My Holo Love (2020)

Kaczynski's Frankenstein, a complicated love story

(i dont rate rewatch value)

this dramas ability to condense something extremely complex into a concise package is nothing short of admirable. you know, just like creating smart glasses with integrated A.I. theres multiple layers of self awareness that get triggered at different stages, like the premise itself, falling for someone you can't touch, or the potential privacy concerns that come with such a device/technology, which is decidely a lot more spaced out. blend the two together and throw in a handsome recluse genius orphan developer, and you got yourself peak A.I identity crisis. the lines between artifical and human get blurred, and so does everything else.

tho not to forget go sung hee's mannerisms, which are like 60% of this shows charm for the majority of it, her interacting with something that in everyone elses eyes isn't even there. i didn't know it yet, but thats where the first seed was planted for how this show would ultimately conclude. doing an amazing thing of both maintaining that innocence that keeps this so pure, while still facing the very reality that challenges that innocence at every step. it's the perfect human conundrum we're all in the midst of ourselves right now.

simplifying the complicated has been the ultimate end goal of every commercial venture in history, but nothing can match how far digital technology has taken it. i didn't think theyd have time to touch on that as extensively as they did the identity side of things, but then.. hold up, doesn't go sung hee's facial blindness make her a perfect analogy for humanities last resistance to the complete loss of privacy facial recognition will (already is) bring? (she works at a company called PRISM ffs) and how about yoon hyun min being forced into becoming a complete ghost from society?

this drama manages to convey the same hard hitting messages as a good scifi flick, or a black mirror ep, but it does so on the down-low, while still just being an innocent romance drama about a girl, an A.I., and his creator. it's normalization of that premise reflects our own normalization of these technologies, our own innocence part-taking in them in the early days without paying much thought to how rapidly it all could, and did, evolve to work against us.

the last thing i expected was for this to turn damn near extremist by the time we hit the last 3 eps lmao. all those seeds planted truhout grew to trees in our absence, and we start runnin truh forrest with chainsaw for the final sprint. where else do you find energy like this outside of kdrama land?

in one word - sobering.

in a couple more words - this came at an eerily on-point time for where i'm finding myself rn, giving me a bit of assurance about some things i was unsure about.

getting into kdramas just continues to be fulfilling to no end. my ass even been slacking on movies cuz of them..

12 eps, just press play.

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Good Enough

" My Holo Love " was an AI love story done right.

The plot had many leyers, with not only the romance, but the past mystery, the family dynamics and the business drama. The CGI were pretty great too, which helped the drama a lot, as bad CGI would have ruined the whole atmosphere the drama was trying to pull off. The male lead was amazing too, as he managed the two characters perfectly, creating romantic leads with both of them, even though they were perfect opposites. I would have liked if they had explored Holo's and the guy's relationship. The second couple was interesting too and they had nice chemistry. The female lead was cute, but she was annoying at some point, though she got better towards the ending. Finally, the ending was quite satisfying.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

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I I binged this over two days on Netflix UK and I can only say this - WATCH IT! For me the acting and the story, in that order, was what made it worth the 9.5 I've given it. The music was a bit 'm'eh' for me I have to say - hence me only giving it an overall 9.5....but that IS just my opinion.

Go Sung Hee really plays her character well and you so want it all to turn out right for her. Yoon Hyun Min is as brilliant as always and plays both Go Nan Do and Holo to perfection.

If you can find it subbed, or have access to Netflix UK like me, then please be assured, it's REALLY worth watching; so much so it'll be near the top of my favourites re-watch list (that's why I gave it a 10 on re-watch value). :)

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I actually rage-quit this Drama and just FF'd through the last three episodes because of a common problem with K Dramas - violent crime is excused and completely overlooked. In this Drama, the competitor firm is guilty of multiple kidnappings, assault, theft, breaking and entering, and many other crimes, and yet NO police action is taken. Even the "good" cop is shown as being utterly fixated only on tech crimes, and doesn't care at all about the fact that people were kidnapped and physically hurt by the other company. The company which actively and violently broke the law is shown repeatedly getting a free pass from the police AND profits from its criminality. And the second lead gets a free pass for his active involvement in all of those crimes.

As a simple love story, with some interesting commentary on the nature of identity, the Drama had promise, but this weird K Drama fixation on violent crime being disregarded totally snapped me out of the mood of the show. YMMV, but for me, this was a good idea ruined.

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in the land of many annoying cliche romcoms, especially the ones with horrible characters, this was nice.
+ a mature female lead (the fl had a few frustrating moments but atleast she was a grownup that could think)
+ 2nd leads used well~ (I honestly loved the new approach to the usual 2nd leads, they actually had character)
+ cop girl and cop guy (plus her littler romance, my ship sailed)~
+ the overall big plot of the evil guy was actually "threatening".
+ the dumb kidnapper xD he really made me laugh
+ the mom ;)
+ the last scene ;p
+ the last "business" project
+ the way normal people actually found out about holo

the bad:
- overly traumatized characters
- the past connection (literally every romcom has the same back story)
- the jerk male lead (he was a jerk for too long)
- her "love-line" with holo. (I'd have preferred if they just called it deep friendship or one sided love from holo)
- it got too dramatic in the last few eps
- not enough actually lovey dovey moments with the main leads...
- the fast team switch(?) ;p
- the way everyone was ok with a love line with a hologram ;)


the ost was all great and I never rewatch dramas ;)

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Hit or Miss Drama

One episode is action-packed and great, yet another will be completely boring and dull. I believe My Holo Love has an amazing concept, but fails to deliver with a rough half of their episodes. It seemed very start-stop to me, as some episodes were very enjoyable and wanted you to watch the next episode instantly, whereas some episodes were pretty dull and boring, making you reconsider if you want to binge-watch the entire series. I normally am able to watch one episode a day, but My Holo Love made me watch an episode every other day just because I wasn't too thrilled/hyped about wanting to watch another episode. Perhaps I was overhyped with this drama, but unfortunately, for me, this wasn't a great show to watch. Nothing terrible in the slightest, just definitely not my favourite.

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I never really write reviews but this drama had me hooked from the moment I saw the trailer.
Everything from the cast to the story line was so exciting to watch! The main leads have an amazing chemistry, and rather than Holo being just a "robot" I'd think of him as his own person.
I was unsure of what to expect but, to my surprise, wasn't bored during this drama at ALL and binged it within 2 days.
I wish I'd taken my time because now I'm stuck with the empty pit you get after finishing a series you love so much.
Nonetheless, I can't wait for Hyunmin and Sunghee's next dramas. I hope the two can act together again one day!

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Because this is a Netflix drama, I thought that this would be over the top with a huge budget, so I didn't expect much except for a classic Western plot that was extremely flashy. I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. I really need to stop doubting Netflix's asian drama originals. Yes, it seemed to have a big budget, but not as much as a lot of the original action dramas. It was simple, but the plot was complex, and the relationship between So Yun, Nan Do, and Holo was really solid. So Yun, due to her face blindness, doesn't trust people off the bat, and they always need to earn her trust. Nan Do, was a man who didn't believe in love and really any emotion after his mother's death when he was young. He didn't believe in creating positive relationship with people except for Holo.
It was extremely interesting to see how Holo's existence influenced both So Yun and Nan Do and ultimately became almost a middle man - expressing both So Yun and Nan Do's better emotional traits. He took the best parts of both of them and became this confidant to both of them.
Yes, this drama had a lot of cringy and cheesy Asian drama tropes, but they were easy to look past with everything going on. I think the one I hated the most was how So Yun had thought she was in love with Holo and acted like such an idiot with her imaginary boyfriend. Yes, I have watched My Absolute Boyfriend and have seen a relationship between a robot and a human and totally shipped them, but this one was weird. Holo was such a great influence on So Yun, and he had brought her out of her shell and helped her become confident in herself, but her sudden development of feelings for him was super odd. Even Holo looked extremely uncomfortable while trying to go along with all her date plans. In the beginning, So Yun was a sheltered woman who was great at her job and terrible with starting any kind of relationship. But when she first met Holo, she was quirky, intelligent, and cautious when she needed to be. She just needed a little kick. Then when she fell in love with Holo, she was still all of those things, but it ended up being this cycle where her happiness depended on Holo's existence and him being by her side always. It never seemed healthy. In the middle of the drama, I actually started to dislike So Yun's character, but she came through at the end.
Nan Do was a funny character. Even though he was trying to "teach So Yun as lesson" but ruining her life...all I really saw him as, was a butthead. He was wilding out in the beginning, but when it mattered, he would do the right thing. It took a little while to get out of his ways (with a little help from a crush developing for So Yun), and he expressed some annoying drama tropes, but all in all, it was understandable. Not reasonable, but understandable.

I think my favorite part of this whole drama, even though it was cheesy and obvious, was Holo's "backstory" and who he was and the people who created him, and what they wanted to be. I think the only time I sad cried in this drama, was when So Yun and Nan Do finally realized why Holo's personality was programmed the way it was...because there was a specific reason. Plus, it hit home for me personally understanding how hard it is being the person you want to be, but honestly scared to be that person.

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Cute, Simple, Cheesy

I don't like the categories for rating on here. My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

Among short, surface-level romances, this drama is one of the better ones. Despite its MANY flaws, it was a nice binge watch.

Acting/Cast: This is probably the strongest category. Good cast and acting. The secondary love story was nice to watch, as well. The male lead was great, even though I found myself wishing it was Hyun Bin instead, but obviously he's too big of an actor to play in a drama like this. Maybe I was just thinking about Memories of the Alhambra too much...8/10

Writing: Maybe it would have been better if it had more episodes. There would have been more time to flesh out characters and the pacing could have been improved. The drama felt very rushed and sloppy. For instance, when the male lead comes to the realization that he has feelings for the female lead, it seemed very sudden and I felt like I had missed a scene or something. A slow burn romance would have worked better with his personality type and both of their childhood traumas. Unfortunately, like I said before, not enough time for that. I would have also liked to see more of the growth of the relationship between the male lead and the AI over the years of his life. Also, the ending was too...childish? Immature? Idealistic? With the premise of the plot being about AI, loneliness, and being disconnected from people, the writers could have went really deep with the psychological issues and the effects of these technologies on human relationships and the world. It could have taught the audience a profound moral message. However, the drama barely scratched the surface of these aspects. It seems like a waste of a plot that could have taught us so much. But I guess if they wanted the vibe to stay more on the cute and cuddly side , they succeeded. To me though, it feels too childish, too simple. I like it when dramas can really get me thinking. 2/10

Direction/SFX/Music : The SFX was good for the most part. There was one scene where the green screen looked terrible, but that's about it. The direction could have been better; scenes could have been cut better to illustrate emotional build up and help the audience connect with the leads. For instance, the scene where the male lead sees his mom for the first time since childhood. The camera should have been on his face for most of that scene, especially his initial reaction. I don't need to see his mom; I don't have an emotional connection with her--I need to see HIM see his mom and then his acting would be a tearjerker moment for the audience. As for the OST, it's pretty good. It wasn't good enough to enhance the drama on its own, but still good. 4.5/10

Entertainment Value: It was a quick watch that was able to keep me interested throughout. The lightness of it was the most boring thing about it to me. There was stupid romance stuff like running in the woods, having a panic attack, and now the male lead needs to carry her on his back. It made me roll my eyes. But, luckily it was mostly toward the end where I was getting annoyed. The ending itself really annoyed me though--very cliché. 4/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 4.5 out of 10 due to it's superficiality, rushed story-telling, and cheesiness. I found myself comparing it to Are You Human, Too? (a similar sci-fi plot about AI) and I had liked that one much more (I had given Are You Human, Too? a 5 out of 10). I also couldn't help but compare it to Memories of the Alhambra (a sci-fi about augmented reality becoming real), which is miles better than both My Holo Love and Are You Human, Too? (I had given Memories of the Alhambra a 6.5 out of 10).

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Good bit of fun as the FL falls for a hologram and the hologram falls right back, and then the creator of the hologram falls too, and then, well, it's a funky triangle, and not actually the terrible annoying sort :) Enjoyed it a lot, some great visual effects and a story that moves along at a decent pace as it's shorter than the usual.

Good to see Go Sung Hee in another drama, i've been enjoying her in the Korean version of Suits as well and was one of the reasons I was keen to pick this up - besides the sci-fi / tech based storyline to this one.

Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, we humans are already very ready to become attached to things, we give our cars names and talk lovingly (or not...) to other tech around the house. We have a real emotional connection to some things - and while I think we're a fair way off it still, it's only a matter of time before the tech starts feeling back.

The idea of the Augmented Reality style "holo glasses" is great and clearly just around the corner (let's forget those google things that just freaked everyone out). Whether we'll be happy to waffle away to a holo-buddy that nobody can see, I think that we're not there yet - a lot of people are still having trouble talking to Alexa in a useful way, though perhaps with more natural language interaction that might improve.

In amongst the side of the story covering human-AI relationships, there's a corporation jealous of the progress that's been made and wants to take over and this presents more interesting dynamics for human-AI relationships and how they might change at the simple click of a button.

Great story, haven't sat and listened to the OST yet but definitely will, thought that the actors did a great job and really nothing stood out as wrong to me. Ending was satisfying, though with an unnecessary wrinkle at the ending which was just plain odd and in a very minor way it diminished some of what had gone before.

Another good one, particularly as it's only 12 episodes it's an easy weekend-watch if you're as obsessed as I am :)

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Un drama bonito y... holográfico xd

Ha sido un drama que he disfrutado, en general, aunque a partir de la mitad se me ha hecho un poco aburridillo, sobre todo porque es cuando comienza a cobrar más importancia la trama "informática/holográfica/hacker" y dramática. Los primeros capítulos me atraparon por lo adorable y bueno que era el personaje de Holo; lo cómico y malote que aparenta ser Nando (vestido de negro siempre, con aura misteriosa JAJA); y lo tierna que es la actriz que interpreta a Soyeon (que por cierto, se me hace que tiene gran parecido con Chaeyoung de Twice, la amo).

Me ha gustado bastante la actuación de los protagonistas. Yo sí veía química entre ellos, aunque debo decir que estoy un poco decepcionada porque la explotan más con las escenas en las que aparece el actor como Holo que con la versión humana, Nando. Y en general, todos han actuado bastante bien, han hecho un muy buen trabajo.

La trama tediosa que digo que me parece más aburridilla incluía además el típico cliché de que los protas se conocen desde pequeños, y que la protagonista tiene un trauma...
Sin duda, me quedo con la historia de amor entre los protagonistas, que son demasiado tiernos. Me ha gustado la resolución que han dado al triángulo amoroso que era Holo-Seyeon-Nando. No obstante, me ha faltado eso, que explotasen más la química entre Nando y Soyeon y que me hubiesen dado más escenas cutes y en ambiente relajado para así creerme que de verdad están bien y han pasado página... Es que básicamente su romance se desarrolla en el período de crisis.

Ahora, ¡el OST me ha parecido muy bueno! Y, de igual manera, me ha parecido también muy buena la producción y los efectos que han empleado para crear esa ilusión del holograma y el mundo informático. En ese sentido, un 10; calidad de la buena.

En conclusión, la historia estaba buena, pero el típico cliché y el drama informático no me ha gustado mucho. Luego, los actores me han gustado mucho: el protagonista realmente parecía personas diferentes dependiendo de si hacía de Holo o Nando; y Soyeon me ha parecido muy tierna.
No volvería a ver el drama entero, pero por supuesto que de tanto en tanto buscaría alguna escena de ellos por Youtube porque eran muy monos, jeje.
¡Mi puntuación final es un 7.5!

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