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RDG Red Data Girl (TV) Reviews
RDG Red Data Girl
2491
Title(s): RDG Red Data Girl
RDG ćƒ¬ćƒƒćƒ‰ćƒ‡ćƒ¼ć‚æć‚¬ćƒ¼ćƒ« (Japanese)
Creator: Noriko Ogiwara
Genres: Fantasy
Age Group: Older Children (May contain mild bad language, bloodless violence)
Vintage: March 16, 2013
Status: Still Airing
Summary: A modern fantasy based on Japanese Shinto legends. Suzuhara Izumiko is a 15-year-old girl, who has been raised and protected in a shrine deep in the Kumano mountains. She is quite shy and destroys all the electric devices she touches. When she begins to think about going out of the mountains and moving to the city, her guardian Sagara Yukimasa recommends her to enter a high school in Tokyo and forces his son Miyuki to serve Izumiko for life. Miyuki and Izumiko repel each other but their relationship begins to change when a terrifying accident occurs on the school excursion. Izumiko learns her fate as the last representative (yorishiro) of a Himegami goddess and Miyuki learns of his duty as a guardian Yamabushi of Izumiko.
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RDG Red Data Girl
Written by Little_Wolf-18 on September 1, 2013 at 6:25 AM
Overall Rating
Good
Story: 4
Dialogue: 4
Animation: 5
Entertainment: 4
The title of this show is derived from the RDB, Red Data Book, which is basically a collection of data on endangered species.

Whatā€™s an RDB reference doing in anime? Basically, ā€œRed Data Girlā€ plays on spiritually talented people in a world thatā€™s not particularly kind to their kind--and the RDB reference is just saying that these spiritual abilities makes them ā€œtreasuredā€, so-to-speak.

If this doesnā€™t show the level of thought put into this anime, I donā€™t know what does. For that level of thought, though, twelve episodes are a tad too short if you ask me.

Reviewā€™s long once again.


ā€œRed Data Girlā€ is a series about a sheltered shrine girl named Izumiko, who has some as of yet unknown power. Thatā€™s just the surface of things, though, and zero percent as overused as it sounds, at least in the context.

The entire story is kind of told from Izumikoā€™s eyes; and as sheā€™s not initially aware of her powers and some or another mystery revolving around them, the viewer as well only gradually becomes aware of bits and bits of information; and so the background info/story is puzzle-pieced together during the watch. Itā€™s a quite fresh approach, and it gets even better since every single scene is important to the story. Thereā€™s not one unnecessary moment in the entire anime.

That in itself might be awesome. Thereā€™s one problem with it, though; and thatā€™s that the ā€œshow, donā€™t tellā€ approach is taken to extremes at times. Basically, if you donā€™t get something, you wonā€™t have it explained at some or another point; at least not unless you trouble Wikipedia, Google, or your nearest know-it-all friend. And some things tend to be quite complicated; namely, a lot of the details in this anime tie into Shinto religion and Buddhist mysticism, both of which is interesting but probably not common knowledge in most Western cultures.

Itā€™s quite a deep story; but not always that easy to get, at least not in terms of background story (the superficial story tends to be easier, but those spiritual undertonesā€¦). And itā€™s not exactly light either. ā€œRed Data Girlā€ is almost completely serious to sometimes dark, and can get quite heavy at times. It manages to uphold viewer attention well though.

The devil once more lies in the detail, though, and in the time. Twelve episodes are barely enough to press the entire story in. Thereā€™s a whole lot of information in each episode; and while itā€™s amazing enough that things donā€™t feel cluttered with that (in fact, Iā€™ve read a whole lot of complaints about ā€œRed Data Girlā€ being too slow), some things simply arenā€™t cleared up. If you ask me, the end is more of a ā€œgood enoughā€ one than one that really ties up all the strings. It gives enough closure so the story doesnā€™t just drop out and leaves people wondering about the next episode; but thereā€™s just that bit of background missing, and if youā€™ve been patiently collecting the puzzle pieces, itā€™s somewhat annoying. Basically, of the sourcing novelā€™s six volumes, the producers just left out the last.

With all the complaints about the pacing (complaints I personally canā€™t relate to, but w/e), I donā€™t want to know about the reactions had P.A. Works taken the time to set up all of the sourcing work and let ā€œRed Data Girlā€ run over two seasons. Iā€™ve got the feeling thereā€™d at least be a few open questions less, though.


Iā€™ve got to admit I didnā€™t really like the character cast at first. Out of the two main characters, Izumiko is shy and weak on the outside (sheā€™s got quite the power, as becomes obvious later on, but first and foremostā€¦ well), and Miyuki only appears as somewhat of a jerk at first.

The story allows for a good deal of character exposition however. ā€œRed Data Girlā€ takes its time in setting up the characters and their relationships, and as time goes on, the characters definitely become more interesting, if not likable as well. Character development in the main characters is good, though side characters can appear rather static throughout.


There were a few moments when I felt the dialogue had just left me behind, aka confused. Only when re-watching did I often get all the detail. Other than that, though, I canā€™t complain. The script flows well, gets the characters and their relationships across, and the voice-acting definitely deserves an A.


Visually, ā€œRed Data Girlā€ is a treat for the eyes. 2013 animation quality, the musicā€™s nice, and the art is nothing short of awesome. P.A. Works has a knack for character animation and lush backgrounds, and it definitely in this anime. Backgrounds in general are detailed and look good; there are some especially impressive shots of mountain scenery, and spirit realms have the right touch of otherworldly feeling to them. The colour schemeā€™s usually subdued, just slightly more vivid in spirit realms, but with some eye-catching contrasts (e.g. Izumikoā€™s clothing). Characters are attractively designed and rendered as well. The background music is lightly used, but it fits.


I did like this anime--a lot in fact. The first two or three episodes didnā€™t yet win me over; I initially didnā€™t like the characters, and subtle revelations of background story just isnā€™t something that jumps in your face. As the ball got rollinā€™, though, I found the sense of mystery to be quite enticing. I like the fresh approach it takes, and I loved the cultural references and overall depth/thought put in this anime. Itā€™s visually pleasing as well, and while thereā€™s not much comedy and only a minimum of graphic content all in all, I tend to like the more serious works, and Iā€™m not usually engrossed by over-the-top action--that oneā€™s the icing on the cake for me, if anything.

And yet, just because Iā€™d been collecting the puzzle-piece-y bits of background story all the while, and occasionally gotten frustrated with confusion over one or another reference I didnā€™t get before rummaging through Wikipedia, I was quite disappointed with the way ā€œRed Data Girlā€ ended. Sure the end wrapped up some things, but a lot of the stuff I would have lided to see was left entirely up in the air.

I understand that itā€™s hard adapting six full novels into twelve episodes; heck, they barely managed the same with five. Nevertheless, Iā€™d be much happier with this anime if theyā€™d wrapped up all the story threads they opened. Itā€™d probably be asking a lot, but thatā€™s how it is. I love the concept and thought behind this, and I liked how the story unfolded; but the way it ended simply was a disappointment for me.

Thanks for the read.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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