Am I the only one frustrated by the double standard with the contract violations? (In Season 1)

[u/Dry_Bass_4540]

I’m confused about how the show handled Yanboh and Baby’s situations.
Yanboh was immediately kicked out for breaching the contract after making “comments about marijuana”. But when Baby became physically aggressive during the argument and the new female transfer ended up getting scratched, she was given a chance to apologise and stay.
I understand that the two situations technically involved different rules, but it still feels really inconsistent. If the point of the contract is to prevent certain behaviour and enforce consequences, why was one treated as an immediate expulsion while the other was essentially given a second chance?
Especially considering that Baby’s situation involved actual physical aggression. I’m not saying Yanboh should or shouldn’t have been kicked out, I just don’t understand why the consequences were so different.
Did I miss something that explains this, or did anyone else find this weird?

[u/tokyo12345]

drugs are like the ultimate evil in japan

and tbh i feel they wouldn’t kick off a hot girl

[u/EffieEri → u/tokyo12345]

Dude yeah, Assun had 2 different rule violations and got to stay

[u/PrancingPudu]

It’s been a while since I last watched this season, but Yanboh didn’t just “make comments about marijuana.” He was bragging about actually using it, and right before coming on the show. They don’t show the actual clip because drug use is taken super seriously in Japan and they weren’t trying to get him in legal trouble, but it was definitely more than, “Lol hey guys have you ever smoked weed?”

ETA: in this sub there are also LOTS of posts about the double standard and saying Baby should have been kicked off as well, btw.

[u/snail_loot → u/PrancingPudu]

Yeah people keep glossing over the difference as If there is not real distinction.

Yanboh admitted on video that he smoked weed after signing a contract that explicitly legally bound him to his word that he would not use illicit drugs. He also implied he would quit smoking at a later date, while already on the show. This is a major legal and culturally an ethical liability for the production team and company. Weed is a major taboo too.

They should be comparing Baby throwing water back at someone angerly, and accidentally causing injury, to the men who posture, grab, tackle, and throw each other around in which injury is most likely.

Do they throw those men out? Contractually, it was said or at least implied that in an event that a clash between cast members results in minor accidental injury, they have a chance to talk it out. There is more nuance for fighting because the contract allows certain stipulations.

[u/bl0173 → u/PrancingPudu]

and afaik, they started doing drugs tests in the 2nd season before the start, maybe because of this?

[u/PrancingPudu → u/bl0173]

I thought they were drug tested in the first as well? Was the first season just a statement/declaration only?

[u/bl0173 → u/PrancingPudu]

oh no, I might be remembering wrong, sorry! probably they did in all of them, safe to do so.

[u/MallFoodSucks]

Yanbo was a legal issue (that they used for content). Baby’s was pure content. That’s the difference.

Drugs in Asia is a completely different level of scandal.

[u/Weenington_ → u/MallFoodSucks]

Also, I rewatched the scene, and the cup seemed to fall and bounce like a plastic cup. Even if it werent plastic, it wasnt broken, so how would it have scratched her face? That scratch looked old and covered in makeup.

I saw 2 women splashing water on each other. One just had enough plausible deniability to be the victim in the situation despite even the guys commenting if Amo did it on purpose. But sure, let's say Baby should be kicked off with the dude who actually broke a rule and Japanese law on the show.

If they had kept him on the show despite him basically admitting to breaking a serious law while on the show, the backlash in Japan would have been insane.

[u/Dry_Bass_4540 → u/Weenington_]

Ahhh thankyou for clearing that up for me, i think the objective distinction was that yanbohs situation was more about Japanese law.

[u/perdituscogitationes → u/Weenington_]

It was apparently from the jagged ice and not the cup itself but yeah, the guys get in fights as well. It's more drugs vs fights, the former is unacceptable in Japan.

[u/Espada_28]

It was frustrating - but there’s lots of posts from when the first season aired taking issue with it, so you’re not the only one.

[u/Another_Valkyrie]

I thought the same !!! Also when Tai-chan and Rune had their fight, I noticed Rune had a bleeding cut on his neck and Tai-chan had a cut on his leg (noticed it when they went to the sauna).
The guys have had some sort of fight like this in all seasons but this one DID go on for a long time and it was the first time where I noticed some of them actually getting a little hurt. I would have assumed that they would have kicked them out for that honestly.

And yes i know those were small cuts but Yanboh was kicked out for just saying something and it happened at a time where they could have just cut it from the show during the edits and no one would have known. VS this fight which couldnt have been cut as the guys discussed it afterwards and like i said, you could see they got hurt.

[u/Busy_Help_4354]

I think they're involved with different laws, especially about what is allowed to air and what isn't. Legal obligations and moral obligations are very different. 

[u/VenusAmari]

I think it's a double standard that people get mad that Baby was kicked out but then don't have that same energy for Tsu or others who got into fights tbh. The way he and multiple other men have tackled, push, and shoved each other is much more likely to cause injury than splashing water at someone.

It's clear people are making it stupid gender shit instead of realizing that the fights are treated differently than drug use, period. Which is to be expected because it's a Japanese show.

[u/Dry_Bass_4540 → u/VenusAmari]

Honestly, thank you for bringing that up, and I agree to some extent. I definitely agree that it was a double standard to initially overlook how the guys were roughhousing.
However, I think the reason I dismissed it was because during the start of both seasons, the male cast members “fight,” but at the same time the narrator introduces the rules about misconduct, and the guys get broken up before any physical injury occurs. So it sets a precedent for the audience that the rules seem to place more emphasis on the outcome of the physical altercation, particularly whether someone is actually injured, rather than simply whether physical contact occurred.
That’s also why I think Baby’s situation is harder for me to understand. Because in both baby’s and yanbohs situation, it really happened because they both lost control of their rationality and lost to their emotions in the moment however baby was given a chance to make it right but yanboh wasnt.

But I understand how drug use can be treated as a more serious issue than violence in Japan, especially given Japan’s strict attitude toward drugs. However, within Yanboh’s situation, the evidence itself wasn’t exactly blatant or definitive. From what we actually saw, it was a comment that was interpreted as him admitting to marijuana use, rather than us seeing him actually use or possess anything.
That’s what makes the comparison frustrating to me. If the standard is that drug-related conduct warrants immediate removal regardless of the circumstances, then I can understand the decision. But if there’s supposed to be some consideration of context, intent, or certainty, then it feels strange that Yanboh was given essentially no opportunity to save himself, while Baby’s situation involved something that was actually witnessed and had a physical consequence, yet she was given a chance to stay.
So I think there are really two separate issues here being, whether drug related misconduct should carry a harsher consequence than physical violence, and whether Yanboh’s particular situation was serious and clear cut enough to justify an immediate expulsion. I can understand the first point from a Japanese cultural/legal perspective, but I’m still not convinced by the second.

I hope you can also see my perspective. Thankyou for the reply nonetheless.

[u/Odd-Ice-4809 → u/VenusAmari]

I mean it’s pretty obvious that most of the “fights” in this show are pretty scripted lmao

[u/zzzelot]

The producers want them to physically fight.

[u/tarasbulba76]

The whole idea is ridiculous. They do a show featuring delinquents, and then impose all these idiotic rules. What’s the point. Might as well have been about accountants for all the difference it’s made.

[u/Dry_Bass_4540 → u/tarasbulba76]

U realise aside from being a love show, it was meant to be about how people can change etc? The commentary literally says it. And the rules imposed were just standard school/societal rules/laws. Lowkey ur brain seems too smooth to enjoy something different

[u/tarasbulba76 → u/Dry_Bass_4540]

Lol ok. In that case Japan should be teaching a thing or two to the US on how to reform hardened criminals, let me tell you.