Early Access: My Roommate is a Gumiho E1 (Patreon)

E1. I honestly hadn't been planning to check out this show, because I hadn't found the premise all that interesting, and also.. I don't think of Hye Ri as a strong actress, so that was a factor too. The positive reactions to this show finally got to me, however, and whaddya know, after just this one episode, I'm already having a good time. What a happy surprise!

First of all, I still don't think that Hye Ri is a strong actress, but, I do think that she has improved, and I do see that she's working hard. Her efforts are paying off, because I feel like her comic timing is on point in this show, and I find myself laughing at her reaction faces on a regular basis. On top of that, I find her likable in this show, which is important, because if she's not a strong actress (at the moment?), I need to be able to like her quite naturally, I think. I also think that PD-nim is doing a good job directing her, because so far, there's nothing that I'd point out to say, "Y'know, that doesn't work; she shouldn't have done that."

A good PD can make a world of difference with less experienced actors (as evidenced by how well I thought Hye Ri's casting worked in Reply 1988, which I loved), and this PD did a good job directing Nam Joo Hyuk, back when he was still a little green, in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, and I loved Nam Joo Hyuk in that show, too. All that to say, I think that this PD directing Hye Ri in this role, is a promising idea.

As for Jang Ki Yong, I've seen him in a number of things now, and I don't think of him as an especially strong actor (again, yet?), though I do find him enjoyable in the right roles. So far, I feel like this role is working well with his strengths. Our gumiho is jaded and distant, showing varying degrees of warmth, depending on the situation, and depending on the person, and so far, Jang Ki Yong's fulfilling the needs of the role very decently. Ah, our gumiho is also supposed to be handsome, and he's doing that quite easily as well, heh.

So far, I find the chemistry between Jang Ki Yong and Hye Ri pretty easy, with a nice amount of warm spark. What I'm referring to, mostly, is the way they share a good dynamic, in the scenes where Dam is frightened, and she and Woo Yeo have rolling reactions to each other in a string of "Eh?" "What?" "Uhh.." sort of thing. They share good timing, and that translates well as chemistry.

The more romance-centric scenes, like when he saves her from falling, or saves her from that sleazebag who's trying to take advantage of her, work well, and are nicely supported by mood-lifting music, so I'm cautiously optimistic that when the romance gets going in earnest, that the romantic chemistry will be solid too.

What I do find a little lacking at the moment, is the writing, in the sense that I thought it was a rather big leap, for Show to have the marble passed from him to her, and then omit an explanation for why the marble's stuck in Dam, where Woo Yeo's been consistently able to take it back from other women before. This is the key thing that's bugging me at the moment.

Also, the leap from Dam being terrified of Woo Yeo and actively running away from him, to her agreeing to live in his house, is quite bemusing too.

However, I do find that putting on a manhwa sort of lens helps, because in a manhwa world, these sorts of logic leaps are acceptable, and expected, even, and that makes everything land better.

Vibe-wise, I like how light and easy this show feels. It feels like it's going to be a frothy, fun sort of ride, and that appeals to me right now, especially after just finishing Youth Of May. Show also feels quite efficient so far, in that it feels like things are moving along quite quickly. I mean, Woo Yeo doesn't even try to hide his gumiho identity from her, and just tells her right away - that's fresh and unexpected. For some reason, I'd expected him to keep his gumiho identity from her, the way he's keeping it from everyone else.

I was already having a good time with this show, when Kang Ha Na showed up on my screen as a vain, rather airheaded bombshell of an ex-gumiho, and in one second flat, I decided that I needed to see more of her on my screen, heh. I mean, Kang Ha Na is so often cast as someone either really serious or really conniving (or both), so this feels like a very refreshing change. The fact that she does so well in this airhead bombshell space, just makes me feel like someone's noticed a secret talent of hers or something. Could this be Kang Ha Na's big breakaway from everything else that she's done before? I hope so, because so far I love her in this.

I also love the inclusion of her character, for the context that it gives us, around Woo Yeo. Apparently, she's younger than he, but was more ruthless about having humans hold her marble (which means she literally sucked the life out of them, I suppose), and this is why she's managed to become a human earlier, even though she's 200 years younger than Woo Yeo. Innteresting. This also means that Woo Yeo is less ruthless than she, even though she frames it as him being picky. We still don't know a whole lot about Woo Yeo, but I like the idea that he's just not so cruel, by nature.

I'm also happy to see Han Ji Eun as a publisher who's keen to gain Woo Yeo's attentions. After having seen Han Ji Eun in Be Melodramatic as the sweet, goody-two-shoes cute friend, and then as a hyper-sexy character in Lovestruck in the City, I've come to the conclusion that she is really versatile and in possession of excellent comic timing. And, that comic timing is out in full force, as her character Yoo Jin tries all manner of angles and tricks, to get Woo Yeo to close the distance between them. Somehow, in Han Ji Eun's hands, I don't find Yoo Jin pathetic; I just find her amusing.

I'm also quite pleasantly surprised to see Choi Woo Sung as Dam's brother. I'd last seen him as the reluctant intern in She Would Never Know, and he's definitely being given more room to be expressive in this role. I don't recall him being so.. large, in She Would Never Know, but this suits his character being an athlete, and I'm starting to wonder if he beefed up specifically for the role.

All in all, this was a very pleasant first episode, and I'm cautiously hopeful that Show will remain fun and enjoyable, for the rest of its run.