Follow us on Twitter | Instagram
Yoon San-Ha is absolutely adorable as protagonist Yun Jae in K-drama ‘My Girlfriend Is The Man!’, but damn, the character has no spine! It’s sweet that he doesn’t just break up with girlfriend Ji-Eun (Arin) after she inexplicably transforms into a handsome man and takes the name Ji-Hoon (Yoo Jung-hoo). But gosh, why is it so hard for him to keep away from the flirtatious Min-Ju (Chuu)? She literally spends all her time trying to seduce him despite knowing he’s in a relationship, and our guy Yun Jae just puts up with her clingy, irritating behavior. It’s supposed to be comedic, but it’s really not that funny.
Recap of My Girlfriend Is The Man! Episodes 7-8
Min-Ju comically moves into the same building as Ji-Hoon, sparking plenty of jealousy and petty bickering, some of which is genuinely funny. But once again, Yun Jae’s failure to firmly reject Min-Ju’s advances is just plain irritating. On top of dealing with his romantic rival as a neighbor, Ji-Hoon uncovers a shocking truth: his grandfather is actually his grandmother, who suffered from the same generational curse but never turned back into a woman. Since Ji-Hoon’s mother had reversed the curse, he’d always hoped the same would happen for him. However, with this revelation, he decides to come clean to Yun Jae about his grandmother, and end their relationship for good.
Episodes 9-10 of ‘My Girlfriend is The Man’
The new episodes continue to focus on the comedic rivalry between Min-Ju and Ji-Hoon. Episode 9 starting off with a cat-fight: they literally pull each other’s hair! Yun Jae has to intervene and calm them down.
Episode 9 of ‘My Girlfriend is the Man’ focuses on Ji-Hoon’s struggle to tell Yun Jae that he might never turn back into a woman. And unknown to Ji-Hoon, Yun Jae is offered a prestigious scholarship to go study at a prestigious American university. So, suspense lingers over what all of this means for their relationship, but in the meantime, the group, including Yu-Ri (Park Joo-won) and Min Hyeon (Hur Hyun-jun), sets off on a short trip together to visit Ji-Hoon’s grandfather.
Yoo Jung-hoo’s portrayal of Ji-Hoon is subtle yet spot-on, he never lets you forget the character is a woman in a man’s body, but he also resists reducing Ji-Hoon to a mere comedic gag. Episode 10 delivers a twist as Ji-Hoon transforms back into Ji-Eun, who wastes no time staking her claim as Yun Jae’s girlfriend and bluntly telling Min-Ju to back off. Arin and San-Ha’s onscreen chemistry is quite adorable, and the two get some fluffy romantic moments in this edition.
But of course, Min Ju’s character continues to be shamelessly annoying, showing no signs of giving up her non-existent claim on Yun Jae, just because she ‘liked him first’. It’s only because Chuu is super-cute that Min Ju is sort of bearable, otherwise, the character is quite cringe-inducing. With Ji-Eun back to her original form, the nosy Min Ju keeps asking about what happened to Ji-Hoon, leading to some fresh funny moments.
‘My Girlfriend Is The Man!’ also shifts focus to a new love triangle: Kim Ji-Hye (Choi Yoon-ra) and the wealthy, cool Jeong Ha (Jeon Soo-jin) both vie for the nerdy Hong Yeong-seok (Kim Jong-hoon), though he’s far too busy preparing for exams to care about romance. Both Ji-Hye and Jeong Ha are starkly different, but very likable characters, and it’s simply silly that they’re in love with the boring Yeong-seok. The writers really needed to do something better with this side sub-plot, which seems almost pointless at this juncture.
Overall, these two episodes of ‘My Girlfriend is the Man!’ aren’t as comedic as they could’ve been, but do serve some entertaining plot-twists and drama.
Watch ‘My Girlfriend Is The Man’ on Viki.
Read Next: Lord of Mysteries Review: Beyonders & a ‘Beyond-My-Brain’ Pace (Audio Version Below)