#절대 그이 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

welcometothejianghu · 6 months

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Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 절대 그이/My Absolute Boyfriend

My Absolute Boyfriend is the 2019 Korean live-action adaptation of the Watase Yuu manga "Absolute Boyfriend." (There are two other adaptations, one Taiwanese and one Japanese.) It tells the story of a woman who has just broken up with her celebrity boyfriend, and the robot who becomes a real boy by falling in love with her.

(And yes, the reason we started watching it was because of Yeo Jingoo, since the tantalizing prospect of "that guy who played Han Juwon, playing a robot boyfriend" was too amazing to pass up.)

I need to note right off the bat: I am not usually a consumer of bippy k-dramas, romcoms, or het romance in media in general. No shade to anyone who likes these thing; they're just not my regular cup of tea. So if your tastes are akin to mine, you may have looked at the poster and been like, hm, no thank you.

Thus I am here to try and sell you on it even if you are not a fan of these genres.

This show is so unwatched that (as far as I can tell) there is nothing for it on AO3. There are a mere eight hits for the manga, Zettai Kareshi | Absolute Boyfriend, but there's nothing at all for this adaptation. This is an absolute crime, for reasons I will detail in the forthcoming five reasons to watch (above and beyond the simple pleasure of watching Yeo Jingoo be a handsome goober, though that remains a serious point in its favor):

1. Balls entirely to the wall

You know those Tumblr posts where someone comments and is like, at no point could I have predicted what the next word in that sentence would be? Yeah, that, only the sentence is the show.

This show is absolutely bonkers. It is absolute storytelling mayhem. It is gleefully head-clutching weird. Someone told it that girls like exactly three things -- cute boys in adorable outfits, cute boys with their shirts off, and cute boys in Situations -- and it is ready to deliver.

I could tell you what the plot of the show is, or at least I could try, but that wouldn't convey the sheer volume of shenanigans it gets up to. I feel like every time it had a flashback montage (set to one of its six licensed pop songs), I was like, oh yeah, that happened.

The thing, too, is that it's so self-aware. This show knows precisely what it is, and it's having fun with it. The acting is often melodramatic, but obviously very consciously so. I'm not going to say the show never takes itself seriously (because it does -- see my point #5), but it never doesn't know exactly what it is.

Browsing the MyDramaList page, I can see that a lot of viewers had lukewarm feelings on the show as a whole. (Normally I don't make the mistake of reading the comments, but since this is such a non-property in English-speaking fandom, I had to go find out what the hell.) And yeah, I can imagine that if you came into this expecting a more straight-faced entry in the genre, what you get could be confusing and alienating.

If you watch this, take off your nitpicker's hat. There are many, many points that do not make sense. Just go with it. Let the cute boys take off their shirts. Kiss a robot. Embrace chaos.

2. A++ Girlfriend

Eom Dada is great. She's just so weird. I love her and I absolutely understand why those two boys want to get with her.

She is a special effects makeup artist who runs her own three-person team that specializes in sci-fi/horror properties. One of the first things we see her doing is mixing up a bunch of different types of fake blood, because, hey, a lot of different stunt people are going to die today, and you can't just use one type of blood for everybody!

She is a dadgumn professional, is what she is.

What she isn't, however, is a pick-me, not-like-the-other-girls girl. Several times, she gets dressed up real cute and femme, and she never expresses negativity toward her more girly-girl friends. It's not that she's rejecting femininity so much as that her vision of femininity is big enough to include creating beautiful fake severed body parts. When someone describes a female character as "quirky," I cringe reflexively. But that's what she is! She's got quirks! She's a nice, normal girl who is also a big weirdo.

Since I did go read the comments, I found out pretty quickly that a lot of viewers hate her. Part of this, I'm sure, is just your generic vitriol you see aimed at any woman in a show, because holy fuck, we sure do hate women.

But I think part of it may come from how she's not asking "how high?" every time those boys tell her they'd like her to jump. There's some real viciousness out there toward women that turn down men, epecially from other women. Without getting too much into psychoanalysis about it, an awful lot of hate gets directed from other women toward the female ex-/partners of desirable men, much of which comes from the terrible assumption that if you were in her position, you'd be appropriately grateful! You'd treat that boy right! That lucky bitch doesn't know how good she's got it!

...You see how that's bad, though, right? Like, really bad and toxic?

Eom Dada tells those boys "no" when she doesn't want what they're offering. She's realizes early on that setting yourself on fire to keep your partner warm is terrible, so she stops. She's going to make them wait until she wants it -- and if she never wants it, well, those boys just get to keep right on waiting!

Read me loud and clear: I'm not saying the only reason to dislike Eom Dada is misogyny. Sometimes you just don't like a character! It happens! It's legal! What I am saying, though, is that when you look at a lot of the hate toward her all at once, certain trends emerge, and they're more than a little bit ugly.

And I think that's unfair because she's an absolute pumpkin who deserves all the smooches and spicy noodles she wants.

3. ...Are they gonna kiss?

And by "they" here, I don't mean Girlfriend and Robot Boyfriend, who obviously smooch. I mean Robot Boyfriend and Ex-Boyfriend.

They hate one another! They make heartbreaking sacrifices for one another! They're vicious rivals! They team up to solve mysteries! They're incredibly suspicious of one another! They trust one another completely! What the actual hell is going on with these two? Because oh boy, the show itself sure doesn't know.

Their relationship yo-yos constantly throughout the length of the series. They're never friends, but they get weirdly close on several occasions, including rescuing one another from terrible predicaments. They also both seem fascinated with each other, above and beyond how they're competing for the affections of the same girl. The actors have some solid chemistry (much of it comedic) in their shared scenes. They're certainly not afraid to get right up in each other's personal space.

This isn't queerbaiting, it's not using gay as a punchline, it's ... something, that's for sure. And by that I mean, I don't know if I've ever seen a more powerful vindication of the principle that the optimal solution to every love triangle is a threesome.

This to me is one of the flaws of the show, that it has decided it must never acknowledge the strength of their independent bond outside of its place in the central love conflict, and to keep from doing so, it keeps nuking Ex-Boyfriend's character back to square one. He learns about love and trust and growth! ...and then we need the plot to have a which boy will she choose??? conflict, so he's got to unlearn all of that real quick so he can be a real dillhole again. If it didn't feel obligated to do that, things would get sexy fast, I'm just saying.

Here is the main reason I'm baffled that I'm getting no AO3 hits for this: These three would be one hell of a throuple. Where are my bisexual horndog fix-it fics where all three of them wind up sharing Ma Wangjoon's comically large bed?

4. Weirdly healthyish messages about romance?

I mentioned earlier that het romance in media is not my thing, and one of the main reasons it's not is how many just gross messages it delivers about normative gender roles and behaviors.

This show absolutely starts that way. Robot Boyfriend is raised on all your classic romcoms and taught that love is all about giving everything with no concern for your own well-being, while at the same time overriding all your partner's objections because you know what she really wants. When he first latches on to Eom Dada, he's kind of your classic overbearing comedy stalker who doesn't take no for an answer, because True Love.

And then ... he changes. He realizes that his romcom education is not going to help here, so he decides to figure out what kind of boyfriend she actually wants. Once he does that, he starts to figure out that he wants to be loved too. And that's when things get interesting.

He never stops being pretty forward about things, but it becomes far more playful when he's not pressuring her, just reminding her that the offer is still on the table. Eom Dada then responds by becoming clear about how she definitely wants to take this boy out for a spin -- just at her own pace, when she herself is ready for it.

It makes an interesting contrast to how, when she was with Ex-Boyfriend, all she wanted was for him to acknowledge her (which he wanted to do too, but couldn't, for absolutely bonkers reasons, because this show is just Like That). The two of them are still in love, but the show makes it clear that being in love doesn't mean you're going to be good together -- and it doesn't mean you have to forgive the bullshit your ex-partner pulled back when you were together.

But the love triangle isn't even the sole source of romance! There's a whole 'nother love ... triangle? quadrilateral? Whatever, you've also got Robot Boyfriend's charmingly goofy MIT-educated co-creator/trainer/big brother, who becomes the object of affection for at least two of the supporting characters.

My take on this is that Handsome Robot Hyung deserves the whole harem: the boss lady who can pick him up, the cute thirsty girl who does yoga, and the sweet gay-coded boy who is so impressed that he knows robots. (This is another tragic casualty of the NO HOMO attitude of the show, where that boy should be treated as a legitimate love interest, but can never be. But we know better!)

I'm used to seeing love triangles solved in one of three ways: 1) one point on the triangle gets demonized so significantly as to make the other one the obvious choice; 2) the eventually unchosen point gets given a Consolation Prize Significant Other so we don't fell too bad about how they didn't get chosen; or 3) one point dies or is otherwise removed from the narrative, letting the other two hook up without guilt. None of those things happen to either of these love polygons. Despite some genre-appropriate catty, melodramatic speed bumps, everything gets resolved in the manner of adults with reasonable amounts of emotional maturity. It's weirdly kind of nice.

(This isn't to say there's no toxic bullshit that slips in -- for instance, I still don't know what to make of that one arguing couple, or what Robot Boyfriend says to them. It's just much less than I expected.)

Your mileage may vary about the choices the show makes at the very end. It's not how I would have ended it, sure, but I also don't think it could have ended any other way -- remember, this is a show that never forgets what it is. It is contractually obligated by its genre conventions to keep certain narrative promises. If anything, I think it's interesting how much it feels it can get away with leaving hopeful yet unresolved, up to and including how many people are still comfortably single at the end of the show. Partnered romance isn't always the solution to everything! Sometimes you've got your career and you've got your friends, and now you've got some time to work on yourself! Maybe it won't always be that way, but it sure is right now. And that's great.

5. A surprisingly sophisticated meditation on memory and mortality (say that five times fast)

Real talk: In the past four months, I have lost a lot of people, places, and animals who were very dear to me, and had some close calls with a couple more. It has sucked exactly as much as you think it has.

So yeah, in the last few episodes, I blew through some tissues.

To a certain degree, it's exactly the kind of melodramatic tearjerker narrative you'd expect from a property like this. And let me tell you what, there is nothing wrong with getting a good, sappy cry going because of the overwrought dramas of fictional people. There are plenty of objectively mediocre shows and movies I put on because I know I'm going to be a blubbering wreck by the end.

This show, however, has the extra layer of interest that Robot Boyfriend is both Boyfriend and Robot. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that having a guy designed to be reformatted every time a new person smooches him adds a whole lot of interesting layers to what counts as death and mourning.

Add that to how Eom Dada is still grieving the loss of her beloved father, who taught her everything she knew about her career, and you get some surprisingly moving little moments that creep in through the wacky hijinks that make up the rest of the show.

Look, it's nothing I'd ever teach in a Philosophy seminar, or anything so profound as that. But it's quiet and nice, and it has more depth than I expected, and it all hit me right in my tender little feels box. If that's the kind of thing you're open to, you could do a lot worse.

Thinking about giving this one a shot?

Viki's got the series in its full 40-episode run. (It's actually 20 hour-long episodes split in half because of commercial break rules, if you're wondering why it's sometimes Like That.) So does Tubi. I guess your choice then becomes which one's ads you'd rather sit through.

I think if you go into this with the attitude that you're just going to go with it all and laugh at how zany it is, you're in for a fine time. Whether or not you think it's good is up to your standards of quality. But it's hard to deny that it's a whole lot of fun.

And then get your ass to AO3 and give me some OT3! Mama needs these three cutie patooties to smooch~

#절대 그이 #my absolute boyfriend #absolute boyfriend #k drama #rec post #i made this #honorary danmei

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dokonittano · 1 year

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2023.06.11 22:59

밑에 글은 자꾸 미래로 시간을 점프해서 쓴 글이다. 그리고 현재 과제에 집중을 못하고 있어서.. 지금 그래도 과제를 수행하는 것을 최선을 다해 해야 하는데.. 너무 못하고 있어서.. 24년 8월 즈음의 내가 너무 행복할 것 같아서..

3분기 일본워킹홀리데이 신청을 할 것이다. 그리고 가난하게 살고 돈을 모으고, 내년 8월 즈음에 가는 게 목표다.

이건 둘 째 치고.. 일본 워킹홀리데이 어디로 갈지 고민이다. 도쿄와 오사카 후쿠오카의 찌는 듯한 여름이 싫어 삿포로로 갈까 싶었다. 월세도 싸고.. 도시 규모도 내가 늘상 살아오던 도시의 규모고.

근데 마음에서 연락하게 된 나보다 한 살 많은 요코하마 사람이 나에게 계속 요코하마로 오라고 했다. 곤란한 일이 생기면 해결해준다도 했다. 같이 캬바쿠라 가자고 했다. 같이 디즈니도 가고 런닝도 하고 축구도 하고.. 새로운 공간에서 같이 무언가를 할 수 있다는 상상에 나는 도파민에 젖었다. 빨리 실현해 내야 했다. 하지만 시간은 내가 앞당길 수 있는 게 아니다.

근데.. 다른 문제가 생겼다. 걔가 맘에 들긴 했지만, 좋아한다거나 푹 빠지거나 하지 않았다. 잘생기긴 했지만, 대화를 잘 이어나가긴 했지만, 그냥 인간적인 호감 정도였다. 실제로 같이 캬바쿠라를 가는 상상을 했다. 캬바쿠라는 윤리적으로.. 간다면 아무에게도 말 못하겠지.. 예전에 전애인한테 동물원 가자고 했는데 아무도 모르게 다녀와야 한다고 했다. 난 그 때 동물권에 대한 이해가 없어서 또잉했지만.. 얼마 안 가 무슨 말인지 이해하게 됐다. 남성 커뮤니티(대학 한정, 대학 이외에도 불가하다)에서는 내가 캬바쿠라 다녀온 걸 말할 수 있는데 여성 친구들에겐 절대 말할 수 없다. 암튼 그렇다.

아니 하던 얘기 이어서. 그를 좋아하게 됐다. 서로가 특이하게 좋아하는 부분이 일치했다. 외국어, 국기.. 물론, 그가 더 좋아했고 난 일반적인 사람들보다 외국어 국기를 좀 더 많이 외우고 있는 수준이었다. 팔라우나 우간다 같은 태평양 섬나라라든지 아프리카 대륙 국가 국기는 잘 모르니까.. 주로 유럽이나 남미 아시나 국가들의 국기는 꽤 많이 알고 있어서.. 내가 일반적인 사람들보다 많이 알고 있는 것에 그는 기뻐하며 놀랬다... 그리고 그는 노어 불어 독어 인니어 터키어 아랍어를 할 줄 알았다 인사 정도지만. 발음이 세련되고 원어민 같았다. 내가 평가할 수 있는 건 아니지만. 물론 나는 노어 불어 독어 몇 단어 아는 수준이었다. 뭔가.. 그래도 일반적인 사람들보단 특정 분야를 동시에 조금 관심있게 안다는 점에서 서로 공감대가 형성됐고.. 나는 그렇게 사랑에 빠지게 되었다.

공감대가 형성되고.. 더 깊은 호감 정도였으면 참 좋겠지만..... 난 사랑에 빠져버렸다. 금사빠는 아니라고 해달라 아직 만난 적은 없지만 4월 초부터 종종 전화한 사이다.

한 일주일 정도.. 나는 그를 중심으로 일상이 구성됐다 < 물론 과장이다. 암튼.. 학교 수업이 있는 날은 괜찮은데, 없는 날은.. 온통 그이 생각 뿐이다. 할 일이 있음에도 불구하고 제대로 해내지 못한다. 지금 밀린 공부가 어마어마하다. 기말고사도 제대로 공부 안 하고 보게 생겼다. 뭐 상관 없다 1학년 1학기니까.

그의 연락을 계속 기다리고 연락이 늦는 거에 대해서 내가 비호감인가? 귀찮나? 성가시나? 걱정하고.. < 아니다 일본인치곤 연락을 자주 하는 사람이다.

계속.. 인스타 디엠창을 확인하고.. 서로가 태그된 인스타 스토리로 기분이 좋고.. 흔히 말하는 도박 중독 증세를 보인다. 룰렛을 잡아 당긴다.. 잭팟이.. 불규칙적인.. 리듬으로 가아아아아끔 터진다.. 나의 도파민도 터진다.. 계속 그를 생각한다.. 가아아아아끔 그로부터 연락이 온다.. 나의 도파민이 터진다... 시발 죽겠어요.

끊어내야 한다. 그는 100% 헤테로다. 100000% 헤테로다. 게이라면 절대절대절대절대 남자한테 캬바쿠라 얘기 안 한다.. 한국여자가 좋고 난파하고 싶다는 둥 그런 얘기도 안 한다... 나도 걔를 안 좋아한다.. 내가 질색하는 여혐남이다.. 내 여자인 친구들을 섹스 대상으로보는 여혐남이다.. 이렇게 스스로를 세뇌하려고 한다.. 그리고! 내가 완수해야 할 일 (학교 제엘피티 운동)에 집중한다! 워홀 준비도 다시 시작해야 하고 !

자 내일부터 새로운 나를 기대한다! 그새끼 어차피 내가 연락 안 하면 연락 안 온다 ㅋㅋ ㅋㅋㅋ ㅋㅋㅋ ㅋㅋ ㅋ ㅋㅋㅋ ㅋㅋㅋ 쟈 잘자자!

2023.06.11 23:22

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leehakjoos · 5 years

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#my absolute boyfriend #절대 그이 #Cha Jung Won #Kim Do Hoon #kdramaedit #kdrama #about me #*

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irrational-obsessions-gottcha78 · 5 years

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Ummm... Thank you.

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theangstreport · 5 years

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such cute

#absolute boyfriend #절대 그이 #여진구 #yeo jin goo #kdrama #korean drama #방민아 #bang minah

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the-original-mashimaro · 5 years

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Baby Young Gu playing hard to get. How is it possible to be more adorable than he already is?

#yeo jin goo #absolute boyfriend #절대 그이 #kdrama

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ottokaji-gameset-powers · 5 years

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I think Young-gu was doing a little more than pinching his thigh...

#absolute boyfriend #절대 그이 #yeo jin goo #여진구 #woo i made a gif lololol

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tivitime · 5 years

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Summary: And that is when Zero Nine (Young-gu) (Yeo Jin-goo), a humanoid robot who is programmed to be in love with his one and only girlfriend, appears in her life. ... In the end, My Absolute Boyfriend is about the love with a robot who is humane and unstinting.

#절대 그이 #my absolute boyfriend #show #korean #korea #pending #subbed #absolute #boyfriend #bf

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mymileshinesmile · 5 years

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Meeting someone and saying goodbye can be decided… by brief choices and chance. (Absolute Boyfriend)

#absolute boyfriend #my absolute boyfriend #kdrama #quotes #절대 그이

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marriedtothescreen · 5 years

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New Series - My Absolute Boyfriend

youtube

SBS brings us the long awaited Korean adaptation of My Absolute Boyfriend (절대 그이). A young woman down on love receives by accident a life-like “love robot”. Trapped in a love triangle between this robot and her ex she learns what love can really be.

Da-Da (Bang Min-Ah) is a special effects makeup artist who has been secretly dating now star actor Wang-Joon (Hong Jong-Hyun) for seven years since before his debut. Now successful he wishes to leave Da-Da and breaks her heart. Meanwhile robot trainer Bo-Won (Choi Sung-Wan) kidnaps his trainee from the love robot company when he finds out he will go to an abusive owner who damages them (Hong Seo-Young). He secretly swaps him with a package meant for Da-Da who is expecting a special effects dummy. Da-Da opens the package and the extremely handsome robot (Yeo Jin-Goo) falls on her and they end up kissing which wakes him and programs him to be her perfect boyfriend. Working a deal with Bo-Won, she agrees to look after him even though she is not interested in a love robot but as he grows on her and issues with her ex arise will her feelings change?

After watching the original Japanese version as well as the Taiwanese one a few years ago I was so excited when they announced they’d be making a Korean version. Yeo Jin-Goo was a perfect choice for the robot Young-Goo. As an actor he pulls of the sweet innocence of being fresh into the real world very well as well as the sometimes corny romantic moments his programming tells him works with women. I am enjoying the storyline about how our main lead was secretly dating this famous actor so she herself couldn’t ever express her love publicly leaving an opening for her heart to explore with the robot. Overall this is a story I’ve already been in love with and it seems the Korean version will not disappoint. Airing on Wednesdays and Thursdays in Korea, subtitled episodes can be found on Viki.

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iamgoodat · 3 years

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2021년 1월 결산 ❷

하이 저는 지금 외할머니 집이구 제 유딩시절 XXXX를 만났습니다 헤헷콩 오랜만에 봤는데 진짜 그대로라서 좀 웃겼삼 ㅋㅋ 어쨋든요 スタート -!!

1월을 맞이해서 인강을 결제했습니다 메가패스랑 유대종 T 패스를 끊었는데 유대종 인강을 하나도 안 들었습니다 그저 불효녀 ㅋㅋ 근데 듣고 싶은 생각은 또 없습니다 해야될 것 같긴 한데 하기는 싫음 큭큭 그리구 계획표도 작성했어요 보면 알겠지만... 절대 지키지 못 할 시간표^^ 쓰면서도 절대 못 지키겠군 했는데 진짜 단 하루도 못 지켰읍니다 이런~;ㅋㅋ 이제부터 열심히 하께~~~

고먐미도 보러다녔습니다 얘 야구장 고양이인데 애교 지림 딱 들어가면 고양이 털 엄청 묻고 나옴 글구 담이를 계속 못 봤는데 오랜만에 가니까 경계하더라고요 ㅋㅋ... 내 업보다...... 미안하다......... 아 맞다 담이 새끼 낳았어요 드디어!!

1번 사진 보고 갑자기 비행기가 너무너무 타고 싶어져서 또 비행기 표 알아보고 일본 브이로그 뒤져봄 ㅠㅠ 여행이랑 비행기가 너무 좋은데 어떡하죠 알고보면 난 스튜디어스가 천직이었을지도...ㅋ(농~담 ㅋㅋ 학원도 열심히는 아니지만 다니긴 했습니다 1월 내내 아임에서 재시 안 걸린 적이 없음 이것두 레전드긴 해 수학은... 그냥 얼레벌레 잡생각 엄청 하면서 시간 보냈어요 공부하고 싶은 마음이 없나봅니다

네일 받고 싶어서 디자인 엄청 찾아보고 다녔습니다 엄지가 깨지는 바람에 무산되었지만요... 이제 좀 길어서 다시 찾아볼려고요 히히 파우더 네일이나 물방울처럼 올라간 네일이 이쁘더라구 근데 할 거면 아마 깔끔하게 단색으로 할 것 같습니다 하... 귀찮아서 할 수는 있을까...ㅋ

이 날은 엄마 아빠 결혼기념일이라고 둘이 제주도 갔던 날입니다 안방에서 엄마아빠 침대 차지하고 혼자 잤어 ㅎㅎ 사진만 봐도 신난게 느껴짐 셀카도 갈겨놨던데 다시보니 별로라서 안 들고왔어요 이 날도 포타 존나 읽고 늦게 잠! 하루가 아니라 일주일이었으면 좋았을텐데 앙앙

1월엔 친구도 많이 만났습니다 은빈이랑 서형이 집 가서 밥 먹구... 가연이랑 오원이랑 만나서 피자도 먹구... 이과 셋에 문과 하나로 뭐도 먹고 그랫읍니다. 이 날 대노 (not 극대노) 했는데요 어쨌든 즐거웠으니 됐습니다 1월엔 유독 친구들 생일이 많았는데요 혜진이 은빈이 오원이 가연이 시은이 서영이 그리고 그이... ㅋㅋ 거기에다 부모님 결혼기념일까지 있으니까 미치는 줄 알았습니다 오원아 받고 싶은 거 말해라 이가연은 딱 기다리쉐이 돈 받음@! ㅋㅋ 어쨌든 사진은 시은이 생일 케이크 주문한 건데요 저는 밑에 디자인이 사진으로 봤을 때 더 마음에 들었는데 배시은은 뭔가 너무 귀여운 거 안 좋아할 것 같아서 위에 디자인도 같이 주문했었거든요 근데 딱 보더니 자기도 밑에 디자인이 더 낫다길래 두 개 주문하길 다행이다... 했었죠 어쨌든 모든 1월생 친구들아 생일 축하했었어 히히

1월 결산 ❸으로 돌아오겠습니다 (˙ᵕ˙)ᰔ

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