This Netflix reality series is unlike any dating show you’ve seen before

Of the many subgenres that make up reality TV, few are as popular as the classic dating show. It’s an essential part of the medium, which has undergone a huge evolution in recent years. Although dating series hold great promise for innovative new ways to help people find partners, it’s only recently that LGBTQ+ audiences have seen successful shows offer people with their identities a chance at romance. It’s been a great innovation that’s given viewers dating shows they’ve never seen before, with the latest (and arguably best) Netflix show beingThe boyfriend. Created by This is Ota.

This program promises a tantalizing concept that brings together disparate (but all extremely charming) men and challenges them to find love over the course of a few weeks. A kind of premise that viewers have seen many times before. It is not wrong that many current dating shows have similar concepts, but while The boyfriend takes on some ideas, it is the way the series builds on these existing themes while creating entirely new ones that give its participants a legitimate chance at a long-lasting romance – while also highlighting it as one of the best shows in the genre. It is overwhelmingly unique and offers its players and viewers a thrilling, heartbreaking and shockingly profound dating series like they have never seen before.

Reality dating shows all have one fatal flaw

In recent years, many LGBTQ+-focused shows have been introduced in reality TV, such as The boyfriendwith longtime fans of the genre thrilled to finally see this kind of inclusion on screen. It’s been unfortunate that for most of television history, the reality genre has often used LGBTQ+ identities as gimmicks. For the occasional and often irreverent one-season series or as a break from a cast full of straight contestants, the lone non-heterosexual person is meant to represent an entire community and “diversify” their season. It’s great to see these communities finally getting the respect they deserve.; from imaginative web series like Spark bearing or revisions of classics such as The Ultimate: Queer Lovethese programs offer many examples of people fighting for love that LGBTQ+ fans can finally see themselves in. They’ve sparked some amazing conversations within the genre and created a wave of innovation that’s seen LGBTQ+ dating shows become as mainstream as any other popular dating show – which also means they’ve started to suffer from the same problems.

Dating shows, while imaginative, are often discredited due to a legitimate question: Does it work? These shows are built on their mystique, the assurance that their own path is better than anyone else’s and is exactly what their cast needs to find, namely the ultimate, everlasting romance. From finding love “without being seen” to several attractive singles on an island dedicated to their romance, countless shows offer quirky and novel ways for people to meet and hopefully spend the rest of their lives together. They are extremely romantic and hopeful premises that often don’t have the necessary outcomes to back them up. In both straight and LGBTQ+ shows, many of the people who pair up on them break up shortly after filming, stating that their series created a romantic bubble that didn’t last after filming ended. While they are fascinating to watch, due to their constructed sets and strange rules, These programs do not give participants a true insight into the character of the other and how they behave in different situations, which is essential in any successful relationship. These actors don’t really understand who they are as people outside of the show, a lack of knowledge that makes the “battle for love” in most reality series a losing battle for everyone involved.

The dating show that puts reality over romance

While other shows often fail when it comes to teaching the contestants anything about each other – aside from facts that make good television, like sexual preferences or who they hate on their show. This seems to be one of the The boyfriend Main missions. The series differs from similar franchises by omitting the merciless element of other shows and focusing on a group of nine LGBTQ+ men in Japan. The series puts them all in a house for the summer and tasks them with working on a traveling coffee cart. The contestants are asked to fall in love with each other while also running a business and taking care of their new home. While it’s not uncommon for a dating show to bring all of its contestants together and challenge them to live together, this is rarely done with so much practical responsibility dumped on the players, rather than the theatrical hurdles of similar shows. There are no eliminations or attempts by the production to create tensionand a cast of Japanese celebrities who provide commentary throughout the series keep the tone playful for the captivating romantic moments, emphasizing the emotional aspects of the many scenes in which these contestants discuss their pasts. Men must deal with delicate issues like household chores, managing a budget, and working the coffee cart, and as mundane as these tasks may sound, it’s the way they tackle them that gives them the security to be vulnerable. This creates some of the genre’s most sincere relationships.

The boyfriend encourages these men to find love, but also simply build friendships with each other; many of the players come from very rural areas of Japan and admit that they don’t have as many LGBTQ+ friends where they come from, let alone potential partners. This, coupled with the men having to do daily tasks like they would have to in the “outside world,” adds a certain gravitas to a series that seems less focused on making good TV and more on helping these players build lasting relationships. There are little challenges in each episode, things like writing anonymous love letters and games to win dates. Seeing someone do things like take out the trash or treat customers kindly proves to be essential to the contestants starting to fall in love with each other. It’s this authenticity which allows for both heartbreaking moments of vulnerability and breathtaking scenes of romance, The setting encourages authentic bonds between characters and makes the romances that develop so endearing to watch. It’s a sweet, romantic sight that’s much more believable than your average dating show and helps build relationships where each person truly knows who they’re committed to.

The Boyfriend helps its players to be themselves

Despite all the inventiveness, The boyfriend is not the first dating series that offers its participants the best chances of finding lasting love. Long-standing hits such as The Bachelorette integrate people’s private lives and families every season to give a better insight into their personalities, and programs like Love is blind have a decent success rate in contestants staying married after their time on the show. As well-intentioned as these programs are, they too often get so bogged down in their fantastical premise that they don’t actually give their contestants the space to really get to know each other. Seeing each other in the little moments of everyday life, watching the reactions that say so much about a person and give potential partners an idea of ​​who they will be off-screen. By incorporating the subtle, often boring aspects of daily life, The boyfriend gives its players the chance to get to know all sides of each other and find out whether their relationship could work outside of such a cultivated environment.

Reality fans can still enjoy plenty of nerve-wracking drama as the men clash when their more authentic thoughts come to light, and the commentators discuss each of these scenes in great detail. But it is the authenticity of the show that makes it so successful. It gives viewers a kind of real love they’ve never experienced before, and features plenty of heartbreaking, jaw-dropping, and beautiful scenes as these men try to find the person who will best fit into their lives outside of the show – and after the way these first few episodes go, there’s a good chance viewers will see them do just that.

The boyfriend is available to stream on Netflix in the US

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