Absolute Darling
| Absolute Darling | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for Absolute Darling | |
| Also known as | 絕對達令 |
| Genre | Romance |
| Based on |
Absolute Boyfriend by Yuu Watase |
| Directed by | Liu jun Jie (劉俊傑) |
| Starring |
Jiro Wang Ku Hye-sun Kun Da |
| Opening theme | "Mr. Perfect" by Fahrenheit |
| Ending theme | "假装我们没爱过" (Pretend We Have Never Loved) by Jiro Wang |
| Country of origin | Taiwan |
| Original language(s) | Mandarin |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Wang Xin Gui (王信貴) |
| Location(s) | Taiwan |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Production company(s) | GTV |
| Release | |
| Original network | FTV, GTV |
| Picture format | NTSC |
| First shown in | Taiwan |
| Original release | 8 April – 1 July 2012 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Once Upon a Love |
| Related shows | Zettai Kareshi |
| External links | |
| GTV official website | |
| Absolute Darling | |||||
| Chinese name | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 絕對達令 | ||||
| Simplified Chinese | 绝对达令 | ||||
| |||||
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kana | 絶対彼氏 | ||||
| |||||
Absolute Darling (simplified Chinese: 绝对达令; traditional Chinese: 絕對達令) is a Taiwanese romance drama television series based on the original manga novel Absolute Boyfriend by Yuu Watase. Jiro Wang, member of Taiwanese boy band Fahrenheit played Night Tenjo's role while South Korean actress Ku Hye-sun played Riiko Izawa.[1][2][3]
Cast
Note: Characters' names displayed as "in-drama Taiwanese name / original Japanese name"
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Jiro Wang | Wan Naite (萬奈特) / Night Tenjo |
| Ku Hye-sun Chien Shih-Yin (young) | Guan Xiaofei (官筱菲) / Riiko Izawa |
| Hsieh Kun Da | Yan Zongshi (嚴宗史) / Soushi Asamoto |
| Uei Hsun-Na | Lei Wuwu (雷霧霧) / Gaku Namikiri |
| Cherry Hsia | Luo Meijia (羅美佳) / Mika Ito |
| Tsai Han-Tsen | Fang Zhixi (方智希) / Satori Miyabe |
| Im Jun-yeong | SKY |
| Bi Xiao-Hai | Jiang Baiqi (江白奇) / Yuki Shirasaki |
| Shiou Chieh-Kai | Jiang Junshu (江俊樹) / Toshiki Shirasaki |
| David Chen | Shi Lun (石綸) / Ishizeki |
Plot
Guan Xiaofei, an ordinary office worker, is disheartened when she once again gets rejected by a man she loves, Shi Lun. While walking through a park, Xiaofei picks up a cellphone dropped by an eccentric salesman, Lei Wuwu. In return for retrieving the phone, Wuwu gives Xiaofei a website address dedicated to the "Absolute Darling" project. Still skeptical, Xiaofei decides to fill up her order anyway and requests her own "darling", codenamed "Nightly 01" with hundreds of wish fulfillment. Xiaofei is surprised when Kronos Heaven, the company that Wuwu works for, delivers Nightly 01 the next day, and is even more flabbergasted when Nightly 01 turns out be a hyper-realistic, human-like male sex robot whose power activation requires a kiss. Despite his function as a sex robot, however, Xiaofei refuses the offer for sex and instead wants the robot, whom she names "Wan Naite", to be her boyfriend.
However, Xiaofei is informed that after three days of trial period, Xiaofei has to buy the robot for NT$100,000,000. Attempt to search for work at a club goes unfounded when Naite reacts violently in seeing Xiaofei becoming harassed, so instead Naite applies for a job at Xiaofei's office. His unusual attachment to Xiaofei becomes a sensation at the office and attracts the attention of Xiaofei's friend, Luo Meijia, who is revealed to be the one stopping Xiaofei from having a boyfriend, since she intentionally spread rumors about the latter's infidelity to all the men she is close with, including Shi Lun. At a company retreat, Meijia tries to sabotage Xiaofei and attracts Naite's attention, but her plans are unsuccessful and she herself later quits the office in humiliation when everyone discovers her true nature. At the same time, Naite also incites jealousy on the part of Yan Zongshi, a childhood friend of Xiaofei who has long been in love with her.
Wuwu later tells Xiaofei that she does not need to pay for the original price, but instead she merely has to pay for Naite's service costs as well as recording all emotions to be displayed in Naite's emotion ring: calm (white), happy (red), pleasure (pink), upset (blue), sad (black), and an increased libido (yellow). To earn more money, Naite works at a club servicing female customers, though this only makes Xiaofei jealous. One of Naite's customers is Meijia, who kisses him, causing his allegiance to switch to her due to his simple programming. Despite this, though, the fact that he still remembers Xiaofei makes Wuwu realize that there is still hope for him to return to Xiaofei, who then goes through a swimming challenge to finally be able to kiss Naite back, a task that she is successful with.
Agitated with the hard road for libido, Wuwu arranges for Xiaofei and Naite to have a honeymoon at a private island, to no avail due to Zongshi's appearance. Kronos Heaven's leader, Jiang Baiqi, also sends another model, Nightly 02 under the name Xiaofei's childhood friend, Jiang Junshu, to steal Naite's place in Xiaofei's heart, which ends in Naite's pyrrhic victory, resulting in him having to be sent to Kronos Heaven to be scrapped. Nevertheless, Naite works his way to Xiaofei and defeats a doppelganger sent in his place for Xiaofei. Realizing that he has grown beyond his programming, Baiqi decides to let him go. Afterward, Naite finally consummates his relationship with Xiaofei.
However, it is revealed that due to developing his own will, Naite is slowly dying from battery failure. Despite this, he does not tell Xiaofei and continues to make her happy in the days before his "death", all the while asking Zongshi to take care of Xiaofei once he is not around. In the final episode, Xiaofei and Naite arranges for a wedding, where Naite finally shuts down, much to Xiaofei's grief.
Production
It was announced at a press conference on October 5, 2010 that a live-action adaptation of Absolute Boyfriend will be filmed,[4] starring singer-actor Wu Chun as "Night" and Korean actress Ku Hye-sun as "Riiko."[5] On May 3, 2011, Jiro Wang replaced fellow Fahrenheit band member Wu Chun as the male lead of the drama series.[6] The series premiered on April 1, 2012 on FTV.
Broadcast
| Channel | Country | Debut date | Finale date | Broadcast date & time | Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTV |  Taiwan | 8 April 2012 | Sundays, 9.40pm | ||
| GTV | Taiwan | 14 April 2012 | Saturdays, 10.30pm | ||
| MediaCorp Channel U |  Singapore | 8 April 2012 | Sundays, 9.30pm | ||
| ABS-CBN |  Philippines | 24 June 2013 | 16 August 2013 | Monday-Friday, 5:00pm | |
| Channel 7 |  Thailand | 4 May 2016 | 23 June 2016 | Wednesday-Fraidy, 1.10am |
This is the first GTV idol drama to air in Singapore first before its premiere in Taiwan, although the Singapore broadcast didn't include bloopers/behind the scenes.
Reception
| Episode | Original Broadcast Date | Average | Rank | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 April 2012 | 1.00 | 5 | This includes bloopers. |
| 2 | 15 April 2012 | 0.91 | 5 | |
| 3 | 22 April 2012 | 0.92 | 5 | |
| 4 | 29 April 2012 | 0.76 | 3 | |
| 5 | 6 May 2012 | 0.67 | 3 | |
| 6 | 13 May 2012 | 0.67 | 3 | |
| 7 | 20 May 2012 | 0.64 | 3 | |
| 8 | 27 May 2012 | 0.70 | 2 | |
| 9 | 3 June 2012 | 0.58 | 4 | |
| 10 | 10 June 2012 | 0.60 | 3 | |
| 11 | 17 June 2012 | 0.81 | 2 | |
| 12 | 24 June 2012 | 0.66 | 3 | |
| 13 | 1 July 2012 | 0.86 | 3 | |
| Average | 0.75 | - | ||
Source：China Times
Ratings (Philippines)
| Date | Episode | Nationwide (Kantar Media) | Mega Manila (AGB Nielsen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 24, 2013 | 01 | 8.9% | 8.3% |
| June 25, 2013 | 02 | 10.4% | 8.7% |
| June 26, 2013 | 03 | 10.8% | 8.3% |
| June 27, 2013 | 04 | 10.8% | 8.4% |
| June 28, 2013 | 05 | 11.5% | 7.9% |
| July 1, 2013 | 06 | 9.9% | 7.7% |
| July 2, 2013 | 07 | 11.5% | 7.0% |
| July 3, 2013 | 08 | 12.2% | 8.7% |
| July 4, 2013 | 09 | 11.7% | 8.6% |
| July 5, 2013 | 10 | 10.9% | 8.1% |
| July 8, 2013 | 11 | 10.7% | 7.6% |
| July 9, 2013 | 12 | 9.5% | 8.1% |
| July 10, 2013 | 13 | 11.1% | 7.1% |
| July 11, 2013 | 14 | 11.7% | 7.1% |
| July 12, 2013 | 15 | 11.2% | 7.8% |
| July 15, 2013 | 16 | 12.0% | 7.8% |
| July 16, 2013 | 17 | 12.5% | 8.0% |
| July 17, 2013 | 18 | 11.1% | 8.9% |
| July 18, 2013 | 19 | 9.9% | 7.3% |
| July 19, 2013 | 20 | 12.3% | 9.4% |
| July 23, 2013 | 21 | 12.4% | 10.2% |
| July 24, 2013 | 22 | 11.5% | 7.8% |
| July 25, 2013 | 23 | 10.6% | 6.1% |
| July 26, 2013 | 24 | 12.3% | 8.5% |
| July 29, 2013 | 25 | 10.3% | 9.6% |
| July 30, 2013 | 26 | 9.8% | 7.0% |
| July 31, 2013 | 27 | 12.5% | 9.7% |
| August 1, 2013 | 28 | 11.2% | 8.0% |
| August 2, 2013 | 29 | 11.4% | 9.3% |
| August 5, 2013 | 30 | 11.1% | 9.9% |
| August 6, 2013 | 31 | 12.1% | 7.7% |
| August 7, 2013 | 32 | 11.9% | 8.7% |
| August 8, 2013 | 33 | 11.6% | 7.3% |
| August 9, 2013 | 34 | 11.3% | 7.0% |
| August 12, 2013 | 35 | 14.0% | 11.0% |
| August 13, 2013 | 36 | 11.6% | 9.4% |
| August 14, 2013 | 37 | 11.1% | 9.7% |
| August 15, 2013 | 38 | 9.8% | 8.0% |
| August 16, 2013 | 39 | 11.7% | 10.4% |
| Average | 11.5% | 8.6% | |
References
- ↑ Lee, Gyeong-Ho (8 March 2012). "Ku Hye Sun appearing in pink pajamas in a Taiwanese drama series Absolute Darling". Star News. Retrieved 2012-05-01.
- ↑ Sunwoo, Carla (10 March 2012). "Ku Hye-sun to star in magic world with custom-order boyfriends". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2012-05-01.
- ↑ Choi, Eun-hwa (24 April 2012). "Author of Absolute Boyfriend Comic Applauds Gu Hye Sun′s Acting". enewsWorld. Retrieved 2012-05-01.
- ↑ "吳尊當機器人男友 與具惠善譜戀曲". The Epoch Times (in Chinese). 6 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-22.
- ↑ "吳尊具惠善《絕對達令》現場照公開 吳尊王子很帥". CRI Online (in Chinese). 22 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-22.
- ↑ "汪東城難甩背後靈 聞吳尊一派恍神". Apple Daily (in Chinese). 3 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-03.
External links
- GTV official homepage (Chinese)
- FTV official homepage (Chinese)