[[Drama 2017-2018] I am not a Robot, 로봇이 아니]

47 minutes ago, swagpuppysong said:

That had me laughing, ahjussi!  Komawo. 

 

And..loved your mini review btw! I love how you put it that IANAR is a love story done right in every way, because it truly is. It's just the right mix - from the OST to the actors to the plot, direction  and the whole production! Not too mushy and not too stale.

 

This will be surely remembered for a long time..and the memories we all shared here during our journey together with MK and JA will be treasured as well.   

 

I thought that was the best way to sum up my feelings about it. IANAR does not have earth-shattering moments, grandiose plot elements or big budget set pieces going for it. It's not a piece of grade A5 Wagyu steak served with caviar, but a simple bowl of ramen in winter with all the ingredients in perfect proportion and harmony, which makes it a work of beauty and passion.

 

My mini review is my way of saying goodbye to this rare drama and closing that particular door. I'm sure I will be reopening it when I get my wife to binge watch it soon enough, and I'll be there with her watching it all over again. 

 

EDIT: I'm listening to the OST on repeat while working now (yes I'm at work while typing all this stuff, lucky for me I'm sort of the boss around here  , so yeah)

[[Drama 2017-2018] I am not a Robot, 로봇이 아니]

7 minutes ago, swagpuppysong said:

I'm still crying every time I hear the OST..Can someone here help me?!? 

 

Congrats, you are perfectly normal.

[[Drama 2017-2018] I am not a Robot, 로봇이 아니]

Now that I am Not a Robot has ended, I feel compelled to give my mini review. Of course, I am not a qualified critic by any measure, so all my opinions are just that.

 

My background:

 

I am a grumpy middle aged man in my early forties, father of 3, husband to an avid fan of Hongkong/China(historical setting)/Korean dramas who has no patience to follow any currently-airing  drama and has to binge watch everything.

 

Started Korean dramas on a whim in 2011 when my first child was born and I found myself stuck at  home more often. To date I have watched about 50 dramas (only), with a preference for those with a science fiction/paranormal/fantastical twist. My all time favorites include 49 days, bride of the century, queen in-hyun’s man, school 2015, and now I may possibly induct INAR into that list.

 

And I can’t get into Korean historical (sageuk) settings unless it has to do with time travel, I just find ancient korea to be stifling, more so than ancient china or japan.

 

Ok, onwards with the mini review.

 

 STORY

 

The concept of a woman masquerading as a robot in front of a man who cannot touch any human is quirky but straight forward. I was apprehensive at first how the writers would stretch this concept to cover an entire series; I have seen cases where the premise fizzled out by mid series and the rest of the show just plodded along to its conclusion. One example of this was Director Jung Dae Yoon’s She Was Pretty, which I felt couldn’t really sustain my interest for its entire run, another example would be High Society.

 

What the writers of IANAR did I felt, was to treat the concept as a broad structure to develop and delve into the little aspects of each interaction between our OTP and side characters; letting the comedy, romance and relationships flower along with the storyline. This made a potentially one dimensional premise take on more dimensions as we look closer at it.

This allowed the concept to be strung out without it feeling strained.

 

The story was also divided into distinct acts with different emotional overtones, from the light comedy and budding romance of the 1^st quarter, to the burgeoning weight and conflict of having to lie to someone you have uncontrollably fallen for leading up to reset halfway through the series. This was followed by pure melodrama of forced separation, angst etc for the 3^rd quarter, and finally, payoff in spades, sweetness and satisfaction, earned by for all in the last quarter. These different emotions acted as different movements of a symphony, helping to carry us through the story more effectively than other dramas.  

 

I also like that most of the characters are good people at heart, no one was being blatantly evil just for the sake of it (except for Martin & Dr. Casey, who were the worst caricatures of evil foreigners possible – that would be filed under the minor complaints section)

 

Finally, I loathe noble idiocy, and absolutely love the fact that the writers were quite meta about it, having Ji Ah squash it like a bug the minute it raised its ugly head.

 

PRODUCTION

 

There is no denying that expert hands were behind the filming of this drama. I am all about mood and feel, and this drama over-delivered in that area. I love the strong colour palette, Aji3’s dress, the warm tones of KMK’s house, the dark lab highlighting the human warmth of the researchers, the imagery and taste of salty breeze of Geoje island, all distinct yet memorable sets.

 

I have to say I really appreciate the attention put into Korean dramas when it comes to capturing mood and warmth. This is one reason why I gravitate towards Kdrama more than let’s say HK dramas, where I find the settings somehow oppressive, with dark corners all around. Japanese dramas seem bright, but have a more sanitized and distant feel to it… these are very generalised, personal reactions though, and I would understand how others may see it differently.

 

The OST is remarkably good, and more than any other single element, the OST sums up the soul of any drama. A memorable song is the glue that binds a pivotal scene into one’s mind, and it is a guilty pleasure to replay that song endlessly while driving, working etc. just to work up those little flutterings of the heart or tear ducts. I have to remind myself that it is not a given that good music/songs necessarily come hand in hand with good dramas, and IANAR is just one of a handful where the quality of the drama is as high as that of the OST.

 

ACTING

 

What can I say. YSH and CSB is a pairing that totally blew my mind. I have only watched YSH in Missing You, where I found him a bit creepy, not helped by the age gap between him and Yoon Eun Hye. CSB is a totally new face to me, not having seen any of her previous works. As a straight male, I tend to have more interest in the female lead than the male, and in the few pictures I saw of CSB prior to watching the show, I did not find her particularly attractive; that however changed when I got into the character if Jo Ji Ah and Aji3, especially how her acting resounded so well with YSH. Watching them felt so natural and enjoyable that I found myself sometimes wanting to fast forward through the scenes where neither of them are in, almost.

 

Not to put down the other actors of course, everyone did an outstanding job, with none standing out poorly (except the ‘foreigners’) in comparison. I have seen Uhm Ki Joon in several dramas starting from Scent of a Woman, and he has always been reliably good. Park Se Wan was not so convincing as an ‘unwoman’-like researcher nerd simply because of how cute she looks despite how much bad hair and oversized specs they try to bury her under. Kang Ki Young was jarring as I was more used to his comical characters – I still see the character of Chun Sang from Let’s Fight Ghost whenever YC comes on screen, this probably means how good of a comedian he is more than it is indicative if his performance here. Hwang Seung Eon’s character was a breath of fresh air in that she was un upright, strong female who does not take crap from anyone, not even her own father. I really enjoy such characters who break the negative stereotypical moulds. (Felt this way too about Go Joon Hee’s role in She Was Pretty)

 

The rest of the supporting cast all did a wonderful job and came into their own as distinct characters I came to know over the course of the show, despite many of them being familiar faces from other dramas.

 

MINOR COMPLAINTS

 

My main gripe is how poorly the ‘foreigners’ are depicted and how badly directed those actors were. This is not new, as it seems Korean directors often do not understand English or whatever foreign language well enough to be able to direct those scenes. I will forever remember Dr. Casey’s ‘WHAT THE HELL???’ as the lowest point in acting for this whole drama.

 

The other small issue I have is the premise that KMK has an IQ of 159. This never really came into play whereby KMK had to be particularly brilliant or insightful to be able to get over a problem; what he did throughout the show was only indicative of an intelligent thinking person, not necessarily a genius. The assertion of his exceptional IQ made it even harder to accept his inability to see through the whole faux bot shenanigan and I had to pull my reigns tightly in order to suspend my belief so many times it was a little grating.

 

Madam X. So who is mdm X? We know it is likely Butler Sung is Mdm X, but the lack of resolution just felt untidy to me. Even if it was meant to be ambiguous, there must have been some foreshadowing as to why this was the case.

 

Lastly… Aji3

I’m not sure if this qualifies as a complaint, but Aji3 came into her own as a character in the last few episodes. I was slightly horrified to realise she had made her way home effectively just to be ‘executed’, in that her identity was to be erased, leaving only the programming. I realise that she was probably not sentient, but the fact that she made me feel like this should be a credit to the show…. Still, I would have liked to see that some trace of Aji3 survived in the end.

 

CONCLUSION

 

IANAR is not a blockbuster, but it is at heart a simple love story done right in every way, and I am grateful I decided to give this series a shot. 

 

I’m going to make my wife watch this show, even if she kills me.

   

 

 

[[Drama 2017-2018] I am not a Robot, 로봇이 아니]

I'm happy to say I finished episodes 29 & 30 with a silly grin on my face I couldn't repress. What I really appreciate is the sense that the writers and production team are heading towards a satisfying conclusion that they have planned out well, resolving arcs and relationships while addressing/bringing back elements like beetle and D&D in a logical fashion. Sadly this is not the case with a lot of k dramas where the endings seem badly paced or cobbled together last minute with loose ends not addressed or just swept under the carpet....

 

That being said, I also sense that the team may also have their feelers out there for feedback from both domestic and international fans, I couldn't help but feel that the kiss scene was in a way a response to comments. I would love to think that they actively read boards like this one and know how well loved their work is.

[[Drama 2017-2018] I am not a Robot, 로봇이 아니]

Less than 12 hours to go to ep 29... 

 

Feel very conflicted about heading into the final stretch, I don't remember feeling this way about other currently airing dramas I have watched, at least not to such intensity.

[[Drama 2017-2018] I am not a Robot, 로봇이 아니]

1 hour ago, leedonghae4lyf said:

I think IANAR doing very well internationally is the reason why we get to see it in its complete 32 episodes. Even if they did not fare well locally, the syndication/distribution to other countries alone, MBC earned a lot of profit from there. Otherwise, they would have cut it short, if they were not able to capture International fans/viewership.

 

Now, I am not sure about this, but I remember that it was discussed before in another forum, that if a drama did not fare well locally, then that drama suffers when it comes to the Network awards. Usually, they get snubbed/not considered. But, somebody please correct me if I am wrong. I hope I am wrong because I so want YSH and CSB to be recognized by their works in IANAR. They were really awesome individually and together as MK and JA/AJ3. And I really hope they win the Best Couple award!!!!!!

 

If it were up to me, or most posters in this thread, they would win best couple hands down. I consider them one of the best couples in a rom com ever, together with my other favorites Lee Hong ki/Yang Jin Sung (BOTC) & Ji Hyun Woo/Yoo In Na (QIHM). 

[[Drama 2017-2018] I am not a Robot, 로봇이 아니]

6 minutes ago, mundaliv said:

Nice to have a non typical fan in here! I also asked the same question on the rating few weeks ago. It‘s so sad that the rating is very low. But I also don’t have answers for your questions. Other dramas with high success sometimes give a trip to oversees for the actors/actresses and staffs. or make a fan meeting also outside Korea. Usually after a success like this, the lead receive offers for commercial films. That’s where they got more money from their success I think. Looking forward now for many commercials with both of them as the stars of products  

 

In an earlier post (by haney?) it was mentioned that internationally, INAR outsold all other dramas in 2017/2018 so far. (26 countries as far as i can recall), that must count for something I guess. I'll just rest easy with the knowledge that the production team realises there are so many more people around the world that love what they have done, not to mention the $$$ would be the proof.

 

As for being a 'not so typical' fan, I'm sure there are many more 'ahjussi's' like me, we're just not so vocal about it.

[[Drama 2017-2018] I am not a Robot, 로봇이 아니]

Hi all.

 

I'm probably not a typical KDrama Fan, as a 40 year old father of 3, but this drama has been so satisfying and cathartic that I was compelled to follow up on all the talk while waiting for the weekly episodes, which led me to finally registering an account here.

 

Forgive me if this seems a silly question: I am aware that the domestic ratings for INAR has been abysmal, however it seems like the international reception is turning out to be disproportionately successful. How would the production team view such a result? How does local broadcast weigh against international streaming and sales? I'm asking because I feel saddened by INAR's official ratings, and am looking for some glimmer of hope on the international front such that the production staff, writers, and actors/actresses feel vindicated with their hard work.