reactions) |
| Production | Studio Dragon and How Pictures[5](https://www.starnewskorea.com/stview.php?no=2020111714584078938) |
| Follow-up | Season 2, *Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938*, premiered May 6, 2023, with 12 episodes[6](https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/Tale_of_the_Nine_Tailed?hl=en_US&id=6DB61E509CFEF24FSH) |
## Premise
Lee Yeon, once the mountain god of the Baekdudaegan range, has settled in the modern city as a nine-tailed fox who hunts monsters and guides them to the underworld[2](https://cjenm.com/en/featured-contents/tale-of-the-nine-tailed/) • [7](https://www.soompi.com/article/1436495wpp/watch-lee-dong-wook-jo-bo-ah-and-kim-bum-describe-their-tale-of-the-nine-tailed-characters-first-impressions-and-more). He has waited 600 years for the reincarnation of his first love[2](https://cjenm.com/en/featured-contents/tale-of-the-nine-tailed/). Nam Ji-ah, a producing director of the investigative program "Finding Urban Myths," lost her parents in a mysterious accident at Fox Ridge in 1999, when she was nine years old; 21 years later, a report of a suspicious monster puts Lee Yeon on her trail[8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzQOY22vzEI) • [2](https://cjenm.com/en/featured-contents/tale-of-the-nine-tailed/).
The first episode opens with a strange wedding in which a female gumiho who broke the rules is killed, and Ji-ah, present at the scene, begins to investigate inconsistencies in the case, including fox hair from a fox native to the Korean peninsula[9](https://www.mt.co.kr/entertainment/2020/10/07/2020100723548252309). Kim Bum plays Lee Rang, a half-blooded gumiho and Lee Yeon's younger brother, whom the actor described as the most dangerous gumiho in the series[7](https://www.soompi.com/article/1436495wpp/watch-lee-dong-wook-jo-bo-ah-and-kim-bum-describe-their-tale-of-the-nine-tailed-characters-first-impressions-and-more) • [3](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20201008/lee-dong-wook-hopes-to-win-hearts-with-another-mystical-role). Jo Bo-ah in effect played four roles: Nam Ji-ah, Ji-ah possessed by the imugi, and her past-life counterpart Ah Eum, again possessed[10](https://foundintranslation.kr/totnt-jba-wrap-interview/). The villain of the first season is the imugi, a mythical serpent, played by Lee Tae Ri[11](https://www.soompi.com/article/1443296wpp/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-director-shares-his-intention-behind-the-drama-praises-lee-dong-wook-and-jo-bo-ahs-talent-and-more).
## Conception and folklore
Director Kang Shin-hyo said the project took about two years and seven months including planning, and that the gumiho was not his starting point: he set out to make a superhero story that was Korean at heart, asking what character from Korean folktales and tradition could stand in for the Marvel-style hero[11](https://www.soompi.com/article/1443296wpp/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-director-shares-his-intention-behind-the-drama-praises-lee-dong-wook-and-jo-bo-ahs-talent-and-more). Casting Lee Dong-wook was, in his words, decisive for whether viewers would believe at first sight that the lead was a gumiho[11](https://www.soompi.com/article/1443296wpp/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-director-shares-his-intention-behind-the-drama-praises-lee-dong-wook-and-jo-bo-ahs-talent-and-more).
The series drew repeatedly on Korean folk material. Alongside the gumiho and the imugi, it featured the snail bride, jangseung (Korean totem poles), mountain spirits, fortune-tellers, and the eoduksini, a type of ghost[11](https://www.soompi.com/article/1443296wpp/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-director-shares-his-intention-behind-the-drama-praises-lee-dong-wook-and-jo-bo-ahs-talent-and-more). Reviewers and viewers singled out these folk-tale creatures as a distinctive feature of the show[4](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20201204/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-wraps-up-amid-mixed-reactions).
## Broadcast and reception
The premiere drew a 5.8 percent nationwide viewership rating (Nielsen Korea), the highest among primetime Wednesday-Thursday series that day, ahead of JTBC's "Personal Life," KBS's "[Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol](https://www.edgepedia.org/do-do-sol-sol-la-la-sol)," and MBC's "When I Was The Most Beautiful"[3](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20201008/lee-dong-wook-hopes-to-win-hearts-with-another-mystical-role). Ratings then hovered around 4 to 5 percent, and the finale again scored 5.8 percent nationwide and 6.4 percent in the metropolitan area[4](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20201204/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-wraps-up-amid-mixed-reactions).
**Production break and spin-off.** From November 18, 2020, the series paused broadcast for a week to improve production quality, with a special, "Tale of the Nine Tailed: 600 Years of Legend," airing on the 18th[5](https://www.starnewskorea.com/stview.php?no=2020111714584078938). From November 18 to December 4, 2020, a three-part spin-off titled *Tale of the Nine Tailed: An Unfinished Story* aired, centered on Lee Rang and his accomplice Ki Yu-ri[6](https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/Tale_of_the_Nine_Tailed?hl=en_US&id=6DB61E509CFEF24FSH).
**Mixed reception.** The Korea Times reported that the series ended "amid mixed reactions": viewers praised the folk-tale creatures and the actors' performances, while some found the narrative slow-paced[4](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20201204/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-wraps-up-amid-mixed-reactions). The series was followed on tvN by the rom-com "True Beauty"[4](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20201204/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-wraps-up-amid-mixed-reactions).
## Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938
A second season, *[Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938](https://www.edgepedia.org/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-1938)* (구미호뎐1938), premiered on May 6, 2023, with Lee Dong-wook and Kim Bum reprising their roles, [Kim So-yeon](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-so-yeon) joining as the female lead, and new cast members including Ryu Kyung-soo[6](https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/Tale_of_the_Nine_Tailed?hl=en_US&id=6DB61E509CFEF24FSH). The 12-episode season aired on tvN Saturdays and Sundays from May 6 to June 11, 2023, and was the first [Studio Dragon](https://www.edgepedia.org/studio-dragon) work with joint marketing on Amazon Prime Video, where it ranked highly in several Southeast Asian countries[12](https://securities.miraeasset.com/bbs/download/2107401.pdf?attachmentId=2107401) • [13](https://studiodragon.irplus.co.kr/fileupload/analyst/202305/20230531_sd1.pdf). The story moves Lee Yeon to the colonial-era year of 1938, an era of chaos, from which he struggles to return to the present[14](https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0JHTF707DDFTXCBV15EJNDNRJU?tr=to).
The second season's soundtrack was composed by music director Hong Dae-sung and co-composer Park Seo-hee. Because the season's genre was action and fantasy with almost no romance, the composers wrote new action-oriented music and used Korean traditional instruments for the monster characters, alongside swing and jazz for the 1930s setting and contemporary sound for the modern era[15](https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/HonoraryReporters/view?articleId=234751).
## References
1. [구미호뎐 | tvN (CJ ENM)](https://tvn.cjenm.com/ko/tvnninetailed/)
2. [Tale Of The Nine Tailed | Drama | CJ ENM](https://cjenm.com/en/featured-contents/tale-of-the-nine-tailed/)
3. [Lee Dong-wook hopes to win hearts with another mystical role, The Korea Times (October 8, 2020)](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20201008/lee-dong-wook-hopes-to-win-hearts-with-another-mystical-role)
4. ['Tale of the Nine Tailed' wraps up amid mixed reactions, The Korea Times (December 4, 2020)](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20201204/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-wraps-up-amid-mixed-reactions)
5. ['구미호뎐' 이동욱·조보아·김범, 휴방 아쉬움 달래는 비하인드, Star News Korea (November 17, 2020)](https://www.starnewskorea.com/stview.php?no=2020111714584078938)
6. [Tale of the Nine Tailed, Google Play TV listing](https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/Tale_of_the_Nine_Tailed?hl=en_US&id=6DB61E509CFEF24FSH)
7. [Watch: Lee Dong Wook, Jo Bo Ah, And Kim Bum Describe Their "Tale Of The Nine-Tailed" Characters, Soompi (November 8, 2020)](https://www.soompi.com/article/1436495wpp/watch-lee-dong-wook-jo-bo-ah-and-kim-bum-describe-their-tale-of-the-nine-tailed-characters-first-impressions-and-more)
8. [[1화 예고] 이동욱x조보아 ... TALE OF THE NINE TAILED EP.1, tvN DRAMA (YouTube, September 28, 2020)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzQOY22vzEI)
9. ['구미호뎐' 조보아, 21년 만에 구미호 이동욱 재회, Money Today (October 7, 2020)](https://www.mt.co.kr/entertainment/2020/10/07/2020100723548252309)
10. [Tale of the Nine Tailed – Jo Bo Ah Q&A Wrap Interview, Found in Translation (December 4, 2020)](https://foundintranslation.kr/totnt-jba-wrap-interview/)
11. ["Tale Of The Nine-Tailed" Director Shares His Intention Behind The Drama, Soompi (December 13, 2020)](https://www.soompi.com/article/1443296wpp/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-director-shares-his-intention-behind-the-drama-praises-lee-dong-wook-and-jo-bo-ahs-talent-and-more)
12. [Studio Dragon lineup and ratings table, Mirae Asset Securities research report (May 2023)](https://securities.miraeasset.com/bbs/download/2107401.pdf?attachmentId=2107401)
13. [삼성증권 스튜디오드래곤 리포트 (May 31, 2023)](https://studiodragon.irplus.co.kr/fileupload/analyst/202305/20230531_sd1.pdf)
14. [Prime Video: Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 Season 2](https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0JHTF707DDFTXCBV15EJNDNRJU?tr=to)
15. [2 composers of K-drama's OST explain their approaches, Korea.net (June 30, 2023)](https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/HonoraryReporters/view?articleId=234751)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Korean contemporary drama › Fantasy, supernatural, and science fiction series › Premiered 2010 to 2022*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license