I consider the manga Rokudo’s Bad Girls by Yuji Nakamura to be an underrated gem. When the anime was announced, I figured it would be a great way to introduce people to this more obscure title. Now that I’ve finished the TV series, though, I see it as more of a gateway to the manga rather than a substitute or replacement.
Plot Summary
The story of Rokudo’s Bad Girls follows Rokudo Tosuke, a bullied kid whose classmates are nearly all delinquents. Everything changes for him, though, when he ends up with an irremovable magic spell that makes all bad girls fall in love with him. Rokudo has to figure out how to deal with being emotionally connected to a bevy of dangerous ladies, but especially the scariest one of them all, Himawari Ranna—an unstoppable one-woman army who can annihilate gangs like they’re made of Styrofoam.
A Deceptively Brilliant Series
What could have been a simple harem comedy actually evolves into a passionate series about fighting for your beliefs even when you’re not the strongest or the smartest around. Ranna is a scene-stealer (because who doesn’t want to see a sociopathic blonde terminator wreck everyone with glee?), but Rokudo is no slouch either. He’s basically a Dragon Ball Krillin-esque side character in a main role, getting his ass kicked all the time, but whose sheer heart means he’s both the biggest dork and the coolest guy around. There’s also a great supporting cast that’s given way more respect than many other shounen works.
A Breezy Adaptation
◤ #六道の悪女たち
「悪→❤」01～06話 公式まとめ◢
味変でずっと見られる「悪→❤」動画で六道のキャラクターの魅力をちら見せ！👀✨
本編はこちらからから！
⬇️アニメ第1話無料視聴⬇️https://t.co/ezbWLzF78q pic.twitter.com/ll3AafHhS5
— 【六道の悪女たち】TVアニメ放送中！！ノンストップバイオレンス悪女ラブ♡パニック！ (@AkujoRokudo) May 18, 2023
The Rokudo manga is 26 volumes, and the anime covers about nine of them over 12 episodes—that is incredibly fast. For comparison, the recent Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc anime is a similar episode length but covers four volumes of manga. I think the reason for this pace is two-fold: First, Rokudo is simply not an A-list title, and has neither the fanbase nor the reputation to presume multiple seasons. Second, the manga does take some time to find its footing, so glossing over certain things allows the anime to get to the better parts of the story. However, it ends up making Rokudo’s growth feel somewhat less earned than in the manga, even if it is still pretty satisfying.
Compromises in Aesthetic
While the art in the Rokudo manga has a charm of its own, I think one thing that prevents the series from getting more popular is that it just doesn’t look as conventionally sexy as a lot of other shounen titles. The anime goes the route of cleaning the designs up, but something gets lost in the process. There’s a sense of intensity in the manga’s style, especially in the fight scenes, which land with less impact in the anime. That said, comparing the two versions has made me much more aware of how good Nakamura is at conveying a lot going on in a single still image. His style is really suitable for the specific quirks of the comics medium, and this can be difficult to translate to motion. Perhaps the only way it would have worked perfectly is if Rokudo had a budget on par with that of One-Punch Man or Mashle.
Final Thoughts
For many, the Rokudo’s Bad Girls anime is the most accessible version, which means it might be the only one many will ever see. I hope it leads more people to the manga, but even if it doesn’t, the adaptation does a decent job of conveying what makes the series special. While the look of the Rokudo anime does not quite live up to the original manga, the inherent strengths of the narrative and the characters still help it to stand out and make it memorable.
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