Good Story but Debatable Ending: "Yobi, The Five Tailed Fox"

Synopsis

This is the tale of Korean folktale figure known as the kumiho, a nine-tailed fox that can assume different forms including human. While they are usually depicted as magical creatures that take a female form to lure and prey on humans, this is the story of a young, kind-hearted fox with only five tails, instead of nine.

Her name is Yobi and having lost her parents, she now lives in the forest with some shipwrecked aliens, far away from the humans. One day, an alien friend of hers ends up captured by a villager, and Yobi has no choice but to adventure into the human world to rescue him. Upon arriving at a village, she meets many humans, including Geum Yee who studies at a school for maladjusted children. She soon becomes interested in Geum Yee and has come to enjoy life in the human world. However, not all is as she has both a fox hunter and a mysterious shadow man are on her trail.

The Good

There is no doubt that this is a fantasy theme that holds a folklore theme to it. From the light mystery and narration in the beginning to the presentation of the different beings and Yobi’s abilities throughout the film, there was an interesting fantasy story to enjoy. Personally, the height of the fantasy presentation of the film was towards the final half of the film. More than the fantasy aspects of the film though, Yobi’s development made for a highlight of the story.

The way she turns from a simple but fun young character to a character who is willing to sacrifice herself is a rather interesting factor of the film and added with the dynamics that she forms with the other characters,

The Bad

There was clearly an idea that the film was going with l, but towards the final part of the film, it seemed that that idea got lost somewhere. Clearly it was banking in on the drama that it built up after the first half of the film but in the end, it still made the flow of the of the film rather abrupt. As the title states, the film left a rather debatable ending. On one hand, there was an artistic impression left behind which matched the folklore theme of the film. On the other hand, it felt as if the film was trying to pack in as much as it could in terms of plot but ended with something that seemed to be lacking somehow. Basically, there was a solid fantasy story at the start but along the way, the film seemed to add more than it should have.

Conclusion

This is a fantasy work that presented an interesting theme of folklore mixed with some good character development but ended up with a rather mixed ending. It had fun art and animation, especially with the fantasy moments. However, as the drama picked up in the film it seems that the film was trying to pack in more than it should and this resulted in the debatable ending. Overall, this is a fantasy work that has a solid presentation and good characters but could have worked out better with its final half.

Rating: 7/10