I actually didn't want to write a review about this because there are already so many of them out there which capture the magic of this drama quite well. But there are so many things I liked and loved in this drama that I somehow needed to write all these things down myself.
There is quite a large amount of crime and suspense dramas out there lately, that it's hard to find some distraction with a good rom-com, and I was hesitant with this because of Yoo Seung Ho. He has already proven that he can act with other dramas but he's also the master of crying - and that not always to his advantage. Whether directors demand him to cry to his heart's content or not, sometimes it's just too much for the drama. But with his latest project it seems as if I discovered him all anew and he did won me over with this big time.
The story evolves around Kim Min Kyu who is allergic to humans. One slight touch results in life-threatening consequences, and because there doesn't seem to be a cure yet, he has to be very careful to never touch another person. Therefore he lives in isolation and loneliness and has developed some kind of friendship with his cleaning robots over the years. Just then he finds out about this new human robot with an AI and decides to test it out.
There is nothing like a unique and new idea in this world and people might be reminded of "AI", "I Robot" or "Bicentennial Man" with this show. But when it comes to K-dramas, "I'm Not a Robot" is still a fresh concept. It won't focus too much on the AI topic, but more on the romance part, and therefore doesn't dive too deep into "conscientious invention for the next generation", even though it might graze those things in a very superficial way as well. For example, there are the geeks who invent for the sake of creating new things that can be helpful for humanity in a peaceful way, or the evil guys who only see money and war toys.
Whether Kim Min Kyu's illness might be too far fetched or not is hard to judge. Maybe it sounds unbelievable the first time you hear it but... ever since I started working in the medical field, I developed this thought that we will never be able to know of all the diseases in the world. There are so many which are not yet discovered or very rare illnesses the majority of people don't know of. And who knows, maybe there really is someone like Kim Min Kyu, too. For me, the drama was able to deliver that subject well enough to buy its story.
Of course, it's not free of clichés and it's very predictable. But in a good way. You know what will happen, you anticipate it and you're happy when it's indeed happening in the end. This drama doesn't always follow reality, it's still a fantasy (and Korean!) drama. Sometimes it might also have some logistic miracles, but seriously, who cares. It's too much fun watching Kim Min Kyu and his experiences with this very human "robot". When I say, you will laugh your ass off, you definitely will. It's been a while since I myself laughed that hard, that often.
What makes this drama so great are its characters and the cast who did an incredibly smashing job. You will find yourself attached to most of them in no time, and you will have this constant grin on your face whenever you see the leads, the research team (and it was so much fun seeing Uhm Ki Joon play a good guy for a change, too) or that little robot that reminded me so much of Little Groot! Too sad it didn't have much screen-time. The female lead's friend and also her family added a lot to the fluff and comedy, and even though I didn't like the brother in the beginning, his timid behavior grew on me quite fast, too.
As I mentioned before, Yoo Seung Ho literally blew me away in this. His looks/styling were dashing and his acting was cuteness overload without getting too cheesy. He managed to show a plausible transformation from a lonesome boy who fears the contact with other people to a guy who slowly learns to build a relationship with another person. His reactions to new experiences was heartwarming and once in love he became endlessly cute. His crying which I always fear in dramas, were kept in line. It was well balanced most of the time and only one or two times where it was a tiny bit too much, but I don't want to nitpick. I'm more than happy with what everything else he gave me here. And wow, he had such an amazing chemistry with Chae Soo Bin. I loved her in Rebel and was excited to see her in this drama. Both of them delivered beyond my expectations. Especially Chae Soo Bin must be praised for her performance of her human character Jo Ji Ah and the robot Aji 3. I was able to tell them apart very easily and create a bond with both of them individually. I'm even a little sad that the robot didn't have that much screen-time. I would have loved to see more of her.
I usually don't mention kisses but I was quite fixated on them here. I don't even know why, maybe because I can't remember Yoo Seung Ho's previous drama kisses or because I'm always nervous about them in general because they can either be a hit or miss. But don't worry! They were a pleasure to the eyes and to the heart. Lively and cute at the same time.
The only ones I was a little disappoint in, were the bad guys. Kang Ki Young for example. I liked his acting whenever I saw him in a drama. But here he was... how shall I put it... too bland? It didn't reach me, it felt subdued. As if he wanted to show that he can also take on other more serious roles but failed to express the necessary emotions. His character was kind of "flabby". Maybe he is better off playing funny guys. Same goes for the whole conspiracy plot in this drama. I wasn't convinced even one second. The major problem was probably that it didn't get enough screen-time to build a proper ground. On the other hand I won't complain much about it either because I was way more happy to see the leads all the time. I know, it's a contradiction but I can't help it. And since this drama is just another rom-com, I didn't expect much depth in its evil side anyway.
Phew, I wanted to keep myself short on this but ended up going too much into detail. If you were able to read through all of this, let me thank you for enduring this long text. I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts and maybe will start this drama yourself~
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STORY
The story itself is kind of unbelievable but at the same time perfectly put together. I've noticed that the story summary was a little bit unappealing to most people, even I was questioning myself whether I should give it a try, but the plot really turned out to be interesting.
ACTING/CAST
The acting was flawless! I was very surprised how the actors perfectly portrayed emotions of their character, especially Yoo Seung Ho who plays Kim Min Kyu. I seriously enjoyed his acting the most and he was the best thing about this show, to be honest. My heart was constantly breaking either because of the heart-breaking scenes or because he is the most adorable being and he should be protected.
Chae Soo Bin did also a great job of portraying a human and a robot. I honestly really enjoyed all the Ji Ah moments as all the Aji 3 moments. Not to mention the amazing chemistry between Yoo Seung Ho and Chae Soo Bin. Of course, we can't forget about my favourite Santa Maria research team, which grew to my heart and I really loved how in the end, everyone was basically a huge cute family.
MUSIC
I don't have much to say about the music. It wasn't something extremely amazing, but the songs were okay and I liked some of them more than the others.
OVERALL
I definitely recommend this drama and when I get the chance, I'd love to rewatch it. Even though the story wasn't that perfect, it was well put together and the acting + messages couldn't be better! The whole chemistry of this show also really made an excellent impression on me.
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It makes no sense why this drama has got low viewer ratings. This drama deserves much appreciation. All the actors performed well but the performance delivered by the lead actor deserves a special mention. Yoo Seung-ho is indeed a great actor. His acting is flawless, the way he enacted emotional scenes captures hearts. Fell in love with this guy after watching his performance.
The ending of the story is beautifully and leisurely written which just warms your heart. Each and every actor and their characters are awesome as they are done justice on till the end. And how could I not appreciate the lead female, AJI 3(robot), or Jo Ji A, is beautiful both as human and as the Robot from the start. Loved it so much. Loved it so much. I Will definitely recommend to watch it!!
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Enemies-to-lovers and also a friends-to-lovers story
Why is "I Am Not a Robot." a must-watch?Because the hero has an allergy to human contact and throws birthday parties with his gadgets. It's an enemies-to-lovers but also a friends-to-lovers story. An absolute Robot Romance with laugh-out-loud moments as well as emotional ones.
After Kim Min Kyu lost his parents and betrayed by people around him in his childhood, he develops a severe allergy to human touch. One day, he was approached by an AI team who made an advanced robot looking like our female lead Ji Ah, offering the robot to be his personal assistant. But the robot breaks just before being delivered to him, so Ji Ah is begged to fill in to be a robot. She can't tell him she's human because he's allergic to humans, but until when?
Thus, an absolute robot romance ensues, with laugh-out-loud moments as well as emotional ones. The plot is surprisingly dynamic because both leads have their own rich and interesting story. Min Kyu, he’s just a lonely man who lives alone in his mansion and throws birthday parties with his gadgets. I love how Ji Ah’s personality is still shown even during pretending to be robot AG3. Even when he was practically her boss, she made her own choices and finds her way to his heart. Because of her, the romance works naturally.
My praise goes to the actors’ performances; Yoo Seong Hoo whose emotions touch me beyond my expectation. His backstory is painful and his climax was really powerful. I'm always a sucker for actors who play multiple roles well because they’re literally changing on screen, just like what Chae Soo Bin did with her 3 roles; the robot, herself and herself pretending to be a robot.
This would have been a stagnant drama if it was only Min Kyu's story. Min Kyu has a ranking system for the electronics in his house, so when AG3 / Ji Ah, first enters this house, he tells her that the floor vacuum is actually her Sunbae (which means her senior), because she's the newest. And he calls only his favorite electronics "lovely." Ji Ah had a rich and interesting story that was all her own, and she had agency even during her pretense in AG3. Her Friend Mode is one of the reasons the romance worked because Friend Mode was actually Ji Ah's personality. She was responding to him as she normally would, and that's who he fell for. Even when he thought she was the robot, he didn't treat her like an object. He didn't treat her like an appliance. He treated her like a human, like a friend. She made her own choices, even when he was in charge. When she wanted to just close down an argument or when he was trying to make her clean, she would be like, "I have to go in power save mode, or my battery's gonna die." And she would just drop her shoulders, and her head, and close her eyes, and it was hilarious. And he'd be like, "Oh, I'm going to get you better batteries. I'm going to get you the best batteries in the world." Oh, it's so cute. He was the reason the romance worked and her storyline was the reason why the overall drama worked.
Why my rating for this drama is not so high is me not enjoying all of the tertiary characters and some boring subplots. However, I still think it’s a good watch for its’ unique premise and amazing performance by the leads!
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However, compared to them, the side characters were bland and unlikeable to me. I couldn't care less about them.
The story at the start was fun and exciting due to the fact that I was under the impression that it was carefully crafted by the writer, this impression only lasted until about episode 10 when it started to get stretched and therefore losing a lot of quality.
The struggle to fit into the 16 episodes format was very noticeable, they delayed the revelation of the lie the plot revolves around until it wasn't possible to delay anymore. After it was revealed, they pushed weaker plot points to fill in the gap and all interest was lost.
In the end I can't say I totally regret watching it. The show had a lot of potential, if only the filler episodes were cut and the story condensed to about 10 episodes it would be perfect since the premise was good and unique and the acting was excellent. I would've shed some tears if the plot was handled differently because it had the potential to make me.
SPOILERry stuff that bothered me:
Too many silly romance side stories and empty comic relief characters;
Aji 3 went from being completely considered a simple robot under Ji A's control to a being that they adored that went out of her way to save the data of her friend herself and THEN to thing that they ultimately destroyed for some reason and was never mentioned again;
The fact that Min Kyu was unhealthly dependent on Ji A was never solved or mentioned;
The worst offender: the fact that they all believed that he would die if they told the truth just because the other guy died was ridiculous, the circumstances were very different, the very thing he wanted(her being human) was true why would he die? He would be happy instead;
The company chaebol bullshit didn't need to exist;
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I'll be direct, The acting was perfect. EVERY CHARACTER was well done.
This is a way the best Chae soo bin's drama even if I liked her very much on Rebel, and Kim Min Kyu was the best Yoo Seung Ho's character.
Emotions such as pain, happiness, anger, cuteness, confidence, surprise were well done. DAEBAK ! With these different physical expressions I didn't get bored at all.
Let's talk about the story.. Wtf.. Human allergy ? Who dares ! And they made it perfectly.
If we see the story in a different way.. I'm not a robot is about someone who was afraid of dark human side and lock himself in a psychological hell until he's soulmate save him and show him human's bright side.
This may be cliché but its not. It's more deep, we can even recognize ourself on the main male character (Kim Min Kyu) : How many times did we run away from people because the situation was too much too handle ? How many times did we hide ourself in a cocoon ? And.. Y'all we know how important friends are, soulmates are.
This drama deserve love, all the couple were perfect ! Not cheesy at all, they all took time to find each other, they went through many difficult moments. And let's not forget even if the last episodes were emotional, the drama was funny ! It was such a good idea to close the drama with the first episode's problematic. You guys should watch it
I'm so happy, the drama was one of 2017's light !
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In some points I felt I would never be able to see the heart thumping romance between them. But I was wrong. Their romantic moments and heart aching romance really pleased me. Some dramas become pale in some points but it has always given me a refresh feeling and never let me feel bored.
Through this drama I saw a new view of life. That was KIM MIN Kyu's lonely life. Through this I was able to understand many situations and stories about life.
The best things about this drama were:
1. Sci-fi story - although the story is like an impossible happening. But the connection between technology and people is showed up very well.
2. KIM MIN KYU's cuteness - I think there is hardly anyone who has not fallen in love with this cutie pie after watching the drama. His innocent and lonely personality can make anyone's heart melt in just a few seconds. He's like a cute puppy.
3. AJI 3/JO JI A - the character of Aji3 is calm, quiet and caring where Jo Ji A is like a crazy girl with a hard working spirit. She's cute and loveable but really alone. Her life is like an example of a person who is not so intelligent but really creative and hard working.
4. Every character - in the drama each character have a different personality. All the people in the drama will keep entertaining you all the time and especially the couples here are really attention catcher.
5. Story - the story is even more interesting than it looks like. It increases curiosity with some twists in the story. But overall the story is really good.
People who love cute chemistry between the leads and interesting story must give it a try. As per me, it was damn good. Watching it whole heartily and feeling the story from heart will help you to enjoy it even more. Try it and trust me you gonna love it.
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Chae Soo Bin at her finest.
Some would say the storyline is unbelievable, but the fantastic acting pulled it off and made this one of the best shows I’ve seen. Chae Soo Bin’s portrayal of a robot was just beyond words. Her eyes speak without saying a word. Her smile lights up a room. They couldn’t have chosen a better actress to play this role. If you want to see if an actress is into her role, watch them kiss. A kiss from this show made the top 12 list on the internet, but that is only a small part of Chae Soo Bin’s acting ability. She knows how to develop a love story with her facial expressions and body language. Her presence on the screen is compelling. This show was entertaining and captivated me for every episode. I highly recommend it.I don’t speak Korean, so I rely on the acting, the music, and the sub-titles when I watch a show that’s not in English. I’ve watched thousands of romantic based movies and TV shows because it’s a genre that fascinates me. Maybe I’m one of those eternal romantics. I hope my review was helpful.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama turned out to be quite a rocky journey for me. I found the first couple of episodes (the first five if I recall correctly) hard to finish not only because of that lingering negative feeling coming from the lie that is at core of the plot. I just knew that there were some heartbreaking parts in the near future and that discouraged me from enjoying this drama to the fullest, I just stalled on it a bit. I also felt that tempo of the show was a bit off in the beginning. On the other hand, I remember a couple of episodes in the middle that were very well done and the ending was very solid and satisfying. The other issue I had with I'am Not a Robot were the secondary characters. Don't get me wrong the cast overall was a delight but it took a long time for the characters outside of the main leads to find their place and purpose, they almost felt like props to me at the beginning. I was very surprised how the drama slowly created a solid structure of these people around Min Kyu - they started to feel real and turned into a backbone of the drama.
Yoo Seung Ho and Chae Soo Bin were a true delight to watch. I loved to see all of the shades of their relationship - from bickering to falling for each other. I was also pleasantly surprised by the comedy of Song Jae Ryong. Hoktal turned out to be one of the characters I rooted for the hardest.
Music was okay but no tune stayed lingering in my head. The opening score was nice, I liked it. I don't think I will come back to this drama as a whole but there were definitely a couple of scenes worth rewatching.
Overall this drama turned out to be a slightly above average for me. The struggle at the beginning slowly turned into a solid ending and I don't regret investing time into this one.
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Cat/Person/Cat/Person/Cat/Person and "desperately needing the loo" are probably my favourite two funny-scenes but there are numerous sprinkled throughout.
The whole premise is a bit silly, the idea that a human could consistently fool another human by pretending to be a robot, however they do kinda nod to that at the end when things come out so it works out in my view.
Put that to one side and you end up with a funny story of Chai Soo Bin's character needing to pretend to be a robot (which was modelled on her in the first place) when the robot stops working. All sorts of shenanigans as he "tests" her abilities and her and the team try to cope with everything happening.
The male lead has a nasty condition that means coming in to physical contact with another person brings him out in a horrific life threatening rash, he's basically allergic to people, leading a life as a recluse - which starts to hint as to why having this "robot" in the house with him begins to mean so much to him
But wait - it's not a robot, it's a person, doesn't that mean he's allergic to her too? Sorry you gotta watch it to understand that but it was a really nice element. Related to it, I particularly liked when he got the watch that told him of his "allergy levels" and you then could literally see how much he valued being around the "robot" - even if he doesn't understand it, we're all nodding and winking at the screen going "uh huh" :)
As you'd expect with deception storylines, it all comes to a head and I thought they handled this very well, along with how this then develops to the conclusion of the story.
Brilliant, my first drama with Chai Soo Bin (Where Stars land was my second :) ) and i'll be looking out for more, she has a unique voice and presence that I enjoy watching on screen.
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I can't exactly explain why it's so perfect. Could it be because every reaction and emotion the characters have are so perfectly written, developed by the writer, perfectly realized, delivered by the actors and perfectly captured by the director? For lack of a better way to describe why this drama is so wonderful, this is what I can say:
1. It has made me really happy, and filled my heart with warmth. You know the feeling, it's like being surrounded by puppies or the feeling you have waking up to the love of your life; it will make you believe in love again. It will make you cast all your cynicism aside.
2. The acting (Sorry to repeat myself, but the actors are just amazing) There are scenes in this where you can clearly see the pain and love in YSH's eyes. I felt humbled by the emotions the MC was going through, as executed so perfectly by YSH. I felt his doubt, his fears, his pain, his relief, his joy and his love.
3. Simplicity of the plot, without cliches. Sure, the story doesn't include a proper evil villain, or fall under the action or melodrama genres, but the pace is great and at no point did I feel bored or tempted to skip any parts. I despise cliches, especially in the romance part so I really liked that the story plays out in a way that only helps develop the relationship between the two MCs more, without any useless obstacles to prolong the series. Although I disliked the power struggle for the company (as is to be expected in any Kdrama) it did not overshadow the story as a whole.
4. The friendship the MC built with the other characters was really beautiful. I find this part lacking in many dramas. Because of how the MC has been lonely his entire life, it felt very warm and sweet to see him slowly open up to others. In certain scenes, the way the side characters care and fought for the MC will melt even the coldest of hearts.
I definitely highly recommend this drama. It is now one of my top Kdramas that I will definitely rewatch when I need a little pick me up, or something to snap me out of one of my dark, brooding moods. I'm someone who usually hates rewatching anything, so this definitely speaks volumes. If you've just broken up, or you're in doubt about whether love exists, watch this, because sometimes we all need a reminder that love doesn't require anything showy or dramatic. This will remind you that love can be pure, meaningful and deeply felt.
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One of the Best Rom-Coms I've Watched To Date
This one really knocked it out of the park. I was taken in by the cute and borderline silly premise, and to be honest I did not expect too much. However, I was blown away by the quality of this show, especially the acting. Not only do the FL and ML have amazing chemistry and a relationship that gradually grows during the story, but the supporting characters are absolutely charming and well-written, and I was happy that they got to have their own stories told too.I know that dramas generally receive a lot of praise for being realistic, but I feel that this drama touches on some things that I have not seen in others (Spoiler-free):
- Characters who have made grave mistakes are held accountable. Some learn and grow as people, but they are not treated as if they have never done anything wrong.
- Some people grow apart naturally. You might have had a very good relationship with a person several years ago, but time changes people, and not necessarily for the worse. Sometimes your memory of them might be skewed, and you realize that they are not the person you remembered. Characters like these are not demonized in this drama..
While I adore the overall story, there are some points, specifically towards the end, that do not sit well with me. In Episodes 25-26 one of the characters is continually harassed by another character, and I honestly felt like the whole thing was in very bad taste. But anything for love, I guess.
Besides the one negative comment I had, this drama is extremely well-made with a good balance of laughter and crying (at least from my perspective). The FL's acting is phenomenal when she needs to be emotional. There's no holding back, and I love her for it. Definitely worth a watch.
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