Fake Buddies (2024)

Min Hwan (Hwang Min Hwan) is not afraid to tell his girlfriend Joo Ha, with whom he has been in a romantic relationship for about six months, that in that time he has fallen in love with Jin Hiuk, his best friend.
Joo Ha (Lee Joo Ha) is also not afraid to let Min Hwan know that she has also fallen in love with Soeun, her best friend.
Your problem lies in how to let them know.
Is the problem because they love people of the same gender? Will they be able to overcome doubts and insecurities and express their true feelings? Will they decide to flee to face the conflict and repress emotions in order to please the other? Will they choose to hide the truth and generate temporary tranquility that in the long run will gradually cause happiness to be lost, and therefore the relationship to deteriorate? Isn't avoiding conflict the cause of that feeling of guilt, that you owe something, and therefore you don't have the right to demand or claim from the other?
From my words, anyone might think that we are facing a drama that would make us cry, but no.
From the romantic comedy genre with an LGBTIQ+ theme, the hilarious miniseries 'Fake Buddies' (가짜 친구 / Gajja Chingu) promises to make the viewer laugh in this mess that, in addition to fake friends, explores communication problems.

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Are we really friends?

This little korean web drama is by far the best drama I've seen in a long time from Korea: this is how you make a correct friends to lovers drama!

Minhwa's girlfriend is suspicious of his closeness with his best friend of ten years. On the other hand, he is completely oblivious of her closeness with her long-time best friend. Well, they are all fake friends and real lovers.

The drama focuses more on the BL and the GL is just a kind of side story. But the BL is just perfect! When they go on a trip alone, they are suddenly uncomfortable in each other's company, the tension rises and eventually breaks through the friendship barrier. These scenes are sweet and funny: the stretching before a jog is hilarious. Or when the straight couple tries to come clean to each other and are constantly interrupted and don't know how to say what needs to be said!

The actors have just the right amount of chemistry together. In the first episodes, they are dressed the same and they actually look very much alike, seated beside each other in the café.

Fake Buddies is a low budget (they seem to be all alone in the world!) web drama which again proves that talent and creativity are what is important not the money. I wanted to continue watching them: they are so cute and sweet together. I would like to know more about the girls and how they got together as well: that is the episode this drama is missing and therefore I took 0.5 off my rating!

EDIT
MDL misled us: there were two additional episodes they never announced here and those two episodes are a full blown GL. And it is sweet, cute and perfect! The actresses are excellent at conveying the right amounts of feelings, they have nice chemistry. The direction and camerawork is correct and I liked the shaky camera angles which eloquently portrayed the burgeoning realization that their feelings for each other have always been more than friendship!

Now they should put the episodes in the right order: ep; 5 should be the last one while episodes 6&7 should come before, right after ep 4. Still, this is definitely one of the cutest and funniest Korean webdramas I've seen in a very long time.

Go for it!

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It isn´t one that blows you away but it doesn´t need to be

This series is a mini-series that despite it not being a big production is definitely worth watching. It´s not one that blows you completely away but it doesn´t have to. The story of the two couples, the two girls and the two guys, is cute and down to earth in a more realistic way. Both couples show hesitations that feel real seeing as each couple respectively has been friends for ten years before they even become a couple. The attraction shown between the couples isn´t this big non-graspable thing but is build by their interactions and small gestures. While i will say the music was very standard and it isn´t one i would revisit. It is a nice short and cute one time experience that I would say is worth it.

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This was originally released as seven shorts YouTube, which were later posted as one video. During this time, viewers did not know after each episode, if that one had been the last -- if and when the story would continue.

Until this project, the YouTube channel "옆집남자 GuyNextDoor" had only made short comedy skits -- most of which are really good! They used their history and experience with these shorts to their advantage for their project "Fake Buddies" by filming and releasing the seven parts as comedic shorts, without any indication whether each one would be the last. The first four or so were even complete little stories in themselves, at first I wasn't sure if they should be seen as part of the same story at all. The wait and the guessing game (Will the story continue? Will we get a backstory? Which couple will we see?) enhanced the experience for me.

Even as a finished product, this short story (the complete version is 44:35 min) is charming -- the acting is well done, the comedic timing on point. The plot is simple -- the way it is told make us root for all four of the young people. The budget was obviously non-existent -- for this story about people "next door" more wasn't needed.

GuyNextDoor show us that you can tell a good story, even without budget, if you use your strengths to your advantage. I'll be looking forward to their upcoming projects.

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De confusa já basta a vida

Bem, a série foge um pouco do padrão BL coreano, está mais como uma série LGBT+. O drama relata a situação de dois amigos que não verdade se amam e nenhum dos dois tem coragem de falar, nesse meio tempo, ele namora uma garota, e quando decide ser honesto com ela e revelar seu amor pelo "amigo", que a essa altura já é namorado secreto, tem a surpresa de que sua namorada também namora outra garota. Seria um plot interessante, já que a qualidade coreana não deixa muito a desejar nos aspectos técnicos. O que acaba com a série é que ela não se passa em uma linha cronológica exata, o tempo todo mostram cenas do passado e do presente, e cabe a vc tentar entender o que está rolando. Como os EPS são poucos e bem curtos, isso se torna um problema. Já que não é possível um desenvolvimento decente nem dos dois rapazes nem das duas moças. Algumas coisas ficam apenas subentendidas, como o fato de que quando ele namorava a garota, ambos secretamente já tinham seus parceiros homossexuais. Enfim, não é ruim de todo, mas eu não veria de novo.

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