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

[Guest]

@Pratiwip  I too am glad that you were a part of this thread...  I see that you're new to Soompi.  I hope to see you too on another thread...  Most of all I hope you have a great time in this forum and always share your thoughts and ideas.   There are so many great threads and so many great posters and lurkers too!  Hope you make some great memories here!!! 

[leedonghae4lyf]

I have not watched the last 4 episodes, I don't know, I think I'm still in denial that it has ended, like prolonging the inevitable .

 

Still, I want to say THANK YOU! to our friends here who always post updates/BTS pics/promo pics/Official OST/Fan MVs, thank you for keeping us on the loop. Also special thanks to those that post live recaps/live subs/screencaps of the latest episode. Its a lot of help for us here who were not able to join you all in real-time watching.

 

Thank you also for all the intelligent, healthy (and most times pervy!  LOL!!) discussions we have here. I just wish I remembered my SOOMPI account earlier than I did, so I could have been here longer with you all. 

 

Hope to see you all again in another Daebak Drama!!

 

NOW, I have to face the truth and watch the final episodes and say my goodbye to Min Kyu, Jiah, AJ3 and the Santa Maria Team..

Anneyong!!

[ueng .]

11 hours ago, oneandthree said:

The bending kiss looks like a dancing scene in The Beauty and The Beast, so fairytale-like. And the kiss also mirrors their first kiss under the umbrella. This drama started with KMG who couldn't enlist and ended by KMG who came back from the enlistment. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH! I treasure this writer. She is so good with symmetry/mirroring as well.

 

I think as same as you... keke, that's great! 

[Cecentre]

What a perfect happy ending for the drama! I love the episode we have tonight very much. I like that we get to see them going on dates and being cuties supporting each other and manage to be independent from each other as well. We also get to see other couples going on dates awww 

 

I'm so happy that they pick up JA's entrepreneur plot! I thought they lost in somewhere along the lines and ignore it == Although I still want to know whether she won the inventor competition? Also unanswered question that everyone else has asked: Who's Madam X? But oh well I feel her revelation is not going to make much difference like it's not going to be a plot twist anyway so it's ok if they forget to talk about it 

 

I love love love that ending scene!! When everyone starts preparing and coming to see MK after he gets discharged, it makes me so happy because MK has come so far, from someone who isolates himself and has nobody but some cleaning robots to be friends with, to a guy with so many friends hurrying and cutting off their meetings early so they could go see him and a girlfriend (wife? I bet they are married) greeting him when he came back. Also that entire interaction between MK and JA clearly feels like they are husband and wife!! There's something so sweet but so daily life-like in that interaction, like they have gone past the passionate beginning part and to being simply comfortable in each other's space and just chill. That kiss mirrors their first kiss which has set off a series of events and ups and downs for them, again it shows how far they have gone since that turbulent time  Ahhh I'm just so satisfied with the ending! This drama deserves a perfect ending like this!

 

This is the first time I have ever participated in a forum from start to finish! Thank you so much everyone for sharing the news, the updates, the translations, the beautiful edits and fanarts, the jokes and the heart touching analyses. It makes my experience watching this drama so much better than ever, when I was able to share my thoughts and be with lovely people like you all ^^ I hope to see you all again in other threads, especially in YSH or CSB's new projects!!  

[blissfullyblessed]

Good morning everyone!

 

The ending was very sweet. Can’t help grinning until the very end. It is so hard to let go KMK and Jia. Hoping for a collaboration of CSB and YSH again in the future. A romantic historical drama perhaps?!!

 

Thank you so much everyone for the live recaps, HD pictures and lovely gifs. I hope @Berou will allow me to camp at her other thread until YSH’s new project.

 

***back to re-watching the drama***

[Josh Marquez]

The drama ended but until now we don’t know who Madam X is. Hahahahah

[shangomar]

Hey all! I'm coming out of lurk mode to thank everyone here for sharing translations, pics, vids, and just about anything regarding the cutest couple in k-drama history! I WIL REMEMBER RICE BALLS FOREVER! Here's a bts photo from that kitchen scene (EHEM) to get us by with our withdrawal symptoms 

 

(Pls message if this image violates stuff, I havent posted in Soompi for so long, thank you!)

 

 

Spoiler

 

CR LINK: DC Gall

 

EDIT--- I HAVE A QUESTION PLS ANSWER: I am srsly curious about that one scene where they were in a car the night before the press conference... during that wide shot, I heard Jia say, 'Oppa why are you like this?" or did I just hear what I wanted to hear? LOOOL Please help me anyone 

[ifrommalaysia]

Thank you so much my chingus ....the ending so perfect...i think it will take long for me to move to other drama....after descendents of the sun, the korean drama that got my attention to share was suspicious partner and now IANR... 

I don't simply easy to feel in love korean drama even though there were a lot of korean drama that i have watched, most of them i even could not be able to finished it ..but once i feel in love with it, i can repeat watch it again and again until i could find other drama which can make my heart flutter...

Terima kasih sahabat semua....

[zzj1]

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.

   

 

 

[dramu51ch0c10ve]

 

[ueng .]

@zzj1 Thank you for your comment. I agree with you many things.

 

Thank you all chingus and pretty squads here. I'm totally happy all time since I join this thread while watching my favourite drama. ^^ I am a big fan of Yoo Seung Ho (although can't finish those dramas he played before enter the military) I followed every dramas/movies since Joseon Magician in 2015. I have hope that Seung ho must be great if he could play RomCom (Lovesick/ Lovebirds like...more sincerely)....hahaha So I Am Not A Robot proved it all!! He's REALLY good in every role (Oh! I am so proud with my bias) >____< I'm glad that he can step over what really challenge for him! When he acted tearfully scene, I won't worried caused I know he could do it smooth just 1 take. But cringing scene ...I hope to see/ feel it...Thanks for those BTS ^^

 

As I mentioned before, I must thanks to Chae Soo Bin who support MK role till the end, their trust and reliance bring many sincerely scenes of this drama. Make us fall in love with MK JA AJ3...she will be one if my favourite K-actress. 

 

I like writer nim who can bring rom-com script good till the end and PD nim and crews as well. Some defects may be seen but I am willing to ignore them...keke. It's must be hard to carry on tight schedule with all things perfect. I wish all actors and crews are fine until last day..it works! This is my favourite drama since DOTS and Ruler Master of the Mask ^^

 

Ohh...I'm still in IANAR world, I don't want to work. All I want is to go back home and re-watching since the beginning again. I need fanfic/fanart Kyuah or Hobin couple...anything else. I need their interview for after the drama. I hope to hear that IANAR is so popular and make big income to our actors/crews/channel. I want them to show in variety show...keke who can bring Yoo Seung Ho on the show I will be your servant. He's quite introvert and preserve his private life. And he's talk straight not think much. That's his charming ^^

 

I have many things in my brain about IANAR that make me smile like an idiot ^^ Hahaha...but need stop here. I want to share all of you here, thank you for being with me. I read all shares/caption/ trans/ comments along the on airing drama for months, this one is my favourite page on mobile and desktop ^^ I checked this hourly ^^ I don't want to say good bye to anything/anyone ^^ I think my symptom will be last for month then. ^^

[swagpuppysong]

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

[zzj1]

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.

[macello]

I've read on the characters' description that apparently Butler Sung would only leave when KMK has a woman to take care of him in his stead? I haven't watched in full the last two episodes yet, but I don't think I've seen the Butler leave. Right now that MK has JA I bet he did. If that's not the case (and the character description is wrong), I would've still liked some more screen time of him with MK.

 

One of the things I wished they fleshed out a bit more was Butler Sung. I wanted to know who he is, why he is so dedicated to MK, how his relationship with MK's father was, if he really is Madam X. I would've wanted to see him become a father figure to MK, walk him down the aisle, etc. I had hoped to see MK discover everything about the Butler and for once, not feel betrayed but grateful. If only we have 4 more episodes....

[shangomar]

35 minutes ago, stroppyse said:

 

Hiya. I took a listen to that section, and I'm afraid that JA doesn't say "Oppa why are you like this" when the shot widens. MG had just called Ji Ah an onion who still had layers and layers to peel back. JA had protested that description saying that she had nothing further to reveal to him, that she had told him everything. MG continues to tease her that there must be more. JA responds that she doesn't have any, really.

 

In Korean, the phrase that she says when she says "there isn't any" consists of 3 syllables which I'll write phonetically "eop-da-gu" which which the background music could sound as if she was saying "oppa" something, especially since she's saying other things as well, before and after as well.

 

I kind of knew my ears were deceiving me, but I just wished that... well LOL I must be still on the drama high.  Thank you so much for clarifying that for me. that scene was cute nevertheless~

[aniliaz]

7 hours ago, V said:

Thank you for a wonderful thread everyone! I had a really fun time on here with y'all and I hope to see you on some other threads in the future! 

 

Thanks a lot chingu ... you lightened up our Wednesday & Thursday .. hope you success in what are you doing .. omoo i wanna cry .. pretty squad hug !!! 

[swagpuppysong]

11 minutes ago, zzj1 said:

 

Congrats, you are perfectly normal.

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.   

[zzj1]

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)

[j9sshi]

This ^^ is how was all through episode 32, and also while reading the comments on here (although I did tear up a little  because its like well... the end).

 

25 minutes ago, stroppyse said:

They are just so comfortable with each other, even having their own little jokes from the time when JA pretended to be AJ3 and thus going into "friend mode", the casual skinship, the teasing, the mock fights, the easy rapport, and the laughter. I think I could just be happy watching episodes 15 and 16 over and over again, and seeing JA and MG interact once they had confessed their feelings for each other. Seeing the two of them just gives me some warm fuzzies.

Yes! And I loved all the pouty faces that MK made - Just way too cute! 

Honorable mentions. Beautiful sister in law (I'm glad they included us in on her giving birth), and super adorable Jo Dong Hyun.  I just want to hug her. 

 

The ending also left me with cuddly warm fuzzies.  Thank you Writer Nim for wrapping everything up with a warm fuzzy bow on top. I can't believe its the end.

 

I'm with everyone else in that I truly hope to see these two work together again. A Sageuk would be great, but a fictional one. MUST HAVE HAPPY ENDING.

 

To the pretty squad: Thanks for making this so fun - from the little bets, to the live translations, RICE BALLS!!. Many times I found myself just laughing out loud while reading some of these posts, and having my daughters look at me strangely lol!

 

I actually joined the soompi community halfway through BTIMFL. If I had known what a fun community this was, I would have joined a long time ago. It's so nice to chat with people that have the same level of excitement for a show. 

 

Thanks everyone!!!

 

 

 

btw,  @zzj1  You're a good man!! 

 

 

[Guest moo1304]

reading what u guys posted makes me more in denial that this drama already finished..

i still refused to watch ep 31&32 in eng sub, cuz i feel like it will be a farewell to the drama

 

i hope that the drama production team knows that we value this drama so much although the rating is not good in korea, and they're not disappointing us because they really deliver us with a good drama,good casts and good writing.

 

btw, i love the BTS stills from the last kiss scene, YSH smile is contagious!! and poor them must be very cold!

i would like YSH n CSB to do a drama together in summer, though i dont think we will see them soon..

i hope they get a good rest!(esp CSB, cause in 2017 she did 3 dramas+1drama special)

and i saw her post saying she lost her precious dog 2 weeks ago, poor her..

 

 

 

EDIT:

lt's rewatch all the kiss scenes!