My Roommate Is a Gumiho

Unique story, great friendships and atypical romances

I started this drama for Jang Ki Yong after seeing him on Born Again and Come and Hug Me. I love the roles he usually plays, characters that are warm but would come off as a psychopath, which is sort of how he is here. Woo Yeo is a Gumiho whose goal is to be a human, and litterally the only thing stopping him is his lack of human emotion. I also loved Hyeri in Reply 1988, her role here was just as lovable and maybe even funnier.

I LOVED the second lead. I had such bad second lead syndrome in this drama. The first half of Sun Woo's story was like any other American drama/move where the "player"/"badboy" makes a bet to make a girl go out with him and/or fall for him, and then ends up being the one to fall for her. Though, here, it's far less cringe. This being a Kdrama and all, where he is the second lead, it's predictable where his storyline would go. He's not ending up with the lead, no matter how much I shipped them, especially after the red string of fate connected them. Sun Woo and Lee Dam's story was great on it's own, and so damn sweet in an atypical way that I couldn't help but ship them, maybe even more than I shipped Lee Dam and Woo Yeo (the ML).

My favourite thing about this drama was all the friendships. Lee Dam and Jae Jin had a sibling like relationship, absolutely no one would consider their relationship to be anything more. The same goes for Woo Yeo and Hye Sun's (the SFL) relationship. This made the friendship and relationships of all the main characters very uncomplicated and made them more of a family then they already were.

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Hmmm.. could have been better

This show started out very interesting and it was sooo funny, but then in the middle it started to get a little boring and draggy. At first I wanted to watch it, it seemed interesting also it has high rating, but then the comment section was saying that it was draggy, boring, so on.. but then I cannot remember why i decided to still watch this, but I did. I'm not sure whether to say I regret, but I only stick with it because I had already invested time, so I ended up continuing watching it with the 2x speed, that's how I was able to finish it. I wish they had change up some stuff in the middle of the show, that would have made a huge different, I like the different story of the gumiho turning into a human, no other fighting other species, just a nice love story, but it need more work. I never ever say this, but I don't think this show deserve such high rating, Idk how it got this much, I've seen so many other kdrama that was 100 times better than this show and ratings is less.

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my best ever fantasy kdrama !!

This is not the first series to use the legend of the 9-tailed fox (gumiho). Normally, the 9-tailed fox is an almost immortal supernatural being that has a bad reputation, because it feeds of the energy of humans to feed its inner pearl. But here, we are dealing with nice gumiho who are just looking to become human, not to kill them. One has already succeeded, but the main character of the story, 999 years old, has only a few months left to do so before he disappears. That's when he meets a young (and pretty...) student who swallows his pearl by mistake. From then on, their destiny is linked for better or for worse-but mostly for better-.
This drama is clearly intended to entertain, and it reaches its goal. There are some elements of a fantasy thriller in the first part, but it is quickly resolved and it is only a twist of the story. A love triangle is set up to complicate the romance, but again, it's not done to keep us in suspense until the end. So, what makes the charm of the series? First of all, an extremely well-adapted cast, with actors who give substance to each character. The two leads, played by Jang Gi Yong and Hyeri, have real chemistry. They are both very charming. The supporting cast is also very good, I especially liked Park Gyeong Hye, who played a ghost in Goblin. She has a very expressive game, probably helped by her particular face and her big eyes. Without being beautiful, she gives off the charm. More generally, except for maybe two pests of service, all these characters are sympathetic and contribute to keeping a positive spirit.

Secondly, there is a lot of humor, we often smile. Notably, because the gumiho in search of humanity is a bit clumsy and is in permanent difficulty with human psychology.
What did I miss a little? Maybe a little more depth on this quest for humanity, and then, it doesn't seem so bad to be a gumiho, finally... Besides, by dint of looking for what can make you smile, we remain a little on the surface of things. And there are also some characters who pass by and disappear a little mysteriously from the story, leaving a taste of too little: the brief passage of the heroine's mother or the kind of third magical being whose purpose is not well understood. But these small negative points do not take away much from the very positive general impression that comes out of the viewing! In conclusion, "My roommate is a gumiho" (title on Viki) is good entertainment that will put you in a good mood. so i totally recommended!!!

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Good-looking Cast, Decent Acting - Story Falls Flat

Why I wanted to watch this drama?
• Jang Ki-Yong (wanted to see more of him after Kill It and Go Back Couple)
• Fantasy set-up, Gumihos/Kitsune are one of my favorite mythical characters

What WORKS?
• The actors are very good-looking and do a good job playing their characters well and staying true
• The set locations are very beautiful
• The clothes are pretty

What does NOT WORK?
• The Story Falls Flat and Too Draggy
• It should have been more fast paced given there is an underlying mystery of Gumiho, whether the lead pair end up together, will the lead accomplish his goal to turn human?
• Even with the murder mystery, the episodes don't have a cliffhanger, any sense of urgency that will keep you hooked
• The side characters' (Kang Han-na & Kim Do-Wan) budding romance is more warm and cute to watch
• The SML - totally unnecessary and cry-baby, whining - which is totally opposite of his narcistic personality. Even if you want to believe that he changed cause of the FL - nope, not developed
• The main leads are cute together, but its just lackluster - doesn't make you curl your toes and root for them
• Action is missing, big time
• ML - is just getting objectified as a model-turned-actor, you can feel he is an ancient being - but not romantic, or action-savvy. And when he tries to, it seems forced. :(
• FL - Hyeri's role seems like a 21st century version of her Reply 1988 role. :(

No matter the genre, I like dramas where stories are fast/mid paced, that urge you to watch one more episode.
Expectations from Rom-Com+Fantasy was that there would be great chemistry between the lead pairs and a mystery that keeps you at an edge - which is where in my opinion, this drama under-delivers greatly, sadly. Quite disappointed .

Would recommend only if you want to look at good -looking cast & don't mind a slow, dragged out storyline.

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A Swing And A Miss

I wanted to love this drama so much. It has so much going for it. How can you really go wrong with a cute fantasy romcom full of tropey forced cohabitation goodness? And on top of that, throw in two talented and capable lead actors--Jang Ki Yong & Hyeri--who have proven their chops in multiple other projects. I was expecting something a little light-hearted, with lots of skinship, misunderstandings and pining, and to an extent, all of that was there.

So why did this drama feel so utterly empty and forgettable? What was missing?

I'll tell you: proper characterization. This show totally failed to create two lead characters who the viewer could both empathize with and fall in love with. We have to really care about who they are, what their desires are, the struggles they're facing. And if the lead couple lacks fiery chemistry, they at least need to have a well-written buildup for their feelings for one another. These two had neither chemistry nor well-written buildup. Not even a smidge. I found myself wanting to skip through their scenes, which is unacceptable for this genre. Gumiho Shin Woo Yeo is beautiful, refined and cold...and boring. We get nothing from him. He is essentially flawless--and perfect characters don't hold your attention for long. He yearns to be human, but why does this character want to be human so bad? He has no relationships with the people around him. He has no drive or ambition besides finally becoming human, and it's not addressed why he even desires that. He extracts no pleasure from living in the human world, experiencing human pleasures or being around other humans. So what is the audience even rooting for?

Lee Dam, the human college student he falls for, is immature, totally out of touch with herself, and childish to the extreme. She is nothing special--the Every Woman Character. She feels more like a cardboard cutout than a person because the script doesn't adjust to her character. Rather, the character adjusts to the script's needs. She always reacts too much or too little. You can never pin down what kind of person the writers want her to be. The writing fails this character in a myriad of ways, and it's exhausting. Thus, Lee Dam comes off extremely inconsistent: sometimes she finds herself in upsetting situations with her peers and she shows real wisdom for her age. Just as often, she comes off as a loud obnoxious teen with no self-awareness. It's impossible that this 999-year old mythical creature could fall for this annoying human child without any growth, right? RIGHT?

Wrong. Of course he falls for her, out of nowhere. By episode 6, we are already embroiled in their romantic feelings coming to light. This kind of relationship deserves a far slower burn, especially in the context of all these flaws. But those 6 episodes feel like eons. Truly, it was an effort to get through them. This episode is also when the villain seems to be introduced (some sort of serial killer gumiho I think, but didn't really care enough to find out). It is baffling to watch, as a viewer, because I don't really want to spend time with them, so why do they want to spend time with each other? They don't have great chemistry, which is forgivable with the right script. I asked myself, do I even want to see them in each other's arms? And I realized I don't really care either way. So the show, for me, is dead in the water.

The arcs occurring within the secondary characters feel more fleshed out than in the leads. Narratively, there is no recovery for a start like this, and I'll be abandoning it at 6 episodes. I'm sad because Jang Ki Yong and Hyeri's talents are wasted here, and they are really doing their best, but it's simply not enough to save a script that reads like a first draft.

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The destiny of your own making.

What a pleasant surprise - well done tropes, little fun changes to established often used plotlines and themes, the variety of the characters with vibrant personalities and experiences. No unnecessary additional murder mystery that drags the whole plot, no family drama no one cares about. It has exactly all that romantic comedy needs and nothing else. And that’s perfect.

And what does romantic comedy need? First and foremost: romance. Whenever we are talking about leads, second main leads or just supporting characters, they serve and deliver. Shin Woo Yeo and Lee Dam gave me a perfect example of fighting against all odds, defying destiny. I especially loved how they used the red string of fate in the drama (not only in context of leads) - be it to add more angst and internal (and external) conflict, give closure to certain plotlines, or expand on presented themes. Probably the best use of red string I have seen in dramas for ages.

Usually I really dislike the “innocent, inexperienced, pure female lead”, but here I cannot even be mad about it, because it was fitting the context, and while she was inexperienced in love, she was not naive in terms of other relationships. They did not make her dumb in all areas to show how little she knows about love, and that is something we usually don’t see. I truly appreciate the variety of experiences presented depending on the characters. Some were experienced in both love and casual dating, some were inexperienced in one, but more experienced in the other, some were inexperienced in both. That’s why female leads “innocence” (for the lack of better term) was not that annoying, and did not stand out too much - she was just one type of many we witnessed.

Then we had Shin Woo Yeo and I adore how imperfect he was. The boy had flaws, major ones. He got jealous and not in a cute way. He was egocentric in his thinking, made many mistakes trying to find an easy and quick way out of complex situations, his communication skills could left a lot to desire and even when he was literally told straight to his attractive face what someone expects and what would hurt them, he confidently more often than not made the wrong choice. All that made him much more interested character.

Then we have the recycled trash Gye Sun Woo - cannot believe, with what he did, I still somehow ended up liking him by the end. This ain’t your loyal puppy second male lead. He would for sure fit the cold main lead who turns soft by the female lead role more. And it’s so refreshing to see this trope being placed into the role of simping over a female lead with no choice of getting her - it’s like reliving your youth with Gu Jun Pyo getting what he deserves. All that said, even though I would never get on this ship, I also love how there was in fact great chemistry between Sun Woo and Lee Dam - maybe in a different drama life this could work.

All I can say about Yang Hye Sun and Do Jae Jin is that they were the most adorable characters ever. The fact I love both Kim Do Wan and Kang Han Na made it even easier to adore the characters they played. They were kind of a reverse version of the main leads, but not a complete copy just switched. Do Jae Jin, while innocent, was not inexperienced. Yang Hye Sun while experienced in love and the heartbreak that comes with it, was still open to romance and innocent. While they mirrored the “one more experience than the other” dynamic of Shin Woo Yeo and Lee Dam, their different personalities led them to completely different choices and attitudes.

Then we have a whole cast of well written supporting characters with their tiny twists. Choi Soo Kyung was for sure the comedic relief, but her character was also established to be extremely smart. Younger siblings of the leads were not the annoying teens, you could see the family bond even through the bickering. Jung Suk almost had no screen time, but still did not feel like a filler character - be it his friendship with Lee Dam or connection with Soo Kyung, even if not many, his scenes were also fun to watch.

Not all characters were as well written though. We could not escape dumb bullies who gossip, because they have no other thing to do and have low self-esteem. There are just some things in k-dramas you cannot avoid.

Plot wise, I appreciate how long they did not fully explain how the male lead can turn into a human. Not that I’ve put a lot of mental power to try to figure it out myself, I was just taking whatever they were showing with little neurons firing in my brain - but that tiny mystery had solid pacing that I was curious "how it works", without being annoyed how long it takes to get the answers. All the plots got proper closure, some expanded and explored more than others, but the ratio of how much we see of each point was well balanced, without random slide quests overshadowing the main story.

The acting was mostly great. I enjoyed how the actors were able to present many instinctively viewed as contradictory traits and made me feel like the characters still made sense. Shin Woo Yeo was not interested in humans and love, yet he was still a rather warm person even at the beginning of the story. Lee Dam was innocent and inexperienced in love, but strong and assertive in her relationships, Yang Hye Sun had that sophisticated air around her, when she was in fact on the little dummy side, Do Jae Jin was highly emotional, but at the same time emotionally strong. It’s really not that easy to present characters like that without making the audience feel like their personalities change to whatever the story needs to at any given time.

In terms of production value or soundtrack - all adequate to the story they tried to tell, but not mind blowing in any way. Do not remember one song nor any scene that was especially visually stunning.

Overall, for sure one of the better rom-coms in recent years. Why? Because it did not try to be more than that. It did not try to blend 643857485 different genres jumping from one theme to another. The story was simple, but told in an engaging manner, the characters were easy to love, the romance was romancing.

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A crowd pleaser romcom

There’s nothing particularly new or original about MRIAG, but where it thrives is on the chemistry of its two leads and bending some of the usual Kdrama tropes on its head. What I really enjoyed was the female lead who was confident and believed in herself and a male lead, though reserved wasn’t a jerk or purposely mean. All the typical misunderstandings were cleared up because the couple had good communication and built in trust. The show also features a wonderful second couple, who are both just cute, innocent and adorable. The whole cast had great chemistry.

The only thing I didn’t like was the pacing from ep 10-16. There were a lot of scenes that dragged and some story choices were too obvious. The whole arc around the second male lead was also overdone and could have been concluded sooner It’d be tough for me to ever rewatch the whole thing, but it’s still worth watching once, just to see Jang Ki-Yong’s smile.

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a cute, light-hearted kdrama 7.8/10!!

Story: I read the webtoon and absolutely adored it so i decided to give the drama a watch, and it was pretty good. They adds a back story for Mr.Gumiho and i think that's nice! The Cast really brings to life my favorite webtoon.

I'm at ep. 9, I dont know why they added the Murder + Supernatural shit,... and it's getting boring for me. The pacing at the first is pretty good, because it's fast paced compared with the webtoon, but i always have to skip the cheesy romance scenes with lengthy dialogues, mostly about Mr. Gumiho's [lack of]-feelings thingy, or scenes where Female Lead mindlessly, sadly walk alone on the street... Or scenes where the Main Leads just stares at each other (like i get that they tried to be expressive, but i guess they can cut them out so those scenes can be shorter, and less boring! :D)

Cast/Acting:
Lee Dam/Lee Hyeri: I read a article on kenh14 (our Vietnamese tabloid) criticizing Lee Hyeri's acting and ughhhhh, she slayed and saved this show!! Lee Dam here is so cute! Both drama Dam and webtoon Dam is funny, but the drama Dam is more lively and relatable (look at her eating scenes >w<, an authentic representation of Gen Z), while webtoon Dam gives off a cold girl vibe (or is it bc the art haha) who has a great sense of humor

The Male Lead: I thought his smiles are a little stiff and awkward in romance scenes (e.g. The stair scene with Dam, while he says "i think of you as my niece") I watched their interview, and yeahhh, loll, his natural laugh is different from the drama's (like natural smiles tend to be cotagious) ... He definitly has more room to improve his acting ^^ , Fighting Male Lead ssi.

The Second Leads (Jae Jin and the Gumiho Woman): They're adorable, Hye Sun is such a fun character which ive never seen before. Han Na defly kills this role since i don't care much about her character in the webtoon, but here she managed to portrait a weird, reluctant but beautiful friendship with Mr.Gumiho ( i still dont remember the names). Jae Jin the character is sweet too!

The romance/The chemistry (Main Leads): it was okay, and nice i guess... 7.8/10 <3 Havent felt that much butterfly in my stomach tho

The friendship: I adore the trio * * while I think Soo Kyung character should have more screen time cuz she's so cutee and hilarious

Music + Fashion + Filming Set:
Their house + the scenes + The furniture is too nice i love itttt! Beautiful scenery. The fashion is pretty great, esp. Hye Sun's! I'm a little disappointed in Dam's outfits tho haha (like it's okay— just common college students fit)

Might drop this even though the past 9 eps i watched were worth the time!!

PS: Đang xem thấy chị nào xinh đẹp quá ra là Jung So Min nhà mìnhhhh
cameo thui mà diễn hay hết sức

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Love it

This drama is amazing from episode 1 till now and waiting for episode 13. From the beginning the scenes gives you such a weird feelings what the story is all about, And how did that happen and who is that evil spirit that wandering around. Every episode is trilling and have a lots of skinship and sweetness ofcourse. To the point that you will shout out loud because of their chemistry. And this hye ri's drama is my favorite. Their chemistry is good, please let them be together till the ending. Hyeri is doing great, she's my bias in Girls day. And hope to see her in another project together with Mr. Gumiho hihihi

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