Absolute Boyfriend

Ok so....ngl

This drama was ABSOLUTEly more fun than I thought it was going to be. 

Absolute Boyfriend is a weird drama to try and introduce people to. Especially if they aren't that familiar with K-Dramas. I had read the manga series years ago, so I was curious as to what they were going to do for an entire series. The answer was to change everything and I was so happy they did! That's not a dig at the manga, it's just only a 6 book series and that's not a ton of material to work with. They took some of the bones of the series and made a whole new story with it. 

For a drama about a woman falling in love with a Love Robot, it's got a lot of depth and emotion to it. 

Eom Da-Da (Bang Min-Ah) is following in her father's footsteps as a special effects makeup artist. She is working on actor Ma Wang-Joon's (Hong Jong-Hyun) show. Secretly, the two of them have been dating for SEVEN YEARS. On the night he gets a big award and had promised to give her a shoutout and finally claim her as his woman on live television, he decides to thank HIS DOG instead. Then, when she is found hiding in his apartment when a bunch of people come over, he tells everyone that she is his stalker. Zoinks. That is some serious secondhand embarrassment. Don't worry, guys. He does eventually see the error of his ways. He has his reasons for distancing himself from her, but it doesn't excuse his behavior. Also, he has a hot shower scene, in case you were wondering. 

But in the meantime, Da-Da accidentally activates a Love Doll, Zero-Nine (aka Young-Goo, and yes that name cracks me up) (Yeo Jin-Goo). Young-Goo teaches Da-Da what it means to be truly loved and cared for, and once you kind of acclimate to the fact that she's in love with a robot, it's not that weird (??). At first, she is in a bad place and super jaded about love, so she ends up saying some pretty hurtful things to Young-Goo, but over time, they grow on each other and begin to change. They show each other that you don't have to surrender all of yourself to the other person and that you deserve to be loved as well, and it's a really nice message. 

As I said, Ma Wang-Joon does the whole I'll-win-you-back thing, until he realizes that he was being a complete dickhead to her and not thinking about her feelings at all. He actually has some amazing character progression in the series, when he realizes that he has missed his chance and that if he really loves Da-Da, then he would want her to be happy and loved. This is one of the few exes in a drama that grows in this way, so can't shout him out enough. 

There are lots of robot crazy times and things get tough when he, you know, starts to NOT WORK ANYMORE. Like what can you do when you fall in love with a robot who is breaking. Crazy. It's partly her fault though I think because apparently every piece of technology she touches, she breaks.

Along the way, they also have to fight off the evil Diana (Hong Seo-Young) who has bought Zero-Nine and likes to do things like BREAK THE ROBOTS FOR FUN. She is seriously demented. Like, on a scale of bad people in dramas, she is pretty up there. I would NOT want to be anywhere in her near vicinity. 

Throughout the fight, at least Zero-Nine has Nam Bo-Won (Choi Sung-Won) by his side. He's his creator/big bro/number one fan - get it?? Nam Bo-Won, number one??? it's great. Anyways. This guy has some amazing acting chops and he is just as easy on the eyes as the other two leads. Overall, the entire cast is really enjoyable.

This drama has some great laughs, and some big tears, and a whole lot of heart. Yeo Jin-Goo just further demonstrates his amazing range as an actor. It can't be easy to be playing a robot that is literally perfect. 

Definitely, this drama is a fun time, if you can get past the whole she's in love with a robot thing.