Webdrama: Matching! Boys Archery
Episodes: 8 Episodes x 15 Minutes
Matching! Boys, FanFics, and BL
It’s an unspoken fact that if you are into Korean Entertainment, you have at one point or another come across fan-fics, fan art, and other “spicy” material (you know what I mean). If the topic is new to you, Matching! Boys Archery gets “meta” by fully embracing the culture. The main character Hong Shi-Ah (Lovelyz/Kei), who’s a struggling webtoon artists, joins a high school boys archery team as a coach in order to get some source material and “inspiration” for her new project. With her handy wrist watch camera, she takes on the task to properly coach the boys for the Regional Championship while capturing all and any opportune moments that she can.
[The Following Contains Spoilers]
In the beginning, Shi-Ah was completely overjoyed at the opportunity to coach the team, as one is when surrounded by beautiful people. She even dedicated her time to learn everything about archery so that she can pass as a competent coach. Unfortunately, weeks into her covert operation, Shi-Ah is discovered by the archery team’s “groupies” that she in fact is not a student at the school but a webtoon artist using them for source material for her new comic. Immediately her plan explodes in her face after being exposed and is quickly cast out by the boys due to their misunderstanding and anger for being used as characters for her comic without their permission.
Completely distraught, Shi-Ah tells her boss at the webtoon publishing company where she originally worked, that she will have to drop the entire project altogether. Surprisingly, her boss is concerned about the sudden drop and decides to visit Shi-Ah at her home shortly after their meeting to further unpack the problem. During their conversation, Shi-Ah’s boss encourages her to correct the situation since she can see that Si Ah has truly developed a true relationship with the boys and not just the surface level one she initially set off to have.
The boys begin to see how much Shi-Ah contributed to their team when they start to realize how much they took for granted. As the Regional Championships approach they’re stuck under a cloud of doubt due to their leaderless team. Fortunately, Shi-Ah bounces back on her A-game, fully invigorated after her conversation with her boss, and sets off to help the team in their hour of need!
[End Spoilers]
Watching this web-drama was a great change of pace, especially if you’re in the mood for something short and sweet or if you’re fan-fic trash like myself. It’s very cute and funny as you can tell that the writer purposely fit each character into an archetype making seem like a parody to real life fan-fics. You can watch this drama as you’re on your way to school, work, or in line for a K-pop concert. Other tiles I would like to strongly recommend are “To.Jenny”, Splash Splash Love” and “Everything and Nothing”.
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