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Looks like spring will be the season for gumihos. The new fusion fantasy sageuk starring Lee Seung-gi and Suzy has confirmed a spot on MBC’s upcoming lineup, and is set to follow Horse Healer on Mondays/Tuesdays. That puts the premiere in late March or early April, given Horse’s 50-episode run. The drama is called Gu Family Book (it’s likely punny in that the gu means literally “nine,” as in nine tails) and Lee Seung-gi will play a twist on the gumiho legend and be a half-gumiho, half-human hero.
The descriptions keep referring to him as “half-beast,” like we might somehow get the wrong impression that because he’s playing a gumiho it emasculates him in some way (gumihos, or nine-tailed foxes are traditionally female). But uh, we geddit. He’s a dude. And it’s a myth, so please, be my guest and turn those gender roles upside-down. We like ‘em better that way.
It’s really the one major hope I have for this show — that it has an idea about the mythology it wants to create. ‘Cause a fun new mythical universe is always welcome in my book. There’s little information about the heroine, but the hero was born half-beast, and will set out on a quest to become human. We’re already told that he can’t, “but he fights to live more like a person than anyone else.” Aw. It’ll be a lighthearted martial arts action drama, which sounds like a great ol’ time. Bring on the swashbuckling laughs.
Directing is PD Shin Woo-chul, of Secret Garden and A Gentleman’s Dignity, and writing is Kang Eun-kyung of Baker King, Man of Honor, and Dalja’s Spring. I like the idea of a new breed of drama hero entirely, one that might have to fight his evil carnivorous nature to be a better man. It’s like all the good narrative tropes of vampire lore, without all the attendant baggage. Hope it’s a winner.
Gu Family Book follows Horse Healer on MBC.
Looks like spring will be the season for gumihos. The new fusion fantasy sageuk starring Lee Seung-gi and Suzy has confirmed a spot on MBC’s upcoming lineup, and is set to follow Horse Healer on Mondays/Tuesdays. That puts the premiere in late March or early April, given Horse’s 50-episode run. The drama is called Gu Family Book (it’s likely punny in that the gu means literally “nine,” as in nine tails) and Lee Seung-gi will play a twist on the gumiho legend and be a half-gumiho, half-human hero.
The descriptions keep referring to him as “half-beast,” like we might somehow get the wrong impression that because he’s playing a gumiho it emasculates him in some way (gumihos, or nine-tailed foxes are traditionally female). But uh, we geddit. He’s a dude. And it’s a myth, so please, be my guest and turn those gender roles upside-down. We like ‘em better that way.
It’s really the one major hope I have for this show — that it has an idea about the mythology it wants to create. ‘Cause a fun new mythical universe is always welcome in my book. There’s little information about the heroine, but the hero was born half-beast, and will set out on a quest to become human. We’re already told that he can’t, “but he fights to live more like a person than anyone else.” Aw. It’ll be a lighthearted martial arts action drama, which sounds like a great ol’ time. Bring on the swashbuckling laughs.
Directing is PD Shin Woo-chul, of Secret Garden and A Gentleman’s Dignity, and writing is Kang Eun-kyung of Baker King, Man of Honor, and Dalja’s Spring. I like the idea of a new breed of drama hero entirely, one that might have to fight his evil carnivorous nature to be a better man. It’s like all the good narrative tropes of vampire lore, without all the attendant baggage. Hope it’s a winner.
Gu Family Book follows Horse Healer on MBC.
