Our Dating Sim Korean BL Review

Drama: Our Dating Sim (우리 연애 시뮬레이션/ 우연시)

Director: Lim Hyun-hee

Writer: Lee Yoon-seul

Cast:- Lee Seung-gyu, Lee Jong-hyuk, Yoo Seong-yong, Sung Ryung, Park Si-young and others

About the show:

Shin Gi-tae and Lee Wan have been friends since they were in high school. On the day of their graduation, a failed love confession to Shin Gi-tae causes Lee Wan to flee the scene and never be heard by Gi-tae or any of their friends.

7 years later, the two long lost friends meet once again at a gaming company. Gi-tae is now a game developer at Re:try and Wan is hired as a contract based character sketch designer. Will the reunion bring back memories of the past? Will Gi-tae confront Wan about the latter's disappearance? Will the 7 years help them turn their one-sided love into a romantic relationship?

(*This review may contain spoilers. If you have already watched the show, please continue reading. If you haven’t watched the show yet, you can still continue reading or you can come back to the review later.)

What I loved about the show:-

The show talks about some important topics that are significant for a happy life and a healthy relationship.

1) Communication- Any relationship or friendship needs to have a strong foundation and one of the main traits of a healthy relationship/friendship is good communication. The show has a 101 session about communication. The communication between Gi-tae and Wan starts off wrong. On the terrace, after the graduation, Wan does not wait for an answer from Gi-tae and Gi-tae is too surprised to react. This leads to the 7 years distance between the two.

The drama shows that a healthy relationship is built with strong communication. The seven years actually helps them learn their lesson and be open about their thoughts. They express their emotions and feelings, they express their concerns and fears and they express their love for each other. This communication helps them strengthen their relationship.

2) Patience- It is the key to a healthy life and relationship. Two people need to be extremely patient with each other when in love. They need to have the ability to wait and also have the right attitude while waiting. Gi-tae has the patience to wait for 7 years and he demonstrates that he is gentleman by waiting for Wan to give their relationship a chance.

3) Support- While Gi-tae's strength is his patience, Wan is strong with his support and comfort. Wan has become Gi-tae's lifeline. Gi-tae cannot bear the thought of being apart from Wan.

Wan is like an antidote to all of Gi-tae's worries, concerns and inhibitions. He supports and comforts Gi-tae and assures him that he will stay by the latter's side, not leave him and also work on being better in their relationship. Wan also makes sure to shower a lot of love on Gi-tae.

4) Compromise- A relationship stands strong and healthy when two people are ready to make compromises for each other. Gi-tae's compromise is to be understanding of Wan, his reserved personality, his present and future career choices.

Wan's compromise for Gi-tae is to give up on the opportunity to take up a job overseas. The job offer could give him a successful career and an interesting growth but he just couldn't do that to Gi-tae. Being apart after finding each other 7 years later is not something Gi-tae is willing to go through. For the love that Wan has for Gi-tae, the former decides to let go of his job opportunity and be with Gi-tae and continue to be happier in love. He is confident that more opportunities will find him when the right time comes. But for one good opportunity he is not willing to lose the right person.

5) Fighting for your love - In Gi-tae's confession scene, we hear him tell Wan that he is not willing to let go of his love anymore. He is ready to fight for Wan and make sure Wan is part of his life now onwards. Gi-tae shows that if you want your love to succeed, you have to fight for it.

One of my favourite parts about the show is the game designing. The concepts of love, romance and sketching are incorporated into a dating game, which in turn is transformed into a webtoon, which is the actual BL drama - Our Dating Sim.

(Dating game--> webtoon) = Our dating Sim

This is the first time I have loved the costumes just as much as I have loved the show. The casual wear at the Re:try company, the different wardrobe and styles of the employees shows their personalities as well. Sunny’s baggy clothes and messy hair show her Tom boy personality, Jamie’s dresses and bangs show her girl next door personality and the CEO linen shirts and chinos show his mature and experienced personality.

Eddy (Shin Gi-tae) is consistent with his shorts and sweatshirts/jumpers. It shows his lively and easygoing personality.

Ian's (Lee Wan) t-shirts/shirts and trousers show his reserved and calm personality.

I love that the costume department has dressed everyone based on their personalities and has kept each character unique from the other and also made everyone stand out with their respective styles.

The OST, the aesthetics, the ambience and the locations were top notch.

If you are interested in understanding the characters and the actors more, then tune in to the Behind the scenes and making videos on YouTube.

The Actors:-

Lee Seung-gyu and Lee Jong-hyuk were extraordinary in the drama. I love the chemistry between the lead characters. Their eyes and expressions have done brilliant work. My favourite part about the actors is how at ease they are with each other throughout the show both on and off screen. The rapport between the two and their comfort around each other is pleasant to watch. They both are charismatic and captivating. When they appear on screen, it is pure magic. They already seem like accomplished actors. I am looking forward to more outstanding work from the two.

The supporting cast is great as well. Their contribution is immense both to the story and to the show.

The Director and the Writer:-

Lim Hyun-hee and Lee Yoon-seul – I am in love with the work that they have produced. BL Dramas and women directors/writers is a combination that I love. They have done a brilliant job on the screenplay and the execution of the story. In the Behind the Scenes videos, you can see how they work along with the actors to bring out the perfect emotions and the beautiful scenes. They let the actors give ideas on how the scene could be enacted. They take their time to discuss with the actors how each scene, emotion and dialogue is to be delivered and then leave it to the actors to perform the above in their own charismatic way.

These women are in every way the future of the Korean Entertainment Industry. I love them and I can’t wait for their future work.

Our Dating Sim is adorable, lovely and is packed with emotions and heart fluttering moments. In terms of cuteness, it is one of the best BL dramas from South Korea.