Yoiko is exactly what it says on the tin. A fifth grader who looks like a college freshman and her wacky adventures after she transfers schools. Lots of lascivious suggestions, some downright lewd scenes, and plenty of grownups we are supposed to feel disgusted about due to staring at someone who we know is supposed to be 10, all wrapped around what would otherwise be a fairly basic grade-school comedy show. The writing is the main stumbling block here. The comedy is poorly timed, the jokes are flat, the characters are bland, and just about everything is in tonal whiplash mode in order to wrapitself around the initial concept. It can go from full Golden Boy ecchi to a bargain basement Azumanga ripoff in seconds. Even under the best of circumstances, that would be a difficult task to pull off. With this show, it is far from what I would call a good job.

Art and animation are another category that seems to be a miss. 1998 had some excellent series with work that can hold up to the test of time. Yoiko is not one of them. The art is basic as a whole, without the style or panache needed to pull something like this off. The animation is merely competent, with no flair or sign that the animators were enjoying their work. Unfortunately for them, this is the kind of show that really needed a stand-up job from the art department. Studio Peirrot was not up to the task. At all.

Even for a normal series, I could not recommend this in good conscience. Add on the subject matter, as well as starting off each episode with a lengthy nude scene featuring someone that the show doesn't let us forget is only ten years old, and you have a title that makes me want to suggest that it be actively avoided.