Frightening Cohabitation (2021)

Outfoxed ¤ A Better Marble Trap °7.8° °Excellent°

He /planted/ something in her!

Yeo and Dam don't actually meet as much as collide, which caused the marble he's been cultivating for over 900 years to jump into her bo from his. Whoops. Yeo needs to find a way to get it back from her. If it stays in Dam too long it will kill her. Besides, he's been feeding it energy for nearly a millennium. When he's done, he will no longer be a Gumiho, he will be human. He was nearly done - and he ain't starting over now! So they become roommates. That way, he can keep an eye on her condition until he figures out a way to retrieve his precious property. She declined, initially, until she realized she will feel deathly ill if he's not around to provide assistance.

What's a Gumiho?

It began in old Joseon.

Rumor has it, it's a fox demon that disguises itself as a beautiful human woman in order to devour the liver of its victim. Maybe that isn't /completely/ true. Maybe the Gumiho is only trying to cultivate itself into a human, and eating livers, though quicker, is not required. It takes a thousand years the slow way, which is stealing human energy in dribs and draws by way of physical contact. All animals, including Gumihos, want to be human. Only humans can decide their own destiny.

Living together is no small thing. Yeo lays down some rules: No chicken. Chicken blood will weaken both of them. No men, especially men born in the Year of the Tiger, which is every male in Dam's year at school. No alcohol. What!?! He's gone too far. No booze. No chicken. No men… What is there for her to live for? She hits him back with some rules of her own, like stop smoking. So what if it's a 400 year-old habit? He might like smoking, but chicken is /her/ favorite thing. Company misery doeth love.

The first third of the show is them getting used to eachother and us getting a peek at them and their daily lives. Yeo is in danger. If he doesn't become human by the 1000 year point he'll turn into an evil spirit and be targeted for elimination. Dam has a similar deadline. If they don't extract the marble from her inside of a year, she'll die. In ep7 we are introduced to a baddie that covets the marble, which puts Dam in more danger. This incident directly leads to a plot shift - a reset, if you will.

The second half of the show is them trying to make their relationship work. A Gumiho isn't supposed to be in a relationship with a human, so they have more to work out than the average couple. Like good foxes, they dig through it all. There are some physical incompatibility issues, the main one being that his desires get confused. He loves her. He wants to kiss and hold her, but he also has a primal desire to drain her energy. It sounds alot like Edward and Bella from Twilight along with any number of similar vampire love stories. In a moment of passion it could be rather dangerous. An ancient deity doesn't like what they're doing and throws a wrench into the works that becomes more fodder for relationship issues they must work out. It advances the plot well.

MRiaG is a 2021 release that is rated 91 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 65-minute delightful episodes. It's an excellent romcom - no more, no less, and that is good enough. My only complaint is that some of the drama was poorly manufactured since he can teleport. Any emergency can be instantly addressed so their consternation sometimes seems misplaced. Jang Ki Yong (Sweet & Sour-7, My Mister-9.5, The Atypical Family) plays ML Shin Woo “Yeo”. If you haven't seen him before, you would probably be surprised to hear that he can play a first-rate thug. It's nice to see him play a sweetheart here. He's not just a sweetheart. He's got to walk a fine line between stoicism and experiencing brand new emotions. “When you live for such a long time, everything feels like a season that will eventually pass. Everything feels meaningless. But you seem true to yourself every moment. I like your honesty.” So says Yeo to Lee Dam (Lee Hye Ri of May I Help You). Ms Lee is the central character of Reply 1988-8.6, a comfy show about friends, family, and neighbors. She has a genuine infectious exuberance that she brings to everything. Previously dubbed “The Nations Little Sister” after appearing on the show Real Men, SHE is the reason this show is as fun to watch as it is.

The secondary romances are also nice. Kang Han Na (Familiar Wife-8.5, Just Between Lovers, Start-up-8) is Yeo ‘s longtime (we're talking 700 years) friend, Yang Hye Sun. She was a Gumiho, but she recently became human. She has more to do in this series than most shows where she often plays an ice queen/human figurine. I like her in this. Kim Do Wan (Moment at Eighteen, Doona!) and Park Kyung Hye (Goblin, Destined with You, My Lovely Liar) are Dam's BFFs, Choi Soo Kyung and Do Jae Jin. Bae In Hyuk (Under the Queen's Umbrella, Why Her?-8, At a Distance, Spring Is Green) is Gye Sun Woo, a popular guy at school who first comes onto Dam as a farce but ends up developing a thing for her. As cute as this actor is, with double-deep-double-dimples, I've seen him twice and both times he plays second fiddle. Go Kyung Pyo (Chicago Typewriter, Private Lives-8.1) makes a surprise appearance mid-show. It's fun to see him across from Lee Hye Ri in an echo back to Reply 1988. They can't hide the warmth they have for eachother in their scenes. The screenwriters are Baek Sun Woo (What's Wrong with Secretary Kim-6.8, Doctor Slump) & Choi Bo Rim (Touch Your Heart-8.2). Director Nam Sung Woo also brought us the very popular Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, Because This Is My First Life-7.7, and 100 Days My Prince-5.5.

This is a cute couple. “This is our first date. You think I came unprepared? I've been keeping myself updated with the latest culture via news and books. And I've been watching romantic comedy dramas, so I'm very well aware of the latest dating trends. Plus, I can use magic. You won't be disappointed.” So says the 999 year old fox. What he thinks is current intel on dates is actually 20 years old. (For him, that IS current;). “I'm in love. I can't describe this feeling. It's soft and hot. I can't either swallow it or spit it out.” Dam is quite elegant in delivering these lines. “This doesn't mean anything. It's another meaningless relationship that will end soon.” That's what Yeo tells himself, until he can no longer deny it. They are mellow and comfy. Her joy is contagious, he caught it, the viewer catches it, and almost no one has any desire to turn back. They spent some time apart, but it didn't take.

“According to Mingxin Baojian, one's mouth and tongue are the door to anger and worries, and they are the axes that kill one's body,” we hear. Amen - preach it! While I've relegated this to simple romcom status, MRiaG is not low IQ. The writers show their depth-of-field in several places. The most popular boy at school supposedly is interested in Dam. Not believing that she can truly be attractive to him, Dam is skeptical of his motives. Yeo (already outfoxed by her himself) quotes poignantly from an old story: “To him, she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else's heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He could not understand why anyone wouldn't fall in love with her.” (Excuse me while I fan myself). ‘If you live long enough, you begin to become indifferent to everything,’ Yeo realizes. “Feigning love is not love. The more it's done, the emptier one feels.” Yeo had been posing and faking and acting for a millenia. Dam came to his house knowing his secret. He could be real in her presence. He became comfortable with her. That will make an average looking person a “10” to the beholder. “According to Sajasohak, one must be clean-cut and well-dressed. It means you should be neat and dressed nicely.” Dam is alittle casual about cleanliness. Instead of berating her, Yeo appeals to her best nature.

The entire show appeals to our best nature. Not much happens, yet every episode is a treat. It simply works. They also tie up the last episode very nicely. Not all shows do, so it's appreciated. Any romcom fan will find MRiaG to be their natural habitat.


〰QUOTES〰

There is always some madness in love, as Frederick Nietzsche wrote in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. That you like someone means that you are misunderstanding that person in your own way.

Dishonesty cannot beat honesty. Never.

The more you know the more you see.

〰IMHO〰

RATINGS
Directing 8
Writing 7
Acting 8
Romance 6
Flutters 5
Art 7.5
Sound & music 7.7 Best song - My All
Ending 8.3

LEVELS
Warmth 6
Action/ Excitement 3
Laughs 3
Tears 3.5
Fright 3
Tension/Anxiety 2
Gore 2
Thought provocation 3
Snores 0


Age 12+
Sime scary elements. A disturbing evil spiri

Rated TV-15

Re-watch? Sure would


Loving someone from “another world” - In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

99 days with the Superstar-7,
The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2
Live Up To Your Name-7.6;
My Secret Romance 7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks),
Boys Over Flowers 8 ~ melodrama to the max,
The Bride of Habaek 7,
Hotel del Luna-8.4,
A Korean Odyssey-7.2,
Romance is a bonus book-7.9;
Heirs 7.3,
That Winter, The Wind Blows 7,
Something in the Rain 9,
C: Well-Intended Love 7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine,
You are my destiny 6.8 cute, sweet & 1/2 padding,
A Little Thing Called First Love 8.5,
Find Yourself 8.9

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