It turns out this isn't just a Slice of Life-Genderbender-Comedy, but also a Mystery show, as is readily apparent just from the title: Why and how did the protagonist turn into a girl? It's pretty cool until you realize the protagonist isn't genre savvy. This starts, as I mentioned, about halfway through, but goes beyond the pale at about Episode 9 or 10. I was screaming at the screen I was so angry.
Maybe I'm just too smart or something, but I only needed until Episode 7 to build a functioning model in my head of what happened. The mystery wasn't solved, I didn't know all the details, and certainly neither did the protagonist, but I knew ENOUGH. Even from only his perspective I knew enough. If I was the main guy, as of Episode 6, I'd be seriously concerned, and by Episode 7 I'd be taking *immediate* and *decisive* action and the rest of the story wouldn't happen because I would have solved the conflict. I wanted to be reasonable though, so I figured the guy just didn't have enough information to realize what was really going on. Then the rest of the show happens, and even when the mystery is completely revealed, he's STILL making pants-on-head level stupid decisions. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
It was at that point that I sped the whole show up so I could finish it, because I still wanted to know what happened, but I didn't want to have to spend another hour watching it.
I saw the last twist coming a mile away, and though I didn't think it would save the show for me, I still thought it could be really cool. It wasn't. I understand why it took so long before the twist happened, because certain prerequisites weren't met, but the timing of it felt off, like the story beat was late. The flow of it felt wrong. What's more, I was expecting a big hero moment - hoping! - and we got one. It was a good start, if late, but oh boy it didn't stick the landing; more like it tripped and fell down the stairs. I was appalled. I can understand why it wouldn't be some glorious superhero victory, but it was groan-inducing, eye-rollingly bad.
The final reveal felt like a retcon and doesn't quite make sense. I do really like the final explanation for the magic of him turning into a girl though, chronology and complete and unabashed visual LIE that it is. I'd talk about it, but since I'm labelling this as a mixed recommendation I don't want to spoil anything. If you've seen the show you probably know what I'm referring to.
The romance didn't happen the way I wanted either. Maybe that's a matter of personal opinion and it won't bother anyone else, I don't know, but based on what was built up I was expecting/hoping for it to be a bit more *solid* at the ending for all the characters. I can't think of a better way to describe it. And let's not forget one them has a COMPLETELY unresolved romance thread which makes it feel very strange indeed.
Finally we have the positives that stand out to me, everything not mentioned here or previously receiving my general approval:
I really loved the art style for the faces. Those lower eyelashes put a smile on my face. The fanservice is mostly treated as a joke, and is actually pretty nice because it's restrained and part of larger moments, or is directly linked to the plot. Part of the conflict is rather serious business and it's refreshing that the show doesn't pull its punches. I also REALLY enjoyed the portrayal of genderbending. It's a trait of poor writers to want their characters to go on a specific journey and end up growing in a specific way, so they rush things and have them immediately adjust to whatever's happening so they can get on with the almighty PLOT. Here, not so much. Despite being genderbent the protagonist still lived his life up to that point as a guy, creating male habits and mannerisms, and it shows. Good on you, show. Good on you.
And now that I think of it, the moral of the story was really fumbled and a bit insulting to the protagonist.
The way I judge art is by starting with whether it's good or not, tempered, or even sometimes overruled, by whether I like it or not. From there, I decide just how good or just how bad it is. In this case, I decided Bagel Girl is bad, but it's not 'Very Bad', 'Horrible' or 'Appalling', so while I think 4 is too low a score, I mostly agree with the label of 'Bad'. Still, recommendations count for a lot more, I find, either a definite Yes, No, or Give-It-A-Try-And-See-How-You-Feel. In this case I give Bagel Girl a very firm recommendation of 'Mixed Feelings'.
