I Am Not a Robot (2017-2018) is a Korean sci-fi romantic comedy. When I first saw the trailer for this drama, I thought it was stupid. Yep, I did. In fact, I remember sending the trailer to my friend so that she could confirm my thoughts. And she did. So I didn’t watch it. But I did. I decided to watch it after realizing that a lot of my reviews from dramas are older dramas (and there’s nothing wrong with that) and I wanted to write about a newer drama. I wasn’t sure what to watch since I work full-time and have a family to take care of, so I chose the first thing to come to my mind. After watching this, I learned a very valuable lesson: Just like a book and its cover, never judge a drama by its trailer.
Genre: Sci-fi, romantic comedy
Episodes: 32 episodes (35 minutes)
Summary
Kim Min Kyu has an allergy that keeps him away from humans. He encounters the Aji 3 android from Professor Hong, and he is finally able to interact with a human-like person. Except it isn’t a robot, it is a woman pretending to be a robot.
Review
As I said previously, I judged this drama harshly just by viewing the teaser above. But out of all the Kdramas that I’ve seen (I have seen about 30), this is definitely a top drama for me. It almost has nothing that annoys me about Kdramas (except the rich male lead and him being whiny–Ugh, I don’t like it). The drama overall is fun and short (30 mintues episodes–YES! which means a lot since Goblin‘s were sooo long). The drama will keep you interested the whole time–no dragging.
Characters
The characters in this drama are interesting. But what I like the most about it is the relationships between the characters. The main couple don’t end up with their past loves only because of personality differences. I like that. Not personality differences like the dramas that have a crazy exes who sabotages things (like in You’re My Destiny). But the personality differences where you realize that you don’t have the chemistry or you just don’t fit what the other person needs differences. I like that because that’s life. It’s nice to see in a drama. Plus the two leads have great chemistry and the fit together really well.
- Jo Ji Ah (Chae Soo Bin)– The female lead who is working hard for her dream to become an inventor. She lives with her brother sometimes and Professor Hong other times. She works several various part-time jobs. She’s creative, caring, and determined.
- Kim Min Kyu (Yoo Seung Ho)– The male lead who is the largest shareholder/chairman of KM Finanacial. He suffers from an allergy of humans. He is lonely, untrusting, and kind.
- Professor Hong Baek Gyuk (Um Ki Joon)– He is the creator of the Aji 3 and also the ex-boyfriend of Ji Ah. He is brash and intelligent.
Story
Despite my initial thoughts about the drama, the story is really good. Min Kyu who suffers from past trauma. His wounds remain open until he is finally able to heal them. The last episode up until the last scene does a really great job at showing his healing. Not only did Min Kyu experience growth, but Professor Hong too. He never understood why Ji Ah and him didn’t work out. But after reflecting, he finally understood and decided to fix things. It really showed him maturing and it was a nice view of the character growth.
Production
I may not always write about production because often I don’t have much to say. But I love the use of flashbacks in the drama. The flashbacks help to develop and move the story forward in an useful way. Sometimes the flashbacks were stories, but often the flashbacks were memories.
I was able to find an inconsistency in the filming of the drama. In episode 12, Sun Hye, Ji Ah’s best friend, helped Min Kyu with his romancing. They were in the garden and there were flowers everywhere. But then two days later (or even the next day), there was snow everywhere and it seem like winter for the rest of the drama. Now I have never been to South Korea before and they could truly have crazy, inconsistent weather, but I think this was a honest mistake made by the production team.
Music
Honestly no music really stuck out to me as a song that I absolutely love. But the songs in this drama are good. And since you may have different taste than me, you might find them to your liking/loving.
This is the full OST. You can listen to it while you work or study.
Favorite Scenes
The Needles
“Aji 3” sees Min Kyu’s allergic reaction for the first time and so she put the needles into him in strange places.
The Umbrella
This was a memory of the past. I really like how this scene was shot. I also want to use it as a way to add that I also like all the umbrella kisses in this drama.
Crabs, Crabs, Crabs
Crabs are crawling everywhere and I think it’s hilarious.
The Fight
Min Kyu and Professor Hong started fighting over “Aji 3.” This is here response. She does this often in the drama and I find it hilarious.
Big Eyes
The man undercover witnesses the “Aji 3” eating ice cream.
“I am not a robot”
I think I would argue that this is one of the best scenes of the whole drama. Before this moment, you already start to know how much they like each other. But when you get to this point, it shows how much each character is suffering because of the situation. I also like how they tied the title into the drama.
Quotes
“A relationship is formed by taking root in their heart.”
“A person who doesn’t trust anyone cannot gain the trust of anyone.”-Pi
“A person can survive as long as they have one person.” -Ji Ah
“You mustn’t run away when someone is having a hard time.” -Butler
After I gathered these quotes, I realized an overall theme of the drama. The theme must be trust and relationships. What do you think?
Questions
Who is Madam X? I know that it doesn’t really matter, but it would be cool if they made her connect to the story somehow. But sometimes things are better left alone.
Afterthoughts
- I wished Jo Ji Ah’s umbrella was real. I honestly tried to search for it. It’s funny that she’s made fun of for her inventions and some of them seemed useless, but her umbrella was cool.
- Wikipedia says that the series was a failure with only 3% audience watching and has the lowest ratings in its time-slot. I completely understand that. I think the drama was poorly marketed. I wasn’t sold on it. It just didn’t look that interesting. But if you watch it, you’ll be surprised. At least, I was.
Recommedations
Love because of circumstance: You’re My Destiny (2008), Full House (2004), Heirs (2013)
Drama-To-Life
Often times there are things I see or read about and I want to learn more about. The following list are things that I found interesting and worthy of learning more.
Rice Balls
Date: Min Kyu and “Aji 3”
Androids
Learning Korean
Travel Places
Culture
What would you do if you had an android robot?
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