A Terrifying Cohabitation (2021)

Below par, sadly

Quick answer here: Is it worth to watch? Maybe, but mostly no.

One of the biggest mistake in making a story is by not having the main characters the most interesting one consistently. The synopsis really do not hold much of what's in this, as the drama itself have it's several conflicts scattered all over the place. The direction of each really doesn't place cohesion to every set of events, therefore, the overall flow is substandard, not just for the story but for the characters as well. After some episodes you will develop incurious feelings towards the main couple and enjoy the second leads more (e.g. Sun-woo, Hye-sun and Jae-jin) that which really the reason why I lasted up to episode 14 before I dropped it completely despite of being bored since at the very middle of the drama.

One of the main reason I watched this is because the cast are pretty big, expecting this is a well made one. Sadly, even good actors and actresses cannot make a bad oriented drama good. There's no chemistry between the main couple and the traits of the main girl (Lee Dam) is inconsistent— which can be irritating to some viewers with her sudden childishness.

Also, Gye Sun-woo (Bae In-hyuk) deserves much better. He is obviously made just to suffer for the sake of the main couple (and yet he is much more interesting every time he comes to the screen than the actual main lead interaction). He got the actual change and development in him.

Note: I haven't seen the source webcomic (this is a drama review after all so this is drama-only thoughts), but I also read a lot of manhwas for years now and I have a feeling that the story is better laid in the comic and it wasn't just translated well into this drama. The kdrama True Beauty is actually kind of different to its source manhwa, that which makes it decent as a kdrama itself.

TL;DR: I do not really recommend this, but if this is mainly your type of genre, then maybe it can be worth it, especially just for the first half.

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If I could choose not to watch this drama, I definitely wouldn't.

The drama manages to struggle just by trying to make the couple NOT HAPPEN. We have to put up with Lee Dam's sunbae humiliating himself for his attention and love, something that doesn't even exist. Every time the protagonists solve a problem, a worse one appears, if tvn didn't want them to be together it was better to have shelved the story. I would never see this drama again, it's something so drawn out and tiring that you just want to finish watching it. The romance is good and sweet but you realize that secondary couple is more interesting than primary couple and that's not good.

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Typical Gumiho story

I'm into rom-coms with a touch of fantasy, and the title caught my eyes. It's one of those typical Gumiho-simple girl stories, but with no past ties which is somewhat new. However, the drama gets boring a little and the characters' development is quite immature.
Pros:
- There is no love triangle ( There is a minor one though, but it's not that big of a deal imo)
- The romance is really good. Even the second leads have a good relationship
- The OST is really beautiful. The choice of songs matches most of the scenes and gives you a good feeling and a touch of love too lol
- If you like skinship and kiss scenes, your craving will be satisfied :) The leads are lovey-dovey ^^
- The relationship shown between best friends is really beautiful

Cons:
- The FL is a bit stupid. She doesn't question anything and is clumsy most of time for no apparent reason.
- The ML is really vague to the audience. The background story shown for 999 years of his life doesn't cover much.
- The ML is like a robot. Even his voice is like a robotc imo :)) His character development is not proportional. I couldn't understand his character( maybe that's a good thing, because in the end it worked for him to be a human)
- The use of magic is questionable to me per se. I mean, Once he had power, and the next minute he was human with no power. are Gumihos supposed to be like that? LOL
- So many questions were left unanswered. Like how the gumihos had no parents? how were they born gumihos? What did the mountain spirit do for them? The pieces of a puzzle is scattered everywhere :|
- The Second ML's love for the FL was unrealistic. I mean, they said he was a womanizer, but all we could see was a rich, lost boy who was in love with the wrong person.
- The FL's family background is not shown. Why their mom left for the states? Where is their father?

Overall, an enjoyable story. Yet, if you are they type to navigate through the story, beware that most of the questions will not be answered. Plus, i think 12 episodes was enough for this drama. It got draggy a little.

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Suspend reality and enjoy a roller coaster ride of emotions

8/2/2021

First of all, one needs to get over the 977-year age gap. If you have a problem with a thousand-year guy/fox dating a 22-year woman, this is not the drama for you. Well, at least our female lead is not a high school student (aka Goblin).

I enjoy the general plot of the drama, though there are some plot holes. Others might have problems with the age gap or the professor/student relationship. These don't bother me much but I understand why others are OK with it. I am fine with the professor/student relationship since they started their relationship before this happened and it's the reason how ML can see FL everyday. I also like that the story didn't end when the bead is given back to ML or when they got back together. I enjoy the relationship development, how they maintain their relationship, and going through extraordinary struggles. I do feel that there are some plot lines that were dropped or forgotten. What happened to the discovery that the evil spirit transform into ML to kill people? I thought the police was going to investigate and ask ML questions? I guess once the evil spirit is disintegrated, we can forget about that plot. I also don't understand the double-standard of how ML and 2FL's requirements to turn human. Does the mountain spirit just make up his own rules and it's not standard practice for all gumiho? I also would like to learn more about 2FL's background story of her failed romances and how she achieved humanity. There are parts that are a little slow and I felt that there's not enough material for 16 hour-long episodes. Maybe 12 episodes would be enough.

Romance takes center page in this drama. I love ML's smiles and FL's personality. FL's role here is very similar to her role in "Reply 1988". It's great to see a FL who is straightforward, honest about her feelings, communicates (for the most part) and loyal to her friends. I am also a fan of ML and enjoyed his role in "Search WWW" , "Come and Hug Me", and "My Mister". I do find his acting here a little weaker than this other dramas that I watched. I don't feel that his eyes are conveying enough emotions, but when he smiles shyly, it brightens the screen and melts my heart. Our third wheel could probably cause some second-lead syndrome. But I do find his persistent confession and chasing after FL a little too much and clingy. He's cute though :) The secondary romance is cute and fun. The secondary leads are both a little clumsy in their own ways and they make quite a lovable pair.

This drama is a lot funnier than I thought it would be. There are many comedic moments by our female lead (FL)and the supporting cast. It's no doubt that the funniest is our fox-turned-human second female lead (2FL). She is so lovable and clueless and sexy that you can't help but love her. Our 2FL and 2ML are an odd pairing but it worked.

I love the friendships between the two gumihos and FL's friendship with her besties. ML and 2FL form a funny pair with their banter, yet deep down they care of each other. They are both old yet childish in their petty little ways. I also love the friendship between FL and her male BFF. It's great to see a pure platonic friendship that is full of laughter and tears. I do find FL's female BFF a little hard to tolerate at times, as she's very loud and her comedy is very in-your-face.

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I liked the humor of the series

I liked the humor of the series, some scenes really made me laugh, I liked Hae San the most, maybe because it was the first time I saw Kang Hana in a completely positive role, she was really lovely. They could only finish it in 8 or 10 episodes by stretching it a lot because nothing special happens in the story. One thing that really stood out to me was the girl's falling down, which means you have to count how many times she fell down in the series! Hey, she falls , the boy would take her, oh, now, there is nothing more feminine than this cliché, my God!!!
The series is good to watch once, that is when you were starving and it was not a series

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Very relaxing and cute

Its a perfect easy going drama where even if there are problems, they get solved easily.
The main couple was super cute but I lived for Hye Sun and Jae Jin.

Story: The story is very complete and lighthearted. There weren't any plot holes and it felt consistant. I think the light and cute ending was very apropriate and i also loved the way the ending rounded off all of the couples and side stories.

Acting/Cast: This is my first time watching these actors and i really think they were perfect for this drama. I has a major second lead syndrome crush amd at the beginning I really wanted the FL to end up with the second lead. The ML had a very creepy smile at the beginning so that set me off, but honestly, very good acting and cast.

Music: I seriously didn't notice the music too much, it just set a nice mood and added to the scene.

The rewatch value is low simply because, even though this drama was good, it didn't leave a special feeling with me, but it might just be my taste in dramas, which is definetly more on the action and dramatic side.

Overall, it is a good drama and it is worth a watch, you won't regret it!!

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Similar to Tale of The Nine-tailed, Kiss Goblin, The Bride of HaBaek

A lot of comedy and fluffy romance but very few fantasy elements, lots of unexplained events and plotholes. The female actors were good, the male actors were average to below average in terms of realistic portrayal of emotions, character growth, etc. (although all of them are eye-candy so 10/10 for that).
My biggest problem with the drama: the writing was simply lazy. It is the typical fantasy formula - male lead is some kind of an immortal creature (and old af), he meets a mortal girl and falls in love, only for them to be separated by some circumstances stripped of any logic, usually involving the male lead having to "keep his distance" from the female, in order to "protect her".
We get the typical cliches: female-male roommates, "the three musketeers" friend group, wrist grabbing, arm around the shoulder in "you're-my-woman "style, female tripping whenever the male lead is around (not even once did any of the other characters fall down, haha)., unrequited love, 20-year-old who has never been in a romantic relationship/ never kissed/ had sex, clueless about women male lead, etc, etc...

What I liked about the drama was that the female lead wasn't shy when it came to calling out people who disrespected her, and (thankfully) the male lead didn't have to interfere to "protect" her from the bullies.

Overall, it's your typical rom-com with a pinch of fantasy (to explain why total strangers from the opposite gender decide to live together). The soundtrack was so-so - neither awful nor memorable. The cinematography was of good quality.

I'd say it's the perfect drama for someone who's never watched the genre and isn't familiar with the tropes or for pre-teens/ teens, who want to see angsty strong females and their handsome boyfriends.

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Side Characters Carried This Boring Drama

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I normally don't watch these kinds of dramas - a drama with a fanfic type plot that appeals to teen girls - but I want to see Jang Gi Yong (장기용) in main roles. He was awesome in My Ajusshi playing a scary loan shark, but he had limited screen time. All of the main roles I've seen him in so far after that, he's played the same character type - stoic, no emotion, robotic. I don't know why he seems to be only playing these roles now, after he did so well with his character in My Ajusshi. Maybe he was afraid to be typecasted as a villain?

Acting/Cast: The promising cast is deceiving. Yes, the acting was good and the humor was good, but the story itself was so boring that the cast and their acting couldn't save it. I thought the two leads were the weakest in this area. Maybe it's more of a writing/directing issue though. The male lead was the "stoic" type which a lot of times (in badly written dramas) means that they can't convey emotions well and makes for a boring watch. It's difficult to write and portray a good stoic character, but it's not impossible (Terius Behind Me male lead, My Ajusshi male and female leads). The female lead's character building in the beginning gave me false hope - that she was going to be a distinct and unique female lead. She started out that way but by the end, I was annoyed by how she talks and acts, specifically with the male lead -- It felt too childish. The side characters were great, however, and I really just wanted to watch them. 7/10

Writing: The plot itself is pretty boring. There's not much to it. The fantasy element really didn't add much, since it became a simple cohabitation plot and a college romcom plot. There was this really annoying back and forth regarding the relationship between the two leads that made me want them to just give up on the whole human and fox love story and be with their own kind. They kept stressing how the male lead is "just an animal" as if he is literally a fox and that he's a super old man...so that made me feel weird about the leads being together romantically. He felt more like her guardian rather than a potential love interest. I also love love triangles when they're done right. This is also something that is difficult to do, but not impossible (Cheer Up, True Beauty, The King In Love). This drama had a weak love triangle, so much so that it was completely pointless for it to be included. Literally, it was only used to make the male lead jealous. It was clear that there was no way the female lead would even consider the second male lead. I actually felt bad for the second male lead and thought that he could possibly be a better match for the female lead than the male lead. Also, why make the female lead a history buff and not use it in a meaningful way for the story? So pointless... 1/10

Direction/SFX/Music: I want to blame the acting of the two leads on the direction. The music is nothing special. SFX was ok I guess. There was a stupid scene in a sauna involving ice powers for some reason...That might have been when I started really losing interest. The sauna scene in Episode 9 is a good marker for the beginning of the decline. 1/10

Entertainment Value: It was decent up until episode 9 when it first started going downhill. Then, when the red string was added in at episode 10 and the weak love triangle was created, I was just annoyed. I kept watching hoping that maybe there would be some unexpected twist. I almost dropped this drama at episode 13, but I decided to continue watching to see what would happen with the side characters. I should have dropped it though. 1/10

Overall, it was tough to give this a final rating. I ended up giving this drama a 2.5/10. I can't help but compare it with Tale of the Nine-Tailed, which I gave a 3/10. I didn't like Tale of The Nine-Tailed either, but I never considered dropping it like I did with this drama. The nine-tailed foxes in Tale of The Nine-Tailed were much more interesting characters with a certain kind of charm and with more interesting lore.

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Clichés everywhere. like a cliché bundle. But Lee Hye Ri elevated this to a new level.

Its an OK story, don't expect anything groundbreaking, every episode felt like a copy so many other shows. tropes are very very familiar.

but Lee Dam's character shines without a doubt. The comedy hits home a lot of times, and her reactions are pretty realistic in most scenarios.

What this to enjoy a good Romcom.

Second lead couple also has a fun, quirky and hilarious storyline.

Story and music are not worth mentioning. they are average at best. Acting is also average, only the Female leads shine with great characters and quirks.

If anyone wants to rewatch this, I'd imagine its only to see the comedic genius Lee Dam.

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Amazing and light fantasy romcom

Not planning to leave a long review but just to let anyone doubting whether to start it or not, you totally should. This is one of the best romcoms, the leads have great chemistry, the characters are mature, the FL is one of the best FLs ever: she's a strong woman with a great personality, decided, independent, stands for herself, outgoing, true to herself... And she doesn't have the typical "femme fatale" image that kdramas associate this type of woman with, which makes her even more outstanding. All the side characters and stories are very interesting and nice to see, the second romance is super cute and lovable. The drama stays strong till the end, I was personally never bored with it, not even after the MLs get together, which is when dramas usually start dragging the plot. MRIAG managed to stay funny, fun, exciting till the end. Even though it's a fantasy drama and the fantasy is a main part of the show, it's easy to forget it's actually a fantasy drama because of how realistic and relatable all the characters are. The last ep had like 20 minutes of drama but it's not a big deal. I usually like light dramas without villains or unnecessary dark plots and MRIAG is exactly that. If you are looking to watch a light romcom with great romance, characters and plot, this is definitely for you.

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A very cute and sweet story with one of the best and healthiest relationships I have seen

I have never watched a love story like this one before. Most or all of the ones I have watched before had made me really frustrated and sad most of the times so this was really refreshing to watch. I don't even think I cried, not because it was not deep enough to make me feel pain or because the acting was bad but I knew whatever the problems were it'd be solved soon. I had a lot of trust in the main couple's relationship. Even though they did sometimes keep things from each other most of the times they communicated really well that I knew I don't have to worry about them having too many misunderstandings... also they had really good friends to put sense into them when they did make mistakes. The story was deep, but not too complicated. Even if there were problems it gets solved in an episode or two so it never felt like the story was dragging on. The pace was just perfect and I'm glad it ended the way it did, even though I'd have loved to watch more of Dam and human Wooyeo being cute together. It was not just the main couple that I loved, all the characters were really good! I really loved Hyesun and Jaejin's relationship. They were the best and both of them were too cute! Hyesun and Wooyeo's friendship was another thing I loved. I loved watching them fight... they were really like kids when they did😂 Sookyung was so funny as well and I loved how both her and Jaejin really cared about Dam. I really loved their friendship!

Now to talk about the acting, all the actors did a wonderful job and I especially loved Kang Hanna. She was so cute and I have only watched dramas of her where she's a really cold or bad person so it was nice seeing her being all cute and funny. This role really suits her and I hope I'll get to see her playing more characters like this in the future. And Jang Kiyong... I don't know why but he really feels like a different person with different hairstyles. But I'll focus on his acting now, and he is really good! I feel like he can do any kind of roles! He did a great job being both serious and cute. And his smile is the prettiest I feel like I could look at him all day long! Sometimes when he smiles I also felt like he could play the role of a psychopath as well😅 This is the first drama of Lee Hyeri I watched and I'm really impressed with her acting! She did especially well during the emotional scenes and she's really funny as well! Kiyong and Hyeri's chemistry was too good! I definitely want to see them in more dramas together... hopefully romcom. They were too funny together so I'd like to see that than anything too emotional. Kim Dowan was really cute and this is, I think, the third drama of him I'm watching and his acting was good as usual. All the other actors were good as well and I don't think there's anyone I didn't like... except Sunwoo but that was not because of Bae Inhyuk's acting, which was really good and he was really cute as well, but I just hate people like that. And I have to mention this one... Kim Doyeon, I really loved her! She was so cool and funny and I really want to see more of her.

The OSTs were really good and it all fitted perfectly with the scenes. And I especially liked Door(Your Moon) by Jeong Sewoon. I have been listening to it a lot and it's really beautiful!

Overall I loved this drama and I'd actually love to see some special episodes as well. And I'd love to see the cast reuniting for another drama as well! I'm really going to miss this drama which made my Wednesdays and Thursdays brighter... and I know I will be re-watching this soon.

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weak story with not much payoff. good for casual viewing.

i thought that this show was very empty with a weak story. i initially watched it for Jang Ki Young and Hyeri, as well as the cohabitation trope, but there wasn't much angst between them. i mean, i expected there to be more so that might be on me. also, they fell in love pretty quickly, especially the female lead, which doesn't do much for the development of their relationship.

but overall, the story was just uninteresting and the show felt hollow and surface-level. also, their first kiss was so weird that it made me want to turn off the show? lol. i get the reasoning behind it but i thought that it was just uncomfortable. i feel like they should've shown that the ML was having a hard time being intimate with the FL for [redacted] reasons in another intimate kissing scene and not during their first kiss. i don't know, i feel like it kinda ruined it.

but either way, it can be watched as a head-empty drama when you don't feel like doing too much thinking. plus, both Jang Ki Young and Hyeri are very hot in this show so, you know, it's worth it.

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