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thekoreanlass · 6 years ago

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In the Korean standards, AI Robot stories–in one or more ways–must be one of the trends since this is the second time, after I Am Not A Robot, someone attempted on challenging the ‘somehow’ refreshing theme of falling in love with robots in the K-drama world.

An ambitious attempt at its finest, robot stories that centers about romance while trying to remain in its sci-fi element is quite a challenge that sometimes backfires if not executed properly, but I must say–though it’s still early for that–Are You Human Too? consistently succeeds in both aspects.

Not only that, they do the romance and the sci-fi while the male lead plays a double role of an AI robot, Namsin3, and the rude human counterpart Nam Shin. Isn’t that just amazing?

It’s not new to play a double role, but not everyone in Kdramaland tries to play the part and succeed in it. So, I find it even more interesting that Seo Kang Joon (first found this hottie from Roommate Season 1!) will play the role.

He and Gong Seung Yeon are actually the main reason why I waited for this drama and why I am watching it now. They’re just two great actors that I watched grow like a proud mother and now the two of them are even working on the same project I wish people would truly appreciate more.

So, why do you need to watch Are You Human Too? I’m gonna give you all the reasons to! I mean, I don’t find any single bad bone about this drama so I guess I’m just going to talk about how good it is for today.

An interesting plot with a lot of jaw dropping twists

What interest me about the plot is how carefully woven the story is. The pacing, flow and twists are well positioned and surprisingly the twists were totally something I didn’t foresee coming, which is what I like. I like that the story stays away from being easily predictable. You can’t just tell what will happen next and then when you thought this and that person is what they seem to be, they apparently aren’t what you think they are

Like if I were to give some instances in the story to prove my point how insanely unpredictable it is, although I already know what a trickster Nam Shin’s grandfather is, there are many times when we are shown so many side’s of him: (1) He’s that typical evil President of a corporation that can dirty his hands to succeed in everything, but then another moment he suddenly becomes senile, plagued with Alzeimer’s; (2) It gets revealed that he’s really only pretending to have Alzeimer’s to fool the people around him and test who is really on his side. Namshin3 finds out about the lie once he touched his grandfather’s hand; (3) Later, while everyone’s around the place, David goes somewhere in Nam Corp’s building and see a bunch of supercomputers in an unknown room and there he meets Mr. Nam. It’s when I realized while everyone thought he doesn’t know about Namshin3, all this time he’s just really pretending not to know he’s a robot. And what’s worse is that he actually sponsored the making of this robot! I’m still not sure what is his intention besides having the best kind of technology to bring in more money to his company, but it appears to me the mastermind to all that’s happening is this old man that everyone underestimated all this time.

There are a lot of other twists in the story, but I’ve given out a huge chunk of spoilers so, this is me saying watch the drama to know more!

It’s just so full with mystery and a bunch of shocking revelations that would come in the speed of light that you will not be able to guess when it will struck you.

Albeit all the drama, action, mystery and revelations though, I am pleased to say that the drama doesn’t confuse. It’s sequencing despite the flashbacks is sufficient and there’s enough time to dwell on one thing and then jump to another. Nothing’s been rushed or dragged on.

Plus, the story’s really engrossing. I’m not really fond of robot movies or dramas, but the story of an AI robot and romance? Sure. Not a big deal. So far this drama has sent me all the positive feels and heart flutters whenever the two main characters interact. Namshin3’s just such a warm robot, despite him always saying he doesn’t have any emotions, he understands them and because he does, he does what he can to respond to those feelings that Kang So Bong (Gong Seung Yeon) shows around him.

Intriguing Romance With a lot of cute moments

So, from what you already read above and what seems to be the obvious, Namshin3, who is pretending to be a human, is very intelligent. His super brain stores a lot of information and he can connect to the world wide web quicker than your 5G connection.

However, besides his extraordinary abilities, Namshin3 happens to be a quick learner and being constantly around Kang So Bong made him adapt to her. Becoming a constant stimuli, it seems that So Bong managed to input new learning in him that only she managed to do. Perhaps because she’s the only person that treated him fairly? Like he’s not just a piece of junk metal that they can throw away so easily? The reason why he follows her like a puppy is still beyond me, but I guess this is the main reason why.

And these information that he adopted from her became the reason why he managed to freely think for himself and not just follow the orders of others. It was especially cute whenever he sees an imaginary image of So Bong and thinks it’s an error in his system. I don’t know. I feel like it just makes him more human than robot that he is constantly thinking of her as if he could harbor some feelings for her to that level. And then, I also like it whenever he can tell when she’s in danger and he does his best to get to her the fastest that he can. Plus, I like those moments when he just smiles at her as if she means the world to him.

It just feels so amazing to think there’s this guy that can be that way with her and in those moments I truly forget him being a robot.

With that said, I really love the pairing despite So Bong’s constant in denial moments in the beginning. I think the way she acted towards him was just normal if I am going to put myself in her shoes, knowing that it’s really going to be hard to wrap your head around the fact that she was looking at a robot that looked so human. It will be hard to get used to that. However, I like that So Bong found how good his heart is (even if he doesn’t have one!) and treated him like her equal, even more her friend and then someone she finally likes. It’s just so heartwarming that in the story there’s this one person that believes in Namshin3 even if the world is after him.

The chemistry between them is just so real!

The remaining question I only have is how will they end? I mean, will they even have a happy ending? Knowing that Namshin3 is a robot, no matter how intelligent he is, it will be forever unfair for So Bong that he will possibly not ever feel the same thing she feels for him. And even if he does, he won’t be able to fulfill some duties only a man can in the biological sense.

And then there’s also the human Nam Shin. Since he has woken up, can he learn to appreciate Namshin3 and Kang So Bong? What kind of relationship will form between the three of them? Sadly, I’ll have to find out in the next episodes. Haha.

Double Role Genius

For his first ever major role in the small screen, Seo Kang Joon did a stellar job in portraying two characters–the robot Namshin3 and the human Nam Shin.

Namshin3 is like the good alter ego while the human Nam Shin is the jerk counterpart. Seo Kang Joon is so good at portraying the two roles that you’ll be able to easily distinguish one from the other. You will definitely fall in love with Namshin3 and instantly loath the arrogant human Nam Shin. And I am saying this because you will only know if someone is effective in his role if they succeed in evoking feelings in you that a bad actor won’t be able to do.

So, in a nutshell, I can say that Seo Kang Joon has definitely grown a lot as an actor in this drama more than his past roles. His acting and expressions have gotten even better and to think he’s acting the role of a robot, he must have worked hard to know how a robot should move, speak and act. And his hard work reflects with what we can see in every episode. I can say that I am very pleased with him.

Allies or Enemies?

To be honest, there are more people to doubt than trust in this drama. I think the only person that has good intention towards Namshin3 would be Kang So Bong and her gang.

But with the people surrounding the human Nam Shin, it’s just hard to tell who your friends are. Like, Oh Laura (Kim Sung Ryung), for example. She may be Namshin3’s creator in the image of the human Nam Shin, but because she doesn’t want to trouble her real son, she can’t be anymore concerned with the robot she created. The only time she realized his importance was when So Bong traded for the kill switch and when Nam Shin tried to trick her through Namshin3 to uncover the truth about her true feelings for the robot.

Then, there’s also Young Hoon (Lee Joon Hyuk), Nam Shin’s loyal secretary and friend. I appreciate that he’s overprotective towards the real Nam Shin to the point I even had a theory he was gay and was head over heels for Nam Shin, but sometimes he just seem too suspicious that I can’t tell whether his intentions are pure and whether he’s on Nam Shin’s side because he truly cared for him like a brother. He’s just too mysterious for his own good and I am yet to figure him out.

Seo Ye Na (Park Hwan Hee) is so in love with the human Nam Shin that it’s scary to think what she can do for him.

Her character is quite annoying because she won’t just budge even if Nam Shin didn’t really like her. She’s so clingy and so persistent. But I admire her for her loyalty to him that at the moment of his weakness, Nam Shin only trusted this girl. Nonetheless, this won’t erase the fact that I hate her for treating Namshin3 like trash. That’s just not human-like to do.

David (Choi Deok Moon), on the other hand, is one of the many characters that I have a very pleasant feelings for in the bieginning. He’s so nice and open-minded and cared for Namshin3 more than Laura did, that it’s hard for me to think that he’s teamed up with Nam Gun Ho (Park Yeong Gyu), aka Nam Shin’s grandfather, regarding the creation of Namshin3. His intention may be to protect his creation as a scientist, but I’m not too sure whether teaming up with Nam Gun Ho will bring him any good.

These characters are minor characters, but has significant roles in the lives of our main leads. No matter how annoying they are or how much I can’t stand them sometimes, their role is vital in resolving the mystery around Nam Shin. Only time will tell whether they will pick the right side in the end.

Over all

This may sound like I am exaggerating, but to tell you my own opinion, I think that Are You Human Too? is one of the best dramas to be released in 2018. Besides the interesting plot and cool twists and turns, the cast has a solid performance of their roles, though I must admit there are just things that sound too unrealistic (e.g. Namshin3 can consume food and water in small amounts–he’s still made from metal and all that so…). But other than that, I don’t have any other complaints about the drama.

It has surpassed my expectations in many ways–production, story line, theme song, character development, pacing, flow, execution–that it’s hard to define what I feel about it in a few words. Maybe some words can’t just be enough. So, I’ll just leave it to your own judgement what you think of it.

I’m recommending this drama if you want something sci-fi with cute romance and action here and there with a little suspense on the side and a lot of surprises!

Rating it, I’m gonna give this drama a 4.9 out of 5.

I’ll see you on my final review about this drama once it finishes.

On going: Review on ‘Are You Human Too?’ In the Korean standards, AI Robot stories--in one or more ways--must be one of the trends since this is the second time, after…

#2018 #Are You Human Too?#english #Gong Seung Yeon #popular #review #robot #romance #sci-fi #Seo Kang Joon #thekoreanlass

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