The Idle Mermaid


The Idle Mermaid is a 2014 South Korean romantic comedy television series starring Jo Bo-ah, On Joo-wan, Song Jae-rim, and Park Ji-soo. A modern retelling of the 1837 fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen, it aired on tvN from August 7 to October 9, 2014 on Thursdays at 23:00. Originally slated to run for 14 episodes, the total number of episodes was reduced to 10. The series inspired an unofficial Indonesian adaptation called Mermaid in Love.

Series overview

Aileen is a mermaid princess who is in love with Kwon Shi-kyung, a human celebrity chef. While recording a TV show next to the Han River, Shi-kyung hits his head and falls into the river, and Aileen stops him from drowning by kissing him underwater. Shi-kyung is pulled out from the water by Yoon Jin-ah, an intern who works for and is also in love with Shi-kyung. In order to meet Shi-kyung again, Aileen steals a magic potion from the male witch Ahn Ma-nyeo, and is transformed into a human girl. It's only after her transformation that Aileen learns that she has 100 days to find true love, or else she will die and turn into bubbles. Ahn Ma-nyeo helps Aileen by setting her up with the fake identity of "Kim Ha-ni," and sends her to live in a house in Seoul with other young people, most of whom are unemployed and searching for jobs. Among Aileen's new housemates is Lee Hyun-myung, Yoon Jin-ah's ex-boyfriend who is trying to win her back. With her new friends to help her, Aileen vows to find a way to win Shi-kyung's love, but in the end she falls in love with Hyun-myung. Although she initially disappears once her 100 days are up, she returns to life a year later to see her friends again.

Cast

Principal

  • Jo Bo-ah as Kim Ha-ni/Aileen
  • On Joo-wan as Lee Hyun-myung
  • Song Jae-rim as Kwon Shi-kyung
  • Park Ji-soo as Yoon Jin-ah

    Supporting

  • Kim Seul-gi as Ahn Hye-young
  • Kim Min-kyo as Do Ji-yong
  • Nam Joo-hyuk as Park Dae-bak, aka "Big"
  • Lee Sun-kyu as Lee Sun-kyu
  • Jin Hee-kyung as Hong Myung-hee
  • Kim Jae-hwa as Kim Woo-sun
  • Han So-young as So Dae-ri
  • Ahn Gil-kang as Ahn Ma-nyeo
  • Kim Jin-hee as Han Gook-ja

    Soundtrack

Ratings

  • In this table, represent the lowest ratings and represent the highest ratings.
  • N/A denotes that the rating is not known.

  • International broadcast

  • - Under the title Idle Mermaid, it was aired in the Malaysia on TV9 from February 6, 2018 to February 21 on Monday to Thursday at 6:00pm Malaysia Time
  • - Under the title The Mermaid, it was aired in the Philippines on GMA Network from May 4, 2015 to June 12, 2015 at 5:05pm replacing Fall in Love with Me.
  • - It was aired in Thailand on PPTV beginning November 1, 2015.