Playboy Goes On Japanese Dating Program & Leaves One Girl In Shambles

Recap

Jeff Gao reviews Netflix’s chaotic dating show Badly in Love, where a cast of delinquents is encouraged to drop their guard and pursue romance. He likes the show’s sincere premise, but argues that Nise, a confident 27-year-old flirt, turns it into a masterclass in mixed signals.

Nise quickly gets tangled up with three women. Oto-san, a tattooed hostess with a difficult past, connects with him over cooking and their shared experiences with relationships. Their bond deepens when Nise talks about wanting marriage, and Oto starts to imagine he might be serious. But during a sauna date, she makes a bold move and tells him she wants kids. Nise backs away from the intensity, leaving Oto in tears—then keeps flirting with her anyway.

Meanwhile, newcomer Amo makes a dramatic entrance as a nightclub show dancer. During her performance, she repeatedly splashes water toward Nise, with Baby caught in the splash zone and growing visibly angrier. Baby eventually pours water on Amo and storms out, making for an awkward introduction. Nise soon declares that Amo is his type, and the two have a flirtatious first chat. He tells her his intuition says she’s a “yes,” then promptly goes to Oto’s room to flirt with her, too.

Baby also becomes a contender. During a smoke break, Nise tells her she’s his type, while Milk—who has been pursuing Baby—secretly eavesdrops behind a plastic curtain. Milk is furious, especially when Nise is chosen to go glamping with Baby. The pair bond over painful childhood experiences, making for a genuinely emotional date. They even tear up together, though Nise also makes sure Baby gets a good look at his abs. Jeff jokes that it’s jarring to go from a heartfelt conversation about Nise’s mother to hearing him explain that he shaped his body to appeal to women.

Oto, meanwhile, grows increasingly isolated and fixated on Nise. When he chooses Amo for a cookie-making activity, Oto is devastated. Amo asks Nise why he didn’t choose her for the glamping date; he doesn’t answer, and later tells her he enjoyed her coming to fetch him.

The show’s dramatic contrast between the bedrooms gets a mention, too: the women have a hot-pink, Barbie-like dorm, while the men’s room looks like a warehouse decorated with gym equipment, graffiti, skulls, and a Versace rug.

At a fireworks party, Nise and Amo flirt openly while Oto watches and cries. Another contestant, 1010, steps in and brings Oto to speak with Nise. Amo catches them together, and Nise freezes as Oto cries on his shoulder. He still won’t give Oto a clear answer, telling her not to give up if she continues to like him. Jeff calls him a coward.

The boat party delivers what Jeff describes as three escalating levels of “fuckboy” behavior:

1. Nise tells Amo he still plans to talk to other women.
2. He questions Baby about whether she likes him more than Milk, despite having been pursuing several women himself.
3. He tells Oto that he may not be able to return her feelings, then encourages her to keep trying and ask him out again if she still likes him.

Before the finale, Nise chooses Amo for a private talk, and they cuddle and kiss. Oto gets one more painful moment with him at the farewell party: after she tells him she likes him, they share an intimate, drunken conversation and a kiss of their own. Nise then goes straight to Amo and admits his feelings are becoming confusing. Amo is understandably baffled.

At the final pick, Nise chooses Amo, saying he was attracted to her from the moment she appeared onstage. Amo accepts, though she makes it clear she has heard the dorm-room gossip about his behavior. Jeff doubts the pair lasted: he says Baby and Sue were the only couple who continued dating after the show, while Amo later appeared on Nise’s Instagram from time to time.

Jeff’s closing verdict is that Badly in Love is a wild, messy ride—and that season two promises plenty more chaos.

Personalities Featured

• Jeff Gao — Commentator and narrator
• Megumi — Show creator, discussed in the review
• Nise / Nisey — The charismatic, indecisive contestant at the center of the romantic chaos
• Oto-san — The contestant who becomes deeply attached to Nise
• Amo — The confident show dancer Nise ultimately chooses
• Baby — Another contestant Nise pursues
• Milk — Baby’s other suitor and Nise’s rival
• 1010 — Contestant who helps Oto get a chance to speak with Nise
• Sue — The contestant Baby eventually leaves the show with