My Absolute Boyfriend (TV Series 2019) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
10 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
7/10
Ending ruined it for me
leahcubed27 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Uhm Da-da (Bang Min-ah) decides to interact with a humanoid robot named Zero Nine/Young-goo (Yeo Jin-goo) as the ideal boyfriend. Da-da is a special effects make-up artist who has been burned by love to the extent that she feels her heart cannot take any more. Her past boyfriend, Ma Wang-jun (Hong Jong-hyan) is not sure he is done with their relationship but Uhm Da-da may be over the mercurial nature of human emotions and the stability of unwavering love may be more her style. Or is it?

I was so excited by this and anxiously awaited all the episodes to be available. I really like exploring what it means to be human and how artificial intelligence might evolve in the future. I liked the beginning up to just past the middle then ypthings started to go downhill. So many ways this could have ended well but didn't.
3 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Good Enough
PennyReviews3 August 2019
My absolute boyfriend, korean version, could have been better.

First of all, I don't know if the other versions had better ending, but this one was not well concluded. I might as well say that the ending was kind of open, as it just leave you guessing who's who.

The performances, however, were really good. The love triangle might have been weak, but the leading couple had chemistry and were cute together, at least if you set aside the fact that the leading man was a robot.

Now, for the pacing, the drama started strongly and it intriguing to watch. However, it got boring after a while, because everything happened just too slowly and the events were going in circles.

So, six out of ten.
3 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
~DaDa &a.ND ThE Tw2 r0b0T5 🤖 The Power Of Irresistible Love~
50fiftillidideeBrain17 November 2021
Huh. Alright, alright. Maybe the best place to start is with the titles that kept popping into my head. It was very distracting when this stuff was flying at me:

~One Woman's Passage Through The Center Of Her Wiring (yuck)

~Wired For One Woman's Passage Through Her Own Circuitry (nope)

~Total Validation Via Passage Through Da-da's Core Processor (not quite)

~A Tale Of Total Validation (getting there)

~The Whirring Of My Heart (not bad)

~The Power Of Irresistible Love (good, but is it funny enough?)

~Robot Love triangle Better Than It Sounds. (Like it!)

~Luv Terminator (yep)

~DaDa & ThE Tw2 r0b0T5 (Love It!)

~PinocchiB0T, a REAL BOyT (also love it)

~Yeahhh! Heyyy! OYY! - He's ah-DROIDttt!!!

(Yet again, love it. Dang. Dilemma.)

Watchlist roulette landed on AB. I'm thinking: "Just look at that premise! Here's my chance to trash a show, so I can avoid being so skewed positive in my reviews!" It shows balance to have a healthy critical side, after all.

Yet, the film craft in AB is pretty good. The biggest problem is the plot itself, along with the dialogue. They weigh down some otherwise solid elements.

Don't mis-u/s, it's not a bad watch. It's worth charging up on AB as what they do well, they do really well. They adeptly utilized juxtaposition to make connections. There's also metaphors, irony, & laughs. No matter how bad it is, the satisfaction they give Da-da by having BF, while in a Hanbok, show up exBF, is precious.

Yeo Jin-gu, as BF, hardly uses his cheek/facial muscles for the entire show. His body language shows a touch of rigidity. His performance is genius. I had to remind myself, HEY! That's an actor there.

So, let's meet Da-da. She is creative, driven& earnest. She works in showbiz, as she inherited her father's special effects studio. And she's been secretly dating mega star Ma Wang Joon ("exBF") for 7 years.

Boy oh boy, do they chest slam us. Da-da's& exBF's dating rituals have drained her. We must watch the pains they must go through (not really 'they,' it's all on her) to maintain his public heartthrob persona. She becomes emotionless. Robotic.

One night, exBF brings home some corporate dweebs, & she's caught! Panicked, exBF calls her a stalker! Her night rounded out w/ a trip to the police station & then the ER. While there, she hears her jerk-soon-to-be-exBF talking, & thinks that he's there for her. Sadly, as she excitedly rounds the corner, it's just him on TV. We're not stuntman. Why do they jab us?

Seven years of this, well, let's be honest, emotional abuse, has rewired her confidence- it's been bypassed. She's not robotic anymore. She's a phantom. #Done, she breaks up w/ him.

Cut to her workshop. The dummy she ordered arrived. When she opens the trunk she sees: That is no dummy! As she's staring, he falls forward. They end up on the floor, face to face, & lips to lips. What IS this? It's engineer X's effort to save his friend, the AI robot he's been developing, to escape a twisted& sadistic customer who has bought him. This robot's on the lam.

Then it starts. BF is chasing GF (Da-da) exBF is jealous. The fans are dangerous& rabid. The corporate dudes are even more rapacious. There's even a psycho hovering round. The plot will thicken like congealed fake blood.

Whether Da-da likes it or not, she's got a robot boyfriend. When their lips met, his mode was activated. She can't shake this Luv Terminator! She's not going to spend $ on him, though. She brings home a box of random, leftover clothes from the set, so he can cover up his loincloth. The beginning of their relationship finds him in some far out threads

While watching, a bunch of 'Wouldas' popped into my brain. The top one is: Can you go get a job? #2 is: Clean the house. Make my fantasies come true! Da-da isn't thinking about taking advantage of the situation, though. She's focused on escape.. She tries to ignore him. She tells him to stay put until she gets home from work, but he always finds an excuse to go see her. He misses her, after all.

One day, an actor on set loses his temper w/ Da-da, & berates her. BF walks up to him, flat-hands a blow to the actor's chest, & dude flies across the set. BF was wearing that Hanbok (a woman's historical dress) at the time. He inquires: Are you alright, GF? And exBF sees it all. Oh, Yeah.

BF just wants to show love... & go on dates. They sneak into a closed amusement park one night. As BF generates power, they amble from ride to ride among the soft glow of the lights. OkOkOk... It's killin me to say this, but that amusement park jaunt is: The BEST Date ehverrrRrRRrRRR! (Sing it like an aria). ((The Best Date Ever!))

There's 2 BFs in Da-da's life. 2s factor weightily in the show. Post Hanbok incident, exBF wonders to himself: Who is that guy? Rain falls. He looks outside, & there's Da-da, face-to-face w/ her new BF, an umbrella overheard providing private shelter. ExBF's head lowers as his gaze drifts to a pair of umbrellas on the floor. (Is she really going out w/him?) He grabs one & heads to the parking lot, where there are now a pair of umbrellas: One w/him alone, the other w/his exGF, & her new BF, walking away. The rain pours.

DAEBEK! That's Hemingwayian!

ExBF begins to see double... & 2's & twos & pairs & couples & duets & deuces & snake eyes & duos

We also learn that ExBF's nickname is Mazinger, meaning, Robot! He later says to his CEO: "Do you think you can treat me like a robot? Whoa. We even have 2 robots!

They are currently working on a new season, here's the signage:

Actor: Ma Wang-joon.

Project: Traitor.

Ha!

The biggest irony is that Da-da, in an attempt to keep the relationship secret, is awful at first. She's doing to BF what jerk-exBF did to her. Secrets pile up. Out of frustration, one day, she tells BF: "Do whatever you want." Uh-oh...

There's plenty of laughs. *ExBF learns that Da-da gave BF an "A++ Korean Beef" sticker (He wants recognition. It's a reward). Aigoo, they fed us the low hanging fruit. In Korea, that's a wicked pun. *Once, they play the bionic man theme, when BF jumps: Nice! *BF picks up a floppy disk & examines it. That's juxtaposition. *From a Hanbok, to prison issue clothes, his outfits are hilari-aladojus (say it Mary Poppins-like). *In Ep8 He picks her up & she cries she's not ready *YET*? She's that for gone?

Then IT happens.

He got a job! Now I'M falling for him a little...

WAIT! He wants to support her!

Uhh/pay my automo-Bill, unh,uh,Unh, ah ah Ahhh! Sing it:

Can you pay my bills?

Can you pay my telephone bills?

Do you pay my automo' bills?

If you did then maybe we could chill.

~Whoo Hoo, tell it, Destiny's Child. WHOO!~

Ahem. Okay.

Now, about love... A selfless& total love shown in AB is definitely irresistible. {Please note that it would be arrogant& disrespectful of me to comment on anything except my personal journey w/male/female relationships, which follows.} Most women don't want to be w/some feckless fop, but it's in a woman's embedded code to want to be loved completely. Adoring (yet masculine) love is one of our fantasies, whether consciously so, or not. Masculine, here, means the whole merry-go-round: a strong protector& provider, who is unafraid of feelings, & for which his woman is the center of his world. Think: BF+Prince Charming+Rhett Butler's love child: Adoration w/swagger. This is AB's exhibit #1. Love trumps all else. It's the preservative, the glue, that keeps it all together running smoothly. Without it, the entire product is defective.

Finally, to the best product AB is selling: Standards. AB should raise women's standards when it comes to men. Obviously, no person can be BF-level perfect. We all have viruses in our processors, but women should demand a man that unabashedly loves, protects& provides. (No spongers). Inversely, men want respect & to be, quite frankly, my dear, admired for their manliness- in sincerity. Even Mr. Robot asked of recognition for his efforts. The truth of it is that men (in general!) have operating systems that run on ego-fuel. I used to roll my eyes at it, refusing to enable or contribute to it. Thirty-two years of marriage taught me that if I want two people in our union to be fulfilled, then I'd better make my husband feel like 100,000,000,000 won, as he loved me completely (and that does make it easy). I loved our time together, until death did us part. Sharing this is only meant to be motivational. All the rage & discontent out there has made us miserable. To be happy, which is life's bonus option, one has to let it go, forget about oneself to focus on others once in a while, & to also be content.

Not everything is hardware. Select the best software to avoid meltdowns, as we have choice. A woman can choose a quality partner (or wait for one to drop on top of her), but she shouldn't settle. Strong women hold out for something complete. Forget strong. Smart women (that is, women that have decided to respect themselves) do that. You, reading this, have dignity as a human being, & you deserve respect. Every woman does.

As for ?? -> Can we have a 💗relationship w/an AI? I'm in love w/ my robot vacuum, so I refuse to comment.

There's a long list of issues w/AB. Let's skip it. The plot& dialogue are substandard, & at times, awful. AB wanders, forgets where it was, & gets lost. The ending is blah, all around. Given the positives, login to AB if so inclined.

QUOTE: {This, I could never understand: If you love someone you must let them go.} Now, I think I understand a little. That, more than my own feelings, it's about wanting to prevent the other person from getting hurt... Because, it'll be more difficult for me, to watch the person I love, go through struggles.

IMHO... 🎬7 🎭8 💓6 🦋7 🤔7 🎨6 🌞7 🔚4. Age 16+
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
It's really good
dajanadae22 July 2020
I see a lot of people complained about the ending, however the ending completely matches the story and it makes sense and it was a happy ending anyway. The story was great and very well written and the actors did a great job in portraying their roles. I also saw some people were bothered because the robot kept calling her Girlfriend, I personally found it very cute and I liked it a lot. I will definitely watch it again because it's worth the time.
3 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Yeojachinggu 1000x
lmerana4 October 2019
I was so annoyed every time he calls her yeojachinggu. It is like mentioned a million times per episode. While they might have chemistry, it was not enough to call it a good romantic kdrama. The ending absolutely makes no sense and was half hearted. They could have done a better ending for the villain as well.
0 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Once again, even with another faulty script for this beautiful story it has still made me cry so much...
BonnieBirdlace30 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I love this story ever since I'd watched Zettai Kareshi a long while back... after that I'd seen the Taiwanese version "Absolute Boyfriend" and now I was so excited and happy to see a new version and I have finished it just now... I was crying the whole time through the last few episodes... it is so sad and Yeong Gu is just so sweet... and their love is so sweet it really breaks your heart. But it could've been so much better as they had really good actors for the roles. Watching Young Gu, it was like watching a normal guy instead of a robot guy but I won't complain since it's just pure pleasure just looking at him... he's really a good looking fella. But they could've made his character more robot-like behavior-wise, his mimics and moves were too human that seemed unrealistic to me. It also seemed like a huge nonsense to me the way Da-Da kept making all of their dates about food and drinking, why would she do that knowing Young-Gu doesn't really eat or drink? That was sort of stupid... the original story is great and the actors were great in this version but unfortunately once again the script was trashy and not well-thought.out... I am happy that my love for this drama is refreshed but also feeling disappointed as I am not satisfied with how the episodes developed and how it ended so bluntly...
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
A romantic comedy that touches deep subjects
khemass22 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
In the beginning, it looks like just a rom-com with good-looking AI boyfriend as eye candy. At first, I was a little bit disappointed with the performance because he looks more like a perfect human boyfriend than a robot. However, it started to make sense in the later part of the story when you learn that the AI can learn to love and be loved more than he was capable of in the factory setting.

Now, that's a complex theme, the same as the movie "AI Artificial Intelligence" when a robot boy is created to love his human mother, able to feel all emotions, and is it fair to dump or destroy him just like another robot? I think it's interesting that in "Absolute Boyfriend" the robot started to melt because now he is able to love and love is more powerful than his robot body can handle. Now, that's a really deep stuff for us to think about. I've heard that human cannot stare into the face of God because our body cannot handle the immense love that comes from him. We need to die and be in the form of soul or spirit. This robot in "Absolute Boyfriend" begins to love more than a machine, begins to have a soul, and that's why he cannot exist in such form anymore. Interesting.

There is also a potential that someone can create another version of this film and add Pinocchio theme into it, making the audience routing if the AI can somehow become human, putting in the element of fantasy and fairytale. That would be nice for a romantic comedy, too.

The cast is doing their job well. The story moves like most Korean romcom, with moments of romance, humor, drama and a bit action. Yes, it is with flaw like most series. But I feel that the film is more beautiful than most for the story talks about true love. It's not about passion or lust or puppy love, but the elements of what makes a romantic relationship truly meaningful. You've got to watch it to the end. By the way, I like the ending.

PS. I know that it is not likely that human would be able to create such an AI that is capable of being a perfect boyfriend like in this movie, but oh well, if such a robot exists, I want one. Isn't he so cute and so nice! Haha^_^
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
Makes no sense
thespira31 August 2019
So many gaps in the story, so many non sense, and an ending that makes absolutely no sense at all. I was hoping for a Pinocchio effect (the robot turning into a real man) but it was so much worse than that. I lost so much time watching this ...
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Give feelings, but don't feel them?
eli-stuttgart5 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
You have probably read the criticism that it is illogical more than once. I have to agree, of course it's not logical in the first place because a robot has been made that will love the person after a kiss. The main character coped well with the role as a robot, I also found the composition of the actors very suitable individually, and yet something was wrong.

The ex-boyfriend, whose acting skills I could hardly tell. Has he coped well with the role of an actor in a series? I don't know, but if I ask myself this, I don't think so. His role couldn't impress me from cover to cover.

What didn't impress me yet was the series on the series. She was terribly bad from what one saw. Showing some cracks doesn't make sense if you didn't intend to bring them in completely. Probably she should show us how paradoxical her ex's life is because he plays a robot in the series and in real life his love falls in love with a robot. I have no idea whether it's true, because the exact plot was missing. As a make-up artist for special effects, she is unsuitable, you could have made a little effort, even with the sketches.

Back to the ex again. At the beginning he made hints that he could no longer lead the relationship. When the relationship was finally over, he suddenly received the mysterious boxes, although it was over and he continues to receive them. Why hasn't the director been blackmailing him with it for a long time ago?

Then he changed his mind and he still loves her because she was forbidden to him. The whole back and forth with the boxes, the truth could have been spared. He should have confessed everything to her beforehand, since he was not next to her and who should have protected her if she was in ignorance. Then it wasn't enough to put her in danger, he had to put his new reason for separation under his nose, which after a hundred years was not believed because it was too obvious. His character on the series was a complete mystery.

The reveal of the villain behind the boxing story happened far too quickly, no chance for thought as to who it might be. Boring.

Now for the robot, who fell in love with a perky girl who treated him like a piece of metal and not what he is. The thousandfold repetition of the word dearest in a row made everyone's ears shut. Somehow, DaDa had felt his heart racing with him for the first moment, the audience had to understand by the change of color on the ring that she actually fell in love with him, but the scene before what he did for her had long been forgotten because it wasn't memorable and didn't have the effect of being in love. Most of the scenes weren't haunting. For this reason, the series seemed long drawn out.

The illogical and most important thing about the robot concept was that the emotions that are far too strong make it weak until it becomes inoperable, but the goal of the company was to create a robot that would love. But when he got a new owner, he had similar conversations, by which I mean the questions he asked, which would give him the basis and understanding of human suffering.

He got to know his previous owner in the same way and fell in love more and more with the flow of new information. Thus the same problem would arise with the next one.

Then it was said he was going to dissolve, was shown on his hand, but in the end it didn't match that. He just went out.

Nevertheless, the last episode was very emotional because they started with catchphrases like moments, memories, and leaving footsteps in the world after death. But the last scenes destroyed it again. Dianna deserves a better ending, and where was her accomplice? What happened to the relationship with manager and the robot specialist?

The final question: Did Zero Nine have to show up under an umbrella at the end when there was nothing left to guess?
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
Uh huh
chilligrrl15 August 2023
Well I watched it. I enjoyed it at first. I kept watching and the eye candy helped. What didn't help was some poor acting, cheap sets/makeup, some truly dreadful dialogue and the fact that everyone just seemed to forget this was a ROBOT. The FL.... Seriously? A. Ro. Bot. There is no future of any kind with a machine.

By the end I forced myself to watch it, but somehow I made it through and was so thankful at the last episode that I hadn't lost all my brain cells. Maybe the eye candy helped there, and the few funny/good actors.

I've abandoned shows just because I hated someone's hairstyle, but I kept watching this and I am still wondering why.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed