A Terrifying Cohabitation (2021)

I was happy when it ended.

I watched a few episodes weekly with friends for about a month or so and it eventually turned into a hate watching drinking game for us. We celebrated when it was over. If I had watched this show alone I would have dropped it entirely. The main couple is boring and annoying. The male lead is the worst. He has no personality, he is selfish and never has character development. He only thinks about being humane when his life is about to end because he decided to wait til his 1000 years was up to try and become human. He apparently loves Dam, but the whole show he never communicates with her about anything, even when he's disappearing and she had just clearly stated she would be extremely hurt by an ubrupt ending to their relationship. She spends the whole show thinking he either used her or she's doing something wrong and everything is her fault. His big moment I guess is when he saves her from being hit by the infamous white truck and he gets hit instead and just disappears. Its still bothersome because she finds his letter and then blames herself for him getting hit by the truck. She never would have been in that situation if he'd have just communicated with her. She was rushing there because she knew he was secretly saying goodbye. Then we find out he asked Hyesun to use HER Bead to erase Dam's memories when the mountain spirit let her have one wish. So now you're asking someone to use THEIR ONE WISH to erase the trauma you've put your girlfriend through. Lovely man indeed. Lets not forget HE PUSHED HER BEST FRIEND DOWN THE STAIRS CAUSING AN INJURY! That's really where I checked out of their relationship. I was over it before that, but that solidified that this male lead had no redeeming qualities for me. There was nothing cute or romantic about their relationship and it was painful and uncomfortable to watch. The side characters and second couple were the only good thing about this show and the only reason I give it 3 stars. I will end this by saying that someone in our watch party said their favorite part was when he got hit by a truck and didn't show up anothing 25 mins in the finale. So really don't bother wasting your time on this drama.

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♡♡Lee Dam Has Stolen My Heart♡♡

I've decided I'm gonna watch youth of may before I'll see my Roommate is a Gumiho so I get that amazing fun pick me up after depression anxiety. ....And now I'm cry laughing because of my Roommate is a Gumiho.

I'm in love with our female lead though.

"You already know so much about me but I would like my body fat to be private"
This woman!! Omg I fucking love her!! There's like a hot Gumiho in the show but who am I drooling over? A disaster of a human being aka the sloth out of all sloths and the biggest mood ever. Plus she loves history (she's just perfect).

Lee Dam being like:
Falling in love with a human? Meh
Falling in love with a gumiho? Nah
Falling in love with food every meal time? HELL YESSS

We all deserve a 999 year old Gumiho that takes care of us when we're on our periods like this girl does.

OMG GUMIHO IS A BABY!! He literally turned into her (shapeshift illusion) so that she doesn't have to worry about a group assignment because of period cramps. What a precious soul.

Mr. Gumiho: It would be weird to say you're like my daughter. So let's go with niece
Me initially: :")
Me after a few seconds: Mr. Gumiho YOU LIKE HER!! SHE'S NOT YOUR NIECE!! U DUMB OR SOMETHING? Has your brain shrunk over time?

I'm also sooo in love with the girl though. She's toooo fucking funny when it comes to people showing interest in her or flirting with her. A dude was like if you don't have an umbrella we could share one **bitch pulls out a gigantic sized umbrella** She, Lee Dam, also has the best friends ever.

OMG I FUCKING LOVE HER EVEN MORE NOW!! HE CALLED HER HIS NIECE YESTERDAY AND GIRL CAME WITH THE BIGGEST COMEBACK THE NEXT DAY. Lee Dam be like give me your credit card uncle :") or I'm not calling you sir anymore but uncle instead since I'm like your niece. I love her so fucking much. Now Mr. Gumiho is all flustered.

Omg she keeps going with it, lol. Feel free to give me pocket money as well uncle since I'm like a niece to you :") Then I'll be going uncle, lol. She's so savage, I loooove it!!

Girl eats a very late night snack dude is like umm... you shouldn't eat that now. She be like eating food after 3:00 is basically breakfast and my mum always told me to eat a hearty breakfast. I'm dying, I'm deceased!!

Lee Dam is also the embodiment of every student. She goes to school in sweats and barely looking human.

I have officially cried tears for mr. Gumiho and the best girl ever. They really got to me :'( So now I'm crying. A 10/10 is definitely happening right now. My 100th drama of the year will be a 10/10.

Gumiho and my love are finally together. They literally only hugged and I cried like a baby.

Their first, well technically their second kiss, was hooooooot!!

OMG GIRL IS SO SENSIBLE!! She's deeply in love with him but currently it's very dangerous for them to be together but she isn't planning on risking it all. She's not betting her life on their relationship. FINALLY A GIRL WHO DOESN'T THROW HERSELF AWAY FOR A GUY

I DON'T KNOW WHO TO SHIP HER WITH ANYMORE. **not even one minute later** Okay, I sorted my thoughts out. Mr gumiho and our girl should be together. The second male lead kinda deserves better than her even though he initially was trash. Honestly they both deserve better.

LOL NOW I KNOW I WAVERED FOR A SEC!!! THE SECOND MALE LEAD IS SOMEONE I LOVED IN OTHER DRAMAS LOOOOL

There's also a female gumiho who just turned human 4 years ago and she has the vocabulary of a 4 year old even though she's 700+ years old. So now the male best friend of our girl thinks they slept together as in they had sex while female gumiho meant that they fell asleep in the same hotel room :")

An annoying mountain god put a red string of fate between the love of my life and the second male lead and never in my life have I wanted use SCISSORS so badly. I wanna go SNIP SNIP!! Can you believe a second ago I almost wavered and now I'm amnoyed as fuck :(

Mr Gumiho and ex gumiho girl have the best friendship ever. They're always bickering with each other or throwing jabs at one another. They're just too funny. I'm loving it so much

WHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :")  Our girl's best male friend now thinks he deflowered ex miss Gumiho will she in fact meant that she has never experienced someone throwing up on her. I can't even.

Female ex gumiho: You were really heavy, now my back hurts.
**him imagining all kinds of dirty stuff**
What she actually meant: I had to carry yo heavy ass because you were so drunk so now my back hurts.

I totally get why they (the male best friend & the ex gumiho) got a C on their communication assignment.

Him: I'll take responsibility
Her: meh not needed, it was consensual
Him: it was?
Her: we did it together
Someone please bury me now because I've died from laughing too hard. I'm crying as well :") this is too funny.

Her: from my experience it wasn't bad (still talking about the assignment). Him thinking he got some skills :") NOW THEY'RE DATING BECAUSE YOU'LL GET AN A FOR THAT COURSE THEN. I'm dying..... I can't handle this!! It's too funny!!

THE SUBWAY AD IS BACK. I REPEAT THE SUBWAY AD IS BACK!!!!!! WHY AM I SOOO EXCITED ABOUT THIS?

I'm really tired of that red thread of fate, I REALLY WANT TO BREAK IT. My friend was like: GET THE SWORDDD, which in turn had me like: I WILL! I'M READY TO MURDER THAT FUCKING DEITY THAT PUT THE STRING THERE!!! THAT MOTHERFUCKING... I usually love Go kyung pyo BUT OMG HE TRULY CHOSE THE WORST CAMEOS OF 2021. This year he's only playing fucking annoying characters. In her he's like meddling with my precious baby and making their lives harder because he wants to hurry gumiho and make him human. But mr gumiho has issues, very sensible issues. He can't use the girl he likes to turn human since it can becone life threatening, but he can't use so else because he is in a relationship. In my opinion, it actually makes sense for once because you have to kiss someone to get the bead out but also keep someone close & I mean that's a bit difficult if you're in a relationship. And one of those people is a bit of a grandpa (and does not fit with his personality) & for the girl it's her first relationship.

I'm boiling. The red bitch of faith is still happening. IT IS SOOOO ANNOYING.

You (my friend) got positive news (as in NCT's upcoming world tour) while all I got was a break up. I'M SO DONE WITH BREAK UP SHIT. I get why it happened BUT ME DON'T LIKEY.

You know those people in animal suits to promote stuff, like those mascot ones. My girl sees a fox one when she is drunk and just broke up and now she's beating/slapping the dude in the fox costume :")

LOL, SHE JUMPED ON MR GUMIHO BECAUSE SHE WANTS THE BEAD SO SHE CAN TURN HIM HUMAN and he was like nooooooope not hurting you and poofed himself out. This is toooo funny. OMG I CAN'T HELP BUT LOVE HER!Now she's harassing him at every moment to give her the bead. I just fucking love her!! And he keeps running off. She literally even hid under his desk and was like I GOT YOU. Can I marry her please?

Now she is even acting out a fake injury just to get him close so she can take his phone & car keys as hostage, lol. And he just poofed away again, whahaha.

Now ex gumiho is giving her energy to mr gumiho because he was staggering due to all the poofing and they're both so disgusted by having to hold hands to give and absorb energy.

Ex gumiho gave our girl tips on how to make mr gumiho cave in and what does our girl do, use her advise against her C: Since the ex gumiho likes the male best friend but she's too stubborn to realise it. And the two best friends acted all super close and lovey dovey to make the foxes jealous :") while the foxes thought they were really dating, the two friends literally had to sanitise their hands after touching.

His bead is almost entirely blue and I have a feeling what will turn it blue. Kdramas really turn me into a sappy person because I honestly wouldn't mind if this was actually the case. I kind of would love it. But those 3 words in English and 1 word in Korean could turn his bead blue. Saranghae, it has to be the good old classic I love you.

Their kisses are soooo fucking hot. I ship the characters sooo much.

I only have 2 hours left :(((

They really were like we are not gonna make it vague that they slept to together. We're gonna really state it without turning into Nevertheless, My name, or now we're breaking up. This was like a case of what's wrong with secretary Kim steaminess. BUT IT IS SO CUTE because both babies are soooo fucking awkward with each other the next day. Both of them are blushing like red tomatoes. One is 999 years old but he a shy maiden. I am still not over it. Their chemistry is just on fire. They're both freaking out about it and thinking about it non stop. They are sooo hilarious.

Our girl's female best friend is like you call him sir and bow to him how much more should I teach you. Dam running away from her and me being like you've got no idea how skilled and now experienced our girl already is hehehe ;) 

I LOVE HER SO MUCH. She's already puking of the idea of calling mr gumiho honey, babe, sweetie and OMG SAAAAAME. I really think oppa is okay but the rest makes me shudder. She's still sooo awkward with calling him oppa. SHE'S A MOOD, I FUCKING LOVE HER. I think he knows she is trying to say oppa and just loving to tease her, but then he was so sweet and started talking casually first because he's A CUTIE PIE. THEY ARE SO FUCKING CUTE!

I SHOULD HAVE KNOW! THE BEAD TURNS BLUE IF YOU ACT HUMANE

I love kdrama catfights and this one was extraordinary.

OMG THE FEMALE FRIEND OF OUR GIRL LIKED THE MALE BEST FRIEND O.o OMG AND FEMALE FRIEND HATES A SUNBAE BECAUSE HE THOUGHT SHE WAS THE TEACHER IN HER 40'S :") ME AND EVERYONE ELSE THOUGHT SHE LIKED THAT SUNBAE. They really got me. The worst thing is that I TOTALLY AGREED WITH THAT SUNBAE. I thought she was way older than 28.

THE MALE FRIEND'S REACTION TO HEARING FEMALE FRIEND LIKED HIM IS KILLING ME!

Lol, ex gumiho and male bff still haven't cleared up the we did not have sex part.

**insert sad emojis**  #Crying. Male best friend and ex gumiho finally cleared the air and she told him she liked him **a few seconds later** NOOOOOO WHY DO THEY HAVE TO DO MY BABIES DIRTY?? THEY WERE KISSING AND SUDDENLY HIS OLDER BROTHER APPEARED

I was wrong, it didn't change when he said those 3 words AND NOW HE'S DISAPPEARING. I'm crying. Now I don't want to watch the last episode. Now I'm sad... Me don't likey. These MOTHERFUCKERS HAD TO DO ME THIS DIRTY. I'm not watching it until tomorrow. I can't do it now.

The next day my friend was like WHEN ARE YOU GONNA WATCH IT & I was like after school. I'm gonna watch it while I eat diner. I dunno if that's the smartest move but that's what were doing. My angel friend was like I hope you dont choke while earing, which initially had me like same. Or my pizza becomes even saltier because of all my tears. Lucky, my dog, would be really happy about it because then he thinks he is allowed to eat it. I don't know if you know but my woof woof has a thing for cheese. I mean Cheese is love. Cheese is life.

Then dinner time flew by and I still hadn't seen the last episode. I'm just really really really procrastinating watching it. I was like hey I could watch Youth of May instead this... OH WAIT THAT'S FUCKING SAD AS WELL. And now Viki isn't working **almost 2 hours later** hey it works again.

Me to my friend around 23:15 Well.... I had to do my sisters bunnies... So I still have not seen the last episode (cue to the 20 minutes or so later when I did start watching it).

I'm gonna need some tissues. I'm not even 1 minute into it and I'm already crying.

THEY PUT SAD MUSIC IN EVERY SCENE HE APPEARS NOW. BITCHES REALLY DOING ME DIRTY.

He's making every moment with her count

Mr gumiho is crying so now I am crying.

HE IS BACK!!! BUT LOL HE HAS BECOME A FOODIE NOW HE'S HUMAN. They're both having food orgasms now, lol.

Our girl being horrified at his cooking he be like: I managed not to panic when I set the kitchen on fire and put the fire out :")

Mr no longer a Gumiho was like I'm bored HOW CAN YOU STUDY WHEN SOMEONE JUST CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD. He truly learned the sass from her.

I KNEW IT THAT THE SIBLINGS OF OUR GIRL AND THE SECOND MALE LEAD WOULD LIKE EACH OTHER!

Best friends are bickering again. Their love hate friendship is tooo funny.

OMG NOW FEMALE BEST FRIEND OF OUR GIRL AND DUDE THAT CALLED HER 40 GOT THE RED BITCH OF FATE NOW :") But it's actually a red thread of the dude's sweater. They're too funny.

Ex mr gumiho: you were supposed to carry the bead, not fall in love with its owner
Our girl: you were suposed to steal my energy not my heart.
OMG SHE SMOOTH.

OMG THEY OFFICIALLY GOT THE OFFICIAL RED BITCH OF FATE NOW #emonow.

Wow ex female gumiho used her bead which holds one wish to make her boyfriend not to to the military :")

I AM FINISHED. IT HAS A HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY ENDING AND I JUST LOVED IT.

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It's decent, but perhaps somewhat overrated!

Obviously this is a very decent romcom, but it fell a bit short of my expectations already early on. Took me a while to figure out what is the biggest factor limiting my enjoyment and that is the ML, Jang Ki Yong. I've seen him before performing great in Seach: WwW, but in My Roommate Is a Gumiho he just doesn't work for me all that well. It's not even a chemistry problem really, it's just that the aloof gumiho character is something that he kind of failed to pull off in believable way. It might not even be entirely his fault, his character supposed to have A LOT of character progression and probably nobody on the production team cared to tell him to adjust his character a little.

At first I did not like Hyeri in this show either, but after a few episodes I got used to her character & it did not take very long for me to realize that she is carrying the drama, alongside the second couple. Hanna is always a pleasure to watch & she had great chemistry with her partner & their characters were also written pretty well, they had some great lines and admittedly quite a few cliche misunderstandings.

Most kdramas have annoying things that I can barely force myself to watch. This one is better in the sense that the writers did not milk every single conflict and misunderstanding to the max. There are two tropes in this drama that I have always liked, namely forced cohabitation and pretend amnesia. The amnesia thing with the indignant FL was especially fun to watch, the cohabitation could've been done better though, but it was still enjoyable and fluff filled.
I especially loved how nicely they resolved the "student dating the professor" scandal. I really thought that would get blown out of proportion..

The biggest problem I had with the writing is the flea-like second ML, it felt like he is a manhwa character from Extraordinary You, his need to keep confessing, confessing and confessing when they are "on the stage" would have been more funny if they played that certain soundtrack from that show during those scenes. As far as love triangles go this one is on the weaker side of average, since the FL never hesitated, but it could not have been more unnecessary and it only ended at around episode 14. Also the whole red string of fate storyline annoyed me to no end.

There were more minor annoyances than I'd like. Like how the leads separated for a short while THREE times in the drama. I mean sure it was at most for 30-40 minutes each time, potentially not even reaching weeks in the drama's timeline, but if only they could've forgone just one of them, I would be that much more content right now.

I'm not entirely happy with the ending. I love happy endings, but this one is WAY TOO SHORT with a lot of wasted potential. The writers could have explored how he is adjusting to being human at length. I would have preferred if they spent the last 2 episodes doing just that, rather than sticking to the foreshadowed melodramatic things that ended up happening, or almost happening. Just imagine how nice it could've been, when ML was about to announce that he is turning human, he could have just turned human, like there was really no reason to really push for that dramatic ending in this one. (the whole explanation why that needed to happen & the criteria for him specifically to become human were just ridiculous)

This show is obviously very similar to Goblin & Angel's Last Mission in many ways, but Goblin is like a hundred times better. ALM:L should be worse objectively, but I enjoyed that one much more for some inexplicable reason. I rated Goblin as a 10, ALM:L at 9, so with that in mind I can only give My Roommate Is a Gumiho a 7.5.

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Some thing to pass the time...

I originally stopped watching this show midway and I wasn't sure why...I think I just got bored and it was at the part the ML almost ate up the FL. You would think I would want to watch more....but I didn't. Funny enough...I kinda wanted the FL with the SML. That dream she had look more lovely and natural than she had with the ML.

I'm not sure what to make of this drama....even the reunion in the last episode was so lacklustre. I finished it because I like to finish dramas. On a side note, I like the secondary couple...they were cute and so much more interesting than the leads.

The OST was okay and the acting was just alright. The obstacles they faced were so minuscule or were made to feel that way after a couple of episodes. I am not actually sure why or how they fell in love which makes their romance not believable.

You can watch it if just for the laughs here and there, surface-level romance and sneak peeks of Go Kyung Pro...Also, with that said, Hye Ri's performance does remind me a bit of Reply 1988.

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A fantastic story with a superb cast that fell flat in the end but is kind of watchable

This drama had so much going for it:
a. A great cast that really fit the roles they were given
b. A fantastic story with a potential to be great
c. Healthy budget for effects and costume

BUT

Story:
I loved the initial episodes where Dam meets Mr. Gumiho and they start living together. Their interactions were full of humor. You could clearly see that Mr. Gumiho was supremely fascinated with Dam. Their love story was a mere progression of time.

Everything was going hunky-dory and I don't know when but I got second lead syndrome and slowly started shipping Gye Sun‑woo with Dam. I am not sure why but I think it has to do with the growth in the second lead's story/character as opposed to our lead couple.

And that's just it! While Sun Woo grew as a character with each episode I felt like Dam and Mr. Gumiho became stagnant as a couple. Yes, the story progresses and transitions into a mystery then a obstacle is placed in our couple's way which they have to overcome and so on and so forth. But while the story progresses, I see no progress between our lead couple and I think this is entirely the fault of the writers. I lost interest after episode 10-12 and the story just fell flat after it.

When you convert a webtoon into a Drama there are somethings you need to edit and I don't feel the script writers did enough of it.

Acting:
The acting was splendid! Hyeri is amazing with humour and I am ecstatic to see Jang Ki Yong in a romantic drama where he isn't the evil character. 😊

Bae In-Hyuk was just superb and Kang Ha-Na also did an equally superb job as a Gumiho turned human.

The naivety that is Do Wan-Kim was great to watch. I am sure all of us have that friend who succumbs to stupidity in every relationship that he undertakes!

Music:
I don't remember the music at all. So I'm sure it wasn't anything like DAYS.

Overall:
If you are into a light fluffy romance with an element of fantasy this drama is right up your alley. There is no deep story or insight that you will get from watching it. It's okay for one time watch as a break between intense dramas that you just can't get over and have a weekend to spare.

Pet Peeve:
I know its in the webtoon but the honorifics used by the lead couple to address each other annoyed the hell out of me!!😑

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Pretty average rom-com with no hook or unique premise

I thought this drama was pretty average overall. There wasn't anything truly special about it, it had some cute couples, funny scenes, but the chemistry wasn't electric and the comedy wasn't laugh out loud. For reference, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon would be a 10 in my books so this drama falters.

I also feel like the chemistry issue with the main couple falls on Jang Ki Young and how he plays a pretty similar character and demeanor in most of his dramas. He's only had electric chemistry with Jin Ki Joo in Come and Hug Me. Unfortunatley I couldn't see that or something else here. Kang Hana was pretty funny though and the highlight of the drama for me

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Hilarious POX story :D

My Roommate is a Gumiho has been so far one of the best romantic comedies of 2021 and can easily be compared to True Beauty because of the hilarious and iconic scenes.


The story:
Lee Dam (Lee Hye Ri) is out drinking with her friends and has to drag one of them, Do Jae Jin (Kim Do Wan) home. On their way, Jae Jin vomits on Shin Woo Yeo (Jang Ki Yong) car. He is a 999-year-old gumiho who wants to turn into a human being. While apologizing, Lee Dam trips and Shin Woo Yeo prevents her from falling. But somehow the marble of the gumiho gets into her body, and now he absorbs energy from Lee Dam. They end up living together for her protection (and the protection of the marble) and Lee Dam has to follow certain rules, now that she is bonded to a fox. This means she is not allowed to drink, eat chicken nor hang out with guys which were born in the year of the tiger, which is hard for a university student. All these events make up room for insanely funny happenings.


The cast:
In my opinion, the cast did a great job. I had no issues with Lee Hye Ri at all, like others in the comment section. The supporting cast was amazing as well, so there is not quite much to talk about.


The music:
Was nothing special. I finished the show yesterday and could not hum any of the songs on the spot.


The side character:
The story would have been only half as great if it was not for the side characters. I was so thrilled to see Kang Han Na and Kim Do Wan acting together after Start-Up. Their story was entertaining, too. And let's be honest... where do I get my own Do Jae Jin. What a cute, understanding and caring guy. In addition, Kang Han Na role was funny as hell and I loved her support for her friends, too. Lee Dam's friends are such amazing and supporting people. I would have been definitely more curious than them :D. The other university students and the siblings added a nice touch to the story and may ships arised.


My recommendation:
So if you like a little fantasy, a lot of comedy as well as watching people eat a lot of food 24/7 this is a drama for you. It is light-hearted with some twists and turns and great stories surrounding the main thread.








A little side not (INCLUDES SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), I hope everyone saw that :)
The Second Lead : I first did not like him, but in episode 9 or something I really felt for him. That is probably because he made his feelings so obvious and talked about it a lot. I think he would have been a very good choice, too, and I hope he will get the girl in another drama.

Things that did not add: I do not understand why they did not keep up with the serial killer thing. I mean, they found out who it was, but the entire section was kind of weird to me. I feel like they did not use the full potential and did not close all the open questions properly here, as if they forgot the story line existed.

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SO DISAPPOINTING :( I WANTED to like it but...

It looked promising at first but then... the story was just so lacking?
It felt like the climax never hit? Just some sorts of problems here and there, and the couple (note, I love the actors separately) but the CHARACTERS they had to play just didn't FIT.

The dude seemed so mature and the girl seemed SOOO childish - like - it would have been a cute college love but just didn't fit together.

I just think as a couple they didn't really match well or mesh well - parts seemed awkward and almost too cringey. Uncle + Niece vibes were WAY more accurate.

I also loved the side loves/stories so much more - humor was there though. I truly did laugh a lot but I was NOT interested in the PLOT at all. I literally whizzed/skimmed through it to just find out the ending results etc.

The antagonists of the stories were also just meh and were solved so quickly - like no effort put in.

Overall, wouldn't watch again but still glad I did bc I know now. Wouldn't really recommend if you find your time precious but the main actor + 2nd leads were such eye candies.

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Ruined my entire mood

This drama made my day bad. I skipped a lot from episodes 1-3 and I started watching with enjoyment in episodes 4-10 then when there was a plot that could be said to be very stupid from the Korean director who thought that this plot would create hype and make the story more interesting even though it was just rubbish and nonsense. After what ML did to FL, the plot made FL love 2ML with a string of destiny to be together, that's really bad, the Korean director's thinking is very strange. I think I can give a rating of 8 when I start to enjoy it in episodes 4-10, but after that you will be angry with the story which is too forced and too strange. Overall I give a rating of 1, if you want to make your mood bad you can try watching this drama.

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One of the most anticipated romcoms of 2021

The expectations for My Roommate is a Gumiho blow through the roof. Screenwriter and director combo from What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim (plus countless other dramas). Two of the hottest young actors in Jang Ki Yong and Lee Hye Ri. Reunion of Start-Up cast members Kang Han Na and Kim Do Wan. Even the “fifth” lead, Bae In Hyuk builds on his 2019 debut. The cast makes MRIG a must-watch for lovers of romcom.

To live up to lofty expectations proves to be too challenging for My Roommate is a Gumiho. The fantasy setting is almost an afterthought for what is essentially a slice-of-life/cohabitation drama, and MRIG fails to provide a fresh perspective on the usual romcom tropes.

Story:
The synopsis points to a fantasy romance when comedy cohabitation drama is a more apt description. The two leads meet due to a drunk accident, not an otherworldly incident; Gumiho powers seem more gimmicky than terrifying; The urgency of becoming human is explained away with “you have one year remaining on your thousand year deadline”. The fantasy element feels cheaply used to bring together and keep the two leads under one roof.

Acting:
Regardless of the drama’s shortcomings, the cast comes out better individually than as a team. Jang Ki Yong’s brand is peaking as we speak, and Lee Hye Ri adds another leading role to her idol-turned-actress career. Second leads are given plenty of screen time, mostly at the expense of the supporting roles. The commercial firepower of the five main leads is not in question, with numerous product placements to maximize earnings potential.

Music:
The music is a surprisingly good analogy for the drama as a whole - safe and unremarkable mix of Korean drama OST staples with select kpop features. The commercial feel of the whole enterprise from cast to plot to music is the ultimate weakness of My Roommate Is a Gumiho. Greater risks could have been allowed to the writers, directors, actors, and musicians involved.

Rewatch Value:
All the points made in the review could be driven by one fact: My Roommate Is a Gumiho is the first Korean TV series produced by iQIYI. The producers philosophy seems heavily risk averse. They could have taken bigger risks and stumbled like Tale of the Nine-Tailed or succeeded like Goblin. Instead, we have another run-of-the-mill webtoon adaptation.

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My Roommate Is a Disappointment*

Whoever wrote this show has an amazing talent to take something and turn it into nothing. I pity absolutely everyone involved starting from directors, actors, characters and down to the very audience. You might think this is a romantic tragedy, but I'd argue it's a cinematic tragedy.

They took a very particular and very interesting lore and made it as bland as possible. The whole story feels like a pilot episode on repeat. Continuous irrelevant nonsense with no romantic progression. It starts out alright but the quality drops heavily after episode 7 or so. Literally the only reason this show is watchable is because the actor is eye candy and even that has a time limit before you stop caring and get exhausted. This gumiho, Shin Woo-Yeo, is a confused, ice cold, poorly written character who doesn't know what he wants in life let alone love and the only thing saving him from falling apart is his pretty face. My guy has lived for 999 years but is more confused than your average teenager.

Furthermore, Shin has been done a giant disservice because everyone else in this whole story has been presented better. Everything mysterious about him that could have been kept a secret is thrown in your face in the pilot episode. All we were left with was his confusion and struggle with normal everyday things. This poor guy had so much potential that went down the drain immediately because of poor directing. A story with this kind of writing makes Twilight look like a bloody masterpiece. If you ever want to ruin a mysterious supernatural character then do exactly what this drama did. Just dish it all out immediately and leave no suspense or surprise left. Then he can suck along with the rest of the humans in the story and suck even more because he was never human so he can't blend in.

Then there is the opposing romantic interest that keeps being treated like utter garbage throughout the story. This guy has far superior character development than the gumiho himself. He actually respects boundries and has common sense unlike the weird gumiho who stalks, invades privacy and a whole list of other alarming behavior. His existence is there just to make you feel bad for no reason whatsoever. I literally felt bad whenever his scenes came up because I knew it was pointless torture of a great character and torture of the audience. The actor of this guy did such an amazing job that it made me sick to my stomach to watch him go through everything he does. If the opposing romantic interest is more interesting and entertaining than the main one then you have failed as a writer. You made Shin lose by making him pretend to be a human, suck at it and then put him up against an actual human who's existence is there just to suffer.

What's worse is that this thing continuously doesn't even reward you for watching it. It tortures you. The cliffhangers deceive you into thinking it's going to be all good but then it turns sour anyway. It's like a prank gone bad. Instead of going from point A to point B, they shut down B and bring you back to A instead of progressing to C. None of the breaks I took mattered. It took me days to finish one episode. This repetitive nonsense is an attack and insult to your intelligence and your enjoyment depends entirely on the fact whether you can look past his face and see the character and the story for what it really is. Even the good parts became bad because a soon as it was remotely good I knew it was time for b-b-b-b-bullsh*t.

General writing and production has gone wrong and bad as well. Unbalanced and unorganized disaster. Things that matter are put on hold for fillers all the time. New things and plot points are a mess as well. They absolutely suck at presenting new characters and then it appears as if they don't know what to do with them so it looks as if those characters went on vacation and gave their middle finger to the plot. By the time they appear again you've forgotten they existed. One of them is presented as important and then literally never appears again nor do you hear from them again. They sacrificed plot points for CGI that didn't have to be there to begin with. They even wasted all their SFX talent and budget on the most boring things. The CGI was so forced for no reason and then it never happened again because of the wasted budget. Even though that was the main fantasy aspect which is now gone. The amount of flashbacks made me feel like I was experiencing commercials.

Speaking of commercials. The karaoke scenes felt more like a shameless plugin of kpop idols to promote their music rather than something characters did to enjoy. I didn't even care for OST how forgettable it all was but I wasn't necessarily annoyed by it. There's a bunch of sponsorship ads within the show and they didn't even hide it. The amount of focus that went onto something as dumb as coffee was ridiculous. They really made sure to zoom in on the brand so you can read it 20 times before moving onto the plot itself and then they even made Shin comment how great it is. Really? A gumiho is drinking coffee and advertising it? What is this, Tokyo Ghoul?

Morality of this thing is questionable as well because it's toxic to the core. Every situation in this show is a great example of today's relationships and issues. It presents bad and toxic friendships along with toxic romance as something good or worthy of your time. The girl is getting arguably the worst advice possible throughout the entire show. The communication is broken and flawed for the sake of being "funny". There's a sprinkle of wisdom here and there but it doesn't make up for all the damage. Toxic mind games and bullsh*t all the time. One of her friends in particular is the most annoying apathetic human being possible. She can't see past her own nose and doesn't even realize the damage she is causing. Once it's all over and done with she doesn't even apologize or acknowledge her behavior or mistakes. There's no character progression for her and everyone around her just accepts it as something normal. What she does near the end is despicable. If I had a friend like her I would've cut her out of my life. This kind of character or person doesn't deserve screen time in positive light.

Romance of side couples feels so forced. You can just tell the actors themselves aren't buying it either because even they can't make it believable. But for whatever reason everyone that exists in this show had to hook up with someone at some point regardless of how little sense it made. Regardless of whether it was needed or not. It's like they hate the existence of single people. That's a foreign concept that's impossible for this writer. Being single is a no no. Yet another toxic mindset.

I suffered so much to finish this. It has its cute and funny moments but the overall message is wrong. There is nothing in this show worth your time. None of the good it has makes up for the mountain of bad. None.

Please do yourself a favor and never watch this.

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