Back Street Girls: Gokudols

This show is a hilarious satire of idol culture, but still gets you invested in its characters. I was rooting for the GOKUDOLS throughout watching, in addition to their rivals. The intersection of idols and yakuza was an entertaining and fun mix. Great timekiller, and a funny, quick series to watch.

This anime series is funny and interesting, it is certainly not for everyone and especially not for kids. Sometimes the jokes can be repetitive and boring, but what gets me is the reaction from the other characters. So watch the first few episodes if you like it then you gonna like the rest of the series, if not then you don't need to watch the rest.

Basically the story is about 3 mafia men being transformed into Barbie doll idols by their psycho boss and have to live through it. However that didn't help me be interested in watching it further. I like the Gender bending genre but this one unfortunately is part of the bad ones I've watched and it's really struggling to be funny so Imma gonna avoid watching the other 9 episodes for sure...

The premise is simple. Three Yakuza underlings failed once too often and are given a choice, have their organs harvested and sold OR get a sex change and become idols.

If the image of a tough gangster yakuza shaking his tosh and singing "love love bu-nny!" isn't funny to you then something is just wrong.

The jokes are fun and so over the top that you just can't help laughing at the character's suffering. As season one progresses it gets even more absurd and ridiculous.

The one issue with it is the ending. The season doesn't end so much as suddenly stops. I do recommend watching it in the original language (japanese) with subtitles as the dubbed voices don't always land the delivery.

Though masquerading as a crass comedy about Yakuza members turned idols by a sadistic boss, this show offers a remarkably brutal critique of the idol culture it portrays. The literal emasculation of the three Yakuza members reflects the cultural emasculation of Japan following the second world war in an attempt to downplay the war crimes of the nation. I don't think that its an accident that the mastermind if this emasculation is an American, referring likely to the US's efforts to forget Japanese warcrimes to set them up as a viable ally against the Soviets. The show also highlights the truly abhorrent conditions with its own tongue-in-cheek comedy. Such a framing device makes the expose more palpable to both local and western audiences. Acknowledging such mistreatment represents a vital beginning step for the culture of Japan. Furthermore was the representation of the rampant objectification and misogyny in both Japan at large and idol culture comes to light in the characteristic brutal satire of the Gokudolls. A large number of the 'fans' of the Gokudolls are shown to be slobbish and disgusting wastes of men. Their internal ugliness made physical. This show is a sadly overlooked and under appreciated satire, especially by those who refuse to acknowledge the problematic aspects of anime.