I don’t know why I’m lowkey super excited for the next tvN Wed-Thurs drama My Roommate is a Gumiho. By all accounts expectations should be low but Mouse really wore me out and a silly fun rom-com can totally refill the drama meter. The drama airs on tvN this Wednesday with a simulcast on Chinese streaming giant iQiyi, which co-produced the drama. Jang Ki Yong plays a 999-year gumiho (nine-tailed fox) who has been nurturing a fox bead to turn himself into a human, which accidently gets ingested by real human girl Hyeri so the two end up cohabitating until he can find a way to get it out of her. For her sake too, if it stays in her body it will burst in one year and she’ll die. Any reason for cute cohabitation in K-dramas is fine with me, the promos have been cute enough and Hyeri isn’t mugging up the screen (so far) and Jang Ki Yong is making the most of his model good looks as the aloof gumiho. The drama is adapted from the same name webtoon and directing is the PD of Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, 100 Days My Prince, and Kkondae Intern.
Pingback: Fantasy Rom-com My Roommate is a Gumiho with Jang Ki Yong and Hyeri Premieres this Wed on tvN - Kpopnchill - All About K-pop News
Let me guess the rating will be 3-4% just like so in guk-park bo young drama only hit 3-4% rating.
Both of them haven’t been good in a while, but like Mouse this drama is in its own timeslot, so there’s no competition.
Wish they put more effort on his tails in the poster! It seems like someone only had 10 min to put the poster together :/
This better be good. Or at least, so bad it’s good level of entertaining drama crack. After the fail that was Oh Master and the pretentious, hollow, half-baked rip-off that is Doom At Your Service, I deserve a good drama, goddammit.
What do you expect when the writer used to work for Kim Eun Sook? I feel soooo cheated & betrayed. Need to cleanse my eyes so head to Netflix to watch some really eye catching J-dramas.
I know, right? But even though the dramas of KES aren’t spectacular, they still tend to have a certain something that might keep you watching. It’s clear Ms. Im Me-Ari didn’t pick up what that certain something was since Doom doesn’t even have it. SMH. What a waste.
Colossal waste of budget. It has serious moolah backing from Studio Dragon & tvN. The OSTs, promotional posters, locations, sets, wardrobe, etc everything screams expensive. Yet Ms Im just couldn’t hack it with all that budget given to her. So many of the lines & scenarios are copied from other dramas. Zero originality. The bro-in-law line? Right out of Shopping King Louie coz Louie called Bok Nam that, it started earlier as sis-in-law though. The yeobo/wifey line? SIG has done it in Squad 38 calling Sooyoung’s character that. What else? Oh the cig lighter? Taken from LOTBS & Vincenzo. The umbrella & rain trope, the truck of doom trope, crying in the funeral hall trope from Secret Garden, etc. I was screaming internally at Ms. Im each time these tropes appear. Rant over.
Lol. Yes to all you ranted. That scene where the ML stops time to save the FL before she gets hit by a truck was straight outta MLFTS. I even saw a K-media article wondering if Doom was the new Do Min-joon, given they have some similar superpowers. There are also some Goblin-esque vibes. And even Tale of the Nine-Tailed made a cameo.
I’m also not feeling the ML’s acting and styling. That bluish-greyish (?) hair is hella distracting. And you can tell they’re trying way too hard to make him one of those iconic fantasy heroes fangirls swoon over a la Do Min-joon, Goblin’s Kim Shin, etc. The dialogue also sucks balls.
Looks like writer-nim + the producers were hoping to score a Hallyu hit by copying all those elements. But the whole thing is just an incoherent patchwork cribbed from popular/better dramas. It just doesn’t work.
Crap, my comment lost again. I’ll totally change Doom’s character description. Have him play with a Swiss army knife carving a mysterious wood figurine made into a distinctive key-chain hanging off his belt or motorcycle instead of cig hanging off mouth or reading that damn boring book in the living room. How did she spend 2 years developing this drama to come up with copy cat ideas?
I saw the trailer and it looks fun. It doesn’t seem to need deep emoting so Hyeri’s gonna be okay me thinks.
Tvn drama keep getting worse their savior drama was ji sung drama,jirisan, and hospital playlist only get high rating.
Vincenzo is their 6th highest rated drama. Getting worse?
Watched it ….didn’t get my attention, found myself skipping a lot
the rating for the first episode was decent though, especially for a romcom drama. I saw many praising hyeri’s acting as well. I think it’s good if you’re searching for fun and light drama
the plot sounds like a ripoff of my girlfriend is gumiho?? doesn’t this consider as plagiarism?
Welcome to Kdramaland where all Kdramas are just a rehash of other Kdramas. And many other times, a ripoff of international works.
Not really? The gumiho this time is the guy and he’s not a naive one like Shin Min Ah’s character.
Plus humans swallowing fox beads is a very common trope in gumiho stories cause like every drama I’ve ever seen with a gumiho features it.
(I did watch ep 1 and the gumiho-as-fox CGI is – probably unintentionally – hilarious and adorable cause it’s so FLUFFY, I want to pet it, it looks like a gumiho with a really high-end bathing and grooming routine from those salons for dogs ?)
Dear OcKoala, long time no see!!!. Still remember your excellent posts in Dramabeans.
Liked the first episode and its comedic shenanigans. Looking forward to episode 2. Hyeri has zero subtleness but I guess it is her appeal for this role.
@blueyorkcity, I would use scorched earth policy in creating Doom’s visual look. No slow-mo strutting in long black trench coat w intense staring ahead. I’m gonna put Doom in worn out black leather jacket, grungy ripped jeans, army boots ala Justin Theroux out for his coffee run in NYC. I’ll also have him in 3 day stubble, unshaven, hair longish, messy kind of look intimidating patients by kicking some trash cans in the hospital on his way in to do the death thing. I’ll have him totally ignoring DK too at the first encounter. Instead of a cave mansion, I’ll have Doom living in a dusty dirty warehouse cum workshop & riding a beat up Harley Davidson instead of driving a sportscar.
Whoa, I love your description of Doom! Now that would have made him stand out from the other fantasy heroes and taken him straight to iconic! Oh, what could have been.
And somehow your description makes me see Kim Woo-bin pulling it off perfectly. Hahahaha
Thanks @blueyorkcity for your compliment! I’m sick to death of the stereotype fantasy heroes’ appearance – deathly pale, too much eyeliner & lipstick. Kim Woo Bin has that bad boy vibes down pat perfect. I’ll change the FL too. Sick of the cutesy petite heroine image too. Sorry for hijacking this MRIAG post. Wish ockoala would do post about Doom so we can banter again. Maybe map out episode by episode scenario. Lol.
Thanks That’s very good info. I highly admire your effort