Review of Rokudo's Bad Girls

This is one of those “read the manga” type of anime as the adaptation was very condensed & omitted content. It's also the type of series that blind watchers won't see what's wrong it. However, most people gave up on the premise alone and couldn't view more than 4 episodes. The series has a small online presence & this anime probably killed any interest. I feel the promotional art is also to blame as it gives little accuracy to what's being sold here. Calling the series a romcom is correct but that's not the complete package. The series is battle oriented but the average audiencewill not care about that as the lead protagonist isn't a physically strong character. The advertisements such as key art visuals didn't initially portray the leading young man, Rokudo. Instead, they advertise all of the so called “bad girls” of the series. This is prevalent in the manga volumes as well. Despite having a 26 volume count, the main character is only featured in the last volume cover. Yep, Rokudo is not even on the cover of volume 1.

Rokudo's Bad Girls has a lot of bad going for it. If you decide to stick with it then you're more mature than the average anime fan as you have patience to watch a vulnerable male lead, Rokudo Tosuke. The series is about coming of age as it's from the perspective of bullied charactersl Rokudo and his friends Colonel & Chief. I'm surprised how people view him as a wish fulfillment character when he's not enjoying the supposed fantasy. In an age where people are very concerned about their image be it through “cooking, chad, extra, mid, etc”, you would think this type of character would be more relatable. It's comparable to Shun of “Saint Seiya” where Rokudo doesn't physically have to change himself to properly represent masculinity. You won't see this fully realized in the anime but the deeper you get into the manga the more manly traits you'll find. Even within these 12 eps, you see a lot of growth from this bullied high schooler, but most people won't have the attention span for that.

Rokudo's Bad Girls is basically the modern day “My Bride Is a Mermaid” with some elements of “Lean On Me 1989”. Rokudo has a pentagram on his forehead which he received from his departed grandpa. This pentagram causes a spell that'll make bad girls fall in love with him and that's the extent of it's power. Despite having this ability he doesn't abuse it and questions his own value as a man. Basically, Rokudo is like Shigeo from “Mob Psycho 100” where he doesn't want his power to become his personality trait. Rokudo wants to improve himself and live a peaceful life therefore he has to stand up to his delinquent bullies. It's because of this bravery that many delinquents and bad girls become his friends. And that's the nature of the series until Rokudo fully matures into the man he wants to be. But this anime is only 12 episodes long so you're not gonna see the end to his story. Especially not for a series that's 26 volumes long while the anime condenses 9 volumes.

Without visual aid it's difficult to express how poor this adaptation is. While the manga wasn't a splatter film, it is violent enough for its themes. The series is supposed to be about reforming a bad school filled with delinquents and troublemakers. On occasion this series has gang fights with enough brutalities to hospitalize victims with murderous intentions. But the anime, for whatever reason, chose to nullify a lot of the violent content. Blood is practically absent and the animation is really subpar. Studio Satelight actually has a lot of good things under their brand but I guess this anime was performed by their B & C Teams. When compared to the upcoming Helck, there's a big difference in quality. While the character designs & colors are very manga accurate the mobility of action scenes are extremely stiff. There's also multiple shots that just lack detail thus appearing flat. Many iconic manga double page spreads are strangely animated, too. There's many little things that are different from the manga that changes the tone of the image entirely. There's even shots where the composition of characters are completely altered for no good reason. While there's fighting in this series, it was never a perfected craft in the manga. It was serviceable. But the anime makes things look unimpressive as attacks mainly consist of beams of light for fast punches & kicks. Hardly anything provides the necessary impact to sell the damage or strength of the attacks.

The reduction of violence really hurt this anime as just about anything that is meant to introduce a bad girl is met with a subpar experience. The idea here is Rokudo is supposed to help reform the delinquent society but many dialogue and scenes that portray these changes are glanced over in the anime. If not rushed, then the scenes are removed entirely. For example when the anime introduces the bancho Sonada you don't see what makes her a bad girl or an interesting character. Because her flashbacks depict her doing violent things, so they're not in the anime. The same can be said for the abuse Rokudo's and his friends take as their injuries are greatly reduced to slight bruises and scratches instead of bleeding and swollen wounds. That's what made Rokudo admirable for withstanding this abuse when facing people who are dangerously stronger than him. The same problems appear in character backstories as they summarized with montages. For whatever reason, the anime was really in a rush to squeeze in the first major arc of the anime within 12 episodes when it really needed more than that. It becomes a big letdown as it wants to show you the fighting section but the fights themselves are drawn cheaply and end very quickly.

Just about anything worthy of substance or depth is abbreviated into very simple messages of friendship when there's a little more going on. I won't claim Rokudo's Bad Girls as a must read manga. It's not a super great story but it's a story that's told very well and has the right growth for the characters. The anime just cannot or purposely will not put effort into giving any life to this adaptation. It just comes off as a forgettable seasonal show when the manga has a lot more going for it. So if you've seen this anime and felt it was lacking in some areas it may be because the crucial components weren't drawn at all or they haven't happened yet because it's in later arcs of the manga. While the anime is watchable as it chose to cherry pick the most relevant scenes of the story it's far from being a well done anime adaptation. Certain scenes work while the majority of it just irritates me because I'm familiar with the source material. Si I cannot recommend the anime but I do recommend reading the manga instead.