Korean Drama: 절대 그이 My Absolute Boyfriend (2019)
Genre: romance, romcom, remake
Starring: Bang Minah, Hong Jong Hyun, Yeo Jin Goo
Episodes: 40 half hour episodes (=20 episodes)
Aired: May-July 2019 / SBS
Watched: June-July 2019 on Viki
WATCHED IT BECAUSE...
I forgot. I think I needed something to watch after Clean with Passion… I had seen this and had a few thoughts.
1) Why are they remaking this NOWWW it’s so old… What can they do with it o_o.
2) I hadn’t recalled seeing Minah act before and she’s like my fave Girls Day member, so I didn’t know if I could picture her acting.
But I watched it and I really liked it… at first.
THE REVIEW
So if, for some reason, you don’t already know the story of Absolute Boyfriend, it’s about a girl and a robot lover. A robot that super looks like a person, that was made to love. Actually, writing that now in 2019, it doesn’t seem that new, even if you don’t know Absolute Boyfriend. It’s based on a Japanese manga, Zettai Kareshi, which I read as it was coming out (in English, in Shoujobeat). Back then I loved it. I strangely don’t remember watching the Japanese drama, while I’m pretty sure that I did. I don’t think I watched the Taiwanese one. But still. It’s one of those old classic stories that makes me hesitant to watch (like Boys Over Flowers, Korean version… Hana Yori Dango is one of the best dramas everrrr. (Never fully watched Meteor Garden ;_;)) But I started watching it and it was sooo fun.
I kept telling all of my friends while watching it that they should watch it, “I have sooo many emotions!!!” I was so into it. The plot is a little different from what I recalled—robot lover still the same but the love scenario is different. Eom Da Da (played by Bang Minah) is the (daughter of the deceased) owner of a special effects movie makeup company. She has been secretly dating Ma Wang Joon (played by Hong Jong Hyun), one of Korea’s top actors, for seven years. They’re dating secretly though, because, you know, scandal. (But Korea calls EVERYTHING a scandal…) On the day that she thinks he’ll reveal her to the world, he breaks up with her (along with some really sketchy junk—I was appalled by this).
And then she accidentally stumbles upon a mannequin that looks way too realistic. That is no longer than the robot lover, 09 (Zero Nine), renamed by Eom Da Da as Yeong Goo (영구), 0, 9 in Korean. While she is horrified by the fact that this robot is glued to her side after an accidental fall-kiss upon their first encounter, she ends up being attached to him.
This drama is the story of their relationship, and the relationships of the people connected to her. There is a love triangle, and yes, it includes Ma Wang Joon.
I’m going to say that this isn’t a super spoiler and just say it in here, rather than in spoilers: usually it’s super easy to tell who the main characters are, and I always cheer for them to be together, and feel sorry or love the second main guy for myself (haha). But in this case, I was so confused. I know Absolute Boyfriend’s plotline. I KNOW who the main guy is. But I honestly couldn’t tell who the main-er guy was in this version.
Yeo Jin Goo, who plays Yeong Goo, is apparently REALLY popular. I hadn’t watched a LOT of dramas since the end of last year ish and I don’t watch period/historical dramas, so I missed when he became really popular. As an actor/celebrity, he’s not my style and he’s seven years younger than me, so I couldn’t fangirl over him, AND… I didn’t know if it was his character or his acting, but Yeong Goo seemed SO stiff and robotic. I didn’t think he was cute at all, just clingy. Hong Jong Hyun as Ma Wang Joon, on the other hand, was much more my-style. He’s my age (hahahaha) and I just thought he was more handsome. Yes he was stupid and jerkface in the beginning of the drama…. But it should be hard to date a celebrity. Although he was jerkface-y I think he redeemed himself as the drama progressed.
SO I COULDN’T TELL WHAT WAS HAPPENING (in terms of their relationships).
As I was waiting for episodes though… it kept getting soooo dragged out. So episodes 1-20 (the first 10 hour episodes) were so good. But by episode 26 (~13) it started to get slow. And then I gave up hope… and just kept watching it just so that I could say I could watch it. I think Bang Minah’s acting was fine, it was just how her character was written that made me not like her so much towards the end.
And that ending. Wow. Let’s talk about that. (I will in the spoilers.)
The other supporting characters are cute as well and Diana is mad messed up but also a interesting—(I’m writing this review like 3 months after I finished so I honestly forgot a lot of stuff)—but I’m just disappointed in the main storyline… I wouldn’t say stay away from this drama by all means. But just… Expect disappointment?
SPOILERS
(highlight below to read)
“THIS. WAS. ONE OF THE MOST. UNFULFILLING ENDINGS. EVER. I even tried to google/naver IN KOREAN THE MEANING OF THIS. A GUY WITH THE UMBRELLA. BUT YOU DON’T KNOW WHO IT IS. So let’s zoom back to the start.
Wang Joon claimed that the reason that he ended up breaking up with Eom Da Da is because he was getting these threatening black boxes that were basically telling him to break up with her, or else she would get hurt. She saw them too and was horrified by them as well. Later we find out that it was his a-hole manager that was sending him those. But then it comes to a point where she accuses him of just using that as an excuse. And really, after seven years, MAYBE it was… But I think that it wasn’t a lie that he still loved her the whole time. He really wanted to get back together with her; didn’t even really consider them broken up. But the fact was that she GOT OVER HIM MAD FAST AND FELL IN LOVE WITH A ROBOT. Ugh. But the whole mystery with the black boxes part really made me ;_; Wang Joon was so noble in these parts. (Although when he broke up with her initially and accused her of a being a creep in his apartment stealing his underwear, that part was junk.)
But Eom Da Da slowly gets attached to Yeong Goo because he does nice things for her. And so when Diana tries to take Yeong Goo back (since Nam Bo Won didn’t want Diana to get her clutches on him), that’s when she realizes her feelings for Yeong Goo. And this is when things start to get weird. Yeong Goo’s feelings override his system so he ends up leaving Diana and going back with Da Da on his own FREE WILL. And then Diana’s second attempt is to make a robot that looks like Wang Joon, and then Da Da and the second robot kiss… And that’s Wang Joon’s like last chance. But in the end she s till loves Yeong Goo, even when Wang Joon announces a little press conference and shows Eom Da Da to the world, albeit too late.
And so then there’s this one instance where Yeong Goo looks like he’s crying but really its the coolant in his body trying to keep his temperature down HAHAHA. Oy.. And he has the chance to be repaired because he’s becoming too human-like which is what is making him overheat. But in order for that to be happen, he needs to be sent to Europe to be reset, and to be reset means that he would lose all of his memories of Da Da. So he doesn’t go.
In the meanwhile, Wang Joon at least is making it huge and has the chance to debut in Hollywood, and he invites Da Da to go with him, but she declines him. At the end, there’s a scene where it shows him getting in his car, and he has an umbrella in his car…
And then I forgot if it was a year or what, but the very end jumps forward to a later time… And then she’s like taking out the trash and then as she’s walking back inside, a figure greets her with an umbrella. AND EOM DA DA SMILES AND THE END.
SO WE NEVER KNOW WHO SHE SAW.
Like. IIIIIIIIII want it to be Wang Joon—that was the umbrella in his car.. So he’s back from America.. BUT THEN … I think I know in my heart that it’s not, because she doesn’t even love him anymore, so why would she smile like that? So then it must be Yeong Goo. But. I WANT IT TO BE WANG JOON. But it wouldn’t make sense.. Like why did they show us that scene with the umbrella in his car? So they WANT us to be confused. AND IT’S WORKING. But apparently everyone wants it to be Yeong Goo… -_- and it probably is, because why else would she be SO ELATED?
So anyway, the other huge part that irks me is… SHE. DATED. WANG JOON. FOR. SEVEN. YEARS. (Look at me and my caps + periods for emphasis. Srsly.) And she got over him in like a month. She was with Yeong Goo for like 3 years, and like two years later or whatever, she’s still crying over him? THAT’S NOT REALLLLLLLL. THAT’S NOT TRUE. How can a person be like that??????? SEVEN YEARS OF YOUR LIFE. To end it and be over it THAT FAST, is not realistic. It’s not HUMAN. Even if you move on, SEVEN YEARS OF YOUR LIFE spent with someone else is like. A CHUNK. Even if you’re 35 yrs old (which she’s not even) it’s like 20% of your life. And then you date someone for like 3 months and YEARS LATER you’re still so heartbroken at losing him, like MORESO than the person you were with for seven years????? No, I can’t accept that.
So those are the things that this drama made me feel. Sigh. I had such high expectations after not having high expectations, and they (writers) just kicked them down.”
</spoilers>
OST/MUSIC
* 승준 Seung Jun - 바라고 바라고 Still Waiting For You
(Fanmade MV). I think this song is the prettiest! I wanted to sing it at karaoke back in June but they didn’t have it… The bridge is so nice *_*
* 박정현 Lena Park - 별빛처럼 Like Starlight
I think this is the trademark song of the drama. I think it’s nice that Park Jung Hyun is making a comeback! She’s one of the first Korean singers I ever listened to~ My favorite parts is that one line in the chorus (You are my destiny~~~~) and then the bridge!
OVERALL
- Did I cry? I don’t think I did…..
- Should you watch it? Um. :( I’m sad to say you don’t need to. Or, if you want to have fun with it, then just watch the first 20ish (half hour) episodes. And then you don’t have to watch anymore.
-huay