My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (2010)

Another one of those Hong sisters' work and like all of their past work (eg: You Are Beautiful etc), it has all the humour, creative storyline and likeable characters. However, this drama is not without its weaknesses. Here's my review of this drama:



Story: Overall, a fun and creative story involving a love story between a fairytale creature and a human. Lots of funny and memorable scenes and interesting characters (eg: the action director and dae wong's aunt, dae wong's grandfather etc). Pretty straight forward storyline and we all know by now that the Hong sisters ALWAYS write happy endings, so no surprise there. If you love fairytales and happily ever after sort of theme with fun, this is the drama for you. However, the biggest weakness of a Hong sisters' work is the ending. In my opinion, the ending is a weak ending. They should have spent more time expanding the events and rationale leading towards the ending. The drama would have benefited from an extra episode or another 30 mins to set things in motion towards the ending. As it is, the ending felt forced as if the writers just wanted a happy ending for the characters forgoing the work that is needed towards building this happily ever after. Like I'd said before, endings are not the Hong sisters' strength. My advice for those who are planning to watch this drama:- Just enjoy the journey. It is hilarous, good entertainment with the occassional tear-jerking moments.



Acting/Cast: Lee Seung Gi's a good actor and I think we have pretty much establised this by now based on his past work. It is no wonder he draws in the ratings despite his not-so-good looks (that's just my opinion!). My biggest brownie points, however, goes to the drama new comer Shin Min Ah. This particular young lady has in the past done work on CFs, modelling and movies, but with this drama, she made a fantastic debut as the naive and loveable gumiho. All I can say is she shined in this drama!! The rest of the cast was brilliant as well. I love the actor that played the action director and Dae Wong's aunt, not to mention the actors and actresses playing Dae Wong's grandfather, friends and first love interest (yes! even that annoying woman was well portrayed by actress Park Soo Jin!).



Music: Lovely OSTs worth downloading.



Rewatch value: Good rewatch value, especially when you just needed entertainment without wasting too much brain cells to figure things out. Lots of funny scenes that are guaranteed to entertain you.



Overall, time well spent on the coach. Do not let the hurried ending spoil your mood or decision to watch this drama. If anything, it is highly entertaining.

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Everything about the drama was AMAZING! I was annoyed in the first couple of episodes where Cha Dae woong (Lee Seung Gi) just didn't want the Gumiho to hang around him. But I found it really really funny when she did anyway.

I love Lee Seung Gi's smile, and it is in this drama that I have heard of him for the first time. I loved the music they played in the drama and all the different themes for the main characters.

No Min Woo looked amazingly HOT as always! I felt really bad for his character. I think that both of the male leads had done really well, and I could tell how much No Min Woo's character wanted the Gumiho to go with him. The Gumiho played by Shin Min Ah, done a fantastic job. Applause for her.

Everyone in the drama were either really cute, really HOT, or really really funny. I cried while watching some bits. I will not tell you the summary because I don't want to ruin it for you, but I would recommend this to anyone and everyone. You just HAVE to watch this, LOL :P

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I will get so much hatred for what follows, I'll better go on a vacation for a while.

The premise: I dropped this drama 5 times before finally completing it. The reason why I picked it up again is the most shallow and childish you can think of: the crush on an actor. It embarrasses me no end, but what can I do?
I am the cause of my own suffering.
The reason why I didn't drop it a sixth time as every cell in my body screamed I should, is that when I reached episode 11 I was so bored and annoyed by this drama, the desire to write a review became stronger than the torture itself.
Also, I have let some time pass after the watch before I started writing, because I wanted to use my brain and not my stomach (or heart, in this case it's the same thing).

Let's go in order.
The Plot. There is a fantastic word in French to describe such a plot: a bric-a-brac. It is a fairy tale, which is fine, it's full of elements of fantasy, which is fine, but instead of following a cohesive narrative as required by any story, fantastic or real, it keeps on throwing in new explanations and solutions until nothing makes sense anymore, not even in a fantasy world. We have a Gumiho and suddenly we find out she was made out of the ashes/fire of a Goblin. A GOBLIN? You mean legendary little monsters with either green or red skin, pointed ears and tons of malice? That's not how the half ghost remembers her. Wait, this Goblin turned Gumiho turned half human also gave half of her "ki" (another element popped out of the blue on episode... 13 I think) to a human who gave up half of his life but also has half a ki and drank twice the bead and died and came back to life and then the eclipse...
Ok, I stop here before I turn as crazy as the plot. This story is utterly ridiculous, even when, I repeat, I let time pass and somehow digested it all.
Did I mention the cheese, the sugary dialogues, the repetition of lines, flashbacks, situations? Better not.

The characters.
Oh please kill me.
If you think Gumiho is a fox, you're mistaken: she's a dog. She goes from talking about cow meat every MINUTE of every single episode to the middle, to taking about her Dae Woong every minute of every episode till the end. She depends so much on him that even when the stakes get higher and she decides for a sacrifice in the name of love, it's not suspenseful anymore. It's irritating, predictable and humiliating. As a woman, I find her character insulting. Like a dog, she stays glued to him with a persistence and complete lack of reasoning which is the exact opposite of romantic.
She threatens to disappear at least 4 times, and every time she changes idea and we are back to square one.
Dae Woong has at least a little character development, but stays a bi-dimentional person anyway. His losing his parents when he was a kid is mentioned and never elaborated: why mentioning it, then? The zoo trauma is treated in such a superficial way it's ridiculous.
And the fact that he loves a woman who has the brain of a 4 year old child and the attitude of a loyal dog doesn't play much in his favour.
The "half ghost" Dong Joo passes his time watching an hourglass with one eye and his magic knife with another, repeating to himself the same sentences over and over and playing in his mind the same memory at least 12 times. I still have to understand whether his contribution to the plot is to be there and show his sexy emo haircut or add to the comedic.
The others aren't even worth mentioning: the usual, trite, spiteful, envious girl, the always oblivious friends, the silly grandfather, a farting aunt and the bad double of Chow Yun Fat. Oh yes, the dog (the real one) is wonderful.

The acting of the main leads is decent. The others are, once again, not worth mentioning.

The music is repetitive. Very much so. There is one nice song, but by the end I couldn't hear it anymore, so many times it was played.

I know this sounds harsh and I know I won't be received with sympathy. But given the number of good reviews this thing got, I don't feel like I'm doing any harm to it by stating my honest opinion.
If you want an overdose of cheese, watch this.

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1-The reason I watched this : I accidently found it on some Korean channel: This is the drama that I fell for it from the first sight.
I downloaded the rest of the drama and finished in two days dramathon.

2-Storyline/Plot : You have two options while watching this drama's story: Either you're hooked up from first sight or you're uninterested from the first episode (If you're the second choice then it's better that you drop it because you will never love it later on).
There's supernatural events, romance, comedy and even some action moments. Like I said earlier it can be addictive or unintresting.

3-Acting/Cast : I liked this drama's cast, Shin Min Ah was perfect for the Gomiho role, Lee Seung Ki was partly satisfying while No Min Woo was my special eye candy for this drama since I totally fell in love with his character here.
Supporting roles were appealing too but they didn't take too much space in the story's development.

4-The music : Nicely done, it was perfect match for scenes.

5-Rewatch value : If you liked it that much then it's absolutely rewatchable.

6-The ending : It was cool but expected.

7-Overall : This drama contains a unique storyline and a great acting department so it's good for a romantic comedy but it wouldn't fit every rom-com lover's taste.

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I was very skeptical about this drama when I read its synopsis and have been putting off watching this drama for quite a while (1 year in fact). As such I am very thankful for King2Heart and Arang and the magistrate for introducing me to Lee Seung Gi and Shin Ming Ah respectively. I love their respective characters so much that it prompted me to finally watch this drama which features both.

And what a right decision it has been! 16 hrs of fun filled entertainment with fair amount of tears flowing too....

Story: The story is refreshing and original. There was never a single episode where I feel its slow or boring. In fact, I cherish every little moment that the hoi couple shared. One good thing about the plot is that there is never really any "evil" characters in the show, just slight annoying perhaps but totally believable even they do what they did in the show.

Acting/Cast: Great chemistry between Lee Seung Gi and Shin Min Ah. Shin Min Ah is so cute that she really makes you melt everytime she smile ..now I am a total convert, awaiting eagerly for her next drama. Even the supporting cast was outstanding.

Music: This is one drama where I love all the different OST (the different theme). Fox Rain is my favourite, a true classic!

Rewatch: I usually won't rewatch drama, but I dare say I will likely rewatch this very soon to reminisce all the cute moments of the Hoi couple.

For those looking for terrific 16 hrs of entertainment, this is a must watch!

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this drama was amazing from the start the drama and comedy never stopped after some episodes like most dramas it continued all the way. they got a nice story and put in a very good actor Lee Seung Gi. i loved director bans husky voice hes scenes where very entertaining. oh the grandfather began the comedy from the first episode ,and the gumiho was like a scary baby learning new things i laughed everything she called "woong-ah".the music and sound effects were great. Daewoongs aunt min sook was also memorable. to top it all up the whole cast was great. totally re-watchable. especially the scenes with min sook and Director ban. uh who am i kidding every thing is re watchable
it was kind of superb

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First of all, warning ! I'm one of those with an unpopular opinion. Who knows how much hate I will get for writing this, but I seriously don't even care anymore.

I TRYED to like it. I liked it during the first few episodes, then I started to TRY and like it. When you realize that you're desperately trying to find something to save a story then that's when you have to eventually come to terms with the fact that what you're watching is not as good as you hoped.

I must say that the story started out great. I adored the main guy's irresponsible, sarcastic and laid-back behaviour and I loved the concept of the heroine, I generally love fantasy romance stories just for the supernatural element which I always find refreshing and limitless in potential...But that's where this drama dies and gets burried for me. It's clear from around episode 5 or 6 that it'll be a heavily repetitive storyline, with the same issues coming up over and over again, only to get once again into the same damn issue formulated in a slightly different way. It gets dragged to the limits of the word "dragging" and I had to stop around episode 9 for a loooong time before picking it up again, just because it turned out so ridiculously boring and predictable. Then around episode 10 I started to stop even caring what was happening with all the new problems and ridiculous roundabout solutions just for the sake of melodrama. Even the comedy starting turning really annoying in the end; when you keep insisting on the same pun over and over again, it'll just stop being funny. That combined with the absolute nonsense and convenient ending made out of it an absolute chaos that you either choose to buy because of guilty pleasure or you just don't and move on.

Characters wise, there's nobody that particularly stands out. The two main protagonists were nice at the beginning, but as much character development that they got, they keep being bi-dimensional personas and stereotypes in the end. I liked Dong Ju to an extent though, that before I realized that the director probably liked to see No Min Woo looking mysterious, while repeating 100 times the same damn lines and always appearing in front of the main characters to announce the start or the end of a certain event. If it was because he thought we forgot the situation as viewers, then I'm sorry, I don't think we're that stupid. If he tried to be the sexy, mysterious guy, then okay. I give him that. He managed to be sexy! Though that might be plain subjective from my side, since I really like No Min Woo overall. It kind of bothered me how his character tried to act as a type of puppet master through the show, but in the end he failed because he kept pulling out random solutions when at first there were supposed to be none. He just kept discrediting himself....The rest of the cast is pretty forgettable: the always oblivious friends, the evil second girl, the comedy relief, AND I want to concentrate on the extra comedy relief couple, Min Sook and Director Ban, or the "action couple" They were really the only thing that I kept enjoying to follow from beginning to end and managed to bring a smile to my face despite the rageful red that I kept seeing in all the other parts in the second half of the drama. Oh and I have to make a honorary mention that goes to Go Mi Nyu and Jeremy from You're beautiful ! It was nice seeing them again as appearances, since I really liked that drama and my love for Hongki is quite big.

The OST is nice in the beginning, but as I went on I realized that it has no shades whatsoever. They put on repeat the same songs over and over again and I first noticed it with Dong Ju's theme song, Trap. Despite loving the song to death, it can't be that I have to listen to it everytime Dong Ju is on screen, completely ignoring his own state of heart. I found it to give a very bad atmosphere of how am I supposed to feel. And no. Knowing about his feelings or anybody's feelings doesn't necessarily make me feel bad for anybody if I keep hearing a song that has nothing to do with the actual feeling I'm supposed to get. It just contrasts it, so automatically I feel less emotional.

Overall, I'm sorry but besides the concept, the acting and the general ost (not the use of it), there aren't many things I enjoyed about this drama...Just wanted it to end.

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YEEEEEEY! Just finished watching it! * actually no, I am sad :( * This is now a very special drama for me because everything goes amazingly well together: the music, the story, the cast. The music is smooth and it is easy to sing along. The story is very interesting and it keeps twisting and twisting playing tricks on you continuously, however this is what keeps you hooked to the drama until the end. The main couple has an incredible chemistry that I have seen in very few dramas. You have the beautiful and adorable Shin Min Ah, the extremely cute and talented Lee Seung Ki (amazing actor!) + another character that stole my heart from the first moment, totally hot! (I'll let you guess who that person is).

I hesitated for one year whether I should watch this drama or not because I heard it is sad, however now that I've watched it I have to say it was very amusing and entertaining. It got a bit sad towards the end, however Lee Seung Ki's acting totally blew me away! He is one hell of an actor because he plays his role with a lot of passion and Shin Min Ah is sooo cute that I found myself repeating her lines like a lunatic while walking on the street hahaha.

This drama is a MUST watch because it is different from other dramas even though it has some bits that can be seen in every korean drama nowadays. You have to watch it!

P.s. Just a piece of advice: you will become hungry during the drama especially if you like meat because they always eat -.- so grab something to chew on while watching it.
Enjoy! :)

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I started watching this drama on Netflix because my friends who are drama freaks recommended it. I didn't feel the storyline at first, but grew to understand it over the course of the story. I really enjoyed the performances of the main guys, Lee Seung Gi and No Min Woo. Lee Seung Gi is a great actor and I just thought he was so adorable in this drama. I began to watch more of his work from watching this. Shin Min Ah is pretty and a good actress, but I didn't really like her character. What kept me watching this was the guys... If you like drama, fantasy, and a bit of sageuk, then this drama is for you to watch.

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