Did your subscription service walk into the office as well? Because this is what happened in Netflix’s newest kdrama that has my heart on hold. Boyfriend on Demand has recently been released, and I am already shivering at the frequency that only a real K-drama fan knows. Think about having your dream man or “boyfriend material” Pinterest board actualize, only to begin talking back at you. This 10-episode ride is a neon-filled, high-energy nightmare at the workplace that I basically inhaled in a single sitting.
The K-drama involves the story of a webtoon producer, Seo Mi-rae (Jisoo), who is the human incarnation of a “low battery.” She works too much, is not caffeinated enough, and her heart is hungover and in tatters. She is offered a targeted advertisement for “Boyfriend on Demand” in an instance of pure and relatable weakness, an expensive VR service that claims to offer the best romantic experience.
Mi-rae plunges into this cyber feast and guys, the CAMEOS! My jaw was on the floor. Lee Soo-hyuk as the rich, mysterious CEO, Lee Jae-wook as the handsome, possessive doctor, and most importantly….drumrolls SEO KANG-JOON IS BACKKK as the charming, dreamy guy you have this super big crush in college who is perfect in every aspect, and you meet him again after ten years as a chance encounter (which is literally what happened). These men are programmed to be perfect. They respond to each of the fancies of Mi-rae with a scripted perfectness. By episode 2, I was screaming.
As if in a pure fanservice way, we also see Wanna One’s Ong Seong-Wu as one of the handsome secret agents trying to take down terrorists mid-flight, Kim Young-Dae from Extraordinary You stops by to play a lovestruck Joseon era boyfriend, Lee Sang-Yi from Hometown Cha Cha Cha played a hot firefighter, and most importantly, Jay Park had a cameo as himself! Talk about a golden tier subscription, Jay Park performing for you in a virtual concert as your boyfriend.
The actual chaos starts with the glitching of the algorithm. Mi-rae resolves to create her own tailor-made boyfriend. She throws her secret ambitions on the avatar, a man who is grumpy, but soft, competitive, yet protective, and devastatingly handsome. The AI, Gu Yeong-il, is a replica of her real-life work competitor, Park Kyeong-nam (Seo In-guk).
Can we talk about Seo In-guk? This man is the master of “micro-intensity” performance. Here, he has a dual role to play, and in fact, the duality is killing me. One moment, he is the perfect AI embodiment (Yeong-il) — a jovial man who always says the right thing. The second one is the stoic, coffee-obsessed, real-world Kyeong-nam who resembles someone who would like to fight a printer.
The contrast is hilarious. His smoldering gaze game is at an all-time career high. He does not simply see Mi-rae; he looks inside her soul. I need some cold showers and a new data plan.
Being a fan, I wanted this to be her “mic drop” moment with our Chu like the Snowdrop years. Seo Mi-rae is charismatic on paper. She gets rid of the ‘Dior Princess’ brand and adopts the appearance of a disheveled, overworked woman who puts on the wrong socks and yells at her computer. She has surprisingly acute physical comedy.
However, I must keep it real with my fellow fans. Her performance is yet to achieve the next level. She has a stiffness in her dialogue that makes it seem like she is reading lines, not living them.
Although undoubtedly a very attractive person, she tends to fall back on the same three facial expressions. The feeling is superficial when she is meant to be heartbroken. Her acting is somewhat stifled compared to the natural touch of Seo In-guk. She fits the adorkable scenes, but fails to support the more weighty emotional scenes that the script needs. It is sad to say it, but the difference in ability is difficult to overlook for me when she is standing next to such a heavyweight as In-guk.
Moving on, the show is lent soul by the supporting cast. Gong Min-jung stars as webtoon artist Yoon Sung, and she is a literal chaos mascot. She conveys every line with worse than sleep-deprivation vigor. The subplot of her personal Monthly Boyfriend experiences is pure gold. She is a symbol of the sloppy, hysterical fan within us.
Next, we can have Yoo In-na as the virtual dating manager. Can we pleaseee talk about meta-casting here? She is more or less repeating her role in Bo-ra! Deborah and yet techno-digital. She is sexy, classy, and has the typical rom-com queen voice. She is literally repeating our dating coach act and advising us wittily as she upsells Mi-rae to the Gold Tier dating package. The moment of seeing her in that red oversized jacket and black veil was the best part of Episode 1. She mediates between online fantasy and the hard reality.
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Boyfriend on Demand is a win-win: a high-end, glossy, and high-production K-drama on Netflix. It approaches the love-based subscription economy with a sense of humor and true existential fear. The emotional honesty of loneliness makes the app resonate even though the technical realism is practically non-existent.
So if you are a fan of Blackpink’s Jisoo and want to watch her struggling to maintain a workplace balance, this needs to be on your watchlist. The cameos are the side dishes which complete the meal, but the main course is the electric chemistry between the leads. It is a drama that a person should watch as long as they have felt that the phone is their only companion.
Every drama we review gets two scores from the MAB binge team. A MAB Score and a Rewatch Score. Here is how both work.
Our overall rating for the drama. We look at everything that went into it.
Separate from the MAB Score because a drama can be a 9.5 and still be something you just cannot bring yourself to put on again. We always give a short reason so you know what you are getting into.
Below 6 on the Rewatch Score? Not putting it on again.