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Imagine a dude coming up to you out of the blue, claiming he is your girlfriend? What would you do? Well, in Park Yun Jae’s case, he gives the ‘dude’ a punch. And that’s how Korean romantic-comedy ‘My Girlfriend is the Man’ takes off!
Directed by Yoo Kwan Mo, the 2025 romantic comedy ‘My Girlfriend Is The Man‘ (Korean title: 내 여자친구는 상남자) is based on the webtoon ‘My Girlfriend Is a Real Man‘ by Massstar. Singer-actor Yoon San-Ha plays the primary protagonist Park Yun Jae, a university student happily dating his first love, Kim Ji-Eun (Arin). However, things take a crazy turn for the couple when the pretty Ji-Eun wakes up one day as a handsome man (played by actor Yoo Jung-hoo), with no idea how to become a woman again!
The first episode of ‘My Girlfriend is the Man’ dives straight into the fantastical twist, with Ji-Eun showing up as a man to deliver the shocking news to boyfriend Yun Jae. Flashbacks to the past few days capture Arin and San-Ha sharing romantic moments and sweet kisses as a cozy, cute college couple. Yeah, imagine a K-drama serving kisses in the very first episode, and not ‘dead fish’ ones! The chemistry between the couple may not sizzle, but the cast’s good looks definitely make the series visually appealing.
Unlike the webtoon, where Ji-Eun lives alone and has three older brothers, the series portrays her living with her older sister, Kim Ji-hye (Choi Yoon Ra). So, she doesn’t have to face the comedic nightmare of turning into a man completely alone. Despite being in a loving relationship with Yun Jae, he initially refuses to believe the bizarre transformation, then panics and struggles not to break up with her, even after he’s convinced that the male Ji-Eun is, in fact, his girlfriend.
The first two episodes of ‘My Girlfriend Is the Man‘ have plenty of hilarious moments, even though the creators don’t fully capitalize on the physical comedy potential of the plot. Yoo Jung-hoo is adorable as the male Ji-eun, who quickly adopts the name Ji-hoon to avoid confusing others, but internally struggles with the possibility of losing Ji-Eun. Almost everyone else in the series swoons over his handsome face and fit physique, including Ji-eun’s sister and best friend, Choi Yu-ri (Park Joo Won).
But the biggest comedic trouble in ‘My Girlfriend Is the Man’ comes when Yun-jae’s younger sister Yun-a (Lee So Won) falls for Ji-hoon and hounds her brother to help her. Even his friend Min Hyeok (Hur Hyun Jun) is charmed by Ji-hoon, immediately asking him to go on a group date with some girls. So while he struggles to come to terms with the new reality of his girlfriend turning into a man, the bigger problem is: she/he is now taller, stronger, and a total chick-magnet. LOL.
My Girlfriend Is The Man promises to be an entertaining comedic ride, and the first two episodes are pretty fast-paced, packing in a lot of story, including an explainer about a family curse, which appears much later in the webtoon version. I’m honestly a little worried about how the creators will keep things funny for the next 10 episodes, because just these two already cover over 20 chapters’ worth of plot. But then again, we know there’s a new love triangle coming up, and the live-action deviates quite a bit from its source material. So, perhaps viewers can expect more funny twists in the upcoming chapters.
Watch ‘My Girlfriend Is The Man’ on Viki.
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