Apr 16 2008
Zettai Kareshi - 01
Woohoo it’s 
finally here! So I was really excited for the manga to finally be turned into a jdrama, however there is a mass amount of changes that have been made. Do I care? Well not really. Actually I’m kind of enjoying it despite all this. Some changes are good some are bad but overall the “skeleton” of the plot has remained the same. Actually come to think of it this is basically the girl version of Weird Science and it takes place in Japan instead of America. 
Alright so let’s begin with the cast. Our heroine Riko is played by Aibu Saki, Night is played by Hayami Mokomichi and Soshi by Mizushima Hiro (who looks like MatsuJun without the moles.)
The story focuses on Riko, who is actually now basically 10 years later working as an OL. The good news about this change is it’s no longer illegal to cast some 16 year old and have an older bishie try to ask for sex from a minor. At least now it’s legal and I’m down with that. Since Riko is an OL, she lives alone in an apartment which doesn’t allow her to live with a boyfriend…as opposed to because of the fact that she’s 16 and still lives with her parents. She works at a cake making company and does typical OL duties (delivering cake samples, preparing meetings etc.)
Now let’s move on to Night and friends. Night is hot. Hayami Mokomichi was the best casting they could do 
But you know what’s not hot? Namikiri Gaku. He’s played by Sasaki Kuranosuke who’s a wrinkled old fart. Last time I watched a drama with him was M no Higeki where he played a bad guy so meh. So basically you got this fugly old fart offering Riko a “new life” or whatever. The other difference is, we get to see all the other “faces” of the company Gaku works in - while in the manga we don’t see them till the end…and actually the joke in the manga is that the company owners are all little kids…but here it’s a bunch of old farts. Ah well I guess they can’t translate everything to real life, although that would have been awesome.
In regards to the guy who Riko liked, it seemed like she had a crush on him the whole episode - rather than getting dumped right off the bat. It’s okay though since they used it as a good point to show that Night will come to Riko’s rescue in any situation (just like how he runs through traffic to get the new cakes for the cake show that got stuck in traffic and could have caused Riko her job - even though it was not her fault.) Riko’s “friend” who I think if I recall was her best friend in the manga is portrayed here as merely a co-worker. She didn’t seem that “best friendy” to me, but off the bat my bitch radar went off. Needless to say the drama didn’t slow down at letting us know that she only is interested in things that belong to others - particularly men. 
(Whore!)
Finally we have Soshi. Talk about a 180 degree character change! In the manga Soshi was this studios childhood friend with glasses who always took care of Riko. He was strict and she’d often go to him to help her study but deep down inside he’s always had a crush on her. (There’s more to this but I guess I’ll talk about it as the episodes air.) However in the drama he’s a careless manwhore who’s got hoes calling his number 24/7, even during his job! During episode 1 he takes interest in Riko and by the end of the episode he also takes interest in her home made cream puffs. Oh well I’m not too thrilled about his character, but hopefully they can work with what they created to turn him into someone likeable.
So basically the plot of episode 1 is kinda like how the manga goes. Riko gives Night his name and forgets about the guy who betrayed her. That guy of course gets dumped by Riko’s “friend” (I forgot her name but she’s just a dumb slut anyway) and I’m sure she’ll be going after Night sooner rather than later. The ending theme is cute but I’m not really into the song, not my style I guess. I like how they all build the cute little heart and then little balloons fly out of the boxes. 
I’m not sure when the raws for this will be posted but for now I’ll put it on the schedule for Tuesday since it’s a dead day anyway.
Upcoming Attractions: Night vs Soshi!
Tags: exciting!, ittadakimasu!, kissing, romance, work, you bitch!
22 Responses to “Zettai Kareshi - 01”
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What? How come I didn’t know about this? I can’t believe I didn’t know about this j-drama… i fail as a fan of the manga… orz
I didn’t read the whole thing because I don’t want to get spoiled, but at least Night is being played by someone hot.
*goes off to download it
I can’t support this. Haven’t you watched the public service announcement? DON’T DATE ROBOTS.
Seriously though, the final outcome pissed me off in so many ways.
Soushi = Hiro.
Huh. He had glasses, right? Anyways, I wonder how this’ll go, since she’s older now and it doesn’t feel as freaky to have a robot boyfriend (blowup doll).
finally a drama we don’t have to gauge our eyes out with…..
will check it out…for anyone else interested, the ever awesome SARS will sub this drama
John> Eh? But I liked it
Oh well must be a girl thing 
Shannon> Yes he did, the Soushi in the drama is completely different than Soushi in the manga.
Scheris> pfft didnt you read my spring drama preview post XD
akon> Yes indeed, Night is eye candy
woohoo! man, it’s been so long since I’ve read the manga I only have vague memories of ‘em now xD
it’s nice to know that they chose the right cast for this
I did read it but I forgot about it. I suppose this is what not sleeping does does to you. XD
Tch, now I have to wait until after school to watch it.
The lesser crime of the perfect robot boyfriend winning could be overlooked. The major crime of the loser coming back as kind of a permanent rebound is what I didn’t like.
At least it was more realistic than say Chobits…where the guy ends up with the robot for the rest of his life, I mean seriously wtf?
I’ve not seen any J Dramas since Galileo, and I’m always open to recommendations. Looks good, hope someone *cough*SARS*cough* picks it up.
Welll I didn’t like Chobits either
My problem isn’t about realism, it’s about how the nice guy who was rejected comes back to the girl who rejected him and becomes her emotional crutch after the guy who will always remain first in her heart disappears (or in this case dies). That this is portrayed as some sort of positive development probably is a girl thing, but from my perspective he’s become nothing more than a glorified cuddlebitch.
The only JDrama I’ve ever managed to finish is One Litre of Tears and this other show I forgot. Never got passed episode 2 of Honey and Clover, Hana Kimi I simply got bored of and Hana Yori Dango made me sleepy.
Wow, it’s a jdrama? Although it’s not animated(
), I enjoyed the manga, especially the Riko-Mika(her best friend) arc; lot of interesting drama IMO. For a shoujo series, it’s darker and more serious than the norm.
I’m intrigued…..
I hated the honey & clover drama lol but I managed to watch through all of it!
gee they change soushi’s character a lot from the manga. Well, I’ve never been to big a fan of j-dramas as it the only 2 I’ve ever attempted to watch ended up seeming too cartoony in their attempts to be like the anime.
I really love the ending theme! I can´t unterstand why nobody likes it!
Well, I’ve read a total of ten skipping chapters of this in Shoujo Beat… I don’t really know the story that much except for the gist of it all. But I was looking forward to it because this is a Yuu Watase work who I worshipped a couple of years ago - but after I watched the Fushigi Yuugi OVAs, she kinda fell out of favor.
I remember that SARS made this annoucnement before that they are considering subbing this. I hope it will come soon!
What! how could they butcher Soshi’s respectable character like that…I was always rooting for him in the manga…grr! He always got overlooked by Riko because he was a “nice guy” and like family… It’ll be a strange change because now he’d be “popular” so why would Riko overlook him like she did in the manga?
It was weird to me in the manga there was no real achilles’ heel to having a robot boyfriend. Like..uh…how about he totally loves you all the time but one hour a week he uh, blitzes out and destroys your stuff.
It was like Soshi vs Night at the Robot-freaking-Olympics. Winner takes Riiko. Soshi, quick, jump five stories to save Riiko! (thud)
Oh, and to watching all of Honey and Clover… (slowly stands up and starts applauding)
u can watch this drama on mysoju.com
its awesome.if u havent watched it,id really recommend u
Does anyone know whats the title and the singer who sang the ending song???????or does anyone have that song?
If u have it,may u pls send it to me?lananhmai@seznam.cz
ill appreciate it
and thanx in advance
Mai>> The theme song by Ayaka, Okaeri, will be released some time in mid-May. U gotta rip it if u want it before this release date.
Hopefully they’ll sort out all the wacky bits in ep 1 and fix it in ep 2. After all, its rating went up (from 13 to 14%, I think).
If I may predict…
Typically, Soshi will turn out to be a gentle guy at heart, and will fit the original image. He’s pretty intelligent too (he remembered what Riiko muttered bout the cake despite being on the phone).