Platonic Relationships In The Boyfriend: Friendships We Love To See

The Boyfriend on Netflix aired all of its ten episodes periodically throughout the month of July. With all episodes now complete and aired, the nine young men that occupied the house on the Japanese queer dating show are causing quite a stir indeed. But romance isn’t the only thing that ignites during their time in the house, and several of the housemates develop solid platonic relationships that are also worth swooning over. Just as much as we need romantic love, we need platonic love too. Someone we can rely on when the going gets tough, someone to understand us when we’re struggling, and someone to just goof around with. 

While some in the house definitely get on better than others, what audiences do get to witness is the vast majority of these men showing up for each other in ways that you wouldn’t expect of a show of this nature. Typically, these types of dating shows are competitive, catty, and overly dramatic. Yet, The Boyfriend manages to avoid all of this. 

We’ve analyzed and celebrated all the romantic couplings that occurred as the show aired but now we want to spotlight the platonic relationships that evolved in the house as well. Some of these housemates are walking away from The Green Room (the name of the house they stayed in) with lifetime friends, and we couldn’t be happier for them all. Here are our favorite platonic relationships in The Boyfriend. 

Shun and Ryota

Although, early on, Ryota announces to audiences that he’s into Shun in the not-so-platonic way, his pursuit of the young DJ in that regard doesn’t last for long. Anyone with eyes can see that Shun and Dai are only really interested in each other, despite the dance they do around for each other for so long. Realizing this, Ryota adjusts his thinking about Shun and is able to slide into a happy friendship with him quite quickly. 

And as far as platonic relationships go, this one is delightful. Both Ryota and Shun seem like deeply serious people but as their friendship develops, what audiences see grow between them is a certain level of sunshine, a place for each of them to laugh, and someone to be silly with. 

And when we say both boys need something like this, we mean it!

Shun is the first person Ryota tells about his epic crush on Kazuto and although we really don’t see Shun and Ryota talking about Dai that much, the light in both their eyes when they’re together speaks volumes. They are comfortable around each other, they enjoy each other and they can just be. This is what is so important about queerplatonic relationships! Ryota may not have picked up a boyfie in this house, but he definitely collected a friend.

Gensei and Taeheon

When Gensei returns home from his private date with Ryota, it’s Taeheon that he goes to. Like the good friend that he is, Taeheon says tell me everything! It appears that Gensei is able to be honest with Taeheon in ways that maybe he’s not even able to be honest with himself. He tells Taeheon, who listens attentively and dutifully, that he knows Ryota likes Kazuto. He mentions that he noticed Ryota’s expression when Kazuto and Alan came back together.

Taeheon doesn’t tell Gensei what to do and doesn’t offer advice on how to move forward. He simply asks Gensei what he wants to do now and offers unwavering support. This is what good platonic relationships are all about. 

Both Gensei and Taeheon seem to have a lot in common. Both are gentle souls who are introspective and make their way cautiously in this world, it’s lovely to see them finding solace and peace in each other. 

When Gensei announces that he’s leaving the house early, Taeheon looks absolutely devastated (us too, fam, us too). Gensei came to the house because he had trouble expressing his feelings and going after what he wants, and Taeheon came because he quite literally couldn’t work out how to come out to his family. As Gensei departs, they’re both going back out into the world a stronger man, more capable of achieving his purpose because they found each other!

Alan and Dai 

Upon Alan’s arrival into the house, it’s alluded to early on that the pair of them have some kind of sexual history. That doesn’t seem to make its way into the house though, and the pair of them settle into a friendship relatively seamlessly. 

It’s Alan that Dai turns to when things fall apart with Shun after they kiss. None of the housemates has any idea that Ikuo is harboring romantic feelings for Dai when he tries to get in between Dai and Shun. Unlike Taeheon and Gensei, when Dai turns to Alan for a shoulder to lean on, Alan wastes no time in telling him that he feels like Ikuo is in the wrong. Despite this, he provides encouraging words to Dai obviously intended to uplift the man so he can do the hard thing and head inside and talk to Shun. 

Dai seems like a naturally positive force, and Alan is like a ray of sunshine on the darkest of days. His positivity is unrivaled. They’re good for each other and there probably wasn’t anyone else in the house capable of calming Dai down in that moment. Dai and Alan prove that platonic relationships are possible, regardless of how you first meet or what connects you in this world.

There are so many wonderful things to love about each of the young men that move into the Green Room, and so much more than romance blooms when they do. Queer people need other queer people, in all capacities and the happenings of The Boyfriend is a beautiful exploration of these themes. 

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All ten episodes of The Boyfriend are available to stream on Netflix now. Follow us on X and Instagram for all queer stuff!

Featured Image: Image Courtesy of Netflix