When I first saw this drama I thought it would be a reversed version of "My Girlfriend is a Gumiho", which is one of my favorite old-school Kdramas. Although the plot of "My Roommate Is a Gumiho" is definitely different the main elements are similar. Like the former, this is also a fun Interspecies romcom about an extremely attractive Gumiho whose fox bead ends up inside of an unsuspecting college student who must move in with the Gumiho for the sake of the bead. The Gumiho lore in this drama is pretty interesting, but what I liked about this drama is that it never tried to be much more than a light and often silly romance... no major melodrama, no taking itself too seriously. Sure, it is definitely full of tropes, but I was entertained. Yes, the sweetness sometimes goes to type 2 Diabetes levels, and the storyline isn't always the most logical or original, but great characters kept me excited about watching each episode.

I'll start with Jang Ki Yong who is perfect as the male lead Gumiho Shin Woo Yeo. Even when I don't necessarily like the drama he is in, I am usually impressed with his performance, but I feel like he comes into his own as a leading man in this drama. He can easily play mature so he is totally believable as someone centuries old. He is funny, charming, major eye candy, and has a mysterious sexiness that makes a very convincing Gumiho. I loved his cool, composed, soft-spoken, and unbothered style, with just a hint of danger to it, and would love to see him play a true villain one day. He is matched with Lee Hye Ri as Lee Dam who is the exact opposite. She is bubbly, immature, messy, drinks too much, eats EVERYTHING, shows ALL of her feelings on her face, and unapologetically says exactly what she feels. This character could have easily been annoying but her honesty made her relatable and funny and I also really liked that she was proactive instead of passive and didn't just wait to be saved or have everything solved for her. Together these two have great chemistry, although romantically they are more cute than sexy. I loved watching him subtly flirt with her, although I wished she would react less wide-eyed and innocent sometimes. I even appreciated that they could pull off the big age gap in the story while actually being close in age so it never felt too inappropriate. Still, if the story was just about them I could see it getting redundant after a while so the supporting characters were a huge part of what kept me watching.

Most of the supporting characters are great. Not only did they make me laugh, but I cared about many of them as much as the leads. I loved the Hermione-esque Soo Kyung and the adorably sensitive Jae Jin as Lee Dam's BFFs. They are definitely friendship goals and I was glad to see that supportive friend dynamic including a guy. I also couldn't resist developing a drama crush on Jae Jin and I was glad he turned into more of a lead character. Then there’s Kang Han Na who was such a great frenemy as Yang Hye Sun. I really expected to not like her character that much, but she became one of my favorite characters in the whole drama. Lee Dam's brother Lee Dan was very funny too, and they hilariously seemed like real siblings, although he does have less screen time than the others he stood out too.

There is only one character that I did not like at all and that’s Bae In Hyuk as Sun Woo. To be such a major character in a comedy I found him to be extremely boring and uninteresting. It didn’t help that they kept presenting him as a super attractive playboy, which was not convincing. To be fair, it’s hard to be compared to Jang Ki Yong’s level of eye candy, but I would have appreciated a personality that matched the rest of the cast or at least had way less screen time. The love triangle is a major part of the story, and I did like that concept behind it, but he gave me less 2nd lead who you can sympathize with feels and gave more entitled stalker you may need a restraining order for vibes. Other characters that could have had less screen time were some of the bigger cameos. Jung So Min’s and Go Kyung Pyo’s characters both felt like their guest roles were much smaller than their talent, and their scenes added more confusion than mystery to the story, seemingly to fill in time. The whole mystery/thriller element of this story felt like a waste of time so it's definitely skippable.

Would I watch this again? Probably. There are enough cute and humorous moments that would be entertaining to watch again, and I liked the drama’s theme of figuring out what makes us human and what makes life worth living. I think I may still be tempted to skip a lot of scenes, but I'd be just as tempted to rewind a few others. I would definitely have to be in the mood to binge watch wrist grabs, falling into people’s arms, strategic glamour lighting, stalking, stares, and so many other kdrama romance clichés… but sometimes that’s exactly what I am in the mood for.

Overall this is the kind of drama you enjoy for what it is. I didn’t shed any tears. There were no mind blowing plot twists. The story is pretty standard, a little predictable, and isn’t too deep, but it does explore empathy in a way that made me think without feeling preached to. The ending is ridiculous but satisfying. If you know nothing about the webtoon it’s based on, like me, I would think of it as a classic style kdrama that is "basic" but in the best way possible… plus eye candy! Delicious eye candy! I don’t think I can mention enough how "risk it all" attractive Ki Yong is in this. That still wasn’t enough to make this drama a new favorite of mine, but I do recommend it to all who have a romcom sweet tooth.