My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (Korean내 여자친구는 구미호; Hanja내 女子親舊는 九尾狐; RRNae Yeojachinguneun Gumiho; also known as My Girlfriend Is a Nine-Tailed Fox) is a 2010 South Korean romantic comedy television series starring Lee Seung-gi and Shin Min-a.[1] It aired on SBS from August 11 to September 30, 2010 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 for 16 episodes.[2][3]

My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho
Promotional poster
Also known asMy Girlfriend Is a Nine Tailed Fox
GenreRomance
Comedy
Fantasy
Written byHong Jung-eun
Hong Mi-ran
Directed byBoo Sung-chul
StarringLee Seung-gi
Shin Min-a
Music by
Ending theme"Fox Rain" by Lee Sun-hee
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of episodes16
Production
Executive producerChoi Moon-seok (SBS)
Producers
  • Kwon Hyuk-chan
  • Moon Seok-hwan
  • Hwang Gyu-hyuk
Running time60 minutes
Production companies
  • Bon Factory Worldwide
  • soft line
Original release
NetworkSBS TV
Release11 August (2010-08-11) –
30 September 2010 (2010-09-30)

Synopsis

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Cha Dae-woong (Lee Seung-Gi) is a normal college student, with ambitions of becoming an action star. One day, he accidentally releases a gumiho (Shin Min-ah), a legendary fox with nine tails who was sealed inside a painting by Samshin Grandmother (三神). Fleeing the scene, Dae-woong suffers a life-threatening fall and is only saved by the gumiho giving him her "fox bead" (여우 구슬). When Dae-woong awakes and meets a mysterious and very beautiful girl, he initially treats her as eccentric or mentally ill, before she discloses that she is actually a gumiho in human form. According to myth, gumihos eat men's livers, so Dae-woong is scared out of his wits, and the gumiho takes advantage of his fear by sticking by his side. He names her "Mi-ho," and keeps her happy by buying her beef and hiding her true identity. Mi-ho wants nothing more than to become human, so they strike a deal: she'll lend him her mystical fox bead so that with his increased speed and strength, he'll be able to do difficult stunts, and in exchange he'll help her become human. As time passes, they get to know each other better and Dae-woong is charmed by how Mi-ho looks at the world with childlike wonder.

Park Dong-joo (No Min-woo), a half-human, half-supernatural being, whose cover identity is a working veterinarian. Dong-joo tells Mi-ho that she'll be able to turn human if she follows these instructions: She must drink Dong-joo's blood then place her fox bead inside a human's body for 100 days. Once she does this, her supernatural self will start to die, gradually. Her gumiho energy will slowly empty away while her bead will live in the human for 100 days and take in his energy. And when she reclaims her bead, she will become human. Mi-ho happily complies, and Dae-woong accepts her bead.

However, Dong-joo deliberately withheld the information that this process will result in the human's death. Mi-ho and Dae-woong thus fall in love without knowing the consequences of fulfilling her goal: in 100 days, Dae-woong will die if Mi-ho becomes fully human, but Mi-ho will die if the bead isn't returned.[4][5]

Cast

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Main

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An immature aspiring actor who lost his parents at a young age, and was subsequently raised by his affluent grandfather and aunt. When his grandfather tries to enroll him in a strict boarding school, Dae-woong runs away and eventually ends up at a Buddhist temple, where a woman's voice tells him to draw nine tails on a painting of a fox. He then meets a girl who informs him that she was the gumiho in the painting (he later calls her Mi-ho). Fearing that she would eat him, he tries to keep her happy by buying her meat (Korean beef in particular, her favorite) and hiding the fact that she's a gumiho from others. As they spend more time together, he's surprised to see that instead of the ferocious figure of legend, Mi-ho is cute and full of wonder, and falls in love with Mi-ho.
A legendary nine-tailed fox (or "gumiho" in Korean mythology) who was sealed inside a painting for 500 years. She has dreamed of becoming a human for centuries, but once rumors spread that she's a femme fatale who eats men's livers, and no human man would agree to marry her. She has superhuman strength, can run exceptionally fast, jump great heights, and can identify people and objects from great distances by smell. However, she has a mortal fear of water, since her fox bead (which houses her life energy or "qi") is made from goblin fire. After Dae-woong has an almost fatal fall from a cliff, she gives him her fox bead to keep him alive.
A half-human, half-supernatural being who disguises himself as an ordinary veterinarian. His initial mission was to capture the gumiho and put her back into the painting, but upon seeing Mi-ho, he changes his mind as she is the spitting image of Gil-dal, a goblin he'd once loved centuries ago, who was betrayed by her human lover and died at Dong-joo's hand. Suspecting that Mi-ho is Gil-dal's reincarnation, he acts as her mentor, watching over her and supplying her with information about humans. He also constantly warns her that humans cannot be trusted. Dong-joo tells Mi-ho how she can become human, deliberately withholding the fact that Dae-woong will die in the process. He readies all the necessary identifications and papers under the name "Park Seon-joo," which Mi-ho would assume once the 100 days have passed and she's become fully human. He also started to have feelings for Mi-ho.
Dae-woong's older classmate and love interest whom he calls "noona"; Dae-woong stopped liking Hye-in after spending some time with Mi-ho. When Mi-ho becomes Dae-woong's girlfriend, she becomes jealous, and attempts to throw a wrench into their relationship by investigating Mi-ho's true identity.

Supporting

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Stunt director and head of the action school that Dae-woong attends. He is also the widowed father of Ban Sun-nyeo. Doo-hong idolizes Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat and tries to imitate him in his appearance and manner of speaking. He falls for Dae-woong's aunt Cha Min-sook.
Dae-woong's aunt. She was never married and is very obedient to her father. She's unable to express her feelings for Ban Doo-hong, causing her to often make a fool of herself in his presence.
Dae-woong's strict but loving grandfather. He's concerned that his spoiled and shallow grandson isn't making good choices in life. He becomes fond of Mi-ho upon meeting her, and sees that being with her has made Dae-woong more mature and responsible. He eventually accepts Dae-woong's dream of becoming an actor.
  • Kim Ho-chang as Kim Byung-soo
Dae-woong's best friend and classmate in action school. He is supportive of Dae-woong, and secretly likes Sun-nyeo.
Dae-woong's friend and the daughter of Ban Doo-hong. After she gets over her crush on Dae-woong, she finally realizes that Byung-soo likes her and reciprocates his love.

Special appearances

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Original soundtrack

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My Girlfriend is a Gumiho OST
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
Released2010
GenreSoundtrack
Language
LabelHook Entertainment

Part 1[7]

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No.TitleArtistsLength
1.""Losing My Mind" (정신이 나갔었나봐)"Lee Seung-Gi4:12
2.""From Now on I Love You" (지금부터 사랑해)"Lee Seung-Gi4:01

Part 2[7]

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No.TitleArtistsLength
1."The Person I Loved (미호 Theme)"Lee Seul-bi3:39
2."Ooh La La"Kim Gun-mo3:33

Part 3[7]

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No.TitleArtistsLength
1."Sha La La"Shin Min-a3:35
2."I Can Give You All (다 줄 수 있어)"Shin Min-a4:38

Part 4[7]

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No.TitleArtistsLength
1."Love Theme (둘이 하나)"Lyn, GB93:32

Part 5[7]

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No.TitleArtistsLength
1."Losing My Mind"Lee Seung Gi3:07

Ratings

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Date Episode Nationwide Seoul
2010-08-11 1 12.7% (6th) 13.0% (6th)
2010-08-12 2 12.6% (8th) 13.1% (8th)
2010-08-18 3 14.6% (6th) 14.9% (6th)
2010-08-19 4 14.1% (7th) 14.0% (7th)
2010-08-25 5 14.0% (6th) 14.1% (6th)
2010-08-26 6 14.2% (8th) 14.1% (8th)
2010-09-01 7 13.4% (9th) 13.4% (9th)
2010-09-02 8 13.4% (12th) 13.6% (12th)
2010-09-08 9 13.2% (9th) 12.8% (9th)
2010-09-09 10 12.3% (11th) 12.6% (11th)
2010-09-15 11 13.0% (9th) 12.8% (9th)
2010-09-16 12 10.7% (11th) 10.4% (11th)
2010-09-22 13 20.9% (1st) 21.3% (1st)
2010-09-23 14 20.9% (1st) 21.3% (1st)
2010-09-29 15 18.6% (3rd) 18.6% (3rd)
2010-09-30 16 21.3% (2nd) 21.0% (2nd)
Average 15% 15%

Source: TNS Media Korea[full citation needed]

Reception

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My Girlfriend Is a Nine-Tailed Fox achieved both nationwide and international success topping ratings in South Korea during its 2-month run. It is one of the most awarded and nominated South Korean series of all time receiving high honors including Best Foreign Soap Opera at the USTv Students' Choice Awards in the Philippines and earning both Lee Seung-gi and Shin Min-ah excellence awards at the SBS Drama Awards.

The drama has also accumulated over 180,000,000 views on Chinese streaming platform Youku and an average of 11,000,000 views per episode (as of April 2016) making it one of the most watched South Korean dramas online in the country.[8]

Accolades

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Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref
2010 MelOn Music Awards Bonsang - Top 10 Artist "Losing My Mind" - Lee Seung-gi Won [9][10]
Best OST Song "Losing My Mind" - Lee Seung-gi Won
Best OST "I Love You Starting Now" - Lee Seung-gi Nominated
Excellence Award, Actor in a Drama Special Lee Seung-gi Won [11]
Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special Shin Min-ah Won
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Special Yoon Yoo-sun Nominated
New Star Award No Min-woo Won
Top 10 Stars Lee Seung-gi Won
Shin Min-ah Won
Best Couple Award Lee Seung-gi and Shin Min-ah Won
Netizen's drama of the year My Girlfriend Is a Nine-Tailed Fox Nominated
DramaBeans Awards Favourite Drama of 2010 Won [12]
Favourite Comedic Drama Won
Favourite Lead Couple Won
Best Kiss Shin Min-ah & Lee Seung-gi Won
Favoutite character Shin Min-ah Won
Favoutite character Lee Seung-gi Nominated
Best Villain Park Soo-jin Nominated
Favourite Alternate Pairing No Min-woo & Shin Min-ah Nominated
Breakout Performance of The Year No Min-woo Nominated
Best Perm Lee Seung-gi Nominated
3rd Style Icon Awards Style Icon Actress, TV category Shin Min-ah Won [13]
2011 Outstanding Korean Drama My Girlfriend Is a Nine-Tailed Fox Nominated [14]
47th Baeksang Arts Awards Male Popularity Award - TV Lee Seung-gi Nominated [15]
Female Popularity Award - TV Shin Min-ah Nominated
2012
USTv Students' Choice Awards
Best Foreign Soap Opera My Girlfriend Is a Nine-Tailed Fox Won [16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hong, Lucia (21 July 2010). "Lee Seung-gi, Shin Min-ah to play couple in new TV series". 10Asia. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  2. ^ Han, Sang-hee (10 August 2010). "Star couple seeks to lure more fans with new soap". The Korea Times. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  3. ^ Oh, Jean (9 August 2010). "Will two big stars create fireworks?". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  4. ^ Choi, Ji-eun (5 August 2010). "PREVIEW: SBS TV series My Girlfriend Is Gumiho". 10Asia. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  5. ^ Yoo, In-na (1 October 2010). "REVIEW: SBS TV series My Girlfriend is Gumiho - Finale Episode". 10Asia. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  6. ^ a b c Uee, Park Shin-hye and Lee Hong-gi were cast members of the writers' previous drama, You're Beautiful.
  7. ^ a b c d e "NAVER VIBE(바이브)". vibe.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  8. ^ "《我的女友是九尾狐》预告—韩剧—电视剧—优酷网,视频高清在线观看—又名:《My Girlfriend Is A Fox》《내여자친구는구미호》". 2016-04-22. Archived from the original on 2016-04-22. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  9. ^ Choi, Jun-yong (16 December 2010). "Girls' Generation wins best artist at 2010 MelOn MUSIC AWARDS". 10Asia. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  10. ^ "2010 Melon Music Awards Winners And Performances". Soompi. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  11. ^ Ko, Kyoung-seok (3 January 2011). "Ko Hyun-jung wins grand prize at SBS Drama Awards". 10Asia. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  12. ^ "2010 Beanie Awards: Vote for your favorite dramas of the year » Dramabeans Korean drama recaps". Dramabeans. 2010-12-09. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  13. ^ 신민아, 스타일아이콘어워즈 여자뉴초콜릿패셔니스타상. Star News (in Korean). 11 November 2009.
  14. ^ Kim, Jessica (20 July 2011). "Seoul Drama Awards expands Hallyu awards". 10Asia. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  15. ^ "내 여자친구는 구미호". movie.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  16. ^ "ABS-CBN wins big at USTv awards". ABS-CBN Corporation News. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
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