This week I’ve decided to feature another drama written by my all-time favorite drama writing teams, the Hong Sisters’ supernatural romantic-comedy, My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox.
Originally airing in late summer 2010 on SBS, My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox (aka My Girlfriend is a Gumiho) tells the story of a spoiled college kid, Cha Dae Woong (Lee Seung Gi), who inadvertently releases a gumiho, Gu Mi Ho (Shin Min Ah), from her 500 year imprisonment inside a painting. As one would expect from anything written by the Hong Sisters, a whole lot of shenanigans ensue, once the gumiho is released, and as the name would imply, love is not far behind.
So how does a bratty college kid end up releasing a gumiho from the prison she’s been held captive in for half a millennium? Easy! He listens to that little voice in the back of his head that tells him to draw nine tails on the fox sitting in that ancient painting. (Let this be a lesson to us all, never deface ancient art!) As fate would have it, almost immediately after releasing the gumiho from her prison, Cha Dae Woong falls, very nearly, to his death and it’s only through the grace of the gumiho that Dae Woong is saved. Feeling indebted to the one who released her, the gumiho entrusts her precious “fox bead” to Dae Woong which not only saves his life but grants him incredible speed and strength, fine traits for one training to become an action star.
While Dae Woong is initially terrified of the gumiho (as well he should be seeing as how they’re known for eating the livers of men) Gu Mi Ho (which, by the way, is the name Dae Woong gives her… original, I know) is determined to stick close to Dae Woong in the hopes that he will teach her how to become human. As time passes the unlikely pair make a deal in which Mi Ho will lend Dae Woong her supernatural powers, through the use of her “fox bead,” and Dae Woong will help Mi Ho become human. Naturally as the two spend more and more time together, they begin to fall in love which is all well and good until the two realize that by giving Dae Woong her “fox bead” Mi Ho has cursed one of them to death.
My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox is one of those dramas that I love to watch just because it’s so much fun. There’s really not a lot of substance to it so if you’re looking for a drama with deep meanings and whatnot, you’re gonna want to look somewhere else. However, if you’re looking for a drama that’s lighthearted, relatively funny and sweetly entertaining, you can’t go wrong with My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox. I will warn you that, like so many of the Hong Sisters’ work, there is quite a bit of fluff in this drama and there will come a time when you’re going to want to pound your head against a wall because you’re so frustrated with the paths the main characters are choosing to take but if you can make it through all of that, you’ll probably come to find that this drama was really pretty cute. Of course if cute isn’t your thing, you may not enjoy the main characters much but there is a very swoon-worthy second by the name of Park Dong Joo (No Min Woo) who has a whole lot of wounded, supernatural, bad-boy charisma going for him. (And yes, I’m a sucker for the supernatural bad boys so I am a little biased here.)
To wrap this up I’ll say that overall, I really liked My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox. I thought the story itself was intriguing (remember this originally aired before every other drama under the sun had decided to delve into the world of the supernatural), the characters, though a bit stereotypical were still likeable (I loved Mi Ho! She was just so cute!) and for like the first time ever, I wasn’t annoyed with the way the conflict between the supernatural and the human worlds was resolved. (Hooray!) Yes, there were moments of frustration for me but that’s to be expected when watching any drama so I can’t hold it against this one. End the end, I’d say that My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox is sweet and fun and marathoning it could very well be the perfect way to celebrate the end of the school year, the quickly approaching summer or just the simple fact that it’s the weekend and you don’t have to do anything else. Whatever your motivation, let me know what you think of My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox when you’ve finished it by leaving me a comment below.
I could not get myself to finish this drama. I just can’t stand how clingy the Miho is. I like power women, but she was so naive the entire time. I loved actor No Min Woo though. Serious eye-candy and that theme song that he sings pops up every time we are shown his scenes. Yeah ~
Oh yeah! I’m a No Min Woo fan myself (he’s the main reason why I watched Full House Take 2) so I endured the clingy, naive gumiho just to watch him. As annoying as the gumiho was, I was actually more annoyed with Cha Dae Woong most of the time. Gu Mi Ho was naive and clueless because she’d spent the past 500 years in a painting while Dae Woong had no excuse, other than he was just a spoiled, bratty, selfish punk. As you can tell, not my favorite Lee Seung Gi character but still, it was a drama I’m not sorry I watched. I really do love the Hong Sisters’ work and will happily watch whatever they write, even if there are moments when I want to simultaneously flip tables and pound my head against a wall. Haha.