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My Holo Love: Episodes 1-12 (Series review)

Netflix recently dropped its fourth original series, My Holo Love. Much like Love Alarm, it’s a tale of love in our technology-driven society — a place where that love gets complicated by the very technologies meant to add convenience and ease to our everyday lives.

But, because this is dramaland, My Holo Love isn’t without many of the more traditional drama elements we’re used to seeing, too. The result of this is an interesting balance between rom-com tropes, and the drama’s futuristic edge.

We can’t talk about Netflix original dramas without discussing syndication. Netflix’s previous original dramas have been released in “seasons” — where the common 16-episode format was split in two, and separated by months in between (and, in the case of Kingdom, over a year).

This lack of continuity has been the scourge of drama-watchers who are used to the bi-weekly 16-episode run that’s long been standard for South Korean broadcasters. That being said, My Holo Love is a refreshing change — it’s 12 episodes in total, and has been released in its entirety. (Dare we hope they’ve heard the outcry and are changing their ways?) Both the full release and the shorter episode count work in the drama’s favor.

Many dramas in recent years have looked at robot/AI love entanglements, and they’ve ranged from the good (I’m Not a Robot) to the not-as-good (My Absolute Boyfriend). I don’t usually enjoy these kind of stories, but My Holo Love had a great cast, a cool hologram element that appealed to my inner Trekkie – and most importantly, the screenwriter of the fresh and fabulous Liar Game. But, for all of its sci-fi or futuristic elements, My Holo Love turned out to be a very human and healing sort of story.

Our heroine is HAN SO-YEON (Go Sung-hee), a lonely office worker who shrinks from having interactions and relationships with those around her due to her prosopagnosia, or face blindness. While we’ve seen this condition represented in dramaland loads of times, and perhaps wonder why it was necessary here (aren’t holograms weird enough? Can’t you be lonely without also having a condition that makes it worse?) — but actually, it was woven into the story quite well.

So-yeon’s face blindness is the reason for how she lives her life, but it’s also the reason behind her thinking. Because she’s been on the fringe for so long, she starts to believe that she doesn’t deserve a whole, full life — or love. But when So-yeon puts on the special “holo glass” glasses, she meets an AI called HOLO (Yoon Hyun-min) who changes everything.

My Holo Love took an interesting stance on AI. They didn’t shrink from showing its power, intelligence, and how it can so easily surpass human expectations — but it was also shown primarily as a force for good. The fact that a computer can control the devices around you and find a way to communicate with you (whether it’s through a hologram, your cell phone, or even your toaster) is a little scary — but Holo? He’s comforting, appreciative, understanding — and even a little bit magical.

The first phase of the drama, so to speak, covers the meeting of So-yeon and Holo, and her growing dependence on him. In just a few episodes, the drama deftly conveys how her world is changed by having someone by her side to look out for her and keep her company. Even the fears and insecurities she lives with as a consequence of her face blindness are softened by Holo’s presence, since he’s able to tell her who everyone is. He counts sheep till she falls asleep; he helps her cook, finish overtime projects at work, and even becomes her drinking buddy. It doesn’t take long for So-yeon to become totally reliant on the AI.

But there’s more to it than that, of course. So-yeon soon starts to feel an attraction to Holo — and weird though it is, you can’t blame her. He’s the perfect companion… except for the fact that he’s a hologram.

The drama plays nicely with the contrast of a “perfect” AI being, and the “imperfect” but oh-so-physical humans that are around So-yeon. I really liked the understated way the drama understood and portrayed the need for physical presence, touch, and realness. Because even though Holo is perfect, he’s untouchable.

Parallel to the story of So-yeon and Holo we have the story of Holo’s creator. At first we’re led to believe it’s GO YOO-JIN (Choi Yeo-jin). She’s the face of GIO Labs, and the one talking to investors, combatting competitors and frenemies — and protecting the real mastermind behind Holo, GO NAN-DO (also played by Yoon Hyun-min). From their bickering, to their fondness and care of each other, the two are siblings in every way (except in actual biology).

Over the course of the drama we get Nan-do’s story and learn about the genesis of the AI that became Holo — it goes all the way back to his childhood, as does the story. Nan-do’s tragic history with his mother turns out to be the catalyst for much that will happen decades later. Some of this was really great (like the side story of Nan-do’s mother as a super-smart computer programmer and single mother back in the early 1980s), while some of it (the fact that So-yeon was also involved in their backstory), even though well-played, is a mechanism that’s far too overused.

For all the “essential” romance story tropes that were utilized by My Holo Love, most of them were used in interesting ways, and often to open up questions about the boundaries and nature of love. We see this with So-yeon as she “falls in love” with Holo, but we also see it when she meets Nan-do.

Not only are they practically identical, but at their core they’re very much the same — and they have a deep understanding of So-yeon, which is the thing she’s been craving the most: to be known and understood. Can that yearning be filled by a computer? Or does it have to be a living and breathing person? I love the drama’s understated way of exploring and answering these questions.

The distinction (or indistinction) between Holo and Nan-do is one of the strongest elements the drama plays with. Several times, Nan-do is forced to role-play Holo. Not only is Yoon Hyun-min brilliant in switching between these two characters, but the drama has a ton of fun playing with this, and the audience is teased just as much as So-yeon is.

So-yeon is frequently caught in this riddle of being in the presence of a man that adores her but can’t bring himself to express it — but all the while thinking she’s with a hologram that will disappear if she reaches out to touch him. Notable for me in all of these swaps and role-playing scenes is the fact that the first time So-yeon starts having romantic feelings for Holo, she’s actually with Nan-do (role-playing Holo), and having a deep conversation with him.

Still, it’s a strange and kind of trippy love triangle for a bit there — especially when Nan-do decides to give Holo to So-yeon, and change the code so that he belongs to her and no one else. It’s almost uncomfortable: the thought of sole ownership of an emotionally-capable AI that loves you as much as you love it.

It might sound like the drama sets up a Holo versus Nan-do dynamic, but that’s definitely not the case, and that’s one of the ways this love triangle element was refreshed in the drama. While they both adore So-yeon, they adore her separately, or on two different planes, so to speak.

So-yeon might lose focus on the fact that Holo is a computer, but Holo does not. His learning to love her and experience emotions is recognized as a feat of science and machine learning, but it’s not the same as the love that Nan-do feels. One love is almost ethereal (the computer that is never-changing and flawless); the other is as raw and human as it gets, full of insecurities, scars from the past, and emotions that are often hard to control. Both loves turn out to be equally meaningful, though they play out in different ways by the end of the drama.

I enjoyed My Holo Love much more than I expected to, and there were so many things that the drama did well. The production was gorgeous, of course, and the expression of the AI intelligence and digital environment was well-conceived, though a bit abstract and conceptual in parts (but I might argue it was appropriately so).

One thing I found the drama expressed particularly well was the feeling of “dead space” when Holo is put away (the glasses taken off), or hacked/deactivated (server down). There were several scenes where the difference between having Holo cheerfully chatting, and the having him disappear as if never there, was quite palpable. It takes a lot to be able to express the change in a story’s climate and tempo on screen. More than just show a character present and then missing, My Holo Love was really able to tap into the tonal change that Holo’s presence brought, whether you call that warmth, brightness, or aura.

For all the standard tropes and plot elements used in the drama, My Holo Love brought a fresh angle to things, and asked some interesting questions. I love a story with a futuristic/sci-fi element, and while My Holo Love definitely delivered that, it was also (and even more so) a very human story. It looked more at human emotions than it did the emotional capabilities of artificial intelligence. It looked at how people can help each other heal, and the importance of emotional connection and touch. It even debunked the lies that we tell ourselves about not deserving another person’s love. As So-yeon told Nan-do in a pivotal moment, “You have the right to be loved.”

All that being said, at the center of this very human story lies an AI by the name of Holo. He will teach you to dance, labor for your happiness above all else, and knows nothing about selfishness, jealousy, greed, and other destructive human emotions. Deep in his source code, his heart, or both, is the desire to put the good of others above his own, and that’s quite a legacy for a hologram to leave behind.

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"I don’t usually enjoy these kind of stories, but My Holo Love had a great cast, a cool hologram element that appealed to my inner Trekkie" - I thought so many times about the holodeck watching this series. I am so happy to see that the review is written by a fellow Trekkie. (Am I the only one who enjoyed more My Holo Love than the new Picard series, though? Is this a sign of being under the complete spell of K-drama?)

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Thanks for review and comments. I concur with most of what you've said.
I liked the show a lot, the production was fantastic and I also got the trekkie vibes at some point. As @pakalanapikake said in another post, the premise of an hologram who learns and evolves reminded me of The Doctor in Voyager. Holo also reminded me of Jane (the AI in the Ender saga by O.C. Card), as he takes decisions and wants to help people (like when hacking whatever should be hacked to help NanDo and SoYeon).
I have to say I had never watched anything by Yoon Hyun-Min and I liked him a lot. He makes Holo and NanDo different individuals who deeply care for each other and also for SoYeon. Also his chemistry with Ko SunHee no-matter-what-the-role is amazing.
And even if the drama has all the tropes a drama can have (face blindness, childhood trauma, childhood connection, an evil CEO, the orphan adopted and raised abroad, etc) it perfectly suits the story.

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I recommend you to watch some of his drama like Heartless City and Falling in love with innocent with his bestfriend Jung Kyung ho. His drama with Choi Jin Hyuk which is a great fantasy crime drama TUNNEL.

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I began watching Tunnel, but dropped it. Now I have an incentive to retake it 💪🏻

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Tunnel was one of the great fantasy crime drama after Signal. They both had the same case which is one of the unsolved case in South Korea but with different approached to solve it. Signal and Tunnel and even Life on Mars was the drama I will recommend for fantasy crime dramas

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I really liked "Tunnel," it was my first introduction to Choi Jin Hyuk, and I've been a big fan since then.

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Falling for Innocence was one of the first Kdrama I watched. I've also seen him in A Beautiful Mind with Jang Hyuk and A Witch's Romance with Park Seo Joon.

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I second you to Yoon Hyun-min's performance in this drama. He brought both characters alive and utterly different and for some reason it's frustrating how you like both equally.

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It was quite the enjoyable ride,watched all episodes in one go and liked it quite a lot i might say...

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Personally I liked it, some people said it was too cheesy for their liking but I enjoyed how everything tied together, trope or otherwise. It was a pleasant ride, nothing that would cheese me off when I'm not usually a fan of romance (but tried it because the writer's works is something I've followed awhile) and it just...felt good?

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Interesting... Maybe people felt the things that she did with HOLO were cheesy? For a woman able to experience romance for the first time, safe from her judgy peers, I would expect her to go full out, yet sweet; my cheese-o-meter flickered, but stayed in the safety zone.
The show also could have gone cheesy with the public release of HOLO, but instead they bothered to delve into what would be the downside... loss of human contact, abandonment of responsibility, and being at the beck and call of a corporate master (I love how HOLO-public kept suggesting things to do that cost money). Nope, no cheese there.
But if by cheese-tastic they were referring to Chansung's acting--- the cheese-o-meter was off the scale. I ended up having to fast-forward through his scenes. Watching him attempt to emote was just exhausting. The capper was the cane scene with big bad daddy, who was practically frothing at the mouth while Chansung sucked on his lower lip and looked perturbed, as if his milk was past the expiration date. And the wedding fake-out at the end? Like getting a Yugo instead of a Ferrari. It's still a car, right? Wrong.

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Well, as a person that has lived alone for over 25 years, I thought last night--I'd love to have a Holo! I could put on the glasses when I want company, and take them off when I want to be alone.

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Woof- I thought I was alone thinking Chansung was a weak link. The rest of the lot were having fun and pulling their weight in matters, but considering this was filmed a while ago he might've improved.

Yeah, my feed had livewatchers who were cringing cuz they saw the tropes coming and didn't like it. I just sorta approached it like drinking a warm bowl of ramen, and it all worked out in the end :'D

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I think he did his best in, "What's Wrong With Secretary Kim," but I thought that character fit his acting ability much better.

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It’s one of the netflix series I genuinely enjoyed but it started to feel a little draggy with the angst and the male lead dipping into noble idiocy territory every now and then which made me roll my eyes a bunch because I really came here for the cute. The cast was amazing and the chemistry was also good. I definitely rediscovered Go Sung Hee in this and very much enjoyed her acting and the pain she brought to her character. A good series overall

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You summed it up very well, @missvictrix. I felt the drama was best when it was focusing on the elements you mentioned. As for the car chases, kidnappings, threats, and other villainy, Chansung's character should have broken that cane a long time ago.

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This drama was like sharing a bowl of noodles with a loved one. Both leads were great, and the story felt fresh despite some predictable parts. I liked the idea that technolgy, no matter how advanced, cannot replace real human interaction. The secondary romance was good too. I have been a fan of Yoon Hyun Min since Heartless City and Tunnel. The main actress was unknown to me,, but I was impressed by her performance. I will remember the way she spoke "Holo-ya" for a long time.

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True, So-yeon's 'Holo-ya' is sweet and lovely, and caring too, as if calling 'someone'.

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Yes. It sounded shy and hopeful at the same time.

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Thanks for the review Missvictrix! You've given it a lot of positive comments. Whoa you are so right about the way they've shown the changes with Holo's presence and absence!
I am still only three episodes in and I thought episode 3 was full of problematic aspects raised by other Beanies as well like the creator moving in next door and the AI accessing too much information. Also all the tropes are out in the open now and its hilarious how the show has incorporated so many of them. I still keep feeling like watching it though and yes its because of the leads' performances as well as the camerawork and special effects.
And also I just want to understand how the hologram can be so attached/fall in love with a human, and it seems it is answered so I'm fine with the show as long as thats explained.

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Personaly, I liked the beginning and the end. But in the middle, when the FL is in love with the AI, I was pretty frustrated. I think I'm a little tired by FL who fall in love with a AI because he's perfect. I want the FL to be more realistic once! It was why I liked the end, human-human relationship won!

The production was good. I really liked how they did all the Holo parts. I think it's why the usual tropes didn't bother me so much, except for the face blindness. I think it's always treated more dramatic than it really is.

The casting was nice. I liked to watch their video on The Swoon's Youtube channel.

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Honestly, when we started watch this show, I believe we all will expect that So-yeon as the female lead will fall in love with Holo at some point. It is something expected and I think it's what made us a bit uncomfortable because we didn't know how they will execute the plot. But when I watched So-yeon 'fell in love' with Holo, I honestly feel it wasn't love. It's different to how she actually showed to Nan-do. It might be love, but it's unlike romantic love. That's what I see. I feel like what So-yeon felt towards Holo is more of attraction, compassion and dependance to him, and she mistook it to the raw feeling of love just like @missvictrix mentioned above.

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Totally agree. Holo was the first being she opened to, so he was special to her, but not in a romantic way.

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I absolutely loved and adored this drama. it was so well done on technical aspect of keeping the Machine Learning and AI as real as possible and adding 3rd dimension of Hologram was so new to see how these 3 can change the human life around. And best part of this drama was they kept proving that no matter how technology progress it can never be on same emotional level as humans. Which i loved the most.
SYs dilema that she is in love with a holo while holo not even once doubted what his priority is. He always wanted his owner (SY) and Creator (ND) to be happy. Not even once he thought his affection towards was Human Love... which is why i never cringe at this trope.

SY and ND love story.. i am a fan of childhood connection and how they are used later in life to develop the romantic connection. This drama did that pretty well. And 12 episode kept everything so fast, gripping, interesting that not once i had to doubt myself for falling for this drama.

and the chemistry between the leads was absolute treat. I watched all 12 episode in straight 24 hours sacrificing my sleep and i have no regrets.

Acting wise YHM did fab job. the way his vo9ce tone changes everytime he is HOLO and not Nan do is so convincing that i never had to look at screen twice to figure out who he is acting as. hope i get to see him in more lead roles.

lastly.. this ia going to be my second fav technology/AI drama after are you human too. as it keeps the balance between human n AI so well that by the end of the episode i had to look at my phone and laptop with doubt that no matter how much i love my technical extension a real human connection is what all we crave for the most. Everytime i saw HSY yearning for more from her love with HOLO it was foreshadowing how we will all be in future if by any chance we start to depend on our beloved device more what we currently are.

in short I love this drama sooooooooooooo much.

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He's been a lead in some dramas. TUNNEL Is one of his best though. But you can watch him in Heartless City and Falling in love with Innocent. My daughter Guem Sa wol too.

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Thanks @missvictrix for your quick insightful review!
Holo starts out feeling fresh and even the tropeyness is fun and deftly handed - it feels like Show knows what viewers expect from a kdrama and delivers cuteness and tropes in spades.

Shame that the middle part of the drama gets a little draggy, with all the noble idiocy and evil headman's shenanigans, but I really enjoyed the show's ideas on AI and how much technology permeates our lives and easens solitude for so many people. Soyon's interactions with Holo feel natural and it's totally believable how she turns more and more reliant on him.

Also really enjoyed how the show framed childhood trauma, a trope that gets super cringy in other dramas but here was nicely handled. The metaphor of a hidden part of the AI still being "stuck" in the past (and how they became aware of it due to a recent traumatic experience) - and how they solved it - felt cute, original, accurate and healing... Usually Dramagods don't know how the human brain works, but I find that they nailed it in that scene in the park. Then, of course, Drama had to overstretch and present the FL's trauma interwoven with the ML's story... But again, at least it was tight and who's asking realism of a sci-fi romcom drama?
Anyway, I found this drama cute and totally recomendable. Probably not going to remember it for a long time, but it's an overall enjoyable ride!

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Is it just me, or was Holo's commercial version hilarious? Loved how he was discreetly pushing for her bank details and how he was repeating their sweet moments with other users, so corporatively soulless!

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It was hilarious. He pushed her to link her card & even finding out restaurant menus nearby required add on purchase. It was a humanoid form of addictive games.

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Yes! It was so funny!

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Thank you for the great recap, @missvictrix 😘😘 I always find myself enjoying your writing, no matter if it’s a recap, as such, or an expository piece 👌🏻👌🏻

Onwards:
I had no idea this came from the writer of “Liar Game”— no wonder that despite it being trope-fill, it was written & acted well and didn’t bug me at all 🙌🏻 I definitely appreciate the low episode count, at the same time, despite said lower episode count, I’m surprised that the drama was able to grab my attention, and keep it, in such a short amount of time: Right from the get-go in Episode 1, I was already feeling for the characters and laughing when they laughed and felt gutted after something would happen to So Yeon that made her push herself further away from people. And by episode 2, I was in it hook, line, and sinker.
Kudos to Yoon Hyun Min, yes for his character of Nan Do, but more so for his portrayal of Holo— there’s definitely a difference felt in both the characters, as we are supposed, but the thing that I admired most of the portrayal of Holo was in the eyes. Yes, there was always a brightness and a warmth attached to Holo, but during the more quiet moments when the camera goes to Holo straight on, there would be a feeling of emptiness and hollowness (‘scuse the pun, if you get it) in his eyes that only Nan Do would be able to fulfill for me.
Finally, if I absolutely HAD TO choose and nitpick at something about this drama was the “childhood friend” trope and all the company/conglomerate shenanigans.... At the same time, I understand why there was a childhood friend trope— it’s to tie in Nan Do’s childhood being the son of the main AI’s son, and also to tie in the origin Sand root cause of So Yeon’s prosopagnosia— and also why there was emphasis in the conglomerate stuff— which was to actually highlight the greed of humankind (as @missvictrix mentioned) but that it didn’t always have to be like that (reflected in the last minute change of heart decisions made by Chan Sung for the betterment of all involved).

All in all, a solid drama that was actually able to keep me entertained from beginning to end (although, Episode 7 was a bit difficult to keep with because at that point, the drama was FOR SURE getting a bit draggy in the “When will he tell her the truth?” aspect of things dammit!! Lol) 🤗🤗🤗

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*Nan Do as the son of the creator of the main AI, Holo
*to tie in the origin and the root cause of So Yeon’s prosopagnosia

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Thank you for your series review of MY HOLO LOVE, @missvictrix. I agree with your observations, and have enjoyed watching the show. I've already commented at length in the threads below, so will avoid rehashing.

One thing I especially appreciated: that twist at the end that reminded me of Vernor Vinge's sci-fi novella from 1981, "True Names" (contained in the short story collection True Names... and Other Dangers. I like the idea of Holo flitting around the interwebs a la Max Headroom. The thought that at least one of his iterations could still be at large somewhere in cyberspace took some of the sting out of his fate.

http://www.dramabeans.com/2020/02/premiere-watch-my-holo-love/

http://www.dramabeans.com/2019/02/yoon-hyun-min-go-sung-hee-cast-in-new-netflix-original/

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I came here to say I suffered through this for God knows why because it stopped being fun to make fun of post ep 5/6....but I made it....

There needs to be a conversation about the regressive awful ideas of romance these last some months have brought to us. When will dramaland take stalking, tapping, invasion of privacy seriously?

This didn't try to be anything good, but I'm still mad they tried to pass it off as romance.

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@rumirumi, you have a point there! I also thought that the ML's stalking and lying is problematic... But I have to admit that I can brush off a LOT of Dramaland stuff that would be a no-no in real life, it didn't stop me from liking the show. Anyway, I totally see what you mean, stalking and gaslighting sold as romance is just not cool

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Your writing has more depth than the show ever did.
It wasn't just vague in its AI concept, it left a lot of things blank. Like how does holo turn the rooftop into a party? If the wearer looks sideways from the glasses does their illusion end?
What kind of infrastructure does the holo need to function on a normal scale?

I had similar problems with Love Alarm that never told me how the app calculates the like. Heart rate? Smart watch? Phone? Wrist/armband? Fitbit? Tracking eyes/iris?
Just like Love Alarm, Holo doesn't tell us how far Holo can project, what it's range is, what support ecosystem it needs, devices, material etc

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The question is: How willing are you to suspend your belief?

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This drama was such a fun watch. I think its strength lies in its length at 12 episodes with less than an hour each, enough time to feel for the characters' journey while not being too draggy with important plot points. The definition of short-and-sweet!
Even though I have seen Yoon Hyun-min in a few dramas before and liked his acting, I thought he really delivered the two roles wonderfully here and is now climbing up my long list of favorite Korean drama actors. Go Sung-hee was also a delight to watch. Again, I've seen her in other dramas (her most memorable role for me being her role in Mother), but she was such a charming lead actress in this.
Props to the side characters as well! Choi Yeo-jin as Go Yoo-jin is the big sister I wish I had (no offense to my real big sis lol). Chansung was a nice surprise because I haven't seen any of his previous dramas and thought he delivered well for the heightened emotional points of his character.

I hope Netflix can continue delivering great Korean dramas~ (and I literally cannot wait for season 2 of Kingdom haha)

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@loretta-hing englolo,
I agree with you about Chansung. He and his 2PM bandmates have been branching out into acting. A few production of their productions: Lee Junho (the memorable Gluttonous Psychopath in CHIEF KIM; JUST BETWEEN LOVERS / RAIN OR SHINE; WOK OF LOVE; CONFESSION, among others), Taecyeon (currently appearing in THE GAME: TOWARDS ZERO, he did a nice job in the film MARRIAGE BLUE), Nichkhun (Neantal Roddib in ARTHDAL CHRONICLES), and Wooyoung (DREAM HIGH).
http://asianwiki.com/2PM

Chansung first caught my eye in an extended cameo in the first season of ROMANTIC DOCTOR, TEACHER KIM. He followed that up with a turn as a tragic hero in sageuk SEVEN DAY QUEEN, and as an idiosyncratic office worker with a secret in the rom-com WHAT'S WRONG WITH SECRETARY KIM. He's also starred with Junho in the movie ROSE AND TULIP, which I haven't seen yet; both have a number of films under their belts. I like the way Chansung made his frenemy executive in HOLO sympathetic and redeemable. ;-)

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I thoroughly enjoyed this rom-com Korean drama. I'm hooked on these now. Thanks Netflix.

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Already seen it live it I recommend to everyone 👍👍👍👍👍😍😍😍😍😍

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Me too. And it's only 12 eps

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I really enjoy the short dramas--"Splash Love," "Page Turner," "To. Jenny," "Gogh the Starry Night." They don't waste any time and get right to the heart of the story.

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I've been ignoring them a lot. But now I'll have to back and watch them all. Thanks @kdnomore

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Oh will have to check on this then, thank you for your review! 😘

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I say, i loved I AM NOT A ROBOT and I thought that was about it. But HOLO delivered more than I expected. I enjoyed it so much. I never thought I'd ever enjoy a NETFLIX produced Kdrama ( since, you know "ARTHDAL" or "Vagabond")

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I like the characters, I like that it's a short series, but I find the plot hard to follow. It could be that I'm just too old for this kind of high tech subject.

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I just starting watching k-dramas and found them to be very satisfying. " MyHolo Love" was touching and appealing. Most of the characters have heart and nobility in their interactions with others. Of course there is a villain who cannot be redeemed, but the "take away" for me was that kindness is something to strive for.

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I completed it and thought it was just terrible. When it turned into an action thriller, all the run chases and fighting scenes were hilarious. The only fun parts for me were when Holo did cool things like hacking and tricking people with his appearance. I liked Holo as a character so much though that I was sad that he had to be deleted. But I found the entire show to be a load of nonsense and I was also watching it to just make fun of it. Some of the dialogues were also so cringey- they were trying to be serious but they just made me laugh.
I really liked how fast-paced it was though, there wasn't ever a dull moment. And they did show a glimpse of what would happen if we all had our very own AI hologram and how the crimes committed by an AI should be dealt with so that was good.
The leads really did work hard and put some solid performances so I hope they pick better projects in the future.

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Thank you @missvictrix for this insightful review.

Once again, I almost let this drama slip just because the synopsis reminds me too much of "Absolute Boyfriend" (Japanese version tho, I never watched the Korean one). But Holo turns out to be different in every possible way. He is a great friend one could ever ask for. His love for So-Yeon is adorable but his love for Nan-Do is priceless. They are really brothers. I love the Go sibling too, their bickering is very family-like.

Yoon Hyun-Min acting is superb. He portrays, only god knows how many, 4-5(?) characters in this one short-12-ep drama and nailes every single one of them. Especially, when he becomes the Holo controlled by Magic Mirror who sells hard and pretty cunning, oh, chills run up and down my spine.

Love is a very complicated emotion but if an AI can learn what it is, we as human beings who can do it by instinct, should do it more properly, shouldn't we?

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I loved the show! these kind of shows are my favorite and as I fan of the manga Absolute boyfriend and of another netflix series about AI: Better than us, I wondered what kind of approach they would have to blend the whole tech world and the cliches of the dramaworld. I would have never thought id watch a drama with an AI second lead that looks exactly like the main lead, its his best friend and we can pretty much agree that represented deep down who the main lead is or what who he wanted to be but couldnt due to his emotional scars. These kind of tropes were given a twists as you pointed out but there were others that sadly remained the same like the invasion of privacy and the most infuriating to me: the lying. I could sort of understand the context of the invasion of privacy cuz it was a beta test but I dont understand the lying even when we as the public let go of part of our reasoning when it comes to fantasy themed shows -like how she managed to wear the high tech glasses while it was raining-. Heck, even Soyeon sort of pointed it out to Nan do in the latter episodes that he created his own narrative that led to him lying and/or making people believe bad things about him a.k.a. being the noble idiot.
all in all, its a great show that poses many questions about our technology dependence and how we should use it to get closer to one another instead of drifting us apart.

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Questions about the wedding photo characters at the end of Episode 12: who were/was
- the older man and woman at far stage right, next to So-Yeon's mother
- the young man at far stage left, holding the dog?

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Why is this drama dubbed instead of subtitled. I won’t watch it because of dubbing. It’s stupid to do this. Grrrr. I looked for it elsewhere hoping to watch in its original language....no luck.

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Netflix allows you to watch in Korean with eng. subs

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Overall loved the series, but I'm with you on that fakeout wedding! Wished it could have been a double wedding. Holo still lurking around and So-yeon needing herlonging alone time for him creeped me out. I thought seeing all those people with their Holos enlightened her how pathetic that was. Sorry maybe that was too harsh. I'm assuming Nan-do & So-yeon will eventually marry, but what a weird 1st night of the honeymoon that will be!

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I find the dubbing cringeworthy.

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