My Roommate is a Gumiho was released on 26 May 2021 and is available for streaming on iQiyi. Photo Credit: iQiyi

Chinese video streaming platform iQiyi’s first Korean original, My Roommate is a Gumiho, is the most-watched drama in its Singapore market.

The romantic comedy centres on Jang Ki-yong’s character, Shin Woo-yeo. He’s a 999-year-old nine-tailed fox that wants to become a human being by collecting energy in a fox bead. 

However, Lee Dam, played by Lee Hye-ri, accidentally swallows the bead after it falls out of Woo-yeo’s mouth. Both of them are then forced to live together. They slowly fall in love with each other while figuring out a way to retrieve the fox bead from Lee Dam’s body.

Lim Hui Yu, 19, a K-drama fan who binge-watched the drama in three days, really enjoyed its combination of romantic comedy and fantasy.

“[The drama] portrayed a range of emotions from joy to sadness, anger, love and affection,” she says. “The leads and supporting actors also executed their roles very well, and the story plot was able to keep me hooked to the drama.”

Hui Yu adds that the show is popular as the leads have a huge fan base here. 

In an email interview with The UrbanWire, an iQiyi representative also shared that the reason why My Roommate is a Gumiho is so popular in Singapore is because it matched “the interest profile of [their] C-drama fans”.

iQiyi’s most watched dramas in the Singapore market in 2021. Infographic Credit: Lee Shi Ying

Following My Roommate is a Gumiho, the next two dramas in iQiyi’s top 10 list are Chinese dramas Unforgettable Love, starring Miles Wei and Hu Yixuan, and My Dear Guardian, starring Johnny Huang and Sweet Li.

On top of these popular shows, the iQiyi representative shared that Singaporeans can look forward to new shows “with a localised Singaporean flavour” in 2022, like the new Singaporean Original Sisterhood, starring Xiang Yun and Tay Ping Hui.

Sisterhood depicts the story of two women who travel from China to Singapore in the 1930s to work as Samsui women.

Local production house Clover Films will also be involved in the production of four Chinese films. 

One of these films, Reunion Dinner, is directed by Singaporean Ong Kuo Sin. Filming has begun and the movie is scheduled for release during the Chinese New Year period next year. The other three projects in the pipeline are a horror film, a thriller and a romantic comedy, according to iQiyi. 

Those who wish to catch more local actors on iQiyi can check out The Ferryman: Legends of Nanyang, starring Qi Yuwu, Tay Ping Hui and Jeanette Aw, as well as Danger Zone, starring Christopher Lee.

Proofread By: Rytasha Passion Raj