Line #28 Manga/AbsoluteBoyfriend


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13	[[quoteright:346:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b9900a59907410_full_5197.jpg]]
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15	What do you get when you [[GenderFlip swap the traditional roles]] of a MagicalGirlfriend series? A Magical ''Boyfriend'' series, of course! ''Absolute Boyfriend'', or ''Zettai Kareshi'', is a piece-of-fluff series by Creator/YuuWatase (of ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' fame) in which the lead girl -- Riiko Izawa -- gets her very own handsome dream guy... whom she orders over the Internet!
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17	Riiko is a fairly average girl, a sort of female UnluckyEverydude (Everydame?). She has had all of her professions of love rejected, and is completely oblivious to the fact that she is loved by [[ChildhoodFriendRomance the boy next door]], who always teases her. One day, after lamenting yet another rejection, she finds a cellphone which she returns to its owner - salesman who offers to sell her all sorts of things. When he asks her what she really wants, she tells him all she wants is a boyfriend.
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19	So the salesman gives Riiko a web address for a site which offers a free trial of a "figure" which she assumes to be some sort of sex doll. She goes ahead and orders one, but when it shows up, it is freakishly realistic and good looking... and naked. When she kisses it, it awakens and is clearly besotted with her. She's freaked out about this at first (it, or he, thinks she wants to have sex with him... but fully respects it when she says "no"), but soon realizes he is the perfect guy. She names him Night, because he's part of the Nightly Series of figures.
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21	He's only a free trial though, and she was supposed to give him back after three days; however, time runs out, and she is told she owes Night's creators $1,000,000! Luckily for her, she is able to persuade the salesman she met in the first place to let her repay them by teaching Night "everything about girls" instead (he's a prototype) and by forking over what money she does have. Thus, Night joins Riiko's class as Night Tenjou, and ''Absolute Boyfriend'' begins!
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23	Yes it isn't exactly deep, but as [[WordOfGod Yuu Watase said]], it was never meant to be.
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25	For a same basic story with a gender-swap, see ''Manga/Yuria100Shiki''. For a not quite similar plot, but genderswapped, see ''Manga/{{Chobits}}''.
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27	The manga originally ran from 2003 to 2005 in ''Shoujo Comic''. Though there is no anime for the series, it has been adapted into an 11-episode Japanese TV drama in 2008 that was followed by a special in 2009, as well as a Taiwanese drama adaptation in 2012. A 36-episode KoreanDrama adaptation aired in 2019.
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29	!!This show provides examples of:
30	* ACupAngst: Riiko complains much about her flat chest in the beginning, which is, she's convinced, why boys aren't interested. Of course, she's oblivious to how Soushi feels, and it's later revealed that [[spoiler: Mika was sabotaging all of Riiko's previous confessions from behind the scenes.]]
31	* AdaptationalHeroism: In the Japanese TV adaptation, [[spoiler: Mika eventually has a HeelRealization and mends her friendship with Riiko. It helps that Riiko never realizes the full extent of what Mika did to her and thus is merely confused, rather than upset, after her true colors are revealed]].
32	* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Soushi and his brother's personalities are reversed in the Japanese TV series, with Soushi as the careless and playful one, and his brother as the serious and responsible one. To help highlight their change, Soushi is now light-haired, while his brother is black-haired (and bespectacled).
33	* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: In the Japanese TV adaptation, Riiko and Soushi are not childhood friends, instead being coworkers who meet at an important excursion. This conveniently removes the original manga's WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief of Riiko being totally oblivious to Soushi's advances until his confession, since in the adaptation, both of them fall in love at roughly the same time.
34	* AgeLift: In both live-action TV adaptations, the setting was changed from high school to office, and the cast was upgraded from being teenagers to young adults. In the case of Miyabe, her counterpart went further and became a middle-aged woman.
35	* AnatomicallyImpossibleSex: Parodied. When Gaku Namikiri says Night can "fire off" thirty rounds in one night, an arrow points to the speech bubble and says "death to mortals."
36	* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Soushi, after [[spoiler: learning the truth about Night]], gives one to Riiko.
37	* BettyAndVeronica: An unusual example in that although Soushi is Riiko's childhood friend, he is undoubtedly more standoffish and a {{Tsundere}} than Night, who is the sweet and reliable love interest. Plus, Night has blond hair, while Soushi has black hair. [[spoiler:In the end, although Riiko chooses Night, the latter's death implies that Soushi is going to be the winner at the end.]]
38	%%* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Mika.]]
39	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Night dies, but not before he and Riiko finally consummate their love. A few months later, Soushi also returns and it is implied that he is going to end up with Riiko after all.]]
40	* BreakingTheFourthWall: One chapter in the manga begins with Soushi cooking dinner, then completely sidelines him to focus on Night and Riiko's developing relationship. At the end of the chapter Soushi angrily looks up demands "Am I going to do anything in this chapter besides COOK?!"
41	* CatGirl: Riiko has to dress as one for a job.
42	* CelebrityParadox: PlayedForLaughs. In one of the earlier episodes of the Taiwanese series, Xiaofei dreams of becoming as gorgeous as Korean actress Ku Hye-sun. Said Ku Hye-sun is the actress playing Xiaofei.
43	%%* ChildhoodFriendRomance: The boy next door, Soushi.
44	* ClarkKenting: For whatever reason, Riiko does not recognize Soushi when he isn't wearing glasses and has to be pointed out. Yes, the same Soushi with whom she is best friends since childhood.
45	* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler:Night dies and Riiko is implied to end up together with Soushi.]]
46	* DistantFinale: [[spoiler:The last half of the final chapter is set several months after Night's death. The TV special of the Japanese adaptation, which serves as the true finale, is set a few years after Riiko and Soushi's transfer to France to begin internship as pastry chefs.]]
47	%%* FalseFriend: [[spoiler: Mika.]]
48	* [[FirstGirlWins First Guy Wins]]: Soushi is the first guy introduced with feelings for Riiko. It ends up being [[spoiler: a subversion when Riiko chooses Night]], but then when [[spoiler: Night 'dies', Soushi comes back into the picture and will most likely end up with Riiko after all]].
49	* ForeignRemake: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvjn2GeGhe0 In Taiwan!]]
50	* FreudianExcuse: In the original manga and the Japanese adaptation, [[spoiler: Mika sabotaging Riiko's chance to have a boyfriend]] is mostly driven by petty jealousy. The Taiwanese adaptation gives a stronger reason: [[spoiler: in the past, Xiaofei once inadvertently humiliated Meijia in the workplace, which costed her a promotion.]]
51	%%* GenderFlip: Get used to it.
52	* GenkiGirl: Riiko: she has a lot of energy, and often uses it up on big reactions. Soushi even says that one of her most endearing traits is her cheerfulness.
53	* TheGlassesGottaGo: When Riiko meets Soushi without his glasses she ''doesn't recognize him'', but proceeds to think "Who's the hunk?" He only wears contacts when working however.
54	* GratuitousSpanish: Gaku, and also Night when his speech functions malfunction.
55	%%* HadakaApron: Night once.
56	* HeroicRRoD: [[spoiler:After Riiko and Night have sex, Night starts to get tired fast and constantly sleeps. Gaku mentions once to Riiko that she was making him do more than he was programmed to do, so sex on top of his experience as a boyfriend before that moment probably made him wear out faster than usual.]]
57	* HypocriticalHumor: When Night enters school and is introduced as Night Tenjou, Riiko thinks what an [[SarcasmMode imaginative name]] the Kronos Heaven company came up with ([[DontExplainTheJoke Ten being written with the kanji for heaven]]). This coming from ''Riiko'' who called him Night because he's part of the ''night''ly series.
58	* TheIdiotFromOsaka: Osaka-ben speaking Gaku Namikiri, who achieves a hat trick of Osaka associations: business (he's a salesman), comic relief (many, many times) and octopus (he's heir to his family's takoyaki stand). However, it's worth noting that Yuu Watase herself is from Osaka, so it also works as an AffectionateParody of the stereotypes.
59	* IJustWantToBeLoved: At one point, Riiko agrees with Soushi that maybe she never really wanted a boyfriend, just someone to be there for her when she felt lonely since her parents are barely ever at home.
60	* ImprobableAge: It appears that the younger the Kronos Heaven employee is, the higher up in the hierarchy he is, cultimating in the company head being ''an infant''.
61	* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Or rather guy, read the description for NakedPeopleAreFunny...
62	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: In the 2009 special movie, [[spoiler:the reactivated Night and the Jun Nanase robot both pull this. The Nanase robot lets his own main chip burn out over his creator's (who built him to replace her dead boyfriend) protests, because he realizes that an unchanging robot could never truly make her happy. When Night sees this, he realizes that the other robot is right and asks Namikiri to scrap him.]]
63	* JustAMachine: At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:Night invokes this to help Riiko let him go. When she asks him if he's only saying "I love you" because it's his programming, he says yes.]]
64	%%* MagicalGirlfriend: Inverted, with Night as the Magical Boyfriend.
65	* MoodWhiplash: For what started out as a romantic comedy, it sure has a [[spoiler:DownerEnding.]]
66	* NakedOnArrival: Night is delivered ''au naturel''. Also a NakedFirstImpression.
67	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Night, being a robot, is oblivious to societal taboos about nudity. HilarityEnsues.
68	* NeverGivenAName: Night initially didn't have a name, because he's a [[ArtificialHuman synthetic "human"]]. So Riiko called him Night, by shortening the "Nightly series" printed on his box.
69	%%* ObliviousToLove: Riiko to Soushi's.
70	* ParentalAbandonment: Riiko's parents are gone most of the time, leaving her alone and in Soushi's care.
71	* PragmaticAdaptation: The Japanese adaptation considerably tones down the more unrealistic aspects of the original, although it no doubt still has its own wackiness. Notably, it shows what would happen if someone/thing like Night exists in real life: a total annoyance who hinders Riiko's life more than he helps her. At times, Riiko actually feels relieved whenever Night is away. [[spoiler: In fact, a plot point is that Riiko realizes how important Night is to her only near the end, just when he is about to shut down, and overall isn't very affected by his death. Compare the manga, where Riiko nearly becomes an EmptyShell after Night shuts down.]]
72	%%* PrettyBoy: Night. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when he cross dresses to get work at a bar and the manager gushes about how convincing he looks.
73	* {{Redubbing}}: All of Xiaofei's lines in the Taiwanese series were redubbed by a Chinese voice actress. This is because Ku Hye-sun mimed all her lines, as she doesn't speak Mandarin.
74	* ReplacementGoldfish: In the special movie, the scientist responsible for [[spoiler:finding a way to repair Night's main chip]] built a robot in the likeness of her dead boyfriend Nanase. [[spoiler:Near the end, the robot tells her that he could never replace Nanase because, as a robot, he cannot raise a family, grow old, or change alongside her. He allows his own main chip to burn out because he knows he could never give her true happiness.]]
75	* RobotGirl: Night is the SpearCounterpart of this trope, it being more obvious he's robotic in the Drama.
76	* SacredFirstKiss: Riiko laments that this will be her first kiss, and that the man in question isn't even human.
77	* ShipperOnDeck: Riiko's father and Soushi's little brother want Riiko to be with Soushi.
78	* ShipTease: A significant basis for the plot; at various points, both Riiko/Night and Riiko/Soushi seem equally plausible. [[WordOfGod Watase herself]] had trouble deciding which one Riiko would end up with.
79	* SingleStrokeBattle: Parodied with Night facing off against Kronos Heaven's strongest fighters... and defeating them all without breaking a sweat.
80	%%* TheSnarkKnight: Miyabe.
81	* TitleDrop: Part of the BittersweetEnding mentioned above.
82	* TrueLovesKiss: Surprisingly, and painfully, averted with [[spoiler:Night's death. Riiko attempts to reactivate him with kisses several times before realizing that he's not going to wake up]].
83	%%* UnluckyEverydude: Gender-flipped with Riiko.
84	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Riiko eventually grows to see Night as a human, or at least equivalent. But Kronos Heaven Company does not.

Context Manga / AbsoluteBoyfriend