Review: Zettai Kareshi

Summary
Alternative Titles: 絶対彼氏。, Absolute Boyfriend
Genre: Romance, comedy
Episodes: 11
Broadcast: Apr. - Jun. 2008
Starring:

• Hayami Mokomichi as Tenjo Night
• Mizushima Hiro as Asamoto Soshi
• Aibu Saki as Izawa Riiko

Kronos Heaven, a robot maker, develops “Tenjo Night”, a robot programmed to be the perfect boyfriend. The company finds a temp office worker named Izawa Riiko and realizes that she’s the perfect person to test the new robot on. Kronos Heaven gives her a free 5-day trail, but Riiko only sees Night as an appliance.

Interesting Fact
Zettai Kareshi is based on the manga of the same name, but the two are very different. For example, in the manga, Riiko is a school girl and Soshi is her childhood friend. In the drama, Riiko is an adult working at a pastry company and Soshi is her boss.

Review
I expected that this was going to be a good drama. I’ve read a couple of Yuu Watase mangas before, but I’ve never read Zettai Kareshi. Nevertheless, I thought this going to be a fun drama to watch. After finishing the series, it was actually a bit better than I first thought.

The number one thing I liked about this drama was the story. I thought it was very original, but more importantly, it was well-paced. Nearly every episode ended with a cliff-hanger to keep you tuned and I didn’t feel like there were any downright boring scenes. In other words, every episode had something to offer to keep your attention. I also thought the character development was done very well done. The series does a great job showing how Riiko grows closer to Night. In addition, the acting was good. Aibu Saki is perfect for the role. As for Hayami Mokomichi, I think he did an alright job portraying a robot, though its hard to critique someone who’s playing a robot since robots aren’t suppose to have emotions.

I had only had two major annoyances. The first episode introduced a co-worker at Riiko’s workplace who Riiko had a crush on. However, at the end of the episode, he just disappears from the series and he’s never seen again in any other episode. This left the story kind of unfinished at the end of episode one. Also, the last episode was a bit weaker than I thought. The main conflict with Night was resolved very early on, so most of the episode was more like an epilogue and it was slow-placed compared to the other episodes. But anyhow, the ending was good.


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Pros

• Story was well-paced
• Cliff-hangers keep you watching
• Character development was excellent
• Acting was good

Cons

• Story in first episode was a bit unfinished
• Last episode was weaker than I thought
• Special effects were terrible

Recommendation
Most J-drama fans will get plenty of enjoyment from this drama. I recommend you to watch at least three episodes before deciding whether you want to continue.

Rating: 8.7/10

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