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Of course there was going to be ‘The Boyfriend Season 2’, Japan’s first gay-dating reality show which amassed its own following, BL fans included. And Netflix didn’t want to keep viewers hanging, so it dropped six episodes of the series in one go, while the rest were kept on hold to keep the buzz going.
Also Read: The Boyfriend Season 1 Review – Coffee, Crushes, Conflicts Brew
Steering away from the beach-y setting of season one, the first episode of The Boyfriend Season 2 opens with stunning shots of snowy Hokkaido, Japan, as each member of the new cast stylishly walks through the pristine white landscape and into the ‘Green Room’. This time around, the men get to spend two months together, which means they have ample time to get to know each other, fall in love, and, as some of the commentators cheekily suggest early on, maybe even date someone for a bit and move on to the next. So there are also a total of 15 episodes in The Boyfriend Season 2, five more from the first one. Too bad there aren’t more contestants though!
The format for the show remains the same: eight men (one of them enters the ‘Green Room’ a little later than the others) live under one roof for eight weeks, take turns running a coffee truck together, cook for everybody, go on dates, play games, and hopefully fall head over heels for someone. Most of the contestants look like they could play leads in a Japanese romance, although the age gap between the youngest and the eldest member is once again quite stark. The oldest contestant is 40, while the youngest is 20, a college student.
One of the more surprising things about The Boyfriend Season 2 is that quite a few contestants already know each other, and two of them had even briefly gone on dates before. It might remind viewers of His Man Season 3, the Korean gay dating show, where things got awkward pretty quickly because two contestants who knew each other pretended they didn’t for a while.
Thankfully, the The Boyfriend Season 2 cast is far more honest and upfront, greeting people they already know right away without making things uncomfortable for everyone else. That said, thanks to this former “almost couple,” there is plenty of romantic tension and drama generated in the episodes. The opening episode is aptly titled ‘This Winter We Meet Again’, which works both as a welcome-back for the show and a clever hint at old flames crossing paths again.
Watching the two of them talk about their past was amusing, to say the least, because their versions of what actually happened are completely different. It’s not that either of them is lying, it just shows how the same experience can land very differently for different people. Think of it like a rollercoaster date: one person is having the time of their life, while their date is busy puking their guts out. A great date… just not for both of them.
The contestants on The Boyfriend Season 2 are mostly likable, occasionally confusing, and still very much a work in progress. With just six episodes out (probably covering only the first two weeks) there’s clearly a lot left to shake things up. Some of them men have formed warm friendships and it’s cute to watch them confide into each other about who they like and how it’s going.
A love triangle wraps up early, hearts get broken, crushes are killed, and a few of them may already be setting their sights on someone new. At the very least, the show delivers gorgeous snowy dates, cute men, and a steady supply of coffee truck moments. It will be interesting to see how things go in the rest of the show.
Watch The Boyfriend Season 2 on Netflix.
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