From "Boys Over Flower" To Another

Ready for another manga remake?

After the unbelievable popularity of 2008’s “Boys Over Flowers” remake, rumor has it that South Korea will take on another classic Japanese manga with a cult following: “Absolute Boyfriend.“
Here the plot: Riiko, a lonely high school student (again?), ignorantly designs an “absolute boyfriend” on a website and orders him, thinking that everything is a silly game. When her order surprisingly arrives the next morning, she follows the instructions manual and kisses him in order to, well, turn him on. And to avoid paying a fortune for her absolute boyfriend, whom she names “Night,” she agrees to help the company conduct research on women’s attitudes towards men (to perfect future absolute boyfriend models). As the story progresses, Night begins to feel human emotion and care for Riiko. Unfortunately, a love triangle come into play with Riiko’s childhood friend Soshi. On top of all this, Night is a robot and Riiko is still in high school.

True, sounds childish. However, the quirky story may make for some funny comedy. According to the rumor mill, iconic bombshell Jun Ji-hyun is set to make her first drama comeback in 10 years as the stylish 30 year old version of Riiko for the new series. An insider for the production commented, “We understand that for a long while, Jun Ji-hyun has been carefully preparing to take a role in a Korean drama. We are working out the details of her casting, and hope for a positive result.” Nothing’s been set in stone as of yet, but do you want to see a Korean remake of “Absolute Boyfriend”?

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Jeon Ji-hyun considers Korean remake of Zettai Kareshi

This is not finalized (so take with a grain of salt), but Jeon Ji-hyun’s potential drama comeback just may come in the Korean adaptation of Japanese manga Absolute Boyfriend, aka Zettai Kareshi. The kdrama will be directed by PD Kim Min-shik of Queen of Housewives and Before and After: Plastic Surgery.

Jeon Ji-hyun is currently busy surveying projects to finalize her decision, and the Zettai remake is reportedly a strong contender. (It had considered casting U-Know Yunho at one point, who moved on to Heading to the Ground instead.) A source with the production said, “We understand that for a long while, Jeon Ji-hyun has been carefully preparing to take a role in a Korean drama. We are working out the details of her casting, and hope for a positive result.”

In the original fantasy-romance manga, a girl accidentally gets a made-to-order boyfriend android from a website, only to find out that she has to pay an exorbitant amount to keep him — unless she helps the company conduct research to improve future models. She must then hide his non-human status from others, and he starts to develop human emotions.

In the kdrama version, the lead is not a teenager but a 30-year-old woman who is a stylist at a beauty salon without any clients. She is betrayed by her first love who becomes an overnight success as a movie star. Feeling the sting, she orders up her ideal man in robot form, aka her “absolute boyfriend.”

Absolute Boyfriend will be a 16-episode drama to air on MBC either at the end of this year or in early 2010. If she decides on the drama, it will be Jeon Ji-hyun’s first in ten years, since 1999’s Happy Together. After seeing such a lot of the same old kdramas airing one after another, this plot sounds like a refreshing change.

(Of course, the big question — aside from whether Jeon will sign on — is: Who plays the perfect manbot?? My wishlist: Kim Kang-woo or Gong Yoo!)

via dramabeans

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