Boyfriend on Demand

It does what it’s supposed to

A drama that falls in the category of “guilty pleasure” for me. The story is kinda predictable, but it’s made well enough to do what it’s supposed to: giving you some butterflies and relieve stress. There’s not much commentary about the implications of such invasive virtual experiences, but it’s not the drama for it. Jisoo, as much as she achieved such leading roles due to her status, she’s not bad. Her acting is a bit stiff at times, a bit scholastic, but she’s not terrible at all. She deserved the main lead role? I’m sure there were more navigated actresses that deserved it. Was she bad? Not at all, as I said she’s still a rookie and it shows, but she’s not as terrible as some say. I think she embodied the character pretty well, she was cute and easy to cheer for.
The series is obviously carried by the amount of budget put into it with aesthetically pleasing scenes, a carousel of super famous male actors, but it’s genuine in being what it is. It doesn’t want to be deep or serious, it reminds me of an upgraded version of Love Alarm. It’s cheesy but in a gratifying way. It moves a couple of strings that many can relate to like leading a stressful life and the need to feel something… Not groundbreaking but a pleasing watch overall.

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Yall saying this is not.... you're wrong.

Listen, I will always respect erroneous opinions. But this drama brought me (and thousands of X users) back to the binge-watching K-drama life!

For the first time in years, I finished a drama in less than three days. I don't know what y’all watched, or why you're saying the acting was bad or that there was no chemistry, because OMG my soul left my body several times watching this. I laughed out loud, I felt nervous, and I even felt pretty myself—if that makes any sense. Let me tell you, I was the first to feel disappointed when I found out what this drama was about. What do you mean AI-created boys you date in a virtual game?
I also wasn't sure about the Seo In‑guk and Jisoo pairing, but I found myself hyping them up as if my life depended on it.
I'm 27 years old—why am I crying over this beautiful tall man who yearns every time he breathes?

Seo In‑guk redefines longing—the waiting, the hope. I've never felt more desperate for a character to be loved. Jisoo's acting felt so natural that some of y’all are calling her weird and plain. Girl can act, and she has this drama to prove it. Their chemistry was overwhelming. At times I literally paused the show just to thank myself for giving this a chance.

After I finished Boyfriend on Demand, I remembered why it's so hard for me to find a boyfriend in real life: the standards, baby.
-Rom-coms are back.
-Longing, yearning, one-sided beef.
-He fell first. He fell harder.
-Not your typical boring clichés.

And more objectively speaking, Boyfriend on Demand is a fantasy rom-com. Don’t come here expecting an incredible storyline—there’s nothing life-changing about it. It’s simply an enjoyable drama: funny, romantic, and full of cameos that, honestly, are the least important part.

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where’s the demand for a good plot?

I would say this show is for you if you’re looking for something that isn’t so in-depth (in terms of the plot) and want to feel like you’re watching a new show each episode, for at least 5-6 episodes in.

This show hardly had an actual dent in the plot until the last 3 to 4 episodes. From episodes 1-6, it was basically her going on a date with imaginary men (basically a date with one imaginary man per episode), which didn't really add anything to the story. Like I skipped a full-on episode, and I didn't miss anything. This could’ve been crafted a whole lot better, but the way they went with it made more than half the show feel useless to the actual plot.

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Dating Game

The concept of an extremely advanced holodeck-esque dating simulation subscription game in the modern capitalistic society is the hook of the series as well as the most interesting part though this being a light rom-com rather than Black Mirror means the surrounding ethical implications are on the periphery, maybe even paid lip service to, but sadly not explored. The female lead Mi Rae knows that the pricing tiers are exploitative, but rationalizes herself into subscribing anyways.

Like anything, you can do so with your free will and it won't be unhealthy if you can set boundaries for yourself, but with all the very real psychosis triggered in real life by relying on an disembodied chatbot, an utterly realistic one that's virtually undistinguishable from real life is the slipperiest of slopes. The virtual boyfriend Eun Ho was the most realistic of the bunch, rebuffing the player enough as a simulacrum of sentience and they way he's emotionally upset when the player wants to leave or end subscription is so insidious. The realistic food which includes taste and texture sounds amazing, but I could see how it may be misused as a replacement for actually eating. There's a lot of pit falls and perhaps if this game really did exist in the real world, the solution it would use would be similar to the ones printed on cigarettes with warnings about potential triggers for mental health issues. It was fun how Mi Rae's friend Ji Yeon speed runs the game, a spin off showing exactly how she solves all 901 boyfriends would be amazing.

Gyeong Nam is neurodivergent coded and Seo In Guk plays the subtle personality differences between Gyeong Nam and his virtual counterpart Yeong Il very well, easily differentiating them beyond hair color, glasses, and fashion. He and Jisoo as Gyeong Nam and Mi Rae doesn't have fiery chemistry, but the writing is understandable enough as to why the characters would be drawn to each other. Jisoo's acting is serviceable, she just hasn't found that break through to the next level yet. It's not as noticeable a lot of the times because Gyeong Nam has a low key personality, but in the scenes when those emotions come through, their acting levels are pointedly night and day. The author Yun Song fully prefers to keep her month to month subscription game boyfriend which the show presents as a happy ending for her without comment or caveats. Mi Rae lets go of her customized virtual boyfriend to be with her real life dream man. It's kind of weird the show wants it both ways instead of having a strong stance even as a romcom. They seem afraid to be alienating the future virtual AI boyfriend having audience.

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Seungmins (Stray Kids) Cousin stole our hearts !

Yay, our fist non BL Drama finished!

The premise of this one instantly got our attention, and we loved the plot progression in the first half of the drama. So lets mention our "highs" first:

The Drama starts off with a likable MC, who is quite passionate at her job - we liked her simple, but realistic character. When the AI was introduced, we had to instantly link it with current real life topics - such as people talking with ChatGPT about their issues or full on AI BF/GF...

The story introduced a lot of cool elements as well as very hilarious side characters like the artist Mrs. Yun and the Boss of the publishing company.

We liked how the MC used the AI not only for personal groth, but also figuring out work problems.

BUT

The game itself and those plotlines kinda faded out towards the end. We felt like it got dropped to make space for the romance part of the drama.

The romance itself was, for us, carried by the male lead (looks like Seungmins (SKZ) cousin). He was so kind, gentle and charming (and forgiving LOL) that we couldnt help but to fall in love.

Sadly, we hoped that the relationship between them could have just blossomed out of the work rivarly they had going on. His confession in the car seemed a bit out of nowhere (eventhough the explained it we guess later). The affection was only shown in the recaps and not in those moments. We didnt really follow how he fell for her in the very BEGINNING (later on it was more obvious).

The MC later in the show got more and more boring, as she more and more depended on the AI and seemed like she couldnt make choices for herself... but maybe thats the point? Idk we felt like her character growth was kind of regressing from the first few episodes.

Still, it got a happy ending, with her deleting the AI and focusing on her IRL BF (IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MEEEE)

S: It felt like a middle school relationship sometimes

All in all we enjoyed it, with some small moments of rage :)

Honourable mentions:

- creepy alien man staring in our soul
- crazy artist
- Lee Jae Wook
- ugly af outfits (poor Jisoo)

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Great Premise, Terrible Execution

Boyfriend on Demand has a great premise but it fails to develop a comprehensive plot that explores all the themes and plot points it introduces. The drama does not know if it wishes to be an exploration of the effect of advancements in AI technology on romance or simply a romcom drama with the Boyfriend on Demand as a tool to further the plot.

It spends far too much time showing the dates Jisoo’s character, Seo Mirae, has with her virtual boyfriends. The supposed male lead, Seo In-guk’s character is given very little screen time while the drama spends so much time either showing or building up Seo Kang-jun’s character. Although most of her dates with these AI boyfriends serve a purpose in her character development, the story lingers too long on these dates, making it a rather monotonous and dull watch at times.

All in all, the relationship between the ML and FL is mostly limited to montages of happy moments together, and the final conflict. She has more conversations with her virtual reality boyfriends than with the ML, and their relationship is not explored at all.

The drama has many interesting side characters but it rarely gives enough focus to them. The webtoon writer's role played by Gong Min Jung and the role of Mirae's friend played by Lee Ji Yeon both had intriguing character developments but they were mostly resolved off screen, and what we got were mere glimpses of their conflicts. Developments in both these characters could have added to the conversation on the Virtual Reality Dating concept but the drama just hops over them as if it is not interested in discussing the consequences of AI Dating platforms although it spent the first half of the show building up on the same.

The highlight of the drama were the cameos by many heartthrobs of kdrama world, which were hilarious at times and entertaining overall.

Boyfriend on Demand had the potential to be a drama that explores romance in a time where virtual reality has taken over the real world, but it fails to find the balance between real life romance and virtual life romance to create an impactful drama.

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Old time sexism on steroids aka PRINCESS FANTASY FOR LITTLE GIRLS AKA A GREAT BUSINESS SWINDLE

I was wondering - has Netflix really made something along the lines of a real kdrama... ??? Where was the catch... ? And sure enough LOL this is a smelly pile of script..

So the first part is mostly about virtual dating, where the princess girl gets a big house, lots of dresses, shoes, jewelry, and any guy she wants - and she wants pretty guys :) with nice bodies :) That's THE ONLY criteria :)
The FL actress is acting so well, she is confident enthusiastic hot girl going on dates with several virtual guys and having fun... FL is rather selfish and immature... but at least NATURAL... and ML actor is on screen just a tiny bit as her colleague in her real life.

THEN THE SECOND PART IS DATING IN REAL LIFE - and this lovely young lady goes into the 1950s mode of trash kdrama sexism - she is prudish, child-like clutz woman-child. OMG!!!! in year 2026!!!!! we see a grown, professional woman behave like a little school girl with boys.... Not even kids behave like that today... !!!!! And... she sticks with her virtual boyfriend too :)

AND THE DRAMA TAKES A NOSE DIVE AND BECOMES SUPER BORING **** C R I N G E **** Basically you get the Practical Guide to Love, FL and ML....

THIS SCRIPT IS TRASH!!!! and consequently, the acting of FL goes down the drain and for the second half of the drama, she is a mentally disabled dumbo and a very weak immature loser.. chick... A WOMAN-CHILD ... using men

INCREDIBLE!!! this is a real ... jester job... ENTIRE DRAMA IS ABOUT SHOPPING FOR PRETTY BOY TOYS AND GETTING A GREAT SERVICE
it is like ... going on dates with a bunch of escorts... who are all dying to take care of FL...

THIS IS TRULY ... A CON JOB.... and a very successful one, women are paying to see many men without a shirt on, and seducing, and kissing as# and doing whatever the woman says, and the woman can be as awful as she wants... or, to be more precise, as she IS.

WOW THIS IS CONSUMERISM TAKEN TO A NEW LEVEL... SHOPPING FOR A PRETTY BOY TOY!!!! and it is all planned!!!!! bc sooo many dramas have one chick trying zillion guys, or dating 2 at a time.... wooow...

So this is like female Epstein files, allowing women to do what men have always done and women complained about. Instead of becoming better people who are equal, this drama is along the lines of becoming equal in being murky selfish people and using each other.

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The first part is the satire of all the tropes that kdramas use to grab female audience. It is such a great ridicule, a great jester comedy!!!! The most fun and most sad part is that so many women will not realize that they are being made fun of, and they will be too busy admiring all the good looking guys... And the whole point is to show how immature women fall for those tropes.

I am sorry to male actors, their roles were so ridiculously simple and actually - demeaning - they had to act out some delulu immature chicks fantasy. Well - just like they do in real dramas :) too often.... I realized - the male roles are to be an ESCORT ....

I am glad I saw Undercover High School ML, he was so fun in that drama... This role was waaaay too simple for him in this drama.... he was like a robot escort... ... ML actor is also wasted, he is such a great actor and this role is super simple and dumb...

Then the 2nd part starts and ... gosh this is the classic old time sexist kdrama... AGAIN!!! where FL is this clutz immature weak woman-child... WHO WANTS HER AS@ KISSED AND GUYS WHO ARE ALWAYS THERE FOR HER... like robots .... And... her behavior with ML is just... CRINGE childish... she is portrayed as a total moron for personal life , sooo immature and weak... and such a consumer, eating up guys who dote on her... AND YET ANOTHER IDOL WORSHIPER OF PRETTY FACES ... gosh... such a dumb chick ...
So again, the drama makes fun of such women-children and again lures them in with a "pretty face guy"

AND ML CHARACTER PLAYS INTO THIS TROPE OF LOYAL DOTING GUY, he liked her for so long and didnt pick anyone else - although she never deserved his liking her. So that is the old sexist kdrama trope - this fully dedicated man although the woman is super flawed, stupid, childish, and very crude to him and in general... in general, just a dumb immature snowflake... .

So right now I am starting ep 6 and I SO BADLY WANT TO SEE REVIEW BY OPPA_ if that person wrote a review on this...
Bc I am suspecting there is a catch with this drama...

I like that FL actress is a great actress. IN THE FIRST PART ONLY. After ep 5 or 6, when the real guy steps in, the FL actress is clearly acting fake bc the script is trash cringe. She is having difficulty acting the immature cringe..... BC IT IS NOT A NATURAL BEHAVIOR to behave like an elementary school girl. YET THAT IS WHAT KIDRAMAS EXPECT. this is the classic classic kdrama sexism... !!!!! What FL did here, is EXACTLY how all those FLs behave ... Practical Guide to Love is an example of that ..... woooow....

That FL chick is totally undeserving of ML's attention, she always treated him badly, then he confessed and she avoids him and rejects him, non stop and he keeps coming back.. .... AND SHE IS AFRAID TO LOVE BC IT WILL END, SO SHE KEEPS REJECTING HIM AND DUMPING HIM.... ... omg what a loser coward ... and he keeps coming back ...... omg what a loser coward.

WOW this is the recipe for every trashy rom com.... YUCK!!!! how did a great actor like the ML end up doing this? Does Netflix pay very well... ???? I do hope he has better scripts to choose from..

THIS SCRIPT IS TRASH!!!! and consequently, the acting of FL goes down the drain and for one half of the drama, she is a mentally disabled dumbo and a very weak immature loser.. chick... A WOMAN-CHILD

WOOOOOOWWWWW THIS IS A SCAM!!!!! THIS DRAMA IS A SCAM!!!! THIS KIND OF SCTRPT SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING IN YEAR 2026!
or ... it should be... ? bc there are so many lonely women with money who will pay to watch this smelly piece of script...

I really like that actors are not super skinny skeletons :) FL got nice legs :) ML also looks like a normal athletic guy. So at least the drama has a healthy look. I really like that ML has naror and slanted eyes, not plastic surgery big eyes.

I dislike that such a great actor like the ML actor is put into this overly simple role. But then... I realize... all typical male roles ARE this... omg... this is like seeing the whole mechanics of dramas... This is like seeing the swindling behind the scenes...

Wow who was it who thought of selling this idea of reverse polygamy and/or decadent lewd behaviors by women - basically everything rotten that men used to do? Great busines mind. So many - most? - new kdramas are based on such women.
Our Universe, Practical Guide to Love, Climax, A Graceful Liar, etc etc etc etc etc ...

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Romcom is back

The drama is it an easy watch, no heavy plots, twists, fillers, love triangles and it is not your typical enemies to lovers. Stars with quirky fantasy comedy, which wasn’t my thing but after episode 5, it blooms to a more human kind of drama, dealing with loneliness, fears, etc. You will find yourself laughing, crying and even screaming. SeoInGuk does more than an excellent job playing his character. The tone of his voice, his calmness, facial expressions, and the way he carries himself as a shy quiet guy is adorable and on point. . The chemistry with Jisoo is amazing. Exactly as the director said, SeoInGuk had to be the male lead, and i totally see why. SeoInGuk said jisoo was perfect for the character and she made it more lovely than the script, i can definitely see how this character really suits her. I really enjoyed it, as it’s one of those dramas that you can watch over and over again.

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nice drama

Boyfriend on Demand is a fun and refreshing K-drama that blends romance, comedy, and a modern concept of relationships. The story revolves around the idea of having a “boyfriend on demand,” someone who can provide emotional support and companionship whenever needed.

What I enjoyed the most were the main characters. The protagonists are very charming and have great chemistry, which makes their interactions natural and enjoyable to watch. Their performances bring warmth and humor to the story, making it easy to connect with them and become invested in their journey.

Overall, Boyfriend on Demand is a light and enjoyable drama, perfect for viewers who like romantic stories with lovable characters and sweet moments.

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UNNECESSARY HATE REVIEWS SEEM TO BE COMING FROM ANTIS

I I just finished watching it it's a romantic comedy so it's meant to be cringe and it is different from a western movie it is a k-drama and if you're familiar with cute drama you're familiar with how they use like cringe things sometimes and it's perfectly okay and the actors executed it perfectly I absolutely loved the male lead and the female lead and they had great chemistry together however there seems to be a lot of hate e on reviews and on Twitter and most of the people who are leaving this hate reviews did not watch the series or absolutely hate blackpink or Jisoo do not be deceived it is better to watch on your own and have your own review but overall this was a great show was a crazy fun drama as a drama you watch when you need something to do at home and you just want something that's light and not heavy.

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“Boyfriend on Demand Falls Short of Its Potential”

Boyfriend on Demand ultimately struggles to deliver on its promising premise, leaning too heavily on familiar romantic tropes without offering enough depth or originality to keep the story engaging. The pacing often feels uneven, with several episodes drifting through repetitive misunderstandings rather than developing meaningful character growth. While the concept had the potential to explore modern relationships in a clever way, the execution frequently feels flat and predictable. The performances also vary in strength, and in particular, Kim Jisoo sometimes appears limited in emotional range. Although she brings a natural charm to certain lighter scenes, some of the more dramatic moments lack the nuance and intensity needed to fully convey the character’s inner conflicts, which can make key emotional beats feel less impactful than they should.

Very disappointed to be honest!!! :( :( :(

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