Japan’s first ever same sex dating show “The Boyfriend” to be premiered on Netflix

The upcoming Netflix show is a reality series called “The Boyfriend,” which will premiere on July 9 this year. The show will be in the form of episodes and will be 10 episodes long, with the episodes being released in batches of four episodes every Tuesday. Netflix released a teaser announcing the schedule of the series along with an advertising trailer showing a group of men constructing friendships and having tender scenes.

Picking up on the format of a popular Japanese romantic reality show called ‘Terrace House’, the show showcases a group of well-groomed, polite contestants living together while commentators watch them.

The series is being advertised as a drama that tells both the romantic relationships and the character development of the cast as characters who are forging real connections that are deeper than friends, lovers, or family. The main concept is that nine single men line up to live in a beach house for one month, all in the search of love.

With ages ranging between 22 and 36, while they operate a coffee truck during the day and cook dinner at night, they go out on dates once in a while. One of the principal clashes is such that, although a rarity, another club dancer has to buy chicken to make protein shakes to keep a particular body shape. Getting to know one’s friends and growing as people is as important as dealing with love interests in this series; the topic of sex is not frequent.

In Japan, there are virtually no programs on television that portray gay or transgender characters as real people; the few existing ones behave exaggeratedly and have stereotypical comedic roles. However, with “The Boyfriend,”  which is the show created by the executive producer Dai Ota, people can watch homosexual relationships without stereotypical representations.

The founder of Fair, an LGBTQ advocacy group in Tokyo, Soshi Matsuoka, said that the presence of this Netflix show will indicate “a change in society.” He further added that he would like the cast to present their sexuality and the social issues affecting LGBTQ Japan more openly.

The reality series will be hosted by diverse talents such as Chiaki Horan, who is an actress; Durian Lollobrigida, who is a drag queen; Thelma Aoyama, who is a singer; Yoshimi Tokui, who is a comedian and an actor; and MEGUMI, who is also an actress. This project has a YouTuber, model, and DJ. Taiki Takahashi has the challenges of a producer and a casting director.

Taiki openly shared how he felt about the variety of contestants for the show, stating, “I’m so happy with how this series took shape. I listened to each participant with the goal of producing a show that left everyone feeling valued and loved.”

While ‘The Boyfriend’ is Japan’s first same-sex dating reality show, there are now a plethora of queer dating programs being produced across the globe. These include Netflix’s “The Ultimatum: BBC’s “I Kissed a Boy” and “I Kissed a Girl,” Apple TV+? “For the Love of DILFS,” and the South Korean “His Man.”

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