My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (Korean: 내 여자친구는 구미호) is a 2010 South Korean romantic comedy TV show. It features actors Lee Seung-gi and Shin Min-a. The series aired on SBS from August 11 to September 30, 2010. It was shown on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10:00 PM and lasted for 16 episodes.
Synopsis
Cha Dae-woong (played by Lee Seung-Gi) is a college student who dreams of becoming an action movie star. One day, he accidentally frees a gumiho (played by Shin Min-ah), a mythical nine-tailed fox that was trapped in a painting by Samshin Grandmother (三神). After running away, Dae-woong falls and is seriously injured. The gumiho saves him by giving him a magical object called a "fox bead" (여우 구슬). When Dae-woong wakes up, he meets a mysterious and beautiful girl who reveals she is the gumiho in human form. According to legends, gumiho eat men’s livers, so Dae-woong is terrified. The gumiho uses his fear to stay close to him. He names her "Mi-ho" and keeps her happy by buying her beef and hiding her true identity. Mi-ho wants to become human, so they make a deal: she gives him the fox bead, which gives him super speed and strength to perform stunts. In return, he helps her become human. As time passes, Dae-woong grows fond of Mi-ho’s innocent and curious way of seeing the world.
Park Dong-joo (played by No Min-woo) is a half-human, half-supernatural being who works as a veterinarian. Dong-joo tells Mi-ho that she can turn human by drinking his blood and placing her fox bead inside a human’s body for 100 days. During this time, the bead will take energy from the human, and Mi-ho’s supernatural powers will slowly fade. When she retrieves the bead, she will become human. Mi-ho agrees, and Dae-woong accepts her bead.
However, Dong-joo hides important information: this process will cause the human to die. Mi-ho and Dae-woong fall in love without knowing the danger. If Mi-ho becomes fully human in 100 days, Dae-woong will die. If the bead is not returned, Mi-ho will die.
Cast
- Lee Seung-gi as Cha Dae-woong; Hyunwoo as the younger version of Cha Dae-woong
- Shin Min-a as Gu Mi-ho, Park Seon-ju, and Gil-dal
- No Min-woo as Park Dong-joo
- Park Soo-jin as Eun Hye-in
- Sung Dong-il as Ban Doo-hong
- Yoon Yoo-sun as Cha Min-sook
- Byun Hee-bong as Cha Poong
- Kim Ho-chang as Kim Byung-soo
- Hyomin as Ban Sun-nyeo
- Im Hyun-sik as a Buddhist monk in episodes 1, 8, and 15
- Lee Soo-geun as a police officer in episode 4
- Uee as a college student majoring in art in episode 5
- Park Shin-hye as Go Mi-nyeo in episode 6
- Lee Hong-gi as Jeremy in episode 16
- Kim Ji-young as the Samshin grandmother in episodes 15 and 16
Reception
The drama My Girlfriend Is a Nine-Tailed Fox became very popular in South Korea and around the world during its 2-month run, achieving the highest ratings in the country. It is one of the most awarded and nominated South Korean series in history, receiving honors such as Best Foreign Soap Opera at the USTv Students' Choice Awards in the Philippines. The actors Lee Seung-gi and Shin Min-ah also won special awards at the SBS Drama Awards.
The drama gained over 180,000,000 views on the Chinese streaming platform Youku. As of April 2016, it had an average of 11,000,000 views per episode, making it one of the most watched South Korean dramas online.