Bad Girl

Episode 12

Boy, it would have been cool if the finale of the first (and, if I'm being honest, likely only) season of Bad Girl had a bit more of a sense of resolution. It would have been nice if Suzu made her feelings for Yuu more overtly known, if Atori and Yuu reached a more defined relationship dynamic, or even if Suzu and Atori more directly acknowledged the almost love triangle they've found themselves in. Instead, we get some fake out drama that could have been resolved with more direct and confident communication and, you know what? I still dug a lot of it!

This episode opens with Yuu hearing a rumor that Atori is set to move to Chicago (the place where the Pope is from now). Having lived in Chicago for several years and not expecting it to ever be referenced in an anime outside of Baccano!, this immediately endeared me to Bad Girl's finale. Even if I found it frustrating that Yuu immediately took this rumor at face value and began freaking out over her crush moving away, rather than talking to Atori about the potential development.

However, this misunderstanding does lead to a series of super cute conversations between Yuu and Suzu that highlight how much the two of them mean to each other and make it clear why Suzu would go to such lengths to help her friend pursue another relationship. This chat reveals that Yuu does love Suzu, but in more of a casual and platonic way, and that Yuu earnestly believes that they'll be together forever in some capacity. While how quickly Yuu scrambles to find a way to move to Chicago with Atori could be seen as cruel to Suzu, this is just a byproduct of the enthusiasm that drew Suzu to Yuu, and the opening segment reveals that there's no malice in Yuu's actions.

Yuu doesn't love Suzu in the same way Suzu loves her, but it's genuinely moving to see the more standoffish girl realize how much her friend treasures their relationship in her own way.

The back two-thirds of episode twelve of Bad Girl closes with more of a whimper than a bang, with one segment revealing that Atori (of course) isn't actually moving to Chicago. The only gag that worked in this bit for me was hearing Suzu take over Yuu's erratic internal monologue. The other segment interviews the various cast members about what they think it means to be “bad,” which does get to the original premise of the show but is less than entertaining. All of these characters are defined enough at this point that we don't need this “how would different characters answer the same, personality-motivated question” writing exercise. Especially after the episode where much of the cast is trapped during a thunderstorm or where Yuu, Suzu, and Atori play video games together, I would much rather have had the cast bounce off of each other in a more naturalistic and motivated situation.

That being said, the post-credits scene where we see Yuu and Suzu play wrestle and hold hands while they walk home (like all best friends who totally aren't baby queers do) brought this episode back up for me in the end and reminded me of the show's strong points. Each episode of Bad Girl is basically 22 minutes of wacky lesbian hijinks where the lesbians in question do not have any strong sense of how to be in a relationship or express romantic attraction. It's an elevated version of teenagers dancing around and overinflating feelings they're both fixated on and terrified by. When it works it's both sweet, and a hilarious exploration of the stress and confusion present in young love. This episode, much like the rest of the series, had more that worked for me than didn't, and I'm glad I watched it.

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Lucas DeRuyter is the de facto Bad Boy of anime reviews (no one else was using the moniker). He rolls with ANN's This Week and Anime crew, and you can check out his coolest work in his portfolio. You can also find him sticking it to the man on his Bluesky account.

Bad Girl is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

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