My Absolute Boyfriend
My Absolute Boyfriend[2] (Korean: 절대 그이; RR: Jeoldae Geui) is a 2019 South Korean television series based on the eponymous Japanese manga series; starring Yeo Jin-goo, Bang Min-ah and Hong Jong-hyun. It aired on SBS TV's Wednesdays & Thursdays at 22:00 KST from May 15 to July 11, 2019.
My Absolute Boyfriend | |
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Promotional poster | |
Hangul | 절대 그이 |
Genre | |
Based on | Absolute Boyfriend by Yuu Watase |
Written by | Yang Hyuk-moon |
Directed by | Jung Jung-hwa |
Starring | |
Country of origin | South Korea |
Original language | Korean |
No. of episodes | 40 (36 aired)[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Lee Mi-ji Teddy Jung |
Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 35 minutes[lower-alpha 2] |
Production companies | Apollo Pictures iHQ |
Distributor | Seoul Broadcasting System |
Release | |
Original network | SBS TV |
Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
Original release | May 15 – July 11, 2019 |
Chronology | |
Related shows |
|
External links | |
Website |
Synopsis
Um Da-da (Bang Min-ah) is a special effects makeup artist. She is secretly dating the popular actor Ma Wang-joon (Hong Jong-hyun), who is on the rise. As Wang-joon gets busy because of work and tired of their relationship, their seven-year-long relationship ends. And that is when Zero Nine (Yeong-gu) (Yeo Jin-goo), a humanoid robot who is programmed to be in love with his one and only girlfriend, appears in her life. An accidental kiss activates Yeong-gu and he takes Da-da as his girlfriend. As Da-da and Yeong-gu get closer and fall for each other, a mystery man tries to harm Da-da by threatening her to break up with Wang-joon, who secretly wants her back. Meanwhile, Diana (Hong Seo-young), the original owner of Zero Nine, comes after them to take Yeong-gu back. In the end, My Absolute Boyfriend is about the love with a robot who is humane and unstinting. Throughout the series, Yeong-gu shows what true love is as he learns about love and becomes the absolute boyfriend.
Cast
Main
- Yeo Jin-goo as Zero Nine (Young-gu)[3]
- An android programmed to become the perfect boyfriend. He takes Da-da as his girlfriend and gives his selfless love and dedication to her.
- Bang Min-ah as Um Da-da[4]
- A special effects makeup artist at Real, which she inherited from her late father. A recent break-up with her boyfriend Wang-joon left her insecure about love. Upon activating Young-gu, she slowly begins to learn more about true love from Young-gu.
- Hong Jong-hyun as Ma Wang-joon[5] later as Zero Ten
- A top actor whom in spite of his immense popularity, always seems to lose his cool around his girlfriend. He becomes jealous when Young-gu appears in his life and he tries to win back Da-da.
As Zero Ten
- As newer, more advanced anrdoid, also programmed to become the perfect boyfriend. Taking Diana as his girlfriend, he becomes the real Wang-joon's impersonator and tries to replace Young-gu as Da-da's absolute boyfriend.
Supporting
- Hong Seo-young as Diana[6]
- The original owner of Zero Nine, she is a young heiress who requested an android robot to be made due to her loneliness. She lost her right hand to a fire when she was a teenager and this led her to resent humans.
- Choi Sung-won as Nam Bo-won[7]
- A Kronos Heaven employee who is Young-gu's creator. He acts as a brotherly figure to Young-gu, and gives him advice in dating Da-da. The damage of a previous model, Zero Seven, leads him to prevent Young-gu's delivery to Diana.
- Gong Jung-hwan as Ko Ji-seok[8]
- Leader of the Kronos Heaven research lab in South Korea, who is known as the world's best mechanics expert. He is Bo-won and In-hyuk's superior.
- Kwon Hyun-sang as Hwang In-hyuk[9]
- Bo-won's colleague at Kronos Heaven. He returns to the company to force the delivery of Zero Nine to Diana.
- Cha Jung-won as Bae Kyu-ri[10]
- A special effects makeup artist in Um Da-da's team as well as Da-da's best friend.
- Kim Do-hoon as Yoo Jin
- A special effects makeup artist in Um Da-da's team. The youngest member of the team, he hits it off with Bo-won as they share the same interests.
- Ha Jae-sook as Yeo Woong[11]
- Ma Wang-joon's manager. She is the only one to know about Da-da and Wang-joon's secret relationship, and encourages Wang-joon to go public in his relationship with Da-da.
- Hong Seok-cheon as Geum Eun-dong
- Ma Wang-joon's agent at KIN Entertainment. He is later revealed to be the perpetrator of the break-up threats who wants Wang-joon and Da-da to be separated so as to safeguard his "investment".
- Choi Joo-won as Hwa-ni[12]
- A rookie star under Geum's agency who despises Wang-joon for being one of South Korea's top actors.
- Go Jung-min as Park Ran
- The director of the company Diana inherited, who is the only one Diana can trust. She stays in Diana's mansion to look after her.
Special appearances
- Yoon Si-yoon as himself (Ep. 2)
- The winner of the Best Male Lead at the awards ceremony in 2017. He presents the award to Wang-joon.
- Jung In-gi as Da-da's father (Ep. 5)
- Um Da-da's late father and founder of the Real special effects studio. He taught Da-da the make-up techniques from when she was young.
- Hong Ji-yoon as Ruby
Production
- The series was previously titled Romantic Comedy King, and was in talks to air on OCN but was ultimately cancelled.[13]
- The lead roles of Um Da-da and Ma Wang-jun were previously offered to Song Ji-hyo and Chun Jung-myung respectively, but both declined.[13]
- The first script reading was held on June 22, 2018 and filming began in July.[14]
- Filming is complete and the series aired on SBS in May 2019.[15] Originally scheduled to air for 40 episodes, the series was reduced by four episodes due to low ratings, as well as the suspension of the Monday-Tuesday drama timeslot that saw the following drama, Doctor Detective, move to the Wednesday-Thursday timeslot. The international broadcast remained at 40 episodes.
Original soundtrack
My Absolute Boyfriend OST | |
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Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
Released | 2019 |
Genre | Soundtrack |
Language | |
Label | Kakao M |
Part 1
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Like A Starlight" (별빛처럼) |
|
| Lena Park | 3:47 |
2. | "Like A Starlight" (Inst.) |
| 3:47 | ||
Total length: | 7:34 |
Part 2
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Still Waiting For You" (바라고 바라고) | Lee Seung-hee | Lee Seung-hee | Seungjun | 4:03 |
2. | "Still Waiting For You" (Inst.) | Lee Seung-hee | 4:03 | ||
Total length: | 8:06 |
Part 3
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Mr. Stranger" |
|
| Kisum, Eunha (GFriend) | 3:10 |
2. | "Mr. Stranger" (Inst.) |
| 3:10 | ||
Total length: | 6:20 |
Part 4
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "My Absolute Boyfriend" (초능력 나의 그대) | Shim Hyun-bo | Shim Hyun-bo | Kei (Lovelyz) | 3:24 |
2. | "My Absolute Boyfriend" (Inst.) | Shim Hyun-bo | 3:24 | ||
Total length: | 6:48 |
Part 5
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Already Gone" (여느 때처럼) | Yoon Song | Yoon Song | Bily Acoustie | 4:15 |
2. | "Already Gone" (Inst.) | Yoon Song | 4:15 | ||
Total length: | 8:30 |
Part 6
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Tuk Tuk Tuk" (툭툭툭) | Jay Kim | Park Seo-hyun | BIYA | 3:24 |
2. | "Tuk Tuk Tuk" (Inst.) | Park Seo-hyun | 3:24 | ||
Total length: | 6:48 |
Part 7
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "It Was Love" (사랑이었다) |
| Minah (Girl's Day), Jung Il-hoon (BtoB) | 3:21 | |
2. | "It Was Love" (Inst.) |
| 3:21 | ||
Total length: | 6:42 |
Part 8
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Error" | LoF! |
| Lee Si-eun | 3:39 |
2. | "Error (Male Ver.)" | LoF! |
| Noah | 3:39 |
3. | "Error (With Yeun of v!nyl) (Eng Ver.)" | LoF! |
| LoF! | 3:39 |
Total length: | 10:57 |
Ratings
In this table, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share |
---|---|---|
AGB Nielsen | ||
Nationwide | ||
1 | May 15, 2019 | 2.1% |
2 | 2.4% | |
3 | May 16, 2019 | 3.1% |
4 | 3.5% | |
5 | May 22, 2019 | 2.6% |
6 | 3.0% | |
7 | May 23, 2019 | 2.9% |
8 | 3.0% | |
9 | May 29, 2019 | 2.5% |
10 | 2.7% | |
11 | May 30, 2019 | 2.9% |
12 | 2.7% | |
13 | June 5, 2019 | 2.3% |
14 | 2.7% | |
15 | June 6, 2019 | 3.4% |
16 | 3.1% | |
17 | June 12, 2019 | 1.8% |
18 | 1.8% | |
19 | June 13, 2019 | 3.2% |
20 | 2.9% | |
21 | June 19, 2019 | 2.0% |
22 | 2.5% | |
23 | June 20, 2019 | 3.1% |
24 | 2.6% | |
25 | June 26, 2019 | 1.8% |
26 | 2.2% | |
27 | June 27, 2019 | 2.8% |
28 | 2.3% | |
29 | July 3, 2019 | 1.5% |
30 | 1.7% | |
31 | July 4, 2019 | 2.7% |
32 | 2.4% | |
33 | July 10, 2019 | 1.8% |
34 | 1.7% | |
35 | July 11, 2019 | 2.4% |
36 | 2.0% | |
Average | 2.5% |
Notes
- Originally scheduled to air for 40 episodes, only 36 episodes are scheduled to air on SBS because of low ratings, as well as the suspension of the Monday-Tuesday drama time slot. The international broadcast remains at 40 episodes.
- In order to circumvent Korean laws that prevent commercial breaks in the middle of an episode, what would previously have been aired as single 70 minute episodes are now being repackaged as two 35 minute episodes, with two episodes being shown each night with a commercial break between the two.[1]
International broadcast
- A TV representative said, "On May 23, the drama 'My Absolute Boyfriend' completed the transfer of broadcasting rights to 40 countries from 21 countries in Asia such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, etc. to the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. Signing a contract with Japan - one of the main markets for Hallyu content - will soon succeed and it is expected that the number of broadcast countries will increase even more."[16]
- Japan - Feb 2020 [17]
- Philippines - GMA News TV (September 14 - November 6, 2020)
References
- Park, Jin-hai (May 16, 2017). "Drama viewers angry over commercial breaks". The Korea Times. PressReader. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- "My Absolute Boyfriend [Title in the URL]". Seoul Broadcasting System. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
- 여진구, 드라마 '절대그이' 주인공 출연 확정…연인 피규어 役(공식). Herald Corporation (in Korean). July 5, 2018.
- "Girl's Day Minah to find 'Absolute Boyfriend'". Kpop Herald. May 30, 2018.
- "[단독] '절대그이' 홍종현 남주인공…민아X여진구도 가세". Sports Chosun (in Korean). May 30, 2018.
- "Hong Seo-young to Star in "Absolute Boyfriend" With Yeo Jin-goo". Hancinema. Hankook Ilbo. July 1, 2018.
- [공식] 최성원, ‘절대그이’ 출연…허당 로맨티스트 변신. Sports Donga (in Korean). July 18, 2018.
- "Gong Jung-hwan to Join "Absolute Boyfriend"". Hancinema. Nate. July 12, 2018.
- [공식] 권현상, 드라마 ‘절대 그이’ 출연…여진구와 호흡. Sports Donga (in Korean). June 20, 2018.
- [단독] 차정원, '절대 그이' 출연 확정…여진구·걸스데이 민아와 호흡. Asia Economy (in Korean). July 4, 2018.
- 배우 하재숙, ‘절대 그이’ 출연 확정 ‘홍종현 매니저 여웅으로 활약’. Sports Donga (in Korean). July 5, 2018.
- [공식] 신예 최주원, 드라마 ‘절대그이’ 캐스팅…본격 데뷔. Sports Donga (in Korean). July 5, 2018.
- "위기의 '로코킹', 천정명X송지효 출연 불발…여진구 "검토"(종합)". My Daily (in Korean). April 11, 2018.
- "[Oh!쎈 컷] '절대그이' 여진구·민아·홍종현, 첫 대본 리딩부터 환상 케미". Osen (in Korean). July 10, 2018.
- 여진구, 홍종현 커피차 인증샷 “왕이 된 진구 위해”[SNS★컷]. Newsen (in Korean).
- "40 countries buy broadcasting rights of Yeo Jin Goo's drama". celebNEWSEN.
- "Yo Jing Goo starring "Absolute Boyfriend-Your Only Knight (Night)" <Full Version>". WOWOW.
External links
- Official website (in Korean)
- My Absolute Boyfriend at IMDb
- My Absolute Boyfriend at HanCinema