RDG: Red Data Girl

Red Data Girl is a series that will not be to everyone's liking, but for those that can appreciate a quiet, contemplative coming of age story with a heavy focus on Shinto spirituality and storytelling through metaphor, this will be one of the best animes you will ever see.

First, a bit of advice for watching. Don't try to follow the plot literally. Some happenings in this story are meant as metaphor and don't hold up to close scrutiny when interpreted literally. However, everything that happens makes perfect sense when viewed as a metaphor for the characters, their relationships, and their growth as ... people. Watch those scenes with that interpretation in mind, rather than trying to make literal sense of what is happening. In the end, this is a series primarily about Izumiko and Miyuki, their growth as people, and their relationship with each other. The magic and spiritual elements exist to illustrate these things.

For all of the fantasy and fairy tale like elements in this series, its focus is all on the characters, and they're very well done and show significant progression throughout the series as they face different challenges and meet new people. Izumiko and Miyuki both start off as somewhat unlikeable characters, Miyuki moreso than Izumiko, but the show's core is their evolution and growth as individuals. The Miyuki and Izumiko at the end of the series are almost unrecognizable compared to how they are in episode 1, and all of that growth is well-earned throughout the series.

The real highlight of this series however, is the artistic craftsmanship of everything in it. The artwork and animation is phenomenal, as is the sound, music and voice acting. There is a scene of Izumiko dancing near the end of episode 3 that is so genuinely beautiful that it caused me to tear up. It's can't-miss for the gorgeous artwork alone.

This is certainly a slower paced series, and those expecting fantasy action or a series that is more focused on its plot and mystery elements than its characters may find it boring or unsatisfying, but this is a real gem of a show for those with the patience to savor its generally serene atmosphere and dig into its many layers of metaphor. The artwork will absolutely blow you away, and the characters are likable and dynamic. Do not sleep on this show, especially if you enjoy slower and more intellectual material.

I went into this show pretty new to anime, so I had my expectations low, this show couldn't meet one of them. The show started off slow paced, it focused more on character development between Izumiko and Miyuki, which really helped develop their relationship, but after that there really wasn't much time for the plot.

In the end Miyuki is the only character to get true character development, going from a jerk to a decent guy, if RDG did anything right it's Miyuki, but that's where the good part ends.
**********SPOILERS**********
As I said the plot progresses slow, leaving the ending incomplete with a scene in the theme ... song the never happened(Miyuki and Izumiko's kiss) and a plot line left unsolved(Mayura and Miyuki's "marriage arrangement").

When I saw the first episode, even when I read the description, it intrigued me. The plot goes nowhere. The middle is hard to understand, choppy even. Things happening with little to no reasoning. Leaving things unexplained such as how Izumiko got her powers and why she can't touch electricity.

Izumiko's personality isn't very clear. In the beginning she's sweet, but at certain times near the end she becomes mean towards Miyuki for random reasons such as going on a 'date' with her goddess self and other things.

Izumiko's half goddess thing is also overlooked, the anime itself looks like a slice of life anime. RDG goes more into culture than they do the backstory.

If you like slow moving plots that go nowhere this anime is for you!

i just completed watching the show but i am still not clear about what happened. i read all the reviews which said that the anime wasn't good but i still thought to give it a try.they tried to put too many elements into the plot without bothering to explain it. the main characters had a lot of potential but in vain. the plot sounded promising but wasn't clear at all. the only episode which i liked and enjoyed was the first one.after watching the first episode i thought that the anime had something really good in store.i was totally disappointed in the series. i think ... this is the first anime which left me so confused after completion. overall one of the most confusing anime i have ever watched.

I found RDG overall to be a decent show, and feel others are a little harsh on it. RDGs problem is that it plays with quite a few interesting elements. Elements, which are then essentially abandoned or ignored. This is a very low stakes show. Even in times of apparent "danger" never do we really feel the characters are at risk. This is a show about a girl whom serves as a vessel of sorts for a hime-gami goddess. And yet at no point does the hime-gami have any major role in the show. It is a show about a girl whose powers interfere with ... electrical devices. Yet that also never has a major role nor point in the show. It introduces these interesting elements, then spends most of the episodes off doing other things.

To particularly appreciate the show, it essentially has to be treated as a slice-of-life. Simply watch, feel, and listen, without thinking about what the show isn't showing. The music, sound, and art is generally excellent. The characters grow on you. Though to be honest near the start they were terrible. The major problem with this show is that it is quite obviously demonstrates its novel roots. The sudden changes in character over the first few episodes, and the switching between many events are the hallmarks they were simply trying to cram too much of the books material into this 12 episode run. A lot of what is included is chaff and could have been easily cut, it is odd they did not do so.

Overall this was enjoyable. Though completely low stakes, for an all powerful goddess type person, the main heroine never really does much. This is essentially a character drama of the heroine, her 'servant', and her two friends, and it never strives beyond being this. I think it is passable. Though you certainly aren't missing something superb if you decide to skip it.

Red Data Girl? More like Red Filler Girl, because that's what the entire anime is about -- fillers, and tons of them, that has nothing to do with the main core of the anime.

Izumuki Suzahara is a foruteen years-old teenager who, ever since she could remember, has been living in a rather secluded woods area, away from most people's sight. She is called the Red Data Girl, or like the opening explains it, "A girl in danger of going inextinct." She is apparently carrying some sort of goddess with her, whom appears at random times when she wishes to say or do something important. Otherwise, ... Izumuki is a girl secluded from the world in order to keep herself safe from people that would want to hurt her and use her powers for the bad. Along her joins Miyuki, a teenager of the same age that was chosen to manservice the goddess for the rest of his life.

RDG is mostly based upon Japanese culture and folklore, history and symbols which might be confusing to one person, but the main issues that lies within the anime isn't the heavy lean towards cultural characteristics, but the really bad storytelling done throughout the entire anime. There are many issues discussed, that -- to the the very last episode -- you wouldn't understand, and couldn't pick on on your own. Even if you tried, you'd still have no idea what was going.

Characters are likeable, though no very important, and sometimes just really shady and odd. They would act very friendly and the next episode, go crazy and dramatically serious for no reason. This confused me more often than not, and honestly brought me to avoid liking ANY of them.

Art is extremely good, scenery looks great and I personally also really liked the ending songs. Synthetically, this anime is perfect to anyone that likes pretty faces.

Overall, I kept watching since I was excited about Miyuki-kun, considering that he was the only hot character there, and in a sense -- the voice of reason. Otherwise, I wouldn't actually recommend this to anyone. It's sad to see so many resources go to waste on a really weak anime.

As soon as I saw this anime on Netflix, the one thing that grabbed my attention was the background art and pleasant scenery. The plot summary seemed interesting enough: a girl serving as the vessel for the "Hime-gami" reluctantly. A bit cliche, but you don't know until you try.

I wish I didn't try though.

Story: 3/10
I finished the anime more confused than when I started. Nothing in the series was every fully explained and/or rushed. There was an unparalleled feeling of dissatisfaction from something with so much potential.

Art: 7/10
As I mentioned before, the art was what hooked me in the beginning. Being a relatively new anime, ... RDG had great perspectives and angles with plenty of detail in the backgrounds. The character design was very standard, however, and did not stand out.

Sound: 5/10
Special effects were nothing truly special. Voice acting was standard, though a bit emotionless even in scenes that were supposedly emotional (though I wouldn't know since the story was heavily underdeveloped). It was fair overall.

Character: 3/10
I ended up not sympathizing with any of the characters or understanding their motives. There's no substantial background on any of them, even the main character! The "romance" is incredibly rushed and awkward. No one is truly memorable or has gradual development. It's just all too sudden.

Enjoyment: 4/10
I mean, I watched all of it for the sake of watching it in case it got better. But alas, it was only 12 episodes and nothing really happened. There's no humor, sadness, anything. Just...confusion.

Overall: 5/10
I am generously giving this series a 5/10 because of its art alone. There was so much potential in RDG and none of my expectations were met (besides art).

I liked RDG, I gave it an 8.

The best thing in my opinion: the art. It is just beautiful, plenty of details.

The story was great too, but a little rushed I guess. The first 2-3 episodes are the worst, after that the anime grows.

The characters are okay, especially when they reach Tokyo. To me, Izumiko is just too plain of a character. Too shy, too young. And I have to admit that she will be like for the entire show. But the rest of the characters are great, especially the brothers and the "enemies".

It is a beautiful and green anime, with a dark vibe. I ... really recommend to watch it, at least until ep 6. Then you will be able to know if you like it or not.

Story:

Heavily influenced by Japanese culture, and in some cases newcomers might not understand, but it does not affect the plot too much. Otherwise, I'd say the plot is something new, and very intriguing.

The symbolism is nice, but I don't want to spoil so that's all I'll say.


Art:

... The animation is truly great and not very choppy at all.

I very much like how they mostly stuck to natural hair colors in here. The characters were attractive, I don't know how you could think Izumiko looks bland, it's quite obvious this anime is heavily influenced by modern day Japan, where at school you cannot dye your hair *cough, cough*


Sound:

The voice actors have nice voices... The songs are great as well..

I don't really have a problem with, except for the scene where the father is talking in English with an American, but the American's accent was very thick and it was a little hard to understand him.


Characters:

When it started off, I HATED Izumiko as well as Miyuki. However, as I went through the series, I began to warm up to her and notice her changes. I thought Izumiko found herself and what she wanted. So basically the character development was beautiful. Miyuki was a little bratty at first, but after time, you see different sides of him as his bond with Izumiko strengthens. alsohischaracterdesignissuperhot

The villains weren't evil for no reason, which was interesting.

One thing I disliked was the similarity in names like Honoka and Hodaka or Masumi and Manatsu, who happen to be twins/ triplets (along with Mayura).




I'm very excited about the manga and hope this gets another season, I like the direction this is going.

When I watched some other works from PA Works, I really liked their way to draw so I started to get interested to RDG: Red Data Girl.

I didn't really look at the plot(I didn't like to do that back then) so I was rather surprised about the story. A shy girl being the last vessel of the Himegami based on the Shinto Legends. and i didn't know anything about Shinto.
But no I did not get disappointed, like some other users i've seen writing about this. It was really interesting but yeah, a little bit confusing.

The art is nothing I can complain about. It's really beautifully ... drawn and the sceneries are great. I fell in love with the art. There's absolutely nothing to complain about. it gave off a really relaxing feeling.

The sound was really awesome. I liked all the OSTs and the opening and ending was awesome. Izumiko's voice in ep.3, ep.5 and ep.7 was so pretty. The song was relaxing. I have never complained about the sound when watching the anime from PA Works.

The characters are well-designed, really pretty. But not so unique i would give it a 9 or 10.

I really enjoyed this anime. This is one of the best spring 2013 anime in my opinion.
But I understand why people disliked this. Too rushed and too confusing.
I read the manga and novel after watching this, and i noticed they skipped out ALOT of details. It would have been so much better with more episodes than 12. It wasn't enough and they skipped out explanations and all kind of things. A little bit disappointing, i would say ^^.

Overall, this anime was really good but I feel like the romance was a little... weird?(not the right word)
I mean it felt like Miyuki just suddenly was like "oh so apparently i like her" or it's just me missing something. The novel had more romance on. xD

This anime is worth watching unless you hate getting confused.
I'll give this anime a 9/10. I was thinking of giving it an 8 but it really is worth a 9.

By the way, my bad for making no sense ._.

This wasn’t necessarily a bad anime, it was okay....

It had really good animation. Not gonna lie, the characters look awesome in this anime.

The beginning of the story was interesting, and it was looking like the story had a lot of potential to be awesome...but then it started to feel slow and not as interesting towards the end, focusing too much attention on the side characters (which got annoying).

Not a lot of action in this anime at all, and only a few intense scenes but nothing overly awesome.

Overall, I’m probably not planning to watch this again. If you’re looking for some intense, action-packed ... anime that consistently keeps its focus on the main character, I don’t recommend this for you.

so let's get right in to it!

the first few episodes left me every time with questions
at the end of every episode I was like 'he...what... did I miss something?' it was so unclear

the male protagonist is quite handsome but in the first episode he is only screaming at others so that wasn't much fun

I was actually hoping for some juicy romance where I could talk about all the time like the crazy fangirl that I'm but I was quite disappointed why? because there was nothing! in the end there was no kiss there was no awesome fight where in someone was rescued ... there was literally nothing! I'm writing this after finishing the serie and I'm so disappointed and dissatisfied with the ending

okay lats be honest the idea is great, I love it! it's cute, romantic and you can totally fall in love with both the female and male protagonist but I just don't understand what's going on and that ruins the fun and it's not because I wasn't focusing on the serie because in the comments a lot of people said they didn't get it at all

and I he could be just a little bit stronger it would be so much better
i have no problem with weak male protagonists but this guy literally couldn't do shit and that's annoying like hell

so... I don't know if I liked it or not, ugh life of an otaku is hard! but I still think it's worth watching... I think... haha you guys should decide on your own

have fun watching... or not what ever you like

For the longest time I wasn't even convinced that this anime actually existed and that the entirety of the show was just some fever dream I had due to lack of sleep but, lo and behold, here we are.

All these years later and I can tell you absolutely nothing about the plot or any of the characters—all I know is that I watched the entire show and refused to drop it and it still haunts me to this day.

The pacing was dreadful, the story-telling was either convoluted or mind-numbingly boring, none of the characters developed in any meaningful way other than MC taking ... off her glasses, and—arguably the worst part—I lost six hours of my life because I clicked on braids and red glasses and expected something decent.

Save yourselves the trouble—read the source material if you want an actual story.

It's a 6.5 for me. It's a fine anime but it doesn't particularly excites me. Truthfully it's like if I really have nothing else to watch this would be a nice to watch I guess. That being said I'm sure there's a lot of hidden reference both to Japanese culture and tradition and history and what not both elements of Shintoism and Buddhism is there but too bad that I don't know mych about it to fully appreciate it. Overall I would prefer for it to be a little bit longer my dynamic and probably explanation. In terms of art it was quite beautiful with ... all the elements of Japan and I'm a sucker for it so I guess its on the quite good. The sound and or music is just meh, just like a background music It's just in the background. For the character I feel like they could've done more but it was okay. I didn't really not enjoy it but I can't really say that I enjoyed it as well so take it how you want it.

I thought that Red Data Girl was very cute. I would suggest this anime to someone who is looking for a short satisfying anime to watch while in between other anime or is just looking for something to do for a short while. I liked this anime because the art was fantastic it reminded me of a watercolor painting (Especially when the characters are in the mountains!) The music that went along with Red Data Girl fit very well. They were very calming and traditional sounds. The characters were fair. When I mean by that is that they weren't very iconic or such but they ... were not bad, at all means, they still had some diverse personality characteristics and some very enjoyable moments and as you continue to watch the anime you eventually connect more with the characters and begin to like them. The story itself was fairly good and had interesting twists along with a mysterious vibe. I will admit that the story can be confusing and can at times feel random but a secret to fix that problem is that after the credits are over, on some episodes, actually continue the episode and explains a handful of things while tying some of the loose parts of the story together. Even though the episodes may continue at times while explaining things. The story still takes some decoding and moments to review what just happened so that you may gain some what of an understanding of what is actually happening within the story. Even though Red Data Girl may take some time to understand and to notice the hints that the characters give off, it is still a very cute and enjoyable anime to watch. Personally I may even consider re-watching Red Data Girl to fully understand the concept and to put more pieces together in the story. It also makes it easy that the anime is only twelve episodes long. If any of you were wondering why the anime is called Red Data Girl it's because there was actually a book published in the mid 1900's called Red Data about endanger species in other words Red Data Girl means, someone who is wanted by everyone because of their rarity and their powerful powers making them endanger (In the beginning of the anime there is a small script explaining the title of the anime and actually hints toward an important part that plays in Red Data Girl but be fast the small script goes very quick in the beginning making it most likely that you'll miss it, so if you want to read it you may have to pause between the frames and read it. Trust me it will help to explain things that later appear in the anime.)

Red Data Girl is fairly decent to watch if you don't think about it too hard. There are numerous aspects of it seem as if it tried to create a world much bigger than its run time actually allowed for. Notably, the story constantly feels lost in trying to explain the complex nuances of the universe constructed. This exposition for the viewer is necessary; I won't pretend that whatever rules and customs associated with this ethereal culture is common knowledge to everyone, least of all me. It is disappointing then, that the short run of the series effectively limits the intricately developed world to show ... a satisfying and coherent story. If there's anything to say about it, the overarching story is weakly connected by several subplots and vice versa resulting in a vicious cycle of unsatisfying storytelling. I couldn't tell you if there were any loose ends (it certainly felt that way) just because of how upset I was with the handling of the plot.

This series should be enjoyed for its art style and aesthetic, with colour schemes and character designs that allow the spiritual nature of the story to shine through. I can't speak on the authenticity of the religion involved, but the outfits, architecture, and general design promote a clean look that seamlessly blends the real and surreal aspects presented; no outfit, demon or spiritual being that appeared looked out of place. I especially appreciated that the music complemented this whole style without ever feeling out of place; especially the opening theme's opening verse with those tastefully dissonant clustered chords. That really sealed the deal and set the tone for the exotic nature of the series.

All things considered, this series will be hit-or-miss. The lack of story and/or emotional stakes does knock the series from being universally enjoyed. But if you can look past that aspect and enjoy the occult-like feel of the series, it would be worth watching if not for the aesthetic appeal.

I watched RDG with no prior knowledge of the show other than the single sentence description it has on Netflix. I needed something new to watch, and it looked interesting, so I watched it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Then I went on MAL and read all of the reviews complaining about it and decided to write down my opinion.

Subtlety is an underrated thing in anime (actually, in storytelling generally, but I'm going to focus on anime). There are too many shows that explain everything that appears on screen, bashing people over the head with long monologues explaining exactly what just happened, or barely disguised exposition ... to catch you up to the situation. And it's not just the bad shows that do this; even something as great as Madoka Magica can get bogged down by explanations.

However, I personally enjoy when a show does not go to lengths to keep me perfectly informed. I prefer it when I'm just given the clues and I'm allowed to draw my own conclusions. For example, Manatsu and Mayura are not necessarily the most original characters, but Mayura at least allowed some room to develop and deepen because of a number of things about her and her situation that are not explained. It is because I am forced to draw my own conclusions about her that she becomes an interesting character.

Of course, that's not the lack of explanation that people are complaining about with this show. People are complaining about the plot. They're complaining about the school and the judges and all of those other little things that are mentioned but never given any explanation. I would agree that those things probably should have been a little more explained. However, at the same time, it's the coyness of the show that keeps it original. If the power struggles, the rules, the goals, and the players were all well known, then this show would not be any different to any other highschool anime. What's unique about this show is that it gives you the clues to figure out the show without handing you the answer.

To prevent too much of a rant, I'll leave it at this; RDG doesn't make it easy for you, and, not only does that not make it a bad show, it is also one of the reasons that I liked the show. It's not something I would like if all shows did it, but in RDG's lack of explanation is a welcome relief from the overabundance of overexplained anime.

Story - 4/10
In a word: rushed. What is happening in this story? Well, who can really say, out of your typical audience? In the end, I was still just barely able to follow what was happening, but that doesn't mean I was without any sort of confusion. Even if the plot WAS followable (barely), that does not excuse how poorly put together it seemed. Watching this series from beginning to end, it's hard to even accept this as a comprehensive narrative. It does not flow as it should and left me often feeling the pacing was completely off. It wasn't absolutely terrible, and the concepts ... themselves could have made for a good story - but the execution was poor. Perhaps with a longer series, this could have been avoided, but as it was it felt very disjointed and rushed.

Art/Animation - 9/10
The art and animation in this series is honestly beautiful. There's no distracting or over the top effects or filters, either - just some genuinely good art. Overall very enjoyable to watch - not the absolute best it could ever be, art wise, but still pretty damn good. At the very least, where other parts of this series might have seemed dull or disappointing, the art outshone everything and at the very least made up for some of the show's shortcomings.

Sound - 6/10
To be fair, I watched the dub (not usually my first choice, but it's what was available to me), so I'm not sure how much I can comment on this in general - but it was okay overall. Sometimes the songs seemed overplayed or 'played up' so to speak - their attempts to tell the story through the score sometimes seemed to fall flat simply by way of being too over-exaggerated. Still, generally it was okay.

Characters - 7/10
The characters in this are overall fairly nice and developed just enough not to leave me with any serious issues, partially perhaps because the true focus is on so few characters in the first place. At the very least, the main characters (Izumiko, Miyuki, Mayara, and Manatsu) were generally okay and I did find myself connecting with them at least on the slightest of levels, which is more than some anime can say. I did feel for the characters and their relationships with each other, but overall the side / minor characters seemed to distract from the story as a whole some, as it wasn't clear just how much emphasis was being placed on them and they did not truly get enough fleshing out for me to care about them or understand them at all. The balance of character focus also seemed to be off in a way that I can't really place; it simply came off as weird overall, especially when sometimes it felt as if the true main character, Izumiko, would often fall to the wayside for focus on characters the audience likely didn't really have any reason to care about.

Enjoyment - 7/10
It was good and I enjoyed it as a whole, though many parts left me with more questions than answers and some of it (especially the first half) had some clear writing issues and pacing issues et cetera. Still, an enjoyable anime. I may rewatch this and I may not - it isn't something I'm rushing to watch again, but I don't think I'd say no to doing so some day either. And who knows - maybe it will make more sense on a second go. One can only hope.

Overall - 7/10

This anime is the definition of confusion and will leave you saying "whut?"

This anime has an absolute great concept, fantastic animation, decent characters and sound but it all goes to die. It is very interesting but between episodes seem to be a time gap. It doesn't leave any explanation and basically leaves it it up to the viewers assumptions. To the very end I still have no idea what the heck 'The World Heritage Girl' is. I am very confused but I went with the flow and finished it to the end. I guess I'm satisfied with the ending but they leave out a LOT ... of answers and many holes. I do however 'ship' the main characters together.

In the end, I give this anime a 7 because even though the concept and art is amazing I still don't even know what this anime is about.

When I was originally reading the synopsis of the story, and it had me think I would see something like Kekkaishi, sadly, it seems I had my hopes up for nothing. While the story wasn't as good as Kekkaiishi, this doesn't mean it was unenjoyable or bad.

The plot had a lot of potential, but it wasn't capitalized on. There was an opportunity to go far into the world of spirits, but in a puzzling turn of events, they seem to have gone more slice of life style.
Now while slice of life with spiritual elements isn't bad, its the way this anime tried it that ... subtracted from the experience. It seemed like the story types were jaggedly cut and attempted to be placed back together to try and form a coherent puzzle.
It went from spirits/culture, right into school/life, and back and forth. It felt like the genres were playing tug of war to see which had the right to be on screen more than the other. This caused the story and enjoyment in watching to suffer in turn.

The characters archetypes are rather basic, though I do like the lead and her personality for the most part.

this anime was pretty easy to get through, like enough happened each episode to keep me entertained but I also felt like nothing that made any sense happened.

characters would appear as if out of the blue and no one would make mention of how random it was that they were there.

there was a lot of lore but I don't think the anime really did a good job of like explaining it, I mean I understood the lore I just didn't see the point.

and some of the character choices just seemed seriously bizarre, like they would just say or do things that would have ... no consequence on the overall plot and I would just be left wondering why that scene or that line of dialogue was added at all.

overall I can't say I didn't enjoy it, I mean as innocuous as it was I was still pretty entertained I just don't see the value of this anime outside of the few hours it took to watch it.

a lot of people either love or hate this anime, I've seen people call it the best anime, the most underrated anime and the worst anime, I think its like an okay anime, its certainly not PA Works best or worst anime, I mean its not glasslip