I must admit this unusual K-drama title, My Holo Love (2020), was a very clever idea for a Korean drama, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, even though I usually have to be in a special mood to watch science fiction related stories, especially when mixed with romance (for me nothing can ever take the place of masterpiece My Love From Another Star in that regard!), and even though it was only twelve episodes. My overall enjoyment of these types of stories tends to come down to how well the actors and actresses bring to life the characters and the story to impress me, and here they did accomplish that quite convincingly.

Ko Sung Hee in Mother (left) &
My Holo Love (right)

In the case of the leading lady, Ko Sung Hee, I had a BIG adjustment to make at first, because the prior role I had seen her in was the abusive mother in the 2018 K-drama Mother, a character so heinous that she put her little daughter in a garbage bag outside in the middle of a freezing cold winter night and then went off to the movies with her boyfriend, hoping the child would freeze to death! Here in My Holo Love she plays a timid soul who was an endearing character, with a disability, who was under a lot of stress, so I had to adjust my emotions big time from seeing her as a criminal child abuser first, to a romantic heroine second. It wasn't always easy! (though I have to admit she was very convincing in both roles, a sign of a great versatile actress who can play any character well).

The main actor Yoon Hyun Min I had enjoyed so much in previous dramas Beautiful Mind, Tunnel (both masterpieces) and Falling In Love With Innocence and Discovery Of Love, two more traditional romance stories, but in all those dramas he had played second male lead or supporting characters; My Holo Love was the first time I had seen him as a male lead, and he did a fabulous job playing a complicated dual role of an AI designed Hologram creation, and an actual human being with flaws. I was impressed with his performance(s) most of all, and that is what kept me watching when there were some invariably intermittent lulls in the storytelling that risked causing me to nod off a bit (but then again there are some in practically every Korean drama).

The Story:

We are introduced to Han So Yeon (Ko Sung Hee) who is a very bright, thirty year old, fifth-year assistant manager at an eye-wear company called Prism. Due to a childhood trauma she experienced which resulted in the death of her mother, So Yeon has developed a disability called facial recognition disorder, in which she cannot decipher people's faces clearly; since their faces are pretty much a blur to her she pretends she is aloof at work, and rarely socializes with her co-workers, however deep down she has a tender, sensitive heart, and she is a fragile person emotionally. People at work think she's a loner by choice, and stuck up, but that isn't the case at all. She is desperately in need of some professional help and true friendships to make her life happier, and these suddenly seek her out in a most incredible, amazing, roundabout way! 

Main Cast: (L to R) Ko Sung Hee, Yoon Hyun Min,
& Choi Yeon Jin

A company called Gio Lab, doing secret AI work creating a male-looking hologram that thinks and behaves in human ways, has its female CEO, Go Yoo Jin (Choi Yeon Jin, I'm Sorry, I Love You, On The Way To The Airport, Hello My Teacher) and its chief hologram designer, her brother Go Nan Do (Yoon Hyun Min), presenting its new professional hologram creation to investors at work for the first time, but when some try to steal their work later the same evening a dramatic car chase through the city of Seoul results, and a pair of eyeglasses, that are required to see the hologram, fall into the possession of So Yeon.

When she puts them on she suddenly sees this male looking hologram clear as day, even his face! We recognize the fact that the human designer of this hologram, Nan Do, has made this hologram (called, what else? Holo) in his own image - they look like identical twins (which results in some humorous scenes later on in the drama). However, they do NOT have identical personalities. Holo's personality is kind and chivalrous always, and his human creator Nan Do is rather taciturn and prickly, slow to trust and warm to people. 

Even though So Yeon begins to realize soon enough that Holo isn't real -- when she takes the glasses off she can't see him, but when she puts them on she can see him -- she begins to feel close to him anyway. She puts the glasses on at work and can see Holo motioning to her and identifying for her each co-worker at Prism so that she can finally speak to them in a normal fashion, call them by name, even party with them after work! People at work are amazed at her transformation (including another manager who has a secret crush on her), but the downside is that she becomes more and more dependent on Holo to be able to live her life to the fullest. Could she even start to fall in love with him?

Download Full OST in MP3

Meanwhile, the Gio Lab people are keeping track of Holo and So Yeon and their increasingly dependent relationship at a distance, by computer, as a test situation for their hologram's eventual professional success, and incredibly it's Nan Do who starts to fall in love with So Yeon, from a distance, as she is falling in love with his Hologram creation! Then when they finally meet in person new excitement brews on the horizon. This time So Yeon can actually touch a human who looks just like the hologram she has grown to care about.

Talk about your different kind of love triangle! This one is ripe for some bittersweet and at the same time humorous scenes. So Yeon even gains the courage to delve into her past childhood trauma so that hopefully her facial recognition disorder can be cured and she can finally live a more normal life. But can that life be truly "normal" if she remains in love with Holo (and Holo's unsure if he can feel love at all), and while she still feels estranged from his human creator, who is becoming more and more jealous of their relationship?

 

The drama bounces back and forth between scientific plot interests, corporate intrigue complications and possible criminality, and love / human interests. The CGI is especially well done, which is very important in a drama like this, and the acting is memorable. The music OST is for the most part soothing and slightly jazzy in feeling, more instrumental pieces than vocal. I had to chuckle when in one scene they played music from the opera Il Trovatore - music that will always remind me of the hilarious climactic scene in the Marx Brothers' film A Night At The Opera.

Because of its multi-layers of both scientific, business, and romance story-lines I think it's a good drama for both women and men to share together. There are story elements both sexes will find intriguing. Check it out and see if you like it as much as I did.

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