US Distributor: FUNimation
Production Studio: P.A. Works
Was this provided by the publisher? No
More Info: Anime News Network
Let’s get the boring details out of the way. The title “Red Data Girl” derives from “Red Data Book”, which is Russia’s list of endangered species and their associated boring data. “Red Data Book” itself derives from The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s “Red List” of endangered species most in need of protection. Frankly, just doing the research to explain to you, dear reader, what this show is about at the most fundamental level speaks to its issues in communication, but for the sake of characters which I find to be endearing, I’ll continue.
Red Data Girl is the story of two young adults: Izumiko Suzuhara, the very model of innocence, who breaks every electronic device she comes in contact with, somehow, and Miyuki Sagara, the reluctant bellhop, as it were, for Suzuhara’s family and their curious abilities. The term “miko” refers to a Shinto shrine maiden, and for a girl to have that as part of her given name is…well, we know she doesn’t get out very often. Izumiko is gifted, or one might say cursed, with being a vessel for the “Himegami,” which we are led through special effects and deep vocals to believe is a powerful spirit — one who favors possessing women of the Suzuhara family line.
Keep the “conservation of endangered species” motif in your mind and try to wrap your head around how it could relate to a teenaged girl with an overbearing family and no real opportunities to find her identity. Think of her obvious disadvantages in the context of a modern community, and add in the fact that she’s gifted in a way that no classmate at a normal school could understand, and a picture starts to emerge, although the show doesn’t go to any real effort to drive the point home. It merely wants us to be aware that what makes Izumiko Suzuhara unique is something coveted by those who would use her for their own purposes. The first few episodes serve to show us that before she ever leaves her hometown, these shadow entities are at work.
The next chapter sees Izumiko transferring to a school specifically designed for people with unusual abilities: Hojo Academy. Most people wouldn’t recognize the name Hojo. Even for those somewhat versed with the warring states period in Japanese history, the Hojo clan takes a back seat to the likes of Oda, Takeda, and Tokugawa. But the emblem of the Hojo clan is one of the most recognized symbols in all of geekdom. Its other name? The Triforce. But I digress.
Hojo Academy sits on the site of Hajioji castle, which is or at least was said to be haunted. There, the Hojo clan suffered a swift and crushing defeat to the Toyotomi clan and allies in a single day — a massacre, by most accounts. It’s said that the wife of Ujiteru Hojo spent her remaining days playing the flute to ease the suffering of those who died. Red Data Girl adopts a decidedly more disturbing interpretation of the events, which I won’t go into. Needless to say, it’s an intriguing setting for an occult anime, the full effect of which we don’t get to appreciate until the final episodes of the show. This is one of its several failings as a production.
The thing is: the character building this show revolves around is top-notch, and I can’t emphasize that enough. The dynamic between Izumiko and Miyuki is interesting in the sense that his indifference to her abilities (stemming from his desire to be elsewhere) actually builds trust between them. The support cast mainly exists to create challenges to Izumiko and Miyuki’s bond, but they are a credit to the show as well. Student council politics pit Mayura Souda and Ichijo Takayanagi against each other, and Izumiko’s stark and immediate unmasking of Takayanagi’s tricks suck her into the middle of the conflict. Takayanagi otherwise doesn’t play a major role, except as a catalyst in Izumiko’s growing disgust of those who would take advantage of her.
Mayura is Izumiko’s roommate, and while manipulative and cunning herself, Mayura doesn’t use Izumiko in the same way as the others. Her own complicated family history and her willingness to show her vulnerability before her roommate allows them to become close. Paradoxically the nature of Izumiko’s friendship with Mayura leads to the greatest challenge she has to face in the show, through no real fault of Mayura’s.
The strangest thing about the show is the Himegami. She is the source of Izumiko’s popularity, as it were, but she serves as little more than an ominous undercurrent in Izumiko’s affairs — an embarrassing inconvenience that can strike at any time, like the aftereffects of a Chipotle burrito. She appears a few times throughout the series, mostly unwelcome but not always, and then she’s gone. The show hints at who she may have been in life, but Himegami’s only real purpose seems to be either stunting Izumiko’s growth as an individual, or throwing a wrench in her relationship with Miyuki. It’s suggested that we see the girl and spirit as almost the same person, which while tangential, is interesting to ponder.
If there’s anything concrete to take away from the experience of Red Data Girl, it’s the relationships. You could say the language of human connections is the only comprehensible part of this world, amidst the chaos wrought by spirits and ancient monuments and fools angling fruitlessly for that ephemeral taste of power over their contemporaries.
