Whereas Individual Circumstances contains the trifecta of reunited friends from the past, a jealous third wheel looking to impede any and all latent feelings between the former friends, and complex emotions resurfacing in a tech-/média-verse setting; Our Dating Sim completely foregoes the jealous third wheel and both shows present a lead couple where the one seeks to reignite past emotions and the other dismisses all attempts to face those same emotions.

Both series portray a wealthy family of unscrupulous business practices who solicit the assistance of a closely trusted bodyguard to protect the sole heir of the family’s fortunes and its various enterprises. The bodyguards follow their respective young masters in all aspects of their daily lives, such as sharing the same living quarters and attending the same classes at school, all while developing intricate feelings for one another as the series progress.

Both series conceptualize love between two souls of a past life by way of reincarnation in the form of a boss-employee power dynamic in a workplace setting. Whereas the novelist from First Love, Again initially rejects his soulmate in this lifetime because his employee-the editor-is a man, the director from The Director Who Buys Me Dinner insists that he and his secretary immediately start dating in this lifetime upon first meeting each other. At the beginning of both series, the novelist and the director (the bosses) both have active memories of their respective soulmates of a prior life, in stark contrast to the editor and the secretary (the employees) who must revive their lost memories as the two series progress.

Both are reality dating shows for gay men searching for a significant other. Boyscation is shot in Hong Kong with a group of ten men whereas His Man follows eight Korean men.