Ma Dong-seok's "Twelve" in Shame

KBS2's weekend drama "Twelve" launched under great expectations, was introduced as a 'Korean-style hero story', and marked Ma Dong-seok's return to television after ten years.

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Boasting a huge production budget in the 22-billion-won range (~US$16 million), and with the bold strategy of airing simultaneously on both OTT and terrestrial TV, it drew a lot of attention. But despite all that, it ended with a disappointing final viewership rating of 2.4%, and suffered from various controversies.

What broke down early on were the action sequences and the CGI. While Ma Dong-seok's trademark heavy action remained powerful, it no longer felt new. Viewers felt they were seeing recycled scenes from "The Roundup" series.

Viewers offered both cheers and critiques. The fantasy element Ma Dong-seok emphasized at the press conference, namely, action empowered by 'the tiger-angel', never clearly differentiated itself, even into the later half of the series.

CGI was also cited as a weakness. The resurrection of the villain Oh Gwi (Park Hyung-sik) felt less like a gripping moment and more like a distraction. Scenes of black smoke spreading, of a thousand-year seal breaking, should have been overwhelming.

But in reality, many felt the execution was awkward; despite the large budget, the final result did not match expectations. The gap between the lavish concept and what was rendered onscreen remained visible to the audience.

The narrative also lost its momentum. Though the universe, based on the '12 Zodiac Guardians', began with freshness, its conflict structure was overly simplistic, and the plot developments were disappointing. The relationships among characters felt predictable. Instead of building tension, the story unfolded flatly. The glamorous concept was not matched by well-rounded execution.

Ultimately, immersion dropped. Viewers dropped out swiftly. The ratings, which started at 8.1% in episode one, fell into the 5% range, then the 3% range, and by the final episode had settled in the low 2% range, ending at 2.4%.

On top of this, there was controversy over actor fees. It was reported that Ma Dong-seok was paid about 500 million won (~US$360,000) per episode, while Park Hyung-sik was said to receive 400 million won (~US$290,000) per episode. Combined, their fees reportedly took up over 30% of the total production cost.

The agencies insisted that the reports were inaccurate, but by then the public had already focused more on the numbers than on the work itself. The controversy over actor fees became a trigger that sharpened criticism toward the actual quality of the show.

"Twelve" held significance as Korea's first major attempt to aim simultaneously at terrestrial broadcast and OTT platforms. But the widespread judgment, both inside and outside the industry, is that the strength of the content was insufficient to support such an ambitious experiment. All the high-expectation cards- Ma Dong-seok's return, Park Hyung-sik's presence, the 'Korean-style hero' concept - failed to produce results commensurate with expectations. Instead, what was exposed was the contrast: a glamorous exterior versus weak internal substance.