DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ComedyBack Street Girls: Gokudols

REVIEWS

• 

  SakurauchiLily

  10/100
  It might look like it's funny, but it's way worse than your mind will allow you to understand.

  I learned about this anime from a Love Live Facebook page, where I discovered its bizarre premise: a trio of yakuza members forced to work as idols after having failed their boss. Initially, I couldn't help but be intrigued by the whole idea of such a show and wondered how someone came up with such a strange idea. Further research showed that the manga was being published in the same magazine as Initial D and Wangan Midnight, two of my favourite car-racing animes. At this point, I was certain that Back Street Girls was going to be good and I eagerly awaited its premiere. And then I actually saw it.

  I'm pretty sure that the main difference between an anime and a manga is that the former is animated, while the latter is static. In spite of this, I'd argue that the Back Street Girls anime is closer to a coloured, voiced manga than an actual anime, as a good majority of the episodes consist of nothing but panning views of static images. Don't ask me how small the animation budget for this show was, but the resulting animation is severely lacking and extremely disappointing for a 2018 production. Arguably the worst offender would be any of the live show scenes, which in most idol animes, consists of a lengthy CGI dance scene. Guess what Back Street Girls has instead? Yes, it's another static, panning image!

  The whole premise of Back Street Girls is ludicrous, but the execution is even worse. Basically, three yakuza members fail their boss and are given the choice of death or being forced to undergo gender reassignment surgery and becoming idols. They choose the latter, somehow receiving female voices in the process, and are subsequently subjected to this crazy guy who seemingly does nothing but bark orders at them all day. The anime primarily deals with the three ex-yakuza members performing live shows, dealing with perverted fans, getting yelled at by the crazy guy and drinking until they puke. Unfortunately, that's about all they do and even the addition of a new member to the group couldn't make the show any more interesting. Every episode of this show felt plotless and repetitive and even after 6 or so episodes, I swear there was absolutely no character development whatsoever.

  If you couldn't tell from the score I gave this anime, or my review in general, I strongly recommend that you don't watch Back Street Girls. No seriously, do NOT watch this show unless you specifically want to torture yourself by watching something terrible. For reasons I shall never understand, Netflix has licensed this abomination and there was even a live-action adaptation made. No, I'm not sure why and I don't think I'll ever know how such a thing came into fruition. Then again, the whole idea of Back Street Girls was a strange one to begin with, and the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

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• 

  UnderCoverSpySenpai

  90/100
  The backstreet girls -Gokudols: a new and novel attempt at comedy; A must watch comedy!

  When I write a review I try to make it concise and easy to read.
  This is a spoiler free review, so go ahead and read without worry.

  The Gokudols, man oh man where do I start with that gem. I think this one of those animes you have to approach at a slower pace. This isn’t an anime (personally) I would recommend to watch and binge; it’s a “one or two episodes before or in bed” kind of show.

  Back street girls - gokudols, despite common misconceptions, is NOT an idol show, it just takes place in the idol scene. This isn’t about music, lyrics, or even show with “normal” idol performances. It’s more about the story behind the scene of these idols, more specifically: how unlike idols they are... because they are men. Yakuza in fact.
  The premise is hilarious, maybe even ridiculous: 3 yakuza men made a mistake and their boss gave them an ultimatum: Die or go to Thailand, get a sex change, and become idols to make money for their clan.
  Now hear me out, it sounds preposterous but the show is actually comedy gold.

  I think one of the main hesitations I’ve heard about this show is about the “trans” themes and how it could take a very “bad” direction but frankly, this show does a great job at keeping politics out of their story and the way the entirety of this show is portrayed throughout is very neutral, and non offensive. Even better, they take these themes and elevate them to a standard of comedy that I find is very much lacking in a lot of recent comedy animes coming out.

  Now they obviously had a sex change but their “manly yakuza” personalities are still very much present. And so the show is essentially comically portraying the duality these now idols face; On one end the typical aggressive yakuza they are, the other very graceful and talented young idol girls they are forced to be.
  The show does a fantastic way of depicting the inner thoughts of the now 3 ex-yakuza members, as they have to go through what idols do. On top of that, their boss has extremely unrealistic expectations of them that he demands to be met.

  I think one of the greatest checkbox this show ticks is how well they portray the psychology of these 3 characters. Even though they are yakuza, they are constantly subjected to the “brain washing” of their boss to be “girly” and idol like. They are essentially abused and exploited by their boss and forced to live a life they hate. Slowly being programmed to be these textbook perfect idols. Maybe this is a stretch from me, but this could also be interpreted to be a satire of the work and expectations idols are subjected to on a daily basis, although that’s just my own subjective input.

  And so as the anime progresses you see them slowly become more aware of certain things they never thought about; Things like being uncomfortable because they’re being stared at by all the men. And while this can be attributed to the fact that they, themselves are males; The themes in this show serve to almost be a satire of certain gender stereotypes in a very comical and light hearted way.

  I think another reason I really enjoyed this show is because these character are much older than the normal demographics of characters you see usually in idol anime or comedy (high-school). So in a way it’s a bit of a more “mature” vibe throughout the anime which I personally thought was refreshing.

  The art style isn’t anything particularly special but I think its simplicity makes the show a lot easier to watch. There was no real animation as the show was just following their life behind the stage. In this case the animation doesn’t really add or remove anything from the anime.
  The plot itself is what really ropes you in.

  Music wise, there isn’t anything special either but again this show really centres on the life of these 3 idols, so there isn’t much of the idol singing/performance you would expect. The anime for the most part portrays how unlike idols they are during their down time. Which to me is a “novel” way to tackle the idol theme; Especially when you consider all the other components the show adds. Adding a sense of freshness to the otherwise stale idol scene. (But that’s my opinion)..

  I personally gave this show a 10/10 but for the sake of objective evaluation I will be giving it a 90/100.
  First, the justification of a score this high simply boils down to this anime really being a new way of portraying comedy. Like I’ve already talked about, this show essentially takes two really big anime tags (idols and comedy) and approaches it from such a unique angle that no other anime has done, or done as successfully.

  Secondly, the rewatch value of this show is pretty high. Give it a few months after the first watch and I think the show is as funny and entertaining the second time.
  I think the fact that this show is on Netflix really elevates it further. I just turn on my tv in bed and watch an episode till I’m tired and.. yea; Just Netflix and chill.

  Finally, the reason why this show is not a 100/100 has to do with the quality of the animation. And while I know I’ve said it’s not important to the show, it’s still a component that needs to be used for evaluation. That’s not to say that the quality of the show is poor. You just can’t really compare it to shows like demon slayer or violet evergarden in terms of the quality of animation. And that’s fine.

  I don’t want to say more than that, just want to give people the right nudge towards giving this anime chance. I hope this anime gets the attention it deserves

  Thanks for reading and happy watching!

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• 

  EpicSponge101

  63/100
  The Fine Line Between Surrealism and Shallowness.

  This review is spoiler free.

  Comedy as a genre is inherently interesting to me— I mean, what people find funny is so flippant and subjective between each individual. It seems like a Herculean task to even formulate any gag string; when writing comedy, it’s hard to know if what you’re doing will hit. Sure there’s conventions to comedy writing, but playing it too safe will lead to making an average SitCom. So we enter one of the various approaches— absurdism. You throw shit at the wall, and see what sticks. This is very much what Gokudols entails, as one can see from the premise and cover alone. There’s always a perforating issue that plagues and attempted absurdist comedy, however. How far is too far? When does the wackiness devolve into mere nonsense and random equals funny gags? Shows like One Punch Man straddle this line near perfectly, but where does Gokudols fall? This is the core question I will tackle with this review; without further ado, let’s analyze Back Street Girls: Gokudols.

  Intro To Gokudols

  

  Upon failing a mission, three low-rank Yakuza are given two choices: die, or become a pop idol. Naturally, abandoning their Gokudo (Yakuza Path), they fly to Thailand and get the surgery. Unfortunately, it goes over incredibly successfully, and they spend the rest of the show coming to terms with their new lives. Exploring the various things a stoic Yakuza would be upset about within a cutesy girl’s body, they run with this premise. Of course, more elements like new members and even a Gokudols— their group— Hate Club appear, but it generally sticks to the core premise. Personally, while not all of the skits hit, I find this to be hilarious. Whether it being the girls forced to go through random and hellish training, or deal with a rival idol group on the radio show. It always pushes the limits of the premise and creates for entertainingly awkward situations as they put their literal lives on the line as idols.

  Structure wise, the comedy is not all that dissimilar to something like The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. Short, comedic bursts focusing on singular premises and evolving one joke. This works for a myriad of reasons, but the most prominent one is the pacing. If one segment doesn’t land, there will be a new one within a few minutes. This way it’s always fresh; I believe this to be a general advantage over shows that spend an entire episode on one premise. Of course, the gag strings aren’t entirely detached. While I’ve heard plenty claim Gokudols doesn’t have a plot, they are simply objectively wrong. There are recurring characters and things that confound upon previous events, showing their progression as idols and even their hate group’s progression as… haters. So, no— you aren’t in for a 4-Coma or anything like that.

  

  So let’s get to the elephant in the room: the production value. I can’t believe I’ve gone this far without even mentioning it, but many will automatically hate this show for the animation quality alone. It’s, put bluntly, horrendous. Characters are commonly drawn off model; the faces simply don’t even align half of the time. Everyone is incredibly ugly, and it’s rare to see people actually move. However, I would argue this almost works in favor of the show. While nowhere near the levels of Cromartie Highschool, the poor animation adds to the tone and comedy. The rough aesthetic generally meshes with the bizarre premise, creating for an incredibly unique experience. It won’t be for everyone, but I find the low budget to be hilarious— and sometimes I believe that’s intentional. I’ve never been one to cry about animation anyways, however. From a critical perspective, it’s most certainly bad; if you can’t handle that, avoid this one.

  Character Writing

  

  So, evidently, I dig this show— but let’s destroy that perception as we get into where the series falls on its head. Characters are the key to most stories, and for comedy this especially holds true. That’s nothing lamer than a disconnected knock knock joke; comedy in fiction, around at least 70% of the time, is funny because it comes from the characters. Gintoki, Saiki, Kazuma and most other comedy-based protagonists are vital to what makes their shows so memorable. Unfortunately, we don’t really have that here. They try to establish the characters well by panning over them several times, establishing names, and directly stating personality traits— but nothing about their designs or actions are particularly compelling or unique. They just mesh, which works for the comedy most of the time, but is rather lacking. By the end you can say a few things about each character that has been directly shown as opposed to told, like Mari’s hemorrhoids, but I think most will agree the impression is weak. Naturally, that has its own reason— inconsistency. In episode two, Mari is established to be jealous of Airi and Chika receiving so many nice gifts from fans. The joke here is that she’s slowly seeped into the psychology of an idol and abandoned her Yakuza roots, but it does establish a good bit about her character. Later, Mari is shown to have destroyed an entire marriage because she has so many dedicated fans. Of course, it’s possible she just grew in that one episode time span, but it wasn’t directly shown so it fails to deliver in what the initial skit set up. If you can’t keep your character traits homogeneous, then your characters will come off as muddled and unmemorable.

  On that note, however, I believe the lack of personality bar their Yakuza archetypes from our main trio makes Boss Inugane stand out all the more. Being the leader of the Yakuza, he automatically holds comedic potential due to his sheer power. The shit he puts the girls through never fails to deliver as well; his tacit threats and demon-like demeanor provide a palpable presence. If the rest of the cast had stand-out character traits like this, I believe the reception would be far better as a whole.

  (As a bonus note, their producer was great. His naivety on the situation created for some great and naturally following humor.)

  Evolution of a Joke

  

  What ultimately determines if the premise is purely a gimmick and remains one-note is how they evolve the joke within the show, however. How far can you take something like this and run with it? One Punch Man is applauded for how it deftly handles its gimmicky premise, and modern day Isekai are lambasted for their shallow attempts at grabbing attention. On this line, Gokudols falls more towards the One Punch Man side. Instead of beating the premise into the ground with the most predictable copy-paste gender swap gags, they use the Yakuza and idol settings dichotomy to their advantage. Some of the funniest shit comes up because we have these husky-ass men in these cutesy girls idols being asked to act like women. I mean, think about the early 2000’s perception around idol culture and how men— especially Yakuza— could misconceive that. Comedic goldmine, and I can’t say I saw it all coming. This isn’t to say there aren’t bad jokes, but you’ll see what I mean when you watch it. They do things like putting the girls on talk shows, making them fail for acting like cute idols, but then fail even harder when they’re told to answer the questions honestly as that’s what’s popular in the modern idol movement. Of course, they employ a lot of misunderstanding comedy— which may be tiring for a lot of people, as it’s so commonplace in AniManga, but it’s done pretty well here.

  By the end, there are enough new concepts introduced into the show to make it feel like the joke evolved at least a little. Inugane’s wife, the hate-club, the other girls who join— all of these push it past its base archetype and keep the formula from getting stale. So, yeah. Gokudols is pretty great in this aspect.

  Conclusion

  

  While not perfect by any means, Gokudols was a fresh absurdist comedy that’s a nice reprieve from most of the schlock put out nowadays. Some will fucking despise this show, while others will love it— as it’s generally polarizing. If you want something similar but far better, check out Prison School. I know this review was rather short, but that’s all I have to say. Pretty fun, but nothing stand-out. I definitely recommend you check it out; see you peeps next review.

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