OhMahaZeeya

I loved this show.
It has genuinely been a while since I watched a romcom that I actually enjoyed this much, and Boyfriend on Demand really delivered. It’s not perfect, but it knows exactly what kind of show it wants to be, and for the most part, it works.

The 50 min episodes were such a blessing.
 I am so done with every episode of a drama being an hour and twenty minutes long when half of that runtime could have been cut. It kept the show refreshing, pacing tight, avoided a lot of unnecessary drama, and, more importantly, let scenes actually linger in your head instead of becoming forgettable because the show has thrown another 15 things at you before the episode ends.
The shorter runtime really suited this drama.

Episode 3 was probably my favourite. I especially loved what they did with the college storyline. Having Seo Mi-rae see her ex in Eun-ho’s place and finally tell him to have a good life felt like such a simple but meaningful way of showing her letting go of the resentment she had been carrying. The new bitter memories may have replaced the old good ones, but that doesn’t mean the old ones cease to exist.

And I actually liked the angst later on too, between her and Kyeong-Nam. Her biggest obstacle was ultimately herself; her insecurities, her complicated feelings and, especially, her uncertainty about change. It felt very in-character rather than like angst being inserted just because a rom-com needed conflict. I liked watching her actually overcome that part of herself and consciously step into a new relationship.

Ngl, I was initially much more invested in the VR storyline.The VR world was flashy, colourful, extravagant and completely over-the-top. It was inviting and almost addictive. You could understand why people would get obsessed with it.

But once Mi-rae created her custom boyfriend, I found myself becoming more interested in the real-world storyline.
 And honestly, that is an achievement because I was genuinely wondering how they were going to transition from those ridiculous VR dating scenarios into an office romance without making the latter feel boring by comparison.
 Somehow, they managed to bring the two worlds together so naturally that eventually the VR storyline almost fades into the back of your mind.
I also loved them doing all the couple-y things that Mi-rae did in VR, except now they’re happening in the real world and are infinitely better because they’re actually real.
 And Park Kyeong-Nam having this weird obsession with matching alcohol bottle caps? Adorable

Why were there so many attractive men? Like seriously. Lee Soo-hyuk. Seo Kang-joon. Lee Jae-wook. Kim Young-dae. At some point, the fangirl part of my brain almost took over.

The supporting cast was so much fun. I absolutely love Gong Min-jung as a supporting actress. She is always so adorable, funny and effortlessly light-hearted. You know a rom-com is about to rom-com when Gong Min-jung shows up.
 I loved Writer Yun. She is terribly flawed, borderline crazy, annoying as hell at times, and yet somehow completely full of heart, care and good intentions. She feels like the kind of character who would drive you insane in real life, but you’d still end up loving her.

And Ji-yeon? I love how much she loves dating. She is so unapologetically into it. She’s completely full of herself, doesn’t care what anyone thinks, and apparently considers dating one of her favourite hobbies. An icon. Love that for her.

Yoo In-na... Whenever she appears in a rom-com, I immediately get that OG kdrama romcom feeling. I genuinely wish we had gotten more of her.

Jisoo is not terrible here. In fact, she has improved a lot compared to Snowdrop. She is much more capable of holding her own now, and her scenes don’t constantly feel like they need another actor to carry them. But she still feels somewhat amateurish to me. She went straight into playing female leads rather than having the opportunity to work her way through supporting or second-lead roles first.

I also don’t understand how Jisoo can look like an absolute angel in BLACKPINK related works and then look so painfully basic here.
 Yes, Seo Mi-rae is an ordinary office worker. I get that. But at least give her a little more visual distinction in the VR scenes. Those were the perfect opportunity to make her stand out.

More importantly, I think Seo Mi-rae could have been played with a little more earnestness and emotional depth. 
At times, I found myself thinking that the role would have been right up Park Bo-young, Jin Ki-joo or Kim Hye-yoon’s alley.

I like Seo In-guk. It had been years since I watched one of his dramas, so seeing him again was genuinely nice. The problem is that his character doesn’t have a huge amount to work with. Park Kyeong-Nam isn’t particularly dramatic, eccentric or outwardly expressive, so there isn’t much flashy material for Seo In-guk to sink his teeth into.But he does what he can with it, and I really liked his portrayal.

In fact, I think what makes Kyeong-Nam work is precisely that he doesn’t make your heart race the way all those ridiculous VR men do.
 He’s normal. He feels like an actual person rather than a webtoon boyfriend manufactured in a laboratory to satisfy every possible romantic fantasy. He feels like the kind of perfectly ordinary colleague you could actually end up dating. And I loved how the drama used that contrast. The VR men are artificial, exaggerated and designed to be desirable. Kyeong-Nam is human.

But my biggest complaint was: where is the male lead? What do you mean Seo In-guk, the male lead, was getting like 10 minutes of screen time per episode for the first half of the drama?!

I really wish we had gotten more of Kyeong-Nam’s POV.
The story being so heavily centred on Mi-rae meant that we didn’t get enough opportunity to understand him or watch his feelings develop. It was obvious from pretty early on that he liked her, so the drama could have easily given us little snippets of his perspective through the epilogues or occasional POV switches. Instead, they waited until around Episode 7 to properly give us his perspective, which honestly felt way too late. And even then, it was barely given a full episode. At some points, Park Kyeong-Nam genuinely felt more like a supporting character than the male lead.

Also, I absolutely disliked most of Episode 10.
 It felt like the drama was dragging out a problem that could have been resolved with one honest conversation.

Also, why do these women keep going back to the VR men?!
 At first, I was like, yes, this is an interesting commentary on capitalism exploiting lonely people and monetising emotional intimacy.
 But eventually, I stopped blaming capitalism and started blaming everyone’s idiocy.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed Boyfriend on Demand. The show isn’t perfect, but it was such a genuinely fun watch. I had a good time. And honestly, that’s all I want from a rom-com.

P.S. Seo In-guk needs to stop playing around and give me another role like The Smile Has Left Your Eyes.