Jisoo's Netflix Debut Boyfriend on Demand Hits Global Top 5 in 48 Hours
Three days in, Netflix's Boyfriend on Demand has landed in the Top 5 globally, reached No. 1 in South Korea, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, and collected more than 2,000 IMDb ratings averaging 7.6 out of 10. BLACKPINK's Jisoo, carrying her first lead drama role, is at the center of it.
The premise is built around a contradiction. Seo Mi-rae (Jisoo) is a webtoon producer who knows romance inside out - she oversees her company's most popular love story - but has given up on it in her own life. When a virtual reality dating service drops a "Monthly Boyfriend" device in her lap, she agrees to test it for work. What starts as a professional exercise turns personal fast. The show's fictional service stocks 901 virtual boyfriends, and Mi-rae works through a rotating cast of them - a college senior, a covert intelligence agent, a wealthy heir - each played by a different celebrity guest including Seo Kang-jun, Lee Soo-hyuk, Ong Seong-wu, Lee Jae-wook, Lee Hyun-wook, Kim Young-dae, Jay Park, and Lee Sang-yi.
Running alongside the fantasy sequences is the show's more conventional thread: Mi-rae's combative relationship with Park Kyeong-nam (Seo In-guk), her rival at the webtoon company. Seo In-guk, who broke through with Reply 1997 in 2012, plays the role with controlled restraint that makes the slow-burn arc function - if not entirely escape its tropes. Director Kim Jung-sik said he focused on "portraying the many charms Jisoo has in the most versatile way possible," using different character occupations in the virtual world to distinguish her performance from Mi-rae's real-life persona.
The critical response has been divided. TIME called it "an entertaining winner," crediting Jisoo's best-suited acting role yet and the show's championing of the female-driven romance genre. Decider said Jisoo's charm and the variety of dating scenarios set it apart from other K-romcoms. The South China Morning Post was harsher, rating it 2.5 out of 5 and calling the narrative too conventional. Several Korean critics flagged issues with Jisoo's delivery in heavier dramatic scenes. Director Kim Jung-sik addressed it plainly: "Effort overcame talent."
The numbers tell a different story about audience appetite. One day after its March 6 premiere, the series ranked seventh on Netflix's global TV chart. By March 8 it had climbed to fifth and entered the Top 10 in 69 countries across Asia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. As of March 9, FlixPatrol ranked it fifth globally among Netflix series, with an IMDb average of 7.6 from over 2,000 ratings.
Off screen, the timing aligns with a strong run in Jisoo's solo music career. Her debut EP AMORTAGE title track "earthquake" crossed 100 million YouTube views on February 7, roughly a year after its February 2025 release. The single ranked No. 47 on the Billboard Global 200 and topped Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart. A second single, "Eyes Closed" with Zayn Malik, reached No. 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped YouTube Music Worldwide Trending in 74 countries.
Boyfriend on Demand is streaming now on Netflix.
