The Boyfriend is a Japanese dating reality show released on Netflix on July 9, 2024. Keisuke Hishida directs it and Dai Ota serves as executive producer. The show is hosted by MEGUMI, Chiaki Horan, Thelma Aoyama, drag queen Durian Lollobrigida, and Yoshimi Tokui. Each episode has a runtime of about 40-45 minutes.
The show follows nine young men who spend a month in a beach house, operating a coffee truck and navigating the emotional rollercoaster of love and friendship. The cast of The Boyfriend includes Dai (22), Taeheon (34), Ryota (28), Gensei (34), Shun Nakanishi (23), Kazuto (27), Usak (37), and Alan (29).
-This Article Contains Spoilers-
The Boyfriend Episodes 1-3 Review
The Boyfriend episode 1 opens with the cast members traveling to the designated house they will live in for the next 30 days. The house is called ‘Green Room,’ referring to a surfing term. It means when a wave breaks hollow, it forms a tunnel of water in the middle for fractions of a second. This green/bluish water tunnel is called the Green Room by surfers.
But it’s not just a dating show, they are also tasked with running a coffee truck and utilizing the money they earn, in any way they want. It’s to be noted that only 2 people can run the truck at once, with alternating duos every day. Initially only 5 members – Dai, Taeheon, Ryota, Gensei, and Shun, enter the house. They think they are the only ones and get onto brainstorming for the coffee truck name.
In the middle of their discussion, Kazuto, a chef by profession, joins them and shares that he has brought dinner for them. Once all the 6 members settle down, they are notified by a message on their tablet about a task. They have to write an anonymous letter to another member. Since they have individual rooms, they retreat to their rooms and write a letter to the person they are interested in. They can drop it in the mailbox attached to each room door.
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The next morning they all check their boxes and Kazuto gets a letter, as well as Shun from Dai. Dai gets 3 letters that were revealed to be from Gensei, Kazuto, and Ryota. Shun also revealed that he didn’t write a letter as none of them were his ‘ideal type.’ While Kazuto left in the morning after making breakfast for everyone, the other members were given a workshop on coffee making.
They also decided on a name for their coffee truck with the help of AI. It suggests them the name – Brewtiful U. During the workshop, Dai tries to spend time with Shun mostly by pairing up with him and even tells his friends about having a crush on him. Later in the evening, the cast is taken to a club where they would apparently meet a new cast member.
At the club, they get to see the performance by go-go dancers and one of them turns out to be their new member. Usak, who is already known in the community, joins them on the journey to potentially find a love interest. Once he enters the house, they are notified about their limited daily expense budget. However, Usak’s diet of consuming 1.5 kg of chicken breast causes expense imbalance and slight conflict.
For the first day of business, Ryota is chosen by the creators and he is given the choice to choose his working partner. He chooses Gensei and they get on the truck to sell coffee. It also works like a date for them where they can work for half time and get to know each other, for the other half. It could help them gauge each other’s personalities better.
On the second day, Dai is chosen to lead and he chooses Shun to be his partner. At this point, Dai’s interest in Shun is quite visible but he isn’t able to make out Shun’s thoughts. On the third day, Taeheon chooses Shun again as his partner and also hints at his interest in getting to know him. On the next day, Gensei chooses Dai as his working partner.
More than a romantic connection, it seems like Gensei and Dai are comfortable with each other like friends and discuss their crushes, past relationships, etc. In between those days, Dai and Shun build a strong connection where their feelings are quite palpable. However, while Dai was showing some pictures on his phone, Shun saw some explicit pictures of Dai.
Things get tense after seeing the pictures as Shun is reminded of his ex-partner who cheated on him by using dating apps. Since then he had been wary of pursuing someone who comes in the category of ‘playboy’ in his perspective. It makes Shun rethink about building a connection with Dai, as he fears that he might get hurt again.
Soon after, they had a long talk where Dai tried to clear the air and promised to show his sincerity through his actions. The next day Shun is chosen to lead the truck and despite everything, he pursues Dai as his partner. Although they don’t interact much while working, later, Shun reveals that he is quite confused, and maybe physical intimacy like a kiss could clear out what he wants.
While Dai tries to kiss him at that moment, Shun refuses and tells him to wait till he is ready. Everything seems to be going well for them, until a new cast member, Alan, joins them. He turns out to be an acquaintance of Usak and Dai. In fact, Dai alluded that they had been intimate before. It seemed like their closeness bothered Shun but a conflicting argument about ideologies between Dai and Alan, brings him close to Dai.
When Dai asks Shun about his past, he reveals how he was abandoned by his parents as a baby and was brought up in an orphanage. He doesn’t go into details but shares that he had endured traumatic experiences along the way. Not having experienced a normal family setup, he himself doesn’t know how to express his feelings or affection.
It makes Dai quite emotional and gives him a perspective on Shun and his life. Soon after they are notified about the couple’s date the next day. The members who would write each other’s names on the paper, would go on a date. Among all the cast, only Shun and Dai matched up with each other. They had lunch and went to the zoo and aquarium for their date.
Towards the end, Dai expressed that he was glad that Shun wrote his name. He tells them that Shun doesn’t need to be exactly direct, but it would be great if he could express his feelings through small gestures.
Typically, it would have ended on a happy note but Shun reveals that he seems to have lost interest in Dai, after spending the day together. His confessional shocks all the hosts as they wonder what led him to lose interest.
Final Thoughts
Initially, The Boyfriend seemed like a reserved dating show, where contestants were quite hesitant to make moves. But as the episode progressed and they got to know each other, one can see the connection and conflict between them. However, the first three episodes were mostly focused on Dai, Shun, and people interested in them, ie Gensei and Ryota.
Other cast members were hardly seen unless in group settings. While Shun is definitely an eye-catching member, his actions seem to be quite contradictory. He seems like the type who lacks self-confidence yet puts up a front of overconfidence, which could come off as arrogant or a hard wall to break down. His mysteriousness did catch most of the cast member’s attention but it doesn’t seem to be interested in forming a connection beyond the show.
While Alan’s entry did shake things up in the ‘passive’ house, it will be interesting to see whom he will pursue or will get pursued. So far, Gensei would be a personal pick but he doesn’t seem to be putting himself out there.
Also, it seems like the creators put in cast members as pairs with similar age ranges, hoping they would pick each other. But a person in their mid or late 30s pursuing a 22-23-year-old doesn’t look right. It would have been better if they had all the cast in a similar age range with less gap. Apart from that, it has been a slow buildup but hopefully, things will pick up pace in the next episodes.
The Boyfriend is available for streaming on Netflix. New episodes 4-6 will be released on July 16, 2024.
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