Cute but twisted emotions.
Please note that the score given in comparison with other webdramas, not full-length dramas would be 8/10 but since the score shows up on my lists, I lowered its score.Firstly, let's dissect the story. The whole setup was just cliche, like you knew what was going to happen next. Nevertheless, it was still interesting to keep up with. I'm glad they didn't do the whole "docile girl gets bad boy through dating contract" route. There's not a whole lot to the story so let's move on to the cast and characters.
The cast was honestly very impressive for a webdrama. They really fit their roles and the male characters had their fair share of fueling my second lead syndrome. Let's start with female lead, Oh Jina. Such a badass character and I'm glad this webdrama ended the way it did. Though it's pretty usual for webdramas to have this "weak, innocent, nice" girl as the female lead, I feel like Lee Shi Woo perfectly acted her "independent woman" role. As for the male lead Lee Seung Min, it was just so satisfying to watch a male become the "docile" one. Though the acting was a teeny bit stiff in my opinion, I know a lot of people think that Shin Hyun Seung's visuals make up for it. Now to my second lead syndrome, we have Ku Hyung Tak. He's just neglective and doesn't know what to be grateful for before he loses it. He had really nice character development. Im Sung Kyun's visuals are just underrated though. As for the character Seong Hanna, I totally get where she's coming from and I wouldn't turn against her completely. Choi Yu Ju acted as her excellently because I did ever-so-slightly feel my blood boil once or twice. As for the two side characters, Oh Ba Ul and Joo Min Ji, they were honestly the cutest things ever. Very nice comedic relief, and they are probably the only reason I stayed watching this show. Surprisingly, I actually cried because of Jung Bo Min's acting and lines in the last episode (yes...I cry easily so don't take my word for it). As for Kim Byeon Kwan, I knew he was a member of ACE but his acting was just hilarious.
Overall, I would RECCOMEND for a webdrama.
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Be My Boyfriend; Sugary Teen Romance Tale, With A Trope-Filled Plot...
As a byproduct from the same makers of the similar sugary-sweet series ‘Secret Mistake’ , the short series ‘Be My Boyfriend’ ‘ is a fairly formulaic high school romance tale where ‘’ popular girl’’ Oh Ji Na ( Lee Shi Woo) forces mundane student Lee Seungmin ( Shin Hyung Seung) into a contractual relationship to drive away old flame Ku Hyung Tak ( Im Sung Kyung). The series certainly wasn’t unwatchable and had an initial sweet romantic setup , however, the series was formulaic with a predictable storyline and cliches throughout.
Naturally, it is important to address that the majority of the cast were either novice actors such as Shi Woo, Im Sung Kyung and Hyung Seung , or have only had a few minor and supporting roles like Jung Bo Min ( who played Joo Min Ji) and Kim Byeong Kwan over the years. (This is not to condemn casting choices or actors merely because they don’t have experience.)
Whilst there were a couple of questionable acting moments ( especially with several line deliverances from Byeong Kwan during “ comical moments”) it certainly wasn’t dire for viewers to watch either. In fact, as rookie actors, Shi Woo, Im Sung Kyung and Hyung Seung were fairly suitable as our main leads. That aside, it is prominent to address the bigger issue of characters and their overall presentation within the series.
Perhaps the most notable character to address is the female lead of the drama; the labelled ‘ goddess’ and ‘ popular girl’ Oh Ji Na. With these notable character archetypes constantly referenced nearly every two seconds in the opening of the show, it is fair to say from Ji Na’s initial introduction, she’s fairly narcissistic in the beginning . Yet as this is a ‘ typical and life-changing romance story’, Ji Na begins to reveal more behind her layers as the series moves on, by her gradual affection towards the male lead.
However, the most notable problem with Ji Na as a character occurred within her lacking sense of imperfection . Whilst admittedly there is the argument Ji Na is easily shot down by her jealousy and inability to accept her feelings( especially with Seungmin), Ji Na rarely seemed to understand or take responsibility for her own mistakes and hurting others in the process. A good example of this scene can be found early on in the web series when Ji Na becomes envious over Seungmin hanging out with her ” best friend” Seong Ha Na ( Choi Yu Ju). Whilst admittedly given the context this was revealed to be a misunderstanding and Seungmin was undeniably at fault to some extent ( as well as Ha Na) , it seemed unfair and hypocritical that Ji Na was openly disparaging about Seungmin ” spending time outside the contract ” with Ha Na in a possessive manner, when she was also spending time with Hyung Tak. Seungmin did initially point this out, however, Ji Na allowed this to become a dominant argument upon ” Seungmin in the wrong” rather than sharing the responsibility of her actions.
It is wrong to deny that Ji Na doesn’t entirely grow outside of her cliche shell either. Ji Na does become notably a more tolerant person over the course of the drama by standing up for Seungmin against Hyung Tak, as well as not relying upon the male lead to entirely fight all of her battles as a strong-willed individual . However , one notable factor which was never truly explored in the series in favour for Ji Na being the ” high school popular girl” was exploring more about her past and reasons for joining the idol agency.
This transitions us onto the main lead of the series Lee Seungmin. Introduced under the ‘ loser’, and ‘ normal’ archetype with a ‘ heart of gold’, Seungmin is naturally head over heels with the ‘’ goddess’’ Oh Ji Na and becomes determined after signing the contract to earn her affections. Seungmin did have a more fleshed-out backstory than Ji Na, with a complicated family scenario of his mother dying prior to the events of the drama and residing with his single-father.
On the other hand, Seungmin’s reactions and growth over the course of the series often felt very minimal . Whilst it was refreshing to see that Seungmin considered his own feelings for Ji Na before signing the contract, he was often overly oblivious and complacent towards the growing affections of Ha Na at times also. The relationship between the two characters took a fairly predictable turn with the established setup and cliches along the way. As Seungmin has harboured feelings for Ji Na for awhile, it was a fun dynamic to see Ji Na also growing to fall in love with Seungmin for his kind soul.
Of course, perhaps the biggest elephant in the room in the beginning of the series appears within the character Hyung Tak. Notably controlling over Ji Na , fractious within his behaviour towards Seungmin and appearing seemingly as an “antagonistic force” of the series, Hyung Tak was immediately established as the ‘ aloof and popular sportsman’ of the school. Hyung Tak admittedly did have some more exposure as not entirely as a ” terrible person” over his guilt for leaving Ji Na when they were dating and forgetting special events, as well as being the first to take the reigns to locate Ji Na when he becomes aware that she is being stalked. On the other hand, Hyung Tak oddly went from being a predominant character in the series to a fairly minor presence. There was nothing entirely wrong with this as the show was attempting to focus more upon Seungmin and Ji Na’s relationship, however, this often led to Hyung Tak feeling poorly fleshed-out as a character.
The ending of the web series was fairly predictable and typical of a teen-romance setup; not bad or terrible per say, but not entirely original either.
‘Be My Boyfriend’ isn’t an initially ” terrible” show. The romantic pairing between the characters was oddly heartwarming against the more notable cliches and a new array of promising actors were introduced through the novice cast lineup. On the other hand, the web series was undeniably predictable and cliche-ridden within its setup , immature dialogue and conservative archetypes upon ‘’ Korean high schoolers’’, often felt poorly-written. Certainly not unwatchable, however, the majority of the web series was foreseeable, making ‘ Be My A Boyfriend’ a web series which can easily be swept under the carpet for the next romantic drama out there.
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Won't change the world but will give you a warm fuzzy feeling!
I love this web drama! End of review... ?I started watching it as CLC did a song for the OST and as a Cheshire, I had to see what it was all about. The song, called Another Level and sung by Seunghee, Seungyeon and Yeeun, is great and I had goosebumps when i first heard it - a bit like when Red Velvet's Future plays in Start-Up!
What happened next though was that I was completely sucked into this drama. Don't me wrong - it's a formula that's been done before and this one is in fact based on a web drama called Best Mistake - a couple of the cast members made a guest appearance.
Where this wins though is that it's just so sweet - in a world that is pretty rubbish at the moment, this was such an easy watch and just made me happy. Lee Shi Woo who plays the female lead Oh Ji Na (plays Bingbing in Sisyphus: The Myth) is very refreshing as a the school's hot girl who is actually really decent and genuinely nice. One of her friends, Hanna, on the other hand (Yu Ju from Cherry Bullet), is what you'd expect from the Mean Girls kind of genre.
It's also really rewatchable - something you can just leave on in the background.
All in all, it's really sweet and enjoyable. Watch it and feel good about the world :)
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Good, but nothing extraordinary
When I first saw that Best Mistake was getting a spin-off, I was ecstatic about what it had installed for us, but also saddened this wasn't going to be a Season 3 of the infamous series. Despite this, it was an enjoyable watch for a web drama. Though it is not my favourite. This is a typical story about contractual relationships, high-school romance, crazy ex-boyfriends, idol trainee hardships, and jealousy within friendships.The story starts off - like Best Mistake - with the female lead being in a sticky situation with a guy and having then to choose a random guy out of their school to pretend to be her boyfriend. It is just so that guy has a massive crush on her for a long time. If you have watched the original series, then the plot will come as no surprise to you. There have been added elements to the story that made it overall quite compelling. I particularly liked the exploration of the feelings behind a trainee being up against many others to make it to their debut. The relationship between the main characters was cute, though satisfactory overall as I did not feel the chemistry in the lead couple. The love triangle (or shall I say love square) was what intrigued me the most out of the whole drama due to the twist in the plot.
The drama itself is quite predictable, with a few hints of twists in the plot which took me by surprise. If I am comparing this to Best Mistake, I believe that this was more captivating than the original series with better execution than the second installment, as there is a lot more to explore in this series, such as the plots. On the other hand, with the cast, the feelings that are left with the viewers, and the overall story itself, Best Mistake is deemed as an irreplaceable series that no spin-off can ever do justice for like they did with the original series. This drama did not deliver much of the character's personal lives, unlike Best Mistake did, thus it made the whole story feel less personal, to me, and I could not connect with the characters as much.
Overall, the story was satisfactory. It is a typical drama about the lives of high schoolers painted in a somewhat unrealistic light. I would have loved if some of the outcomes in the characters differed from other dramas and for their to be a more personal feel to the characters individually, but with that being said, I found myself anticipate something good as each episode comes.
We see two idol-actor debuts, Kim Byeongkwan from A.C.E and Yuju from Cherry Bullet. I was thoroughly impressed with Yuju's acting as the character Han Na for her demonising and twisted feelings she has towards certain characters. Her role was quite fitting to her reality as an idol and ex-trainee, thus I felt like her portrayal as a trainee who is in desperate measures to make her debut was exceptional and realistic.
At first, I was not a big fan of Ba Ul due to his somewhat unnatural, over-exaggerated hyper and bubbly personality which made it difficult for me to watch him (seriously, I thought Byeongkwan's eyes were going to fall out by the end of the drama). But as the drama progressed, that toned down a little bit and we can see how much of a down-to-earth and soft character he is, especially to the ones he cares about. Kim Byeingkwan did an amazing job of his portrayal and I will surely be looking forward to future acting projects from him and Yuju in the future.
I believe there is a lead swap between Be My Boyfriend and Best Mistake. In B.M, Hyun Ho was the infamous, rebellious, and tenacious character he was known for, but here, it was Jina that took on the strong, yet soft female lead. I found her to have been quite admirable as the drama progressed
Seung Min, I found to be the indigenous and mature one which made this drama to be easy-flowing to watch. I loved the cast and the given opportunities for Byeongkwan and Yuju to make it in the acting scene
To conclude, if you are a fan of high school dramas and the Best Mistake series, then it is worth investing your time into this drama. If you also want to see Byeongkwan and Yuju's acting debut, then this is a good place to start. It is a nice drama to watch to breach the gap between the end of season 2 and theoretically speaking, the potential start of season 3.
I hope there will be a season 3 of Best Mistake happening soon
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This review may contain spoilers
This was my first drama I ever watched, and I am happy it was.
I'm so happy that this was the first drama I have watched. I encountered it while I was scrolling on TikTok and saw that they were broadcasting it on a live, I watched one scene and instantly fell in love. I watched and I want to keep this short, but this show is really good, good acting, good story line, and really good for a beginner drama, because its not to much. Writing this now, I'm definitely thinking of rewatching it now! I love the whole plot with the contract relationship and how they actually got together in the end. 10/10 WOULD RECOMMEND THIS FOR A BEGINNER OR SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO START OUT WITH DRAMAS!!Was this review helpful to you?
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ciché, cliché but cute
‼️ WARNING: THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS BUT NOT IN A OBVIOUS WAY ‼️Story: 7.5, it’s a cute high school story, with a cute romance, a plot twist and some funny things.
Acting/Cast: 8, the main role acting was pretty good, but the support role acting was a bit too much. They made the actors act like children’s instead of teenagers
Music: 7.5/8, it was surprisingly good.
Rewatch Value: 7.5/8, if you are bored and have anything to do it’s a very good drama to watch. It actually makes you feel interested about what’s going to happen next.
More General Information: My biggest complaint is to the surprisingly (but cliché) plot twist, i was expecting more that Ku Hyungtak was the one who was going to “turn” bad, but he had a very nice character development. Seong Hanna represents a lot what jealousy can make to a person, at some point she literally just wanted to hurt Jina just because she couldn’t improve herself and because others thought she was better. Jina at the beginning may seem like a spoiled little girl but she was a good heart and she sincerely liked Hanna as a friend, and she literally made her dirty. I didn’t expected to dislike her tbh. Seungmin is a sweetheart, who deserves all the cookies in this world. The character Baui was extremely annoying, he was constantly screaming and acting like a damn child and i hated that, just like Minji, who was cute but was always acting like she was four years old. Apart from that, it’s a good drama, with a good plot, that makes you feel interested with it during the 15 episodes, and it’s a good thing to watch if you are into cliché romantic comedies.
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South Korean Dramas are the best :-
I enjoy watching short dramas, and this particular one stands out as one of the best. Although it may not be the absolute best, it's still quite good. What I particularly enjoy about it is the adorable romance and comedy between Lee Seung Min and Oh Ji Na. One of my favorite moments is when Lee Seung Min boldly declares in front of everyone that Oh Ji Na is his and he will never leave her. I don't like the friendship between Seong Han Na and Oh Ji Na. Relationships can be complicated, and sometimes it's difficult to understand why people do what they do.Make sure you check out this drama, as I firmly believe it is worth watching out.
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Typical but fun
This is pretty much as cliche as you could get but it was still a pretty fun watch. My favorite part of this is the reversal of the typical roles — the girl is headstrong and popular, the guy is quiet and shy. It was really refreshing and the chemistry was there for sure.I really wish the plot was more down-to-earth because the second half devolved into more tropes; the evil second female lead trope is really outdated, and the stalker trope also seems randomly dramatic.
Other than that, it was fun and it was cool to see the references to Best Mistake too.
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50 Days to be her lover
My cutesy school drama ‘Be My Boyfriend’ is about a standup guy enamored over the school “Hot Girl”. Miss Hotness needs somebody to pretend to be her new boyfriend so she can dump her no good soon to be ex. Miss Hotness enters a 50 day contract to carry out the rouse and on a lark picks our “steady but ready” ordinary guy. After the contract ends, each can walk away. He gives himself 50 days to change her mind and to show her that love can come in an unusual package, and for her to let the temporary job become permanent.This couple was so cute, the pair got picked for a story arc as a couple in the Korean drama Sh**ting Stars. Literally, their arc in Sh**ting Stars was the funniest arc in the whole drama. So many video compilations have been put out on their story arc in Sh**ting Stars. Both of these actors’ careers have taken off after being in Be My Boyfriend, and deservedly so.
Actors are Lee Si-Woo and Shin Hyun Seung.
Actor Shin Hyun Seung is getting another starring role in his 2023 drama Han River, coming up shortly. Actress Lee Si-Woo can be seen in My Lovely Liar 2023. I love these guys’ acting potential.
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Good Enough
Korean Web Drama Be My Boyfriend was an okay, short drama. It wasn't bad per se, but it didn't break the cliches and it just followed a predictable plot. It wasn't original, and that lack of originality was what didn't set this drama apart from the other dramas.The story, first of all, was okay, enjoyable and quite entertaining in the first part. The romance was cute, though the love triangle was questionable. The friendship part was, surprisingly, realistic in a way, as it showed some bad parts of it. As for the ending, it was a happy one, as it was expected.
Finally, the performances were pretty good from every actor and actress in the cast.
So, overall, six out of ten.
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Easy watch
This was a quick binge watch of easy sweetness. You know how you sometimes just want to watch something purely for enjoyment's sake, not having to think too much, keeping characters straight or being let down by a confusing or open-ended conclusion? That's what I found here. For the first time in a long time, I looked forward to watching the next episode in a show. Call me superficial, but there you have it.The story surely wasn't anything that we haven't seen a million times before, but there was something so endearing about the characters here. I thought the actors all did an adequate job, these weren't roles that required a lot of acting skill, so I'll address the characters themselves. I find that, for the most part, when I watch something, I have to care about at least someone, to want to see what is going to happen to them and how they are going to develop. I found that in this show.
Seung Min - your "average Joe". This was a character that was not popular, not unpopular, but just someone that no one would give a second thought to. He was perfectly content to like Ji Na from afar. I liked how the character was not a social outcast and how he just seemed to feel comfortable in his own skin. And once the contract began, I really enjoyed watching his enjoyment of being a boyfriend. He was excellent boyfriend material, and he did some very sweet things for and with Ji Na. The couple of interactions he had with his dad were sweet as well.
Ji Na - the popular idol trainee. Beautiful, sure. At the beginning she seemed lonely to me. She had a couple of friends but the way it was filmed, we saw that everyone else just watched her from afar. I think she was popular for how she looked, not for who she was. She was nice and didn't seem to bask in her popularity.
Hyung Tak - the baseball jock, inconsiderate boyfriend. Even though he thought that Ji Na couldn't possibly like someone else, I really liked this character and the way that he matured. You never know what you have until it's gone.
Han Na - though she looked like she had just sucked on a lemon for most of the show, this was a character that I just wanted to slap. Toxic.
Ba Ul - This character was all kinds of over-the-top. Initially, it was off-putting, but then I got used to him and enjoyed his cuteness.
Min Ji - the friendly, supportive best friend. Sweetness and light and enjoying Ba Ul.
So, this isn't a show that's going to tax your brain or change the world in any way, but I found it to be a fun and peaceful watch. I laughed, I teared up, and I'm glad I took the time for it.
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