unexpectedly fresh & funny
Boyfriend on Demand follows Seo Mi-rae, a single 30'ish woman with a routine but somewhat tumultuous (& dateless) lifestyle, working long hours as a webtoon producer at a highly competetive online publishing company. She manages the company's most popular writer, leading to a collaboration with a tech company in basing a new virtual dating app on one of the writer's characters. Mi-rae is given a free VR set to trial the app & give a review, thus becoming addicted. On comes an exploration of how emotionally & financially exploitative an AI created "perfect date" can be.
After going wild with role playing through several of the 900 risk free programmed virtual dates - involving hilarious cameos with a couple of celebrity idols - Mi-rae then settles into a comfortable ease with one perfect VR boyfriend, with whom she just just lets herself be herself. Through conversation with him, she examines her own real past relationship with her college sweetheart, its failure, & learns how to let it go. After achieving such a significant personal closure, however, a rude awakening occurs when Mi-Rae discovers her VR boyfriend is not personalized to her & that others are dating this character in the same way in the app, much like experiencing everyone else wearing the same outfit at a party.
Her real life co-worker & rival producer, Park Gyeong-nam, is calm & muted with a strong nerd vibe . He's a tranquil sea in contrast to Mi-rae's near constant turmoil. They work in rival teams as they manage fiercely competing writers, keeping at arms length from each other. Mi-rae meanwhile trials a new VR boyfriend, customized after a lengthy personal questionnaire. Of course, what pops up is in the exact image of Gyeong-nam, but with an idealized personality based on what Mi-rae thinks she wants.
Reality & VR start to meld as Gyeong-nam eventually confesses to Mi-rae when she is already in the throes of virtual dating. Mi-rae is forced to confront her true feelings & the feelings of the flesh & blood person standing in front of her.
Seo In Guk does very well in portraying Gyeong-nam with a quiet consistency. Ji Soo (my 1st time seeing her) pulls off the role of Mi-rae well enough & I enjoyed both performances.
And near the end, the assumptions the app's creators made in what women want from an ideal boyfriend are all hilariously turned upside down. Ha Young is very funny as Mi-rae's best friend who burns through the app's characters like a professional arsonist. Gong Min Jung is perfect as an eccentric talent who never accepts the handouts she's given. Neither character apologizes for being themselves.
I was surprised at how fresh & funny this drama feels. Full of romantic tropes while making fun of them at the same time. The writing is intelligent, with the precautionary warning of never losing sight of what role AI should actually play in our lives. I enjoyed this show very much.
After going wild with role playing through several of the 900 risk free programmed virtual dates - involving hilarious cameos with a couple of celebrity idols - Mi-rae then settles into a comfortable ease with one perfect VR boyfriend, with whom she just just lets herself be herself. Through conversation with him, she examines her own real past relationship with her college sweetheart, its failure, & learns how to let it go. After achieving such a significant personal closure, however, a rude awakening occurs when Mi-Rae discovers her VR boyfriend is not personalized to her & that others are dating this character in the same way in the app, much like experiencing everyone else wearing the same outfit at a party.
Her real life co-worker & rival producer, Park Gyeong-nam, is calm & muted with a strong nerd vibe . He's a tranquil sea in contrast to Mi-rae's near constant turmoil. They work in rival teams as they manage fiercely competing writers, keeping at arms length from each other. Mi-rae meanwhile trials a new VR boyfriend, customized after a lengthy personal questionnaire. Of course, what pops up is in the exact image of Gyeong-nam, but with an idealized personality based on what Mi-rae thinks she wants.
Reality & VR start to meld as Gyeong-nam eventually confesses to Mi-rae when she is already in the throes of virtual dating. Mi-rae is forced to confront her true feelings & the feelings of the flesh & blood person standing in front of her.
Seo In Guk does very well in portraying Gyeong-nam with a quiet consistency. Ji Soo (my 1st time seeing her) pulls off the role of Mi-rae well enough & I enjoyed both performances.
And near the end, the assumptions the app's creators made in what women want from an ideal boyfriend are all hilariously turned upside down. Ha Young is very funny as Mi-rae's best friend who burns through the app's characters like a professional arsonist. Gong Min Jung is perfect as an eccentric talent who never accepts the handouts she's given. Neither character apologizes for being themselves.
I was surprised at how fresh & funny this drama feels. Full of romantic tropes while making fun of them at the same time. The writing is intelligent, with the precautionary warning of never losing sight of what role AI should actually play in our lives. I enjoyed this show very much.
Was this review helpful to you?
