Absolute Darling

Cast

Note: Characters' names displayed as "in-drama Taiwanese name / original Japanese name"

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, starring singer-actor Wu Chun as "Night" and Korean actress Ku Hye-sun as "Riiko." On May 3, 2011, Jiro Wang replaced fellow Fahrenheit band member Wu Chun as the male lead of the drama series. The series premiered on April 1, 2012 on FTV.

Broadcast

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

Source：China Times