As someone who has been into Korean media for a decade now, I have learned over the years that the K-wave in Brazil specifically is massive, so obviously, when you hear of a show that brings Brazilian women to Korea to find the loves of their lives, you’re bound to be at least a little bit intrigued by the idea of how things will pan out. However, a little into My Korean Boyfriend and you’re already wondering, “Why the heck does this show exist?” For one, despite being a dating show, it starts off as if we already know who these women are and who they’ve partnered up with. There’s no one section that feels like the beginning of something, if you know what I mean? There are 5 women: Morena, Camila, Mari, Luanny, and Katy. Out of the 5 women, 4 already have established relationships with men in Korea, whether it be through social media or having met once many moons ago, and Camila is a Korean-born Brazilian who moved there at age 3 after being abandoned by her mother. So really, the thing that’s being explored in this show isn’t just dating or romantic relationships in Korea; it’s about life as a whole in the country.
It doesn’t even take 10 minutes for these women to realize that Seoul isn’t the fairytale city they expect it to be. This is not a diss on the city, which is beautiful as always, but it’s about the men that they’re meant to be seeing. Mari, who is meant to be seeing her man, Danny, whom she’s been texting on Instagram for a few months, waits for him at the airport, but he doesn’t show. Already, the red flags are fluttering, but we’re meant to see how things go, right? To be honest, I already lost interest at this point, because the whole fun in dating shows is seeing how people get to know each other and then how things turn out when they get together. Here, I’m not interested in these men who seem to all be kind of useless.
If you look up this show online, you’ll find an article that shows the reaction of Korean netizens to the trailer of My Korean Boyfriend. It seems even Korean women themselves can’t stand the idea of dating Korean men, so they’re happy to ship them off to other countries. Watching the show really makes it clear why. Who knew even 3 episodes of something could be enough to infuriate you and bore you at the same time?
Morena and Su-Woong
Before I get into the negatives, let me talk about the only good thing in the show (I think?). Morena and Su-Woong had already been dating for a year before meeting on the show. The big conflict for them is that his mother doesn’t fully understand Morena’s culture, and it’s already causing friction between them. For one, already there’s a drastic difference between Korean culture and Brazilian culture. So the way she dresses and the way she talks are definitely going to be different, and Su-Woong claims he’s defended her to his mother, but she just needs to present herself a bit differently when she sees her next. While Morena doesn’t like the sound of this, it’s basically just glossed over because the next time we see this couple, it’s for a very fancy date, in a very fancy place, and you can already tell why. Well, Su-Woong makes the proposal, getting down on one knee and all that. Also, he was sweet enough to bring her balloons and flowers on the first day, too, but is Morena really going to be happy with all these rules? Like, will they really be able to handle this difference in culture? Guess we’ll find out in the second half of the show. I, for one, am sure we’re not going to see a wedding, but hey, who knows?
Mari and Danny
Mari was the one who waited at the airport for Danny to come pick her up, and he didn’t show. At the beginning, everybody literally thought he didn’t exist until Mari went to meet him one evening, all alone, and his apology for not showing up was a single rose. Apparently, when it comes from the heart, everything is okay. Anyway, it seems like Mari and Danny can make it; they’ve got things in common, and they’re both quite adorable. Danny needs things to move slowly, though, while Mari is very clearly Brazilian, so she’d have jumped at the opportunity to kiss him, but she’s holding back because she’s respecting him as a Korean man. Again, cultural differences can really mess these things up, but for now, these two seem steady and kinda cute too.
Katy and Jack
In typical K-drama fashion, Jack’s entry into Katy’s life is super dramatic and romantic, but now that they’re next to each other talking, it appears they really don’t have anything in common. Some time ago, Jack mustered up the courage to ask Katy out when she was in Korea, and they spoke together for 2 years while he was doing his military service. But now he’s back, and Katy’s also in Korea, so this is the perfect time for them to actually get to know each other. But there’s a huge problem: they have nothing in common, and Katy’s already annoyed. It seems all Jack can really talk about is working out, and Katy, eventually, on the 3rd date, decides to tell him they’re better off as friends. While it seems okay at the time, she does cry to her friends later. But girl, you have to cut him out completely!
Luanny and Si-Wan
Now, I’ve left the worst for the last, because this man will be infuriating to literally anybody. Grade-A gaslighter in the house right here. Luanny literally took a loan from her friends to come see this guy, but he’s got an ego hit because she’s asking him politely to look after his finances. Luanny has a daughter, and Si-Wan pursued her, knowing this fact, even though she told him to walk away if that were a problem. It’s certainly a huge taboo in Korean culture. But this man has the audacity to turn a misunderstanding into a whole conversation about how he doesn’t like the way she talks to him. Honestly, she needs to walk out of that room right now. But this is where the 3rd episode ends, and for some odd reason, the 4th episode is a bunch of people reacting to whatever’s gone down, and it does feel a little bit racist, but I don’t think I’m going to say anything else about that 4th episode.
Camila
The only sane person here is Camila, but I don’t fully understand why she’s here. It almost feels like she’s a free translator and agony aunt for the rest of the girls. I wonder if the show will surprise her with her mother, but that would be a really hard thing to pull off. Maybe she’ll find a dude and explore her culture again. I don’t really know. We’ll have to wait and see.
What did you think of the first 4 episodes of My Korean Boyfriend? Is it exactly what you thought it would be? Let us know in the comments down below.
