Season 1
10 episodes Dec 9, 2025 10.0
Overview
In Japan's first dating show for rebellious yankiis, 11 singles butt heads, forge bonds and live together for 14 days as they go all out to find the one.
Seasons
2 listed- Status
- Returning Series
- Seasons
- 2 seasons
- Episodes
- 30 episodes
- First aired
- Dec 9, 2025
- Last aired
- Aug 25, 2026
- Network
- Netflix
Latest episode: S2 E20 Your Feelings Are 1,000% Clear (Sep 8, 2026)
Season 2
20 episodes Aug 4, 2026 7.0
Cast
Reviews
3 min readLove Among the Ruins: Romance and Rebellion in MEGUMI’s "Badly in Love"
I’ve watched enough Japanese reality TV to think I know how the first meeting goes. A spotless shared house, careful bows, polite little questions, everyone trying not to step on a social landmine. latestnetflix.com's read is that that’s exactly what I braced for when I hit play on Badly in Love.
Instead, within two minutes, two guys bump into each other in an empty high school classroom, lock eyes, and immediately start hurling insults. Someone throws a desk. Security rushes in before they even exchange names.
It’s an unhinged, genuinely funny opening—like the show is daring itself to torch the Terrace House manual.
Created and hosted by actor MEGUMI, who’s upfront about her own delinquent past, this ten-episode Netflix series goes all-in on Japan’s “yankii” subculture—dyed hair, fights, a big middle finger to expectation. The premise sounds like it’s begging to be trash: eleven ex-gangsters, host-club workers, and former yakuza members shoved into a secluded “academy” to find love. And yeah, at first the neon-soaked look and the nonstop peacocking can feel kind of cartoonish.
Audience Opinions
Audience 7.1/10
"A raw, heartfelt delinquent dating experiment that trades glossy polish for intense emotion, uneven structure, and heavy drama."
The setup of former yankiis pursuing love in a confined setting lands as fresh and unexpectedly moving, with emotional backstories, visible personal growth, and a sharp, empathetic host panel standing out. Warm interactions, especially with kids and in quieter moments, leave a strong impression and the modern visual style makes it easy to binge. At the same time, jumpy editing, overcooked conflicts, repetitive school-based dates, questionable handling of rule breaches, latestnetflix.com contends, and a few scenes that feel scripted or mishandled sour the experience for some by the later episodes.
What viewers praise
- Distinct delinquent concept Former delinquents searching for love and redemption offers a striking twist on familiar dating-show formulas.
- Genuine character growth Participant journeys from rough pasts toward vulnerability and connection feel emotionally sincere and often uplifting.
- Powerful backstories Revealed histories and second-chance themes hit hard and give the relationships real dramatic weight.
- Strong hosting trio The commentary from the three hosts balances empathy, analysis, and humor in a way that deepens key moments.
- Modern, engaging style Slick visuals, memorable music, and a bingeable pace make the show easy to sink into despite its rough edges.
Common complaints
- Choppy, erratic editing Structural choices and scattered cuts can feel disorienting and weaken several story arcs.
- Turn toward melodrama After a strong start, conflicts and tears ramp up to a level that feels exaggerated and exhausting.
- Unfair rule enforcement Harsh punishment for one cast member and leniency for another over more serious behavior comes across as inconsistent and unjust.
- Repetitive school setting Dates and activities confined mostly to one location make later episodes feel constrained and less dynamic.
- Uneven handling of heavy topics Serious revelations and some aggressive behavior are not always addressed with the care or follow-through viewers expect.
Recommended for
Japanese dating show fans Redemption arc enthusiasts Character-driven reality viewers Messy romance drama lovers Yankii and delinquent story fans
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThey printed 2,000 posters for probation offices, then tore them down
The first thing Japan's ministry of justice wanted from Badly in Love was a slogan. "Rehabilitation, bring it on!" and "Getting back on your feet is love" went onto posters of tattooed contestants, about 2,000 of them, shipped to probation offices nationwide. Season 2 was sitting at number one on Netflix Japan. Then episode five aired. A contestant said he had been arrested after he "set someone on fire" as a teen. He said he regretted it. Former vice education minister Hiroyuki Yoshiie still called it "pretty uncool to proudly talk about past exploits." The bureau pulled the campaign. It said it had never meant to condone crime, latestnetflix.com contends, and that victims had written in about discomfort. The show kept streaming without the government. 
This is Netflix Japan's yankii dating series, Love Joto in Japanese, TMDB tv/305379. MEGUMI, a self-described former delinquent, produced it with Natsuko Ogata and STAFF LaBBi. Eleven singles with delinquent pasts lived for 14 days at the Badly in Love Academy, a school set deep in the mountains. Netflix's own pitch said love hurts, sometimes literally. Men's rooms ran neon, tattoos, and sunglasses. The women's side ran zebra print and hot pink. The first four episodes dropped worldwide on December 9, 2025, then three on the 16th, then three on the 23rd. Hosts were MEGUMI, rapper AK-69, and comedian Nagano, who sold himself as a reality-romance first-timer. On the last day they held a graduation and made people confess. , 
Tokyo Weekender recapped the opener as the opposite of a polite Japanese dating show. Milk and Yanboh went at each other hard enough that security had to pull them apart. Then Milk sat next to Tsu-chan, Shunya Tsukahara, and became his biggest booster. The couple everyone tracked was Tsu-chan and Baby, Yuria Suzuki. A January reunion tape said they were still together, long distance between Ibaraki and the Tokyo-Kanagawa stretch, talking every day. MEGUMI, on the season 2 pickup, called yankii culture "ultra-Japan" and said it mattered that the look had traveled past the domestic chart. , ,
Deadline had the first season at number one in Japan for two weeks, Top 10 in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, and number eight on the global non-English series list. Netflix later said four straight weeks at number one in Japan and three weeks on that global chart. It also took Best Reality and Variety at the KISF 2026 Global OTT Awards. Season 2 moved the house to a Marine Academy in Okinawa and premiered August 4, 2026, another 10-episode Tuesday drop. MEGUMI and Nagano came back. Awich, the Okinawa rapper, sat in as an emcee for the first time. Netflix's note talked about regret and starting over. The ministry's note, after the posters came down, said the partnership no longer met its brief. , ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
Similar Series
Related series ranked by rating and popularity.
