Japan’s Justice Ministry has ended its collaboration with Netflix’s Badly in Love Season 2 following public criticism that the partnership could appear to glorify crime and delinquency. The controversial tie-up had promoted the Japanese reality dating series alongside the ministry’s rehabilitation efforts, but officials withdrew the campaign after receiving concerns from the public and crime victims.
The ministry’s Rehabilitation Bureau announced the decision on August 21, explaining that its original goal was to promote understanding of rehabilitation rather than excuse participants’ past actions. According to the Justice Ministry, the collaboration was intended to highlight the possibility of personal growth and reintegration into society.
Badly in Love Partnership Ends Amid Growing Criticism
Badly in Love focuses on Japan’s yankii subculture and follows contestants with troubled or rebellious pasts as they live together and search for romance. The Netflix series has attracted attention for combining dating-show drama with stories involving gang culture, violence, personal struggles, and attempts at redemption.
The Justice Ministry had initially partnered with the show because its cast members’ stories of hardship and personal change appeared to align with its rehabilitation message. However, backlash intensified after Season 2 featured a participant discussing a serious crime from his youth, leading critics to question whether the government campaign was appropriate.
In its statement, the ministry said,
“It was never the intention of this collaboration to endorse crime or delinquency, nor to glorify or trivialize these acts from someone’s past.”
However, it acknowledged receiving criticism that the campaign could cause discomfort to victims of crime, prompting the decision to terminate the partnership. The ministry also stressed that ending the collaboration does not mean abandoning its support for the rehabilitation of former offenders.
The show itself will continue streaming on Netflix without government support. Netflix describes Badly in Love as Japan’s first dating show centered on rebellious yankii, with contestants living together for 14 days while forming friendships and romantic connections.
Netflix Show Continues to Focus on Redemption and Personal Change
The controversy has emerged despite Badly in Love becoming a significant success for Netflix. The first season reached Netflix’s Global Top 10 for non-English series, while the streamer said the series also found audiences across several Asian markets. Season 2 premiered in August and moved the setting to Okinawa, where a new group of contestants confronts their pasts while guiding relationships.
Netflix has consistently presented the series as more than a traditional dating show, emphasizing themes of regret, redemption, friendship, and starting over. In an interview with AFP, executive producer Dai Ota said the production team had held “extensive internal discussions” to avoid making the series appear to be “condoning the violence.” He added,
“Our hope was to show that these young people — who have often been marginalized or labeled as ‘social outcasts’ — are simply youths who worry, struggle and genuinely grow.”
The cancellation of the Justice Ministry partnership now highlights the difficult balance between portraying rehabilitation and avoiding the perception that serious crimes are being trivialized. While the government campaign has ended, Badly in Love remains available on Netflix, and its debate over redemption, accountability, and reality television is likely to continue.
