"Twelve" seemed like a sure hit when it launched on Disney+ in August 2025. The cast alone was enough to get K-drama fans excited: Ma Dong-seok, the beloved tough guy from "Train to Busan" and "The Outlaws", Park Hyung-sik with his compelling screen presence, and Seo In-guk rounding out this powerhouse trio.
The story sounded equally promising - twelve zodiac angels who once protected humanity now live as ordinary people. When ancient evil spirits escape, these former angels must remember their divine powers and reunite to save the world. With only 8 episodes and Disney+ backing, it seemed perfectly set up for a tight, epic supernatural thriller.
So what went wrong? Here's my take on this star-studded disappointment.
Plot
Twelve tells the story of zodiac angels who once protected humanity from evil spirits. Long ago, 12 heavenly beings, each representing an animal from the Eastern zodiac and led by Tae-san (the tiger), fought against dark forces threatening the human world. To seal away the powerful demons, four of the angels sacrificed their lives, and the remaining eight withdrew from their divine duties, choosing to live as humans for over a thousand years.
In present day, the ancient seal begins to weaken. An evil spirit named O-gwi (the crow), played by Park Hyung-sik, escapes from his prison. The remaining eight angels - including Tae-san (Ma Dong-seok as tiger), Won-seung (Seo In-guk as monkey), Mir (Lee Joo-bin as dragon), and others representing pig, snake, horse, dog, and rat - must reunite to face this growing threat.
But there's a twist: O-gwi isn't the main villain. The real enemy is Samin, a priest who has been manipulating events from the shadows. He wants to use Mir's soul to open the gates of hell and plunge the world into eternal darkness. Throughout the eight episodes, we slowly learn that O-gwi was once an angel himself who fell from grace due to his forbidden love for Mir. The angels had erased both their memories to prevent this relationship.
The kdrama drags through episodes of the angels trying to remember their powers while living ordinary human lives. Tae-san runs a money-lending business, others work normal jobs, and they struggle to reconnect with their celestial abilities. Meanwhile, evil spirits attack innocent people, and the angels fight them with mostly human strength since they've lost most of their divine powers.
In the final episodes, Samin captures Mir to steal her soul. The truth about O-gwi's past is revealed - he wasn't evil, just a victim of circumstances and the other angels' decision to erase his memories. In a rushed climax, O-gwi sacrifices himself to save Mir and stop Samin's plan. The kdrama ends with hints of a second season, showing someone with red eyes approaching the surviving angels.
My Review
After watching all eight episodes of Twelve, I feel deeply disappointed and honestly a bit angry at how much potential was completely wasted. This kdrama had everything going for it - an incredible cast including Ma Dong-seok, Park Hyung-sik, and Seo In-guk, an interesting premise about zodiac angels, and the backing of Disney+. Yet somehow, it managed to be one of the most boring and frustrating kdramas I've ever sat through.
The Biggest Problems
The biggest problem is the pacing. For a kdrama with only 8 episodes, 'Twelve' moves slower than a snail. The first four episodes could literally be summarized in one paragraph because almost nothing happens. We watch the angels sit around, eat meals together (which the writers somehow thought was character development), and have the same conversations over and over. Meanwhile, Park Hyung-sik, who was supposed to be the main villain, spends most of his screen time standing on rooftops staring dramatically into the distance. I timed it once - he probably had less than five minutes of actual dialogue in the first four episodes combined.
The action scenes are embarrassingly bad. When evil spirits attack, they politely line up single-file to fight Ma Dong-seok one at a time, like they're waiting for their turn at a grocery store. The choreography looks like something from a low-budget student film, and the special effects are so cheap that even the angels' "powers" look unconvincing. There's one scene where they show a flashback of the original battle against evil, and the costumes look like they were bought from a Halloween store.
Character development is practically non-existent. Despite having twelve zodiac animals to work with, the kdrama fails to properly introduce most of them. I had to Google who represented which animal because the show never bothers to explain it clearly. Only the tiger, pig, and snake are obvious from context clues. The others remain mysteries throughout the entire kdrama. Even worse, several characters barely speak - the snake character is completely mute for reasons that are never explained until the very last episode.
Wasted Talent
The writing feels like it was done by someone who had never seen a kdrama before. Important plot points are revealed through boring over-explained dumps, while crucial emotional moments are rushed or skipped entirely. The forbidden love story between O-gwi and Mir, which should have been the emotional heart of the kdrama, gets maybe ten minutes of actual development across eight episodes. When O-gwi finally sacrifices himself in the end, I felt nothing because we barely knew anything about their relationship.
Ma Dong-seok, who is usually charismatic and commanding on screen, seems bored throughout the entire kdrama. His character Tae-san is supposed to be a strong leader, but he spends most episodes sighing heavily and looking depressed. The writing gives him the same blank expression for every scene, whether he's fighting demons or eating fried chicken (don't get me started on the product placement).
The product placement (ads) are incredibly distracting. Characters stop in the middle of serious moments to eat specific brands of candy or fried chicken, with the camera lingering lovingly on the logos. It completely breaks the immersion and makes the kdrama feel more like a long commercial than a serious fantasy story.
Park Hyung-sik, coming off his excellent performance in "Buried Hearts," deserved so much better. He's given almost nothing to work with as O-gwi. The character is supposed to be this complex, tragic figure - a fallen angel torn between love and duty - but the script reduces him to standing around looking pretty with occasionally glowing red eyes. It's criminal how underused he is.
Seo In-guk tries his best with the material he's given, but even his considerable acting skills can't save poorly written dialogue and nonsensical character motivations. His monkey character is supposed to be the clever strategist of the group, but the kdrama never shows him actually being strategic about anything.
Production Issues
The production values scream "low budget" despite having such expensive actors. The sets look cheap, the lighting is often dim and murky, and don't even get me started on the terrible wigs. Park Hyung-sik's hair in the flashback scenes looks like someone taped extensions to his head with scotch tape.
One of the most frustrating things is how the kdrama wastes time on completely pointless scenes. There's an entire sequence where the pig character turns into a literal roasted pig that serves no purpose except to waste precious minutes that could have been used for actual plot development. Meanwhile, important story elements like why four angels died or how O-gwi became corrupted are barely explained.
The ending is particularly infuriating. After eight episodes of slow pacing and minimal plot development, everything is suddenly rushed in the final two episodes. The big battle against Samin feels anticlimactic, O-gwi's sacrifice comes out of nowhere, and then they have the nerve to set up a second season with a cliffhanger. It's like the writers forgot they only had eight episodes until the very end.
What Could Have Been
What makes this especially disappointing is that the basic concept has so much potential. A story about fallen angels trying to reconnect with their divine purpose while dealing with human emotions and relationships could have been amazing. The zodiac angle adds interesting cultural elements, and the cast had the talent to pull it off. But the execution is so poor that none of these elements work together.
If I had to guess what went wrong, I'd say they spent all their budget on casting fees and had nothing left for writers, directors, or production. The director, Kang Dae-gyu, apparently had never directed a kdrama before, and it shows. The pacing, editing, and overall structure feel amateurish.
The worst part is knowing that this could have been fixed with better writing and more episodes. If Twelve had been a proper 16-episode kdrama with competent writers, it could have been incredible. Instead, we got eight episodes of nothing followed by a rushed conclusion that satisfies no one.
Final Thoughts
I genuinely don't understand how this kdrama got made or why these talented actors agreed to participate. Maybe they were attracted by the concept and didn't see the final scripts until it was too late. Whatever the reason, Twelve stands as a perfect example of how even the best cast can't save terrible writing and direction.
My advice? Skip this completely and rewatch "Moving" instead if you want to see how superhero kdramas should be done. Twelve isn't worth your time, and I say this as someone who loves all the main actors. Sometimes even our favorites make mistakes, and this kdrama is definitely one of them.
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