📺 K-Drama Guide · Fantasy · Historical
Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938
구미호뎐 1938 · 2023
✅ Completed · 12 eps
🎬 Prime Video · TVING
⭐ 8.8 / 10 MDL
📅 15+
⚡ Updated · Apr 28, 2026
📋 Drama Overview
The essentials — before you press play.
Completed
✨ Fantasy Must-Watch
Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938
구미호뎐 1938 (Gumihodyeon 1938) · 2023 · South Korea
Prime Video
TVING
Nine-Tailed Fox
Time Travel
Korean Mythology
Colonial Era
Brotherhood
Supernatural
Lee Yeon (Lee Dong Wook) finally has what he spent centuries searching for — the woman he loves, and a life that feels like it belongs to him. Then the Samdocheon Guardian Stone is stolen, and he is dragged back in time to 1938 Gyeongseong, Korea under Japanese occupation. Disoriented and cut off from the present, he finds himself navigating a colonial world where the supernatural and the human coexist in uneasy, dangerous proximity.
In this version of 1938, he encounters Ryu Hong-joo (Kim So Yeon), now the formidable owner of the luxury restaurant Myoyeongak, and reunites with his estranged younger brother Lee Rang (Kim Bum) — still carrying every wound from their complicated history. Standing against them is Cheon Moo-young (Ryu Kyung Soo), once a trusted ally who has turned dangerously hostile. To get back to the present, Lee Yeon must recover the stone, face the past he never fully resolved, and decide what his brother truly means to him.
Episode Progress
12 / 12 ✅ Completed
⚡ Quick Verdict
The short version — everything that matters, boxed up.
⭐ Worth it?YES — especially if you love Lee Rang
⏱️ CommitmentHigh — ~14 hours total
💛 VibeMythic · Bittersweet · Brotherhood
📺 Skip if…You haven’t seen Season 1 at all
⭐ 8.8 / 10
· MDL Score · 23,216 ratings
🎭 Cast & Characters
A gumiho, his estranged brother, and the formidable western mountain god — together against a 1938 that wants them all dead.
Lee Dong Wook
Lee Yeon
Lead
Kim So Yeon
Ryu Hong-joo
Lead
Ryu Kyung Soo
Cheon Moo-young
Antagonist
Kim Yong Ji
Sunwoo Eun-ho
Supporting
Kim Jung Nan
Taluipa
Supporting
Hwang Hee
Koo Shin-joo
Supporting
An Kil-kang
Hyunuiong
Supporting
Han Gun Yoo
Yoo Jae-yoo
Supporting
Kim Joo Young
Mae Hwa
Supporting
Kim Na Hyun
Nancho
Supporting
Kang Na Eon
Guk Hee
Supporting
🍿 Where to Watch
Stream Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938 on these platforms.
📺 Episode Guide
Just enough to stay oriented, episode by episode.
EP 01
Dragged Into the Past
May 6, 2023 · tvN
Lee Yeon’s life after Nam Ji-ah is interrupted by the theft of the Samdocheon Guardian Stone, which pulls him back to 1938 Gyeongseong without warning. Disoriented in colonial Korea, he discovers his estranged brother Lee Rang is here — alive, and every bit as guarded as he’s always been. The episode sets the stakes: recovering the stone is the only way home, but 1938 has its own agenda for everyone involved.
EP 02
Brothers at Odds
May 6, 2023 · tvN
Lee Yeon and Lee Rang begin working together despite their long, complicated history — the dynamic between them crackles with unsaid things. Taluipa appears and issues a mission: find the Legendary Pipe. Meanwhile, the shape of their past resentment starts to reveal itself, and it’s uglier and sadder than either wants to admit.
EP 03
Myoyeongak
May 13, 2023 · tvN
Ryu Hong-joo’s restaurant is the episode’s centrepiece — and Kim So Yeon commands every scene she’s in. Lee Yeon encounters the western mountain god in her full element: powerful, guarded, and clearly hiding things about the Guardian Stone’s whereabouts. Reporter Sunwoo Eun-ho stumbles into the supernatural world she barely knows exists, and it’s not a comfortable landing.
EP 04
The Enemy Emerges
May 13, 2023 · tvN
Cheon Moo-young’s intentions come into clearer focus, and the threat he represents is bigger than anyone anticipated. The Japanese colonial authorities — embodied by Ryuhei Kato and Akira Saito — begin closing in on supernatural beings operating in Gyeongseong. Lee Rang wrestles with himself: does he help his brother because he wants to, or because he has nowhere else to be?
EP 05
Secrets of the Restaurant
May 20, 2023 · tvN
Myoyeongak is far more than a place to eat — it’s a node in the supernatural underground of 1938 Gyeongseong, and its secrets run deep. Lee Yeon’s investigation into Cheon Moo-young’s true motivation reaches a key revelation, while Koo Shin-joo heads into a dangerous monster hunt that puts everyone on edge. The episode expands the world significantly.
EP 06
The Hunt Intensifies
May 20, 2023 · tvN
The colonial authorities’ hunt for supernatural beings reaches a new level of danger, forcing Lee Yeon’s group into corners they can’t easily escape. Lee Rang’s relationship with Jang Yeo-hee — a half-blood mermaid — begins to take on real emotional weight, and it softens him in ways he’d rather no one notice. Cheon Moo-young becomes openly aggressive, suggesting his goals have nothing to do with simple villainy.
EP 07
The Mermaid’s Song
May 27, 2023 · tvN
Jang Yeo-hee’s dual life — clothing store employee by day, singer at Club Paradise by night — becomes central to the episode’s emotional texture. Her bond with Lee Rang deepens into something neither of them has a vocabulary for, and it becomes the show’s most unexpectedly tender thread. Lee Yeon begins to understand that getting home may cost more than he originally calculated.
EP 08
Night Closes In
May 27, 2023 · tvN
Tensions converge as Cheon Moo-young’s plan crystallises and the pressure on Lee Yeon’s group becomes overwhelming. The colonial forces and supernatural threats arrive simultaneously from different directions, pushing everyone to their limits. Lee Yeon recounts his history with both Lee Rang and Hong-joo — and what he remembers isn’t flattering to himself.
EP 09
The Real Villain
June 3, 2023 · tvN
A major betrayal fractures Lee Yeon’s group, and the identity of the actual threat behind Cheon Moo-young begins to surface. Satori emerges as the season’s true villain — something darker and older than anything they’ve faced so far. Lee Rang reaches a crossroads: his brother’s ally, or a creature defined entirely by old pain. The episode doesn’t let him off easily.
EP 10
Satori Unleashed
June 3, 2023 · tvN
Satori’s full power threatens both the supernatural world of 1938 and the timeline leading back to the present. Lee Yeon, Lee Rang, and Hong-joo must put their complicated history aside — all of it — and fight together. Lee Rang’s feelings for both his brother and Yeo-hee are tested in ways that bring his entire arc to its emotional peak.
EP 11
The Price of Return
June 11, 2023 · tvN
The push to defeat Satori and restore the Guardian Stone reaches its desperate final phase. Sacrifices are made — not symbolic ones, but real ones that hit hard — and several characters face consequences they can’t undo. The episode ends on a cliffhanger that makes the cost of Lee Yeon’s return devastatingly clear. It earns its finale in the most painful way possible.
EP 12
Joseon’s Last Mountain God
June 11, 2023 · tvN
The finale delivers across every storyline. Satori is defeated — and the decisive role belongs to Lee Rang, cementing his transformation from a bitter, resentful half-blood into something genuinely heroic. Cheon Moo-young’s actions are recontextualised by a tragic backstory that reframes him as a fallen friend rather than a simple villain. Lee Rang, fully reconciled with his brother and in love with Yeo-hee, chooses to stay in 1938. Lee Yeon returns to the present and to Nam Ji-ah. The finale aired to 8.02% nationwide — the highest rating of the entire run.
🏁 Ending Explained
Everything that happens in the finale, explained in full — spoilers ahead.
⚠️
Spoiler Warning — This section covers the full finale of Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938. Stop here if you haven’t finished the series.
Satori Falls — and Lee Rang Delivers the Final Blow. The finale’s emotional spine is Lee Rang’s. After 11 episodes of unresolved resentment, competing loyalties, and a love he didn’t know how to hold, Lee Rang stands with his brother against Satori — a malevolent entity old enough to predate most of what Lee Yeon knows — and it’s Lee Rang who lands the decisive strike. The scene earns everything that was built toward it. The show wisely doesn’t let it be clean or triumphant: Lee Rang wins, but the cost is written all over him. Cheon Moo-young’s backstory is revealed in full during the confrontation — he wasn’t a villain, he was a friend who lost everything and broke, which makes his hostile arc retroactively tragic rather than antagonistic.
A Farewell That Actually Lands. Lee Rang choosing to stay in 1938 is the drama’s best decision. He has Yeo-hee. He has a version of himself he can actually live with. Going back to the present — where Lee Yeon has Nam Ji-ah and a life that has moved on — holds nothing for him. The goodbye between the brothers is written with unusual restraint: no grand speech, no tearful declaration, just two people who spent centuries unable to say what they meant, finally finding a way to say it without saying it. Lee Yeon’s return to the present closes the loop cleanly. He gets back to Ji-ah. The Guardian Stone is restored. The timeline holds.
What the Sequel Was Really About. Season 1 was Lee Yeon’s story — a gumiho who waited a thousand years for the woman he loved. This sequel is Lee Rang’s, and it’s better for focusing there. The 1938 setting isn’t just atmosphere: placing two supernatural brothers inside colonial Korea adds a specific, pressurised backdrop where the question of who you fight for becomes genuinely urgent. Lee Rang’s arc — from resentful half-blood to the man who saved everyone and chose love over return — is the strongest character work in either series. The finale aired to 8.02% nationwide, the highest-rated episode of the entire run — and it felt earned.
✍️ KDramaWorlds Editor’s Take
Our honest opinion — and the kind of viewer who’ll love it most.
🦊 Gumiho Mythology🏯 Colonial Era Atmosphere💔 Brothers Who Can’t Say It✨ Supernatural Action🌹 Unexpected Romance
Sequels to beloved fantasy dramas are a gamble, and Tale of the Nine-Tailed (2020) had enough goodwill built up that a misstep would have stung. What 1938 gets right is its instinct to shift the centre of gravity. Lee Dong Wook is charming and dependable as Lee Yeon, but this season belongs to Kim Bum — and everyone involved seems to know it. Lee Rang’s arc across 12 episodes is the kind of writing that rewards the audience’s patience: it’s slow to move, entirely earned, and lands with genuine emotional force. The 1938 colonial setting gives everything a darker, more urgent undertone than the present-day sections of Season 1 ever had.
Kim So Yeon as Ryu Hong-joo is the season’s best casting decision after Kim Bum. She plays the western mountain god as a woman who has survived by being harder than everything around her, and the cracks that show when her history with Lee Yeon resurfaces are the most interesting thing the drama does with its returning mythology. If you enjoyed Doom at Your Service (2021) for its supernatural melancholy, Hong-joo’s storyline here will hit the same notes. The romance between Lee Rang and Jang Yeo-hee is unexpected and completely works — a half-blood fox and a mermaid singer in 1938 Gyeongseong is exactly as bittersweet as it sounds.
The one genuine weakness is Cheon Moo-young, whose hostile motivation stays frustratingly opaque for too long. Ryu Kyung Soo is a compelling presence, but the character’s tragic backstory arrives late enough that it feels compressed rather than revelatory. Satori as the final villain is effective but slightly abrupt. These are real criticisms — and they matter less once the finale arrives, because what Lee Rang’s story delivers in those last two episodes is enough to carry everything. A rare sequel that earns its existence.
👍👍👍 BEST FOR 👍👍👍
🦊 Fans of the original who want more Lee Rang
🏯 Anyone drawn to Korean mythology in historical settings
💔 Viewers who love slow-burn sibling reconciliation arcs
⚖️ Final Verdict
What works
•Kim Bum’s career-defining performance as Lee Rang
•1938 colonial setting adds atmosphere and genuine historical weight
•Kim So Yeon as Hong-joo — commanding, layered, perfectly cast
•Lee Rang’s emotional arc — the best in either series
What to know first
•Watch Season 1 first — this makes much more sense with the full context
•Cheon Moo-young’s motivation stays opaque too long
•Satori’s arrival as final villain feels slightly rushed
•Only 12 episodes — some threads feel compressed near the end
8.8 / 10A sequel that genuinely earns its existence — Kim Bum alone is reason enough, and the finale is the highest-rated episode the series ever produced.
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