The Boyfriend Ep1: That Summer, I Fell In Love With Him

The Boyfriend is a new Japanese gay dating show that throws a group of gay men into a house together to see if sparks fly between any of the contestants. They live in a seaside house called the Green Room and get to know each other while operating a coffee truck as a means of income. In The Boyfriend Ep1, viewers are introduced to each of the men as they arrive at the house and begin making eyes at each other. 

Unlike other shows of this nature, The Boyfriend has an additional layer of complexity with the incorporation of a commentating team to speculate and chat about the activities in the house. Yoshimi Tokui, Chaiki, Horan, Megumi, Thelma Aoyama, and Durian Lollobrigida compromise this team and have excellent chemistry together. With eight episodes in total, The Boyfriend is expected to be a smash hit. 

Although the queer community in Japan does not currently enjoy equal rights when it comes to marriage and adoption, the country bolsters a successful BL industry. The Boyfriend is the first dating show of its kind in Japan, and with Netflix distributing it, its reach and potential success is huge. We’re here for this influential moment in Japanese television and will be covering the episodes as they become available to us. 

Journey with us as we stroll through The Boyfriend Ep1, meet the contestants, and take a first look at the shenanigans that are likely to ensue. 

The Contestants

It’s reported that the Green Room will play host to nine different contestants, but in The Boyfriend Ep1, viewers are introduced to only seven men. Here are your contestants for the 2024 series. 

Dai – He’s 22 and a university student. Dia thinks he’s been through a lot in life and he might never find love but he came to the show because he desperately seeks romance and wants to find a partner. Dai says he’s attracted to people who are eccentric. With deep soulful eyes and a cute little smile, he’s clean-cut and preppy in appearance. We predict that Dai will be a crowd fave among the rest of the housemates and the audience. 

Taeheon – He’s a 34-year-old designer from South Korea (with perfect Japanese language skills). Taeheon says he’s into guys who aren’t in the design field because he wants to be with someone who can broaden his perspectives on life. In The Boyfriend Ep1, Taeheon tells viewers that his friends know he’s gay but he hasn’t come out to his family yet. He says he came on the show to do just that! We think starring in a hit new gay Netflix dating show is quite a bold way to do that, indeed. 

Ryota – He’s 28 and both a model and a barista. Ryota doesn’t feel the need to limit his sexuality to just one gender and reserves the right to love whoever he wants. Ryota says he’s not much for competition, and if he’s into someone that’s interested in someone else, he tends to step back and give up. He came on the show because he wants to develop his bravery in this area and learn how to make a move. Ryota seems pretty introverted, and because we love an underdog, we’re rooting for him!

Gensei – He’s 34-years-old and a hair and makeup artist. Gensei is looking for compatibility and romance, someone who is easy on the eyes and on the masculine side of the spectrum who also exhibits a sensitive side. 

Shun – He’s 23. Shun is a DJ and says it’s his job to create music. Shun is looking for love, the long-term kind, and says he’s someone who thinks about marriage (*coughs* gay marriage is not legal in Japan yet *coughs*), and that he’s looking for a partner that he can grow with. He talks about kids too, and Shun definitely wants them. He talks about things seriously and introspectively, but he has the face of an angel and something tells us the guys in the house are all going to want a piece of Shun. 

Kazuto – He’s a chef who entered the house with things for them to cook together that evening as a bonding mechanism. He’s 27-years-old and manages a restaurant. He joined the show because he wants to find a life partner. He works in the evenings at the restaurant and wants someone to come home to after his shift. 

Usak – He’s a gogo dancer that joins the cast right at the end of The Boyfriend Ep1. He’s one of the most popular gogo boys in Japan. He doesn’t really get a chance to introduce himself in this episode so we’ll have to wait till next time to get to know him a bit better!

The First Assignment

The first six guys to arrive in the house are given their first task. After meeting one another and spending the day getting acquainted, they’re told that, when they go to bed later that night, they should write an anonymous letter to the person that interests them the most so far and deliver it to the mailbox outside their bedroom door. Participants are told not to check their mailboxes until they wake up the following morning. 

They’re all really nervous that they won’t get any letters, but all are hopeful except Shun, who thinks he’s destined to receive nothing. He’s wrong, of course, and receives a letter from Dai. Dai, however, is incredibly popular and gets three in return. Kazuto and Gensei also receive a letter, but poor Taeheon and little introverted Ryota score nothing. 

Shun reveals after reading the letters that none of the boys so far are his type so he didn’t write to anyone. After the letter-writing expedition, the commentators express their concern over Shun’s negativity and wonder if his extreme seriousness and his hyper-focus on the future will prevent him from being able to step into the casualness of the experiences the show provides him, and we have to say fam, we tend to agree! 

After breakfast (which Kazuto makes for them before setting off on his own for the day) they settle on a name for their coffee truck – Brewtiful U – and step outside to learn how to actually make the coffee they’re going to sell. Dai goes home to have a birthday celebration with his friends where he tells them he’s into Shun. 

The camera then pans back to the house and zeros in on Shun talking to the other guys. Mr. Overly Serious is telling the others that he expects a lot from his partners and he hopes to find someone who can respect that side of him, and that they’ll need a strong will to be with him. 

As they’re sitting around the dinner table, Dai reveals that his last relationship was with a woman and he is bisexual with a leaning preference for men. He talks about the way attraction works for him and says that for men, attraction usually starts with looks, but when it’s with women, it’s usually an emotional attraction. 

The setting changes for the evening as the boys head to a club to meet another cast member, and Usak – one of the most popular gogo boys in Japan enters the chat. 

The combination of personalities in the house makes for some interesting television indeed. Dai, young and spry, is into Shun, but gives off the vibe that his affections could be shared around if necessary. Two of the cast mates appear to be exceptionally introverted, and the age range alone should make for some potential chemistry opportunities. 

By the closure of the episode, all the boys still seem to be treading carefully around each other as they get to know their housemates (and potential datemates). Everyone is still swimming in the pool of propriety and politeness and any foreshadowing of potential shenanigans is yet to surface. Even so, we’re invested and we’re in this for the long haul. 

The Boyfriend Ep1 will be available for all to watch on Netflix on July 9. We can’t wait to see who your fave housemate is, and where you think Cupid will shoot his arrow. Excuse us while we press play on the next episode! 

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The Boyfriend will be available to stream on Netflix starting July 9. Follow us on X and Instagram for all queer stuff!

Featured Image: Courtesy of Netflix