2D ▪︎ 3D ▪︎ A Stud in Any Dimension °6.7° °good°
Would love with an AI be real or artificial? Would it feel… hollow?Like many shows about tech, MHL opens with a company's demonstration of its breakthrough technology. Go Yoo “Jin” is on the stage behind a glass panel, in front of the investors, discussing the latest developments with a man next to her. Jin dramatically reveals that the man who she's been talking to /is/ the latest tech. He's a hologram. The hi-tech glass panels are what enable the audience to see him. Even though next to him on the same side of the glass, Jin can see him because her spectacles are made of the same material.
Not even 10 minutes in we got an exciting car chase. An ominously black SUV follows Jin as she leaves the demo. Holo takes over operation of the self-driving car with precision maneuvering and eludes the threat, but Jin's safety is only temporary. The pursuers crash her vehicle, and Jin attempts to flee on foot. As they're closing in on her, she slips the glasses into the bag of a woman passing by, per Holo's direction. He had pre-screened the crowd and picked the woman out specifically. That's how we meet Yeon.
‘They're so interesting looking…’ When Yeon finds the exotic eyewear she tries them on (would most people do that? Don't think so…) A strange man appears in her bedroom! She freaks out. But he's gone. Hmmm. He was there when she was wearing the glasses. Plucking up the courage to try again she tentatively slides them on. There he is again! These glasses are cursed! Jin decides she'll toss them. The phone rings. It's him. Then he's appearing on her TV, yammering on about how he's an Ai and he's here to help her. She's going to have to give him a listen.
Listening is about all she can do. Jin is face blind. Every person she meets looks blurry. She can't make out facial details at all. When she was still in school and her classmates found out, they played cruel tricks on her. Now, she'll let people think she's ignoring them out of rudeness than admit the truth, so she is widely misunderstood. Holo can help her face the world with a smile and the ability to call out to everybody by name, because he can tell her who they are. He speaks directly into her ear. He doesn't have to tell her that her crush, Mr Yoon, is already taken, though. She and her glasses see that painfully enough in the alley next to the restaurant where the company dinner is taking place.
MHL is a 2020 release that is rated 85 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 12 60-minute episodes - it ends just in time and maintains its quality control. The backdrop is an ongoing police investigation as well as a hostile takeover by another company. Holo is based on an actual human being, Go Nan Do/NDo. Yoon Hyun Min (True to Love) plays him & Holo. I loved this actor in Tunnel-8.1. He looks completely different here. I think it's the hair. When he shows up, Yeon can't tell the difference between him and Holo as long as she doesn't try to touch him. There's a big difference, though. Holo is trying to /help/ her with her office crush, while NDo is prone to exclaiming things like: “Romantic love is one of the many lies perpetrated by mankind… The problem is that humans have always been flawed. Therefore the outcome is always failure.” He's better than a tank of laughing gas, that one.
Go Sung Hee (King Maker: The Change of Destiny, Gaus Electronics) is our FL, Han So ”Yeon”. She was perfectly cast. She is still gorgeous in her glasses and she has that brainy quality that makes her a good match for NDo. Yeon is spending lots of time with Holo. She talks to him about life, love, lying, and living. She's also undoing all of NDo's programming, too. What she doesn't know is that NDo is watching /everything/. He's using her as a beta tester. An UNPAID one!
Holo's #1 directive is to make his owner happy. There's an accident and it looks like Yeon is about to get electrocuted? Not if Holo causes a /citywide blackout/, she won't! The police get involved in this ‘hacker crime’. As Holo's developer, NDo almost hits the kill switch after that. He opts instead to move to the apartment next door to Yeon. This way, he can study what is going on with his life's work more closely.
Choi Yeo Jin (On the Way to the Airport, P1H: The Beginning of a New World) plays Go Yoo Jin, NDo's sister. She is adorable with her round freckled face and wavy hair. Her look is fresh and unique - she even has a TAN (gasp!). Kcountry is usually so pasty pale. I really liked her in this series. My current favorite actor, Lee Jung Eun (Oh My Ghost-10, Our Blues-8.5, Parasite-9, and dozens of other things) plays So Yeon's mother. She gets a crying scene late in the show. Ain't nobody better. Not in the wide world. Hwang Chan Sung (True to Love, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim-6.8) is Baek Chan Sung, Vice-president of Magic Mirror. Everything about him says "Debonaire” in MHL. In ep1, he seems perfectly charming. As the show goes on it starts appearing that he might not be such an angel. If he is a bad guy, I still don't want to believe it because there's something appealing about the actor. That's a pretty good skill. The directors are Lee Sang Yeob (Familiar Wife-8.5, Yumi's Cells, Shopping King Louie), & Yoon Jong Ho (Lovely Runner, Flower of Evil-8.9). Screenwriter Ryu Yong Jae of Parasyte: The Grey collaborated with writers Kim Hwan Chae & Choi Sung Joon on this project, Money Heist: Korea & Psychopath Diary.
Yeon falls for Holo - /she thinks/. She slowly starts to realize that a relationship minus physical contact is less-than fulfilling. In the meantime, NDO's past is a mystery and his motivations are even more perplexing. Is he obsessed with Holo or is it Yeon that has captivated his interest?
Despite its positives, MHL is too loosely put together to be a top-tier production. It's good, and I wouldn't call it a waste of time to watch it once, but techies and analytical types may not appreciate it much. Compared to the other Kdramas I've seen, it's middling. They should have done better building up the attraction between them and the romance, in general - especially on her end. It's not bad, but it could have been better. The romance does pick up alittle in ep11. Ep12 is very nice.
They should have done better building up the attraction between them and the romance, in general - especially on her end. It's not bad, but it could have been better. The romance does pick up alittle in ep11.
Everything and anything might get humanized in a film, from insects, to candlesticks. The constant attempts to humanize AI is borderline unsettling. I've heard we have a loneliness epidemic in the USA. Many people try to fill that loneliness with tech and that is sad. Tech is great as long as it doesn't get in the way of human relationships. To make connections with others we must escape the prison of ourselves, and tech promotes the opposite. It's always a matter of moderation. Then it becomes a matter of health.
There's sloppiness that's indicative of lazy writing. Ep10 is unpleasant and a tad cheesy. A guy gets beat up horribly in one scene, and then has no signs of injuries in the next scene, which is just a couple hours later on the timeline. The corporate espionage story seems overly outlandish, but I'll have to admit I know nothing about that stuff. The police come in with an arrest warrant and also move to destroy property on the spot, which would only happen in an arena saturated in corruption or authoritarianism. IRL, it would probably take years to get to the point where intellectual property is destroyed. We can allow for them to compress the timeline, I suppose. Real life is always crazier; it just seems that it would have taken minimal effort and insight to make the show better.
MHL has its moments, though. The music is good, particularly the song, You Are the Only One. They feature respectable action in several scenes. The contrast between machine nature and human nature provides limitless fodder for laughs. Yeon has trouble sleeping so Holo counts sheep for her. Nobody told him to stop so he soon gets to over 12,000. They missed more logic V emotions humor than they nailed, though.
MHL will appeal more to romance junkies than any other type of viewers. Anyone who requires logical explanations and a tight script will be subject to small frustrations. Even romance junkies won't get enormous satisfaction. They tried to plug into the romance and thriller genre but got their wires crossed, slightly. Still, it's operational.
〰IMHO〰
RATINGS
Directing 6.7
Writing 6.5
Acting 7.7
Romance 6
Flutters 5
Art 6
Sound & music 7
Ending 7.5
My personal EQ score - 4.5
LEVELS
Warmth 5
Action/ Excitement 5
Laughs 2.5
Tears 3
Fright 3
Tension/Anxiety 2.5
Gore 4
Thought provocation 4
Snores 1
Re-watch? This one's in the good-to-pass-the-time category, but I may never pass this way again….
Age 14+
PG-13 language, some.violence and alittle blood
Rated TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned.
In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ I would say to watch these shows first:
Modern Day -
Crazy Love-7.8,
A Witch's Love 7.8,
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Her Private Life 8,
Touch your heart 8.2,
Crash Landing On You 9.1,
Oh My Ghost 10,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
Be Melodramatic-8.7,
Hospital Playlist 9,
Misaeng-9.1,
My Liberation Diary-8.9,
Call It Love-8.4,
My Mister 9.5,
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9,
Mine-8
Action/Crime/Sci-fi -
K2 8,
Private Lives 8.1,
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
Sisyphus 8,
Why Her?-8,
When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Tunnel 8.5,
Signal 8.6,
Blood Free-8.5,
The Cursed 8.3,
Flower of Evil 8.9,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9
Romance junkies only -
My Secret Romance-7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks),
Boys Over Flowers-8 ~ melodrama to the max,
The Bride of Habaek-7,
Heirs-7.3,
Something in them Rain-9,
C: Well-Intended Love-7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine,
When I Fly Towards You-7.8,
Wait, My Youth-8.4,
A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5,
Find Yourself-8.9, Hidden Love-7.8
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This review may contain spoilers
super cool tv series! ) huge advice to watch )
Exciting ! Looks in one breath)this TV series starting very interesting .. firstly u may think that this will only romcom but then u realize that its cool fantasy which slowly flows into a detective story… I love it so much! There are sad moments, and touching feelings .. and hatred .. I did not expect such an epic detective story, which is very interesting! Also, the fact that the hologram seems to come to life and begins to experience feelings and even cry .. unlike his creator )) haha , and the most incredible thing is that the details of what happened many years ago are finally revealed ... an unusual turn of events and also the fact that the main female character turns out to be gets rid of the artificially appeared eye disease and begins to see better.. I
its so wonderful story , that , from 1 episodes I wanted have such friend as hologram ! ahhaha and so interesting to see how they creating him , programming ... that u want to learn all this stuff too ahaha
there also are many sad moments and this tv series , I may say , turn some serious questions in live ..
this drama bring big comfort and really warm touching , I love it and I think its deserve to be re watched once more ! unfortunately only 12 episodes but they are really cool !))
I liked the main character whos made the Holo as hologram .. he so cute and play really cool !
ps also will cool to have such artificial Intelligence as hologram in real life ! ( maybe I lost some and this already exist haha )
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plot + review
Plot: Go Nan Do is the owner of an IT research company. As a genius inventor, he started the company, and all projects were created through his hands. However, the only people who are aware of his existence are his stepsister and the official CEO. He was a hacker in a major case 10 years ago and supposedly died while being pursued. Han So Yeon is an assistant manager at a glasses company. She shoulders on her work and stays ahead of the industry’s trends. She meticulously takes care of her clients and her work. She has a problem recognizing faces. Due to this, she keeps a distance from other people. She becomes a beta tester for a hologram AI Holo. AI Holo is completely on her side. Being with So-Yeon, AI Holo realizes the limit of artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, Nan-Do is the developer of AI Holo. He has the same physical appearance as AI Holo, but his personality is completely different. While watching So-Yeon and AI Holo, he feels something that he has never felt before.Review: This drama is one of my favorite kdrama. It has such an interesting plot. The aesthetic and the production was amazing. Everything was done really well ! The acting was especially amazing. Holo was my favorite character, he was so sweet and protective. At the end it was sad to see him “die” but I was surprised when he came back in the last scene.
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You need to watch it!!!
I honestly wasn't going to watch it, but I'm so glad I did. I have watched so many Human falls for AI dramas before (like I'm Not a Robot and Are You Human Too?) and I just expected this to be more of the same. Even though this drama is definitely full of clichés (car crashes, facial blindness, repressed memories, convenient coincidences, narrow escapes) this story is definitely unique and so easy to binge-watch. 12 episodes felt like the perfect length, and I easily and eagerly finished this entire drama in a weekend. I think it really is a great story, with a not too heavy-handed message about human connections that I really appreciate. I recommend you to watch it. The actors and actresses are my favorites so the drama was awesome.Was this review helpful to you?
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I could make a checklist for every trope this one hits, but man I just couldn't stop watching. The plot is fast-paced and ties in everything together well, the acting is on-point, the chemistry magical and OST magnificent. This is the quintessential k-drama - you have a bickering main couple, who happened to know each other as kids, amnesia, kidnapping, a damsel constantly in distress, and an ML with mommy issues. And I can just keep on going.
But something about this show just kept me on my feet and squealing at every turn. Despite the multiple clichés, the show is unpredictable in the best way possible. The friendship between the 3 leads is heartwarming, in a way that reminded me of Chicago Typewriter, because despite the love triangle, you know their relationship runs much deeper than that. We gotta have more 3-way love triangles!
As a genius tech sav who was constantly on the run from the authorities, the ML reminded me SO MUCH of Healer.
I also found it super refreshing that we had a 30-something FL who was NOT a candy and pretty accomplished in her own right. Yes, she got a bit damsel-in-distressy sometimes for my liking, but she was fully part of the action in the final episodes and I WAS ALL FOR IT.
Although this drama may require a bit of suspension of belief, it was easy to get lost in this shiny world of advanced AI.
Final words: WATCH IT!!
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it's good
well this was one suspenseful kdrama but it ain't that bad. lets me break down it so we got our FL whom have face blindness u know the chick of only recognizes 1 person's face will the AI ain't the ML sadly but it has ML's face so the AI is like a copy of ML but like a better version but the AI along the way start to actually gain human emotions but he doesn't actually love FL in any romantic way he loves her as a friend well that's what i think. i seriously did cry in this Kdrama because the AI had to be deleted for the betterment of humanity but that's the most messed up shit i couldn't agree on like the AI did nothing the actual human that's garbage lives his whole life without any regret like anyways the actors and actress are good at portraying the characters. this drama is actually good. i would like a season 2 with the MCs bringing back holo but seriously dude the AI only frecking did hacking cause he wanted to know the reason behind the ML mother's suicide oh and a spoiler she has actually murdered by the mirror old CEO dude at first it seems like an accident causes the fell but naa the dude suffered her to death. the CEO also got away for murder for like over 10 years. so yeah but the best part was when the AI broadcast the CEO confession now that was actually genius cause i was like he should broadcast the confession and it did the best scene ever honestly.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A typical Netflix drama
I've been putting this drama on the back burner for awhile now and I finally decided to binge watch it.I had seen it's trailer before and did not expect anything more than a light fluffy drama with a little bit of excitement to make the story interesting and this is the main reason for a high rating.
My expectations were perfectly met by this drama. It was interesting enough to keep me seated in front of the screen without skipping forward but not so much that I got emotionally invested in it (like the main lead characters could have had a tragic ending and I wouldn't have even cared). There were many asian drama cliches used in this one as well - childhood friends that got separated and met years later and fell in love without realizing who the other person was, tragic backstories, childhood traumas, etc.
There was one issue that I found with this drama as soon as I finished watching episode 1. That is it was unnecessarily long. I'll be honest, when I finished watching, it didn't feel like any of the episodes were a waste or anything but there was a bit too much drama at one point. It's pretty easy to figure out the story halfway through the episodes eliminating the suspense (I knew what happened to nando's mother by about ep 8 as it was quite obvious) . The FL gets the holo glasses and meets the ML in the first 2 episodes itself. In my opinion this could have been easily made into a movie if all the mystery was removed. The FL could have found the glasses, fell for the AI, then meet it's maker who was the one the AI was modelled after, make him fall in love with her and the end. That was all the story was for me stretched over 12 episodes.
Also for some reason this felt like the beginning of Terminator or Avengers age of ultron. I mean it showed that an AI caused a citywide blackout to save a girl and it was explained as the AI being in love with her. No matter how prettily it is wrapped, the point is that the tech was highly dangerous and therefore this drama is highly unrealistic.
So while I'll recommend this drama for binge watching when you are bored and can't find any better drama, I'll also ask you not to get too invested or have high expectations.
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In terms of the acting, Yoon Hyun Min especially is really remarkable playing two very different characters and he just gets better and better as the series progresses. I also really enjoyed Hwang Chan Sung. However, Nam Myung Ryul was giving me cartoon villain energy at times, both in terms of acting and his character.
I really liked So Yeon and Nan Do but I somehow finished the series feeling like I wished there had been more of them. Perhaps because the conclusion is a bit short? I'm not sure.
The action in the last few episodes was top tier. I really enjoyed those moments, especially.
The one thing that actually bothered me in terms of the storyline is that one major flaw in Nan Do's backstory. I won't elaborate to keep this review spoiler-free but I hope I wasn't the only one confused.
Also, absolutely irrelevant but how gorgeous is Choi Yeo Jin? Wow...
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Story - 10
Love the extraordinary love story, especially from Holo and how humane/powerful he can be
Definitely not the typical love story I thought it was
The tragic past wasn't expected but that made the story more interesting for me
(proves that the bad boy always gets the girl)
Acting/Cast 10
Go Sung Hee is a beautiful actress - both visually and acting itself
Honestly didn't expect much from Yoon Hyun Min in the trailer but he really made the two roles appear soooo different!!
Maybe it was because YHM was finally smiling in the last ep, but he looked so much like Holo (he is now who he wants to be)
Music 7.5
It was pretty average. Didn't catch my eye or seem special to me. I wished they had a more diverse soundtrack tho!
Rewatch Value 9
I need to see more scenes between Nan do and So Yun. They were so cute caring for each other. It just felt as if Holo had more scenes.... (but Holo is amazing too)
Overall 9
Not rushed or draggy for 12 episodes. Definitely recommend watching it during the lockdown.
Still love how similar main leads were. I love how they care for each other. Also, I just realized how the main leads, incl CYJ and HCS are literally the tallest ones ahaha.
And one flaw: Holo's makeup is a bit too girly/artificial for my liking? Although, he is acting as an AI...
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Yoo Hyun Min has two roles to play in this series, Nan Do and Holo and he does a really good job at portraying both despite the vast differences in personality and mind-set. He has great chemistry with Go Sung Hee, as So Yeon. The romance between So Yeon and Holo is very sweet but when it comes to the more prickly Nan Do, it's just even better at times. Even outside of the romance, emotionally and action wise, it's on point. The side characters are all good and while the main focus is on the main leads and the plot, they do add some depth with their actions. Chan Sung is torn between his father and his love for Yoo Jin, Nan Do's sister, Detective Nam wants justice regardless of who, even if our leads commit crimes but he is gentle and understanding. Same with his younger partner. Just a strong backcast that supports everything else in a small way.
Very good series. Would watch again.
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Predictable yet enjoyable
From the description, it seemed to be a serious drama but it was light throughout. The pacing was very good and within a few episodes, a lot had happened. Even though the story is quite predictable and you know what is going to happen within a few episodes, still I didn't have to skip any episodes which is rare with a predictable story. It kept me entertained. The cast is good and production is also good. I may watch it again when I want to watch a light drama with a solid story. There are a lot of plot lines that could have been explored in depth but they was just touched and resolved. Character growth was touched and not explored with great depth which worked for the atmosphere set in this drama. So, sad scenes were not too sad, lonely scenes were not too lonely. Despite that, I had a fun ride. I was also enjoying the scenes of the FL with the human ML and thought that they could be more than what they were. Everything was wrapped up by last episode, all questions answered.Overall, had a nice time watching it.
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Loved it
I was on the edge at the ending.. Literally everything about this show was sad and happy. I recommend watching it. The chemistry is real. Good kisses. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Spoiler below ~Okay so Holo and her were cute but all of a sudden she liked nan do? I thought that part was weird but I'm happy it happend. And when the chairman had killed his mom....I wasn't even expecting that...I usually am good at predictions but they didn't even do any foreshadowing. like holy shit.Was this review helpful to you?
