Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Boyfriend’ On Netflix, A Japanese Same-Sex Dating Show Where Eight Men Live Together And Hope To Find Love

In The Boyfriend, nine men live in a house called “The Green Room” for a month, with the intention that the housemates will find love with at least one fellow housemate. At the very least, bonds will be formed towards lifetime close friendships. The series is shot in Japan, a country that is decidedly behind the curve when it comes to LGBTQIA+ rights.

THE BOYFRIEND: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Scenes from Season 1 of The Boyfriend.

The Gist: The first five housemates move in the first day: Dai, the youngest but boldest of the group; Gensei, a hair and makeup artist from Taiwan; Ryota, a model; Shun, an artist who is the most objectively good looking but the most negative; and Taheon, a designer from Korea. Meanwhile, in East Asian reality show tradition, five hosts watch and observe: Yoshimi Tokui, Chiaki Horan, MEGUMI, Thelma Ayoama and Durian Lollobrigida.

The new housemates receive a message on a tablet: They’re told that they’ll be working in a coffee truck together, keeping all proceeds, in order to foster a bond. They will be taking a barista class the next day and are tasked with coming up with a name. They eventually decide on Brewtiful U.

The tablet also tells them that another cast member is arriving. That’s Katzuto, who is a chef. After he cooks a great meal for the housemates, the group is told that they can write an anonymous letter to one person they’d like to get to know better and put it in the box outside the person’s room. The next morning, some housemates get one notes, some multiple notes, others none.

On the third night, they’re told to go to a club to meet the seventh cast member: Usak, one of the most famous “go-go biys” in Japan. This comes right after Dai reveals to Shun that he likes him, but after Dai goes gaga over Usak, Shun feels that things have changed.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The low-key nature of The Boyfriend reminds us of Terrace House, which is produced by the same company.

Our Take: Netflix is making a big publicity push for The Boyfriend, and for good reason: It’s a same-sex dating show coming from a country that is not known for its record on LGBTQIA+ rights. There is no same-sex marriage in Japan, and there are few openly-gay celebrities. What The Boyfriend tries to accomplish is to show relationships between men in Japan’s gay community in a normalized light. And they’ve picked a good cast to do just that.

We’ve seen the low-key, somewhat chaste vibe in dating shows from this region before, like the Japanese version of Love Is Blind. Producers of shows with this tone aren’t trying to be scandalous; they want to show genuine friendships and relationships in their beginning stages. There will likely be some conflict here and there, and there is some producer manipulation, but it seems that the producers aren’t trying to goose the drama too much here, which is refreshing.

The cast members are all looking for relationships, ones they hope will last a lifetime. A couple of them are bisexual, which, according to drag queen host Durian Lollobrigida is something that men who are bi sometimes don’t admit to among their gay friends. There seems to be a degree of openness among the cast, even if they all seem pretty shy at first. But they all seem like they sincerely are there to find love.

The hosts always add some levity and perspective to what can sometimes be some draggy early episodes. We already mentioned Lollobrigida, but all five of them are enthusiastically making similar observations that the viewers at home might. It’s a device we wish was used more in American reality shows.

Sex and Skin: Well, other than some ab-and-pec shows on the beach or at the club, there isn’t all that much skin and absolutely no sex.

Parting Shot: The hosts see the annoyed look on Shun’s face and they cheer for the drama that might ensue.

Sleeper Star: Speaking of Shun, the man needs a little therapy to get him to build up some self-esteem. Maybe at some point, he’ll reveal some inner secrets that will explain why he thinks so little of himself.

Most Pilot-y Line: How do you play Rock, Paper Scissors among six people? That’s what the roommates used to determine who will reveal who liked whom.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Boyfriend is a fascinating watch, but not just because it’s a social experiment in same-sex relationships from a company that doesn’t tend to do shows about them. But it’s also a good example of a dating show that can be genuine about how relationships form and are maintained.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.