REVIEW: ‘Badly In Love’ Episodes 8-10

The students reach a decision after their two weeks living together, whether they’re badly in love or not. As the contestants throw last-minute feelings, truths, and emotional tactics out in Badly In Love Episodes 8-10, every choice is a fascinating piece of social examination. While many Westernized reality shows play up the drama with the wild antics, this Japanese reality show carefully captures, edits, and reveals intimate conversations to heighten the drama. The result is a well-crafted reality dating show which also dips into a rehabilitation show.

Badly In Love Episode 8, “Nothing Beats Devotion,” doesn’t directly pick up where the yakatabune/dinner cruise left off. Instead, it appears to continue the next day, when Tensei Nanahoshi, aka Ten-ten, admits to Kirei, aka Kiichan, that he’s really interested in her. As Kiichan intently listens, her private interview reveals she likes that Ten-ten is forward about his intentions to pursue her. This is great news for Ten-ten, but devastating for Sho Tsuda, aka Tackle. However, the rivalry amounts to nothing in the end.

With Badly In Love Episodes 8-10 covering the final day or two in the Badly In Love Academy, the dates outside the house are over. Alternatively, the announcer on the school PA system allows the men to have private chats around the Academy with one of the women they choose. If two men choose the same woman, the woman gets to decide where to go; all the men select different locations. In a dramatic fashion, the men have to announce their choices over the school’s PA system for everyone to hear. 

The most intense one-on-one goes to Nisei and Amo. 

To avoid any confusion, here’s a quick breakdown of all the private chat asks over the PA system: Shunya Tsukahara, aka Tsu-chan, asks for Yuria, aka Baby. Takumi Sato, aka Milk, asks for Baby, using her real name, Yuria. Tackle asks for Kiichan. Ten-ten asks for Kiichan. Nisei Sakurai, aka Nisei, asks for AMO, aka Amo. Sadly, none of the men ask for Otoha, aka Oto-san, or Hikaru, aka Tekarin.

Despite Tsu-chan’s efforts on the dinner cruise, Baby chooses to talk with Milk. However, Tsu-chan still confesses his feelings to Baby later on—which Baby admits in the private interview,  was “manly” and “stuck her heart.” Kiichan ultimately chooses to talk with Ten-ten, who reveals he’s interested in her and opens up about why he was arrested before. 

To the surprise of no one, the spiciest one-on-one conversation involves the man who’s been asking out almost all the women in Badly In Love: Nisei. Nisei’s conversation is meaningful, while leading to the most physically intimate moment of the season yet between Amo and Nisei. In the private interview room, Nisei blushes about how he has butterflies because he hasn’t kissed someone in a while, working in contrast with his playboy attitude. 

Afterwards, Amo and Nisei talk about how Nisei changed his yankii lifestyle after making his mom cry. In a turn of events, Nisei finishes his private talk with Amo and calls his mom; this is a similar moment when Tekarin calls to apologize to her older brother. This payphone seems to be the only way to contact people outside the house, and it’s primarily used to apologize to family members so far.

Badly In Love Episodes 8-10 highlight the necessity of learning self-love.

Nisei calling to apologize to his mom for causing her so much worry exemplifies the heartwarming moments in Badly In Love Episodes 8-10, which make the show more watchable than other reality dating shows. Other reality dating shows mainly care about the bottom line: finding a love match.

The host MEGUMI comments how she rarely tells her mom “I love you”, “thank you”, or “I’m sorry.” Ak-69 and Nagano agree, revealing that it’s uncommon in Japanese society for people to say such endearing things to their loved ones. This explains why some contestants struggle to express their true feelings, even though they already have difficulty speaking affectionately with family members.  In a sense, Badly In Love Episodes 8-10 continues to teach these ex-juveniles the meaning of self-love.

Episode 9, “Being Around People Isn’t So Bad,” opens with Nisei and Amo discussing his indecision about whom he will choose by the final confession/graduation ceremony. The hosts are also shocked that Nisei is considering Oto-san, given how assertive and forceful she’s been in flirting with him. Also, the hosts throw a jab at Nisei’s indecision that maybe his kiss with Amo was a mistake. “Maybe he was checking her mic. Kiss check, one-two, one two,” Ak-69 says. 

As some contestants grow closer, others drift further apart. 

Episode 9 covers the opening day of the children’s cafeteria, and the Badly In Love Academy members must be on their best behavior to host the kids with fun activities. Oto-san designs and makes matching t-shirts for all the cast members; however, Netflix didn’t translate what is written on the shirts. For those who can’t read kanji/hiragana/katakana, adding a translation for the quick text on-screen would enrich the viewing experience. 

While Tackle and Kiichan have small and endearing interactions, Milk and Baby continue to drift apart—making Tsu-chan a more compatible match for Baby. As already noted, Tekarin has many great moments with the kids. The hosts point out how Tekarin would make a great mother, especially the way she makes sure their faces are clean after eating. Even Kiichan feels like a natural, teaching young girls and boys how to apply makeup.

Kiichan notes in the private interview room how she’s surprised that both the young girls and boys were very interested in learning about makeup application. It shows how kids may be more open to these lessons than conservative, traditional men. 

Badly In Love understands how tough it is to live for the moment.

As this is the final night, the Badly In Love staff put together a smorgasbord campfire on the school grounds patio. The rest of the episode is mostly one-on-one conversations, as each cast member expresses their feelings to the ones they like. The raunchiest tactic comes from Oto-san, who literally climbs on top of Nisei in an attempt to sway him into choosing her at the graduation ceremony. Either Nisei is really innocent about finding love, or Oto-san’s affections swayed him. 

The hosts can’t help but note how sad and bold it is that she’s pushing herself on him. Nisei’s face doesn’t look impressed when she’s sitting on him and hugging him. Some final talks between the contestants continue to throw off the audience and hosts, with Nagano asking the other hosts, “Shouldn’t they know by now?” This feeling of not knowing who will pick who is edited in a way that Love Is Blind plays up the suspense on the wedding days; the audience won’t know if they’ll say yes at the altar until the very end. 

Badly in Love Episodes 8-10 come to a crucial moment in “I’ll Embrace It All, Even Your Past.” The episode finishes up some honest conversations on the final night and leads into the final graduation/confession day. Host MEGUMI says a meaningful line about the last two weeks and how the messy matchups show “how things change with everything moving quickly.” What MEGUMI says is true, and it’s hard to decide with a small time window. The hosts also speak about how hard it must be to live in the moment and feel all the feelings with the short stay living together. 

Not every contestant gets a big, emotional finale.

The rules of the final ceremony are slightly biased and traditional, as only the men are allowed to make confessions. The only balance mechanic is that if two men choose one woman, the woman gets to choose between them. The show staff announcer didn’t explain what would happen if the woman liked another guy aside from the two confessions, but maybe that’s the point. If the guy a woman likes doesn’t confess, then the woman should’ve tried harder to get him to confess earlier. 

The last two weeks have built up to these final moments, and the results are slightly shocking. Tsu-chan starts his confession to Baby, but Milk interrupts with his own speech. Then, Tackle expresses his feelings for Kiichan, and Ten-ten also reveals his feelings to her. Lastly, Nisei finally decides, choosing Amo without any hesitation. If this were any other Westernized dating show, Oto-san might’ve thrown hands with Amo. Instead, she looks dead inside and has no words until the time skip. 

By the end of the ceremony, Baby chooses Tsu-chan, who impressed her more in the second half of the season. As for Kiichan’s decision,  she makes the toughest decision on a dating show by not choosing either Tackle or Ten-ten. Kiichan’s choice to do so makes sense, since these three didn’t feel like they had much screen time, which probably meant they didn’t have profound, emotional moments. 

Baby sums up the bittersweet feelings of the Netflix reality dating experience.

While Milk, Ten-ten, Oto-san, Tekarin, and Kiichan don’t have any matches, they hold their heads high. Tekarin says a final bittersweet speech about the memories they all cultivated in the past two weeks. In the end, the four unmatched contestants yell, “Badly In Love is the best,” as they take a bow. Host Nagano is the most surprised about how much he enjoyed watching the contestants; he thought he would be bored. Of course, it’s the fact that all the contestants had troubled pasts that made them enthralling individuals to watch, root for, or hate. 

The overall vibes of how Badly In Love Episodes 8-10 capture the end of this experience are best summed up by Baby’s description of the whole experience during the three-month time skip. Baby says the time spent at the school was like a “Spring of a lifetime.” With only ten episodes, things move quickly for these individuals. The best part is how these people had troubled pasts and are at a point in their lives where they’re looking for serious partners.

While there are a few heartwarming interactions in Badly In Love Episodes 8-10, the finale isn’t as entertaining or nail-biting as other reality dating shows. With some of the final matchups, there is some tension where it could’ve gone either way. Even when the whole show wrapped up, it ended on a bittersweet note from the hosts. But still, hopefully Badly In Love gets a renewal for a second season, as this is one of the most progressive Japanese reality dating shows to date.

Badly In Love Episodes 8-10 are currently streaming on Netflix.