My Girlfriend Is the Man!

Started Off Dull, Got Funny, Then Fell Apart: A Drama That Lost Its Way

**Episodes 1–4: What Did I Just Sign Up For?**

My Girlfriend is the Man had promise, but instead of the comedy/bromance I was promised, I got an emotional rollercoaster. The trailer lied—talk about a bait-and-switch.

The plot revolves around Ji Eun, who transforms into a boy (Ji Hun) and switches back and forth due to genetics. The main conflict centers around her boyfriend, Yoon Jae, who struggles to accept her transformation. Instead of comedy, Yoon Jae goes on a constant nostalgia trip every time he gets close to Ji Hun, remembering his moments with Ji Eun. This emotional reflection kills the comedic timing, leaving us with more sappy moments than humor. The bromance is practically nonexistent, and while there are a few funny moments (like when Yoon Jae gets drunk), they’re far too few to make any real impact.

Yoon Jae learns more about his girlfriend as a man and falls more deeply in love with her through these challenges. His love for Je Eun transcends her physical form, and he's willing to stay with her even if she changes (remember, he’s straight).

Ji Eun's friendship with her best friend is annoying, and the 'spoon woman dance' that's supposed to be funny just feels awkward. Meanwhile, the second female lead, who likes Yoon Jae, is arrogant and rude, and his constant pushover behavior gets old fast.

The series spends too much time on side stories, like the parent-child bonds, sibling romance, the café part-timer, and the building owner. They feel like a filler, and I found myself skipping through them, especially when things got too sappy.

**Episodes 5–8: Unexpectedly Hilarious (Finally)**

This is where things started to pick up. The drama goes from overly sentimental to chaotic and funny—and I was finally entertained. One of the funniest moments is when Ji-hyun gets involved in her best friend's romance. It’s hilarious when she kisses her best friend, and the boyfriend is just standing there, thinking, “Why am I watching this?”

Another funny moment is with Yoon Jae’s study friend (Chuu). This friend makes Ji Eun (Ji-hyun) so jealous, and it’s just hilarious to watch. Then this friend moves next door to Ji-hyun, becoming even more entangled with them.

I also find it sweet and funny how supportive the sister and the part-time café worker are of Yoon Jae and Ji-hyun's romance. They’re totally okay with the two men being in love because they can see how much they genuinely care for each other. (They don't know that Ji Eun can change into a boy)

That said, I still don't like how much of a pushover Yoon Jae is.

**Episodes 9–12: Chaos and Disappointment**

I finished the series… and honestly? I kind of hated it by the end.

While the middle episodes were funny and entertaining, the final arc just became a mess. I started skipping scenes just to get it over with, and that’s never a good sign.

However, I felt like there were too many side characters and subplots thrown in. The love triangle between the three adults (the sister, her first love, and the café owner), the café part-timer, and the best friend—was that really necessary? There was barely any screen time for them, and it felt underdeveloped. Then there were the grandparents, Yoonjae’s parents, and even Yoonjae’s sister—all of it felt haphazard and rushed. Nothing was fully fleshed out or wrapped up properly. Yoonjae’s sister, in particular, seemed to exist just to gush over her brother being gay, without any real depth or contribution to the plot.

One thing that really bothered me, though, was how the mother handled everything. Why didn’t she just explain the situation from the start? Waiting until she got caught and then finally revealing everything felt unnecessary and frustrating. Like, okay—it runs in the family, but wouldn’t you think something that major deserves an honest conversation with your daughter from the beginning? For example, explaining how her grandpa is actually her grandma, or that she might remain a guy forever, or that she has to keep changing genders.

And to be honest, Ji-eun and Ji-hyun felt like two completely different people. They didn’t feel like the same person at all, which made it hard to connect emotionally with the main character’s journey.

The plot also kept going back and forth too many times, which made the pacing feel messy and inconsistent.

That said, I appreciated how Yoonjae finally came to accept his girlfriend at the end, regardless of whether she was in a male or female body. It really emphasized the idea that love knows no bounds. He worked through his own issues, and that development felt real.

**FINAL THOUGHTS**

My Girlfriend is the Man had a great premise, but completely fumbled the execution. The first few episodes were slow and overly sentimental, the middle episodes were genuinely funny and engaging, and the ending fell apart under the weight of too many characters, side plots, and inconsistent pacing.

But overall? This drama was sloppy, chaotic, and full of wasted potential. I wouldn’t recommend it, and I definitely wouldn’t watch it again.

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He’s Her, but Not Really

The early episodes have a nice touch of magical realism that keeps viewers curious. It makes you want to keep watching just to understand why Kim Ji Eun turns into Kim Ji Hoon. Is there a specific pattern, a cycle, or maybe something related to their ancestors' background? And what about the matching tattoos between Kim Ji Eun and Kim Hye Ra? Are they supposed to mean something or affect the story in a bigger way?

Personally, I really dislike Park Yoon Jae’s inability to stand by Kim Ji Eun when she’s at her lowest point. It’s like, “Hey, she’s your girl, so why are you still looking at Kang Min Joo?” We can’t blame Kang Min Joo too much since she’s a key part of the conflict alongside Yoon Jae’s parents, but Yoon Jae gets so caught up in being a guy who sees another woman that he almost completely ignores Kim Ji Eun’s struggles and her attempts to escape her misery.

I don’t really mind the awkward bromance scenes. They mostly show up when the show tries to be funny. But they feel very different from the romantic moments between Park Yoon Jae and Kim Ji Eun, which are sweet and more emotionally grounded. I get that the drama tries to limit physical contact to avoid making Yoon Jae’s relationships with Ji Eun and Ji Hoon feel too far apart.

Still, what frustrated me the most was how Kim Ji Eun and Kim Ji Hoon never actually felt like the same person. The show kept pushing that idea and sure, I tried to buy it, but come on, nothing about Kim Ji Hoon screams Kim Ji Eun. Not their emotions, not their vibe, not even the tiniest habit, It's like he just pose and act in feminine gesture, that's all. And seriously, if Kim Ji Eun magically turns into a guy, am I really supposed to believe she’d suddenly be into women? Yeah, right. They could have at least thrown in some shared quirks like how they laugh or how they cry just something to remind us that, hey, it’s still the same person underneath all that confusion.

In the end, the show just pats us on the back with a happy ending, pretending all the confusing questions never existed. Brilliant storytelling, right?

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Too Critical?

Actually I wasn't gonna write a review but the other reviews were too harsh. I actually quite enjoy the show and look forward to watching it every week. The premise is weird but cool. Is it Straight, BL, GL? Whatever it is it is love. The Main Lead is attracted to the girl because well she's a girl and she's pretty. But he stays when she turns into a man, because ML actually likes her for her. I love the different things that they explore. If you were suddenly an attractive man and your long time friend is being a laughing stock for not finding a anyone would you help her? If you're a woman inside but look like a man what are the things that changes? How does your relationship with your girl friends change? Would guys being touchy affect you. IDK review is very unstrucured but had to put it here.

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DEEPLY flawed but this show is iconic. to me

Wow, there's a lot to say about this one, so I'm going to start with the negatives/things I think people should be warned about before diving into this.

1. When Jieun transforms into a man for the first time, her sister, Jihye, initially freaks out at seeing a man in their home (understandable), but then the second she sees "Jihun's" face, she's trying to smash???? Which is already insane behavior before we add in the fact that that would be incest. And unfortunately the incest jokes do not stop there. Jihye still flirts with Jieun after realizing it's her sister, there's a scene where she takes a photo of Jieun while sleeping which unfortunately ends up being plot relevant because when she gets pestered by friends about her dating life she shows that photo of Jieun claiming it's her boyfriend… And then when Jieun is trying to hide her transformation from their parents there's this whole situation where she "meets" her parents while pretending to be Jihye's boyfriend. And just when you think the show has finally stopped with this weirdness because Jihye has reconnected with Youngseok, even in the finale there's a scene of Jihye ogling "Jihun"... It's all really gross and really uncomfortable and the show finds it hilarious and just. Ew! Save me and Jieun from this mess!

2. Yunjae's mom has quite the temper and there are at least three scenes where she reacts by hitting someone — one scene where she smashes a vase on her husband's head, thinking she's about to smash the vase on Yunjae's head; another scene where she aggressively hits Yunjae with a pillow and her hands multiple times while he's heavily intoxicated; and then another scene where she's holding some kind of wooden(?) stick and she's trying to use it to hit her daughter, Yuna, but Yunjae and his father are trying to calm her down and she ends up hitting the father on the head with it. There's even another scene where she learns exciting news and starts screaming and congratulating Yunjae and he fully freezes in terror. Like, she is just fully abusive and it's despicable that these scenes are played for humor.

3. The writers try to give Minju more depth in the second half of the show, but basically she's a misogynistic caricature of the homewrecker. Yunjae politely sets boundaries with her multiple times, but she just does not respect him and completely bulldozes those boundaries, including even assaulting him and then attempting to assault him a second time. This is made even more frustrating by the fact that Minju has her own stalker who refuses to accept her rejections, and she somehow can't see that she is behaving in the same manner (AND SHE EVEN SAYS IN DIALOGUE AT ONE POINT "PARK YUNJAE REJECTS ME EVERY TIME WE TALK" SO SHE IS AWARE THAT SHE'S BULLDOZING HIS BOUNDARIES????? AND YET SHE DOESN'T SEE HOW SHE'S EXACTLY LIKE HER STALKER??????? HELLO???????????????) And, like the above two points, Minju's harassing Yunjae is mostly played for humor. (Also don't read the comments on here, people hate abuse survivors and love to victim blame. Of course Yunjae is going to have a hard time setting boundaries when his mother behaves the way she does and he has to constantly placate her and honestly a lot of his behavior towards Minju reads as him being in older brother mode to me. As someone who grew up in an emotionally abusive household, of course he is taking the path of least resistance and doesn't get more forceful towards her!)

And yet despite these very big gripes I have with the show, any of which probably should have been a turn-off, I was still incredibly charmed by it, and new episodes could never come fast enough — waiting from Thursday until the next Wednesday for the new episode always felt like torture. This show literally consumed my every waking moment after I hit play on episode 2. Excluding Minju and Yunjae's mother, I pretty much adored everyone. Yunjae and Jieun were so sweet and cute and silly, and even with how much Yunjae initially struggled with Jieun's transformation, you could still feel how deeply he loves her as he got used to this new reality. The love triangle between Jihye, Jeongja, and Youngseok was really interesting and surprising, and while I always did have a bit of a preference towards Jihye as I love childhood loves reuniting as adults, both dynamics work in different ways and you don't want to see anyone in the situation be heartbroken. I never would have expected the Yuri and Minhyuk relationship before Yuri's book signing event, but they ended up being so delightful. Yuna and Yunjae's sibling dynamic made me laugh a lot and I adored how supportive Yuna was and her attempts to help Yunjae and Jieun spend more time together. Yuri and Jieun's friendship was also easily one of the highlights.

Yoo Junghoo is incredible in this. This show is absolutely worth a watch for him, even if nothing else about the concept interests you. Every emotion that Jieun experiences is palpable in his performance. Like, it is up there with Shin Haesun's performance in Mr. Queen for me. Yoon Sanha is also really really good as Yunjae.

If you're watching this for BL reasons, you're going to be disappointed. Maybe I watch too much censored media and I'm being too charitable as I can't read the minds of the writers, but imo it really does feel like the writers wanted this to be more gay and were forced to tone it down. Especially since Yunjae was starting to initiate physical contact with "Jihun" and smiling to himself when Minju was complaining about Yunjae's relationship with "Jihun" and that "Jieun would hate knowing how close you two are" in episode 9 and then Jieun returns to being a woman in episode 10. Like... definitely giving the vibe of "Oh shit!!! It's getting too gay, we gotta remind the audience this is a straight relationship!!!!" I definitely wish it would have gone further, but I understand why it didn't and I appreciate the small moments we did get. And if you're going into this with the mindset of it being censored queer media, I think you will be pleasantly surprised with how far it does go.

I also wish the show played with gender more, but as I've already mentioned Mr. Queen, I like how My Girlfriend is the Man approached the body swap a lot more. As much as I love Mr. Queen, it was soooooooo exhausting how Bonghwan's main crisis about being in a woman's body meant he no longer had a dick and how his lack of a dick was so distressing because he wanted to seduce women and "how can I be with a woman w/o a dick" and just. GOD. My Girlfriend is the Man is way more concerned about the outside perception than Jieun's body change, which makes sense given how most societies are very fixated on gender roles and people falling in line with gendered expectations. Also, Jieun has a very stable sense of self and I just really love that she has no discomfort with performing in ways that would be deemed feminine and we frequently see her wearing a hair clip while presenting as a cis man. (Also Jieun's grandmother 🥹)

Did some of the writing decisions frustrate me? Yes, but that is also true for probably 85% of the media I watch. The last 3 episodes were really eager to throw as many curveballs at the audience as they could manage and I think some of it was to the detriment of the intended message. Not that it "ruins" the message like some of the comments argue, but that things got muddier than they needed to be and there were moments that felt like Yunjae would take one step forward and then immediately take two steps back, which... I know progress isn't linear but this is a narrative and we shouldn't still be feeling this back and forth in the penultimate episode.

Also, very minor sidenote, but I just feel compelled to include it in this review: I cannot tell you how many times a sound effect made me lose the ENTIRETY of my shit (the angry meows and the witch cackle remain my faves — whoever was responsible for editing in these sounds, you are UNHINGED and I love you for it.) It's all so out of pocket and perfectly cartoonish, which is fitting since this is based on a webtoon.

TL;DR: this show is a MESS but it is also one of my favorite things ever and I definitely encourage you to give it a chance ✨

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My Girlfriend Is the Man! – What if your soulmate looked like a stranger?

🔹 What if the person you love suddenly looked like someone else? Would your heart still know them?

📕 Overview
🔹 This is a 12-episode romance comedy adapted from the webtoon My Girlfriend Is a Real Man (내 여자친구는 상남자) by Massstar.
🔹 Yoon San Ha (ASTRO) plays Yun Jae, a university student who studies astronomy and finds himself in a love story like no other.
🔹 Arin (OH MY GIRL) plays Ji Eun, his girlfriend, whose warmth and kindness first drew him in.
🔹 One day, Ji Eun wakes up in the body of a man (played by Yoo Jung Hoo), now called Ji Hun.
🔹Together, they try to keep their love alive while searching for a way to bring her back.
🔹 Chuu (LOONA) plays Min Ju, their classmate who secretly has feelings for Yun Jae and sees her chance when things get complicated.

✍️ Storyline & Tone
🔹 For me, the setup felt playful and original, with fantasy, romance, and light comedy all mixed in.
🔹 Even though it’s set in college, the tone reminded me more of a high school romance.
🔹 The body-swap twist adds humor, but it also raises questions about trust, love, and identity.

✨ Cast & Performances
🔹 Yoon San Ha makes Yun Jae believable, striking a balance between sincerity and the confusion of such an unusual situation.
🔹 Arin leaves a strong impression as Ji Eun in the opening, setting the emotional stage for the story.
🔹 Yoo Jung Hoo as Ji Hun handles the mix of comedy and emotion with subtlety.
🔹 Chuu brings brightness and charm as Min Ju, giving the love triangle extra energy.
🔹 The supporting cast, including Choi Yoon Ra, Jun Soo Jin, Hur Hyun Jun, Jo Eun Sook, Kim Jong Hoon, Lee Yoon Gun, Do Ji Won, and Kim Kwang Sik, round out the world with humor and warmth.

🎶 OST
🔹 “Wandering Star (원더링 스타)” by Jung Soomin
🔹 “Open Your Eyes (오픈 유어 아이즈)” by Jung Soomin

🎞️ Production Style
🔹 Campus settings feel like everyday student life.
🔹 The fantasy elements are kept simple, making the story feel grounded.
🔹 Styling stays youthful without going over the top.

☕ Tea Notes
🔹 Adapted from the webtoon by Massstar, this drama brings a fun body-swap twist to a heartfelt campus romance.
🔹 I gave it 8/10 for its originality, idol casting, and lighthearted tone. For me, it works best if you don’t think too hard about the logic and enjoy it as a rom-com.
⭐ Final Rating: 8/10
✏️ As SpillTheDramaTea, this drama felt like a cup of tea brewed a little too lightly. Pleasant at first sip, fun to try once, but not one I’ll pour again. No, I would not rewatch it.

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Romance undercut by undercurrent of homophobia & transphobia

There could have been an amazing, beautiful story here about the fluidity of gender, gender as a performance, and someone who learns to accept both parts of themselves with their partner learning to love all parts of them as well, but this production is absolutely not the one to responsibly tell it.

Immediately starting off with Ji Eun getting punched by her boyfriend and having him be disgusted by the thought of kissing her in her male Ji Hoon form was already bad, but even at the end there is no difference in the distance that Yoon Jae puts between them when she's in her male form though he claims it doesn't matter. It obviously does, even in private he acts completely different to her with no physical intimacy in the form of kissing and touches unlike when he's with her in her female form. He only ever thinks of just her female form in the romantic sense, never her now other form as well. She is two different people to him. It's not a grand romantic finale gesture if there's not a kiss, nor even a hug to assure her that he loves her no matter where she is. That's a backslide further than even over a decade ago in terms of queer representation. It's sweet that Yoon Jae's sister and dad is supportive in thinking that he is gay, but ultimately it all hinged on how he acts towards Ji Eun and it just falls apart. Yoon Jae flip flopping on his poor professors about studying at Corning University is also terrible. He doesn't need to give up a cool studying opportunity to reconnect with Ji Eun. He could have just gone back for a day or on vacation or something to clear things up with her. The only way it would make sense is if the 2025 in show is the same as real life and he's in danger as a POC with a student visa in the US.

Ji Eun in her male form also gets slapped by the creepy underclassman Min Joo who doesn't understand no means no even after her multiple brushes with someone into her that she flatly refuses. The gay panic humor is offensively homophobic and making Ji Eun extremely jealous in either of her male or female forms is also never funny. Min Joo's disgusting behavior is the writing's way to always keep her around to do these unfunny jealousy scenes. I do like that Ji Eun is able to physically defend herself with Kendo skills against the creepy guy stalking Min Joo, but unfortunately not against the creepy girl Min Joo. Ji Eun's own sister sexualizing her is also extremely uncomfortable and unfunny, as is her whole storyline with her first love. Ji Eun's best friend Yuri was also obsessed with her male form, but at least she gets past it eventually and can be just besties as usual with her no matter which body. Yuri's pairing with Min Hyuk is pretty cute.

The story tends to focus on how Ji Eun's transformation affects others than herself when it's the strongest when it does actually focuses on her and her family. It was so sad when it's revealed that her grandmother and also great-grand mother stayed in their male forms the rest of their lives, with her great grandmother really embracing the change. I really wanted the scene where she finally gets to ask her grandmother all the questions of the logistics of living with their unique circumstances, but the scene cuts away. The show also ends with the awful implication that Ji Eun and her mother seem to remain in their female forms once they find a man who loves them after finding out unlike her grandmother whose husband left her. Yoon Jae also never has the hard conversation with his mother, so her homophobic attitude towards him and Ji Eun is never resolved. There were so many interesting aspects to explore, but the storytelling here was totally ill equipped to do so.

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Don't watch with BL or Bromance expectations

This drama is not getting the attention it deserves or rather people are somewhat underrating it and i believe its due to its cast being young talent.It is a good watch where the male lead is indeed inlove with his girlfriend's personality/soul or whatever you would consider being inlove with who a person is deep down.Yoon Jae's feelings do not change despite his girlfriend turning into a man he hopes and believes his girlfriend will return to her 'normal self'.I believe the casting was deliberate because Yoon Jae n Ji Hoon(male version of gf) have more chemistry with each other than Yoon Jae and Ji Eun(actual gf).The lady playing the girlfriend tends to be forgettable as she does not have much screentime apart from the flashback and the few moments she changes back to being a woman.Ji Hoon has great chemistry with everyone in her social circles,from the bestfriend to the parents.So he really stands out in his character,even when fighting the love rival.The love rival is somewhat too much because Yoon Jae has clearly expressed he is not interested in her but she totally ignores him and is forcing herself on him too much.Giving this series a chance is not a bad idea.

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FUCKING FRUSTRATING

I started it bcs of arin but even she cant make me watch it. I have absolute no problem with her turning into a man and the complications she and yoon jae face together, I was invested in it. But the bitch kang min jun omfg shes suck a pick me. She frustrates me to no end. And yoon jae? Can't he man up and untangle himself from her when he has a beauty+brains gf???? that stupid ahh girl tells him "I like u, I have feelings for u" and yoon jae's reaction is to keep on sipping his drink?????? GIVE HER A SHUTUP CALL ALREADY!!! i hate both of them so bad. My girl kim ji eun deserves a better bf. a loyal one. understanding one. This is the first ever kdrama I've dropped, should tell u enough about how BAD IT IS. id rate is -10/10. Ugh it felt like 10/10 ragebait

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This isn't a BL and that's okay.

Reading the reviews for this one, I was apprehensive to start it, but the biggest complaint most people seemed to have is simply based on the fact they were expecting it to be a BL when it is actually a K-drama. "Not enough focus on the main couple/too much time spent with the side characters." That's just how k-dramas operate. "Instead of comedy, I got an emotional roller-coaster." That simply isn't true, there are many comedic moments, and also how is that a bad thing? "I thought I would get some BL vibes." It never marketed itself as a BL.

The only criticisms I agree with are 1) yes Kang Minyu is an annoying pick-me and 2) yes Park Yunjae should man up and actually set boundaries with her.

So, put aside the expectations of getting any boyslove moments and enjoy the show for what it is: a lighthearted, comedic K-drama with a touch of magical realism.

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A few annoying moments, coupled with lots of light-hearted, fun and emotional ones ^^

Honestly, for a rom-com Kdrama based on a webtoon, they did a pretty good job! It's one of those shows that you don't need to take too seriously, but still manages to hit the right emotional notes when it matters. It’s light-hearted, funny and overall a good time, with some surprisingly sweet moments that made me more invested than I expected.

What really stood out to me was how the show balanced the humor with a bit of depth. Sure, it's not aiming to be a heavy drama, but the emotional scenes were handled better than I thought they would be. The chemistry between the main leads had its ups and downs, with the ML actually having a better chemistry with his male costar rather than the female one but that may also have to do with their lack of scenes. Still, there were some sincere and heart-warming moments, especially in the final episode.

Now, while I enjoyed the drama overall, there were a few characters that ticked me off. Especially Minju and Younjae. For Younjae, I just wish he could have been a bit firmer with his boundaries and reassuring towards his girl, even though I understand where he is coming from and how that shaped him into a more shy, quiet type. The one character that I have no redeeming feelings towards though, is definitely Minju. Honestly, she was a bit too much for me. Her character felt unnecessarily over-the-top and honestly didn’t make a lot of sense at times. It didn’t take away from the show entirely, but I do wish the writers had toned her down a bit to make her more relatable and less annoying.

On a brighter note, I absolutely adored most of the supporting cast and their stories! They were a fun addition to the mix! Especially my Yuri x Minhyuk couple! Now, if I had to choose my favorite character in the show, it would definitely be Ji Hun, played by Yoo Jung Hoo. He absolutely shone in this role and made the character feel real and compelling. He had this natural charm that really pulled me in and I genuinely hope to see more of him in future dramas.

All in all, My Girlfriend Is the Man! is a fun, breezy drama that delivers what you’d expect from a gender bender rom-com but with a few surprises along the way. It might not be the most groundbreaking, "seriously taken" show, but it’s definitely a feel-good watch with a few annoying moments along the way, mostly thanks to 2FL. If you’re in the mood for a light and entertaining series with a unique topic, this one’s worth checking out.

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