Bad Girl

Episode 6

I've accepted that Bad Girl has given up on living up to the premise of its title, but I'm now invested enough in these characters and their dynamics that I no longer care about this switcheroo. Episode 6 of Bad Girl features only a single, harebrained attempt by our fav smol bean Yuu to get her senpai, Atori, to notice her; with the rest of the episode featuring most of the main cast going to an amusement park, and bouncing off of each other in ways that are both honest to the characters and entertaining. The more time I spend with these gay little idiots, the more I like them; and I'll like the show just fine if it keeps being different combinations of these characters in commonplace romcom backdrops or scenarios.

The first act of Bad Girl's sixth episode sees Yuu spraining both of her wrists. The first one is broken while throwing practice punches with Suzu, and the second when she catches herself falling while Atori tries to comfort her when she learns about Yuu's injury. A semi-debilitating injury isn't the most novel setup for romcom shenanigans, but Yuu accidentally hurting herself while goofing off with her friend is some extremely believable teenage dumbassery, and I love seeing teenagers act like teenagers in a television show.

The second act sees Yuu and Suzu stalking Atori and an unidentified “special person” to her at an amusement park. The repeated gag of Suzu deflating Yuu's over-the-top efforts to spy on Atori or call out Yuu's insistence that she'd be a better date than Atori's current one never failed to entertain. I have a soft spot for deadpan characters who don't want to participate in the story they're written into, and Suzu is thriving in that niche this episode!

The third act reveals that Atori's “special person” is her younger sister, Mizuka, who, in true anime romcom tradition, is a siscon and rivals Yuu in her obsession with Atori. The two are forced to pretend to become friends, less they risk losing out on time with Atori at an amusement park, and the final segment ends with the two fighting over a seat on a ride that will supposedly lead to the two people who sit there getting married, only for Atori and Suzu to end up in the romance inspiring spot. Atori asks Suzu if this means they're going to start dating, to which Suzu immediately and seriously rebuffs her.

The post credits segment focuses on a middle school aged Yuu and Suzu, and we get to see Yuu share her unbridled infatuation with Atori to Suzu for the first time. This is devastating to Suzu, as it means they might not be able to go to the same high school, and because she has feelings for Yuu that she hasn't been able to confess yet. I know that Bad Girl is far from the best queer media out there, but these kernels of more grounded and human emotion make me excited for more and hopeful that these relationships evolve as the show goes on.

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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.