'The Boyfriend' Reunion Post!
Click to viewNetflix wrapped up the first season of The Boyfriend, Japan's first ever same-sex dating show, last week. On Saturday, August 3, the nine housemates-Alan (29), Dai (22), Gensei (34), Kazuto (27), Ryota (28), Shun (23), Taeheon (34), Usak (36) and Ikuo (22)-reunited to catch up with the series' five commentators for a YouTube livestream.
Read on below for some of the highlights (contains spoilers!).
• Shun first felt attracted to Dai during the housemates' coffee-making lesson, prior to beginning work on the coffee truck for the duration of their time in the Green Room, but acknowledged he experienced many ups and downs with his emotions due to Dai's at times high energy. In the go-kart race, he had no interest in having a wish granted but simply did not want to lose to Ikuo due to his competitive nature.
• Both Dai and Gensei were under the impression that Usak would be staying in the Green Room for the duration of the series. Had they known ahead of time that he would leave (at the end of Episode 5), they would have made concessions with the chicken breast needed to maintain his physique.
• Ryota regretted not being more considerate of Kazuto's feelings when sending him messages and presenting him with lunch before the latter's shift with Alan on the coffee truck, explaining that he long struggled with communicating his feelings effectively prior to filming.
• Gensei expressed embarrassment when he went to watch the series for the first time with friends and saw the full breadth of the misunderstanding he had about Ryota's feelings toward him play out. He was also embarrassed by the inclusion of him being unable to reach the go kart pedals due to his height, and expressed that he would choose Ryota's height over some of the other boys' muscles.
• Having no insight to the other housemates' relationships when entering the Green Room, Ikuo admitted to being frustrated by Alan's constant presence around Kazuto, to Alan's surprise. Kazuto admitted to being overwhelmed after learning of Alan, Ikuo and Ryota's feelings, in addition to Usak's.
• Taeheon admitted to being more of an observer at the start of filming due to Japanese being his second language. By the time he found his bearings, several of the relationships highlighted in the series had developed, so he focused on developing friendships with his housemates to the best of his ability, taking on a "big brother" role.
• Upon returning from filming, Taeheon faced his fear of coming out to his parents and received both of their support. Alan and Kazuto learned that they were better suited to be best friends than romantic or sexual partners, while Dai and Shun revealed that their relationship was going strong by holding hands (however, they alluded to disagreements similar to those depicted in the series). They have since "hard launched" their relationship via social media and started a joint YouTube channel.
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